cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Men on the Move A Pilot Program to Increase Physical Activity Among African American Men

Despite the important contribution increasing physical activity levels may play in reducing chronic disease morbidity and mortality, there is a paucity of interventions and research indicating how to improve physical activity levels in African American men. Men on the Move was a pilot study to increase African American men’s levels of physical activity by improving access to age and ability-appropriate, male-focused physical activity opportunities and facilitating access to social support from male peers. Forty-one African American men ages 35 to 70 enrolled (mean age = 53.8). Groups of 5 to 10 men met once a week with a certified personal trainer for 10 weeks. Each meeting addressed barriers to physical activity, provided men with community resources, and incorporated activities that promoted flexibility, strength, balance, and conditioning. Improvements (p < .05) were detected for the following outcome measures: perceived self-efficacy to sustain physical activity, endurance, overall health status, and ...
Do coal and nuclear generation deserve above-market prices?

Abstract All 14 current rationales for mandating or subsidizing uncompetitive coal and nuclear plants lack technical merit or would favor competitors instead. Subsidizing distressed nuclear plants typically saves less carbon than closing them and reinvesting their saved operating cost into severalfold-cheaper efficiency. Carbon prices, not plant subsidies, best recognize decarbonizing attributes. Grid reliability needs careful integration of diverse, distributed demand-side and renewable resources, using competitive market processes and resilient architectures, but does not require ‘baseload’ plants.
Cleansing public nature: landscapes of homelessness, health, and displacement

Abstract This article engages directly with a group of individuals who reside in and among the margins of an urban municipal park, through a 16-month critical ethnography. Facing abject poverty, threats from law enforcement, and trials of living outdoors, these 'Hillside residents' cite the local health department as a primary source of potential displacement from the place they call home. 'Health', in this context, references three interconnected features of contemporary urban homelessness: the material interactions associated with living outdoors, the litter that occasionally accumulates in the area, and human solid waste. Health also has specific discursive constructions on the Hillside, where the individuals living there are presented as unclean, particularly vis-a-vis the 'natural' unbuilt world in which they live. A logic of sanitizing the unclean means that 'cleaning' moves beyond the material imposition of humans on nature, or nature on humans. Instead, cleaning speaks to a societal problem: a need to cleanse society of unwanted social detritus, to create a healthy society. 'Cleanliness' creates an optimum, healthy urban experience to facilitate the transactions of contemporary consumer and financial capitalism, providing a new and central facet of global neoliberal restructuring, having particularly devastating effects for the lowest classes. Political ecology is leveraged to consider the roles of material and discursive cleanliness as an agent of health in the social reproduction of capitalism, creating natures and subjects that further support it. Key words: urban homelessness, cleanliness, political ecology of health
A Budding-Defective M2 Mutant Exhibits Reduced Membrane Interaction, Insensitivity to Cholesterol, and Perturbed Interdomain Coupling

Influenza A M2 is a membrane-associated protein with a C-terminal amphipathic helix that plays a cholesterol-dependent role in viral budding. An M2 mutant with alanine substitutions in the C-terminal amphipathic helix is deficient in viral scission. With the goal of providing atomic-level understanding of how the wild-type protein functions, we used a multipronged site-directed spin labeling electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (SDSL-EPR) approach to characterize the conformational properties of the alanine mutant. We spin-labeled sites in the transmembrane (TM) domain and the C-terminal amphipathic helix (AH) of wild-type (WT) and mutant M2, and collected information on line shapes, relaxation rates, membrane topology, and distances within the homotetramer in membranes with and without cholesterol. Our results identify marked differences in the conformation and dynamics between the WT and the alanine mutant. Compared to WT, the dominant population of the mutant AH is more dynamic, shallower in th...
On the Emergent Constraints of Climate Sensitivity

AbstractDifferences among climate models in equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS; the equilibrium surface temperature response to a doubling of atmospheric CO2) remain a significant barrier to the accurate assessment of societally important impacts of climate change. Relationships between ECS and observable metrics of the current climate in model ensembles, so-called emergent constraints, have been used to constrain ECS. Here a statistical method (including a backward selection process) is employed to achieve a better statistical understanding of the connections between four recently proposed emergent constraint metrics and individual feedbacks influencing ECS. The relationship between each metric and ECS is largely attributable to a statistical connection with shortwave low cloud feedback, the leading cause of intermodel ECS spread. This result bolsters confidence in some of the metrics, which had assumed such a connection in the first place. Additional analysis is conducted with a few thousand artificia...
Predictive inference generation and story comprehension among children with ADHD: Is making predictions helpful?

Abstract Children with ADHD exhibit narrative comprehension difficulties relative to typically developing peers. One unexplored comprehension area for this population is the generation of explanatory predictive inferences. Plausible explanatory predictive inferences allow for smooth integration of new information, and are targeted in many comprehension interventions. The current study examined three questions: (1) Is there a difference between children with ADHD and typically developing children in the creation of explanatory predictive inferences during a predictive prompt task? (2) Does the group difference in the generation of these inferences mediate group differences in recall measures? (3) Does the act of making predictions during story presentation improve recall relative to a control condition? Seven- to 11-year-old children with and without ADHD listened to two audio-taped stories, and made predictions at several pauses during one of the stories (predictive prompt task). The recording of the other story was paused without asking for predictions in the control task. Children recalled the story following the task. During the predictive prompt task, children with ADHD generated fewer plausible explanatory predictive inferences than typically developing peers and this group difference mediated a group difference in the recall of highly important events. Further, children in both diagnostic groups included more plausible explanatory backwards inferences during recall following the predictive prompt task than following the control task. Given the importance of explanatory inferences in constructing coherent story representations, these findings are encouraging for educators using predictive tasks but indicate that children with ADHD may need further instruction on generating appropriate predictive inferences.
New insight into the early stages of biofilm formation.

Biofilms are loosely defined as aggregates of bacteria encased in a self-produced matrix (1⇓–3). Many bacterial species are known to produce biofilms when they attach to surfaces. They are commonly found in the natural environment, industrial settings, and the clinic where they can be either beneficial or problematic depending upon the context (4⇓–6). The last two decades have seen a rapid rise in the study of biofilms. Two key questions that have occupied researchers in the field are ( i ) how do bacteria sense a surface? and ( ii ) what are the important developmental steps involved in building a biofilm community? In PNAS, Lee et al. (7) describe the contribution of a surface-sensing mechanism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa to its behavior during early stages of biofilm development. This study provides novel insight regarding how these two questions are linked. In the laboratory, biofilm formation by flagellated, rod-shaped bacterial species has been shown to involve multiple steps in a flowing, aqueous environment (1, 2). Newly adherent cells are loosely associated with a surface, readily able to detach. This is called the reversible attachment stage and is often characterized by polarly attached cells (8, 9). Given time, some individual cells then enter the irreversible attachment stage where the cells lay flat against the surface and resist attempts to physically dislodge them (8, 9). Following irreversible attachment, cells multiply and start producing biofilm matrix components, forming small aggregates of bacteria called microcolonies. Eventually they develop into large cellular aggregates encased by a matrix. For many Gram-negative species, a key intracellular signaling molecule involved in this process is called cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP). In the biofilm state, cells tend to exhibit high c-di-GMP, which promotes production of biofilm matrix and represses flagellar-mediated swimming motility (10). Thus, the bacterium sensing … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: parsem{at}u.washington.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Case 1: Microcephaly, Skeletal Dysplasia, and Immunodeficiency in a Newborn

1. Tarek Belal, MD* 2. Debra-Lynn Day-Salvatore, MD, PhD, FAAP, FACMG† 3. Janet Malcolmson, MS, LGC† 1. *Pediatric Hospitalist, Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital, Baltimore, MD 2. †Department of Medical Genetics and Genomic Medicine, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ A newborn is admitted to the NICU for evaluation given abnormal prenatal ultrasonography findings of small for gestational age and shortened long bones. He was born at 39+1 weeks' gestation to a nonconsanguineous, healthy, 32-year-old gravida 2, para 1 mother and a healthy 33-year-old father by elective cesarean delivery. The pregnancy and labor were normal. No invasive testing was performed prenatally. Apgar scores were 9 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively. The maternal family history is remarkable for endometrial cancer in the grandmother and mesothelioma and prostate cancer in the great-grandfather. A paternal great-aunt had breast cancer and the paternal great-grandmother had ovarian cancer. The couple has a healthy 3-year-old daughter. Physical examination is notable for head circumference of 31.5 cm (<3rd percentile), weight of 2,955 g (16th percentile), length of 47.5 cm (18th percentile), mild shortening of proximal long bones more notable in upper than lower extremities, and shortening of digits. Physical examination findings are otherwise normal. Skeletal survey radiographs show rhizomelic shortening of long bones (Fig 1), metaphyseal cupping of the proximal humeri, distal femora, radii, ulni (Fig 2), tibulae and fibulae, trident acetabula (Fig 3), and hypoplastic metacarpals (Fig 4). The state newborn screen returns positive for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) later classified as leaky SCID with further lymphocyte …
The Echocardiographic Spectrum of Mitral Valve (MV) Motion in Children with and without Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP)

Recent concern has been expressed over the sensitivity and specificity of echocardiography for the diagnosis of MVP. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to define the single crystal and multiple crystal cross-sectional echo spectrum of mitral valve motion in 68 asymptomatic children (age 3–15 years) without abnormal physical findings who constituted the normal group, and 26 children (age 2–10 years) with physical findings of systolic click murmur (CM). From M-mode echoes, mitral valve systolic posterior motion was defined as minor if it was > 10% of the E-F excursion and significant if it was more than 20%. Mitral valve echoes were evaluated only where anterior and posterior leaflet were simultaneously visualized. Of 45 normal children studied by single crystal echo 9 had minor mid to late systolic dips (MSD) of both leaflets, 3 had minor holosystolic “hammocking” (HH) while 3 patients had significant MSD. These findings represent the normal spectrum of mitral valve motion for M-mode and do not represent MVP. There were no dimensional abnormalities in the normal group. Real time cross-sectional studies on 23 normal patients demonstrated a spectrum of mitral valve motion in which the bodies of the anterior and posterior leaflets (defined as that portion of the leaflets occupying a distance halfway between the free edge and the annular insertions) become horizontal with systolic ejection as the aortic root moves anteriorly and the posterior atrio-ventricular junction moves inferiorly.
Evolutionary Change: A Case Study of Extinct Brachiopod Species

Brachiopods serve as great tools for quantifying evolution of early life. In this study, morphological characters were quantified for 1,100 individual specimens of a single atrypid species from the Middle Devonian Traverse Group of Michigan using geometric morphometric methods. Seven landmark measurements were taken on dorsal valve, ventral valve, and anterior and posterior regions. Specimens were partitioned by their occurrence in four stratigraphic horizons (Bell Shale, Ferron Point, Genshaw Formation, and Norway Point) from the Traverse Group of northeastern Michigan outcrop. Multivariate statistical analyses were performed to test patterns and processes of morphological shape change of species over 6 million year interval of time. Maximum-likelihood method was used to determine the evolutionary rate and mode in morphological divergence in this species over time. If punctuated equilibrium model holds true for brachiopods, then one would expect no significant differences between samples of the species Pseudoatrypa cf. lineata from successive stratigraphic units of the 6 million year Middle Devonian Traverse Group over time. Multivariate analysis shows significant shape differences between different time horizons (p ≤ 0.01) with considerable overlap in morphology excepting abrupt deviation in morphology in the uppermost occurrence. Maximum-likelihood tests further confirm near stasis to near random divergence mode of evolution with slow to moderate rates of evolution for this species lineage. In contrast, if the species evolved in a gradual, directional manner, then one would expect samples close together in time to be more similar to one another than those more separated in time. Euclidean based cluster analysis shows samples closely spaced in time are more similar than those that are widely separated in time. While these results appear to partially support the gradualistic model hypothesis, morphological trend from principal component scores shows substantial morphological overlap among the three lower successions (Bell Shale, Ferron Point, and Genshaw Formation) with some deviation from the uppermost succession (Norway Point) suggesting major influence of stasis and punctuation. Thus, while stasis may have been predominant, evident from stable morphologies observed in the lower strata, anagenetic evolution may also have played an important role as evident from the abrupt change observed within this species later in time. Thus, slow to moderate rates of evolution in this species lineage with stable morphologies in the lower three strata supports stasis, but abrupt change in the uppermost strata supports gradual anagenetic evolution within the species later in time. Overall, the morphometric data for the P. cf. lineata species lineage are consistent with the stratigraphic succession of Traverse Group.
DC State Estimation Model-Based Mixed Integer Semidefinite Programming for Optimal PMU Placement

Phasor measurement units (PMUs) can make state estimation more accurate by providing synchronized voltage phasor and current phasor measurements. Optimal PMU placement (OPP) minimizes the number of PMUs required for the system to be completely observable. This paper presents a DC state estimation model using mixed integer semidefinite programming (MISDP) approach for the OPP problem. A comparison between MISDP and mixed integer linear programming (MILP) is conducted. Power flow measurements, injection measurements, limited communication facility, and single PMU failure are studied for each approach. A formulation for MISDP-based PMU placement considering a single PMU failure is proposed. The advantages and disadvantages of each formulation are discussed.
Chondrosarcoma arising within synovial chondromatosis of the lumbar spine

Synovial chondromatosis is an uncommon benign neoplasm that usually affects large appendicular joints and only rarely the spine. There are only a few small series and case reports documenting malignant transformation of synovial chondromatosis into secondary chondrosarcoma, typically within the hip in the setting of recalcitrant disease and multiple recurrences. Chondrosarcoma arising in synovial chondromatosis of the spine is exceedingly rare, with only one previously published case report involving the craniocervical junction. We present a case of chondrosarcoma arising within synovial chondromatosis of the lumbosacral spine, with the diagnosis made at the time of initial presentation. We describe the clinical, imaging, and histopathological findings and review diagnostic criteria for this difficult diagnosis.
Manipulating Orbital Angular Momentum with Spatial Coherence

We investigate the spatial distribution of orbital angular momentum (OAM) in partially coherent beams. It is demonstrated that there are fundamental classes of OAM beams but that a wide variety of distributions can be generated.
Prostaglandin Coverage and Costs to Medicare and Medicare Beneficiaries, 2009-2017

BACKGROUND: Prostaglandin analogs are the most effective treatment for glaucoma, a common condition among older adults. Despite the availability of generic drugs, the costs associated with these pr...
A New Nail in the Coffin: The Booking.com Judgement of 2020

The short working paper looks at the recent Booking.com judgement of the ECJ (C-59/19. Wikingerhof GmbH & Co. KG v Booking.com BV. ECLI:EU:C:2020:950) and after a short introduction to recent problems regarding OTAs, the working paper argues that the ECJ has established a very important principle which might lead to more claims against a dominant travel platform, thereby leading to a possible remedy on the digital travel market via private actions.
Thyroid Hormone, Brain, and Behavior

Publisher Summary An intimate association between disturbances of thyroid-hormone homeostasis, mood, and behavior has been recognized since the earliest desciptions of thyroid disorders in the 19th century. Disorders of the thyroid gland are frequently associated with mental disturbances. Hyper and hypothyroidism can induce disturbances of mood and intellectual function, and in severe states, there may be a profound disturbance of behavior that can mimic melancholic depression and dementia. The mental changes accompanying thyroid-gland dysfunction are usually reversed with return to euthyroid status. Reciprocally, disturbances of affect and mood, such as major depression and bipolar affective disorder, have associated with them disturbances of the peripheral thyroid-hormone metabolism. Thyroid hormones have a profound influence on behavior and appear to be capable of modulating the phenotypic expression of major affective illness.
Construction and Performance of a Fluorescence Polarization Spectrophotometer

Abstract The construction and performance of a fluorescence polarization spectrophotometer is described, the parts of which are mostly commercially available items. The instrument uses two photomultipliers to detect separately each polarized component of the fluorescent light. The ratio of the components is plotted continuously by means of a ratio recorder while the wave length of the exciting light is changed at uniform speed. A servomechanism keeps the slits to the minimum value compatible with the sensitivity of the instrument. We obtained maximum resolution on the excitation side by allowing the broadest possible band of fluorescence, selected by broad band or low pass optical filters, to reach the photomultipliers. The use of fluorescence polarization spectrophotometry in investigation of proteins is discussed.
Selected bibliography: computerization and the newsroom

The bibliography comprises scholarly and professional literature on computerization and the newsroom, published in the last seven years. It is also an extension of the article preceded by this bibliography.
Breathy Nasals and /Nh/ Clusters in Bengali, Hindi, and Marathi

Previous work on breathiness in Indic languages has focused primarily on the acoustic properties of breathy (also known as voiced aspirated) oral stops in languages like Hindi (/ba l/ ‘hair’ vs. /b a l/ ‘forehead’) and Bengali (/bati/ ‘bowl’ vs. /b ati/ ‘kiln’). However, contrastive breathiness in some Indic languages also extends to nasal stops, as in Marathi (/ma / ‘beat’ vs. /m a / ‘Mahar caste’). It is not clear if languages such as Hindi and Bengali have breathy nasals in addition to breathy oral stops. This study addresses the following question: in Bengali and Hindi, are underlying sequences of a modal nasal (/N/) followed by breathy-voiced / / phonetically realized as singleton breathy nasals ([N ]), or as clusters ([N ])? To answer this question, simultaneous audio, aerodynamic, and electroglottographic recordings were made of Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi speakers. Withinand cross-language comparisons were made, and phonological evidence was examined. While some within-language comparisons gave inconclusive results for Hindi and Bengali, other comparisons with Marathi and within-language phonological evidence pointed to the lack of breathy nasals in Hindi and an uncertain status for breathy nasals in Bengali.
Coenzyme A-linked aldehyde dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli. I. Partial purification, properties, and kinetic studies of the enzyme.

Abstract Coenzyme A-linked aldehyde dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli strain B was purified 170-fold over cell-free extracts, and certain of its properties were investigated. The enzyme is essentially inactive in the absence of sulfhydryl compounds such as dithiothreitol and β-mercaptoethanol. Addition of a thiol reagent after incubation of the enzyme with substrates results in very slow reactivation. Incubation of aldehyde dehydrogenase with DPN plus mercaptan before addition of other substrates is required in order to obtain normal initial velocities. The kinetics of the system was investigated from both sides of the reaction. Initial velocity experiments suggest the mechanism is "ping-pong." These studies, although still preliminary, imply that acetyl-CoA adds to the dehydrogenase before addition of DPNH. With regard to the other side of the reaction, it is thought that DPN and acetaldehyde interact with the enzyme prior to the addition of CoA. The last step in the reaction sequence may be a transacetylation between the enzyme and CoA to form acetyl-CoA. Additional properties of the enzyme, such as optimum pH, substrate specificity, and reaction stoichiometry, were also studied.
Nurses' perceptions of complementary and alternative medical therapies.

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of nurses toward the effectiveness and safety, as well as their recommendations for and personal use of complementary and alternative medical therapies. A random sample of 1000 nurses throughout the United States were surveyed using a three-wave mailing. About half of the respondents perceived there was conclusive evidence or preponderance of evidence that five therapies were effective: biofeedback, chiropractic, meditation/relaxation, multi-vitamins, and massage therapy. The same amount of nurses also perceived five therapies as definitely safe: hypnotherapy, chiropractic, acupressure, acupuncture, and healing touch. However, the nurses were most likely to recommend (regularly or periodically) four therapies: multivitamins, massage, meditation/relaxation, and pastoral/spiritual counseling. The vast majority (79%) of nurses perceived their professional preparation in this area to be fair or poor.
Engineering a mouse balancer chromosome

Balancer chromosomes are genetic reagents that are used in Drosophila melanogaster for stock maintenance and mutagenesis screens1. Despite their utility, balancer chromosomes are rarely used in mice because they are difficult to generate using conventional methods. Here we describe the engineering of a mouse balancer chromosome with the Cre-loxP recombination system. The chromosome features a 24-centiMorgan (cM) inversion between Trp53 (also known as p53) and Wnt3 on mouse chromosome 11 that is recessive lethal and dominantly marked with a K14-Agouti transgene2. When allelic to a wild-type chromosome, the inversion suppresses crossing over in the inversion interval, accompanied by elevated recombination in the flanking regions. The inversion functions as a balancer chromosome because it can be used to maintain a lethal mutation in the inversion interval as a self-sustaining trans-heterozygous stock. This strategy can be used to generate similar genetic reagents throughout the mouse genome. Engineering of visibly marked inversions and deficiencies is an important step toward functional analyses of the mouse genome and will facilitate large-scale mutagenesis programs.
Magnification of starting torques of DC motors by maximum power point trackers in photovoltaic systems

A calculation of the starting torque ratio of permanent magnet, series, and shunt-excited DC motors powered by solar cell arrays is presented for two cases, i.e. with and without a maximum-power-point tracker (MPPT). Defining motor torque magnification by the ratio of the motor torque with an MPPT to the motor torque without an MPPT, a magnification of 3 for the permanent magnet motor and a magnification of 7 for both the series and shunt motors are obtained. The study also shows that all motor types are less sensitive to solar insolation variation in systems including MPPTs as compared to systems without MPPTs. >
A physically optimum difference scheme for three-dimensional boundary layers

A new finite difference scheme has been formulated for the three-dimensional boundary layer equations based on the physics of the convective and diffusive momentum transport in the boundary layer. It is shown that the scheme is a physically optimum one and that it is consistent with the usual specification of initial conditions. A stability analysis of the linearized equations shows that a relative restriction is necessary on the step sizes along the convective coordinates even though the difference scheme is “implicit”. The method is then applied to a problem that taxes the method and the laminar boundary layer equations to their limit; that problem being the supersonic flow over a spinning sharp cone at angle of attack. The results of the spinning cone calculation also yields some very useful insight into the “Magnus” problem and to the contributions to the “Magnus” force by the boundary layer flow.
An independent method of deriving the carbon dioxide fertilization effect in dry conditions using historical yield data from wet and dry years

Accurate estimates of the fertilization effect that elevated carbon dioxide [CO2] has on crop yields are valuable for estimation of future crop production, yet there is still some controversy over these estimates due to possible CO2-by-water-status interactions in chamber studies and the difficulty of conducting field experiments with elevated [CO2]. This study presents a new method to estimate the CO2 fertilization effect (CFE) in dry conditions (CFEdry), based on a combination of historical yield and climatic data and field experiments that do not require elevated [CO2]. It was estimated that approximately 50 years of increasing [CO2] (i.e., a 73 ppm increase) resulted in a 9% and 14% improvement of yield in dry conditions for maize and soybean, respectively, which are similar to estimates derived from free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) studies. The main source of uncertainty in this approach relates to differential effects of technology trends such as new cultivars in wet vs. dry years. Estimates of this technology–water interaction can be refined by further experimentation under ambient [CO2], offering a cost-effective path for improving CFE estimates. The results should prove useful for modeling future yield impacts of climate change, and the approach could be used to derive estimates for other species using relatively simple yield trials.
Ferroelectric materials for thin-film and membrane resonators

Ferroelectrics are attractive as thin-film driver layers for high frequency resonators because of their piezoelectric nature. We consider various measures of performance usually applied to resonator materials, and list observed values for various ferroelectrics being developed for use in cellular radio and collision-avoidance radar. For these applications, our analysis shows that the material parameter of paramount importance is neither the electromechanical coupling nor the acoustic quality factor. We introduce a new metric for judging material suitability for high frequency resonator use. It is a combination of all of the physical quantities associated with acoustic wave propagation in piezoelectrics. Ranking ferroelectric thin-film materials by use of the new measure leads to a number of unconventional implications regarding the future technology of these devices.
An objective test of goodness of fit of the continuous strength model in STM

The continuous strength model of recognition memory was evaluated in a task where Ss were tested for recognition of 10-number lists using a rating procedure. Maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of the model were obtained by an iterative method on a high-speed computer, and a chi-square goodness-of-fit test was performed for individual Ss. For 15 of 20 Ss, the chi-square values were nonsignificant, p < .05, indicating that the model provided a good fit to the data. Although the model gave a good fit to the data, the Δm measure of sensitivity was highly correlated with a true recognition score computed by subtracting false alarmsfrom correct recognitions.
The determination of inner sphere vibrational potential energy functions and the specification of thermodynamic states for the electron transfer reaction

Abstract Holstein's method for the Born-Oppenheimer separation is applied to the complete quantum mechanical treatment of the electron transfer reaction. The electroactive species together with their entire first coordination or solvation shells are specified in terms of appropriate quantum chemical, many-body wavefunctions. The application of the Born-Oppenheimer-Holstein separation to the system described in this manner allows one to isolate molecular energy contributions associated with the individual reactants as well as all the pertinent electrostatic and non-adiabatic interactions which operate between the species and the states of the system. It is possible also to obtain an accurate representation of the inter-reactant interaction energy; the identification of this quantity has been missed in previous Born-Oppenheimer analyses. The careful separation of the electronic from the inner sphere and solvent subsystem degrees of freedom enables one to determine vibrational potential energy functions for the inner spheres of the reactants and products. Finally, after the inner sphere vibrational potential energy functions have been determined, it is possible to proceed to identify the various thermodynamic quantities which enter the theory and are important in the expressions for the rate constant and activation energy.
Light emission from cylindrically structured tunnel junctions

A cylindrical structure consisting of a metallic core, an inner semiconductor shell, and an outer metallic shell may serve as a light-emitting tunnel junction. The emission may be enhanced by excitation of surface plasmons if the outer layer is silver. Equations for the radiation field are given for the case in which the light source is a line dipole within one of the coaxial regions. Calculations for an aluminum core, an inner shell with m = 1.5, and a silver coating show that the excitation of surface plasmons by such sources will give large enhancements of the radiation field.
International experience, electives, and volunteerism in surgical training: a survey of resident interest.

Background Sustainable international surgery expertise is more frequently being discussed in the US surgical community. At the resident level, there is discussion about incorporating international experience into residency training, but current opportunities for residents are limited and often require personal funding and use of vacation time. This study analyzed resident interest in acquiring international experience. Study Design A structured questionnaire was administered anonymously to all New York University general surgery residents. The questionnaire elicited demographic information and information about interest in an international surgery elective and future volunteerism. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses were performed for the completed data. Results Fifty-two of 63 residents (82.5%) completed surveys. Fifty-one residents (98%) were interested in an international elective, and 38 residents (73%) would prioritize such an elective over all other electives. Twenty-three (44%) and 25 (48%) residents would be willing to use vacation and finance the elective, respectively. The most frequent expectations of international training were acquiring technical and clinical skills (94% of residents) and cultural skills (88%). Residents believed financial difficulties and scheduling conflicts were the most significant barriers to international training (82% and 53%, respectively). Thirty-two residents (62%) planned to incorporate volunteer work into their future practice. Chi-square analyses revealed a significant relationship between residents who would prioritize international training and those who planned to incorporate volunteerism into their future practice (p Conclusions International training represents an opportunity for US surgical education to provide residents with broader clinical expertise and increased cultural awareness. Our data suggest that surgical residents at NYU are strongly interested in acquiring this experience and that international training may provide an opportunity to encourage lifelong volunteerism. National study of US residents and faculty is warranted to further investigate these conclusions.
Moving up, but How Far? African American Women and Economic Restructuring in Los Angeles, 1970–1990

In this article we use 1970 to 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) to examine patterns associated with African American women's economic and labor market integration in Los Angeles. We examine key indicators of overall economic restructuring in Los Angeles, such as patterns of industrial growth and decline during the period in question. We focus primarily on four specific labor market characteristics: Changes in industrial characteristics of Los Angeles, changing occupational distribution, changes in earnings, and employment patterns among African American women. Although we focus on trends for African American women, these trends are also examined, where relevant, for other groups. Specifically, comparisons are made with white women and Latinas and with African American, white, and Latino men. Our analysis illustrates the manner in which economic restructuring has had important and contradictory impacts on labor market participation and occupational distribution among African American women.
The effect of hydrogen on the fracture toughness of oxygen-strengthened titanium

Studies of oxygen-strengthened titanium alloys have indicated that while hydrogen has little effect on tensile properties, it causes a marked decrease in impact strength. It is presently established experimentally that the presence of hydrogen has essentially no effect on the fracture-toughness factor at the onset of crack propagation, in commercial-grade titanium alloys containing either low or high concentrations of oxygen. These findings are congruent with other study results on the tensile properties of these alloys, but contrast with the previously noted pronounced effect of hydrogen on impact resistance.
Radiopharmaceutical-related pitfalls and artifacts

The primary goal of this review article is to increase the reader's knowledge and understanding of problems associated with the radiopharmaceuticals commonly used in daily practice. To achieve this objective, problems related to the commonly used radiopharmaceuticals are divided into pitfalls and artifacts related to radiopharmaceutical preparation (technetium-99m [ 99m Tc]-labeled and non- 99m Tc-labeled radiopharmaceutical) and those related to radiopharmaceutical administration. For the radiopharmaceutical formulation-associated pitfalls and artifacts, problems are discussed in terms of factor categories, such as factors associated with radionuclides, factors associated with components, factors associated with preparation procedures, and miscellaneous factors. As for the pitfalls and artifacts caused by radiopharmaceutical administration, these problems are categorized into errors associated with administration technique and nontechnical errors. Clinical manifestations (ie, appearance upon imaging) from the numerous literature-based examples are presented. The effects of the causative factors and the reason each factor can result in radiopharmaceutical preparation and administration problems are discussed. In addition, the possible preventive actions are presented for each group. However, the cause of some pharmaceutical related problems may not be easily recognized, and thus it is difficult to develop preventive and/or corrective plans for these cases.
Invited commentary: Educational interventions to address the core competencies in surgery.

A HOST OF POWERFUL INFLUENCES from within the medical profession and strong pressures from the public have resulted in the recent intense focus on acquisition and maintenance of competence. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) have defined 6 core competencies that residents must acquire and practicing physicians must continue to demonstrate. These include medical knowledge, patient care, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, practice-based learning and improvement, and systems-based practice. Although these competencies are not entirely new to surgeons, efforts to teach and assess objectively specific elements within these competencies can be challenging. This is especially true for practice-based learning and improvement and systems-based practice, which have not received sufficient attention in most education programs. New and innovative methods are needed to address these 2 competencies. Interpersonal and communication skills and professionalism have traditionally been taught and learned through exemplary role modeling, and their assessment has been essentially subjective. Changes in the health care environment, such as the restriction on resident duty hours and shift of the venue of a major portion of surgical care from inpatient to ambulatory settings, have
Alternative anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells

The electrolyte of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is an O2−-ion conductor. The anode must oxidize the fuel with O2− ions received from the electrolyte and it must deliver electrons of the fuel chemisorption reaction to a current collector. Cells operating on H2 and CO generally use a porous Ni/electrolyte cermet that supports a thin, dense electrolyte. Ni acts as both the electronic conductor and the catalyst for splitting the H2 bond; the oxidation of H2 to H2O occurs at the Ni/electrolyte/H2 triple-phase boundary (TPB). The CO is oxidized at the oxide component of the cermet, which may be the electrolyte, yttria-stabilized zirconia, or a mixed oxide-ion/electron conductor (MIEC). The MIEC is commonly a Gd-doped ceria. The design and fabrication of these anodes are evaluated. Use of natural gas as the fuel requires another strategy, and MIECs are being explored for this application. The several constraints on these MIECs are outlined, and preliminary results of this on-going investigation are reviewed.
Object Instance Sharing by Enhanced Bounding Box Correspondence.

Most contemporary object detection approaches assume each object instance in the training data to be uniquely represented by a single bounding box. In this paper, we go beyond this conventional view by allowing an object instance to be described by multiple bounding boxes. The new bounding box annotations are determined based on the alignment of an object instance with the other training instances in the dataset. Our proposal enables the training data to be reused multiple times for training richer multi-component category models. We operationalize this idea by two complementary operations: bounding box shrinking, which finds subregions of an object instance that could be shared; and bounding box enlarging, which enlarges object instances to include local contextual cues. We empirically validate our approach on the PASCAL VOC detection dataset.
Activation Energy for Fission

The experimentally determined exponential dependence of spontaneous fission rate on Z{sup 2}/A has been used to derive an expression for the dependence of the fission activation energy on Z{sup 2}/A. This expression has been used to calculate the activation energy for slow neutron induced fission and photofission. The correlation with the experimental data on these types of fission seems to be quite good.
Increasing Use of the Vaccine Against Zoster Through Recommendation and Administration by Ophthalmologists at a City Hospital

Purpose To increase the vaccination rate and identify barriers to administration of the vaccine against herpes zoster by having ophthalmologists screen and provide the vaccine. Design Prospective interventional cohort study. Methods setting: Academic City Hospital, Bellevue Hospital. participants: A total of 100 eligible patients based on recommended Centers for Disease Control (CDC) criteria and ability to speak English and Spanish who received the herpes zoster vaccine were compared with 66 patients who declined the vaccine. interventions: The vaccine was administered after written informed consent was obtained to complete a screening questionnaire evaluating the participants' eligibility and interest in receiving the vaccine. main outcome measures: Barriers to administration of the vaccine were evaluated. Results A total of 170 consenting patients, including 100 patients who were vaccinated, 66 patients who declined vaccination, and 4 patients who were ineligible, were analyzed. The proportion of subjects who would consider receiving the vaccine if recommended by a doctor among those who received the shingles vaccine, 98.0% (95% CI: 95%-100%), was significantly greater than the proportion in the group that declined, 74.2% (95% CI: 64%-85%) ( P ≤ .0001). The most common reason that patients declined the vaccine was wanting to speak with their primary care physician, 46.9% (95% CI: 33%-61%). Conclusions Ophthalmologists can screen, educate, and prescribe the vaccine against herpes zoster in order to increase utilization of this vaccine. Nonfinancial or access barriers of this vaccine among underserved eligible patients include absence of recommendation by their primary care doctor.
Hypercontractile motility abnormalities are more prevalent in women

Purpose: Data examining age and gender specific differences in distribution of non achalasia esophageal motility abnormalities are limited. Our goal was to determine age and gender specific incidence of non achalasia esophageal motility abnormalities from a single center over ten years.
Numerical method for calculation of surface tension flows in arbitrary grids

We outline a scheme to define and track interfaces in an arbitrary quadrilateral grid by making use of a single fractional volume if fluid (VOF) variable to describe the distribution of the liquid phase in a gas-liquid-particles flowfield. The present methodology, however, represents a substantial refinement over the original VOF programs in that nonorthogonal, body-fitted, and even deforming grids can be used, and the gas and liquid phased can take on totally different properties, including compressibility and incompressibility.
Learning the boss’ way: ownership, power and learning in practice and in workplaces

Discussions of learning in practice and in workplaces have been carried out within the various theories of learning. More recent discussions have unveiled the complexity inherent in learning in workplaces by acknowledging the presence of power relations in practice. However, the discussions fall short of an analysis on another more paramount power relation in practice – the relationship and effects of organizational ownership on learning in workplaces. Using the global phenomenon of concentrated media ownership, this paper presents a literature review to show that ownership is another higher form of power relation that shapes what and how professionals learn in practice.
Virtual nucleon effects

We study the effects of the virtuality of the nucleon on the pion-nucleon vertex, on the nucleon propagator and on the matrix element for low-energy pion-nucleon scattering. The vertex and propagator can be expressed in terms of the empiricalT=1/2,S1/2 andP1/2 πN phase-shifts. The influence of a resonance in the latter state is discussed. Pion scattering off a virtual nucleon is studied with the help of one-dimensional dispersion relations. The dependence of theT=J=3/2 partial-wave amplitude on the squared four-momentum of the virtual nucleon is so determined.
SU-E-T-428: Class Solution for Prostate High Dose Rate Brachytherapy with Inverse Planning Simulated Annealing

Purpose: To develop and validate a class solution for inverse planning simulated annealing (IPSA) with CT based prostate high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR). Methods: Between November 2008 and November 2011, our institution treated 40 prostate cancer patients with HDR in 7 Gy fractions followed by external beam radiotherapy. The HDR treatments were planned with Nucletron Oncentra using manual graphical optimization (GO). Plans were optimized to the following clinical goals: = 95% of prostate volume received 7 Gy, 0.05) among the optimization methods for all clinical goals over the 40 CS‐IPSA source patients. There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the source and the independent datasets for all clinical goals when using CS‐IPSA with no further optimization. Conclusion: A prostate HDR IPSA class solution was developed and validated on a source and an independent dataset. The IPSA class solution yields plans comparable to custom manual IPSA and graphical optimization while saving considerable time.