cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Noise measurement of a self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser stabilized by a shaker

SeIf-mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers1 have been successful in generating femtosecond pulses in the near-infrared regime. Without using any active or passive starting mechanism these mode-locked systems cannot start automati-colly.1 We used a shaker to vibrate one of the end mirrors of the Ti:sapphire laser cavity to start and maintain self-mode-iocking (SML) of the Ti:sapphire laser.3 When the mirror on the shaker is oscillating above the threshold3 for the laser to start SML, a stable mode-locked pulse train appears immediately. With careful alignment of the SML Tirsapphire laser cavity, pulses as short as 43 fs have been observed in our laser. During our measurements, we tried turning on and off the shaker; we found that the pulsewidth and the corresponding spectrum bandwidth were not affected.
Advantages of Online Methods in Planning Research

This article examines the effectiveness of using online survey methods in planning research. This study measured travel behavior and physical activity of office workers over a month period. An onli...
Using Indirect vs. Direct Measures in the Summative Assessment of Student Learning in Higher Education.

Contradictory results have been reported regarding the accuracy of various methods used to assess student learning in higher education. The current study examined student learning outcomes across a multi-section and multi-instructor psychology research course with both indirect and direct assessments in a sample of 67 undergraduate students. The indirect method measured student perceived knowledge and abilities on course topics, while the direct method measured actual knowledge where students answered test questions or solved problems reflecting course content. Both measures independently demonstrated increases from pretest to posttest; however the indirect measure did not correlate with final course grades. Results also showed respondents scoring lower on the direct measure were overconfident (as measured by indirect score) in their perceived knowledge and ability, the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Based on our findings, we concluded that the indirect method was not an accurate measure of student learning, but may have benefits as an instructional tool.
Relationships Between Social TV and Enjoyment: A Content Analysis of The Walking Dead’s Story Sync Experience

Some of the most influential conversations about television shows are happening via Twitter, in a process dubbed Social TV. Content analysis of publicly available conversations of The Walking Dead ...
Labs as crucibles of uncertainty

Until recently, laboratories – whether big or small, national, industrial or military – were usually consigned to the background in the history of science and technology. Laboratory histories – if they existed at all – generally took the form of commemorative or official volumes, designed to remember, inspire or serve public-relations purposes, rather than to analyse.
Psychometric Properties of Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence for Smokeless Tobacco Users (FTND-ST).

Introduction Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) is the most commonly used measure of dependence among tobacco users. Psychometric properties of FTND have been validated among cigarette smokers, but the reliability and validity of its variant for smokeless tobacco (ST) users (FTND-ST) is not well documented. The objective of the present study is to evaluate reliability, construct validity, and structure model of FTND-ST. Methods Data from 95 exclusive ST users living in Oklahoma were used for this study. Participants completed a self-administered mail survey including FTND-ST and other questionnaires. Measures of internal consistency, Cronbach's coefficient α and item-total correlation were estimated to evaluate reliability of the FTND-ST. To ascertain the factor structure of the scale, confirmatory factor analysis was performed. We examined concurrent and construct validity with correlation and regression analysis. Salivary cotinine concentration was used as a criterion variable. Results The FTND-ST demonstrated good reliability with acceptable Cronbach's coefficient (α = 0.72) and significant item-total correlations. Study findings showed that FTND-ST had positive significant association with salivary cotinine concentration (r = 0.61, p <.0001) and Tobacco Dependence Screener (r = 0.44, p < .0001). Results of factor analysis support a unidimensional factor structure of FTND-ST. Conclusions The FTND-ST demonstrated good psychometric properties. The unidimensional structure of the scale indicates that it measures single clearly defined aspect of dependence, physical dependence. Given its good reliability and demonstrated construct validity, FTND-ST is a useful measure of dependence among ST users. Implications Because of the paucity of ST dependence research, there are limited studies evaluating ST dependence measures. Although the FTND was exclusively developed for cigarette smoking, it has been adapted for ST users in the form of FTND-ST. This is the first study to examine reliability, concurrent and construct validity, and structure model of FTND-ST among regular ST users. Findings suggest that the FTND-ST measures physical aspect of dependence. Good psychometric properties of FTND-ST and its orientation as a continuous scale indicate that FTND-ST is a useful measure of dependence among ST users.
Integrating Brain Science and Law: Neuroscientific Evidence and Legal Perspectives on Protecting Individual Liberties

Advances in neuroscientific techniques have found increasingly broader applications, including in legal neuroscience (or “neurolaw”), where experts in the brain sciences are called to testify in the courtroom. But does the incursion of neuroscience into the legal sphere constitute a threat to individual liberties? And what legal protections are there against such threats? In this paper, we outline individual rights as they interact with neuroscientific methods. We then proceed to examine the current uses of neuroscientific evidence, and ultimately determine whether the rights of the individual are endangered by such approaches. Based on our analysis, we conclude that while federal evidence rules constitute a substantial hurdle for the use of neuroscientific evidence, more ethical safeguards are needed to protect against future violations of fundamental rights. Finally, we assert that it will be increasingly imperative for the legal and neuroscientific communities to work together to better define the limits, capabilities, and intended direction of neuroscientific methods applicable for use in law.
Public Administration, Politics of

At least since World War II, public administration has been regarded as an inherently political activity, challenging orthodox notions developed earlier in the century that administration and politics were two distinct processes. Public administration and the more recent variant, public management, refer to the efforts by professional administrators and executive appointees to organize and operate government agencies for the purpose of implementing public policy. The administrative process is inherently political in at least two ways. One is that the actions of public administrators inevitably require choices, whose consequences are the authoritative allocation of benefits and costs. The other is that public administrators are rarely neutral agents of representative institutions, but rather act strategically to maximize the influence of their agencies. The political nature of public administration may be observed in the processes of political reform, personnel management, and policy implementation.
Pleural Effusions: Pathophysiology and Management with Intrapleural Tetracycline:

Chronic or recurrent pleural effusions are a consequence of a variety of disease states and may produce significant pain or discomfort in a patient. Both surgical and pharmacological attempts to control pleural effusions have been tried, with moderate success. This article reviews the pathophysiology of pleural effusion and the role of intrapleural tetracycline in its management.Irritating chemicals, when instilled into the pleural space, are known to produce adhesion of the pleural membranes. Tetracycline has been shown in both animal and human studies to be effective in preventing the recurrence of a pleural effusion while producing only minor side effects, such as fever and pleuritic pain. Studies involving tetracycline in treating pleural effusions are reviewed, and guidelines for the preparation and administration of intrapleural tetracycline are presented.Because of its efficacy, low toxicity, ease of preparation, ready availability, and low cost, tetracycline deserves strong consideration as a firs...
Ion Trapping and Acceleration at Dipolarization Fronts: High-Resolution MHD/Test-Particle Simulations

Much of plasma heating and transport from the magnetotail into the inner magnetosphere occurs in the form of mesoscale discrete injections associated with sharp dipolarizations of magnetic field (dipolarization fronts). In this study we investigate the mechanisms of ion acceleration at dipolarization fronts in a high-resolution global magnetospheric MHD model (LFM). We use large-scale three-dimensional test-particle simulations (CHIMP) to address the following science questions: 1) what are the characteristic scales of dipolarization regions that can stably trap ions? 2) what role does the trapping play in ion transport and acceleration? 3) how does it depend on particle energy and distance from Earth? 4) to what extent ion acceleration is adiabatic? High-resolution LFM was run using idealized solar wind conditions with fixed nominal values of density and velocity and a southward IMF component of −5 nT. To simulate ion interaction with dipolarization fronts, a large ensemble of test particles distributed in energy, pitch-angle, and gyrophase was initialized inside one of the LFM dipolarization channels in the magnetotail. Full Lorentz ion trajectories were then computed over the course of the front inward propagation from the distance of 17 to 6 Earth radii. A large fraction of ions with different initial energies stayed in phase with the front over the entire distance. The effect of magnetic trapping at different energies was elucidated with a correlation of the ion guiding center and the ExB drift velocities. The role of trapping in ion energization was quantified by comparing the partial pressure of ions that exhibit trapping to the pressure of all trapped ions.
Effect of Alcohol Ingestion on Plasma Glucose Kinetics After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery

Abstract Background Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) increases the rate of alcohol absorption so that peak blood alcohol concentration is 2-fold higher after surgery compared with concentrations reached after consuming the same amount presurgery. Because high doses of alcohol can lead to hypoglycemia, patients may be at increased risk of developing hypoglycemia after alcohol ingestion. Objectives We conducted 2 studies to test the hypothesis that the consumption of approximately 2 standard drinks of alcohol would decrease glycemia more after RYGB than before surgery. Setting Single-center prospective randomized trial. Methods We evaluated plasma glucose concentrations and glucose kinetics (assessed by infusing a stable isotopically labelled glucose tracer) after ingestion of a nonalcoholic drink (placebo) or an alcoholic drink in the following groups: (1) 5 women before RYGB (body mass index = 43 ± 5 kg/m2) and 10 ± 2 months after RYGB (body mass index = 31 ± 7 kg/m2; study 1), and (2) 8 women who had undergone RYGB surgery 2.2 ± 1.2 years earlier (body mass index = 30 ± 5 kg/m2; study 2) Results Compared with the placebo drink, alcohol ingestion decreased plasma glucose both before and after surgery, but the reduction was greater before (glucose nadir placebo = −.4 ± 1.0 mg/dL versus alcohol = −9.6 ± 1.5 mg/dL) than after (glucose nadir placebo = −1.0 ± 1.6 mg/dL versus alcohol = −5.5 ± 2.6 mg/dL; P Conclusion RYGB does not increase the risk of hypoglycemia after consumption of a moderate dose of alcohol.
Toward a More Specific and Collaborative Understanding of Ethical and Legal Issues in HRD

This chapter provides human resource development (HRD) scholars and professionals with statutes and regulations that affect HRD scholarship and practice. The most important skills and competencies for HRD scholars and professionals to manage legal regulations and standards effectively are administration, treatment of participants, business skills, global mindset, industry knowledge, interpersonal skills, integrated talent management, and change management. These skills and competencies directly influence how HRD professionals interact and collaborate with others to improve employee behavior on the job. Technology skills may supplement these skills and competencies, but people-to-people interactions are essential for improved legal and ethical decision-making. HRD professionals must possess these skills and competencies to develop effective ethical and legal training programs and resources to ensure the economic success of organizations. HRD professionals can help to reduce problems and liability risks for their organization by helping all employees understand how important it is to treat each other fairly on the job. HRD scholars and professionals can design education and training using proven strategies to increase employee effectiveness in making ethical decisions and understanding legal statutes. HRD professionals must also understand economics and its role in the success of the organization. Exploring how to help organizations integrate Gig economy workers into the workforce is also a role of HRD professionals and scholars.
Bringing Data Science to Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative user research is a human-intensive approach that draws upon ethnographic methods from social sciences to develop insights about work practices to inform software design and development. Recent advances in data science, and in particular, natural language processing (NLP), enables the derivation of machine-generated insights to augment existing techniques. Our work describes our prototype framework based in Jupyter, a software tool that supports interactive data science and scientific computing, that leverages NLP techniques to make sense of transcribed texts from user interviews. This work also serves as a starting point for incorporating data science techniques in the qualitative analyses process.
Radiographic Presentation of Delayed Diagnosis of Charcot Foot in a 56-Year-Old Patient With No Reported History of Diabetes: A Case Report

Abstract Objective The purpose of this case report is to describe the radiographic presentation of a patient with neuropathic osteoarthropathy. Clinical Features A 56-year-old white man presented to the diagnostic imaging department of a chiropractic teaching institution for the radiographic examination of the left foot. He had a 6-month history of left foot pain unresponsive to chiropractic care. The patient had reported no history of diabetes and denied any trauma, surgery, or malignancy. Intervention and Outcome Based upon the history, a 3-view radiographic examination of the left foot using computed radiography was performed. Radiographic abnormalities included osseous resorption, architectural foot disorganization, and dissociation and collapse of the anatomical alignment between the intertarsal and tarsal-metatarsal articulations. Intra-articular osseous debris formation with periarticular edema of the midfoot was noted. After the radiological diagnosis, the patient was subsequently investigated and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Thus, there were radiographic findings of poorly controlled or untreated diabetes mellitus with the resultant complication of neuropathic osteoarthropathy. Conclusion Some patients with type 2 diabetes may present with covert manifestations and other symptoms, such as a history of unexplained foot pain. The patient in this case with diabetes-induced neuropathic osteoarthropathy demonstrates that these findings should raise suspicion and result in an appropriate follow-up investigation.
Population with criminal records and racial disparity in labor markets

Although unemployment rates are at historical lows, there is still a persistent gap between unemployment rates in black and white population. Some have proposed that part of the gap for men can be explained by the higher rate of criminal records in the black population.
Responsive Parenting Behaviors and Cognitive Function in Children With Sickle Cell Disease.

Objective Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at increased risk for cognitive impairment as a result in part from biological characteristics of the disease; however, limited research has explored possible social and contextual factors associated with risk for cognitive problems. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the relation between children's cognitive functioning and responsive parenting, a potentially important contextual factor in children with SCD, accounting for family socioeconomic disadvantage, child disease severity, and caregivers' perceived stress. Methods Forty-eight children completed standardized cognitive assessments and caregivers provided self-reports of general and disease-related stress. Parent-child dyads completed a video recorded puzzle-solving task and observed parenting was quantified using two coding systems. Bivariate Pearson correlations were used to assess preliminary hypotheses, and linear multiple regression analyses were used to assess the primary hypothesis. Results Results suggested that increased levels of parental stress were related to fewer observations of responsive parenting and provided evidence of an association between children's cognitive function and responsive parenting. Specifically, increased disease-related parent stress and reduced parental use of expansive language were associated with significantly lower cognitive functioning in children with SCD. Conclusions Findings suggest that social environmental factors along with disease characteristics are sources of risk for cognitive problems with children with SCD. Further, these findings highlight the need to develop targeted interventions for parents of children with SCD to decrease levels of stress and enhance parenting skills, with the aim improving cognitive functioning in youth.
Latinos por Trump? Latinos and the 2016 Presidential Election

Objective This article examines the unresolved puzzle of the Latino vote in the 2016 presidential election. The National Election Pool (NEP) estimated that Trump received 28 percent, which surprised many given Trump's rhetoric, but it was just one of several estimates (ranging from 18 to over 30 percent). Methods We analyze the 2016 and 2012 American National Election Study, Pew's 2016 and 2012 National Survey of Latinos, the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, and various media polls. Results The data indicate that (1) Trump improved on Romney among key groups of Latinos (Protestants, low income, and the third generation) but lost ground among others; (2) Clinton underperformed Obama across multiple dimensions; and (3) many Latino undecided voters and third‐party supporters broke late for Trump. Conclusion Trump did better than expected among Latinos. This highlights an increasingly diverse Latino electorate and complicates our understanding of the political implications of demographic change.
Reducing Piperacillin and Tazobactam Use for Pediatric Perforated Appendicitis

Abstract Background Although perforated appendicitis is associated with infectious complications, the choice of antibiotic therapy is controversial. We assess the effectiveness and safety of an intervention to reduce piperacillin and tazobactam (PT) use for pediatric acute perforated appendicitis. Methods This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study of children 18 y of age or younger who underwent primary appendectomy for perforated appendicitis between January 01, 2016 and June 30, 2019. An intervention to decrease PT use was implemented: the first phase was provider education (April 19, 2017) and the second phase was modification of electronic antibiotic orders to default to ceftriaxone and metronidazole (July 06, 2017). Preintervention and postintervention PT exposure, use of PT ≥ half of intravenous antibiotic days, and clinical outcomes were compared. Results Forty children before and 109 after intervention were included and had similar baseline characteristics. PT exposure was 31 of 40 (78%) and 20 of 109 (18%) (P Conclusions Provider education and modification of electronic antibiotic orders safely reduced the use of PT for pediatric perforated appendicitis.
Design, Sensing, and Control of a Novel UAV Platform for Aerial Drilling and Screwing

Hole drilling and bolt screwing are frequently performed tasks in construction, decoration, and maintenance. Traditionally, sending human workers to perform these tasks in hard-to-reach locations is both dangerous and costly. In this letter, we present an aerial manipulation platform that allows a human user to remotely conduct omnidirectional drilling and screwing. The design of the platform features a quadrotor UAV with each pair of rotors independently tilted by a servo, forming an “H” configuration, on which a 1-DOF manipulator carrying a motorized drill or screw driver is mounted. With such a design, the end-effector can face any direction on the longitudinal plane and exert a big enough contact force for drilling and screwing without the need of changing the vehicle body's orientation. Compared to previous UAVs that can only drill holes vertically into the ground, the proposed design also allows horizonal drilling/screwing into a wall or a cliff, making it suitable for a vast range of real applications. Based on the dynamic equations of the system, a dual-level control law is proposed. The low-level attitude controller uses an adaptive robust control (ARC) to accurately regulate the attitude angles in the presence of force/torque uncertainties that may occur during the drilling and screwing process, while a selective impedance controller is implemented at high level to indirectly control the contact force commanded by the user. In addition, a vision-based real-time target identification and tracking method integrating a YOLO v3 real-time object detector with feature tracking, and morphological operations is developed to identify and track the target point for drilling and screwing specified by the user. Various in-lab experiments on a self-made prototype demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach for aerial drilling and screwing.
3D time-lapse microscopy paired with endpoint lineage analysis in mouse blastocysts

Summary Determining how signaling dynamics relate to gene expression and cell fate is essential to understanding multicellular development. We present a unified live imaging and lineage analysis method that allows integrated analysis of both techniques in the same mouse embryos. This protocol describes the embryo isolation, confocal imaging, immunofluorescence, and in silico alignment required to connect time-lapse and endpoint measurements. By utilizing different biosensors and fixed readouts, this method allows interrogation of signaling dynamics that specify cell fates in developing embryos. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Pokrass et al. (2020) .
Near-field coupling of absorbing material to subwavelength cavities

In conjunction with our previous work on spectral transmission dependence on geometric parameters for subwavelength slits, we have investigated the optical behavior with the inclusion of an absorber on the extraordinary optical transmission of sliver slits resonant in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR). The placement of an absorbing layer causes a dramatic change to the dielectric environment of the subwavelength slit causing the cavity to become energetically leaky. We have found this broadens the spectral response of the cavity by increasing the imaginary component of the effective cavity index, reducing the cavity quality by a factor of more than seven. To mitigate this undesired effect, we have found that partially decoupling the absorber with a thin isolating layer helps restore the slit’s narrow spectral response and we explore the dependence of optical properties on the isolating layer’s depth. The optimum thickness of a silicon dioxide isolation layer for best quantum efficiency (Q.E.) was found to be 100 nm with a maximum Q.E. of 37.5%. This is more than double the Q.E. of the directly coupled absorber and the cavity Q increase is of the same order, with a corresponding narrowing of the resonance bandwidth. In addition, we explore the effect on the cavity of changing the dielectric environment at the input of the slit to improve the resonance properties in the propagation direction improving the Q by 20% and improving the Q.E. to 40.2%.
Voice and Touch Based Error-tolerant Multimodal Text Editing and Correction for Smartphones

Editing operations such as cut, copy, paste, and correcting errors in typed text are often tedious and challenging to perform on smartphones. In this paper, we present VT, a voice and touch-based multi-modal text editing and correction method for smartphones. To edit text with VT, the user glides over a text fragment with a finger and dictates a command, such as ”bold” to change the format of the fragment, or the user can tap inside a text area and speak a command such as ”highlight this paragraph” to edit the text. For text correcting, the user taps approximately at the area of erroneous text fragment and dictates the new content for substitution or insertion. VT combines touch and voice inputs with language context such as language model and phrase similarity to infer a user’s editing intention, which can handle ambiguities and noisy input signals. It is a great advantage over the existing error correction methods (e.g., iOS’s Voice Control) which require precise cursor control or text selection. Our evaluation shows that VT significantly improves the efficiency of text editing and text correcting on smartphones over the touch-only method and the iOS’s Voice Control method. Our user studies showed that VT reduced the text editing time by 30.80%, and text correcting time by 29.97% over the touch-only method. VT reduced the text editing time by 30.81%, and text correcting time by 47.96% over the iOS’s Voice Control method.
Orbitofrontal cortex subregion inhibition during binge-like and aversion-resistant alcohol drinking

Abstract Two important contributors to alcohol-related problems and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are binge- and compulsive-like drinking. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), a brain region implicated in outcome valuation and behavioral flexibility, is functionally altered by alcohol exposure. Data from animal models also suggests that both the medial (mOFC) and lateral (lOFC) subregions of the OFC regulate alcohol-related behaviors. The current study was designed to examine the contributions of mOFC and lOFC using a model of binge-like and aversion-resistant ethanol (EtOH) drinking in C57BL/6J male and female mice. The inhibitory Designer Receptor Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADD) hM4Di were used to inhibit neurons in either the mOFC or the lOFC in mice drinking 15% EtOH in a two-bottle limited access modified drinking in the dark paradigm. The effects of chemogenetic inhibition on consumption of quinine-adulterated EtOH, water, and water + quinine was also assessed. Inhibiting the mOFC did not alter consumption of EtOH or aversion-resistant drinking of EtOH + quinine. In contrast, inhibition of neurons in the lOFC increased consumption, but not preference, of EtOH alone. mOFC and lOFC inhibition did not alter water or quinine adulterated water intake, indicating the effects shown here are specific to EtOH drinking. These data support the role of the lOFC in regulating alcohol consumption but fail to find a similar role for mOFC.
Geographic Transfer of Travel Choice Models: Evaluation and Procedures

This paper reviews research results which evaluate model transferability and methods of updating in transfer application. Early expectations that disaggregate choice models would be generally transferable across a wide range of application contexts are not supported bv research studies. indeed, the reported level of transferability varies across model types and specification and differences in transfer contexts. These studies also indicate that methods of transfer model adjustment are very effective in both increasing the average level of transfer effectiveness and decreasing the variability of transfer effectiveness across specifications and contexts. This review establishes the need for additional research to identify the effect on transfer effectiveness of differences in model type and specification and differences in characteristics of transfer contexts. It also establishes the importance of adopting updating procedures when employing model transfer.
Emergent values for automatons: Ethical problems of life in the generalized Internet

The infrastructure is becoming a network of computerized machines regulated by societies of self-directing software agents. Complexity encourages the emergence of novel values in software agent societies. Interdependent human and software political orders cohabitate and coevolve in a symbiosis of freedoms.
Books and Websites, E-Journals or Print: If the Source Fits, Use It

Despite the ever-growing range of media types, formats, and information-access options, students are often instructed to only use specific sources in their research. They are sometimes even given strict guidelines, prescribing how many of each they need to, or may, cite. It is important not to lead students to believe there is a formula for the ideal works cited for all research topics. In contrast, students should learn to think critically about the content and appropriateness of each potential source rather than choosing it only because it is a book, a journal article, a Website, etc. This article argues that requiring students to use, or not use, a source based solely on its format or media type encourages students to choose sources for wrong reasons, pushing critical thinking and source-content evaluation to the periphery of their research processes.
Post-transcriptional regulation associated with control of human CD8A expression of CD4+ T cells

Lack of expression of a cell surface protein can occur by means of transcriptional and/or post-transcriptional mechanisms. Expression of the CD8A gene has been shown to be regulated by post-transcriptional mechanisms when 1) CD4–CD8lo thymocytes are blocked from differentiating into CD4+CD8+ cells by TCR crosslinking and 2) upon activation of mature CD8+ T cells. We demonstrate in this paper that there is also post-transcriptional regulation of CD8A expression in a CD4+CD8– T-cell line Jurkat. On the basis of northern blotting, mRNA for CD8A was not seen to be present in the Jurkat cells, but the gene was observed to be transcriptionally active in nuclear run-on analysis. In addition, we provide evidence that post-transcriptional mechanisms also contribute to the regulation of CD8A expression in mature CD4+CD8– T cells, challenging the assumption that the regulation is due solely to transcriptional mechanisms.
CALCIUM, PHOSPHOROUS AND NITROGENOUS COMPOUND CONTENTS OF CHICKEN BROTH FROM BROILER BREAST FRAMES AS AFFECTED BY VARIOUS ACIDULANTS

The effect of acidulants on the total nitrogen, pH, gelatin, calcium, and phosphorous contents of chicken broth was investigated. Acidulants used included : ascorbic, acetic, citric, lactic, and phosphoric acids. All acidulants at a 0.50% level increased (P< 0.05) the calcium and phosphorous contents of the broth prepared from broiler breast frames. The highest calcium and phosphorous contents were produced in chicken broths prepared with 0.50% phosphoric acid, followed by citric, lactic, acetic and ascorbic acids. Phosphoric acid-treated broth showed the highest nitrogen and gelatin contents, followed by lactic, citric, acetic, and ascorbic acids, in that order. As phosphoric acid concentration increased from 0 to 0.05 %, the total nitrogen and gelatin contents of the broth decreased. However, phosphoric acid, at a concentration as low as 0.025 %, increased (P < 0.05) calcium and phosphorous extraction. Results indicated that acidulants could be used for the processing of high calcium and phosphorous chicken broth from broiler breast frames.
Nephrology Training in the 21st Century: Toward Outcomes-Based Education

Twentieth century postgraduate nephrology training evolved from an apprenticeship model to a defined period in formal fellowship. Subsequently, curriculum content taught by an engaged faculty, including broad clinical exposure, literature review, and investigative experience, established the benchmark of quality education. Self-directed study by the trainee was emphasized, and competence to practice nephrology was presumed in part on the basis of adequate exposure to a program's curriculum. At the close of the century, multiple accreditation bodies of medical education questioned the validity of this educational process in medical training. As a result, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education instituted 6 general competencies as the foundation of an outcomes-based education philosophy. Although some disciplines have developed an evidence base for educational techniques directed at outcomes, nephrology has few publications in this arena and these principally address curriculum structure. Interventional nephrology is a recent exception. In this area of training, publications have appeared linking educational process with learner outcome. Opportunities are abundant to implement and study new educational techniques, including simulation and e-learning. To keep pace with contemporary medical education philosophy, the nephrology education community is challenged to apply evidence-based education techniques to the training of 21st century nephrologists.
An Ordered Triplet Code for Messenger Ribonucleic Acid with no two Triplets Coding for the same Amino-Acid

An Ordered Triplet Code for Messenger Ribonucleic Acid with no two Triplets Coding for the same Amino-Acid
Phase elements for surface optics

We demonstrate that plasmonic two-oscillator elements such as V- and Y-shaped antennas can locally tailor the phase of light over 2π. A theoretical model and full-wave simulations explain the measured spectral response of these elements.
Gradual Long-Term Water Stress Results in Abscisic Acid Accumulation in the Guard-Cell Symplast and Guard-Cell Apoplast of Intact Vicia faba L. Plants

As signals that integrate plant water status, abscisic acid (ABA) made within leaves and that imported from roots contribute to stomatal control. Guard cells exhibit multifaceted responses that are initiated through ABA's interaction with outward-facing plasmamembrane receptors or internal receptors. These responses include short-term regulation of ion transport that alters stomatal conductance as well as long-term regulation of gene expression. These molecular effects have been studied intensively, but the in planta guard-cell ABA contents must also be known if regulation of gas exchange by ABA is to be understood. Water was withheld from Vicia faba L. plants for up to 6 days. Over this period, Ψ Leaf dropped from -0.33 t 0.03 to -0.87 ± 0.04 MPa and leaf conductance fell from 0.14 ± 0.01 to 0.02 ± 0.00 mol.m -2 .s -1 . Concomitantly, leaf ABA concentration increased from 298 ± 43 to 6317 ± 500 nmol.kg -1 (fresh mass) and leaf-apoplast ABA concentration increased from 273 ± 37 to 4609 ± 333 nM. The main purpose of this study was to determine the ABA content in guard cells dissected from surrounding tissue. Initially, the ABA content was 3.2 ± 0.1 fg guard-cell pair -1 , virtually all of which was symplastic. Six days after withholding of water from the plants, the guard-cell symplast ABA content increased to 10.0 ± 1.1 fg ABA.guard-cell pair -1 , whereas the guard-cell apoplast ABA content increased by more than 10 fold to 1.5 ± 0.7 fg ABA.guard-cell pair -1 (∼1.5 μM). These results contrasted with ABA compartmentation in guard cells dissected from plants that were water stressed by a different protocol. The relationship between guard-cell ABA pools and other ABA pools and the importance of compartmentation of ABA by guard cells are discussed.
Gas discharge response to light: dependence of linearity on space charge for optogalvanic and excited-state photoionization signals

Experiments involving He–Cd and Ar laser beam interactions with an Ar discharge indicate that space charge effects generated by the incident light itself are the physical mechanism responsible for nonlinearity of response in discharge regions of excited atom concentration spatial gradients. This occurs with both excited atom photoionization and optogalvanic signals. Such optically generated space charges explain the role of electrode geometry in forming effective cross sections which have been used to describe mathematically the nonlinearity. The optogalvanic effect here is greater in Townsend than in glow discharges, particularly in the cathode fall. This is advantageous because of the extremely low noise and higher responsivities of Townsend discharges.
Testosterone and progesterone, but not estradiol, stimulate muscle protein synthesis in postmenopausal women.

Context: The effect of the female sex steroids, estradiol and progesterone, on muscle protein turnover is unclear. Therefore, it is unknown whether the changes in the hormonal milieu throughout the life span in women contribute to the changes in muscle protein turnover and muscle mass (eg, age associated muscle loss). Objective: The objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the effect of sex hormones on muscle protein synthesis and gene expression of growth-regulatory factors [ie, myogenic differentiation 1 (MYOD1), myostatin (MSTN), follistatin (FST), and forkhead box O3 (FOXO3)]. Subjects and Design: We measured the basal rate of muscle protein synthesis and the expression of muscle growth-regulatory genes in 12 premenopausal women and four groups of postmenopausal women (n = 24 total) who were studied before and after treatment with T, estradiol, or progesterone or no intervention (control group). All women were healthy, and pre- and postmenopausal women were carefully matche...
Electrical Properties of Magneto-Rheological Elastomers

A magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is comprised of ferromagnetic particles aligned in a polymer medium by exposure to a magnetic field. The structures of the magnetic particles within elastomers are very sensitive to the external stimulus of either mechanical force or magnetic field, which result in multi-response behaviors in MRE. In this study, sensing properties of MREs through experimentally characterizing the electrical properties of materials and theirs interfaces with external stimulus (magnetic field or stress/strain) are investigated. A phenomenological model is proposed to model the impedance response of MREs. Results show that MRE samples exhibit significant changes in measured values of impedance and resistance in response to compressive deformation, as well as applied magnetic field.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Notes on Confidence Limits for the Odds Ratio in Case‐Control Studies under Inverse Sampling

When the disease of interest is rare or chronic, we often apply the case control study design and the odds ratio to determine the possibly risk factors. In this paper, three simple closed-form interval calculation procedures for the odds ratio under inverse sampling are proposed. Results on the basis of a Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate and compare the performance of these three procedures are presented. A discussion on the limitation of the proposed procedures when the probability of exposure is extremely common in both the case and the control groups and a suggestion to overcome this limitation are included as well.
Divide-and-conquer and statistical inference for big data

I present some recent work on statistical inference for Big Data. Divide-and-conquer is a natural computational paradigm for approaching Big Data problems, particularly given recent developments in distributed and parallel computing, but some interesting challenges arise when applying divide-and-conquer algorithms to statistical inference problems. One interesting issue is that of obtaining confidence intervals in massive datasets.The bootstrap principle suggests resampling data to obtain fluctuations in the values of estimators, and thereby confidence intervals, but this is infeasible with massive data. Subsampling the data yields fluctuations on the wrong scale, which have to be corrected to provide calibrated statistical inferences. I present a new procedure, the "bag of little bootstraps," which circumvents this problem, inheriting the favorable theoretical properties of the bootstrap but also having a much more favorable computational profile. Another issue that I discuss is the problem of large-scale matrix completion. Here divide-and-conquer is a natural heuristic that works well in practice, but new theoretical problems arise when attempting to characterize the statistical performance of divide-and-conquer algorithms. Here the theoretical support is provided by concentration theorems for random matrices, and I present a new approach to this problem based on Stein's method1.
SYNTHESIS OF GROUP 4 METAL RAC-(EBI)M(NR2)2 COMPLEXES BY AMINE ELIMINATION. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The synthesis of (EBI)M(NR2)2 (M = Ti, Zr, Hf; EBI = ethylene-1,2-bis(1-indenyl)) complexes by amine elimination reactions of (EBI)H2 (1,2-bis(3-indenyl)ethane) and M(NR2)4 complexes has been investigated. The reaction of (EBI)H2 and Zr(NEt2)4 in toluene at 100 °C (15 h) yields the mono(indenyl) complex (η5-C9H6CH2CH2C9H7)Zr(NEt2)3 via a single amine elimination. Under more forcing conditions (1,2-dichlorobenzene, 180 °C, 21 h) this reaction yields the metallocene dichloride derivative (EBI)ZrCl2 (80% NMR, rac/meso ratio = 1.7/1). The reaction of (EBI)H2 with Zr(NMe2)2(NiPr2)2 in m-xylene at 140 °C (16 h) affords the sterically least hindered ansa-metallocene product, (EBI)Zr(NMe2)2 (70% NMR, rac/meso ratio = 2/1), via NiPr2H elimination. The reaction of (EBI)H2 with the pyrrolidide complex Zr(NC4H8)4 in m-xylene at 140 °C (7 h) yields (EBI)Zr(NC4H8)2 (95%, rac/meso ratio = 6/1) and pure rac-(EBI)Zr(NC4H8)2 in 42% isolated yield. (EBI)H2 reacts with the sterically open titanium azetidide complex Ti(NC3H6)...
The effect of acid–base pairing on catalysis: An efficient acid–base functionalized catalyst for aldol condensation

Abstract Acid–base bifunctionalized heterogeneous catalysts may be capable of exhibiting reactivity not achievable with homogeneous catalysts. We investigated the effect of p K a of the acid component of mesoporous solids containing acid–base bifunctionality on their catalytic ability toward aldol condensation between 4-nitrobenzaldehyde and acetone . We found that higher levels of aldol product conversion were obtained when weaker acid components (phosphoric, carboxylic vs sulfonic) were used, an indication of the importance of the equilibrium between free acid and free base and the resulting neutralized ion pair in the catalytic capability of acid–base functionalized materials. A catalyst containing primary amine groups in combination with carboxylic acid groups (with similar chemical functionalities to proline) was found to be a superior catalyst in this aldol reaction with a number of different electrophilic components.
Stability of pyridine-2-aldoxime methiodide. II. Kinetics of deterioration in dilute aqueous solutions.

The decomposition of 2-PAM was studied at pH values 0.5 to 13 and at temperatures ranging from 37 to 87°. At constant pH and temperature, the observed rate of deterioration of 2-PAM was first order with respect to drug concentration. Below pH approximately 4, hydrogen ion catalysis of the acid form of oxime occurs; above pH 4, the reaction is either an hydroxyl ion catalysis of the acid form of oxime or is noncatalytic in which there is a direct attack on the oximate species. Two mechanisms have been postulated for the breakdown of 2-PAM. Specific velocity constants, energies of activation, and frequency factors have been determined for both mechanisms. The pH of maximum stability has been determined from initial rate constants over the entire pH range. General equations relating the half-life of 2-PAM solutions to temperature and pH have been derived.
Atherosclerotic plaque rupture: emerging insights and opportunities.

Reduction in acute,coronary events requires interventions that affect the mechanisms leading to formation of atherosclerotic lesions, as well as the molecular events that precipitate acute myocardial infarction. Data from clinical trials indicate that it is the vulnerability of atherosclerotic plaque to rupture, rather than the degree of atherosclerosis, that is the primary determinant of thrombosis-mediated acute coronary events. The characteristics of a plaque that is vulnerable to rupture include a thin fibrous cap separating the circulation from procoagulants in the plaque's lipid core; increased numbers of inflammatory cells (e.g., macrophages and T cells); and a relative paucity of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). Plaque stability reflects various dynamic factors: interaction of inflammatory cells, VSMC production of the extracellular matrix that is the bulwark of the fibrous cap, inhibition of this process by certain cytokines, and increased degradation of the matrix by matrix metalloproteinases. There is growing interest in the concept that intervention in the inflammatory processes of atherogenesis might reduce lesion formation and/or progression. There has also been substantial progress in understanding the transcriptional regulation of proteins that are critically involved in atherogenesis. Recently, peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) have been identified as a potential link between insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. This concept is supported by the discovery through drug screening of thiazolidinediones (troglitazone, rosiglitazone), compounds that are not only ligands for PPARgamma, a nuclear receptor involved in adipogenesis, but also are antidiabetic agents.
Spectroscopic studies of micelle-enhanced ligand exchange of gallium (III)/4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol complex by calf thymus DNA

The effect of cationic micelles of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) on the interaction of gallium (III) with 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol (PAR) under varying conditions has been studied spectrophotometrically. At pH 6.0, CTAB (0.05% w/v) markedly enhanced the absorption intensity of gallium (III)-PAR complex. Furthermore, the introduction of CTAB provided unique selectivity for the ligand exchange of Ga(III)-PAR by calf thymus dsDNA over calf thymus ssDNA. This phenomenon offers a novel spectrophotometric sensing strategy for direct detection of dsDNA.
Defasciculation as a neuronal path finding strategy: Involvement of a specific glycoprotein

Abstract Leech sensory afferents change their growth behavior as they enter the CNS. Arriving from the periphery in fasciculated tracts, they abruptly defasciculate and expand into diffuse trees before reassembling into four distinct central tracts. In the organ-cultured germinal plate, growing sensory afferents were incubated with monovalent Fab fragments of the Lan3-2 antibody, which recognizes a 130 kd sensory neuron protein by its mannose epitope. Very low concentrations of Lan3-2 (6 and 12 nM) specifically inhibited the central defasciculation of sensory afferents, which then continued growing as a single tract. In contrast, monoclonal antibody Lan3–6, which binds to an internal sensory antigen, failed to yield the same effect. These observations suggest that this sensory neuron 130 kd surface glycoprotein participates in a developmentally significant heterophilic interaction specific for the CNS.