cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electron relaxation times due to the deformation-potential interaction of electrons with confined acoustic phonons in a free-standing quantum well

The confined acoustic phonons in free-standing quantum wells are considered in detail. The Hamiltonian describing interactions of the confined acoustic phonons with electrons in the approximation of the deformation potential and the corresponding electron transition probability density are derived. They are used to analyze the electron scattering times (inverse scattering rate, momentum relaxation time, and the energy relaxation time) in the test-particle approximation as well as in the kinetic approximation. It is shown that the first dilatational mode makes the main contribution to electron scattering in the lowest electron subband. The contribution of the zeroth mode and the second mode are also essential while the modes of higher order are insignificant. Our analysis is performed for both nondegenerate and degenerate electron gases. It is shown that electron scattering by confined acoustic phonons interacting through the deformation potential is substantially suppressed up to the electron energies corresponding to the energy of the first dilatational mode.
Voltammetric determination of doxorubicin in urine by adsorptive preconcentration and flow injection analysis

Abstract Preconcentration and quantitation of the cancer chemotherapy drug, doxorubicin, are achieved via a flow-injection approach utilizing adsorption of the drug onto a carbon paste electrode, medium exchange, and differential pulse voltammetry on the adsorbing surface. The oxidation peak at +0.57 V vs. Ag/AgCl is used for quantitation. Linear response was obtained for concentrations from 10 −6 M to the detection limit of 10 −9 M, and it was possible to determine the drug in urine by direct injection of the sample with no preliminary steps required. The sensitivity, linearity, and selectivity of the flow injection approach were markedly improved relative to the earlier batch method in which the adsorption step was done in a stationary sample solution.
Role of the pro‐α2(I) COOH‐terminal region in assembly of type I collagen: Disruption of two intramolecular disulfide bonds in pro‐α2(I) blocks assembly of type I collagen

Collagen biosynthesis is a complex process that begins with the association of three procollagen chains. A series of conserved intra- and interchain disulfide bonds in the carboxyl-terminal region of the procollagen chains, or C-propeptide, has been hypothesized to play an important role in the nucleation and alignment of the chains. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing the ability of normal and cysteine-mutated pro-a2(I) chains to assemble into type I collagen heterotrimers when expressed in a cell line (D2) that produces only endogenous pro-a1(I). Pro-a2(I) chains containing single or double cysteine mutations that disrupted individual intra- or interchain disulfide bonds were able to form pepsin resistant type I collagen with pro-a1(I), indicating that individual disulfide bonds were not critical for assembly of the pro-a2(I) chain with pro-a1(I). Pro-a2(I) chains containing a triple cysteine mutation that disrupted both intrachain disulfide bonds were not able to form pepsin resistant type I collagen with pro-a1(I). Therefore, disruption of both pro-a2(I) intrachain disulfide bonds prevented the production and secretion of type I collagen heterotrimers. Although none of the individual disulfide bonds is essential for assembly of the procollagen chains, the presence of at least one intrachain disulfide bond may be necessary as a structural requirement for chain association or to stabilize the protein to prevent intracellular degradation. J.Cell. Biochem. 71:233-242, 1998. r 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Tumors metastatic to thyroid neoplasms: a case report and review of the literature.

Metastasis into a thyroid neoplasm—tumor-to-tumor metastasis—is exceedingly rare. We describe the 28th documented case of a tumor metastatic to a thyroid neoplasm and review the literature on tumor-to-tumor metastasis involving a thyroid neoplasm as recipient. All cases showed a recipient thyroid neoplasm with an abrupt transition to a morphologically distinct neoplasm. Metastasis into primary thyroid neoplasm was synchronous in 33% of cases and metachronous in 67%. Follicular adenoma was the most common recipient thyroid neoplasm overall (16/28), and papillary thyroid carcinoma was the most common malignant recipient neoplasm (9/28). Of the 9 recipient papillary carcinomas, 6 were follicular variants. Renal cell carcinoma was the most common neoplasm to metastasize to a primary thyroid neoplasm (9/28), followed by lung (6/28), breast (5/28), and colon (3/28) carcinoma. Tumor-to-tumor metastasis should be considered whenever a dimorphic pattern is encountered in a thyroid tumor.
Aspects of defects in silica related to dielectric breakdown of gate oxides in MOSFETs

Abstract Defects in silica related to hydrogen and oxygen vacancies have been analyzed using first principles density functional calculations. The hydrogen bridge has been identified as the defect responsible for the stress-induced leakage current, a forerunner of dielectric breakdown. The question of Joule heating of the oxide as a result of dielectric breakdown is discussed. A classification scheme for defects in the short-range structure of silica is presented.
THE EVOLUTION OF FEMALE MATING PREFERENCES: DIFFERENTIATION FROM SPECIES WITH PROMISCUOUS MALES CAN PROMOTE SPECIATION

Females of many species are frequently courted by promiscuous males of their own and other closely related species. Such mating interactions may impose strong selection on female mating preferences to favor trait values in conspecific males that allow females to discriminate them from their heterospecific rivals. We explore the consequences of such selection in models of the evolution of female mating preferences when females must interact with heterospecific males from which they are completely postreproductively isolated. Specifically, we allow the values of both the most preferred male trait and the tolerance of females for males that deviate from this most preferred trait to evolve. Also, we consider situations in which females base their mating decisions on multiple male traits and must interact with males of multiple species. Females will rapidly differentiate in preference when they sometimes mistake heterospecific males for suitable mates, and the differentiation of female preference will select for conspecific male traits to differentiate as well. In most circumstances, this differentiation continues indefinitely, but slows substantially once females are differentiated enough to make mistakes rare. Populations of females with broader preference functions (i.e., broader tolerance for males with trait values that deviate from females' most preferred values) will evolve further to differentiate if the shape of the function cannot evolve. Also, the magnitude of separation that evolves is larger and achieved faster when conspecific males have lower relative abundance. The direction of differentiation is also very sensitive to initial conditions if females base their mate choices on multiple male traits. We discuss how these selection pressures on female mate choice may lead to speciation by generating differentiation among populations of a progenitor species that experiences different assemblages of heterospecifics. Opportunities for differentiation increase as the number of traits involved in mate choice increase and as the number of species involved increases. We suggest that this mode of speciation may have been particularly prevalent in response to the cycles of climatic change throughout the Quaternary that forced the assembly and disassembly of entire communities on a continentwide basis.
Functional Genomics and a New Era in Radiation Biology and Oncology

Ionizing radiation is a ubiquitous stress to which all life is continuously exposed, and thus complex mechanisms have evolved to regulate cellular responses to radiation, including cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and programmed cell death. Changes in gene expression shape part of the response to radiation, and have historically provided insight into the underlying mechanisms of that response. However, the advent of microarrays, which can measure expression of all the genes in a cell simultaneously, has transformed the study of gene expression, and is beginning to have an impact on both basic mechanistic and clinical studies. This article provides an overview of concepts in gene expression and microarray technology, and highlights their impacts on the study of radiation biology.
The Challenge of Chromospheric Physics.

A review is presented on theories and developments in the field of chromospheric physics. Chromospheric geometry, velocity fields, magnetic fields, thermodynamic equilibrium, thermodynamic structure, and chromospheric activity and space environment are discussed. (P.C.H.)
Texture synthesis: textons revisited

This paper introduces a technique for synthesizing natural textures, with emphasis on quasiperiodic and structural textures. Textures are assumed to be composed of three components, namely illumination, structure, and stochastic. The contribution of this work is that, in contrast to previous techniques, it proposes a joint approach for handling the texture's global illumination, irregular structure, and stochastic component which may be correlated to the other two components. Furthermore, the proposed technique does not produce verbatim copies in the synthesized texture. More specifically, a top-down approach is used for extraction of texture elements (textons) in which, in contrast to previous texton-based approaches, no assumptions regarding perfect periodicity are made. The structure itself can be modeled as a stochastic process. Consequently, textons are allowed to have irregular and nonidentical shapes. In the synthesis stage, a new nonregular textural structure is designed from the original one that defines the place holders for textons. We call such place holders empty textons (e-textons). The e-textons are filled in by a representative texton. Since e-textons do not have identical shapes, a texton shape-matching procedure is required. After adding the illumination to the structural component, a strictly localized version of a block sampling technique is applied to add the stochastic component. The block sampling technique combined with the addition of the illumination component provides a significant improvement in the appearance of synthesized textures. Results show that the proposed method is successful in synthesizing structural textures visually indistinguishable to the original. Moreover, the method is successful in synthesizing a variety of stochastic textures.
Mate preferences among the Shuar of Ecuador: trait rankings and peer evaluations

A large body of research has examined sex differences in mate preferences, but very little of such work has been conducted in small-scale societies. Study 1 explored women's and men's mate preferences within a modern hunter-horticulturalist population in Amazonian Ecuador. In contrast to patterns documented in much of the existing literature, women and men from three Shuar villages were nearly identical in their stated preferences for physical attractiveness and resource-related traits, and physical attractiveness was ranked at the bottom among 19 traits. Study 2 examined the relationship between unmarried Shuar participants' assessments of the personal characteristics of known peers and their assessments of those peers as desirable long-term partners. When assessed using this method, physical attractiveness appeared to weigh much more heavily into Shuar evaluations of partner desirability, and a sex difference emerged in the preference for resource-related traits. Overall, there were substantial differences between individuals' stated preferences and their preferences as revealed in peer ratings. Across both measurement techniques, however, Shuar women and men were very similar in their preferences for physical attractiveness. These results raise questions about the universality of sex differences in mate preferences documented in the existing literature.
Stage I Norwood: optimal technical performance improves outcomes irrespective of preoperative physiologic status or case complexity.

Objective Interplay of baseline physiologic status, case complexity, technical performance, and outcomes in high-acuity operations has been poorly defined. This study explored these interactions to determine whether a technically optimal operation can mitigate effects of baseline physiology and high case-complexity on outcomes for the stage I Norwood procedure. Methods Technical performance was categorized as optimal, adequate, or inadequate from adequacy of the anatomic repair of the stage I subprocedures according to anatomic areas where intervention is performed. Physiological illness severity statuses in preoperative and postoperative periods were determined with Pediatric Risk of Mortality III system, which uses 17 physiologic variables. Case complexity was calculated with Aristotle comprehensive system. All patients undergoing stage I procedure from January 2004 to December 2007 were retrospectively studied. Results One hundred thirty-five procedures were included. Five were excluded from the technical performance assessment because of inadequate postoperative data. Eighty-one (62.3%), 26 (20%), and 23 (17.7%), respectively, were scored as optimal, adequate, and inadequate. Overall hospital mortality was 14.1%. Inadequate technical performance, high-complexity Aristotle comprehensive scores, and high preoperative illness severity scores correlated with significantly higher hospital mortality, longer stay, and greater frequency of major postoperative complications. In subgroup analysis of patients with optimal technical performance, outcomes were favorable irrespective of high or low preoperative physiologic illness severity or case complexity. Conclusions In stage I Norwood procedures, optimal technical performance attenuated effects of poor preoperative physiologic status and high case complexity, with reduced hospital mortality. Inadequate technical performance resulted in poor outcomes regardless of preoperative status.
Structuralism and Metaphysics

I consider different versions of a structuralist view of mathematical objects, according to which characteristic mathematical objects have no more of a ‘nature’ than is given by the basic relations of a structure in which they reside. My own version of such a view is non-eliminative in the sense that it does not lead to a programme for eliminating reference to mathematical objects. I reply to criticisms of non-eliminative structuralism recently advanced by Keranen and Hellman. In replying to the former, I rely on a distinction between ‘basic’ and ‘constructed’ structures. A conclusion is that ideas from the metaphysical tradition can be misleading when applied to the objects of modern mathematics.
Attitudes Toward Suicide Among Mexican American and Anglo Youth

A suicide opinion questionnaire (SOQ) was administered to 76 Mexican Americans and 76 Anglos, equated on several demo graphic dimensions. An item analysis yielded statistically signifi cant differences on 35 of the 100 SOQ items. These items centered on the following themes: religion, psychopathology, aggression-impulsivity, acceptability of suicide, the "cry for help" dimension, and emotional impact. The implications of these findings are discussed briefly.
Thermal Conductivity and Interface Thermal Conductance in Films of Tungsten–Tungsten Silicide on Si

Samples of tungsten film deposited on Si substrate at room temperature by magnetron sputtering were annealed at different temperatures up to 900 $^{\circ}{\rm C}$ in argon atmosphere. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to follow the changes in the film and determine the formation of ${\rm WSi}_{2}$ phase along the interface. The formation of ${\rm WSi}_{2}$ phase has been detected in the sample annealed at 675 $^{\circ}{\rm C}$ and above. Polycrystalline ${\rm WSi}_{2}$ was found to form upon annealing at 900 $^{\circ}{\rm C}$ . Thermal conductivity and interface thermal conductance of the film in the as deposited and annealed condition was studied by transient thermoreflectance from the tungsten film. The variation of thermoreflectance signal with time was modeled using 1-D thermal diffusion equation. The results showed that the thermal conductivity of the film is improved but the interface thermal conductance is reduced upon annealing at higher temperature. Voids generated by the formation of ${\rm WSi}_{2}$ along the interface and incomplete thermal contact between the different regions in the film and the Si substrate are shown to be responsible for the lower interface thermal conductance. It is concluded that growth of epitaxial silicide on Si with good thermal contact will help reduce the thermal resistance in the devices.
Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the lung: Pleural effusion cytology, ultrastructure, and brief literature review

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) of the lung is a low-grade malignant tumor of vascular origin initially described under the name intravascular bronchioloalveolar tumor (IVBAT). We present a case of a 44-yr-old Caucasian female with severe radiating back pain, shortness of breath, recurrent malignant pleural effusions, and a negative malignancy workup. Cytopathologic examination of the four pleural fluid specimens revealed large undifferentiated plasmacytoid malignant cells with abundant pink and finely granular cytoplasm, round nuclei, and prominent nucleoli. The differential diagnosis based on the cytologic findings included hepatocellular, adrenal, and renal carcinomas, melanoma, mesothelioma, and neuroendocrine tumors. Electron microscopy performed on a pleural fluid specimen and subsequent histologic examination of pleural and lung biopsies established the diagnosis of EHE.
Postfire energy exchange in arctic tundra: the importance and climatic implications of burn severity

Fires produce land cover changes that have consequences for surface energy balance and temperature. Three eddy covariance towers were setup along a burn severity gradient (i.e. Severely, Moderately, and Unburned tundra) to determine the effect of fire and burn severity on arctic tundra surface energy exchange and temperature for three growing seasons (2008‐2010) following the 2007 Anaktuvuk River fire. The three sites were well matched before the fire, experienced similar weather, and had similar energy budget closure, indicating that the measured energy exchange differences between sites were largely attributable to burn severity. Increased burn severity resulted in decreased vegetation and moss cover, organic layer depth, and the rate of postfire vegetation recovery. Albedo and surface greenness steadily recovered with Moderately matching Unburned tundra by the third growing season. Decreased albedo increased net radiation and partly fueled increased latent and ground heat fluxes, soil temperatures, and thaw depth. Decreases in moss cover and the organic layer also influenced the ground thermal regime and increased latent heat fluxes. These changes either offset or decreased the surface warming effect from decreased albedo, resulting in a small surface warming in Severely and a small surface cooling in Moderately relative to Unburned tundra. These results indicate that fires have a significant impact on surface energy balance and highlight the importance of moss and permafrost thaw in regulating arctic surface energy exchange and temperature.
The effect of a nominal monetary gift and different contacting approaches on mail survey response among engineers

Increasingly, designers are looking for ways to incorporate the voice-of-the-market into new product designs. Mail questionnaires are one commonly used method to survey user preferences. Research methods which increase response rates and quality of mail surveys can help result in the design of products that more accurately reflect market needs. This study examines the effect of a nominal monetary gift and different contacting approaches on mail survey response rates among a population of engineers. The study found that the inclusion of a nominal monetary gift had a dramatic effect on survey response rates among engineers. Precontact with targeted firms was also found to increase survey response rates. Additionally, this research found differences in the response rates between direct precontact of subjects in target firms versus indirect contact of engineers who were referred as CAD experts in their firms. These referrals were found more likely to answer difficult survey questions and much more likely to volunteer to participate in follow-up qualitative research. Identification of this group of qualified referrals may be useful for design teams working on new, technologically advanced products. >
CHLOROPHYLL ONE-ELECTRON PHOTOCHEMISTRY-I. PHOTOPRODUCTION OF THE CATION RADICALS OF CHLOROPHYLL AND BACTERIOCHLOROPHYLL IN SOLUTIONS AT LOW TEMPERATURES*

— Electron spin resonance studies have shown that chlorophyll and bacteriochlorophyll can be photo-oxidized in a variety of solvents via their lowest excited singlet states to produce cation radicals. Pheophytin does not undergo this reaction. The mechanism of this photoprocess and its implications for photosynthesis are discussed.
Semiannual Cycle in Zonal Wind over the Equatorial Indian Ocean

AbstractThe semiannual cycle in zonal wind over the equatorial Indian Ocean is investigated by use of ocean–atmospheric reanalyses, and linear ocean–atmospheric models. In observations, the semiannual cycle in zonal wind is dominant on the equator and confined in the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Results from a momentum budget analysis show that momentum advection generated by the cross-equatorial monsoon circulation is important for the semiannual zonal-wind cycle in the equatorial Indian Ocean. In experiments with a linearized primitive model of the atmosphere, semiannual momentum forcing due to the meridional advection over the central equatorial Indian Ocean is important to simulate the observed maxima of the semiannual cycle in equatorial zonal wind. Off Somalia, diabatic heating and surface friction over land weaken the semiannual response to large momentum forcing there. Results from a linear ocean model suggest that the semiannual zonal wind stress over the central equatorial Indian Ocean genera...
ESTIMATING LENGTH OF AVIAN INCUBATION AND NESTLING STAGES IN AFROTROPICAL FOREST BIRDS FROM INTERVAL-CENSORED NEST RECORDS

ABSTRACT. In the East Usambara Mountains in northeast Tanzania, research on the effects of forest fragmentation and disturbance on nest survival in understory birds resulted in the accumulation of 1,002 nest records between 2003 and 2008 for 8 poorly studied species. Because information on the length of the incubation and nestling stages in these species is nonexistent or sparse, our objectives in this study were (1) to estimate the length of the incubation and nestling stage and (2) to compute nest survival using these estimates in combination with calculated daily survival probability. Because our data were interval censored, we developed and applied two new statistical methods to estimate stage length. In the 8 species studied, the incubation stage lasted 9.6–21.8 days and the nestling stage 13.9–21.2 days. Combining these results with estimates of daily survival probability, we found that nest survival ranged from 6.0% to 12.5%. We conclude that our methodology for estimating stage lengths from interv...
Neurobehavioral morbidity associated with disordered breathing during sleep in children : A comprehensive review

Study objectives To comprehensively review research on the association between childhood sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and neurobehavioral functioning. Design Qualitative and quantitative literature review. Setting N/A. Patients or participants N/A. Interventions N/A. Measurements and results The findings of 61 studies of the relationship between childhood SDB and neurobehavioral functioning were critically evaluated and synthesized. There is strong evidence that childhood SDB is associated with deficits in behavior and emotion regulation, scholastic performance, sustained attention, selective attention, and alertness. There is also evidence that SDB has minimal association with a child's typical mood, expressive language skills, visual perception, and working memory. Findings have been insufficient to draw conclusions about intelligence, memory, and some aspects of executive functioning. Mechanisms by which SDB might result in neurobehavioral morbidity are being explored, but clinical symptoms such as chronic snoring remain the best predictors of morbidity. Short-term SDB treatment outcome studies are encouraging, but the long-term outcomes are not known. Failing to treat SDB appears to leave children at risk for long-term neurobehavioral deficits. Conclusions Childhood SDB is associated with neurobehavioral morbidity. Applying commonly used guidelines for causal inference, even in the absence of a much-needed randomized clinical trial, there is strong evidence of association, consistent findings, and specificity of effect. There is suggestive evidence that this association fits the expected temporal pattern and that SDB is a biologically plausible cause of neurobehavioral deficits. Clinicians should be alert to the coexistence of SDB symptoms and concerns about a child's academic progress, attention, arousal, or behavior or emotion regulation.
An elbow extension neuroprosthesis for individuals with tetraplegia

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the triceps to restore control of elbow extension was integrated into a portable hand grasp neuroprosthesis for use by people with cervical level spinal cord injury. An accelerometer mounted on the upper arm activated triceps stimulation when the arm was raised above a predetermined threshold angle. Elbow posture was controlled by the subjects voluntarily flexing to counteract the stimulated elbow extension. The elbow moments created by the stimulated triceps were at least 4 N/spl middot/m, which was sufficient to extend the arm against gravity. Electrical stimulation of the triceps increased the range of locations and orientations in the workspace over which subjects could grasp and move objects. In addition, object acquisition speed was increased. Thus elbow extension enhances a person's ability to grasp and manipulate objects in an unstructured environment.
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research in Voice

Patient-centered outcomes research is critically important to improving the management of patients with voice disorders. Currently, wide variation in outcome definitions and treatment decisions exi...
A method for predicting the impact of user interface design on software design

Abstract To achieve optimal separation between user interface and application, developers need a method for predicting the impact of user interface design on software design. The method presented here includes a set of system-theoretic abstractions for modeling components of a proposed user interface and application, a taxonomy of relationships for modeling the semantics of a wide range of potential connections between components, a procedure for analyzing a model of a proposed user interface design, and a set of tools for maintaining a collection of reusable design components, assembling components into a model, and analyzing the model. Two examples show how the method accounts for features of both user interface and application, provides guidance on software design, and exposes conflicting implications of design decisions.
Dynamics of laser-produced Sn-based plasmas for a monochromatic 13.5 nm extreme ultraviolet source

Dynamics of laser-produced Sn-based plasmas were investigated for a monochromatic EUV lithography (EUVL) source. A hollow plasma density in a Sn plasma driven by Nd:YAG laser was observed in the late time within the laser pulse. The possible reason comes from the distributed laser energy deposition in the expanding corona. This distributed absorption results in a temperature gradient in the corona and a broad EUV spectrum. It was shown that for CO2 laser most of the laser energy deposition is localized around the critical density, a narrower EUV x-ray spectrum and a higher conversion efficiency from laser to monochromatic 13.5 nm EUV emission can be expected. It was found that 0.5% Sndoped foam targets show an almost the same electron density as compared with that of solid density Sn targets. The same ne enables efficient absorption of laser energy, and at the same time much lower Sn ion number density results in less re-absorption of the in-band 13.5 nm EUV emission induced by the plasma itself, so high CE can be expected with a low concentration of Sn.
Informed Prefetching of Collective Input/Output Requests

Optimizing collective input/output (I/O) is important for improving throughput of parallel scientific applications. Current research suggests that a specialized collective application programming interface, coupled with system-level optimizations, is necessary to obtain good I/O performance. Unfortunately, collective interfaces require an application to disclose its entire access pattern to fully reorder I/O requests, and cannot flexibly utilize additional memory to improve performance. In this paper we propose and analyze a method of optimizing collective access patterns using informed prefetching that is capable of exploiting any amount of available memory to overlap I/O with computation. We compare this approach to disk-directed I/O, an efficient implementation of a collective I/O interface. Moreover, we prove that under certain conditions, a per-processor prefetch depth equal to the number of drives can guarantee sequential disk accesses for any collectively accessed file. In empirical studies, a prefetch horizon of one to two times the number of disks per processor is sufficient to match the performance of disk-directed I/O for sequentially allocated files. Finally, we develop accurate analytical models to predict the throughput of informed prefetching for collective reads as a function of the per-processor prefetch depth.
Immunization and Military Medicine

This lecture, a memorial to Joseph E. Smadel, reviews the involvement of the military in the development and use of immunizing materials. Smallpox and smallpox immunization in the military and the development and present status of immunization against typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, typhus, tetanus, diphtheria, plague, influenza, adenovirus, meningitis, rubella, and malaria are reviewed. Dr. Smadel's personal contributions to the significant achievements of the military program to civilian practice are emphasized.
Diarrheal disease in the hospitalized patient.

In the past 15 years, our knowledge of the pathogenesis and etiologic agents of diarrheal disease has expanded rapidly. No longer is it scientifically appropriate or cost effective for the laboratory simply to culture a stool for Salmonella and Shigella and to do a wet mount for amebae. Today we have a plethora of agents including, but not limited to, Campylobacter, Yersinia, Clostridium difficile, Escherichia coli, Aeromonas, Plesiomonas, vibrios, rotavirus, Norwalk agent, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium, which have all been suggested to be agents of diarrheal disease. Given such a wide range of possibilities, what approaches should be taken to determine the etiologic agent of diarrheal disease in the hospitalized patient in an era of cost containment?
Geologic factors that control mineral matter in coal

Elements other than organically derived and bound C, H, N, O, and S constitute mineral matter in coal. Mineral matter may consist of discrete minerals such as calcite, quartz, clays, and pyrite, and/or organic compounds that contain organically bonded elements such as Ca and CI. Processes that may affect the association and content of mineral matter are operable from the initial peat-forming stage to the time of utilization of the coal. However, the objective of this paper is to discuss some of the various geologic processes that may influence content and associations in unmined coal.
Upregulation of Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin receptor in regenerating rat liver

Guanylate cyclase C (GC-C) is a transmembrane protein that serves as a receptor for the recently characterized endogenous ligand guanylin and for Escherichia coli heat-stable toxin (STa). Binding of either guanylin or STa to intestinal GC-C results in net chloride secretion. Although GC-C is expressed in the rat intestine throughout life, its expression in the rat liver has previously been shown to occur only during the perinatal period. As a step toward elucidating the role of this receptor in the liver, we tested the hypothesis that GC-C mRNA expression could be induced in the adult rat liver following 1) partial hepatectomy, a stimulus for hepatocyte proliferation; 2) intraperitoneal carbon tetrachloride injection, a model of hepatocyte regeneration in the presence of inflammatory changes; and 3) subcutaneous turpentine injection, which generates an acute phase response without hepatocyte proliferation. We demonstrated expression of GC-C mRNA in the regenerating rat liver following either partial hepatectomy or CCl4-induced hepatic necrosis. We have also shown that GC-C mRNA expression occurred in association with an acute phase reaction. Coordinate with the expression of GC-C mRNA, there was upregulation of radiolabeled STa binding to liver plasma membranes prepared from turpentine-treated rats. Maximal expression of GC-C occurred in preparations enriched for the canalicular domain. Although the function of GC-C in the liver is unknown, localization to the canalicular domain would be consistent with a role for GC-C in hepatic chloride secretion, especially in the perinatal liver and during hepatocyte regeneration.
Rous Sarcoma Virus Retropepsin and Avian Myeloblastosis Virus Retropepsin

The third edition of the Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes aims to be a comprehensive reference work for the enzymes that cleave proteins and peptides, and contains over 850 chapters. Each chapter is organized into sections describing the name and history, activity and specificity, structural chemistry, preparation, biological aspects, and distinguishing features for a specific peptidase. The subject of Chapter 48 is Rous Sarcoma Virus Retropepsin and Avian Myeloblastosis Virus Retropepsin.
Transnational Links: South Asian American Women's Organizations and Autonomous Women's Groups in India

The complex social problems faced by South Asian American domestic workers and by domestic violence victims within this community have led, since the 1980, to the formation and documentation of women's activist organizations in the U.S. The activist organizations in New York City and in Bombay [used interchangeably with Mumbai] India have resulted in lessons and strategies, which are shared transnationally among activists and scholars based in these two cities.
Newtonian Simulation and Dimensional Control of the Single Roller Die Extrusion Line

Abstract A single roller die consists of a fixed plate die bounded on one edge by a rotating cylinder. Material is forced through the die by a combination of pressure flow from an extruder and drag flow by the roller. Extrusion lines for tire components have traditionally been controlled by manipulating the size (cross-sectional area) of the extrudate through adjustments of the line speed relative to the screw speeds for cold-feed extruders or feed-strip widths and/or mill speeds for hot-feed extruders. Intentional changes in shape (ratios of dimensions normalized for size change) required altering the die geometry. Sources of variation in size and shape during extrusion include transients during start up, property changes within and between batches, short-term cycling of output rate, temperature cycling and drift, and inadequate control of independent variables such as screw and line speeds. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how a single roller die line can be used to control independently tw...
Web-Based Self-Help for Preventing Mental Health Problems in Universities: Comparing Acceptance and Commitment Training to Mental Health Education.

Objective This study sought to test the feasibility of a web-based Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) prototype prevention program called ACT on College Life (ACT-CL). Method A sample of 234 university students was randomized to either the ACT-CL website or a mental health education (MHE) website. Results Findings indicated a lower level of user engagement and satisfaction ratings with the prototype of ACT-CL than the MHE website. There were no significant differences between conditions on outcome measures at post or follow-up. However, statistical trends suggested the MHE condition actually led to greater remission of severe symptoms than the ACT-CL condition among those with severe symptoms at baseline. There were no differences between conditions on ACT process of change measures. Changes in psychological flexibility were predictive of changes in mental health across conditions, but relations dissipated over time. Furthermore, greater engagement in some components of ACT-CL predicted improvements in psychological flexibility, though not on mental health outcomes. Conclusions The effects of the ACT-CL program on mental health outcomes and ACT process measures were largely equivalent to those of an education website, although there was a lower level of program engagement with ACT-CL. Findings are discussed in the context of feasibility issues and lessons learned for program revisions.
Molecular Electrocatalysts for Oxidation of Hydrogen Using Earth-Abundant Metals: Shoving Protons Around with Proton Relays

ConspectusSustainable, carbon-neutral energy is needed to supplant the worldwide reliance on fossil fuels in order to address the persistent problem of increasing emissions of CO2. Solar and wind energy are intermittent, highlighting the need to develop energy storage on a huge scale. Electrocatalysts provide a way to convert between electrical energy generated by renewable energy sources and chemical energy in the form of chemical bonds. Oxidation of hydrogen to give two electrons and two protons is carried out in fuel cells, but the typical catalyst is platinum, a precious metal of low earth abundance and high cost. In nature, hydrogenases based on iron or iron/nickel reversibly oxidize hydrogen with remarkable efficiencies and rates. Functional models of these enzymes have been synthesized with the goal of achieving electrocatalytic H2 oxidation using inexpensive, earth-abundant metals along with a key feature identified in the [FeFe]-hydrogenase: an amine base positioned near the metal. The diphosphin...
Factors that influence consumers’ purchase intention of smart closets

ABSTRACTThe current study incorporated the theory of planned behaviour to examine how various factors influence consumers’ purchase intention of smart closets. An online survey was conducted with 433 participants. The findings indicated that aesthetics was insignificant, function was important, while the key determinant of purchase intention was compatibility via attitude and social influence. To create a positive attitude, function and compatibility should be improved. To enhance social influence, compatibility and technology rapidly changing played key roles. Consumers’ confidence in using smart closets was increased as performance was higher, while it decreased as technology was rapidly moving. The current study, for the first time, indicated that fear of obsolescence is not always an unfavourable condition. Although rapidly changing technology impeded self-confidence in using smart closets, it also increased social influence, which in turn enhanced purchase intention.
Analysis of Transcription Through the Rhodobacter Capsulatus puf Operon Using a Translational Fusion of pufM to the E. Coli LacZ Gene

A plasmid containing a translational fusion of the Rhodobacter capsulatus pufM reaction center gene to the E. coli lacZ structural gene has been constructed. R. capsulatus strains harboring this plasmid exhibit β-galactosidase activity and can utilize lactose as a source of carbon under anaerobic conditions. Under aerobic conditions the cells do not efficiently utilize lactose as a carbon source, however, mutations have been selected with an increased ability to use lactose aerobically. The regulation of transcription through the puf operon has been examined by measuring β-galactosidase activity in strains harboring the translational lacZ fusion to pufM. Growth under aerobic and photosynthetic conditions demonstrates that the puf operon is regulated approximately 30-fold by oxygen tension. This regulation was further shown to occur without the production of bacteriochlorophyll or its precursors.
Privacy and Weight Loss Apps: A First Look at How Women with Eating Disorders Use Social Features

Women with eating disorders benefit from using social and community features of apps because they can get social support and information about their disorder. Although seeking help online may be easier than getting face-to-face treatment, there still may be a number of privacy concerns to sharing information, especially on apps not specifically intended for those with eating disorders, such as weight loss apps. Women with eating disorders are using weight loss apps, but are they using features that could help them get support for their disorder? This research begins to answer this question by presenting preliminary results from a qualitative study on how women with eating disorders use community and social features of weight loss apps. Early findings suggest women with eating disorders rarely use the community and social features of weight loss apps. This work highlights the tradeoffs between sharing information and privacy and has implications for app design.
Functional genomics in Brugia malayi reveal diverse muscle nAChRs and differences between cholinergic anthelmintics

Many techniques for studying functional genomics of important target sites of anthelmintics have been restricted to Caenorhabditis elegans because they have failed when applied to animal parasites. To overcome these limitations, we have focused our research on the human nematode parasite Brugia malayi, which causes elephantiasis. Here, we combine single-cell PCR, whole muscle cell patch clamp, motility phenotyping (Worminator), and dsRNA for RNAi for functional genomic studies that have revealed, in vivo, four different muscle nAChRs (M-, L-, P-, and N-). The cholinergic anthelmintics had different selectivities for these receptors. We show that motility and patch-clamp responses to levamisole and pyrantel, but not morantel or nicotine, require the unc-38 and/or unc-29 genes. Derquantel behaved as a competitive antagonist and distinguished M-nAChRs activated by morantel (Kb 13.9 nM), P-nAChRs activated by pyrantel (Kb 126 nM), and L-nAChRs activated by levamisole (Kb 0.96 µM) and bephenium. Derquantel was a noncompetitive antagonist of nicotine, revealing N-type nAChRs. The presence of four diverse nAChRs on muscle is perhaps surprising and not predicted from the C. elegans model. The diverse nAChRs represent distinguishable drug targets with different functions: Knockdown of unc-38+unc-29 (L- and/or P-receptors) inhibited motility but knockdown of acr-16+acr-26 (M- and/or N-receptors) did not.
Obsidian: a safer blockchain programming language

Blockchain platforms, such as Ethereum, promise to facilitate transactions on a decentralized computing platform among parties that have not established trust. Recognition of the unique challenges of blockchain programming has inspired developers to create domain-specific languages, such as Solidity, for programming blockchain systems. Unfortunately, bugs in Solidity programs have recently been exploited to steal money. We propose a new programming language, Obsidian, to make it easier for programmers to write correct programs.
Mechanism of a No-Metal-Added Heterocycloisomerization of Alkynylcyclopropylhydrazones: Synthesis of Cycloheptane-Fused Aminopyrroles Facilitated by Copper Salts at Trace Loadings.

A mechanistic study of a new heterocycloisomerization reaction that forms annulated aminopyrroles is presented. Density functional theory calculations and kinetic studies suggest the reaction is catalyzed by trace copper salts and that a Z- to E-hydrazone isomerization occurs through an enehydrazine intermediate before the rate-determining cyclization of the hydrazone onto the alkyne group. The aminopyrrole products are obtained in 36–93% isolated yield depending on the nature of the alkynyl substituent. A new automated sampling technique was developed to obtain robust mechanistic data.
A ‘Paradigm of Prevention:’ United States Counterterrorism Strategies in a Transnational World

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States commenced a global offensive against terrorism. From the Middle East, to South Asia, and on the home front, American power was brought to bear on terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and its affiliates dedicated to attacking U.S. interests. Ultimately, since the 9/11 attacks, the foundation for U.S. counter-terrorism has followed, what a former national security official labeled, a “paradigm of prevention.” This chapter seeks to build on the works by terrorism experts and scholars of the past decade by comprehensively examining U.S. counterterrorism strategy in a post-9/11 world. Since the attack on the American homeland, U.S. policymakers have been in a search for consensus on how to best confront terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other transnational groups. Several important questions confronted American leaders as the country prepared to combat terrorism. These included determining just exactly what constituted a threat to the American homeland. Should Washington chart a strictly offensive strategy? How much should nation-building and the spread of democracy play a factor into the U.S. approach? What personal freedoms, enjoyed by American citizens, were needed to be curtailed in order to achieve security? Perhaps the most important question facing U.S. national security included whether or not global terrorism could be defeated.
Nucleophiles with Cationic Pentadienyl–Metal Complexes

This chapter includes those transition metal–pentadienyl cationic complexes that are quite stable, can be stored and handled easily, and are therefore useful as stoichiometric intermediates for organic synthesis. The dienyliron systems, which are readily available and inexpensive, have dominated this area of chemistry, and will occupy the larger part of the discussion. The chemistry of more expensive and less easily prepared dienylmetal complexes, such as those of manganese and cobalt, will be dealt with at the end of the chapter.
DISCIPLINING THE FAMILY: THE CASE OF GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER

Dans le cadre d'une reflexion sur le pouvoir de la discipline au sein de la famille individuelle et de la famille definie comme institution sociale (Foucault), l'A. mesure le role du regard parental et du regard autoritaire, defini comme le principe de l'operation panoptique par J. Bentham, dans le traitement des troubles de l'identite generique chez l'enfant, du par exemple a la reproduction du modele maternel par le jeu
PEGylated adenoviruses for gene delivery to the intestinal epithelium by the oral route.

Purpose. Adenoviruses are being developed for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Several in vitro assays were used to predict stability of PEGylated adenovirus along the GI tract and determine in vivo gene transfer after oral administration.