cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cognitive Strategy Use and Measured Numeric Ability in Immediate- and Long-Term Recall of Everyday Numeric Information

The goals of this study were to assess the primary effects of the use of cognitive strategy and a combined measure of numeric ability on recall of every-day numeric information (i.e. prices). Additionally, numeric ability was assessed as a moderator in the relationship between strategy use and memory for prices. One hundred participants memorized twelve prices that varied from 1 to 6 digits; they recalled these immediately and after 7 days. The use of strategies, assessed through self-report, was associated with better overall recall, but not forgetting. Numeric ability was not associated with either better overall recall or forgetting. A small moderating interaction was found, in which higher levels of numeric ability enhanced the beneficial effects of strategy use on overall recall. Exploratory analyses found two further small moderating interactions: simple strategy use enhanced overall recall at higher levels of numeric ability, compared to complex strategy use; and complex strategy use was associated with lower levels of forgetting, but only at higher levels of numeric ability, compared to the simple strategy use. These results provide support for an objective measure of numeric ability, as well as adding to the literature on memory and the benefits of cognitive strategy use.
Intraoperative imprint cytology for evaluation of mediastinal lymphadenopathy

Frozen-section (FS) analysis of mediastinal lymph nodes is commonly used in the staging of lung cancer and the evaluation of diagnostic tissue at mediastinoscopy. This approach facilitates definitive surgical intervention in a single operation and reduces costs. However, FS analysis can be labor intensive for the pathology department and time-consuming while the patient is anesthetized. Imprint cytology is more rapid than the FS procedure (average, 2 minutes versus 11 minutes per node) and allows more extensive sampling of the specimen. In this prospective study, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of imprint cytology and permanent sections on 121 mediastinal lymph nodes from 38 patients. There were no false-positive results and one false-negative result, although that patient was correctly classified based on positive cytology from another node. The sensitivity was 96.6%, the specificity was 100%, and the predictive value of a positive result was 100%, as no false-positives results were observed. The predictive value of a negative result was 98.9%, and the overall efficiency was 99.2%. These results compare favorably with those in other studies comparing the diagnostic accuracy of imprint cytology with that of FS analysis and with reported accuracy rates of FS technique. Our findings confirm the usefulness of this technique as an adjunct or substitute for FS analysis in the intraoperative pathologic evaluation of mediastinal lymphadenopathy.
Light Shifts Due to Real Transitions in Optically Pumped Alkali Atoms

Light shifts and line narrowings due to real transitions in alkali atoms have been calculated for well-resolved $\ensuremath{\Delta}m=0$, $\ensuremath{\Delta}F=1$ transitions between ground-state sublevels. The shifts vary in a systematic way for the various $\ensuremath{\Delta}m=1$ transitions. Resonant increases in the magnitude of the shift occur in the neighborhood of certain critical magnetic fields. The calculations are in excellent agreement with the recent experimental results of White, Hughes, Hayne, and Robinson.
When Form and Function Combine: Hedonizing Business Information Systems for Enhanced Ease of Use

The Information Systems (IS) discipline has so far focused largely on Utilitarian aspects rather than the Hedonic. The reason might lie in the computing disciplines' origins in disciplines that emphasize hard science, efficiency, and utility [44]. Although there are "Hedonic Information Systems", they have been developed primarily for non-business use of computing such as those for entertainment, socialization, and lifestyle augmentation. In this article it is suggested that the time is ripe for introducing Hedonic elements even in those systems designed for business use. Further the study discovers, models, and tests the role of hedonic and utilitarian attributes of IS in engendering ease of use perceptions, a primary predictor of usability and actual system use. The results of the study provide support for the relevance of providing Hedonic attributes in enhancing the ease of use perception of business users of IS products.
Evaluation of Trickle Bed Air Biofilter Performance as a Function of Inlet VOC Concentration and Loading, and Biomass Control

ABSTRACT The 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act have stimulated strong interest in the use of biofiltration for the economical, engineered control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in effluent air streams. Trickle bed air biofilters (TBABs) are especially applicable for treating VOCs at high loadings. For long-term, stable operation of highly loaded TBABs, removal of excess accumulated bio-mass is essential. Our previous research demonstrated that suitable biomass control for TBABs was achievable by periodic backwashing of the biofilter medium. Backwashing was performed by fluidizing the pelletized biological attachment medium with warm water to about a 40% bed expansion. This paper presents an evaluation of the impact of backwashing on the performance of four such TBABs highly loaded with toluene. The inlet VOC concentrations studied were 250 and 500 ppmv toluene, and the loadings were 4.1 and 6.2 kg COD/m3 day (55 and 83 g toluene/m3 hr). Loading is defined as kg of chemical oxygen demand per cubic...
Degeneration of Purkinje cells in parasagittal zones of the cerebellar vermis after treatment with ibogaine or harmaline.

Abstract The indole alkaloids ibogaine and harmaline are β-carboline derivatives that cause both hallucinations and tremor. Reports that ibogaine may have potent anti-addictive properties have led to initiatives that it be tested for the treatment of opiate and cocaine addiction. In this study, ibogaine-treated rats were analysed for evidence of neurotoxic effects because human clinical trials of ibogaine have been proposed. We recently found that ibogaine induces a marked glial reaction in the cerebellum with activated astrocytes and microglia aligned in parasagittal stripes within the vermis. 28 Based on those findings, the present study was conducted to investigate whether ibogaine may cause neuronal injury or degeneration. The results demonstrate that, after treatment with ibogaine or harmaline, a subset of Purkinje cells in the vermis degenerates. We observed a loss of the neuronal proteins microtubule-associated protein 2 and calbindin co-extensive with loss of Nissl-stained Purkinje cell bodies. Argyrophilic staining of Purkinje cell bodies, dendrites and axons was obtained with the Gallyas reduced silver method for degenerating neurons. Degenerating neurons were confined to narrow parasagittal stripes within the vermis. We conclude that both ibogaine and harmaline have selective neurotoxic effects which lead to degeneration of Purkinje cells in the cerebellar vermis. The longitudinal stripes of neuronal damage may be related to the parasagittal organization of the olivocerebellar climbing fiber projection. Since these drugs produce sustained activation of inferior olivary neurons, we hypothesize that release of an excitatory amino add from climbing fiber synaptic terminals may lead to excitotoxic degeneration of Purkinje cells.
Trypsin-sensitive proteins associated with the process of unstable DNA release from human lymphocytes

Abstract We investigated the mechanism of trypsin-induced release of unstable DNA sequences from phytohemagglutinin-stimulated human lymphocytes. Trypsin preferentially hydrolysed two lymphocyte surface protein bands with molecular weights of 15000 and 13000 that were identified by lactoperoxidase iodination. These proteins became identifiable coincident with the onset of the cells' ability to release DNA. The rate of their hydrolysis, the rate of appearance of their hydrolysis products in the medium, and the rate of DNA release, were essentially the same. Plasmin was less than one-tenth as efficient as trypsin both in hydrolysing the two proteins and in releasing DNA. Cells incubated with trypsin in the presence of 10 mM magnesium did not release DNA and the two iodinated protein bands were not altered. Conversely, cells incubated in the absence of divalent cations released DNA spontaneously and the two iodinated proteins were released intact into the medium. Thus release of DNA and hydrolysis or release of the two trypsin-sensitive iodinated protein bands occurred in parallel. The two iodinated protein bands were associated with nuclei (as is the trypsin-releasable DNA) when cells were fractionated into cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions. In addition, these iodinated proteins co-isolated with histones and co-electrophoresed with histones H3 and H2b (comprising together the 15000 D band) and H4 (comprising the 13000 D band) in two gel systems. Thus, the iodinated proteins have a basic charge and are likely to be histones themselves. The organization of releasable DNA with these histone-like proteins differed from chromatin. Prior to release, 70–80% of releasable DNA was solubilized by DNase I, indicating that it was not protected by nucleosomes. The 20–30% resistant to DNase I still could be released by trypsin and was then completely susceptible to that enzyme. Although smaller in size than ‘intact’ released DNA, this DNase-resistant ‘interior’ portion remained very large, averaging > 1000 bases in length as assessed on alkaline sucrose gradients. In contrast, nucleosome-protected DNase-resistant DNA from chromatin averaged 200 bases in length. From recovery of hydrolysis peptides in the incubation medium we estimated that less than 1.5% of the cell content of either H3 or H4 was hydrolysed by trypsin under conditions where about 15% of the DNA was released. Thus, trypsin-releasable DNA was associated with histone-like proteins at a limited number of sites, perhaps just one. Hydrolysis of this ‘nucleosome’ by trypsin was associated with prompt release of the DNA from the cell. A portion of releasable DNA was protected from DNase I probably by virtue of its intracellular location and clearly not just because it had clusters of nucleosomes similar to chromatin.
Conformational reorganization of the four-helix bundle of human apolipoprotein E in binding to phospholipid.

Conformational reorganization of the amino-terminal four-helix bundle (22-kDa fragment) of apolipoprotein E (apoE) in binding to the phospholipid dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) to form discoidal particles was investigated by introducing single, double, and triple interhelical disulfide bonds to restrict the opening of the bundle. Interaction of apoE with DMPC was assessed by vesicle disruption, turbidimetric clearing, and gel filtration assays. The results indicate that the formation of apoE·DMPC discoidal particles occurs in a series of steps. A triple disulfide mutant, in which all four helices were tethered, did not form complexes but could release encapsulated 5-(6)-carboxylfluorescein from DMPC vesicles, indicating that the initial interaction does not involve major reorganization of the helical bundle. Initial interaction is followed by the opening of the four-helix bundle to expose the hydrophobic faces of the amphipathic helices. In this step, helices 1 and 2 and helices 3 and 4 preferentially remain paired, since these disulfide-linked mutants bound to DMPC in a manner similar to that of the 22-kDa fragment of apoE4. In contrast, mutants in which helices 2 and 3 and/or helices 1 and 4 paired bound poorly to DMPC. However, all single and double helical pairings resulted in the formation of larger discs than were formed by the 22-kDa fragment, indicating that further reorganization of the helices occurs following the initial opening of the four-helix bundle in which the protein assumes its final lipid-bound conformation. In support of this rearrangement, reducing the disulfide bonds converted the large disulfide mutant discs to normal size.
Resonance absorption band model

Abstract A model is derived for the resonance absorption of molecular bands composed of Lorentzian lines that is suitable for calculating fluorescence from irradiated air. The model is based on an explicit functional form derived for the resonance absorption of a single Lorentzian line which properly accounts for the possibility of unequal emission and absorption line widths. A procedure for rapid numerical computation of this function is given. This function yields a model for the resonance absorption of molecular bands composed of either overlapping or separated lines. A significant savings in computation time is obtained by using the model in place of exact expressions for resonance absorption. Examples are given for the resonance absorption of the N 2 + First Negative band system.
Public-key encryption algorithm incorporating error detection

Owing to their mathematical properties, quadratic residues have been used successfully in designing a number of cryptographic applications, such as oblivious transfer protocol and coin flipping protocol. The authors propose an encryption scheme based on quadratic residue theory. In particular, they incorporate the encrypting procedure and error-detecting code into a complete communication system.
Fragrance material review on piperonyl acetate.

Abstract A toxicologic and dermatologic review of piperonyl acetate when used as a fragrance ingredient is presented. Piperonyl acetate is a member of the fragrance structural group aryl alkyl alcohol simple acid esters (AAASAE). The AAASAE fragrance ingredients are prepared by reacting an aryl alkyl alcohol with a simple carboxylic acid (a chain of 1–4 carbons) to generate formate, acetate, propionate, butyrate, isobutyrate and carbonate esters. This review contains a detailed summary of all available toxicology and dermatology papers that are related to this individual fragrance ingredient and is not intended as a stand-alone document. Available data for piperonyl acetate were evaluated, then summarized, and includes: physical properties, acute toxicity, skin irritation, mucous membrane (eye) irritation, skin sensitization, toxicokinetics, and genotoxicity data. A safety assessment of the entire AAASAE will be published simultaneously with this document. Please refer to Belsito et al. (2012) for an overall assessment of the safe use of this material and all AAASAE in fragrances. Belsito, D., Bickers, D., Bruze, M., Calow, P., Dagli, M., Fryer, A.D., Greim, H., Hanifin, J.H., Miyachi, Y., Saurat, J.H., Sipes, I.G., submitted for publication. A toxicologic and dermatologic assessment of aryl alkyl alcohol simple acid esters when used as fragrance ingredients.
Amarino: a toolkit for the rapid prototyping of mobile ubiquitous computing

Ubicomp applications increasingly involve smart phones that control or communicate with embedded systems. Compelling examples in this space include tangible interfaces, environmental sensor networks, game controllers and automated homes. Across research, design, and hobbyist communities there is clearly a desire to build applications that involve combinations of mobile and non-mobile technologies. However, constructing these applications is a laborious process that requires considerable breadth and depth of expertise in programming, electronics, industrial and interaction design.Amarino is a toolkit that enables the rapid prototyping of such applications by connecting the Android operating system to the Arduino microcontroller platform. It consists of an Android application, an Arduino library, and a collection of documentation and examples. This suite of tools allows users to: 1) access Android events (ie: compass orientation, accelerometer data, and text messages received) and send them to Arduino microcontrollers without doing any Android programming, and 2) quickly develop Android applications that receive data (ie: environmental sensor data) from (and send data to) Arduino microcontrollers. This paper introduces Amarino and presents the results of a preliminary user study.
Effect of calcium binding substances on rate and duration of narcosis.

Summary1. The induction time of pentobarbital narcosis was shortened by 50% when carried out in the presence of calcium binding substances. 2. Removal of calcium by binding with citrate ion or pretreatment of the fish in calcium-free Ringer's solution prior to induction of pentobarbital narcosis resulted in a prolongation of the induction time (90%). 3. Balanced calcium EDTA solution shortened the induction time (30%) and lengthened the recovery time (100%) in spite of its theoretical inability to chelate calcium, while excess EDTA caused a greater shortening in induction time (50%) and lengthening in the recovery time (200%). 4. Excess calcium exerted no effect on induction or recovery of pentobarbital narcosis.
Comparison of right and left ventricular function in obese and nonobese men

We studied systolic and diastolic function of the left and right ventricles in obese male subjects. Obese subjects had increased left ventricular mass and normal left ventricular systolic and diastolic function. They also had impaired right ventricular relaxation and right ventricular filling.
CHANGES IN UPLAND WILDLIFE HABITAT ON FARMLAND IN ILLINOIS 1920-1987

/ An index of upland wildlife habitat was developed to investigate patterns and changes in habitat over time, using four years (1920, 1940, 1964, 1987) and the state of Illinois as an example. The index was composed of two subdivisions that described, at the county level, the quantity of wildlife habitat and a third subdivision that described farming disturbances that impacted the quality of the habitat. Data came from the US Census of Agriculture. The first subdivision that reflected quantity of habitat was called the wildlife habitat subdivision and was the sum of percentage woodland on farms, percentage farmland in nonrow crops, and percentage farmland in set-aside programs. The second subdivision that reflected the quantity of habitat was termed the soil-related features subdivision and was the sum of the percentage of farmland that was not highly erodible, the percentage of farmland in soil-protecting crops, and the percentage of farmland in conservation tillage. The third subdivision, reflecting the quality of the habitat, was the farming disturbance subdivision and was the sum of the percentage of grazing and the percentage of land on which fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides were applied. Overall, major decreases occurred between 1920 and 1987 in the subdivisions reflecting the quantity of wildlife habitat and a major increase occurred in the subdivision associated with farming disturbance, reflecting the intensification of agriculture in the state. However, there was variability throughout the state, with some counties being more favorable to wildlife (as measured by the subdivisions) than others. Most of the changes within the state for the subdivisions reflecting quantity of upland wildlife habitat occurred during 1940 while changes in the farming disturbance subdivision (reflecting habitat quality) occurred in 1964. By 1987, the western and southern parts of Illinois were the most favorable for wildlife as reflected in all three subdivisions. Upland wildlife harvest indices were related to the subdivisions in 1964 and 1987, when harvest indices were available. Cottontail and northern bobwhite harvests were higher in counties with higher amounts of the wildlife habitat subdivision in both years. Cottontail harvest was also higher in counties with lower levels of the farming disturbance subdivision in 1964 and higher levels of soil-related features subdivision in 1987. Indices at the county level have the potential to be used in a multiscale analysis to investigate the impact of policy changes on large-scale areas of the Midwest and to develop regional perspectives of the impacts of agriculture on upland wildlife and their habitats.KEY WORDS: Upland wildlife; Habitat; Agriculture; Illinois
Text4baby program: an opportunity to reach underserved pregnant and postpartum women?

Text4baby was launched in 2010 to promote healthy pregnancies and babies by the use of text messaging. The primary objective of this study was to assess factors related to the enrollment process and reception of text4baby. A prospective cohort study was conducted in two Women, Infant and Children clinics in Atlanta (April 2010-July 2011). Randomly selected pregnant and postpartum women (n = 468) were queried on cell phone use and instructed on text4baby enrollment. Self-enrollment issues were assessed at one-week follow-up (n = 351, 75.0 %), and message reception and reading patterns at two-month follow-up (n = 209, 44.7 %). Forty-two percent of the women had some college education and 82 % had household income $20,000), and among women living in smaller households (77 % 1-3 members vs. 58 % > 3 members) (all p 90 % reported uninterrupted reception and regular reading of messages, and 88 % planned to continue using text4baby. Results also suggested that respondents who were younger (<26 year), less educated and had lower health literacy skills were more likely to have interrupted messages. Despite substantial interest in the text4baby program in an underserved population, innovative ways to help women with significant disadvantages enroll and receive uninterrupted messages are needed.
Changes to Dauphin Island, Alabama, Brought about by Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2005)

Abstract On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina (a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale) made landfall in southeastern Louisiana. Although Dauphin Island, Alabama, is located approximately 180 km to the northeast of where Katrina made landfall, it experienced greater coastal damage than from recent Category 3 hurricanes that were closer to the island (e.g., Frederic in 1979 and Ivan in 2004). This is because the island was within the most intense area of the hurricane as it approached land (i.e., the top-right quadrant). The gulf side of Dauphin Island was impacted by a storm surge of 1.94 m coupled with even higher storm waves. Pelican-Sand Island, to the south of the eastern portion of the island, absorbed much of the storm wave energy, resulting in a lessening of storm water damage to this segment of Dauphin Island. The elevated storm surge and diminished storm waves carried plant debris and sand tens of meters landward across this portion of Dauphin Island. Conversely, with n...
Dyed particle capture immunoassay for detection of incipient brown-rot decay.

Abstract An immunological method for detecting incipient fungal decay in wood is described. Monoclonal antibody to extracellular β-l,4-xylanase of the brown-rot fungus Postia placenta was immobilized in a defined capture zone to a strip of hydrophobic polyester cloth. Polyclonal-labeled latex particles were applied near one end of the polyester assay substrate. The resulting test strip was dipped into extracts from wood blocks inoculated with various wood decay fungi. Extracts flowed laterally through the antibody-labeled latex particles and the capture zone. When antigen was present in the extract, the antigen was complexed by the monoclonal and labeled-polyclonal antibodies to form an observable particle complex in the zone of capture. Wood samples were tested at various stages of decay and correlated with wood weight loss. Incipient brown-rot decay was detected with the particle capture immunoassay at less than 2 percent wood weight loss.
Content Analysis of Suicide Notes as a Test of the Motivational Component of the Existential-Constructivist Model of Suicide

A sample of 40 suicide notes were analyzed for motivational content in relation to an existential-constructivist theory of suicide. Results generally supported the 4 theoretical categories of somatic, relational, spiritual, and psychological motivations, with 39 notes having content that could be classified according to the aforementioned categories. Psychological motivations were found to be the most prevalent, followed by relational, spiritual, and somatic concerns. Notes of completed suicides included more relational motivations than did those of suicide attempters, and older writers of notes showed more psychological and fewer spiritual motivations than did younger writers. Recommendations are offered for revising the theory to provide a stronger meaning-based understanding of suicidal behavior.
Time management strategies for busy geeks

If you're a busy technical support professional, then time management is an important skill for getting your work done, finding a satisfactory work / life balance, and keeping your sanity.Searching for time management at Amazon.com reveals over 14,000 books on the subject. These tomes promise to teach how to stop procrastination, develop new habits, simplify your life, and unclutter your office and home. Their focus seems a bit off, though, for the modern geek who wants to maintain an even keel while juggling the expectations of managers, coworkers, employees, employers, children, spouses, friends, grandparents and even the dog.This paper will present strategies of time management, how best to apply them to our ever-changing, technology-laden lives, and when to avoid them.
Characteristics of high-density tokamak ignition reactors

We determine the parameters of a tokamak reactor plasma that attains ignition in the same regime of collisionality, νeiA/ωbe, as present-day Ohmic-heated tokamak plasmas. The 'collisional' regime is attractive because the presently observed confinement scaling, nτ ∝ n2, can be employed, and fusion power densities can be very large (~10 W/cm3). The use of Nb3Sn toroidal field coils and a plasma elongation 1. 5 are necessary to attain the high plasma density (n ≈ 5 × 1014 to 1015 cm−3) required for ignition in this low-temperature collisional regime.
The complete genome sequences for three simian enteroviruses isolated from captive primates

In a recent study, we used RT-PCR and partial genome sequencing to detect simian enteroviruses SV6, SV19 and SV46, as well as two new enterovirus types (EV92 and EV103) in fecal specimens from rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), pigtail macaques (M. nemestrina), and sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) with diarrheal disease at a US primate center. The complete genome sequences of representative SV46, EV92, and EV103 strains, presented here, show that SV46 and EV92 are typical of the simian enteroviruses classified within the species Human enterovirus A, while EV103 appears to belong to an unclassified species that also contains SV6 and N125/N203.
FORMATION OF A STABLE SRC-AFAP-110 COMPLEX THROUGH EITHER AN AMINO-TERMINAL OR A CARBOXY-TERMINAL SH2-BINDING MOTIF

The actin-filament-associated protein (AFAP-1 10) forms a stable complex with activated variants of the Pp60c-src (Src) non-receptor tyrosine kinase through SH2 and SH3 interactions. In this report, site-directed mutagenesis and a transient expression system that permits co-expression of activated pp60c-src (Src527F) and AFAP-110 in Cos-1 cells were used to identify the SH2-binding motif in AFAP-110. Four tyrosine residues, two in the amino terminus (Y93 and Y94) and two in the carboxy terminus (Y451 and Y453), were mutated to phenylalanine, significantly reducing overall steady-state levels of tyrosine phosphorylation and preventing Src527F from forming a stable complex with AFAP-110. These data indicate that the major sites for tyrosine phosphorylation are among these four tyrosine residues and that one or more of these tyrosines may function as an SH2-binding motif. Mutagenesis of just two tyrosines in either the amino terminus (Y93/Y94) or in the carboxy terminus (Y451/Y453) to phenylalanine had only a modest effect on steady-state levels of tyrosine phosphorylation and was not sufficient to abrogate stable-complex formation. These data suggest that Src527F can form a stable complex with AFAP-110 through either of two independently functional SH2-binding motifs. Triple-tyrosine mutation demonstrated that Y93 was not significantly phosphorylated on tyrosine and would not facilitate stable complex formation, whereas Y94, Y451, and Y453 could be phosphorylated on tyrosine and would facilitate stable-complex formation. We hypothesize that Src527F and AFAP-110 interact through a multistep binding mechanism that may either extend interactions between Src527F and actin filaments or permit reorientation of Src527F on AFAP-110, which could facilitate the presentation of Src527F toward other signaling molecules.
Superweakly interacting massive particle dark matter signals from the early Universe

Cold dark matter may be made of superweakly interacting massive particles, super-WIMP's, that naturally inherit the desired relic density from late decays of metastable WIMP's. Well-motivated examples are weak-scale gravitinos in supergravity and Kaluza-Klein gravitons from extra dimensions. These particles are impossible to detect in all dark matter experiments. We find, however, that super-WIMP dark matter may be discovered through cosmological signatures from the early Universe. In particular, super-WIMP dark matter has observable consequences for big bang nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and may explain the observed underabundance of ${}^{7}\mathrm{Li}$ without upsetting the concordance between deuterium and CMB baryometers. We discuss the implications for future probes of CMB blackbody distortions and collider searches for new particles. In the course of this study, we also present a model-independent analysis of entropy production from late-decaying particles in light of Wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe data.
Marital relationship change in the transition to parenthood: A reexamination as interpreted through transition theory

This study examines whether transition to parenthood results in marital relationship disruption. A total of 96 childbearing couples were tested with Spanier's Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) 2 months...
Flexible thin-film battery based on solid-like ionic liquid-polymer electrolyte

Abstract The development of high-performance flexible batteries is imperative for several contemporary applications including flexible electronics, wearable sensors and implantable medical devices. However, traditional organic liquid-based electrolytes are not ideal for flexible batteries due to their inherent safety and stability issues. In this study, a non-volatile, non-flammable and safe ionic liquid (IL)-based polymer electrolyte film with solid-like feature is fabricated and incorporated in a flexible lithium ion battery. The ionic liquid is 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide (EMIMDCA) and the polymer is composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene) (PVDF-HFP). The electrolyte exhibits good thermal stability (i.e. no weight loss up to 300 °C) and relatively high ionic conductivity (6 × 10−4 S cm−1). The flexible thin-film lithium ion battery based on solid-like electrolyte film is encapsulated using a thermal-lamination process and demonstrates excellent electrochemical performance, in both flat and bent configurations.
Generating Trust in Congregations: Engagement, Exchange, and Social Networks

The relationship between religion and trust is complex and there is little consensus on why, in general, religious people appear to be more trusting than their unaffiliated peers. Most research on religion and trust focuses on differences between traditions and denominations, which offers rather limited insight into the genesis of trust for religious persons. In this study, we draw on recent theoretical developments in social psychology to explore how specific patterns of social interactions within congregations enhance within-congregation trust among members to the benefit of both churches and individuals. Using survey data from the Portraits of American Life Study, we find that the positive relationship between religiosity and trust is driven less by religious beliefs or practices and more by particular characteristics of micro-level processes that occur in churches (e.g., closeness of relationships to religious leaders, density of congregational ties, and both giving and receiving aid from other congregation members). In light of research on social learning and trust, we also discuss the potential benefits of this particularized trust for individuals’ levels of generalized trust.
Coset-based quasi-cyclic LDPC codes for optimal overlapped message passing decoding

Due to the regular structures of quasi-cyclic (QC) low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, the message passing decoding of these codes not only has efficient hardware implementation, but also can be overlapped to improve throughput and hardware utilization efficiency (HUE). In previous work, we proposed a scheduling scheme for the overlapped message passing (OMP) decoding of the SFT codes. In this paper, we first show that our scheduling scheme produces the minimum intra-iteration waiting time for QC LDPC codes. Then we propose a coset-based construction of QC LDPC codes, and study the girth and minimum distance properties of our new codes. Given the same parameters, the ensemble of the SFT codes is a subset of the ensemble of our coset-based QC LDPC codes. Our coset-based QC LDPC codes allow the OMP decoding to achieve greater throughput gain and higher HUE while maintaining the same theoretical performances as the SFT codes.
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in pediatric patients with mitral valve regurgitation-case-control study and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness of chronic administration of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in pediatric patients with mitral valve regurgitation. DESIGN, SETTING, PATIENTS, INTERVENTIONS: This was a case-control study of all echocardiograms of patients with moderate-to-severe mitral valve regurgitation, who underwent chronic administration of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors between January 1990 and December 2006 at a single center. OUTCOME MEASURES: Echocardiographic parameters (left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left ventricular posterior wall diameter, interventricular septum diameter, left atrium to aortic root diameter ratio, grade of mitral valve regurgitation, shortening fraction) were analyzed before and during therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in 12 patients and compared with 12 patients without medications after one month and one year. RESULTS: Twenty-four consecutive pediatric patients (median age of 7 years with a range 1 month-16 years) with moderate-to-severe mitral valve regurgitation were included. Data are given as standard deviation scores (z-scores) derived from body-surface-adjusted normal values. During angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition left ventricular end-diastolic diameter decreased from mean z-score 2.04 to 1.66 (after 1 month) and to 1.73 (after 1 year), while left ventricular posterior wall diameter decreased from 0.25 to 0.12 (after 1 year), respectively. Shortening fraction, interventricular septum diameter, grade of mitral valve regurgitation, and left atrium to aortic root diameter ratio remained stable. CONCLUSIONS: In this case-control study of patients with moderate-to-severe mitral valve regurgitation effectiveness of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition on left ventricular dimensions and function after 1 month and 1 year is limited. Reviewing the literature, the lack of long-term follow-up studies with large patient cohorts and controversial study-results in adults require a prospective long-term multicenter follow-up study in pediatric patients.
Role of ErbB family receptor tyrosine kinases in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Aberrant expression and signaling of epidermal growth factor receptor (ErbB) family receptor tyrosine kinases, most notably that of ErbB2 and ErbB1, have been implicated in the molecular pathogenesis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Constitutive overexpression of ErbB2 and/or ErbB1 in malignant cholangiocytes has raised interest in the possibility that agents which selectively target these receptors could potentially be effective in cholangiocarcinoma therapy. However, current experience with such ErbB-directed therapies have at best produced only modest responses in patients with biliary tract cancers. This review provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of both preclinical and clinical studies aimed at assessing the role of altered ErbB2 and/or ErbB1 expression, genetic modifications, and dysregulated signaling on cholangiocarcinoma development and progression. Specific limitations in experimental approaches that have been used to assess human cholangiocarcinoma specimens for ErbB2 and/or ErbB1 overexpression and gene amplification are discussed. In addition, current rodent models of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinogenesis associated with constitutive ErbB2 overexpression are reviewed. Select interactive relationships between ErbB2 or ErbB1 with other relevant molecular signaling pathways associated with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma development and progression are also detailed, including those linking ErbB receptors to bile acid, cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-6/gp130, transmembrane mucins, hepatocyte growth factor/Met, and vascular endothelial growth factor signaling. Lastly, various factors that can limit therapeutic efficacy of ErbB-targeted agents against cholangiocarcinoma are considered.
Sound, complete and scalable path-sensitive analysis

We present a new, precise technique for fully path- and context-sensitive program analysis. Our technique exploits two observations: First, using quantified, recursive formulas, path- and context-sensitive conditions for many program properties can be expressed exactly. To compute a closed form solution to such recursive constraints, we differentiate between observable and unobservable variables, the latter of which are existentially quantified in our approach. Using the insight that unobservable variables can be eliminated outside a certain scope, our technique computes satisfiability- and validity-preserving closed-form solutions to the original recursive constraints. We prove the solution is as precise as the original system for answering may and must queries as well as being small in practice, allowing our technique to scale to the entire Linux kernel, a program with over 6 million lines of code.
The impact of trauma centre accreditation on patient outcome

Trauma centre accreditation originated as a North American initiative in the 1970's with the aim of standardising and improving care for injured patients. This system of grading a hospital's ability to receive serious trauma has subsequently spread, most notably to Australasia. Many studies have focussed on determing whether this accreditation results in improved patient outcomes. We review the evidence to date, which suggests significant mortality reductions albeit from mainly Class III studies and reflect on the future sustainability of this initiative given mounting financial pressures.
A Lightweight Software Design Process for Web Services Workflows

Service-oriented computing (SOC) suggests that many open, network-accessible services will be available over the Internet for organizations to incorporate into their own processes. Developing new software systems by composing an organization?s local services and externally-available web services is conceptually different from system development supported by traditional software engineering lifecycles. Consumer organizations typically have no control over the quality and/or consistency of the external services that they incorporate, thus top-down software development lifecycles are impractical. Software architects and designers will require agile, lightweight processes to evaluate tradeoffs in system design based on the "estimated" responsiveness of external services coupled with known performance of local services. We introduce a model-driven software engineering approach for designing systems (i.e. workflows of web services) under these circumstances and a corresponding simulation-based evaluation tool.
Robust geometric matching for 3D object recognition

This paper considers a model-based approach to identifying and locating known 3D objects in 2D images of a scene containing them via geometric feature matching of model and image data represented in terms of local geometric features. The problems of finding feature correspondences in the presence of geometric uncertainty, missing, and spurious data features are explicitly handled. The fundamentally geometric and combinatorial elements of the feature matching problem are made explicit, and a formulation based on computational geometry is used to achieve a polynomial-time matching approach for which the author can guarantee completeness and correctness. This paper deals primarily with the case of planar objects undergoing full 3D motion and scaled-orthographic projection.
Ordered and twinned multidomain structure in highly Al-rich mullite

The structure of a region of a highly Al-rich mullite (Al4+2xSi2–2xO10–x with x ~ 0.82; 47Al2O3-6SiO2; Al/Si ~16) in a chemically vapor-deposited, functionally graded mullite coating was studied by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The region consisted of a fully ordered and twinned multidomain structure. Within each domain, well-ordered oxygen vacancies resulted in antiphase boundaries (APBs) characterized by a shift vector of [001]. The APBs were oriented parallel to (601) and (601). Along [001], the structure consisted of alternating layers of (601)- and (601)-domains with a spacing of 17d601, separated by (001) twinning planes. The (001) twinning did not generate any additional spots in the [010] mullite diffraction pattern. The lattice parameters of this ultrahigh Al-rich mullite phase were calculated from selected-area electron-diffraction patterns to be: a = 0.762 nm; b = 0.754 nm; and c = 0.291 nm.
Meta-analysis of short-term and long-term survival following repair versus replacement for ischemic mitral regurgitation

The optimal surgical strategy for the management of ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is still debated. The purpose of this study was to perform a meta-analysis summarizing the evidence favoring one technique over another (repair vs replacement). A search of the English literature in PubMed was performed using 'ischemic mitral regurgitation' and 'repair or replacement or annuloplasty' in the title/abstract field. Articles were excluded if they lacked a direct comparison of repair versus replacement, or used Teflon/pericardial strip or suture annuloplasty in >10% of the repairs. Nine articles were selected for the final analysis. All studies except one were relatively recent (2004-2009). The patient characteristics between treatment groups were similar across studies. All studies excluded patients with degenerative etiology and used a rigorous definition of IMR. Most patients had concomitant coronary artery bypass graft. In the patients with mitral valve replacement, at least the posterior and, in many cases, the entire subvalvular apparatus were preserved. Mean ejection fraction and proportion of patients with severe ventricular dysfunction were similar between the repair and replacement groups. The odds ratios for the studies, comparing replacement to repair, ranged from 0.884 to 17.241 for short-term mortality and the hazard ratios ranged from 0.677 to 3.205 for long-term mortality. There was a significantly increased likelihood of both short-term mortality (summary odds ratio 2.667 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.859-3.817)) and long-term mortality (summary hazard ratio 1.352 (95% CI 1.131-1.618)) for the replacement group compared to the repair group. Based on the meta-analysis of the current relevant literature, mitral valve repair for IMR is associated with better short-term and long-term survival compared to mitral valve replacement. Our conclusion should be interpreted in the context of the inherent limitations of a meta-analysis of retrospective studies including heterogeneity of patient characteristics, which may have influenced the physician's decision to perform mitral valve repair or replacement. In the absence of any published randomized studies, mitral procedure selection should be individualized.
μ-Star: an indirect star network

The star graph has a smaller degree and diameter than the well-known n-cube, and can be an alternative to the n-cube for systems with a large number of nodes [2]. In our previous work [11], three different indirect star-type networks were obtained from the star graph: the indirect star network I, the indirect star network II, and the star-delta network. However, the indirect star networks I & II are constructed from large switches, and do not perform as well as the indirect cube-type networks of comparable switch sizes. Also, they are not modular. The star-delta network is modular, but it employs varying switch sizes for different switching stages, and has a lower performance than the indirect cube-type networks based on comparable switch sizes. Moreover, the switch sizes for all three indirect star networks grow with the network size. In this work, a new indirect star network, called the μ-star network, is proposed. Being modular and constructed from (2 × 2) crossbar switches, the new network is an improvement over previously proposed indirect star-type networks. The μ-star network is analyzed for its performance and the analytic results are verified through simulations. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A historical analysis of the potential nutrient supply from the N2 fixing marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium spp. to Karenia brevis blooms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico

Blooms of Karenia brevis co-occur with populations of the N 2 fixing cyanobacterium Trichodesmium on the West Florida shelf where iron (Fe) and phosphorus (P) supplies have been shown to control the growth potential of these cyanophytes. Historical data records of Trichodesmium presence and abundance (1960-2008) were analyzed in relation to the nutrient requirements of annually coincident K. brevis blooms, focusing on the potential direct supply of nitrogen (N) via N 2 -fixation with subsequent excretion of recently fixed N 2 as NH 4 + and dissolved organic nitrogen and indirect transfer from Trichodesmium biomass (as particulate N and P) during cell death. While release of "new" N from biological N 2 - f ixation can supply up to 40% of the 2001 large red tide (9.5 × 10 6 cells L -1 ), estimates of the total N available, including the regeneration of additional nutrients supplied from particulate stocks aggregated within surface populations of observed Trichodesmium biomass during cell death, suggest that up to 100% of N and P requirements of such large blooms can be met from N 2 -fixation sources.