cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Facilitating Posttraumatic Growth in the Wake of Natural Disasters: Considerations for Crisis Response

This chapter discusses posttraumatic growth and resilience within the context of large-scale natural disasters. In the first section, we provide an overview of natural disaster characteristics and psychological distress, and explore factors associated with posttraumatic growth such as social support, problem-focused coping, and sense of coherence. We review conservation of resources stress theory and discuss how resource loss caravans and resource gain caravans contribute to distress and posttraumatic growth. Next, we review international studies that are among the first to examine the association of posttraumatic growth with perceptions of future disaster threats, such as those influenced by climate change. In the second section, we consider clinical considerations relevant to the management of crises and facilitation of posttraumatic growth by community-based crisis responders and mental health professionals. We discuss how crisis counselors can assess and manage an immediate crisis, provide psychoeducation with the intent of normalization, and help cultivate meaning making and social support. We also explore how mental health professionals may help facilitate posttraumatic growth in individual counseling through positive reinterpretation and meaning making, considering existential psychotherapy and boundary experiences, and enhancing social support. The chapter concludes with a fictional case study to illustrate the concepts concerning considerations for clinical care and posttraumatic growth development.
Plasmon production from dark matter scattering

We present a first calculation of the rate for plasmon production in semiconductors from nuclei recoiling against dark matter. The process is analogous to bremsstrahlung of transverse photon modes, but with a longitudinal plasmon mode emitted instead. For dark matter in the 10 MeV---1 GeV mass range, we find that the plasmon bremsstrahlung rate is 4--5 orders of magnitude smaller than that for elastic scattering, but 4--5 orders of magnitude larger than the transverse bremsstrahlung rate. Because the plasmon can decay into electronic excitations and has characteristic energy given by the plasma frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{p}$, with ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{p}\ensuremath{\approx}16\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$ in Si crystals, plasmon production provides a new signature and method to detect nuclear recoils from sub-GeV dark matter.
Gamma Gap: A Point-of-Care Test That Correlates With Disease Burden and Treatment Response in Multiple Myeloma.

PURPOSE:We performed a retrospective chart review on 393 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) to determine the utility of the gamma gap (GG).METHODS:We calculated the difference between a patient’s ...
Multimodality treatment including whole pleura radiation therapy for DICER1-associated pediatric pleuropulmonary blastoma

Limited data are available regarding radiation therapy in pediatric pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB). We report the case of a 3-year-old girl with type II PPB successfully treated with trimodality therapy including multiagent chemotherapy, resection, and whole pleura radiation therapy. While longer follow-up is required to confirm ultimate local tumor control and long-term post-treatment sequelae, currently 3.5 years following therapy, she is well, without recurrent disease or observable toxicity. The goal of this report is to add our experience to the literature regarding PPB, its management, and treatment, as prospective randomized controlled trials are not feasible due to the rarity of this disease.
Pediatric Lawnmower Injuries: a 25-year Review.

ABSTRACT Background Despite regulations currently in place, the incidence of lawnmower injuries in children has not decreased for several decades in the United States. In fact, studies in several countries show that the incidence of riding lawnmower injuries are actually on the rise worldwide. Those injuries tend to be devastating and limb-threatening. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a pediatric trauma center's experience with those injuries over the past 25 years. Methods All patients who presented to a level I pediatric trauma center with injuries from lawnmowers between 1994 and 2019 were reviewed. Date of birth, gender, date of injury, mechanism of injury, type of lawnmower, and type of injury (including whether an open fracture, soft tissue defect, and/or amputation were present) were recorded. Results A total of 142 pediatric patients were treated over the study period. The average age was 7.5 years. The three most common mechanisms of injury were being hit by a riding lawnmower moving forward, falling off a riding lawnmower, and being hit by a riding lawnmower moving backward. Of all patients, 68.3% sustained an open fracture and 38% required an amputation. Riding lawnmowers resulted in more operative procedures, longer hospital stays, and more soft tissue defects that require reconstruction than push mowers. Younger patients were at a higher risk to sustain proximal amputations (wrist/ankle or proximal) than older patients. Conclusion Lawnmower injuries are devastating and largely avoidable. There are currently recommendations and regulations in the United States, which if followed, would prevent the vast majority of pediatric lawnmower injuries. Unfortunately, the incidence of these injuries has not decreased despite the current regulations. Broader public education is essential to decrease the incidence of serious lawnmower injuries in children. Level of Evidence: IV
OH vibrational distributions: A comparison of Einstein A transition probabilities

Abstract A limited number of studies have measured OH vibrational temperatures due in part to the difficulty of simultaneously observing multiple ro-vibrational emission bands. With questions still remaining about the quenching processes of the vibrationally excited OH molecule, observations of vibrational temperatures are critical to better characterize OH vibrational distributions. The Einstein A transition probabilities are a key element of OH population measurements, and their impact upon these observations have not been fully examined. The Perkins Airglow Study (PAS) is a spectroscopic survey of airglow emission and OH vibrational temperature, in the H-band, at a latitude of 35 ∘ N. The spectra have a resolution of r = λ / Δ λ ≈ 600 , and employ a 10 s integration time. Airglow emission was continuously observed over the course of twenty entire nights, and the spectra contain emission from the OH(6-4), OH(5-3), OH(4-2), and OH(3-1) ro-vibrational bands. Currently PAS has recorded nearly 55,000 airglow spectra, and these observations significantly increase the current number of OH vibrational temperature measurements. The Einstein A coefficients examined in this work were found to have a significant impact upon the measured populations by nearly a factor of two. The observed OH vibrational temperatures averaged 10,500 K, and the Einstein A coefficients were found to vary the average measured vibrational temperature by 1,100 K.
Essential tremor

Multiple pharmacologic treatments have been studied, but propranolol and primidone have proven to be the most effective medications. It is unlikely that a patient will respond miraculously to another medication if his or her response to propranolol and primidone is minimal. Some subsets of essential tremor, however, such as the kinetic predominant type may respond better to other medications. Mildly affected patients may not need treatment at all, and the potential benefits must always be weighed against the possible side effects The main benefit of botulinum toxin injection is for head tremor, whereas its efficacy in hand tremor is variable. If a patient does not respond to adequate doses of propranolol or primidone, deep brain stimulation should be considered because it carries the lowest risk of the available surgical procedures; usually, it should be given preference over thalamotomy. It is important for the physician to realize the multitude of symptomatic treatments available. Beyond the conventional and often effective oral medications, use of newer treatments such as botulinum toxin, thalamotomy, and deep brain stimulation can often reduce tremor and lead to a greater quality of life for patients with ET.
Survey of Dermatologic Procedures in Transgender Adults.

BACKGROUND: Dermatologists have the opportunity to provide medically necessary procedures, including laser hair removal, to transgender patients for gender affirmation. Further research is required to better assess the unique dermatologic needs of this population. OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of dermatologic procedures among transgender people in the context of gender-affirming treatment. METHODS: This cross-sectional study examined survey responses from 696 transgender persons enrolled in the Study of Transition, Outcomes, and Gender cohort. Prevalence of self-reported dermatologic procedures was examined and compared across participant subgroups. RESULTS: Electrolysis was the most commonly reported procedure (32.9%). Transfeminine patients were more likely to use dermatologic procedures compared with transmasculine patients. Only 19 participants (2.8%) reported the use of dermal filler injections. CONCLUSION: Differences in utilization of dermatologic procedures were noted in transgender populations. Motivations, barriers, and optimal timing for gender-affirming dermatologic procedures among transgender persons should be examined in future studies.
Glimpsing keywords across sentences in noise: A microstructural analysis of acoustic, lexical, and listener factors

This study investigated how acoustic and lexical word-level factors and listener-level factors of auditory thresholds and cognitive-linguistic processing contribute to the microstructure of sentence recognition in unmodulated and speech-modulated noise. The modulation depth of the modulated masker was changed by expanding and compressing the temporal envelope to control glimpsing opportunities. Younger adults with normal hearing (YNH) and older adults with normal and impaired hearing were tested. A second group of YNH was tested under acoustically identical conditions to the hearing-impaired group, who received spectral shaping. For all of the groups, speech recognition declined and masking release increased for later keywords in the sentence, which is consistent with the word position decreases in the signal-to-noise ratio. The acoustic glimpse proportion and lexical word frequency of individual keywords predicted recognition under different noise conditions. For the older adults, better auditory thresholds and better working memory abilities facilitated sentence recognition. Vocabulary knowledge contributed more to sentence recognition for younger than for older adults. These results demonstrate that acoustic and lexical factors contribute to the recognition of individual words within a sentence, but relative contributions vary based on the noise modulation characteristics. Taken together, acoustic, lexical, and listener factors contribute to how individuals recognize keywords during sentences.
Effective Strategies for Crowd-Powered Cognitive Reappraisal Systems: A Field Deployment of the Flip*Doubt Web Application for Mental Health

Online technologies offer great promise to expand models of delivery for therapeutic interventions to help users cope with increasingly common mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. For example, "cognitive reappraisal" is a skill that involves changing one's perspective on negative thoughts in order to improve one's emotional state. In this work, we present Flip*Doubt, a novel crowd-powered web application that provides users with cognitive reappraisals ("reframes") of negative thoughts. A one-month field deployment of Flip*Doubt with 13 graduate students yielded a data set of negative thoughts paired with positive reframes, as well as rich interview data about how participants interacted with the system. Through this deployment, our work contributes: (1) an in-depth qualitative understanding of how participants used a crowd-powered cognitive reappraisal system in the wild; and (2) detailed codebooks that capture informative context about negative input thoughts and reframes. Our results surface data-derived hypotheses that may help to explain what types of reframes are helpful for users, while also providing guidance to future researchers and developers interested in building collaborative systems for mental health. In our discussion, we outline implications for systems research to leverage peer training and support, as well as opportunities to integrate AI/ML-based algorithms to support the cognitive reappraisal task. (Note: This paper includes potentially triggering mentions of mental health issues and suicide.)
Efficacy of medications in adult patients with trigeminal neuralgia compared to placebo intervention: a systematic review with meta-analyses.

Background Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is characterized by brief, unilateral, sharp, stabbing, and shooting pain of the fifth cranial nerve. The objective of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to determine the effect of medications compared to placebo in adult patients with TN. Methods Review authors identified randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) from PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and EMBASE up to February 2021. We assessed the inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as the risk of bias of the studies based on the Cochrane Handbook. A total of 324 unduplicated references were scanned independently and reduced to eight relevant RCTs, with 89 patients included. Medications investigated included oral carbamazepine, subcutaneous sumatriptan, lidocaine (intranasal, 8% spray on the oral mucosa or intravenous), buprenorphine (ganglionic local opioid analgesia), and oral Nav1.7, a selective sodium channel blocker. Results Meta-analyses showed that overall patients receiving lidocaine reported a significantly lower post-treatment intensity of pain -3.8 points on a 0-10 scale (95% Cl = -4.653 to -2.873; P < 0.001). Patients who received lidocaine were 8.62 times more likely to have pain improvement than patients on placebo (P < 0.001). In one RCT, patients receiving oral carbamazepine showed a significant improvement in pain intensity of -32% compared to the placebo (P < 0.001). In one trial, patients receiving 3 mg subcutaneous sumatriptan had a significantly lower intensity of pain on average -6.1 points on a scale of 0-10 compared to placebo (P < 0.001) and a significant improvement in pain intensity of -75% compared to the improvement in the placebo group (P < 0.001). Patients who received subcutaneous sumatriptan were 10 times more likely to have pain improvement than those who received placebo (P = 0.001) in one study. Due to the unclear/high risk of bias and small sample size, the quality of the evidence for lidocaine in the treatment of TN was low. Conclusion Further studies are needed for carbamazepine, sumatriptan, buprenorphine, and oral Nav1.7 sodium channel blockers, as only one study reported outcomes.
Histone deacetylase inhibition reduces deleterious cytokine release induced by ingenol stimulation.

Abstract Latency reversal agents (LRAs), such as protein kinase C (PKC) agonists, constitute a promising strategy for exposing and eliminating the HIV-1 latent reservoir. PKC agonists activate NF-κB and induce deleterious pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Adjuvant pharmacological agents, such as ruxolitinib, a JAK inhibitor, have previously been combined with LRAs to reduce deleterious pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion without inhibiting HIV-1 reactivation in vitro. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) are known to dampen pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion in the context of other diseases and synergize with LRAs to reactivate latent HIV-1. This study investigates whether a panel of epigenetic modifiers, including HDACi, could dampen PKC-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion during latency reversal. We screened an epigenetic modifier library for compounds that reduced intracellular IL-6 production induced by the PKC agonist Ingenol-3,20-dibenzoate. We further tested the most promising epigenetic inhibitor class, HDACi, for their ability to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines and reactivate latent HIV-1 ex vivo. We identified nine epigenetic modulators that reduced PKC-induced intracellular IL-6. In cells from aviremic individuals living with HIV-1, the HDAC1-3 inhibitor, suberohydroxamic acid (SBHA), reduced secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-5, IL-2r, and IL-17 but did not significantly reactivate latent HIV-1 when combined with Ingenol-3,20-dibenzoate. Combining SBHA and Ingenol-3,20-dibenzoate reduces deleterious cytokine production during latency reversal but does not induce significant viral reactivation in aviremic donor PBMCs. The ability of SBHA to reduce PKC-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines when combined with Ingenol-3,20-dibenzoate suggests SBHA can be used to reduced PKC induced pro-inflammatory cytokines but not to achieve latency reversal in the context of HIV-1.
A construction for the prediction of noise-induced annoyance in the presence of auditory masking

There is a large amount of evidence to suggest that people’s reactions to annoying sounds are moderated by the presence of other background sounds. One of the mechanisms of this moderation is auditory masking: when the annoying sound simply cannot be heard over the background. This presentation outlines a construction for computing a predictor of annoyance in the presence of masking. The construction is demonstrated by producing an augmentation of the common sound exposure level noise metric using one-third octave band data sampled at 2 Hz. These data allow an estimation of the probability of masking within each band at each time step. The acoustic energy within a masked band can be ‘discounted’ by this estimation before being summed in the usual equal-energy way and with the typical A-weighting corrections. In this way, backgrounds that only provide partial masking in frequency and time will produce predictions of annoyance that fall between the unmasked sound exposure value and negative infinity (the result if there was a certainty of complete masking). The application of this concept to the noise of multirotor air vehicles is discussed.
Variation in multimodal literacies: How new technologies can expand or constrain modes of communication

AbstractThis article offers two examples of social interaction in educative environments to illustrate how the complexity of modes can vary depending on the mediating tools and the activities in which they are used. The examples show that, with the advent of computer-based technologies, the range of variation has expanded, with an increase in modal resources on one extreme of the continuum, and a marked reduction of modal resources on the other extreme. The first example describes a complex work setting—a circuit board assembly plant, in which tasks are mediated by a computerized machine that loads components onto boards. Troubleshooting the machine is a recurrent activity for machine operators. I focus on two workers as they integrate talk, gestures, numbers, computer data and tools in this problem-solving activity. In this multimodal interaction, talk is combined with other semiotic resources and shaped into a simplified register charged with precision numbers. The second example is an activity in which...
The Supply Side Drivers of Recruitment in the Pakistan Army

The Pakistan army continues to focus the attention of policy-makers and scholars alike. Unfortunately, empirical studies of this important institutions are either dated or unable to provide insights about the constitution of the corps. This essay is an effort to address this scholarly and empirical lacuna. It does so by employing rare district-level data on Pakistan army’s officer recruitment from 1970 to 2002 and building upon recently-published descriptive analysis of the same data. We use these data along with district-level household economic survey data to shed light on the district-level characteristics that explain district-level recruitment outcomes. We obtain three robust findings. First, district-level socio-economic status negatively correlates with district-level military recruitment outcomes. Second, while a fundamental measure of human capital (the ability to do simple sums) is positively associated with recruitment, once we control for a basic level of numeracy, the effect of additional male educational attainment on army recruits is negative. Third, when we compare across all districts by excluding year and district fixed effects, we find that Pakistan army officers come from districts that both are more urban and characterized by higher female education levels. In Pakistan, higher levels of female education correlate with increased social liberalism. These findings suggest that in recent decades the Pakistan army has recruited its officer corps from those districts in which men meet baseline educational requirements but who are increasingly poorly educated.
THE COMPUTATION OF TEARING ENERGY OF NICKED RUBBER STRIPS IN EXTENSION

To compute the tearing energy of nicked rubber strips in extension, one has to solve first the associated stress-deformation involving finite elasticity. In the past, this was a formidable task so the tearing energy was determined solely by experiments and only for a few test pieces. With the aid of the finite element method (FEM), it is shown that this may now be done simply through the use of the Rice's J integral. Tearing energy for two test pieces are computed and results compared with existing experimental data. The agreement is good.
Kin‐Directed Behavior in Primates

Kinship was one of the first foundational principles of primate social organization to be recognized and to be viewed within an explicit evolutionary framework, specifically kin selection theory. Over time we have come to appreciate how much kinship structures and kin preferences vary between and within species, and how they are constrained by demography, life history characteristics, ecology, and mechanisms for recognizing kin. We have only recently discovered that many species are able to recognize paternal kin and to express preferences for them, but we have much to learn about how individuals do this, and how they make choices among different classes of kin and nonkin. Many potential benefits of close kin relationships have been uncovered, and some have been firmly linked to fitness benefits. Questions about kin selection versus mutualism or reciprocity as an explanation for kin preferences continue to pose challenges. Recent empirical studies support the operation of kin selection, but suggest that it may extend only within fairly narrow limits of relatedness. Much current theoretical research focuses on modeling the ways in which kinship interacts with dispersal patterns, reproductive skew, habitat saturation, and other ecological and life history patterns to produce various selective regimes related to cooperation. Some recent promising theoretical models of the origins of human social systems also rely in part on principles of kin selection and on a greatly expanded understanding of kin-related behavior in nonhuman primates. Keywords: kinship; kin preferences; kin selection; primates; cooperation; mutualism; reciprocity; kin recognition; human origins
Trends in foreign investment : Agreements in the resources industry

Abstract Recent agreements between host country governments and foreign investors in the resource industries reflect an effort to meet the objectives of both parties. In some cases majority government ownership is combined with management control and the right of veto on certain policy questions by the foreign investor. Imaginative tax formulas are built into agreements that combine the principle of excess profits taxes with that of a minimum DCF rate of return. Expropriation risk is being limited by employing a high debt-equity ratio. Foreign investors are agreeing to programmes and policies that promote host country economic and social development, while host country governments are quaranteeing foreign investors against changes in laws that would affect their profits.
Assessing the Need for Entrepreneurial Training at the Higher Educational Institutions in Ghana

Collaboration among educational institutions, governments, and industries has made significant economic impact in many countries. Keys to success in the collaboration have been environments provided by the governments that are conducive to entrepreneurship, and the industries’ contribution to experiential learning. In 2003, Ghana responding to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Agenda for Poverty Reduction, had in her strategic plan the intent to introduce entrepreneurial training as an option for all courses of study at the higher educational institutions. This mixed-method study compared the entrepreneurship traits of students who had taken an entrepreneurship course and those who had not. The bottom-line idea was to explore the job creation potential or ability among the university students in Ghana – a possible solution to youth unemployment and poverty. The study showed that the strategy of offering entrepreneurial training at the higher educational institutions in Ghana is worth implementing and supporting it. In fact, it is worthy to be emulated by other countries in the sub region. Countries seeking economic growth and poverty reduction in the 21st century should consider including entrepreneurial training to develop the creative and innovative skills of their youth. Keywords: Entrepreneurship training, poverty reduction, unemployment in Ghana, human capital, triple helix.
On the Representation of Codes in Forney Graphs

We investigate the representation of codes in graphical models. In particular, we use the notion of a trellis formation on a Forney graph to visualize the structure of a code on a given graph. We focus on the question of whether a given trellis formation contains mergeable vertices and whether the description of a code in terms of local behaviors on the Forney graph can be made smaller. Necessary and sufficient conditions for mergeability are given leading to a polynomial time algorithm that decides if a given trellis formation contains mergeable vertices. One of our main tools is a duality theorem by Forney, for which we give a short proof in the context of binary codes.
Significance of Altered Carbon Flow in Aromatic Amino Acid Synthesis: an Approach to the Isolation of Regulatory Mutants in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa displays a native resistance to a variety of inhibitory compounds, including many analogues of amino acids, purines, and pyrimidines. Therefore, it has been difficult to isolate analogue-resistant regulatory mutants which have been so valuable in other microbial species for the study of enzyme control mechanisms and for the study of amino acid transport and its regulation. However, we have found that increased sensitivity to growth inhibition by analogues can be demonstrated by manipulation of the nutritional environment. When P. aeruginosa is grown with fructose as the nutritional source of carbon and energy, the cells become sensitive to growth inhibition by β-2-thienylalanine and p-amino-phenylalanine, analogues of phenylalanine and tyrosine, respectively. Thus, mutants were isolated which are resistant to growth inhibition by β-2-thienylalanine and p-amino-phenylalanine when fructose is the carbon source, and many of the β-2-thienylalanine-resistant mutants overproduce phenylalanine. Several lines of evidence suggest that the increased sensitivity to growth inhibition by analogues of phenylalanine and tyrosine reflects a decreased rate of synthesis of aromatic amino acids or their precursors when fructose is the carbon source. This general approach promises to be valuable in the study of regulatory phenomena in microorganisms which, like P. aeruginosa, are naturally resistant to many metabolite analogues.
Real-time charging navigation of electric vehicles: A non-cooperative game approach

This paper proposes an integrated electric vehicle (EV) charging navigation framework which takes into consideration the impacts from both the power system and transportation system. The proposed framework links the power system with transportation system through the charging navigation of EVs. It benefits the two systems by attracting EVs to charge at off-peak hours and saving the time of EV owners with real-time navigation. Based on the formulated framework, a non-cooperative game approach is proposed in this study to model the competition between electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs). The simulation results show that the proposed integrated charging navigation approach is effective in improving both the reliability and economic profits of the power system.
Are upright lateral cervical radiographs in the obtunded trauma patient useful? A retrospective study

The best method for radiographic "clearance" of the cervical spine in obtunded patients prior to removal of cervical immobilization devices remains debated. Dynamic radiographs or MRI are thought to demonstrate unstable injuries, but can be expensive and cumbersome to obtain. An upright lateral cervical radiograph (ULCR) was performed in selected patients to investigate whether this study could provide this same information, to enable removal of cervical immobilization devices in the multiple trauma patient. We retrospectively reviewed our experience with ULCR in 683 blunt trauma victims who presented over a 3-year period, with either a Glasgow Coma Score <13 or who were intubated at the time of presentation. ULCR was performed in 163 patients. Seven patients had studies interpreted to be abnormal, of which six were also abnormal, by either CT or MRI. The seventh patient's only abnormality was soft tissue swelling; MRI was otherwise normal. Six patients had ULCR interpreted as normal, but had abnormalities on either CT or MRI. None of the missed injuries required surgical stabilization, although one had a vertebral artery injury demonstrated on subsequent angiography. ULCR had an apparent sensitivity of 45.5% and specificity of 71.4%. ULCR are inferior to both CT and MRI in the detection of cervical injury in patients with normal plain radiographs. We therefore cannot recommend the use of ULCR in the obtunded trauma patient.
Alterations in the permeability of Neurospora crassa due to polyene antibiotics.

Kinsky, Stephen C. (Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.). Alterations in the permeability of Neurospora crassa due to polyene antibiotics. J. Bacteriol. 82:889–897. 1961.—Thirty-three antibiotics and synthetic fungicides were examined for their effect on the growth and morphology of Neurospora crassa. Only the polyene antibiotics (nystatin, amphotericin B, and filipin) caused a decrease in the dry weight of mycelial mats, which was accompanied by the appearance of cytoplasmic constituents in the medium. The influence of polyene concentration, incubation time, mycelial age, various metabolic inhibitors, pH, and media composition on this phenomenon are described. The present evidence indicates that the polyenes exert their primarily fungicidal effect by an alteration of permeability, probably due to direct action on the membrane of sensitive organisms.
Disruption of functional organization within the primary motor cortex in children with autism

Accumulating evidence suggests that motor impairments are prevalent in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), relate to the social and communicative deficits at the core of the diagnosis and may reflect abnormal connectivity within brain networks underlying motor control and learning. Parcellation of resting-state functional connectivity data using spectral clustering approaches has been shown to be an effective means of visualizing functional organization within the brain but has most commonly been applied to explorations of normal brain function. This article presents a parcellation of a key area of the motor network, the primary motor cortex (M1), a key area of the motor control network, in adults, typically developing (TD) children and children with ASD and introduces methods for selecting the number of parcels, matching parcels across groups and testing group differences. The parcellation is based solely on patterns of connectivity between individual M1 voxels and all voxels outside of M1, and within all groups, a gross dorsomedial to ventrolateral organization emerged within M1 which was left-right symmetric. Although this gross organizational scheme was present in both groups of children, statistically significant group differences in the size and segregation of M1 parcels within regions of the motor homunculus corresponding to the upper and lower limbs were observed. Qualitative comparison of the M1 parcellation for children with ASD with that of younger and older TD children suggests that these organizational differences, with a lack of differentiation between lower limb/trunk regions and upper limb/hand regions, may be due, at least in part, to a delay in functional specialization within the motor cortex.
Commutators and companion matrices over rings of stable rank 1

Abstract We consider the group GL n A of all invertible n by n matrices over a ring A satisfying the first Bass stable range condition. We prove that every matrix is similar to the product of a lower and upper triangular matrix, and that it is also the product of two matrices each similar to a companion matrix. We use this to show that, when n ⩾3 and A is commutative, every matrix in SL n A is the product of two commutators.
Intelli‐Sourcing to Replace Offshoring as Supply Chain Transparency Increases

In the past twenty years, there has been an evolution in the way that sourcing and global manufacturing are viewed. While price is important, it is no longer supreme, as increased complexity and transparency have changed leading firms to think about intelli-sourcing: simultaneously balancing economics while protecting the firm's reputation.
Micromechanics of MoS2 lubrication

Abstract The micromechanical behavior of MoS2 acting as a solid lubricant and the effects of humidity thereon have been studied in moist nitrogen through simultaneous measurements of momentary friction and electrical contact resistance in the so-called hoop apparatus. The sliding couple consisted of a gold-plated copper substrate (the circumferential track inside the hoop) lubricated with a burnished MoS2 film, and a slider in the form of three bundles of 50 μn thick gold-plated copper fibers. This geometry permits indirect detailed studies of the film conditions at the contact spots, since both the friction and the contact resistance are exclusively determined by the film. All measurements were found to be reversible, with the friction coefficient and contact resistance depending in a somewhat complex manner on average sliding speed between 0.05 and 3.0 cm s−1, load between 0.5 N and 8 N, and relative humidity between 20% and 90%. The data indicate that adsorbed moisture causes the MoS2 film to mechanically soften and that the film is partly pushed ahead and to the sides of moving contact spots. As a result, the film thickness between the contact spots, presumably with the basal plane preferentially parallel to the interface, decreases with humidity but increases slightly with sliding speed and contact spot size, i. e. load. Accordingly, the major part of the coefficient of friction, namely μo≈0.1 through distributed shearing of the MoS2 film parallel to the basal plane, is little affected by any of the variables, but the contribution due to film plowing rises with increasing humidity from zero up to μp≈0.1. The contact resistance, by contrast, varies through almost two orders of magnitude. It increases much faster than proportional with the film thickness at the a-spots, due to a strong increase of the MoS2 resistivity with film thickness, on account of a semiconductor effect.
The treatment of involuntary patients in the general hospital psychiatric unit

Abstract In response to pressure to assume more responsibility for chronic patients, many general hospitals have asserted that they should limit care to those suitable for voluntary treatment on an open ward. This assertion appears to be based primarily on political and symbolic arguments. The limitation of admission to voluntary patients would serve to exclude many acutely psychotic patients with excellent prognosis best treated in a general hospital. The locked ward appears to offer the maximum flexibility in dealing with illnesses which in varying degrees affect the individual's judgement and impulsivity. The limitation of psychiatric units to voluntary patients in open wards would preclude psychiatry from joining in the mission of the general hospital—the best possible care for the community it serves.
Bacteriophage T4 particles are refractory to bisulfite mutagenesis

Abstract Bisulfite-induced deamination of cytosine produces uracil, a thymine analog reported to be mutagenic both in vitro and in vivo. Although deamination of cytosine in DNA should produced G:C→A:T transitions, treating bacteriophage T4 particles with 0.9 M bisulfite at pH 5 at 37°C produced no more mutations than did the equivalent buffer without bisulfite. Lack of bisulfite mutagenicity is fully consistent with the reported resistance of 5-substituted cytosines to bisulfite-induced deamination, since T4 DNA contains glucosylated 5-hydroxymethylcytosine. However, bisulfite also failed to induced mutations in T4 particles whose DNA contained unmodified cytosine. The lack of mutagenesis persisted in E. coli hosts deficient in uracil glycosylase, an enzyme expected to participate in the repair of the putative bisulfite-generated uracil. Cytosine in T4 DNA may be largely protected from bisulfite attack within phage particles.
Severity of skull malformation is unrelated to presurgery neurobehavioral status of infants with sagittal synostosis.

Abstract Objective: To examine the association between severity of scaphocephalic skull malformation and neurodevelopmental status prior to cranioplasty. Design and Participants: Seventy-five infants with single-suture sagittal craniosynostosis (median age, 4.5 months) referred to the Infant Learning Project, a prospective, multisite, longitudinal study to evaluate neurocognitive development. Main Outcome Measures: Scaphocephaly severity indices were used to quantify synostotic skull shape from computed tomography scans. Infants were assessed with the mental (MDI) and motor scales (PDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the receptive (PLS-AC) and expressive (PLS-EC) language scales of the Preschool Language Scale. Results: No association between skull shape and neurodevelopmental status was found. Conclusions: Lack of association between skull shape and neurodevelopment in infancy may indicate that the presurgical degree of scaphocephaly has little or no direct effect on brain development. Al...
Risk Factors for Cerebral Palsy (CP) in Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) Infants without Major Cranial Ultrasound (CUS) Abnormalities. † 1309

Data from a population based cohort study [Pinto-Martin et al. Pediatrics 1995] suggests that almost one-half of VLBW infants with CP do not have antecedent major CUS abnormalities, such as periventricular echodensity or echolucency (PVED/EL). We performed a case-control study to identify risk factors for CP among VLBW infants without major CUS abnormality. 36 cases, who had CP and no major CUS abnormality, and 70 gestational-age matched controls were identified within a geographically based cohort, born 1985 to 1995, at the only tertiary perinatal referral center serving a 17-county region. 27 cases had normal CUS studies and 9 had uncomplicated subependymal hemorrhage(SEH), defined as SEH without post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus, persistent ventricular enlargement, or PVED/EL. Medical records of mothers and neonates were reviewed to ascertain the occurrence of the following factors, which, in previous studies, have been associated with either CP or PVED/EL: multiple gestation, chorioamnionitis, pre-eclampsia, treatment of the mother with magnesium sulfate or betamethasone, neonatal sepsis, pneumothorax, acidosis, hypotension, hypocarbia, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). In univariate analyses, betamethasone was associated with a lower risk [odds ratio (OR) 0.3(0.1-0.9)], while pneumothorax [OR 5.5 (1.0-29.9)], SEH[OR 11.3 (2.3, 55.9)], and BPD (defined as oxygen dependency at 28 days) [OR 10.2 (4.1-25.4)] were associated with an increased risk. The mean values for total time with PaCO2< 35 mm Hg, total time with systolic blood pressure < 35 mm Hg, and total time with pH < 7.15 were higher among cases, and mean arterial pH on the first postnatal blood gas was lower (all p < 0.05, Wilcoxon rank sum test]. When stepwise regression (with backward elimination) was used to select neonatal factors independently associated with CP, significant associations were found only for BPD [odds ratio 5.4 (2.1-14.1)] and uncomplicated SEH[odds ratio 8.3 (1.5-44.5)]. For the 27 cases of CP with normal CUS, the OR for BPD was 6.8 (2.4-19.3). If this association is assumed to be causal, then the estimated etiologic fraction for BPD is 0.66 (95% confidence limits 0.30-0.84). Thus among infants with normal CUS, a majority of CP may be attributable to BPD or unknown antecedents of BPD.
Clostridium difficile toxin B differentially affects GPCR-stimulated Ca2+ responses in macrophages: independent roles for Rho and PLA2.

Clostridium difficile toxins cause acute colitis by disrupting the enterocyte barrier and promoting inflammation. ToxB from C. difficile inactivates Rho family GTPases and causes release of cytokines and eicosanoids by macrophages. We studied the effects of ToxB on GPCR signaling in murine RAW264.7 macrophages and found that ToxB elevated Ca^(2+) responses to Gαi-linked receptors, including the C5aR, but reduced responses to Gαq-linked receptors, including the UDP receptors. Other Rho inhibitors also reduced UDP Ca^(2+) responses, but they did not affect C5a responses, suggesting that ToxB inhibited UDP responses by inhibiting Rho but enhanced C5a responses by other mechanisms. By using PLCβ isoform-deficient BMDM, we found that ToxB inhibited Ca^(2+) signaling through PLCβ4 but enhanced signaling through PLCβ3. Effects of ToxB on GPCR Ca^(2+) responses correlated with GPCR use of PLCβ3 versus PLCβ4. ToxB inhibited UDP Ca^(2+) signaling without reducing InsP3 production or the sensitivity of cellular Ca^(2+) stores to exogenous InsP3, suggesting that ToxB impairs UDP signaling at the level of InsP3/Ca^(2+) coupling. In contrast, ToxB elevated InsP3 production by C5a, and the enhancement of Ca^(2+) signaling by C5a was prevented by inhibition of PLA2 or 5-LOX but not COX, implicating LTs but not prostanoids in the mechanism. In sum, ToxB has opposing, independently regulated effects on Ca^(2+) signaling by different GPCR-linked PLCβ isoforms in macrophages.
Use of a fluorescent probe for the study of ligand binding by the isolated cholinergic receptor of Torpedo californica.

Summary The binding of a fluorescent dye, bis-(3-aminopyridinium) 1, 10-decane to a highly purified isolated acetylcholine receptor from Torpedo californica has been studied. Inhibition of dye binding by various cholinergic agonists and antagonists yields inhibition constants for these compounds. It has been observed that various cations bind to the isolated receptor with high affinity and in a manner consistent with previously observed in vivo effects.
Michelle Dammon Loyalka Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China's Great Urban Migration Berkeley, CA: University of California Press 264 pp., $31.95 paperback ISBN: 978–0–520–28036–6 Publication Date: March 2012

Michelle Dammon Loyalka's timely book reveals the difficult lives and modern dreams of migrant workers in Xi’an, China's ancient erstwhile capital most famous in the Western world for its terracott...
Dynamic relationship between the outer radiation belt and the plasmapause during March–May 2001

[1] The dynamic spatial relationship between the outer radiation belt electrons and the plasmapause during the two-month period 30 March–30 May 2001 is determined using SAMPEX daily averaged fluxes of 2–6 MeV electrons and IMAGE EUV 10-min global images of the plasmasphere. In two events, severe erosion moved the plasmapause inside L = 2 and 2–3 days later the outer belt was located in the normal slot region. We determine on what time scale the outer belt location responds to changes in plasmapause location and find the inner extent of the outer belt matched (to within ΔL ≈ 0.1) with a 3.5-day running average of the plasmapause location, implying a ≥3.5-day loss time scale from pitch-angle scattering by plasmaspheric hiss and EMIC waves.
Multifocal Vulvar Smooth Muscle Tumor with an Unusual Intravascular Growth Pattern and Multiple Local Recurrences in a 10-Year-Old Child: A Diagnostic Dilemma

Smooth muscle tumors of the vulva are rare entities with variable morphologic features and clinical behavior. Our report summarizes the case of a multifocal vulvar smooth muscle tumor of undetermined malignant potential with an unusual intravascular growth pattern and subsequent local recurrence in a 10-year-old girl, the youngest case reported to date, and reviews the specific pathologic findings of that category. Vulvar smooth muscle tumors of undetermined malignant potential represent a diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic challenge. The histologic features of this case were predictive of local recurrence, although the significance of the intravascular growth pattern is still uncertain. The relationship of this multifocal, recurrent tumor to the clinical entity, vulvar leiomyomatosis, is unknown at this time.
Laser damage threshold of diamond films

The possibility that diamond films may inhibit laser-induced damage to optical components in laser systems films was investigated by measuring laser damage thresholds of free-standing diamond film windows, diamond films deposited on silicon substrates, and bare silicon substrate. Polycrystalline diamond films were deposited using a dc plasma-enhanced CVD process. It was found that free-standing diamond films had the highest laser damage threshold at 1064 nm. For a diamond film of 630 nm, the damage threshold was found to be 7 J/sq cm, as compared to a damage threshold of 4.5 J/sq cm for bare silicon, and a low value of 1.5 J/sq cm for the film/substrate combination. The damage mechanism is considered to involve melting or dielectric breakdown induced by laser radiation. The low value of the film/substrate combination is attributed to film stress and conditions of film deposition.
Remittances and economic growth in developing countries

This paper examines the effect of workers' remittances on economic growth in a sample of 39 developing countries using panel data from 1980–2004 resulting in 195 observations. A standard growth model is estimated using both fixed-effects and random-effects approaches. The empirical results show a significant overall fit based on the fixed-effects method as the random-effects model is rejected in statistical tests. Remittances have a positive impact on growth. Since official estimates of remittances used in our analysis tend to understate actual numbers considerably, more accurate data on remittances is likely to reveal an even more pronounced effect of remittances on growth.