cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Individual and group treatment of unipolar depression: Comparison of treatment outcome and identification of predictors of successful treatment outcome

Subjects (N=66) diagnosed as Major or Minor Depressive Disorder (per SADS-RDC) were randomly assigned to an individual or a group social-learning approach to the treatment of depression. Variables that predicted successful treatment outcomes as well as comparative treatment efficacy were investigated. No significant differences in depression outcome were obtained between the two treatments. Subjects in both conditions improved significantly pre to post and maintained their gains at one- and six-month follow-up. Two variables were identified as predictive of successful treatment outcome: they were initial level of depression and number of stressful life events. Combined, these variables accounted for 48% of the variance. Findings support using a group social-learning approach to depression and provide guidelines to identifying those clients most likely to improve from this approach. The need for future research to further facilitate successfully matching clients to treatment is discussed.
The reaction of trichlorostannate(II) and trichlorogermanate(II) with boron trifluoride

Abstract Contrary to an earlier report, the interaction of BF 3 with SnCl 3 − or GeCl 3 − does not lead to the formation of simple complexes such as Cl 3 SnBF 3 . The reaction which does occur may be described as Cl − transfer from a weak Lewis acid, M Cl 2 ( M = Sn or Ge), to a stronger Lewis acid, BF 3 ; viz SnCl 3 − + BF 3 = SnCl 2 + BF 3 Cl − .
Biology of Heilipodus ventralis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), an Argentine Weevil for Biological Control of Snakeweeds (Gutierrezia spp.) in the United States

Abstract The Argentine root-boring weevil Heilipodus ventralis (Hustache) is a candidate for biological control of the perennial snakeweeds Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britton and Rusby and G. microcephala (DeCandolle) A. Gray, poisonous native weeds of rangelands of the southwestern United States. In Argentina, the weevil occurs in semiarid regions from Tucuman south to Chubut, which are climatically similar to broad areas of the southwestern United States. Laboratory-reared females lived ca. 112 days and laid ca. 117 eggs. The eggs hatched in ca. 15 days. The larvae had eight instars; they required ca. 151 days and pupae ca. 27 days to develop. Adult weevils emerged from the taproots in early summer, fed on the leaves and terminals, and oviposited mostly in the crown near the soil line. The feeding of one or more pairs of caged adults killed medium-sized plants. The larvae tunneled downward to the taproot where they pupated. They overwintered in the taproots of these perennial host plants and pupated in the spring. A generation required 1 year but some individuals probably required two growing seasons. At Peninsula Valdes, Chubut, H. ventralis preferred Gutierrezia solbrigii Cabrera to Grindelia chiloensis (Corn.) Cabrera by a ratio of 1.9 to 1.0. In the field there, crowns of large Gu. solbrigii (average 60 cm canopy diameter) contained an average 5.0 larvae per plant, those of small plants (23 cm diameter) contained 1.1 larvae, and plants smaller than 10 cm rarely contained larvae. No insect parasitoids or predators were found attacking any stage. H. ventralis probably evolved on xerophytic, temperate Astereae, from ancestors of the genus Heilipus that fed on species of ancient, hygrophytic, tropical plant families.
SPC01-1: Precoding Schemes for the Downlink of a Multiuser Communication System

We consider the downlink of a multiuser communication system with multiple antennas at the transmitter and at each receiver. A new transmission scheme that employs dirty-paper coding (DPC) with partial interference cancellation is proposed. It is shown that given any user ordering the achievable throughput is asymptotically optimal in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime and for all values of the SNR it improves over the throughput of the zero-forcing dirty-paper coding (ZFDPC) scheme [1]. Due to its implementation complexity issues, we also consider a low complexity linear transmission scheme. A precoding technique where interference is canceled successively at the base station is proposed. In this case, users treat the partial interference at the receiver as an independent noise, and it is shown that compared to other linear transmission schemes such as the block-diagonalization (BD) and the zero-forcing schemes, the achievable throughput of the proposed precoding scheme is improved for all SNR values.
A runaway clot.

A 55 year-old man with a history of coronary artery disease and recent travel, presented to the emergency department complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath. Troponin was negative. EKG sh...
The role of achiral pyrazolidinone templates in enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions: scope, limitations, and conformational insights.

We have evaluated the role of achiral pyrazolidinone templates in conjunction with chiral Lewis acids in room temperature, enantioselective Diels−Alder cycloadditions. The role of the fluxional N(1) substituent was examined, with the bulky 1-naphthylmethyl group providing enantioselectivities up to 99% ee, while templates with smaller fluxional groups gave lower selectivities. High selectivities were also observed in reactions of 7d with chiral Lewis acids derived from relatively small chiral ligands, suggesting the pyrazolidinone templates are capable of relaying stereochemical information from the ligand to the reaction center. Lewis acids capable of adapting square planar geometries, such as Cu(OTf)2, Cu(ClO4)2, and Pd(ClO4)2, were found to be particularly effective at providing high selectivities. Additionally, substitution at the C-5 position of the pyrazolidinone templates has been shown to be critical for optimal selectivity. Reactions of the optimal pyrazolidinone appended with a number of common ...
Infectious complications of acute and chronic GVHD

Immune defects prolonged by treatment regimens for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) include cell-mediated immunity and hypogammaglobulinemia. Infections have become increasingly important during GVHD therapy, paradoxically because the success of immunosuppressive practice has led to improved survival. Infections originate from both endogenous and exogenous sources. Regimens for prevention of infection include: (a) continued surveillance monitoring for infections with reliable diagnostic testing, and (b) antimicrobial prophylaxis for those pathogens without markers that could be followed for surveillance. Repeated episodes of the same infection, diagnosis of a new life-threatening infection, or specific underlying hematologic diagnoses should prompt a look for gross immunoglobulin deficiency that could be corrected in the short term by immunoglobulin therapy. At times, measurement of CD4 + lymphocyte counts will assist in determining whether augmented prophylaxis is warranted. Since their efficacy may be limited, vaccine injections are not given during the immunosuppression associated with GVHD therapy, with the exception of influenza.
“Where we gana go now”: Foraging practices and their meanings among the Belyuen Australian Aborigines

Established approaches to human hunting-gathering behavior have failed to integrate economic, political, and cultural motivations and to describe the rich array of meanings foragers derive from their practices. This essay examines an Australian Aboriginal community's foraging and settlement behavior. It argues that in order to understand the form and meaning of Australian Aboriginal economic practices, researchers must attend to local and regional economic, historical, and ecological constraints on foraging behavior. Equally important are local understandings of the productive potential of foraging activity, including a capacity to maintain the physical and mythic topology of the countryside and human body.
Nuclear Deterrence in the Developing World: A Game-Theoretic Treatment

There has been an increasing debate over the consequences of proliferation and the viability of deterrence in the newly-nuclear states, with the scholarly community generally splitting into two opposed and mutually exclusive groups. One set of scholars believes in the efficacy of deterrence and thus tends to favor proliferation, while another loose grouping of research efforts questions the viability of deterrence in the developing countries. The former group has generally pitched its arguments at an abstract level (primarily through non-formal research), while the latter group has based its critiques on specific countries or on subtopics within the theory of deterrence (such as the fragility of command and control systems). This article is an attempt to synthesize and formalize the key questions and concepts of this debate through both a literature review and a game model of complete and perfect information that allows for crisis escalation at the conventional and nuclear levels of conflict. After noting several logical inconsistencies in the extant pro-proliferation and pro-deterrence research, the article resolves many of the key issues through a formal study of the interactions between threat credibility, threat capability, and the dynamics of escalation. The results show some severe weaknesses in the pro-proliferation school: nuclear blackmail is still a possibility in dyads that experience asymmetric proliferation or in dyads where threat credibility at the nuclear level favors one side; nuclear weapons generally fail to bridge the gap left by incapable conventional forces; and status quo stability is intimately tied to variations in preference orderings, even when both sides possess capable nuclear threats. Contrary to the findings of the pro-proliferation school, deterrence between developing countries is neither simple nor preordained.
The DEAD box protein Dhh1 stimulates the decapping enzyme Dcp1.

An important control step in the regulation of cytoplasmic mRNA turnover is the removal of the m7G cap structure at the 5′ end of the message. Here, we describe the functional characterization of Dhh1, a highly conserved member of the family of DEAD box-containing proteins, as a regulator of mRNA decapping in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Dhh1 is a cytoplasmic protein and is shown to be in a complex with the mRNA degradation factor Pat1/Mtr1 and with the 5′–3′ exoribonuclease Xrn1. Dhh1 specifically affects mRNA turnover in the deadenylation-dependent decay pathway, but does not act on the degradation of nonsense-containing mRNAs. Cells that lack dhh1 accumulate degradation intermediates that have lost their poly(A) tail but contain an intact 5′ cap structure, suggesting that Dhh1 is required for efficient decapping in vivo. Furthermore, recombinant Dhh1 is able to stimulate the activity of the purified decapping enzyme Dcp1 in an in vitro decapping assay. We propose that the DEAD box protein Dhh1 regulates the access of the decapping enzyme to the m7G cap by modulating the structure at the 5′ end of mRNAs.
Two-photon absorption coefficients in uv window and coating materials.

The two-photon absorption coefficients of some uv transmitting window and coating materials are measured at 355 nm and 266 nm. In materials with band gaps larger than 2ħω, the nonlinear absorption is below the detection limit of 3 × 10−6 cm/MW. CdF2 has a two-photon absorption coefficient 1.6 × 10−3 cm/MW at 266 nm, which is comparable with that of the alkali-halides. The newly developed window material LiYF4 has no detectable nonlinear loss at 266 nm.
Prosthetic Fistula Survival and Complications in Hemodialysis Patients: Effects of Diabetes and Age

Current trends in hemodialysis include increases in patient age, prevalence of diabetes, and use of high-efficiency dialysis. These patients often require prosthetic fistulas for vascular access. Little is known about fistula survival and complications in this setting. Hemodialysis patients at our center receiving new prosthetic fistulas between January 1, 1988 and January 1, 1991 were studied. Sixty-five prosthetic fistulas were placed in 50 nondiabetic and 73 in 51 diabetic patients. There were no differences in age, sex, race, or access type or location in patients with or without diabetes. Seventeen percent of fistulas were lost in nondiabetic compared with 32% diabetic patients (P
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy for Mild Heart Failure The Time Has Come

Current guidelines recommend cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), previously known as biventricular pacing, in patients with left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction [EF] ≤35%), QRS prolongation (≥120 ms), and New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV heart failure (HF).1 These recommendations come after multiple prospective, randomized trials demonstrated the benefits of CRT in advanced HF that included >6000 subjects. These initial trials targeted secondary prevention in the highest-risk cohorts, which was similar to the development of many other cardiovascular therapies. Such examples include implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy initially used only for cardiac arrest survivors or lipid-lowering therapy restricted to use after myocardial infarction. Today a majority of patients receive these therapies as primary prevention. Thus, it is logical and not surprising that a therapy as successful as CRT would be evaluated in subjects with mild HF. Two such studies were published recently: the Resynchronization Reverses Remodeling in Systolic Left Ventricular Dysfunction (REVERSE) study and the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (MADIT-CRT).2–5 Taken together, these trials randomized 2430 subjects with NYHA class I or II HF to CRT or to no CRT. The results show beneficial effects of CRT very similar to those observed for severe HF cohorts. Specifically, this therapy improves functional status, reduces HF hospitalizations, and promotes reverse remodeling. The results from REVERSE and MADIT-CRT provide strong, new support to expand the use of CRT to all patients with HF and a wide QRS. Strong evidence exists to support the ability of CRT to cause LV reverse remodeling; specifically, decreased LV end-systolic volume (ESV) and end-diastolic diameter, increased LV EF, and decreased mitral valve regurgitation are observed.6 Most importantly, data also demonstrate reduction in HF hospitalizations and all-cause morbidity and mortality with long-term follow-up.7–9 Response …
Educating Engineering Professors in Education

Engineering graduates with Ph.D. degrees need to know how to teach for both academic and industrial careers. Ideally, education in pedagogy will occur during graduate school. Research has an appropriate role in universities, but we need to ensure that all engineering professors are “good enough” teachers. Students can learn how to teach through TA training, a course in educational methods in engineering, supervised internships, and a combination of these methods. An action plan to improve teaching is presented.
Use of the Service Attribute Matrix To Measure Consumer Satisfaction

Albrecht and Bradford's service attribute matrix was used to determine at tributes leading to customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction in a college university foodservice. Customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction was measured from a self-admin istered questionnaire. Two hundred and twelve questionnaires were returned for a response rate of 66.7%. In general, the most important attributes to the customers in the university cafeteria were quality of food, convenient location, cleanliness, and reasonable price. Attributes for each meal were sorted into the matrix according to their level of importance and the satisfaction score. Competitive strengths were found for all meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) in quality of food, cleanliness, convenient location, and nutritious food categories, whereas a competitive vulner ability in the category of the price charged was found for two of the meals (lunch and dinner). The Albrecht and Bradford model appears to be useful in analyzing customer satisfaction/dissatisfac...
Conservation Laws for Thermo or Poroelasticity

It is the purpose of the present paper to establish conservation laws for time-independent and time-dependent thermoelasticity in two dimensions via the NA method. Due to the analogy between the mechanics of a thermoelastic and a poroelastic medium, the results obtained can be applied to studies of poroelasticity. The conservation laws derived here should prove useful in studies of fracture and defects in a linear elastic body under the influence of nonuniform temperature fields and in a porous elastic solid whose pores are filled with a compressible viscous fluid. In particular, a path-independent integral was derived which represents the energy release rate accompanying crack growth.
Collisions of boosted black holes: Perturbation theory prediction of gravitational radiation.

We consider general relativistic Cauchy data representing two nonspinning, equal-mass black holes boosted toward each other. When the black holes are close enough to each other and their momentum is sufficiently high, an encompassing apparent horizon is present so the system can be viewed as a single, perturbed black hole. We employ gauge-invariant perturbation theory, and integrate the Zerilli equation to analyze these time-asymmetric data sets and compute gravitational waveforms and emitted energies. When coupled with a simple Newtonian analysis of the infall trajectory, we find striking agreement between the perturbation calculation of emitted energies and the results of fully general relativistic numerical simulations of time-symmetric initial data.
Gastrulation in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract Gastrulation in Caenorhabditis elegans has been described by following the movements of individual nuclei in living embryos by Nomarski microscopy. Gastrulation starts in the 26-cell stage when the two gut precursors, Ea and Ep, move into the blastocoele. The migration of Ea and Ep does not depend on interactions with specific neighboring cells and appears to rely on the earlier fate specification of the E lineage. In particular, the long cell cycle length of Ea and Ep appears important for gastrulation. Later in embryogenesis, the precursors to the germline, muscle and pharynx join the E descendants in the interior. As in other organisms, the movement of gastrulation permit novel cell contacts that are important for the specification of certain cell fates.
Non-Markovian fermionic stochastic Schrödinger equation for open system dynamics

This paper presents an exact Grassmann stochastic Schr\"odinger equation for the dynamics of an open fermionic quantum system coupled to a reservoir consisting of a finite or infinite number of fermions. We use this stochastic Schr\"odinger equation as a generic open system tool to derive the exact master equation for an electronic system strongly coupled to fermionic reservoirs. The generality and applicability of this Grassmann stochastic approach are justified and exemplified by several quantum fermionic system problems concerning quantum coherence coupled to vacuum or finite-temperature fermionic reservoirs. Our studies show that the quantum coherence property of a quantum dot system can be profoundly modified by the environmental memory.
Numerical analysis and optimization of divertor cooling system

Novel divertor cooling system concept is currently under development at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). This concept utilizes supercritical carbon dioxide as a coolant for the liquid lithium filled porous divertor front plate. Coolant is flowing in closed loop in the T tube type channel. Application of CO2 eliminates safety concerns associated with water cooling of liquid lithium systems, and promises higher overall efficiency compared to systems using He as a coolant Numerical analysis of divertor system initial configuration was performed using ANSYS software. Initially conjugated heat transfer problem was solved involving computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the coolant flow, and heat transfer in the coolant and solid regions of the cooling system. Redlich Kwong real gas model was used for equation of state of supercritical CO2 together with temperature and pressure dependent transport properties. Porous region filled with liquid lithium was modeled as a solid body with liquid lithium properties. Evaporation of liquid lithium from the front face was included via special temperature dependent boundary condition. Results of CFD and heat transfer analysis were used as external conditions for structural analysis of the system components. Simulations were performed within ANSYS Workbench framework using ANSYS CFX for conjugated heat transfer and CFD analysis, and ANSYS Mechanical for structural analysis. Initial results were obtained using simplified 2D model of the cooling system. 2D model allowed direct comparison with previous cooling concepts which use He as a coolant. Optimization of the channel geometry in 2D allowed increase in efficiency of the cooling system by reducing the total pressure drop in the coolant flow. Optimized geometrical parameters were used to create a 3D model of the cooling system which eventually can be implemented and tested experimentally. 3D numerical simulation will be used to validate design variants of the divertor cooling system.
TQ: a language for specifying programming problems

A central problem in designing a specification language for programming problems is that of making it easy to use by those people with very little or no knowledge of programming. This paper describes a specification language which has been designed with that idea in mind. The language has sufficient power to represent a large class of programming problems, is easy to use, and problems represented in it are directly legible. The language combines surface forms with semantic primitives underlying natural language. This results in a representation that, although far from natural language surface forms, is easily legible even by those people who have had a minimum exposure to the language.
Quality Improvement Education for Health Professionals A Systematic Review

Effective quality improvement (QI) education should improve patient care, but many curriculum studies do not include clinical measures. The research team evaluated the prevalence of QI curricula wi...
PSEUDO-EPITHELIOMATOUS KERATOTIC AND MICACEOUS BALANITIS

Balanitis is an inflammatory condition of the glans penis that is most frequently associated with candidal infection when a n infectious etiology is found. Although balanitis is common, it is rarely associated with penile neoplasms. Pseudo-epitheliomatous keratotic and micaceous balanitis is a pathological and clinical description of an exceedingly rare condition. The initial report of Lortat-Jacob and Civatte suggested that pseudo-epitheliomatous keratotic and micaceous balanitis was benign, yet they subsequently described a malignant change in their patient.’ More recently others have also documented the development of penile neoplasms in patients with this condition.2.” We report the tenth case of pseudo-epitheliomatous keratotic and micaceous balanitis. epitheliomatous keratotic and micaceous balanitis is unknown, yet most patients are uncircumcised and older than 50 years. Furthermore, to our knowledge there have been no reports of lymph node involvement or metastases in these cases. The clinical differential diagnosis includes balanitis, balanitis xerotica obliterans, genital leukoplakia, lichen planus, kraurosis penis, scleroderma, penile horns, keratoacanthoma, giant condyloma, erythroplasia of Queyrat, Bowen’s disease and squamous cell carcinoma. Treatment of biopsy proved pseudo-epitheliomatous keratotic and micaceous balanitis should be determined by the severity of the disease. We agree with Krunic et a1 that
Likeability and Abuse Liability of Commonly Prescribed Opioids

Introduction Nonmedical use of prescription opioid analgesics is associated with epidemic levels of morbidity and mortality. There are several factors that affect the abuse liability of the various opioids, including likability or the pleasurable subjective effects. Due to rising public health concerns over escalating prescription opioid abuse, we sought to examine the literature about abuse liability with a specific focus on likability studies.
Results of aperture area comparisons for exo-atmospheric total solar irradiance measurements.

Exo-atmospheric solar irradiance measurements made by the solar irradiance community since 1978 have incorporated limiting apertures with diameters measured by a number of metrology laboratories using a variety of techniques. Knowledge of the aperture area is a critical component in the conversion of radiant flux measurements to solar irradiance. A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) sponsored international comparison of aperture area measurements of limiting apertures provided by solar irradiance researchers was performed, the effort being executed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in coordination with the EOS Project Science Office. Apertures that had institutional heritage with historical solar irradiance measurements were measured using the absolute aperture measurement facility at NIST. The measurement technique employed noncontact video microscopy using high-accuracy translation stages. We have quantified the differences between the participating institutions’ aperture area measurements and find no evidence to support the hypothesis that preflight aperture area measurements were the root cause of discrepancies in long-term total solar irradiance satellite measurements. Another result is the assessment of uncertainties assigned to methods used by participants. We find that uncertainties assigned to a participant’s values may be underestimated.
Differential coupling of Mu-competitive and Mu-noncompetitive delta opiate receptors to guanine nucleotide binding proteins in rat brain membranes

Abstract The effects of fentanyl isothiocyanate (FIT) and pertussis toxin on the binding of [ 3 H] d -Ala 2 , d -Leu 5 -enkephalin ([ 3 H]DADLE) to rat brain membranes were compared. The site of action of pertussis toxin was confirmed by the labeling of a 41,000 dalton protein in the presence of [α- 32 P]NAD. Both reagents produced inhibition of [ 3 H]DADLE binding when binding was assayed in 10 mM Tris-HCl buffer alone. FIT inhibited binding 91% whereas pertussis toxin treatment resulted in 27% inhibition. However, when binding was assayed in 10 mM Tris-HCl containing SMG (100 mM NaCl, 3 mM manganese acetate, and 2 μM guanosine triphosphate), inhibition due to both reagents was attenuated markedly: 66% for FIT and 5% for toxin. In addition, both reagents markedly potentiated enhancement of binding by SMG. Thus, the effects of FIT and pertussis toxin on [ 3 H]DADLE binding were qualitatively similar. These results suggest that FIT and pertussis toxin affect binding of [ 3 H]DADLE to the same population of delta receptors. This was further supported by the observation that treatment of membranes with FIT prior to pertussis toxin treatment blocked the effect of toxin on [ 3 H]DADLE binding. FIT selectively eliminates the SMG-insensitive, mu-competitive [ 3 H]DADLE binding site [Rothman et al., Neuropeptides 4 , 201 (1984); Rothman et al., Molec. Pharmac. 27 , 399 (1985)]. These results indicate that this site is coupled to G protein substrates for pertussis toxin and that it mediates the inhibitory effects of delta ligands on adenylate cyclase. The FIT-insensitive, SMG-sensitive munoncompetitive [ 3 H]DADLE site appears not to be coupled to G protein substrates for pertussis toxin and may mediate some other biochemical effects of delta ligands.
Constitutional angst: Does American democracy work?

The current state of democracy in the United States is estimated against seven characteristics held to define polyarchies: elected officials, inclusive suffrage, the right to run for office, free and fair elections, freedom of expression, alternative information and associational autonomy. The conclusion is that the contemporary United States meets these standards.
Cash Flows at Amazon.com

ABSTRACT: This instructional case illustrates how Amazon.com's strategy has evolved over time and how these characteristics are reflected in the financial statements. A particular emphasis is placed on the cash flow statement. Students evaluate the cash flow statement and examine its articulation with the other financial statements. Students create a direct method cash flow statement in the year of Amazon.com's initial public offering using the information available in the financial statements.
URINE AND PLASMA CORTICOSTEROIDS, PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS, AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFENSES*

Abstract Characteristic levels of 33 psychological and 2 endocrine variables (urinary and plasma 17-OHCS) were estimated in a ‘normal’ population consisting of 22 men and 24 women under everyday life circumstances. All pairs of variables were correlated across subjects. Previous reports of the lack of a significant correlation between urinary and plasma 17-OHCS were confirmed. Hence the 2 variables cannot be held to provide similar information in such subjects. The significant psychological correlates of urinary 17-OHCS were more numerous and more consistent across sexes that the correlates of plasma 17-OHCS. The best psychological predictors of urinary 17-OHCS were scores on the Taylor Anxiety Scale (positively related), the Leary Hostility Scale (positively related) and the Nowlis Social Affection Scale (negatively related). The previously reported inverse relationship between urinary 17-OHCS and ‘Effectiveness of Psychological Defenses’ was confirmed in women, not in men. No relationship was found between Effectiveness of Defenses and plasma 17-OHCS. The concept, Effectivenss of Defenses as used here referred to overall operation of character defenses rather than to defenses against a specific external challenge, as was true in other studies. Pending further refinements of concept and technique, only cautious generalizations should be made from defenses against an external challenge to defenses in general.
Determination of nonlinear stiffness with application to random vibration of geometrically nonlinear structures

A novel method for determining the nonlinear modal stiffness coefficients for an arbitrary finite element model is presented. The method is applicable to a wide class of problems exhibiting bending-membrane coupling and is suitable for use with commercial finite element codes having a geometrically nonlinear static capability. The equations of motion are written in modal coordinates with the nonlinear stiffness force components written as the product of second and third order modal displacements multiplied by unknown coefficients. Prescription of particular displacement fields renders a series of inverse linear and nonlinear static problems, which are solved to determine the unknown coefficients. Verification of stiffness coefficients found using this method and their use in equivalent linearization random vibration analysis are presented.
Pruritus and cutaneous inflammatory conditions in HIV disease

Inflammatory and pruritic conditions of the skin are common features of HIV disease. A number of these are specific to HIV infection, whereas others that are seen in the general population may demonstrate increased prevalence or severity in association with HIV. Some conditions, such as lichen planus, demonstrate a decreased prevalence in HIV disease. Clinically, the pattern of inflammatory and pruritic conditions associated with HIV infection reflects not anergy, but rather an inflammatory state. This is mirrored by findings indicating significant disruption of the normal cytokine environment and cell populations within the immune system in HIV-infected patients. Progression in HIV disease is associated with a shift in cytokines from a TH1 to a TH2 predominant state,1 and hypereosinophilia and increased levels of IgE are seen in advanced disease.2,3 Diagnosis can usually be made based on morphology; see Table 1. Advances in the treatment of HIV infection have altered the spectrum of inflammatory conditions seen in patients on therapy, and they have to a great extent disrupted the classic associations between HIV disease parameters and the appearance of given conditions. While the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has occasioned a dramatic reduction in the prevalence of certain previously common conditions, other conditions once associated with advanced disease are now seen in patients with relatively higher CD4 counts. This implies a persistent immune dysfunction despite improving HIV disease parameters, and it suggests that the partial reconstitution of the immune system associated with HAART may not impart the same immunological behavior as an undamaged immune system. Irregularities in the responses of the reconstituted immune system will likely evolve as patients remain on HAART for longer periods, and the pattern of cutaneous conditions seen in the HIV-positive population may change accordingly. Therapy for pruritus in HIV infection includes standard modalities used in HIV-negative patients. Additionally, therapies have emerged for the treatment of conditions specific to HIV disease, and for those conditions whose clinical pattern may differ in association with HIV. Many drugs must be used with caution in HIV patients, who may be susceptible to hypersensitivity reactions, drug interactions, and idiosyncratic reactions.
Genome-wide analysis of loss of heterozygosity and copy number amplification in uterine leiomyomas using the 100K single nucleotide polymorphism array

Abstract Purpose Uterine leiomyomas (fibroids) are benign smooth muscle tumors commonly found among reproductive-aged women. Though benign, these tumors are the leading indication for hysterectomies in the United States and cause significant morbidity. Despite the importance of this tumor in women's health, relatively little is known about the molecular etiology. Methods In this study, we used the Affymetrix 100K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip to assess whether the pattern and frequency of genome-wide loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and copy number amplifications is associated with clinical heterogeneity. Results Thirty-seven tumors with varying sizes and histology from eleven patients were analyzed. LOH was observed in 4/37 tumors (10.8%) and significantly associated with large-sized tumors (p Conclusions Despite the use of a high-density SNP platform, our results suggest that genome-wide LOH and copy number amplifications are infrequent events and generally do not determine clinical and histologic characteristics of this disease.
Gaps between industry expectations and the abilities of graduates

Although computer science, information systems, and information technology educators often do an exemplary job of preparing their students for jobs in industry or for further education, there are still many areas where these students do not possess the necessary skills or knowledge based on the expectations of employers or academia. These gaps between the abilities of graduating students and those expected to have can prevent them from succeeding in their careers. This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review conducted to determine which areas graduating students most frequently fall short of the expectations of industry or macademia. The results of this review indicate that graduating students are lacking in many different areas, including technical abilities (design, testing, configuration management tools, etc.) personal skills (communication, teamwork, etc.) and professional qualities (e.g. ethics). By raising awareness of these areas, it is possible for educators to become aware of areas where students most frequently fail to meet expectations and to make curriculum changes or adjustments to address these problems
Comparing Height-Adjusted Waist Circumference Indices: The Fels Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: While researchers are increasingly recognizing the importance of adjusting waist circumference (WC) for height, no standard has yet been established. In this study we contrast three standard methods for indexing WC by height (using height, root-height and height-squared) via comparisons with age-specific optimal indices. Study Design and Setting: Measurements from 722 male and 746 female Caucasian participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study were used. The three standard waist-circumference indices (as well as an optimal index) were determined for ages 2 through 18, and for every decade thereafter to 70 years of age. Pearson correlations were used to assess the suitability of all indices. Results: The three standard indices remain correlated with the original WC measures, though each was associ-ated with height at some ages. Waist-to-height ratio is suitable for some childhood ages (boys: 5 - 9, 13 - 16; girls: 4 - 7, 9, 11 - 14) but not for adult ages; Root-height works well mostly for older teenage children and adults but not in early childhood and adolescence; Height-squared is nowhere suitable. In both men and women, the optimal indexing factor ranged between root-height and height-squared in childhood, and is close to root-height in adulthood. Conclusions: No one index is most suitable, as WC indexed by root-height is suitable for use with measurements from teenage children and adults, while waist-to-height ratio is generally suitable for use in children. WC indexed by height-squared is nowhere suitable.
Reasoning about taxonomies and articulations

Taxonomically organized data pervade science, business and everyday life. Unfortunately, taxonomies are often underspecified, limiting their utility in contexts such as data integration, information navigation and autonomous agent communication. This work formalizes taxonomies and relationships between them as formulas in logic. This formalization concretizes notions such as consistency and inconsistency of taxonomies and articulations (inter-taxonomic relations) between them, enables the derivation of new articulations based on a given set of taxonomies and articulations and provides a framework for testing assumptions about underspecified taxonomies.Given the typical intractability of reasoning with taxonomies and articulations, this research investigates many optimizations: from those that reduce the search space, to those that leverage parallel processing, to those investigating logics more tractable than first-order logic (e.g., monadic first-order logic, propositional logic, description logics, and subsets of the RCC-5 spatial algebra). Finally, in addition to reasoning with taxonomies and articulations, this research investigates how to repair inconsistent taxonomies and articulations, how to explain inconsistencies and discovered relations, and how to merge taxonomies given articulations. Critical to this research is the development of a framework for testing logics and support for the development of taxonomies and articulations. This framework, CleanTax is already well under way and has been used to study articulations between two large-scale biological taxonomies.
Tetracyanoquinodimethan Derivatives of Cyanine Dyes: A Model for Organic Superconductors?

Abstract Recently, Little suggested that certain organic materials could act as superconductors at temperatures much higher than the conventional inorganic superconductors. In view of the complicated nature of the proposed compounds it was felt that this idea could only be tested directly if a simpler system could be found. For that purpose a number of TCNQ derivatives of cyanine dyes were prepared and their electrical conductivities were measured in a simple way. It turned out that their conductivities (2.5 × 10−3 to 8 × 10−11 ω−1cm−1) are comparable to those of other TCNQ derivatives. There were no indications of an enhanced conductivity due to the presence of the highly polarizable cyanine cations.
The “Gay Comfort Level”: Examining a Media Advocacy Group's Efforts to Combat Youth Homophobia

This article scrutinizes the efforts of a media advocacy group to redress the stigma of youth homosexuality among United States youth: a report published in 2003 by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called, “How Youth Media Can Help Combat Homophobia Among American Teenagers.” The report, authored by Rodger Streitmatter, concluded that media makers should be encouraged to feature morally-upstanding lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth who struggled to accept their sexuality. Arguing that the report's conclusion concurs with a “politics of assimilation,” which ultimately works against the aims of gay rights, an alternative approach is offered through this article, critical media literacy, for challenging youth homophobia.
Special Education Teaching as a Profession: Lessons Learned From Occupations That Have Achieved Full Professional Standing

In this article, issues surrounding the status of special education teaching as a profession are investigated. First, the authors consider what makes an occupation a profession and examine the range of views of professions in American society. Second, the authors describe the evolution and developmental history of three established professions: medicine, law, and engineering. The authors then consider the developmental status of special education in relation to the histories of these three established professions. Using this information, the authors consider issues that professions typically face as they develop, including personnel supply and demand; public perception and status; and the role of the profession in personnel preparation. The authors conclude this article with a discussion of actions that will be necessary if special education teaching is to achieve the status of a profession.
How guidance affects student engagement with an interactive simulation

We studied how students engaged with an interactive simulation in a classroom setting and how that engagement was affected by the design of a guiding activity. Students (n = 210) completed a written activity using an interactive simulation in second semester undergraduate general chemistry recitations. The same simulation – PhET Interactive Simulations' Acid–Base Solutions – was used with three written activities, designated as Heavy Guidance (HG), Moderate Guidance (MG), or Light Guidance (LG). We collected mouse click data and classroom field notes to assess student engagement with each type of activity. Simulation features were characterized as “prompted” or “exploratory” based on the presence or absence of explicit guidance in the written activity to use that feature. While students in every condition were engaged with the simulation and their activity, student interaction with “exploratory” features decreased significantly when more guidance was provided (LG = 85%, MG = 68%, HG = 9%, p < 0.0005). Lighter guidance groups explored more and attended to their simulation interactions, indicated by a redraw task in the week after use. These results indicate that activity design – in terms of guidance level – can strongly influence student exploration with an interactive simulation. We discuss the implications of these results for the design of activities to accompany simulations, including how to increase student practice in scientific inquiry.
Increasing the resolution of single pair fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements in solution via molecular cytometry.

We report a method to increase the resolution of single pair fluorescence resonance energy transfer (spFRET) measurements in aqueous solutions. Solution-based spFRET measurements of fluorescently labeled biological molecules (proteins, RNA, DNA) are often used to obtain histograms of molecular conformation without resorting to sample immobilization. However, for solution-phase spFRET studies, the number of photons detected from a single molecule as it diffuses through an open confocal volume element are quite limited. An “average” transit may yield on the order of 40 photons. Shot noise on the number of detected photons substantially limits the resolution of the measurement. The method reported here uses a hydrodynamically focused sample stream to ensure molecules traverse the full width of an excitation laser beam. This substantially increases the average number of photons detected per molecular transit (∼85 photons/molecule), which increases measurement precision. In addition, this method minimizes anot...
Characteristics of Large Area CCD Imaging Systems

A review is presented of rear-illuminated CCD imagers having 400 × 400 resolution elements fabricated with a double level anodized aluminum electrode system. The application of these imagers is to deep space photography where array data rates of 10KHz are required and an operating temperature of -40°C is possible. The performance of the 400 × 400 will be discussed and comparisons made to the operating parameters of a smaller 160 × 100 array fabricated with the same technology. Finally, a review of effects of gamma radiation on device performance will be presented.
Vitamin D binding protein: Genomic structure, functional domains, and mRNA expression in tissues

The vitamin D binding protein (DBP), alternatively known as Gc-globulin, is a member of the albumin (ALB) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene family. The rat DBP gene is expressed at high levels in liver and at moderate levels in kidney, testis, abdominal fat, and yolk sac. Very low levels of DBP as well as ALB and AFP transcripts can be detected in all other tissues studied by the reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction technique. During development, liver DBP gene transcripts are detectable at 14 days of gestation and levels rise gradually until adulthood in parallel with ALB. DBP present on the surface of U937 monocyte-derived cells is acquired from serum, suggesting cell surface binding sites for DBP. The rat DBP gene has been cloned and characterized. It spans 35 kb and contains 13 exons and 12 introns. The DBP gene contains two fewer exons than the ALB or AFP genes, accounting for the shortest size of its mRNA and protein product. Its 5'-flanking region contains a high degree of structural similarity to both ALB and AFP promoters.
Outcomes of treatment of childhood achalasia

Abstract Purpose The optimal management of achalasia in children and adolescents remains unclear. The aim of this study was to review a single institution's experience with endoscopic and surgical interventions in children with achalasia. Methods A retrospective review was conducted of the medical records of children treated for achalasia from 1978 to 2008. Patient demographics and interventions were reviewed. Outcomes after procedural intervention were evaluated. Results Thirty-five patients with achalasia were identified, and data were available for 34 (age, 13 ± 6 years; male, 62%). Eighteen patients underwent esophageal dilation (ED), and 16 patients underwent Heller myotomy (HM). Follow-up was available for 30 patients (ED, 15; HM, 15). There was symptom recurrence in 15 of 15 ED cases and 8 (53%) of 15 HM cases ( P P Conclusions Heller myotomy may provide more durable long-term outcomes, as defined by symptom recurrence and need for subsequent intervention, and may be considered the procedure of choice.