cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sustainable, Alginate-Based Sensor for Detection of Escherichia coli in Human Breast Milk

There are no existing affordable diagnostics for sensitive, rapid, and on-site detection of pathogens in milk. To this end, an on-site colorimetric-based sustainable assay has been developed and optimized using an L16 (54) Taguchi design to obtain results in hours without PCR amplification. To determine the level of Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination, after induction with 150 µL of breast milk, the B-Per bacterial protein extraction kit was added to a solution containing an alginate-based microcapsule assay. Within this 3 mm spherical novel sensor design, X-Gal (5-Bromo-4-Chloro-3-Indolyl β-d-Galactopyranoside) was entrapped at a concentration of 2 mg/mL. The outward diffusing X-Gal was cleaved by β-galactosidase from E. coli and dimerized in the solution to yield a blue color after incubation at 40 °C. Color intensity was correlated with the level of E. coli contamination using a categorical scale. After an 8 h incubation period, a continuous imaging scale based on intensity normalization was used to determine a binary lower limit of detection (LOD), which corresponded to 102 colony forming unit per mL (CFU/mL) and above. The cost of the overall assay was estimated to be $0.81 per sample, well under the $3 benchmark for state-of-the-art immune-based test kits for pathogen detection in biofluids. Considering the reported binary LOD cutoff of 102 CFU/mL and above, this proposed hydrogel-based assay is suited to meet global requirements for screening breast milk or milk for pathogenic organisms of 104 CFU/mL, with a percentage of false positives to be determined in future efforts.
TIPP&SEE: A Learning Strategy to Guide Students through Use - Modify Scratch Activities

With the rise of Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the elementary level, it is imperative that elementary computing instruction support a variety of learners. A popular pedagogical approach for this age group is Use-->Modify-->Create, which introduces a concept through a more scaffolded, guided instruction before culminating in a more open-ended project for student engagement. Yet, there is little research on student learning during the Use-->Modify step, nor strategies to promote learning in this step. This paper introduces TIPP&SEE, a metacognitive learning strategy that further scaffolds student learning during this step. Results from an experimental study show statistically-significant performance gains from students using the TIPP&SEE strategy on nearly all assessment questions of moderate and hard difficulty, suggesting its potential as an effective CS/CT learning strategy.
Submission of Robert H. Lande to House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Investigation of Digital Platforms

The House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee asked me to submit suggestions concerning the adequacy of existing antitrust laws, enforcement policies, and enforcement levels insofar as they impact the state of competition in the digital marketplace. My submission recommends the following nine reforms: 1. A textualist analysis of the Sherman Act shows that Section 2 actually is a no-fault monopolization statute. At a minimum Congress should enact a strong presumption that every firm with a 67% market share has violated Section 2. This would move the Sherman Act an important step in the right direction, the direction Congress intended in 1890. My submission contains this textualist analysis, a summary of the economics involved, and an analysis of its implications. 2. Congress should enact Conglomerate merger legislation. The antimerger laws successfully blocked only 3 of the 78 largest finalized mergers (defined as cases where the smaller firm was valued at more than $10 billion) that occurred between 2015 and 2019. The antitrust laws would permit the first trillion-dollar corporation, Apple, to merge with the third largest, Exxon/Mobil. In fact, today every U.S. corporation could merge until just ten were left—so long as each owned no more than 10% of every relevant market. My submission proposes model conglomerate merger legislation that would prevent this. 3. Congress should legislatively resurrect the Supreme Court’s Philadelphia National Bank anti-merger presumption. 4. Congress should forbid common stock ownership of competing firms above specified de minimus limits. 5. Congress should should allow indirect purchaser consumers to sue for damages under the federal antitrust laws. 6. Congress should award automatic prejudgment interest to successful victims of antitrust violations. 7. The U.S. Sentencing Commission should double its presumption that cartels raise prices by 10%. 8. The Department of Justice, in its consent orders, should forbid convicted price fixers from returning to the same industry after prison. 9. Congress should enact antitrust whistleblower legislation.
Diagnostic Challenges of a Mass in the Left Atrium

A 61-year-old female former smoker with history of bronchial-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma presented with increasing dyspnea, cough with white phlegm and significant weight loss. Chest X-ray showed complete opacification of the left hemithorax. A computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiogram ruled out pulmonary embolism but revealed mass within the left atrium. A transthoracic echocardiography showed an echogenic mass in the left atrium. A cardiac MRI confirmed a bulky left lung mass suggestive of carcinoma invading the left atrium via the left pulmonary veins. CT-guided biopsy of left lung mass was suggestive of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC, adenocarcinoma). We would like to discuss the challenges and the importance of making the correct diagnosis of intracardiac mass.
Catching the red eye: A retrospective review of factors associated with retinal hemorrhage in child physical abuse

Abstract Background/Purpose Accurate identification of child physical abuse is crucial during the evaluation of injured children. Retinal hemorrhages (RH) are used for diagnosis, but clear criteria for screening with direct fundoscopic exam are lacking. We sought to identify key factors associated with RH to guide evaluations. Methods Electronic medical records for patients Results Two hundred and seventy-six patients were included; 63% underwent direct fundoscopic examination, of which 23% were positive and 77% were negative for RH. Unscreened patients tended to be older and have isolated skull fractures. Multivariable regression analysis revealed that abnormal GCS and subdural hemorrhage were positively associated with a diagnosis of retinal hemorrhage, while isolated skull fracture was negatively associated. Conclusions Children under 1 year of age with subdural hemorrhage have a greater risk of associated RH and should undergo routine screening with direct fundoscopic examination. Conversely, those with isolated skull fractures may not require an ophthalmology consultation. Standardized screening protocols may help reduce the risk of missing child physical abuse. Level of Evidence III (Diagnostic Test).
Restoring the Pro Nobis > Pro Me: A Translated Religion, Polycentric Ecumenism, and Moderate Fallibilism

Drawing on the contributions of Lamin Sanneh and Andrew Walls, co-editor Thomas John Hastings argues that the relatively new awareness of Christianity as a translated religion and its demographic and cultural expansion should have by now subverted the enduring pretentions of Western-centric theological normativity and given way to a more fallibilist disposition that encourages two-way traffic between Christians from different cultures and church traditions. Drawing on Karl Barth’s apologia for a variety of faith perspectives within a “polycentric ecumenism,” he suggests that these new insights are consonant with fallibilism, emergence, and eschatology. Finally, he offers a reevaluation of the pro me and pro nobis dimensions of Christian faith as a way of fostering serious intercultural theological engagements in the future.
Consensus acute kidney injury criteria integration identifies children at risk for long-term kidney dysfunction after multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.

The consensus definition of acute kidney injury (AKI) has evolved since developing the original multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) definitions. Whether or not risk for adverse short- and long-term outcomes can be identified using the refined AKI criteria in the setting of MODS has not been studied. We hypothesize that incorporation of Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcome (KDIGO) AKI criteria into existing MODS definitions will have a higher association with major adverse kidney events at 30 days (MAKE30) and will increase the number of patients with MODS. Post hoc analysis of 410 children admitted to a tertiary care pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) was conducted. MODS was defined using two existing criteria (Goldstein and Proulx) during the first 7 days following ICU admission and then modified by replacement of the kidney injury criteria using the KDIGO AKI definitions (G′ and P′). MAKE30 occurred in 65 of 410 (16%) children. After substituting KDIGO kidney injury criteria, identification of MAKE30 increased from 46 children (71%) to 53 (82%) and 29 children (45%) to 43 (66%) for the Goldstein and Proulx criteria, respectively. Additionally, identification of MODS increased from 194 (47%) by Goldstein to 224 (55%) by G′ and 95 children (23%) by Proulx to 132 (32%) by P′. Substituting KDIGO AKI criteria into existing MODS criteria increases the sensitivity for major adverse kidney events as well as the identification of MODS, improving the detection of children at risk for long-term adverse renal outcomes.
Deconstructing cissexism: The journey of becoming an affirmative family therapist for transgender and nonbinary clients

This article proposes a model for family therapists to become more competent, inclusive, and affirmative in their clinical work with transgender and nonbinary clients. In particular, this article details: (1) barriers to transgender and nonbinary affirmative therapy, (2) impacts of these barriers on transgender and nonbinary people's mental health, (3) a three-step model for becoming an affirmative therapist for transgender and nonbinary clients, and (4) strategies for deconstructing cissexism in therapy. This goal of this article is to invite family therapists to join in on a lifelong journey of "becoming" an affirmative therapist for transgender and nonbinary clients, a journey on which none of us will ever "arrive". We can, however, take continual action to minimize the negative impacts of cissexism on therapists and clients; this article offers ideas for a place to start.
Affinity monolith chromatography: A review of general principles and recent developments

Affinity monolith chromatography (AMC) is a liquid chromatographic technique that utilizes a monolithic support with a biological ligand or related binding agent to isolate, enrich, or detect a target analyte in a complex matrix. The target-specific interaction exhibited by the binding agents makes AMC attractive for the separation or detection of a wide range of compounds. This article will review the basic principles of AMC and recent developments in this field. The supports used in AMC will be discussed, including organic, inorganic, hybrid, carbohydrate, and cryogel monoliths. Schemes for attaching binding agents to these monoliths will be examined as well, such as covalent immobilization, biospecific adsorption, entrapment, molecular imprinting, and coordination methods. An overview will then be given of binding agents that have recently been used in AMC, along with their applications. These applications will include bioaffinity chromatography, immunoaffinity chromatography, immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography, and dye-ligand or biomimetic affinity chromatography. The use of AMC in chiral separations and biointeraction studies will also be discussed.
Monte Carlo-derived ionization chamber correction factors in therapeutic carbon ion beams.

The accuracy of electromagnetic transport in the GEANT4 Monte Carlo (MC) code was investigated for carbon ion beams and ionization chamber (IC)-specific beam quality correction factors were calculated. This work implemented a Fano cavity test for carbon ion beams in the 100-450 MeV/u energy range to assess the accuracy of the default electromagnetic physics parameters. The Urban and the Wentzel-VI multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS) models were evaluated and the impact of maxStep, dRover, and final range parameters on the accuracy of the transport algorithm was investigated. The optimal production thresholds for an accurate calculation of fQ values, which is the product of the water-to-air stopping power ratio and the IC-specific perturbation correction factor, were also studied. The fQ correction factors were calculated for a cylindrical and a parallel-plate IC using carbon ions in the 150-450 MeV/u energy range. Modifying the default electromagnetic physics parameters resulted in a maximum deviation from theory of 0.3%. Therefore, the default EM parameters were used for the remainder of this work. The fQ factors were found to converge for both ICs with decreasing production threshold distance below 5 μm. The fQ values obtained in this work agreed with the TRS-398 stopping power ratios and other previously reported results within uncertainty. This study highlights an accurate MC-based technique to calculate the combined stopping power ratio and the perturbation correction factor for any IC in carbon ion beams.
A Design Methodology for Energy-Aware Processing in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have rapidly become popular for monitoring, delivery, and actuation in many application domains such as environmental management, disaster mitigation, homeland secur...
Adverse effects of air pollution-derived fine particulate matter on cardiovascular homeostasis and disease.

ABSTRACT Air pollution is a rapidly growing major health concern around the world. Atmospheric particulate matter that has a diameter of less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) refers to an air pollutant composed of particles and chemical compounds that originate from various sources. While epidemiological studies have established the association between PM2.5 exposure and cardiovascular diseases, the precise cellular and molecular mechanisms by which PM2.5 promotes cardiovascular complications are yet to be fully elucidated. In this review, we summarize the various sources of PM2.5, its components, and the concentrations of ambient PM2.5 in various settings. We discuss the experimental findings to date that evaluate the potential adverse effects of PM2.5 on cardiovascular homeostasis and function, and the possible therapeutic options that may alleviate PM2.5-driven cardiovascular damage.
Clinical Outcomes and Efficacy of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Metastatic Pediatric Solid Tumors.

Purpose/Objective(s) Pediatric patients with metastatic solid tumors historically have a poor overall survival. Some pediatric patients may still be potentially curable with aggressive local therapy to metastatic disease, and adult trials have defined a group of oligometastatic patients, where the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has an overall survival benefit. The purpose of this study is to report results of the use of SBRT in the treatment of pediatric metastatic disease. Materials/Methods All pediatric and adolescents and young adult (AYA) patients age 3-40 years who received SBRT were included between the years 2000-2020. SBRT included radiation treatments with 3-5 fractions and ablative doses above conventional palliative radiation. Study endpoints included local control (LC), progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), cumulative incidence (CI) of death or local failure and toxicity. The endpoints with respect to survival and LC were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier estimate. The cumulative incidence of local failure was calculated using death as a competing risk. Toxicity was scored using CTCAE v5.0. Results Thirty-six lesions in 16 patients were treated with SBRT and comprised the overall cohort. The most common pediatric solid tumors treated were Ewing's Sarcoma (n = 3), Osteosarcoma (n = 3), and Rhabdomyosarcoma (n = 2). The majority of lesions irradiated were in the spine (n = 11), lung (n = 8), pelvis (n = 7), and brain (n = 5). The median follow up was 12 months. The median OS and PFS for the entire cohort were 17 months and 15.7 months, respectively. Patients were treated to a median dose of 25 Gy in 5 fractions. The 1-year OS for the entire cohort was 75%. The 6- and 12-month local control was 85% and 78%, respectively. There were no local failures in irradiated lesions for patients who received a BED10≥100 Gy. Patients treated with SBRT who had ≤5 metastatic lesions at first recurrence had a superior 1-year OS of 100% versus 50% for those with > 5 lesions. No patients experienced a grade 4 or 5 toxicity in our cohort. One patient (6.3%) experienced a CTCAE grade 3 toxicity (seizure) which resolved after anti-epileptic medications. Conclusion Local control was excellent with SBRT delivered to metastatic disease, particularly for lesions receiving a BED10≥100 Gy. High-grade toxicity was rare in our patient population. Patients with 5 or fewer metastatic sites have a significantly better OS compared to > 5 sites. Future prospective trials with multi-institutional collaboration will be necessary to evaluate appropriate patient selection and the optimal radiation dose regimen.
Recent steps toward international harmonization of the low-beam headlamp pattern

Inherent in the design of a low–beam (passing–beam) headlamp pattern is a trade–off between providing sufficient seeing for the driver using the headlamp and protecting oncoming drivers from glare. There are differences between the US and European approaches to this trade–off, stemming from a greater emphasis in Europe on protecting oncoming drivers from glare and on the ease of aiming the headlamp beam visually. Because neither approach appears to be superior overall in terms of visual performance, there is a strong economic impetus to develop a harmonized (common) beam pattern. This article summarizes two recent studies related to the issue of harmonization of beam patterns, and describes the current state of the harmonization efforts. The first of the two studies evaluated several current and proposed standards for low–beam headlamp patterns. The second study generated a proposal for partial harmonization, by recommending a small number (four) of the most important test points and their accompanying photometric limits. A slightly modified version of these four test points is currently being considered by international regulatory agencies for incorporation into existing standards.
Sacral Nerve Stimulation for Pediatric Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction: Development of a Standardized Pathway with Objective Urodynamic Outcomes

Purpose: We propose that sacral nerve stimulation is a valid adjunctive therapy for refractory pediatric lower urinary tract dysfunction, and that prospective collection of preoperative and postoperative validated questionnaires and urodynamic data in a standardized fashion is beneficial in characterizing patient response.Materials and Methods: Patients were candidates for sacral nerve stimulation if they had refractory voiding dysfunction and standard treatments had failed. Preoperative evaluation included urodynamic studies, spinal magnetic resonance imaging, and validated bladder and bowel related questionnaires. Children were stratified into 2 groups, ie overactive bladder with or without incontinence (group 1) and detrusor underactivity/urinary retention requiring clean intermittent catheterization (group 2). A staged procedure was used with initial test lead placement, followed by permanent device insertion 2 weeks later if patients demonstrated symptom improvement with test lead. Postoperatively ch...
Experimental investigation of aeronautical and maritime communications and surveillance using satellites

The experimental program described included an evaluation of every significant factor affecting the accuracy of position fixing by range measurements from geostationary satellites. The tone-code ranging technique was found to provide a precision of roughly 0.1 n mi at mid-lattitudes with one range measurement at L-band and one at VHF. The factors which introduce bias errors were studied analytically and experimentally, and means of rectifying the bias errors were developed. An operational system at L-band may be expected to provide position fix accuracy of 0.1 n mi over large regions of the earth. The ranging technique developed within this program is digital, and uses a single signalling waveform and a single modem for communications and ranging.
Viscosity Analysis of Dual Variable Domain Immunoglobulin Protein Solutions: Role of Size, Electroviscous Effect and Protein-Protein Interactions

Increased solution viscosity results in difficulties in manufacturing and delivery of therapeutic protein formulations, increasing both the time and production costs, and leading to patient inconvenience. The solution viscosity is affected by the molecular properties of both the solute and the solvent. The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of size, charge and protein-protein interactions on the viscosity of Dual Variable Domain Immunoglobulin (DVD-IgTM) protein solutions. The effect of size of the protein molecule on solution viscosity was investigated by measuring intrinsic viscosity and excluded volume calculations for monoclonal antibody (mAb) and DVD-IgTM protein solutions. The role of the electrostatic charge resulting in electroviscous effects for DVD-IgTM protein was assessed by measuring zeta potential. Light scattering measurements were performed to detect protein-protein interactions affecting solution viscosity. DVD-IgTM protein exhibited significantly higher viscosity compared to mAb. Intrinsic viscosity and excluded volume calculations indicated that the size of the molecule affects viscosity significantly at higher concentrations, while the effect was minimal at intermediate concentrations. Electroviscous contribution to the viscosity of DVD-IgTM protein varied depending on the presence or absence of ions in the solution. In buffered solutions, negative k D and B 2 values indicated the presence of attractive interactions which resulted in high viscosity for DVD-IgTM protein at certain pH and ionic strength conditions. Results show that more than one factor contributes to the increased viscosity of DVD-IgTM protein and interplay of these factors modulates the overall viscosity behavior of the solution, especially at higher concentrations.
ICA and IVA: Theory, connections, and applications to medical imaging

Independent component analysis (ICA) uses a simple generative mo- del and decomposes a given set of observations based on the assumption of statistical independence of the underlying components/ latent variables. To achieve this task, ICA makes use of the diversity in the data, typically in terms of statistical properties of the signal. Most of the ICA algorithms introduced to date have considered one of the two types of diversity: non-Gaussianity—i.e., higher-order-statistics—or, sample dependence. A recent generalization of ICA, independent vector analysis (IVA), generalizes ICA to multiple data sets and adds the use of one more diversity, dependence across multiple data sets for achieving an independent decomposition, jointly across multiple data sets. In this paper, we use mutual information rate as the unifying framework such that all these statistical properties—types of diversity—can be jointly taken into account for achieving the independent decomposition and discuss the properties of ICA and IVA under this broad umbrella.
Chapter 5 Uranium- and Thorium-Series Nuclides as Tracers of Submarine Groundwater Discharge

Publisher Summary A number of U- and Th-series isotopes have become popular tools for quantifying submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). These isotopic techniques enable large-scale estimates of various components of SGD, allowing detailed studies on the processes involved. Radium isotopes have proven to be useful tracers of total SGD in many environments on both small- and large scales. The existence of four naturally occurring radium isotopes makes Ra particularly useful for quantifying multiple sources of SGD. The utility of 222 Rn as a tracer of SGD has been demonstrated in a wide range of environments from coastal embayments to the coastal ocean. The approach for quantifying SGD using 222 Rn is similar to radium ( 226 Ra), except for a few key differences. The 222 Rn signature of SGD is best observed near the source because of its short half-life. In contrast, 226 Ra has the ability to integrate the SGD signal over much wider spatial scales. Finally, of the intercomparison studies conducted till date, there appears to be no systematic difference in the two techniques based on the coastal hydrogeologic setting, though a wider range of estimates has been typically observed in areas with fractured crystalline rock aquifers and where springs have been a major conduit for SGD. More recently, the geochemical budget for uranium has been shown to be impacted by SGD. As uranium is enriched in seawater relative to most coastal groundwater, the observed depletion of uranium in estuarine and coastal waters may provide an estimate of the seawater component of SGD that recharges coastal aquifers, or submarine groundwater recharge (SGR). Additionally, new isotope techniques for in situ study are under development including underwater g-spectrometry and continuous radon monitoring. These techniques may be more useful for location of SGD discharges rather than estimation of their magnitudes.
Logical Data Models

This chapter contains sections titled: The RDM The Network Data Model The Hierarchical Data Model The OODM Summary Glossary References Exercises
Multilane passenger conveyors

It is concluded that multilane passenger conveyors have only one serious disadvantage that has been definitely established, i. e. , the considerable width required by the several lanes which are necessary to give reasonable speeds. It is concluded that the width will not be disadvantageous if such conveyors are used to replace existing vehicle dominated streets or the multilane system is initially designed into a new urban complex. Multilane passenger conveyor configurations are defined and classified and their advantages and disadvantages examined in detail. Several promising multilane conveyor applications are considered. In particular the benefit of using such a system as a feeder to a transit station is pointed out. Certain limits on multilane conveyor dimensions are noted. Past multilane ideas and devices are reviewed, as are fictional accounts of multilane passenger conveyors. Language: en
Percutaneous Nephrostomy Placement

Percutaneous drainage of the kidney is performed for several reasons, the most common of which is obstruction from nephrolithiasis, kidney stone disease. Obstructive uropathy secondary to a ureteral stone can be a medical emergency, particularly if there is evidence of urosepsis from ureteral obstruction. In those cases, percutaneous drainage may be a life-saving measure.
Pricing on the Internet and in Conventional Retail Channels: A Study of Over-the-Counter Pharmaceutical Products

Business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce survived the near-disastrous dot.com market crash in March of 2000 and has emerged as an integral component of doing business. Studies conducted before 2000, when companies had little experience with e-commerce, found that there were differences in pricing strategies and search and menu costs between the Internet and the conventional (brick-and-mortar) channel of distribution. The present study examines pricing data collected during a more mature period when companies routinely used both channels to sell products. The study utilizes data from the Internet and from conventional retailers for a bundle of over-the-counter pharmaceutical products. It finds that prices but not total cost are lower on the Internet, and therefore that shopping for such products on the Internet is likely to be a convenience issue. It also finds, contrary to expectations, that price changes are not more frequent or smaller on the Internet than on the conventional channel, whereas cost and price dispersion are greater. Finally, it discusses the pricing strategies of stores that have both Internet and conventional channels.
Aplastic Anemia Complicating Infectious Mononucleosis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

A 12 1/2-year-old white girl developed pancytopenia and severe aplastic anemia three weeks following symptoms of infectious mononucleosis. Pancytopenia complicating infectious mononucleosis has been reported in only nine previous cases and only three were proven to have aplastic anemia. The mean time from onset of symptoms of infectious mononucleosis to the nadir of pancytopenia was 21.3 days with a range of seven to 49 days. Two patients died from complications of the pancytopenia. In those patients who recovered, the mean time from diagnosis of the pancytopenia to recovery of bone marrow function was 6.25 days with a range of four to eight days. In contrast to other causes of aplastic anemia, return of normal platelet levels coincided with recovery from pancytopenia. The etiology of the pancytopenia and aplastic anemia are unknown but immunologic causes are suspected because of the rapid recovery of the bone marrow and its possible responsiveness to steroids.
Mechanisms of Family Impact on African American Adolescents' HIV-Related Behavior

A longitudinal model that tested mediating pathways between protective family processes and HIV-related behavior was evaluated with 195 African American youth. Three waves of data were collected when the youth were 13, 15, and 19 years old. Evidence of mediation and temporal priority were assessed for three constructs: academic engagement, evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers, and affiliations with risk-promoting peers. Structural equation modeling indicated that protective family processes assessed during early adolescence were associated with HIV-related behavior during emerging adulthood and that academic engagement, evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers, and affiliations with risk-promoting peers accounted for this association. Evidence of a specific pathway emerged: protective family processes → academic engagement negative → evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers→ affiliations with risk-promoting peers→ HIV-related behavior. Academic engagement also was a direct predictor of HIV-related risk behavior.
Divorced fathers who win contested custody of their children: an exploratory study

Semistructured interviews with 26 divorced fathers who won contested custody of their children suggest that these fathers fall into two types: 1) those who had been actively involved with their children during the marriage and sought custody at separation in order to maintain their relationships, and 2) those who had not been actively involved with their children and waited some two years to seek custody. Characteristics of these two groups are described.
Sugar beet production as influenced by limited irrigation

Sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.) were grown on a Millville silt loam soil at Logan, Utah to study the relationships between yield (total dry matter, fresh root, and sucrose) and various levels of irrigation simulating different types of limited irrigation under drought conditions. There were four harvest dates. A model, PLANTGRO, was tested for yield prediction under the imposed conditions. A line source sprinkler irrigation system which applied irrigation water from an excess to a zero amount, was used to impose the various levels of irrigation. Irrigation was continued throughout the season on half of the area and terminated at mid-season on the other half. For both irrigation treatments, yield responses to irrigation levels were large. Unlike continuous irrigation throughout the season, when irrigation was terminated in mid-season, there was no increase in yield (total dry matter, fresh root, or sucrose) from harvest 1 to harvest 4. The relation of yield to termination of irrigation depended on the amount of stored soil water at the time of termination. Yield and relative yield exhibited a strong linear relationship with ET. Percent sucrose was not significantly affected by irrigation regimes or harvest date, but tended to increase as amount of applied irrigation water increased. The model PLANTGRO gave good predictions for relative yields of fresh roots, sucrose, and total dry matter under full-season irrigation. The relative yield relations of fresh roots, sucrose and total dry matter were similar. Where irrigation was terminated in mid-season the model slightly under-predicted yield at high irrigation levels.
Biblical Mythology in the Teaching of Religion

SEE the problem of mythology as primarily related to the philosophic category of causality. There is no current philosophic problem on which there is more confusion, and none is more important to the religious interpretation of life. Scientific discussions, at the undergraduate level at least, completely becloud the question of causality, and religious literature seldom tackles it directly. All students are exposed to a discussion of scientific method at some time, and they acquire from that a specialized use of the category of cause. The only place in the college curriculum where they are likely to face the question systematically is in philosophy. Unfortunately, this catches only a few and then the discussion is not always helpful to the religious point of view. For many years I have interpreted the creation stories as mythology. For not so many years I have been acknowledging frankly that these stories are mythology and trying at the same time to get my students to see what is truly involved in a mythology. This paper is a report of what I have been doing and what I believe to be proper from my experience, and therefore it will feature too much the pronoun, I. At the same time, it will fall far short of an examination of the
Life Cycle Analysis of Kidney Gene Expression in Male F344 Rats

Age is a predisposing condition for susceptibility to chronic kidney disease and progression as well as acute kidney injury that may arise due to the adverse effects of some drugs. Age-related differences in kidney biology, therefore, are a key concern in understanding drug safety and disease progression. We hypothesize that the underlying suite of genes expressed in the kidney at various life cycle stages will impact susceptibility to adverse drug reactions. Therefore, establishing changes in baseline expression data between these life stages is the first and necessary step in evaluating this hypothesis. Untreated male F344 rats were sacrificed at 2, 5, 6, 8, 15, 21, 78, and 104 weeks of age. Kidneys were collected for histology and gene expression analysis. Agilent whole-genome rat microarrays were used to query global expression profiles. An ANOVA (p 1.5 in relative mRNA expression, was used to identify 3,724 unique differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Principal component analyses of these DEGs revealed three major divisions in life-cycle renal gene expression. K-means cluster analysis identified several groups of genes that shared age-specific patterns of expression. Pathway analysis of these gene groups revealed age-specific gene networks and functions related to renal function and aging, including extracellular matrix turnover, immune cell response, and renal tubular injury. Large age-related changes in expression were also demonstrated for the genes that code for qualified renal injury biomarkers KIM-1, Clu, and Tff3. These results suggest specific groups of genes that may underlie age-specific susceptibilities to adverse drug reactions and disease. This analysis of the basal gene expression patterns of renal genes throughout the life cycle of the rat will improve the use of current and future renal biomarkers and inform our assessments of kidney injury and disease.
Hydrolysis of Milk Fat with Lipase in Reversed Micelles

Enzymatic hydrolysis of milk fat was studied in a reversed-micelle system consisting of lecithin, water (1% total volume) and butteroil. Candida cylindracea lipase entrapped in the water pools of reversed micelles hydrolyzed surrounding triglycerides. The optimum temperature for enzyme activity was 55°C with an activation energy of 15.4 kcal/mole, while maximum enzyme activity was observed between pH 4 to 6. The molar ratio of water to surfactant (R value) in the system influenced enzyme activity with maximum activity at R = 10. Enzyme activity also increased with increasing surfactant or enzyme concentration.
Unbiased estimation of parameters by order statistics in the case of censored samples

SUMMARY Approximate maximum likelihood estimators have been obtained for the normal and gamma distributions and their efficiencies compared to those for the best linear unbiased estimators for these distributions.
Experimentally derived salinity tolerance of hatchling Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) from the Everglades, Florida (USA)

article i nfo In a laboratory setting, we tested the ability of 24 non-native, wild-caught hatchling Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) collected in the Florida Everglades to survive when given water containing salt to drink. After a one-month acclimation period in the laboratory, we grouped snakes into three treatments, giving them access to water that was fresh (salinity of 0, control), brackish (salinity of 10), or full-strength sea water (salinity of 35). Hatchlings survived about one month at the highest marine salinity and about five months at the brackish-water salinity; no control animals perished during the experiment. These results are indicative of a "worst-case scenario", as in the laboratory we denied access to alternate fresh-water sources that may be accessible in the wild (e.g., through rainfall). Therefore, our results may underestimate the potential of hatchling pythons to persist in saline habitats in the wild. Because of the effect of different salinity regimes on survival, predictions of ultimate geographic expansion by non-native Burmese pythons that consider salt water as barriers to dispersal for pythons may warrant re-evaluation, especially under global climate change and associated sea-level-rise scenarios. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Delayed hypersensitivity and Arthus reaction to purified hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in immunized chimpanzees.

Abstract To further investigate the specific immunopathogenic role of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), we have histologically documented the sequential appearance of both delayed hypersensitivity and Arthus reactions following skin testing with purified HBsAg of chimpanzees. These findings were correlated with anti-HBs and anti-HBc antibody titers and with results of lymphocyte migration inhibition (LMI) tests to purified HBsAg. Positive cutaneous delayed hypersensitivity (DH) reaction developed in all six recently immunized chimpanzees, with evidence of in vitro DH to HBsAg by LMI in five of six. Arthus reactions following skin testing with HBsAg were observed in all seven animals immunized l yr earlier, which had high circulating anti-HBs titers. The LMI test was positive in only two of these. No cutaneous reactions, LMI, or anti-HBs were detected in two healthy chronic HBsAg carrier chimpanzees. By contrast, anti-HBc was detected only in this latter group. These data suggest that specific cellular as well as humoral response to HBsAg can develop in immune chimpanzees. In contrast, chronic carriers do not react in these tests, suggesting a form of immunologic paralysis.
A general timing condition for consecutive collision orbits in the limiting case µ = 0 of the elliptic restricted problem

Consecutive collision orbits in the limiting case µ = 0 of the elliptic restricted three-body problem are investigated. in particular those in which the infinitesimal mass collides twice with the smaller (massless) primary. A timing condition is presented that allows the extension of previous results to the case of arbitrary relative orientation of the orbits of the infinitesimal mass and the smaller primary. The timing condition is expressed in two general forms - in terms of orbit parameters and eccentric (or hyperbolic) anomalies at the times of collision - for the specific cases of elliptic. parabolic or hyperbolic orbits of the infinitesimal mass. Some families of solutions are presented.
Asymmetries and idiosyncratic hot spots in crowding.

Abstract Crowding (mutual scrambling of nearby peripheral stimuli) has several known asymmetries. We explored these and other asymmetries systematically across the visual field. Crowding strength for 16 target (Gabor) positions in the visual field (8 directions × 2 eccentricities) were determined by positioning a plaid mask made of two transparently overlaid Gabors either inward, outward, clockwise, or counter-clockwise around the target. Overall, we found a surprisingly large individual variation in crowding strength appearing as idiosyncratic hotspots across the visual field. No correlations were found between the idiosyncratic variations of crowding and visual acuity either across the visual field or across subjects. When averaged across observers the results replicated most of the previously reported asymmetries of crowding. No new types of asymmetries were observed, but we found that the inward–outward asymmetry of crowding is present only along the horizontal meridian. Most surprisingly, we discovered that this asymmetry increases two-fold, if the observer is forced to attend to both left and right visual fields. This indicates that besides other factors attention allocation has a strong effect on the crowding asymmetry.
A spectrophotometric determination of trypsin and chymotrypsin

Abstract A sensitive spectrophotometric assay for trypsin and chymotrypsin using synthetic substrates has been described.
A Hubble Space Telescope View of the Interstellar Environments of Young Stellar Objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We have used archival Hubble Space Telecope (HST) Hα images to study the immediate environments of massive and intermediate-mass young stellar object (YSO) candidates in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The sample of YSO candidates, taken from Gruendl & Chu, was selected based on Spitzer IRAC and MIPS observations of the entire LMC and complementary ground-based optical and near-infrared observations. We found HST Hα images for 99 YSO candidates in the LMC, of which 82 appear to be genuine YSOs. More than 95% of the YSOs are found to be associated with molecular clouds. YSOs are seen in three different kinds of environments in the Hα images: in dark clouds, inside or on the tip of bright-rimmed dust pillars, and in small H II regions. Comparisons of spectral energy distributions for YSOs in these three different kinds of environments suggest that YSOs in dark clouds are the youngest, YSOs with small H II regions are the most evolved, and YSOs in bright-rimmed dust pillars span a range of intermediate evolutionary stages. This rough evolutionary sequence is substantiated by the presence of silicate absorption features in the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectra of some YSOs in dark clouds and in bright-rimmed dust pillars, but not those of YSOs in small H II regions. We present a discussion on triggered star formation for YSOs in bright-rimmed dust pillars or in dark clouds adjacent to H II regions. As many as 50% of the YSOs are resolved into multiple sources in high-resolution HST images. This illustrates the importance of using high-resolution images to probe the true nature and physical properties of YSOs in the LMC.
A normative database of isokinetic upper-extremity joint strengths: Towards the evaluation of dynamic human performance

The objective of this study was to provide a normative database of dynamic upper-extremity (shoulder and elbow) joint strengths to fill the current void in literature for multidimensional strength capacity profiles. The isokinetic strength of the elbow and shoulder joints was tested for twenty nor­ mal males and females. The independent variables consisted of joint angular position, joint angular velocity, direction of exertion, and gender. The measured joint strength (torque, Nm) was the only de­ fined dependent variable. The majority of existing joint strength prediction models and normative da­ tabases are static (isometric) in nature. The few available dynamic models are reported in the form of torque as a function of joint angle. Since joint strength is a function of both the joint angular position and angular velocity, descriptive models should take this interaction into consideration. The dynamic joint strengths of the subjects were studied using the KIN_COM 125E Plus. A second-order multiple regression analysis was used to model the dynamic 3-D strength surface response of each joint in each direction of exertion. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures design was used to test for the effects of gender, angular position, angular velocity, and direction on the dynamic strength of each joint, joint strength was significantly influenced by dynamic parameters such as the angular velocity. The interaction between angular position and velocity was highly significant. 3-D strength surface representation may be used as a "performance capacity envelope" to comprehen­ sively characterize an individual's dynamic joint strength performance.
Expression of neurotrophin-3 in the mouse forebrain: insights from a targeted LacZ reporter.

To obtain insights into the expression of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) in the mouse, we have utilized mice in which the Escherichia coli lacZ gene is integrated into the neurotrophin-3 locus (NT-3lacZneo, Farinas et al. [1994] Nature 369:658–661). In this mouse strain, β-galactosidase production is under control of the NT-3 promoter in its normal chromosomal environment, and histochemical measurement of β-galactosidase provides a simple, sensitive method to determine which cells express NT-3. Our data correlate well with previous in situ mRNA and immunocytochemical studies reporting the localization of NT-3. For example, in adult NT-3lacZneo/+ mice, β-galactosidase is expressed in high amounts in limbic areas of the cortex (cingulate, retrosplenial, piriform, and entorhinal), in the visual cortex, in the hippocampal formation (dentate granule cells, CA2 cells, fasciola cinereum, induseum griseum, tenia tecta, presubiculum, and parasubiculum), and in the septum (septohippocampal nucleus and lateral dorsal septum). In contrast with other studies, our results suggest more extensive expression of NT-3 in adult and aged mouse brains with cortical expression apparent at 4.5 months. To further define the cell populations expressing NT-3 in adult mice, we have combined immunocytochemistry with histochemical staining and found that β-galactosidase is coexpressed with a neuronal marker (NeuN) and with parvalbumin and neuropeptides, markers for GABAergic interneurons. Our studies of embryonic β-galactosidase expression in NT-3lacZneo/+ mice suggest sites of NT-3 expression not previously described, including embryonic piriform cortical cells and dentate granule cell precursors. J. Comp. Neurol. 416:398–415, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Hadronic wave functions in the instanton model

In this paper we wish to study hadronic wave functions using an instanton model for the QCD vacuum. The wave functions are defined in terms of gauge-invariant Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes which we have determined numerically using a Monte Carlo simulation of the instanton ensemble. We find that the pion and the proton, as well as the [rho] meson and the [Delta], have very similar wave functions but observe a sizable splitting between mesons or baryons with different spin. We compare our results with data obtained in lattice gauge simulations.