cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Toward Human-Level Massively-Parallel Neural Networks with Hodgkin-Huxley Neurons

This paper describes neural network algorithms and software that scale up to massively parallel computers. The neuron model used is the best available at this time, the Hodgkin-Huxley equations. Most massively parallel simulations use very simplified neuron models, which cannot accurately simulate biological neurons and the wide variety of neuron types. Using C++ and MPI we can scale these networks to human-level sizes. Computers such as the Chinese TianHe computer are capable of human level neural networks.
Lanthanum bromide-based rotational modulation gamma ray imager

A time modulation imaging device uses a periodic structure which translates or rotates above one or few position-insensitive detectors. One common design, a Rotational Modulation Collimator (RMC) uses a bi-grid collimator which rotates above a single detector, and is able to attain very good angular resolution. The two grids cost sensitivity and weight, however, making the RMC unattractive for certain applications. A Rotational Modulator (RM) consists of a single grid of transparent and opaque slats of width a, above an array of several detectors with diameter d, subject to the constraint a = d. The sensitivity, weight, and angular resolution can be comparable to that of a coded aperture device. As the grid rotates, the transmission from a source is modulated on each detector between 0 and 100%. This count profile is cross-correlated with pre-calculated modulation profiles to produce an initial source image. Further processing of the image with a “cleaning” technique that incorporates information from the point-spread function can accurately resolve point sources. In an RMC imager recently constructed at LSU, LaBr 3 :Ce detectors are used, which produce significantly more light than other common scintillators, offering ≪ 3% FWHM energy resolution at 662 keV. The instrument features high sensitivity and energy resolution, angular resolution of 0.8° (1σ), and a simple readout system. The detector array consists of 19 1:5″×1″ thick LaBr 3 :Ce detectors in a concentric circular layout. A grid spaced ∼1.2 m from the detection plane with slat width 1:5″ offers a field of view radius of 6:9°. We present our reconstruction technique, cleaning algorithms, and imaging results for the RM prototype.
Enhancement of the pockels effect in photonic crystal modulators through slow light.

We report a photonic crystal (PhC) optical modulator operating in the optical C band (1530–1565 nm) using barium titanate epitaxial thin films as the electro-optic (EO) medium. The PhC has hexagonal lattice symmetry and an extinction ratio of 9 dB. Due to the slow light enhancement of the EO coefficient near the PhC band edge, the driving electrode can be as short as a one millimeter. We report for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, at microwave frequencies from 10 to 45 GHz the effective EO coefficient and its enhancement through slow light effects. A monotonic increase of the effective EO coefficient from 60 to 110 pm/V across the stopband edge is obtained, resulting in an enhancement as high as 1.8.
Pseudo-singleton pattern and agnostic business layer for multi-engineer, synchronous, heterogeneous CAD

Product development processes are currently highly serial workflows that prevent needed cycle time reduction. Multi-user synchronous CAD is already improving the parallelization of these workflows and the next step is to facilitate multi-user synchronous heterogeneous CAD. This paper proposes a pseudo-singleton design pattern and a class signature which are necessary in the business logic layer of an application architecture that affects multi-user synchronous collaboration across heterogeneous CAD clients.
Symmetry Properties of Spheroidal Functions With Respect to Their Parameter

Spheroidal wave functions depend on a parameter $c$ . Their behavior with respect to changes of sign of $c$ is investigated, and explicit formulas are provided. Sample applications of the resulting symmetry rules are provided for some electromagnetic scattering problems.
A phase II trial of consolidation nivolumab or nivolumab plus ipilimumab following concurrent chemoradiation in unresectable stage III NSCLC: BTCRC LUN16-081.

TPS179Background: Unresectable stage III NSCLC demonstrates poor 5-yr OS outcomes. The current standard of care for fit patients in this setting is concurrent chemoradiation. Previous studies evaluating the addition of induction or consolidation chemotherapy, EGFR-targeted agents, ant-angiogenic agents, and higher doses of radiation have failed to definitively improve OS over chemoradiation alone. Recently, a trial of consolidation PD-L1 inhibition demonstrated improved PFS over chemoradiation alone, and a second trial of consolidation PD-1 inhibition is awaiting data maturation. This may herald a change to the standard of care in this setting. The addition of CTLA-4 inhibition to anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies has shown improved OS in melanoma and has demonstrated encouraging early phase data in stage IV NSCLC. Therefore, we initiated a trial evaluating the addition of a CTLA-4 inhibitor to PD-1 inhibition for consolidation treatment of unresectable stage III NSCLC. Methods: This is a multi-center, rand...
The Syndrome of Antimetropia and Switched Fixation in Strabismus

The onset of diplopia in adolescence in a patient with longstanding strabismus may be due to a switch in fixation from a preferred eye that has just evolved into myopia to a previously suppressed s...
Assessment of Radiology Training During Radiation Oncology Residency

A strong foundation in diagnostic imaging is essential to the practice of radiation oncology. This study evaluated radiology training in radiation oncology residency. An online survey was distributed to current radiation oncology residents in the USA by e-mail in 2017. Responses were summarized using frequency and percentages and compared with chi-square test and Spearman’s rank correlation when appropriate. One hundred five residents completed the survey. Although most residents felt that a strong knowledge base in diagnostic radiology was moderately or extremely important (87%, n = 90/104), the majority were only somewhat confident in their radiology skills (61%, n = 63/104) and were only somewhat, minimally, or not at all satisfied with their training (79%, n = 81/103). Although there was an association between increasing post-graduate training and confidence level (p = 0.01062, ρ = 0.24959), the majority of graduating residents feel only somewhat confident in radiology skills (63%, n = 12/19). Residents were most commonly exposed to radiology via multidisciplinary conferences (96%, n = 100/104), though only 15% (n = 16/104) of residents ranked these as the most beneficial component of their radiology training and 13% (n = 13/101) of residents felt these were the least beneficial. Most residents (60%, n = 63/105) believe there is a need for dedicated radiology training during residency, preferring monthly formal didactics (68%, n = 71/105) co-taught by a radiologist and radiation oncologist (58%, n = 61/105). Radiation oncology residents feel their radiology training is suboptimal, suggesting a need for more guidance and standardization of radiology curriculum. A preferred option may be monthly didactics co-taught by radiologists and radiation oncologists; however, future studies should assess the effectiveness of this model.
Reassessing the structure of presidential character

Abstract Perceptions of politicians' character traits have played a central role in models of candidate evaluation, yet existing work lacks a clear theoretical framework for the structure of trait perceptions. In this paper, I argue that, while competence looms large in the mind of voters, the public cares deeply about moral character (e.g., compassion). Just as people vary in their beliefs about right and wrong, however, they also vary in their views on the traits that make a good person. Across two studies, I show evidence of five dimensions of moral character that are linked to the public's moral foundations. Next, I show that moral character helps explain candidate favorability and perceptions of issue competence. Yet, unlike non-moral traits, the effects of moral character are politically divisive. Overall, my findings lend new insight into the structure of trait perceptions and how they are used by the public.
Aging and Spaceflight: Catalase Targeted to Mitochondria Alters Skeletal Structure and Responses to Musculoskeletal Disuse

Microgravity and ionizing radiation in the spaceflight environment pose multiple challenges to homeostasis and may contribute to cellular stress. Effects may include increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA damage and repair error, cell cycle arrest, cell senescence or death. Our central hypothesis is that prolonged exposure to the spaceflight environment leads to excess production of ROS and oxidative damage, culminating in accelerated tissue degeneration which resembles aging. The main goal of this project is to determine the importance of cellular redox defense for physiological adaptations and tissue degeneration in the space environment. To accomplish this, we will use both wildtype (WT) mice and a well-established, genetically-engineered animal model (mCAT mice) which displays extended lifespan (Schriner et al. 2005). The animal model selected to test these ideas is engineered to quench ROS in mitochondria by targeted over-expression of the human catalase gene to the mitochondrial matrix. We showed previously that mCAT mice express the catalase transgene in skeletal tissues, bone forming osteoblasts, and bone resorbing osteoclasts. In addition, mCAT mice also display increased catalase activity in bone. Our findings revealed that exposure of adult, male, C57Bl/6J mice to simulated spaceflight (hindlimb unloading and gamma radiation) led to an increase in markers of oxidative damage (malondialdehyde, 4-hydroxynonenol) in skeletal tissue of WT mice but not mCAT mice. To extend our hypothesis to other, spaceflight-relevant tissues, we are performing a ground-based study simulating 30 days of spaceflight by hindlimb unloading to determine potential protective effects of mitochondrial catalase activity on aging of multiple tissues (cardiovascular, nervous and skeletal).
The simultaneous use of a single additive for coal flotation, dewatering, and cake hardening

Abstract The Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center (PETC) has previously patented a new concept, termed the in situ cake hardening process, in which a binding agent is added to a clean fine coal slurry ahead of the dewatering device to simultaneously improve dewatering efficiency. More importantly, it moderately agglomerates, or hardens, the clean fine coal so that, upon drying, its dustiness would be significantly reduced and its handling improved. PETC has recently expanded on this concept by going back one step in the flowsheet and also applying this same binding agent to the flotation process, where it acts as a collector. It then remains with the clean coal through dewatering and cake hardening. Thus, a single dose of additive contributes to three consecutive fine coal unit operations in a coal preparation flowsheet. This paper describes the preliminary laboratory results of using Orimulsion, a heavy bitumen crude oil emulsion, as one additive for flotation, dewatering, and dust reduction.
PROFESSIONS AND BUSINESSES Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists: Exempt Licensing Requirements for Disaster Relief Services

The Act allows therapists, counselors, and social workers to provide their services during disasters or states of emergency without satisfying Georgia's licensing requirements. The exemption only covers workers that do not charge the recipients for disaster relief services and that are in the disaster area for a maximum of 30 days.
How Motherhood Shaped My Professorship

Many things influence who we are and how we approach life. For me, being a mother has had the greatest impact on how I approach being a professor. In this chapter, I will discuss my journey from growing up in a small town in Arizona to playing many sports and entering academics as a junior college student athlete. An important part of my decision to pursue chemistry as a career came through undergraduate research opportunities at my institution and in the summer at a national laboratory. I initially did not choose the academic route as both my parents were teachers, and I wanted to do something different. However, after 12 years in a national laboratory, I knew I wanted to continue to do research but with students. In 2002, I made the move to academics. I am a professor at Northern Arizona University, a public institution that has more undergraduates than graduate students. I lead a typical professor’s life of teaching, research, and service. My personal life of being a wife and mother to three amazing people has brought both great joy and many insights. I believe that being a mother for the past 26 years has guided the way I teach in the classroom, work with my research students, and volunteer for service projects. Additionally, I have learned to seek advice from others just as I do for issues you face as a parent.
Deep Dive Exploration of Mixed Reality in the World of Big Data

With the exponential growth of data volumes in current scenario, it’s becoming more difficult to incorporate the increasing need of data storage and analysis with the existing available systems. Methods to deal with Big Data and analyzing it, comes in play here. In the real world, higher revenues are generated from processing of big data in comparison to the costs involved in processing it which attracts all big organizations in the world. Visualization techniques and methods are improving regularly to cope with the increasing complexity of Big Data. A new perspective solution can be seen here which involves the use of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality or Mixed Reality to make use of human perception and cognition for more effective and useful ways to utilize the information gathered from Big Data.
Determinants of Depression in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Background Depressed patients in heart failure (HF) are more susceptible to higher readmission and functional decline. Determinants of depression are unclear and its effective treatments are lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of dyspnea and social support (SS) from family and friends on depression and functional limitation in chronic HF patients after controlling for effects of age, gender, and co-morbidities. Methods Using a cross-sectional design, a sample of 149 chronic HF patients (NYHA Class II-IV) was recruited at two Midwestern HF clinics. Dyspnea with activities of daily living by a 0-10 visual analogue scale; social support by the multidimensional perceived social support scale; depression by the Beck depression inventory II; and functional limitation by the function subscale of late life function and disability instrument were measured. Data analysis was done using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results and Conclusions Mean age was 57.3 years (SD=13.4; Range 26-88), and about half of the sample was female (n=75) with New York Heart Association functional class II (n=89). The mean depression score was 13.34(SD = 9.89) and half of subjects experienced little or none functional limitation on lower extremities functioning. Nearly 40% of subjects had mild dyspnea with daily activities and majority of subjects reported higher perceived SS from family and friends. χ2 test (df = 288) = 371.853, comparative fit index = .96, Tucker-Lewis Index = .955, and root mean square error of approximation = .044, suggesting an acceptable model. Dyspnea had direct effects on depression (β = .44) and functional limitation (β =.68), whereas social support from friends had an effect on depression (β = -.20), not social support from family. Patients with less dyspnea and greater friend support had fewer depressive symptoms. Further research is needed to examine whether interventions targeted on managing dyspnea and delivered in a group format improve depression in patients with chronic HF.
A Local Top-Down Module for Object Detection with Multi-scale Features

Object detection methods based on deep models and multi-scale features have achieved the state-of-the-art performance. However, since each feature layer operates independently, several issues such as box-in-box detections and less effective performance on small objects need to be addressed. In this paper, we tackle these issues by integrating contextual and semantic information from higher layer features into the prediction layer. Existing methods adopting similar ideas mostly apply full top-down modules, which may increase computational loads significantly. Instead, we present an efficient while general local top-down module, in which each prediction layer is integrated only with the upsampled features from its two succeeding layers. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm performs favorably against the state-of-the-art methods on the VOC, COCO and HollywoodHeads datasets, while introducing little computational overhead. Compared with methods using full top-down modules, the proposed algorithm achieves comparable or higher accuracy while operates at a higher frame rate. The code is available at https://github.com/Hshihua/Local-Top-Down-Detection-Network.
The effect of core menu attribute, green menu background, and gender on consumers’ attitudes toward korean dishes

Given the healthy eating trends and the growing popularity of Asian cuisines in the USA, this research investigates the interaction effect of gender and two types of health cues, namely core menu a...
Prairie wetlands confer consistent migrant refueling conditions across a gradient of agricultural land use intensities

Abstract Increasing global demands for land to produce food, fiber, and energy threatens temperate grassland and wetland ecosystems, catalyzing a need to inform strategic and efficient approaches to conserve ecological function in these ecosystems. In the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, an extensive agricultural footprint has grown since the late 19th century and recently expanded in extent and intensity of cultivation in response to improved technology and global demands. Despite extensive modifications, many wetlands remain in a matrix of intensively farmed uplands in this landscape. We comprehensively evaluated contributions of those wetlands to spring-migrating ducks by studying two wetland-obligate foragers—lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) and blue-winged teal (Anas discors)—as they migrated to northern breeding ranges. We measured a comprehensive suite of physiological, ecological, and behavioral metrics important during migration in wetlands across a range of upland cultivation intensities at fine and coarse spatial extents. We found no systematic negative responses in invertebrate prey abundance, abundance of migrants, or lipid metabolism of migrant females across the cultivation intensity gradient. Further, abundance and physiology of blue-winged teal and some key invertebrate prey densities were higher in more intensively cultivated landscapes. Our results demonstrated extant wetlands in modern, intensively farmed landscapes make meaningful contributions to spring-migrating ducks despite likely negative impacts of proximate upland cultivation. This insight raises questions about the consequences of agricultural perturbations and the baseline functionality of wetlands in agriculturally productive landscapes that have implications for wetland restoration and conservation strategies employed here and in intensively farmed landscapes globally.
Improved Gay-Lussac Experiment Considering Added Volumes

Gay-Lussac’s law states that the pressure of an ideal gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature if the volume is constant. Students observe this relationship by taking measurements on the pressure of gas in a flask or metal sphere at different temperatures and then extrapolate the data to estimate absolute zero. In our college physics classes, we noticed that student estimates were always near −280 °C (vs. the correct value of −273.15 °C) when using a 125-ml flask or −315 °C with a 25-ml flask. In fact, instructor’s notes from Vernier and Carolina Supply provide estimates of −283 °C and −289 °C for absolute zero, respectively. Additional work has shown that the primary problem with the Gay-Lussac experiment is that the volume in the measurement system outside the heated flask or sphere must be minimized to get estimates of absolute zero close to the theoretical value. Increasing the flask or sphere size can minimize the error in this experiment. While these observations have been noted, these researchers did not present the full theory to explain this effect, or how to account for the volume outside the heated flask. Here we derive the theory for two connected volumes at two different temperatures and show why many experiments provide estimates of absolute zero that are too low. We also provide two alternative ways to estimate absolute zero using the two-volume model. These methods provide significant reduction in error and provide an excellent learning experience for students in introductory physics or chemistry classes.
The curse of dimensionality: Animal-related risk factors for pediatric diarrhea in western Kenya, and methods for dealing with a large number of predictors.

Background Pediatric diarrhea, a leading cause of under-five mortality, is predominantly infectious in etiology. As many putative causal agents are zoonotic, animal exposure is a likely risk factor. To evaluate the effect of animal-related factors on moderate to severe childhood diarrhea in rural Kenya, where animal contact is common, Conan et al. studied 73 matched case-control pairs from 2009-2011, collecting rich exposure data on many dimensions of animal contact. We review the challenges associated with analyzing moderately-sized datasets with a large number of predictors and present two alternative methodological approaches. Methodology/principal findings We conducted a simulation study to demonstrate that forward stepwise selection results in overfit models when data are high-dimensional, and that p values reported directly from the data used to train these models are misleading. We described how automated methods of variable selection, attractive when the number of predictors is large, can result in overadjustment bias. We proposed an alternative a priori regression approach not subject to this bias. Applied to Conan et al.'s data, this approach found a non-significant but positive trend for household's sharing of water sources with livestock or poultry, child's presence for poultry slaughter, and child's habit of playing where poultry sleep or defecate. For many predictors evaluated few pairs were discordant, suggesting matching compromised the power of this analysis. Finally, we proposed latent variable modeling as a complimentary approach and performed Item Response Theory modeling on Conan et al.'s data, with animal contact as the latent trait. We found a moderate but non-significant effect (OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.78, 1.87, unit = 1 standard deviation). Conclusions/significance Automated methods of model selection are appropriate for prediction models when fit and evaluated on separate samples. However when the goal is inference, these methods can produce misleading results. Furthermore, case-control matching should be done with caution.
Let’s Connect: A developmentally-driven emotion-focused parenting intervention

Abstract Research on emotional development and emotion socialization emphasize the importance of supportive parent-child emotion communication, yet most empirically supported parenting interventions omit guidance on emotion communication skills. The primary goal of this paper is to introduce the Let's Connect emotion-focused parenting intervention as an innovative treatment modality for increasing supportive emotion socialization in families, drawing on developmental theory as a guiding framework. We provide an overview of the background for and development of Let's Connect. Results of a pilot study with 34 caregivers of school-age children (Mage = 8.45) in a community sample demonstrated significant increases in supportive emotion communication practices (e.g., listening and connection, labeling feelings, emotion support) as well as significant reductions in unsupportive emotion communication practices (e.g., invalidating or critical responses) from pre- to post-intervention, with gains maintained over a three-month period. Future directions and clinical applications of this intervention module are discussed.
Review of on-line and near real-time spectroscopic monitoring of processes relevant to nuclear material management

Spectroscopic chemometric based on-line monitoring of used nuclear fuel (UNF) reprocessing solutions and characterization of legacy nuclear waste (LNW) stored at Hanford is discussed in this manuscript. Utilizing on-line and near real-time monitoring, as opposed to traditional off-line monitoring, can significantly reduce the cost, risk and improve the efficiency of characterizing UNF and LNW processing streams. Specifically, this manuscript will highlight the benefits of spectroscopy-based monitoring approaches, which generally include the ability to collect data non-destructively. Furthermore, significant literature precedence supports the use of various real-time analysis methods, including chemometric analysis, that enable near-instantaneous conversion of spectroscopic data into information useable by process operators. This approach can accurately quantify and qualify nuclear material in near-real time enabling immediate condition characterization and potential diversion detection within UNF reprocessing streams and LNW. The ability to be applied in a real reprocessing plant and in an actual Hanford waste tank/transfer pipe has been demonstrated by applying this technique to accurately quantify analytes in real UNF streams and LNW samples. The future development of spectroscopy-based on-line monitoring is also discussed in this manuscript.
Discrete event simulation of cyber maintenance policies according to nested birth and death processes

This article proposes a novel discrete event simulation model for predicting cyber maintenance costs under multiple scenarios. In this study, our model of the evolution of computer hosts is similar to the Susceptible-Infected-Removed (S-I-R) epidemiological model. A double or "nested birth and death" construction is used for the hosts and the vulnerabilities on the hosts. The objectives of the model are to study the benefits and drawbacks of current scanning policy and maintenance policy, evaluate cost-effective alternatives, and investigate the significance of celebrity vulnerabilities.
FEA-Net: A physics-guided data-driven model for efficient mechanical response prediction

Abstract An innovative physics-guided learning algorithm for predicting the mechanical response of materials and structures is proposed in this paper. The key concept of the proposed study is based on the fact that physics models are governed by Partial Differential Equation (PDE), and its loading/response mapping can be solved using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Based on this, a special type of deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) is proposed that takes advantage of our prior knowledge in physics to build data-driven models whose architectures are of physics meaning. This type of network is named as FEA-Net and is used to predict the mechanical response under external loading. Thus, the identification of mechanical system parameters and the computation of its responses are treated as the learning and inference of FEA-Net, respectively. Case studies on multi-physics (e.g., coupled mechanical–thermal analysis) and multi-phase problems (e.g., composite materials with random micro-structures) are used to demonstrate and verify the theoretical and computational advantages of the proposed method.
IgE-mediated regulation of IL-10 and type I interferon enhances rhinovirus-induced Th2 priming by primary human monocytes

Abstract Rhinovirus infections are linked to the development and exacerbation of allergic diseases including allergic asthma. IgE, another contributor to atopic disease pathogenesis, has been shown to regulate dendritic cell antiviral functions and influence T cell priming by monocytes. We previously demonstrated that IgE-mediated stimulation of monocytes alters multiple cellular functions including cytokine secretion, phagocytosis, and influenza-induced Th1 priming. In this study, we investigate the effects of IgE-mediated allergic stimulation on monocyte-driven, RV-induced T cell priming utilizing primary human monocyte-T cell co-cultures. We demonstrate that IgE crosslinking of RV-exposed monocytes enhances monocyte-driven Th2 priming. This increase in RV-induced Th2 differentiation was regulated by IgE-mediated inhibition of type I interferon and induction of IL-10. These findings suggest an additional mechanism by which two clinically significant risk factors for allergic disease exacerbations – IgE-mediated stimulation and rhinovirus infection, may synergistically promote Th2 differentiation and allergic inflammation.
A review of microprocessor based solar photovoltaic tracking systems

One of the most important resources of renewable energy is solar photovoltaic technology. The current photovoltaics have significant drawbacks (high costs, low efficiency & intermittency) and yet it has not been taken advantage all their potential. Capturing sun's maximum energy using photovoltaics is challenging because several factors affect their energy output including the photovoltaic material, geographical location, ambient temperature and weather, orientation of the panel and angle of sun incidence. The tracking techniques, efficiency, performance, advantages and disadvantages are compared. Diverse types of solar tracking systems based on their technologies and emphasized in those that are microprocessor based are presented and categorized.
Radiotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals for the Treatment of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are typically slow growing tumors of the endocrine pancreas and are often functional. They express somatostatin receptors, and the feasibility of imaging such tumors using radioiodinated somatostatin analogs in 1989 by Krenning et al. led to the exploration of the possibilities to not only develop further imaging agents but also to develop therapeutic agents.
An ensemble-guided approach identifies ClpP as a major regulator of transcript levels in nitric oxide-stressed Escherichia coli

Abstract The importance of NO ∙ to immunity is highlighted by the diversity of pathogens that require NO ∙ -defensive systems to establish infections. Proteases have been identified to aid pathogens in surviving macrophage attack, inspiring us to investigate their role during NO ∙ stress in Escherichia coli . We discovered that the elimination of ClpP largely impaired NO ∙ detoxification by E. coli . Using a quantitative model of NO ∙ stress, we employed an ensemble-guided approach to identify the underlying mechanism. Iterations of in silico analyses and corresponding experiments identified the defect to result from deficient transcript levels of hmp , which encodes NO ∙ dioxygenase. Interestingly, the defect was not confined to hmp , as Δ clpP imparted widespread perturbations to the expression of NO ∙ -responsive genes. This work identified a target for anti-infective therapies based on disabling NO ∙ defenses, and demonstrated the utility of model-based approaches for exploring the complex, systems-level stress exerted by NO ∙ .
Internal Constitution And Oscillation Spectrum Of Procyon

In a previous paper on Procyon A, we analyzed the best available observational data (summarized here in Table 1), discussed its evolutionary status in terms of theoretical evolutionary tracks, and evaluated on the basis of these models its expected characteristic p- mode frequency spacing (Demarque and Guenther 1986). We reached the following conclusions: (1) that the published astrometric mass of Procyon A is inconsistent with stellar models and seems too large by about 15 per cent. (2) that evolutionary models have too high effective temperatures unless convective overshoot at the edge of the convective core, of the order of a tenth of a pressure scale height, is taken into account. (3) that the p-mode characteristic frequency spacing for Procyon A should be in the range 25–30 µHz.
Patient-physician agreement on the content of CHD prevention discussions.

Background Little is known about agreement between patients and physicians on content and outcomes of clinical discussions. A common perception of content and outcomes may be desirable to optimize decision making and clinical care. Objective To determine patient–physician agreement on content and outcomes of coronary heart disease (CHD) prevention discussions. Design Cross-sectional survey nested within a randomized CHD prevention study. Setting and participants University internal medicine clinic; 24 physicians and 157 patients. Methods Following one clinic visit, we surveyed patients and physicians on discussion content, decision making and final decisions about CHD prevention. For comparison, we audio-recorded, transcribed and coded 20 patient–physician visits. We calculated percent agreement between patient/physician reports, patient/transcription reports and physician/transcription reports. We calculated Cohen’s kappas to compare patient/physician perspectives. Results Patients and physicians agreed on whether CHD was discussed in 130 visits (83%; kappa = 0.55; 95% CI 0.40–0.70). When discussions occurred, they agreed about discussion content (pros versus cons) in 53% of visits (kappa = 0.15; 95% CI −0.01–0.30) and physicians’ recommendations in 73% (kappa = 0.44; 95% CI 0.28–0.66). Patients and physicians agreed on final decisions to take medication in 78% (kappa = 0.58; 95% CI 0.45–0.71) and change lifestyle in 69% (kappa = 0.38; 95% CI 0.24–0.53). They agreed less often, 43% (kappa = 0.13; 95% CI −0.11–0.37) about degree of involvement in decision making. Audio-recorded results were similar, but showed very low agreement between transcripts and patients’ and physicians’ self-report on discussion content and decision making. Conclusions Disagreements about clinical discussions and decision making may be common. Future work is needed to determine: how widespread such agreements are; whether they impact clinical outcomes; and the relative importance of the subjective experience versus objective steps of shared decision making.
Hemp for Headache: An In-Depth Historical and Scientific Review of Cannabis in Migraine Treatment

Cannabis, or ''marijuana,'' has been employed in various forms throughout the millennia for both symptomatic and prophylactic treatment of migraine. This document examines its history of medicinal use by smoking and other methods in ancient cultures, including the Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek and Roman, as well as in the Islamic world, and its subsequent adoption by Renaissance and Industrial Age Europeans. The most prominent physicians of the age in the century between 1842 and 1942 preferred cannabis to other preparations in migraine treatment, and it remained part of Western pharmacopoeias for this indication throughout the period. The writings of this era are examined in great detail in an effort to emphasize useful medical documentation that has subsequently been forgotten.
Restricting the Rights of Poor Mothers: an International Human Rights Critique of "Workfare"

In every society, the work that women do is undervalued and unrecognized. Political and social tensions behind conceptions of work, motherhood, and equality can ignite movements that threaten the human rights of women. One such movement is underway in the United States where recent “Workfare” provisions specifically target and punish the most vulnerable members of society under the guise of reform and morality. This critique of Workfare aims to demonstrate some of the dynamism and power of a human rights framework, and to lay the groundwork for effective action to improve the plight of the single mothers who rely on Workfare. In this article, I argue that The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 violates the human rights of poor single mothers through its attempt to define and restrict their roles as mothers and workers. To identify and understand these violations, I construct and apply a methodological framework for addressing human rights violations against women, incorporating both domestic and international human rights instruments. In order to contextualize Workfare and the human rights criticisms of its provisions, this article explores the concepts of work, motherhood, family and citizenship embedded in Workfare and the surrounding rhetoric their human rights implications. For most women on welfare, a human rights framework is meaningless until it can be practically applied to the reality of their lives. This article provides current examples and illustrates the utility of using human rights standards in domestic work. This article concludes by making four proposals for the improvement of Workfare: the broadening of the education exception, elimination of punitive and arbitrary practices, the support of motherhood and the affirmation of the worth and dignity of all people. These recommendations provide outlines of change in the direction of reform. The article concludes that a true reform of Workfare in accordance with human rights principles must be implemented in a more far-reaching and extensive manner.
Physeal-Sparing Intraarticular Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Preadolescents

Background: In the very young patient in need of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, the option of reconstruction with physeal-sparing techniques is valid because it is not known what percentage of physeal transgression causes adverse growth consequences.Purpose: To report our experience with an intraarticular technique for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction that spares the open femoral and tibial physes yet allows soft tissue graft fixation in the femoral and tibial tunnels.Methods: Eight preadolescents underwent physeal-sparing intraarticular reconstruction for anterior cruciate ligament insufficiency with the use of semitendinosus and gracilis tendon grafts. All eight patients were in Tanner stage 1 with an average chronologic age of 11.15 years and average bone age of 10.9 years. Preoperative prediction of lower limb growth averaged 10.8 cm.Results: Five of the eight patients had reached skeletal maturity at follow-up, which was at an average of 69.2 months postoperatively. For these fiv...
Clinical practice guideline on shared decision-making in the appropriate initiation of and withdrawal from dialysis

The Renal Physicians Association (RPA) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) in conjunction with representatives from multiple disciplines and organizations in the dialysis community, kidney patients and family members, and internal medicine physicians as well as a bioethicist and a public
Microbial transformation of 12‐hydroxyoctadecanoic acid to 5‐n‐hexyl‐tetrahydrofuran‐2‐acetic acid

Stationary-phase cells of a corynebacterium (FUI-2) and a bacillus (NRRL B-14864) isolate, when grown aerobically in 1% YE medium at 25°C, converted 12-hydroxystearic acid to a major compound, 5-n-hexyl-tetrahydrofuran-2-acetic acid, and other intermediate and minor compounds (6-hydroxydodecanoic acid, 4-hydroxydecanoic acid, 4-ketodecanoic acid and γ-decanolactone). The yields of 5-n-hexyl-tetrahydrofuran-2-acetic acid, 4-hydroxydecanoic acid, and γ-decanolactone, byBacillus lentus NRRL B-14864 were 43%, 18% and 5%, respectively, after 2.5 d of incubation.
"Boz's Opinions of Us": Whitman, Dickens, and the Forged Letter

Looks at Whitman's 1842 Evening Tattler article on Dickens and examines Whitman's involvement in publishing a forged letter by Dickens, suggesting that the episode "complicates our understanding" of Whitman's generally positive feelings about Dickens.
Linguistics: Sound sculptor

John A. Goldsmith is intrigued by the life of a linguistics giant who felt himself to be a failure.
Capitalizing on Variation: How Conflicting Research Findings Can Be Helpful for Policy:

I first became interested in data synthesis about 10 years ago. Two circumstances triggered it. The first was reading doctoral theses. When I became a faculty member, I noticed many theses which I read had a similar organization; chapter one was a statement of a problem, chapter two was entitled "Review of the Literature," then chapters three through six presented the author's work, but nearly always independent of the literature review! So I used to write a very pleasant note to some students, telling them that their thesis looked fine but that they should be more systematic about their review and synthesis of literature. I told them that merely saying Jones (2001) found X, and Smith (2002) found Y, wasn't scientific enough. Then, in the early 1970's there was, among my colleagues, a substantial growth in 'policy research.' Part of this involved managers and coordinators of programs such as Head Start asking what, overall, was known about the effectiveness of their program. This led to my initiating a synthesis of some early educational programs. The goal was to refine the findings of many studies to a "core" outcome. It was far harder than I had imagined to do a truly systematic and rigorous analysis of existing studies. They had been done by different people in different places at different times, often with different research designs. I remember one case where it
Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from laboratory measurements of rice soil suspension: Effect of soil oxidation-reduction status

Abstract The correspondence of soil redox potential to CH4 and N2O emissions from a rice paddy soil was studied. A Louisiana (USA) rice soil was equilibrated under controlled redox levels, ranging from +500 to −250 mV, and the amount of CH4 and N2O evolved quantified. A soil redox value of −150 mV was critical for CH4 emission to occur. The lower the soil redox level the greater the CH4 emission rates. A 50 mV decrease in soil redox level resulted in approximately a 10-fold increase in CH4 emission rate for the −150 mV to −250 mV range. Methane oxidation rates were less than production, irrespective of soil redox level. The highest N2O emission rate was observed during nitrification reactions at a redox level of +400 mV. At soil redox levels below +200 mV, N2O was also produced during denitrification reactions. The more reducing the soils, the more N gases were emitted, but the smaller the N 2 O N 2 ratio of the resulting gas. The maximum amount of N2O evolved during denitrification reactions was observed at 0 mV.
Maternal predictors of toddler health status.

PURPOSE. The purposes of this study were to examine the relationships among maternal and environmental variables in the first 6 months postpartum and toddler health status, and to identify predictors of toddler health. DESIGN AND METHODS. A secondary analysis was conducted on an existing dataset of a longitudinal parent–child survey. RESULTS. Maternal stress predicted 8% of the variance in child health status at 18 months of age. Children in nonparental care more than 20 hr per week were perceived as less healthy. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. Pediatric nurses should assess levels of maternal stress in the early months postpartum and anticipate poorer health status in toddlers who spend more than 20 hr per week in nonparental care.
Biotesting wastewater for hazard evaluation

Abstract Evaluation of the potential hazard of treated water can be performed in two basic ways: chemical identification followed by chemical-by-chemical hazard summation or by means of biotesting the water as if the contaminants were a single compound. Current practice is somewhere in between. For the most part, the use of bioassays is limited to a single test system, and the results are usually interpreted as either positive or negative. That is, binary information is the usual result of a bioassay evaluation. Our work over the past decade has facilitated the development of an alternative approach to interpreting bioassay results. The key element in our approach is the use of relative comparisons. Relative comparisons between responses of a given test system using wastewater and a well-known agent allow a graded response for each different bioassay. By using a battery of different bioassay systems, each with different mechanisms of toxicity, we are able to characterize the composite toxicological response to a wastewater sample with respect to a well-studied “reference” chemical. The value of this approach is that, if the use of the reference chemical has acceptable risk to the majority of the population or at least a known human risk, the wastewater can be evaluated with respect to that factor. We use water chlorination as a “reference” material in this report to illustrate the concept.
The nature and localization of acid phosphatase during the early phases of urodele limb regeneration.

Summary This study is concerned with both histochemical and biochemical changes in the acid hydrolase, acid phosphatase, during the dedifferentiation phase of the regeneration of the adult urodele forelimb. We find acid phosphatase in a variety of tissues in the normal limb. Structures which stain most prominently are slime glands, perineurium, epidermis, and the vascular tree. This location is generally the same in regenerates except for increased activity in nerve, and more dramatically for the evolution of activity in dedifferentiating skeletal muscle. The morphologically homogeneous blastema reveals a positive reaction for acid phosphatase in a small proportion of the total number of cells. The vascular bed has the most intense acid phosphatase activity even when it is in the process of dedifferentiating. Biochemically, it is found that two major fractions of acid phosphatase exist in the normal and regenerate urodele limb. On the basis of tartrate-inhibition studies, it is concluded that 80–95% of acid phosphatase is lysosomal in nature, while the rest is “soluble”. An acetate-soluble fraction of acid phosphatase is also present in normal and regenerating limbs. This fraction is comprised of a small amount of “soluble” enzyme as well as structurally nonlatent lysosomal component. On the basis of time studies performed during the first 16 days of regeneration, it is concluded that: (1) changes in acid phosphatase activity occur in the limb during wound healing and dedifferentiation phases; (2) these changes take the form of a sequential rise in the activities of the total, lysosomal, and the structurally nonlatent fractions of acid phosphatase to levels significantly higher than normal values; (3) the sequential increase in activity reaches its peak in all fractions just prior to the period of maximum dedifferentiation observable in the regenerate. Moreover, these activities drop just prior to the end of the dedifferentiation phase of regeneration; and (4) no significant change occurs in the level of the “soluble” fraction. The possible role of structurally latent and structurally nonlatent lysosomal acid phosphatase are discussed particularly with respect to the availability of active lysosomal enzyme during the processes of cellular dedifferentiation and tissue remodeling in amphibian limb regeneration. Finally, it is concluded that the lysosomal hydrolases, as exemplified by acid phosphatase, appear to play a significant role in the phenomenon of dedifferentiation through a variety of mechanisms.