cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spiral computed tomography of upper abdominal trauma

Computed tomography (CT) has long been the imaging study of choice for rapid evaluation of the hemodynamically stable patient with upper abdominal trauma. It has been proven to be both sensitive and specific for the presence and extent of injury to the liver, spleen, and retroperitoneal structures and has made nonoperative management of many posttraumatic patients possible. If CT is obtained in patients with upper abdominal trauma, use of spiral or helical acquisition has important benefits. Spiral CT requires less time for completion of the entire study, which is critical in the traumatized or semi-stable patient. Spiral CT requires less time for data acquisition, as a single spiral of 24–40 seconds may allow evaluation of the entire abdomen. This is particularly important for minimizing motion artifacts in trauma patients, who may have difficulty remaining still or complying with breath-holding. Finally, spiral CT allows scanning at the peak of intravenous contrast enhancement, which is particularly important for evaluation of the liver. We have retrospectively examined CT positive cases of upper abdominal trauma studied by spiral CT and have found it to be an excellent modality in terms of ease of study completion, rapidity of study completion, and ability to make a diagnosis. If CT is to be used for evaluation of upper abdominal trauma, use of spiral acquisition offers several specific and important advantages.
Community and Poverty in the Reformed Order of St Clare in the Fifteenth Century

Le present article retrace tout d'abord le developpement et l'extension de la reforme de l'ordre de Sainte Claire sous l'autorite de Sainte Colette de Corbie. Il presente ensuite les diverses dispositions regissant la vie d'extreme pauvrete que menent les nonnes. S'appuyant sur les documents litteraires, il debat enfin de la nature des donations pieuses aux maisons de l'ordre. Au sujet de la communaute religieuse de Besancon, il examine la situation des Clarisses reformees au sein de l'ordre, et tente d'etablir les motifs des donateurs laics qui aiderent de leurs subsides le couvent reforme de la ville
Can younger students succeed where older students fail? An examination of third graders' solutions of a division-with-remainder (DWR) problem

Abstract In this study, 14 third graders, who had not yet been taught the division algorithm (DA), solved a division-with-remainder (DWR) problem, and their solution processes were examined. Students also solved a set of eight numerical computation tasks involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In contrast to their poor performance on the division computation tasks and in contrast to the findings in previous studies of DWR problem solving by middle-school students and to the third graders in this study were quite successful in solving the DWR problem. Although the students lacked knowledge of formal procedures for division computation, they successfully used non-division solution strategies that were closely tied to problem context in order to solve the problem. In general, the results indicate that student performance in solving this complex problem was enhanced by their engagement in sense making as they solved the DWR problem. The highly context-embedded approaches used by these students also allowed them to avoid the difficulties in treating the “remainder,” as have been reported in research involving older students.
An integrative framework for measuring and evaluating information management performance

Abstract With the proliferation of information technologies has come a dire need to measure and evaluate system performance comprehensively. Often, there is a delay in the technology providing an expected “return” on investment. This is due in part because setting expectations based on sensible performance criteria was never done. What is missing is a standardized hierarchy of performance criteria and measures. In this paper, a generalizable framework for understanding, measuring, and evaluating performance within an information-based management system is proposed. This framework provides the researcher with a menu of dependent variables from which to choose for scientific investigation, including developing a deeper understanding of the relationships among performance variables. For the practitioner, measures to evaluate the performance of information-based management systems are made available. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd
A lighting metric for quantitative evaluation of accent lighting systems

Accent lighting is critical for artwork and sculpture lighting in museums, and subject lighting for stage, Film and television. The research problem of designing effective lighting in such settings has been revived recently with the rise of light-emitting-diode-based solid state lighting. In this work, we propose an easy-to-apply quantitative measure of the scene's visual quality as perceived by human viewers. We consider a well-accent-lit scene as one which maximizes the information about the scene (in an information-theoretic sense) available to the user. We propose a metric based on the entropy of the distribution of colors, which are extracted from an image of the scene from the viewer's perspective. We demonstrate that optimizing the metric as a function of illumination configuration (i.e., position, orientation, and spectral composition) results in natural, pleasing accent lighting. We use a photorealistic simulation tool to validate the functionality of our proposed approach, showing its successful application to two- and three-dimensional scenes.
Implications of the aging process: opportunities for prevention in the farming community.

ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of the demographic trends in aging, and of the process of aging and its implications on physical and mental health, with special reference to farmers. Agriculture employs more workers age 55 and over than any other industry (22.9% in agriculture versus 13.6% for all industries). Aging is an intricate process with inevitable physiological and physical impacts on the various body systems. These changes in the older farmer community are highlighted, along with preventive measures that can be adopted by farmers to maximize life span and quality of life. The farmer community can acquire knowledge about maintenance of workplace safety, preservation of good health, and prevention of chronic diseases that compromise healthy aging.
General wald-type identities for exchangeable sequences and processes

LetX=(X1, ...,Xd) be an ℝd Levy process on ℝ+ or ergodic exchangeable process on [0, 1], and letV=(V1, ...,Vd) be a predictable process on the same interval. Under suitable moment conditions, it is shown that, if the Lebesgue integrals\(\int {\prod\limits_{j \in J} {V_j } } \) are a.s. non-random for allJ⊂{1, ...,d} with #J≦d-1 or #J≦d, respectively, then the product moment EΠ∫VjdXj is the same as ifX andV were independent. An analogous statement holds in discrete time. The results imply some invariance properties of exchangeable sequences and processes under suitable predictable transformations
Sourcerer: a search engine for open source code supporting structure-based search

We present Sourcerer, a search engine for open-source code. Sourcerer extracts fine-grained structural information from the code and stores it in a relational model. This information is used to implement a basic notion of CodeRank and to enable search forms that go beyond conventional keyword-based searches.
Patterning of retinotectal connections in the vertebrate visual system

Recent work on the retinotectal projection clearly establishes the roles of neuronal activity and position-based cues in the patterning of nerve connections. In some species, the high degree of spatial order has been shown to emerge from a continued process of terminal growth and refinement. The future challenge is now to determine how multiple cues work together to guide the sculpting of the final pattern.
Method to Measure Microwave-Induced Toughness of Bread

Bread slices were placed in a custom holding device and cut with a wire cutter attached to a TA.XT2 Texture Analyzer. The peak force required to cut the bread was taken as a measure of toughness. Microwave reheated, conventionally reheated, and unheated bread were compared as were the effects of bread age (firming). Certain emulsifiers were added and microwave toughness of bread compared. Use of certain emulsifiers and increasing the water content of the bread (through use of fiber) decreased toughness of microwave-reheated bread. The developed method was effective in measuring microwave heating induced toughness.
Ophthalmology and the Resource-Based Relative Value Fee Scale

• The Medicare Resource-Based Relative Value Scale for ophthalmology has significantly reduced the level of reimbursement for surgical fees and only minimally increased evaluation and management fees. Some observers have felt that the methods for determining fees were flawed, and, generally, practitioners have been concerned about a potential loss of income. While reimbursement for individual services is being cut, projections through 1996 indicate that ophthalmology, as a specialty, will receive 55% more funding due to historical trends and increasing ranks of providers. This will translate into a more moderate global reduction in revenue of approximately 11%. The possible implications of the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale include a concentration of ophthalmic surgery into fewer practices, which may be able to distribute medical liability costs over a larger number of procedures. To counter the constraints of fee limits, individual physicians will probably seek to enhance their net income by greater use of paraprofessional personnel, the acquisition of new technologies, and the application of improved management skills.
Factors associated with timing of initiation of physical therapy in patients with acute lung injury.

Abstract Objectives Early initiation of physical therapy (PT) in mechanically ventilated patients is associated with improved outcomes. However, PT is frequently delayed until after extubation or discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU). We evaluated factors associated with the timing of initiation of PT in patients with acute lung injury (ALI) admitted to ICUs without an emphasis on early rehabilitation. Design A secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study was conducted. Settings The study was conducted in 11 ICUs in 3 teaching hospitals. Patients A total of 503 patients with ALI were included in the study. Interventions No interventions were used in this study. Measurements and Main Results Thirty-four percent of patients ever received PT. In multivariable analysis, factors associated with later PT were a higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.85-0.93), higher fraction of inspired oxygen (0.97, 0.96-0.98), mechanical ventilation (0.31, 0.16-0.59), coma (0.32, 0.20-0.51), delirium (0.72, 0.50-1.03), and continuous sedation (with daily sedation interruption: 0.49, 0.30-0.81; without daily sedation interruption: 0.59, 0.39-0.89). Factors associated with earlier PT were an admitting diagnosis of trauma (3.31, 1.74-6.31) and hospital study site (2.84, 1.89-4.26). Conclusions In 11 ICUs without emphasis on early rehabilitation, patients with ALI frequently received no PT. Severity of illness, mental status, sedation practices, and hospital site were significant barriers to initiating PT. Understanding these barriers may be important when introducing early ICU physical rehabilitation.
Patient transport from intensive care increases the risk of developing ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Study objective To determine whether patient transport out of the ICU is associated with an increased risk of developing ventilator-associated pneumonia. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting ICUs of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a university-affiliated teaching hospital. Patients Five hundred twenty-one ICU patients requiring mechanical ventilation for > 12 h. Intervention Prospective patient surveillance and data collection. Measurements and results The primary outcome measure was the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia. A total of 273 (52.4%) mechanically ventilated patients required at least one transport out of the ICU while 248 (47.6%) patients did not undergo transport. Sixty-six (24.2%) of the transported patients developed ventilator-associated pneumonia compared with 11 (4.4%) patients in the group not undergoing transport (relative risk=5.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.9 to 10.1; p Conclusions We conclude that patient transport out of the ICU is associated with an increased risk for the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
United States Women and Pornography Through Four Decades: Exposure, Attitudes, Behaviors, Individual Differences

Responding to a call for research on pornography and women’s sexuality made by Weinberg, Williams, Kleiner, and Irizarry (2010), this study assessed pornography consumption, predictors, and correlates using nationally representative data gathered from U.S. women between 1973 and 2010 (N = 18,225). Women who were younger, less religious, and non-White were more likely to consume pornography. Women who consumed pornography had more positive attitudes toward extramarital sex, adult premarital sex, and teenage sex. Women who consumed pornography also had more sexual partners in the prior year, prior 5 years, and were more likely to have engaged in extramarital sex and paid sex. Consistent with Wright’s (2011a) acquisition, activation, application model of mass media sexual socialization and the theorizing of Linz and Malamuth (1993), liberal–conservative ideology moderated the association between pornography exposure and sexual behavior. Specifically, the positive association between pornography exposure and women’s recent sexual behavior was strongest for the most liberal women and weakest for the most conservative women. Cultural commentators and some academics argue that technological advances have resulted in a steady increase in the percentage of individuals who consume pornography. Little support was found for this assertion among U.S. women.
Application and Appreciation: Changing Course Structure to Change Student Attitudes

Student attitudes toward courses with heavy workloads vary depending on how they assess the value and difficulty of the material. In Computer Science, it is challenging to teach Software Engineering because the course relies heavily on “soft skills” and also because students view the material as “common sense” and the assignments as “busy work.” In order to change these attitudes, we changed our junior-level software engineering course to incorporate a weekly laboratory session in order to meet two goals: to reinforce topics that students struggled with during earlier offerings and to make the course more “hands on” and applied. This modification in course structure resulted in increased student satisfaction with the course and engagement with the material.
Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck

Experience with a group of 54 patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck is presented. The tumors are characterized by a high incidence of local recurrence and ultimate distant metastases after aggressive attempts at surgical excision. Radiation therapy, while not curative, has proved uniformly useful in promoting tumor regression and pain relief in locally advanced and metastatic tumors. Of 41 patients eligible for 5-year follow-up, 11 (26.8%) remain free of disease. A clinicopathologic review of the patients in this series indicated they could be divided into 2 groups on the basis of their behavior. A group of 9 patients had a fulminating course with early recurrence, metastasis, and a fatal outcome within 3 years of therapy. A larger group had a prolonged course with survival for many years in spite of recurrences and metastases. A solid histologic pattern with areas of necrosis was notable in many patients in the former group, which may be of value in predicting behavior of a given tumor.
Bacteria Colony Enumeration and Classification for Clonogenic Assay

Bacteria colony classification and enumeration is an essential step in clonogenic assay, which is often performed manually in many clinical research laboratories. It is known to be time consuming and labor intensive, but also error-prone since the manual counting tends to have more subjective interpretation and largely relies on persistent practice, especially when a large amount of colonies exist in the plate. In this demonstration, we introduce a fully automatic counter for bacteria colony enumeration and classification. The proposed counter accepts digital camera images as its input and performs colony enumeration and classification based on image mining. The proposed counter shows a robust performance in terms of both precision and recall, and is efficient in terms of labor- and time-savings.
Longitudinally two-photon pumped leaky waveguide dye film laser

Longitudinally two-photon pumped (TPP) and frequency-upconverted cavity lasing is achieved in a planar leaky waveguide configuration which utilizes a dye-doped polymer film coating on the surface of an optical glass prism. The TPP lasing dye is 4-dimethylamino-N-methylstilbazolium tosylate (DAST) that has been extensively studied as a second order nonlinear optical material. The spectral, temporal, and spatial structures as well as the output-input characteristics of the TPP cavity lasing were measured using a /spl sim/170-/spl mu/m-thick film with a /spl sim/2.4-mm pump depth. The leaky waveguide lasing was featured by a nearly single transverse-mode and five axial-modes structure. In our preliminary study, the net conversion efficiency from the absorbed 1064-nm pump pulse energy to the output /spl sim/607-nm upconverted cavity lasing energy was found to be /spl sim/0.65%. However, this efficiency can be considerably increased by further optimizing the system parameters.
What is the Economic Threshold of Soybean Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in Enemy-Free Space?

Soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a serious pest of soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., in the North Central United States. Current management recommendations rely on the application of insecticides based on an economic threshold (ET) of 250 aphids per plant. Natural enemies are important in slowing the increase of aphid populations and can prevent them from reaching levels that can cause economic losses. However, biological control of A. glycines is inconsistent and can be affected negatively by the intensity of agricultural activity. We measured the impact of a natural-enemy-free environment on the capacity of the current ET to limit yield loss. In 2008 and 2009, caged microplots were assigned to one of three treatments: plants kept aphid-free (referred to as the control), plants that experienced a population of 250 aphids per plant (integrated pest management [IPM]), and plants that experienced unlimited aphid population growth (unlimited). The population growth rate of aphids in the unlimited treatment for the 10 d after the application of insecticides to the IPM treatment was calculated using linear regression. The linear equation was solved to determine the mean number of days between the ET and the EIL for an aphid population in absence of predators. The number of days was determined to be 6.97 ± 1.11 d. The 2-yr average yield for the IPM treatment was 99.93% of the control treatment. Our study suggests the current soybean aphid ET of 250 aphids per plant can effectively protect yield even if the impact of natural enemies is reduced.
Total Quantum Flux of Isotropic Sources

The total radiant flux from a solution containing a radioactive compound, hexadecane-1-C14, plus an appropriate scintillator has been determined. The procedure used involves comparison of its luminescent emission with the light scattered by glycogen illuminated with a monochromatic homogeneous light beam of known photon flux. From the result obtained the scintillation quantum yield of β− disintegration from carbon 14 has been determined to be 793 photons; thus 5.25% of the energy appears as light.
Temperature-Dependent Physicochemical Properties and Solvation Thermodynamics of Nitrotoluenes from Solvation Free Energies

Expanded ensemble molecular dynamics simulations are used to calculate the free energies of hydration and self-solvation of low polarity nitrotoluenes over the temperature range of 273 K to 330 K. From this information the liquid, subcooled, and solid-phase vapor pressures, solubilities, Henry’s law constants, hydration and self-solvation entropies, enthalpies, isobaric heat capacities, and enthalpies of vaporization or sublimation are then computed. The values obtained are compared to the limited experimental data available. At a reference temperature of 300 K, the hydration enthalpies are found to be larger in magnitude than hydration entropies for the nitrotoluenes, and vary with the number of nitro groups, while the hydration entropies are almost unchanged as functions of either the number of nitro groups or the solvent accessible surface area. Consequently the variation in the hydration free energies among the nitrotoluenes is due to the variation in their hydration enthalpies. In contrast, both enth...
Race/Ethnic Differences in Alcohol Abuse Among Youth.

ABSTRACT Objective: Black and Hispanic youth are less likely to abuse alcohol than White youth. However, the reasons for these race/ ethnic differences in alcohol abuse are unclear. The present study explores whether the variations can be explained, in part, by racial/ethnic differences in attitudes toward risk. Method: The National Household Survey of Drug Abuse, 2001 (n = 32,798) is used to explore race/ethnic differences in risk-taking attitudes and whether these attitudes serve to mediate race/ethnic differences in heavy drinking and drinking and driving. Results: Bivariate analyses reveal that Black and Hispanic youth have lower rates of alcohol abuse and a lower propensity for risk-taking than White youth. Logistic regressions reveal that the differences in risk-taking explain (but do not completely account for) observed differences in alcohol abuse. These findings are present for both males and females. Results more generally reveal that social and economic ad vantages are associated with risk-taki...
Cyclic Morphological Changes in the Beagle Mammary Gland

Interpretation of chemical-induced effects on the female beagle mammary gland can be difficult owing to the wide variation of normal glandular morphology. In this retrospective study, morphological features of the gland in four (proestrus, estrus, diestrus, and anestrus) phases of the cycle are described. The gland was quiescent (inactive) in proestrus and estrus. In diestrus, with the rise of progesterone, four (I-IV) distinct morphological changes were evident. In phase I, there was exuberant stromal and ductal proliferation. In phase II, there was early lobular development with branching ducts and alveolar proliferation. In phase III, there was an abundance of glandular tissue with large lobules containing secretory material, whereas phase IV had features of early regression, increased interlobular connective tissue, and eosinophilic secretions in distended ducts and acini. In early anestrus, ducts were distended, with eosinophilic secretions with alveolar regression, whereas regression was complete in late anestrus. Glandular morphology was slightly variable in the mammary chain within the same dog. Progesterone receptor expression was prominent in estrus and early diestrus, and peak estrogen receptor expression was noted in diestrus II. Expression of proliferation marker ki-67 was highest in diestrus I, followed by diestrus II. There was excellent concordance between the estrous stage and the glandular morphology.
Evanescent waves in the magnetic field of an electric dipole

The magnetic field of radiation emitted by an electric dipole contains travelling and evanescent waves when represented as an angular spectrum. The evanescent waves decay exponentially away from the xy-plane, and will therefore not contribute to the detectable radiation in the far field, in general. It is well known, however, that in a small region around the z-axis the evanescent waves of the electric field do end up in the far zone. We have studied the corresponding magnetic evanescent waves, and we have found that the evanescent waves of the magnetic field do not contribute to the far zone in the neighbourhood of the z-axis. When considering the neighbourhood of the xy-plane, it appears that both the electric and magnetic evanescent waves end up in the far field, and the travelling and evanescent waves contribute equally to the radiation in the far zone. Close to the dipole the radiation field diverges, and we have shown that this is entirely due to the evanescent waves.
Solvate structures in water-methanol solutions of MRI contrast agents: electron spin echo envelope modulation in gadolinium chelates.

Electron Spin Echo Envelope Modulation (ESEEM) data are reported for three gadolinium (III) chelates, Gd-EDTA, Gd-DTPA, and Gd-TTHA, in frozen D2O/CH3OD glasses. This series includes Gd-DTPA, an MRI contrast agent that is in clinical use. Three-pulse electron spin echo modulation patterns can be modeled to yield geometrical information; e.g., distances and numbers of Gd+3-OD interactions. Interpreted by a spherical shell model, the data for Gd-TTHA are accounted for by Gd+3 surrounded by seven deuterons at an effective distance of 3.9 A. We attribute these deuterons to second-coordination sphere solvent molecules, since it is likely that Gd+3 is fully coordinated by a TTHA ligand. For analysis of ESEEM from Gd-EDTA and Gd-DTPA, the second-sphere structures of Gd-EDTA, Gd-DTPA, and Gd-TTHA are assumed equivalent. 2H-ESEEM from inner-sphere solvent molecules gives the effective distance between deuterons and Gd+3 to be approximately 2.7 A for the inner-sphere water in both EDTA and DTPA complexes. The results of simulations also give the isotropic hyperfine and quadrupole coupling constants for solvent deuterium in these systems. Possible sources of error in the determination of r and q by this method are discussed.
Analysis and design of a third order phase-lock loop

The author examines the analysis and design of a third-order phase-lock loop (PLL). Although it offers superior noise rejection and lower steady-state error than a second-order PLL, its stability is difficult to analyze in the region of nonlinear operation. The author treats the third-order PLL as a nonlinear control system, first examining the small-signal (linear) operation and then extending the analysis to the nonlinear region. The second method of Lyapunov and LaSalle's theorem are used to derive stability conditions for the nonlinear model. It is concluded that Lyapunov stability techniques are adequate, thus removing the chief disadvantage of designing third-order PLLs. >
Discrete Poincaré lemma

This paper proves a discrete analogue of the Poincare lemma in the context of a discrete exterior calculus based on simplicial cochains. The proof requires the construction of a generalized cone operator, p:C"k(K)->C"k"+"1(K), as the geometric cone of a simplex cannot, in general, be interpreted as a chain in the simplicial complex. The corresponding cocone operator H:C^k(K)->C^k^-^1(K) can be shown to be a homotopy operator, and this yields the discrete Poincare lemma. The generalized cone operator is a combinatorial operator that can be constructed for any simplicial complex that can be grown by a process of local augmentation. In particular, regular triangulations and tetrahedralizations of R^2 and R^3 are presented, for which the discrete Poincare lemma is globally valid.
Visual Propaganda in the Age of Social Media: An Empirical Analysis of Twitter Images During the 2012 Israeli–Hamas Conflict

This study analyzed images posted to Twitter by the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas' Alqassam Brigades during the November 2012 Gaza conflict to understand aspects of visual propaganda in the age of social media and online social networking. Content analysis was conducted to identify themes and frames prominently appearing in a total of 243 Twitter images posted by the two sides during a two-month period. Resistance and unity were the most prominent themes in the images posted by Israel and causalities of civilians and resistance were most prominent in Hamas-posted images. The majority of the Israeli images featured the analytical propaganda frame whereas the emotional propaganda frame was dominant in Hamas images.
Reevaluating the conceptual framework for applied research on host-plant resistance

Applied research on host-plant resistance to arthropod pests has been guided over the past 60 years by a framework originally developed by Reginald Painter in his 1951 book, Insect Resistance in Crop Plants. Painter divided the "phenomena" of resistance into three "mechanisms," nonpreference (later renamed antixenosis), antibiosis, and tolerance. The weaknesses of this framework are discussed. In particular, this trichotomous framework does not encompass all known mechanisms of resistance, and the antixenosis and antibiosis categories are ambiguous and inseparable in practice. These features have perhaps led to a simplistic approach to understanding arthropod resistance in crop plants. A dichotomous scheme is proposed as a replacement, with a major division between resistance (plant traits that limit injury to the plant) and tolerance (plant traits that reduce amount of yield loss per unit injury), and the resistance category subdivided into constitutive/inducible and direct/indirect subcategories. The most important benefits of adopting this dichotomous scheme are to more closely align the basic and applied literatures on plant resistance and to encourage a more mechanistic approach to studying plant resistance in crop plants. A more mechanistic approach will be needed to develop novel approaches for integrating plant resistance into pest management programs.
Why Social Relations Matter for Politics and Successful Societies

Political science can gain from incorporating richer conceptions of social relations into its analyses. In place of atomistic entities endowed with assets but few social relationships, social actors should be seen as relational entities embedded in social and cultural structures that connect them to others in multifaceted ways. Understanding those relationships requires a deeper understanding of how institutional and cultural frameworks interact to condition the terrain for social action. More intensive dialogue with sociology can inform such an understanding. We review the analytical tools cultural sociology now offers those interested in such a perspective and illustrate it in operation in studies of inequalities in population health and the effects of neoliberalism. We close by outlining several issues to which this perspective can usefully be applied, including the problems of understanding social resilience, how societies build collective capacities, and why some institutions remain robust while others deteriorate.
Conservation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gp120 inner-domain sequences in lentivirus and type A and B retrovirus envelope surface glycoproteins.

We recently described a sequence similarity between the small ruminant lentivirus surface unit glycoprotein (SU) gp135 and the second conserved region (C2) of the primate lentivirus gp120 which indicates a structural similarity between gp135 and the inner proximal domain of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gp120 (I. Hotzel and W. P. Cheevers, Virus Res. 69:47–54, 2000). Here we found that the seven-amino-acid sequence of the gp120 strand β25 in the C5 region, which is also part of the inner proximal domain, was conserved in the SU of all lentiviruses in similar or identical positions relative to the carboxy terminus of SU. Sequences conforming to the gp135-gp120 consensus for β-strand 5 in the C2 region, which is antiparallel to β25, were then sought in the SU of other lentiviruses and retroviruses. Except for the feline immunodeficiency virus, sequences similar to the gp120-gp135 consensus for β5 and part of the preceding strand β4 were present in the SU of all lentiviruses. This motif was highly conserved among strains of each lentivirus and included a strictly conserved cysteine residue in β4. In addition, the β4/β5 consensus motif was also present in the conserved carboxy-terminal region of all type A and B retroviral envelope surface glycoproteins analyzed. Thus, the antiparallel β-strands 5 and 25 of gp120 form an SU surface highly conserved among the lentiviruses and at least partially conserved in the type A and B retroviral envelope glycoproteins.
On Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a rotating fluid

Chandrasekhar's (1961) solution to the eigenvalue equation arising from the Kelvin-Helmholtz stability problem for a rotating fluid is shown to be incorrect. The unstable modes are correctly enumerated with the aid of Cauchy's principle of the argument. Various previously published solutions using Chandrasekhar's analysis are corrected and extended.
Compiling Parallel Code for Sparse Matrix Applications

We have developed a framework based on relational algebra for compiling efficient sparse matrix code from dense DO-ANY loops and a specification of the representation of the sparse matrix. In this paper, we show how this framework can be used to generate parallel code, and present experimental data that demonstrates that the code generated by our Bernoulli compiler achieves performance competitive with that of hand-written codes for important computational kernels.
Transforming Meaning Representation Grammars to Improve Semantic Parsing

A semantic parser learning system learns to map natural language sentences into their domain-specific formal meaning representations, but if the constructs of the meaning representation language do not correspond well with the natural language then the system may not learn a good semantic parser. This paper presents approaches for automatically transforming a meaning representation grammar (MRG) to conform it better with the natural language semantics. It introduces grammar transformation operators and meaning representation macros which are applied in an error-driven manner to transform an MRG while training a semantic parser learning system. Experimental results show that the automatically transformed MRGs lead to better learned semantic parsers which perform comparable to the semantic parsers learned using manually engineered MRGs.
Release of Gastric Inhibitory Peptide Following a Peptone Meal in the Dog

Release of gastric inhibitory peptide into the circulation after peptone ingestion has not been demonstrated previously. In the present studies, 5 alert dogs with indwelling polyethylene portal venous catheters and gastric fistulas were studied. A meal of 10% peptone in 150 ml 0.9% NaCI, pH 7 was infused through the gastric fistula into the stomach. Gastric inhibitory peptide was measured by a specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay in sera obtained simultaneously from portal and cephalic veins before and at 1, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, and 90 min after peptone infusion. Cephalic venous serum insulin and glucose concentrations were measured at the same time points. Mean basal portal and cephalic vein serum gastric inhibitory peptide concentrations were 136 ± 22 and 34 ± 10 (SEM) pg/ml, respectively. After infusion of the peptone meal, immediate increases in serum gastric inhibitory peptide levels were noted in both portal and peripheral circulations, with a peak of 597 ± 151 pg/ml (p
Effect of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol on in vitro sensitization of mouse splenic lymphocytes.

The effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) on the immune response of murine cells sensitized in vitro was determined using a plaque-forming cell (PFC) assay. Splenic lymphocytes from mice injected with Δ9-THC showed a depressed immunologic response when compared with cells from control animals which were identically semitized in vitro with sheep erythrocytes (SRBC). The direct addition of Δ9-THC to the culture media altered the im-munological response as demonstrated by a reduction in the number of PFC.
The Circular Arch Under Normal Loads

In the theory of curved dams, the deflection of a horizontal circular arch under normal loads plays an important role. The main object of the following investigation is to derive nearly exact formu...
Nearly Equivalent Inter- and Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonding in 1,3,5-Triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene at High Pressure

We report density functional theoretical calculations of the equation of state (EOS) of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) under hydrostatic compression of up to 250 GPa. Our results show increasing bond equivalency between the intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonds of the amino and nitro groups in the region 30 < P < 70 GPa, beyond which the difference between the two bond distances remains constant. This approximate bond equivalency is manifested by a rapid decrease of the intermolecular −NO···HN– distance along the b lattice direction from 2.6 A at the zero pressure equilibrium geometry to 1.72 A at 67 GPa and by a decrease of the intramolecular −NO···HN– bond from 1.65 to 1.57 A for the same pressure region. The strengthening of intermolecular hydrogen bonding with increased pressure is in accordance with recent infrared spectroscopic measurements of decreasing activity of NH2 vibrational modes with increasing pressure up to 40 GPa.
When dating shows encounter state censors: a case study of If You Are the One

Postmillennial China has witnessed a surge of TV entertainment programs that constantly straddle the line between market demands and state mandate. Taking If You Are the One, a top-rated dating pro...
Analysis of Li Er-qu's Ideological System on Culture and Education

Li Er-qu, an outstanding thinker between Ming and Qing Dynasty, probes into the manifestation of Confucian humane thought on cultural structures. This cultural thought is also embodied in the education of the young, the middle-aged, and the old. It is really a deep enlightenment to the education today.
Dysfunctions of Micturition in the Male

A basic knowledge of the anatomy and neurophysiology of the lower urinary tract is necessary to understand voiding dysfunction in the male. Enuresis is the most common voiding problem in children. Evaluation and treatment of incontinence and neurogenic voiding dysfunction in the adult male is easily understood by using a failure to store/failure to empty classification system. Treatment focuses on behavioral, pharmacologic, and surgical means of influencing the storage and emptying functions of the bladder and sphincter. The goals of any treatment plan for dysfunctions of micturition in the male are to preserve renal function, maintain continence, and promote normal voiding patterns.
Functional analysis of four single (RGDWL, RGDWM, RGDWP, RGDMN) and two double (RGDNM, RGDMP) mutants: The importance of methionine (M) in the functional potency of recombinant mojastin (r-Moj).

We have demonstrated in previous studies that a single amino acid change can alter the activity of the recombinant disintegrin r-Moj. In this study, four r-Moj recombinants containing single mutations (r-Moj-WL, r-Moj-WM, r-Moj-WP, r-Moj-MN) and two containing double mutations (r-Moj-MP and r-Moj-NM) at the binding loop were produced, purified, and tested. All r-Moj-W_, r-Moj-M_, and r-Moj-NM mutant peptides inhibited platelet aggregation at higher potency than r-Moj-D_ mutants. Five of the seven r-Moj peptides inhibited angiogenesis at different levels. Two of the mutant peptides with a methionine at the second position carboxyl of the RGD (r-Moj-WM and r-Moj-NM) were the strongest angiogenesis inhibitors, with r-Moj-WM being the most potent. Recombinant r-Moj-MP and r-Moj-WN failed to inhibit angiogenesis. Only the r-Moj-MP mutant peptide induced apoptosis of SK-Mel-28 cells significantly (p = 0.001). This was confirmed by chromatin condensation. Proliferation of SK-Mel-28 cells was inhibited at high levels (>70%) by all r-Moj mutant peptides. Recombinant r-Moj-MN and r-Moj-WN failed to inhibit cell migration significantly (p > 0.5). Recombinant r-Moj-NM was the strongest cell migration inhibitor (98% ± 0.69), followed by r-Moj-MP (80% ± 2.87), and r-Moj-WM (61.8% ± 5.45). The lowest inhibitor was r-Moj-WL (50% ± 12.16). Our functional data suggest that the most potent r-Moj disintegrins contain a methionine in the first or the second position carboxyl to the RGD.
Lectio Divina: A Preliminary Evaluation of a Chaplaincy Program

This participant outcome evaluation serves as a preliminary investigation into the effects of lectio divina, a chaplaincy service representing a form of focused Scripture reading. A sample of n = 19 patients who participated in this service at a Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in upstate New York was screened at baseline and 30-days follow-up using the Duke University Religion Index, Berg Spiritual Injury Scale, and a screening question for thoughts of harming self or others. These measures were used to assess the intended outcomes of enhanced religiosity, ameliorated spiritual injury, and decreased thoughts of violence. Data were collected through retrospective clinical chart reviews. The outcomes of enhanced religiosity or decreased thoughts of violence were not observed in this sample population. Ameliorated spiritual injury was observed in veterans with substantial engagement in lectio divina (>2 sessions) as well as those who endorsed thoughts of harming self or others.
A Public Health of Consequence: Review of the April 2017 Issue of AJPH

An introduction is presented in which the authors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including public sector efforts to improve population health in the U.S., dental care for children in America, and a link between housing assistance and an individual's health and well-being.
Surface Interactions between Gold Nanoparticles and Biochar.

Engineered nanomaterials are directly applied to the agricultural soils as a part of pesticide/fertilize formulations or sludge/manure amendments. No prior reports are available to understand the surface interactions between gold nanoparticles (nAu) and soil components, including the charcoal black carbon (biochar). Retention of citrate-capped nAu on 300–700 °C pecan shell biochars occurred rapidly and irreversibly even at neutral pH where retention was less favorable. Uniform organic (primarily citrate ligands) layer on nAu was observable by TEM, and was preserved after the retention by biochar, which resulted in the aggregation or alignment along the edges of multisheets composing biochar. Retention of nAu was (i) greater on biochars than a sandy loam soil, (ii) greater at higher ionic strength and lower pH, and (iii) pyrolysis temperature-dependent: 500 < 700 ≪ 300 °C at pH 3. Collectively, carboxyl-enriched 300 °C biochar likely formed strong hydrogen bonds with the citrate layer of nAu. The charge transfer between the conduction band of nAu and π* continuum of polyaromatic sheets is likely to dominate on 700 °C biochar. Surface area-normalized retention of nAu on biochars was several orders of magnitude higher than negatively charged hydroxyl-bearing environmental surfaces, indicating the importance of black carbon in the environmental fate of engineered nanomaterials.
Understanding chromaticity shifts in LED devices through analytical models

Abstract This paper demonstrates that chromaticity shifts in light-emitting diode (LED) devices arise from multiple mechanisms that produce chemical changes in the materials used to construct the LED devices. Each chromaticity change is shown to proceed over a finite period of time, and there is a limit on the impact of each shift. For example, chromaticity shifts in LED devices usually start with a fast-acting component that quickly reaches a maximum value, followed by one or more slower acting component(s). This behavior can be modeled analytically with a bounded exponential component to describe the fast-acting component, followed by one or more generalized logistic models. These analytical models contain several key parameters, including the limiting value of each chromaticity shift (A for the upper asymptote and L for the lower asymptote) and the rate of the change k. This approach to chromaticity modeling is demonstrated with analytical models of the chromaticity shifts caused by the irreversible degradation of phosphors. These analytical models provide insights into the kinetic processes responsible for green and red chromaticity shifts caused by phosphor degradation. A green shift is produced by the surface oxidation of the nitride phosphor that changes the emission profile to lower wavelengths. As the surface oxidation reaction proceeds, surface reactants are consumed thereby slowing the reaction rate, and the bulk oxidation processes become more prevalent. A red chromaticity shift can arise from quenching of the green phosphor which shift the emission in the red direction. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of these models for projecting chromaticity for different operational conditions.
A Guide for Selecting Appropriate Human Factors Methods and Measures in Control Room Modernization Efforts in Nuclear Power Plants

Many of the U.S. nuclear power plants are approaching the end of their 60-year licensing period. The U.S. Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program is conducting targeted research to extend the lives and ensure long-term reliability, productivity, safety, and security of these plants through targeted research, such as integrating advanced digital instrumentation and control technologies in the main control room. There are many challenges to this, one being the integration of human factors engineering in the design and evaluation of these upgrades. This paper builds upon recent efforts in developing utility-specific guidance for integrating human factors engineering in the control room modernization process by providing commonly used data collection methods that are applicable at various phases of the upgrade process. Advantages and disadvantages of each method are provided for consideration of an optimal human factors evaluation plan to be used throughout the lifespan of the upgrade process.
ALTERATIONS IN MUSCARINIC CHOLINERGIC RECEPTOR BINDING IN HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE

Dramatic advances have been made in recent years in the identification and isolations of hormonal receptors (Sica et al., 1976) and of the nicotinic cholinergic receptors of invertebrates (Changeux, 1975). Patrick and Lindstrom (1973) have administered a solubilized and purified form of the nicotinic cholinergic receptor from the electric organ of the eel or fish into animals and have produced a flaccid paralysis which electromyographically and pharmacologically exhibits similar symptoms to myasthenia gravis. Tremendous gains have been made towards understanding the autoimmune aspects of this debilitating disease (Elias and Appel, 1976, Lindstrom et al., 1976).
Expression of NGF Receptors During Development of Central Sensory Pathways in the Rat

Neuronal sensitivity to nerve growth factor (NGF) is conferred by the presence of specific high affinity receptors (Stach and Perez-Polo, 1987). Based on immunocytochemical and autoradiographic stud ies of adult rat and human brains, NGF receptors (NGF-R) are known to be present on cholinergic neurons located in the basal forebrain and on their terminals in the neocortex and hippocampus (Schwab et al., 1979; Seiler and Schwab, 1984; Hefti et al., 1986; Richardson et al., 1986; Johnson et al., 1987; Raivich and Kreutzberg, 1987; Springer et al, 1987; Loy et al, in press). In addition, measurement of NGF-R by immunoprecipitation reveals the presence of significant quantities of NGF-R in rat cerebellum, thalamus, olfactory bulb, and particularly in the brainstem (Taniuchi et al., 1986b). Recently, NGF-R have also been identified autoradiographically on a variety of neurons in the rat brainstem, including those of the cochlear nucleus and nucleus of the lateral lemniscus, components of the auditory system, suggesting that some central sensory neurons may be sensitive to NGF (Richardson et al., 1986; Raivich and Kreutzberg, 1987).