cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism

Is Islam fundamentally violent? For influential New Atheists such as Sam Harris, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Richard Dawkins, the answer is an emphatic yes, largely because of the Islamic doctrine of jihad. According to this view, when al-Qaeda plotted 9/11 or ISIS planned any one of its recent terrorist attacks, they were acting in accord with Islamic scripture. Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism scrutinizes this claim by comparing the conflicting interpretations of jihad offered by mainstream Muslim scholars, violent Muslim radicals, and New Atheists. Mohammad Hassan Khalil considers contemporary Muslim terrorism to be a grave problem that we must now confront. He shows, however, that the explanations offered for this phenomenon by the New Atheists are highly problematic, and that their own interpretations of the role of violence in Islam exceed those of even radicals such as Osama bin Laden. In showing all of this, Khalil offers critical insights on a most pressing issue.
Lymphocytotoxins and Pernicious Anemia

Sera from 60 patients with pernicious anemia were studied for the presence of lymphocytotoxins (LCT), blocking and binding autoantibodies to intrinsic factor, and gastric parietal cell autoantibody. LCT were found in 21 sera. Cytotoxic activity was detected at 15°C but not at 24°C and did not appear to have HL-A specificity. Autocytotoxins were present in four of eight patients tested. Blocking antibody to intrinsic factor was found in 34 sera, binding antibody in 14 sera, and parietal cell antibody in 48 sera. Sera from 14 patients contained all three types of autoantibodies, and 12 sera were void of these autoantibodies. Of the 14 sera with three types of autoantibodies, LCT were detected in ten; none of the 12 sera without autoantibodies showed cytotoxic activity. These studies suggest that LCT may reflect the degree of autoimmune derangement in pernicious anemia; alternatively, LCT may represent naturally occurring immunosuppressants.
Paraeducators in Art Classrooms: Issues of Culture, Leadership, and Special Needs

Using Blumer's (1969) symbolic interaction as a theory base, this research is a multi-site analysis that examines instructional and managerial interaction in segregated, inclusive, and integrated classrooms of art teachers who teach students with disabilities. It describes approaches to art instruction for students with disabilities in the classes of 12 art teachers, each of whom relied on the services of a paraeducator. It lends understanding of how disability is defined and perpetuated by classroom interaction. Paraeducators, well meaning but generally untrained, tended to diminish learning, marginalize, and disempower students. I argue for the need to address classroom leadership and supervisory skills in preservice and inservice teacher education programs and for the learning of best practices to provide opportunities for students with even the most severe disabilities to communicate through visual means their being, their chosen ideas, and their understandings.
Time evolution in quantum systems: a closer look at student understanding

Time evolution of quantum systems has been shown to be one of the most difficult components of a typical undergraduate quantum mechanics course. In this work, we examine the current literature, and then take a closer look at the process that students use to determine how the quantum state of a spin-1/2 particle evolves with time. We divide the process of writing a time-dependent state into five elements and use these to both directly probe student understanding and guide our coding of student responses. We focus on three elements of this process, including knowledge of the Hamiltonian, the energy eigenstates and eigenvalues, and what basis should be used when writing the state as a function of time using the phase $e^{-iE_nt/\hbar}$. Analysis of four exam questions given at three institutions suggests that knowledge of the energy eigenbasis and its importance for time evolution may be a weak point in student understanding.
Disjunction and distality: the hard problem for purely probabilistic causal theories of mental content

The disjunction problem and the distality problem each presents a challenge that any theory of mental content must address. Here we consider their bearing on purely probabilistic causal (ppc) theories. In addition to considering these problems separately, we consider a third challenge—that a theory must solve both. We call this “the hard problem.” We consider 8 basic ppc theories along with 240 hybrids of them, and show that some can handle the disjunction problem and some can handle the distality problem, but none can handle the hard problem. This is our main result. We then discuss three possible responses to that result, and argue that though the first two fail, the third has some promise.
Applications in Adrenal Surgery

Minimally invasive adrenalectomy has become the standard of care for the treatment of adrenal tumors. A successful adrenalectomy requires the identification of the adrenal tumor in the retroperitoneal fat as well as emphasizing the correct dissection plane throughout the dissection. Although laparoscopic ultrasound has been increasingly used for this purpose, it heavily relies on a good contact between the ultrasound probe and the retroperitoneal tissues. This can limit its usefulness in patients with difficult anatomy. Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging has recently been described as an intraoperative tool that does not require tissue contact. It involves the intravenous administration of ICG intraoperatively and the use of near-infrared fluorescence systems to visualize the resulting fluorescence. Such systems are available for both laparoscopic and robotic platforms. This chapter describes the use of this technology in a robotic platform and discusses its strengths and limitations based on a literature review and institutional expertise.
Pathogenic spectrum and epidemiological characteristics of diarrhea patients in Tianjin during 2015-2017

Objective To investigate the pathogenic spectrum and epidemiological characteristics of acute diarrhea patients in Tianjin. Methods A total of 1 536 stool samples of diarrhea patients were collected from hospitals between 2015 and 2017. Viral nucleic acids were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Selective medium was used to culture bacteria. Drug susceptibility tests were performed by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method recommended by the Association for Standardization of Clinical Laboratories. χ2 test was used for statistical analysis. Results In the stool samples of 1 536 cases of diarrhea, one enteric bacterium was detected in 109 samples with the positive rate of 7.10%, one enterovirus was detected in 171 samples with the positive rate of 11.13%, mixed infection was detected in 20 samples with positive rate of 1.30%, including 8 samples with enteric bacterium and enterovirus and 12 samples with double enterovirus. The total detection rate of diarrhea cases was 19.53%. Norovirus, vibrio parahaemolyticus, rotavirus, Salmonella, stellate virus and sapovirus ranked the top six in the detection rate. The total detection rate curve of bacteria showed a single peak, mainly in August, while the total detection rate curve of the virus showed a double peak, which was from May to June and from November to December. The positive rate of bacteria in patients aged over 30 years old was 9.82% (75/764), while that in those aged less than 30 years old was 5.44% (42/772). The difference was statistically significant (χ2=10.451, P<0.01). The positive rate of viral pathogen in patients aged no less than 25 years old was 10.02% (91/908), while that in those aged less than 25 years old was 17.83% (112/628). The difference was statistically significant (χ2=19.755, P<0.01). Salmonella, Shigella and vibrio parahaemolyticus were resistant to ampicillin in varying degrees. Conclusions The positive rate curves of bacteria and virus are obviously different, showing a trend of "bacterial single peak and viral double peak" . Bacteria mainly infect people aged over 30 years old, while the virus mainly infects people under 25 years old. The main pathogens of diarrhea are norovirus, vibrio parahaemolyticus and rotavirus. Key words: Diarrhea; Population surveillance; Pathogen spectrum
Pseudo-Pseudo-Differential Multibit Delta-Sigma Modulator

A delta-sigma ADC was designed using a pseudo-pseudo-differential (PPD) architecture. Such architecture uses a single-ended circuitry that duplicates the input, inverts one of the signals, and processes both versions in a time-interleaved manner. This allows separation of the input from internal time-correlated noises, which are high-pass filtered upon digital recombination, increasing the in-band SNR. In this paper a 90 dB SNDR, 20 kHz bandwidth second-order modulator was designed with the goal of comparing this technique with traditional single-ended and pseudo-differential ones. In addition, simulation results in a 180 nm process, show that high-performance techniques, such as multi-bit quantization and low-distortion topologies, are compatible with PPD.
Impact of off-hour endovascular therapy on outcomes for acute ischemic stroke: insights from STAR.

Background The off-hour effect has been observed in the medical care of acute ischemic stroke. However, it remains unclear if time of arrival affects revascularization rates and outcomes after endovascular therapy (EVT) for emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO). We aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes of EVT between on-hour and off-hour admissions. Methods Patients who underwent EVT for ELVO from January 2013 to June 2019 from the STAR Registry were included. Patients were grouped based on time of groin puncture: on-hour period (Monday through Friday, 7:00 am–4:59 pm) and off-hour period (overnight 5:00pm–6:59am and the weekends). Primary outcome was final modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days on mRS-shift analysis. Results A total of 1919 patients were included in the study from six centers. The majority of patients (1169, 60.9%) of patients presented during the off-hour period. The mean age was 68.1 years and 50.5% were women. Successful reperfusion, as defined by a Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction (TICI) score of ≥2B, was achieved in 88.8% in the on-hour group and 88.0% in the off-hour group. Good clinical outcome (mRS 0–2) was obtained in 34.4% of off-hour patients and 37.7% of on-hour patients. On multivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis, time of presentation was not associated with worsened outcome (OR 1.150; 95% CI 0.96 to 1.37; P=0.122). Age, admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), baseline mRS, and final TICI score were significantly associated with worse outcomes. Conclusion There is no statistical difference in functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients who underwent EVT during on-hours versus off-hours.
Will prior health insurance authorization for medications continue to hinder hepatitis C treatment delivery in the United States? Perspectives from hepatitis C treatment providers in a large urban healthcare system.

Author(s): Javanbakht, Marjan; Archer, Roxanne; Klausner, Jeffrey | Abstract: BackgroundThe recent introduction of direct acting antivirals for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) has dramatically improved treatment options for HCV infected patients. However, in the United States (US) treatment uptake has been low and time to initiation of therapy has been long. We sought to examine provider perspectives of facilitators and barriers to HCV treatment delivery.MethodsFrom June to August 2019, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with medical staff providing HCV care as part of a university medical center in Los Angeles, CA. In order to understand the HCV treatment process, we interviewed key staff members providing care to the majority of HCV patients seeking care at the university medical center, including hepatologists and infectious disease specialists as well as key nursing and pharmacy staff. The interviews focused on workload and activities required for HCV treatment initiation for non-cirrhotic, treatment naive patients.ResultsProviders noted that successful HCV treatment delivery was reliant on a care model involving close collaboration between a team of providers, in particular requiring a highly coordinated effort between dedicated nursing and pharmacy staff. The HCV care team overwhelmingly reported that the process of insurance authorization was the greatest obstacle delaying treatment initiation and noted that very few patient level factors served as a barrier to treatment uptake.ConclusionsIn the US, prior authorization for HCV treatment is a requirement for most public and private insurance plans. In an era with access to therapies that allow for a cure-and until revocation of prior authorization for HCV treatment is a reality-implementing strategies that can expedite authorization to accelerate treatment access are critical. Not only will this benefit patients, but it has the potential to help expand treatment to settings that are otherwise too resource strained to successfully deliver HCV care.
End-point temperature and tenderness variability in pork and beef cooked to varying degrees of doneness using sous-vide style immersion heaters and grills

The objective was to determine endpoint temperature and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) variability (range, coefficient of variation) differences in both pork and beef cooked using grilling and sous vide. Four 2.54-cm steaks were cut from 10 beef eye-of-round (semitendinosus) Choice-grade muscles (n = 40) and aged for 21 d. Four 2.54-cm chops were cut from 51 pork loins (n = 204) sourced from standard commercial pigs and aged for 7 d. Steaks and chops were randomly allotted within whole muscle to 4 treatments: grilled to 63°C, sous vide to 63°C, grilled to 71°C, and sous vide to 71°C. Four cores measuring 1.25 cm in diameter were excised parallel to the muscle fibers of each chop and steak respectively, and analyzed for WBSF. Temperature accuracy was defined as how close thermometer readings were to the targeted cooked temperature. Temperature precision was defined as how similar 2 thermometer readings within a single cut were to each other. WBSF accuracy was defined as how close individual core values were to the cut average. WBSF precision was defined as how similar individual core values were to each other. In both pork and beef, sous vide was more accurate (P < 0.01) and precise (P < 0.01) in achieving target endpoint temperature at both 63°C and 71°C. At 63°C, chops cooked using sous vide were more tender than grilled (P < 0.01), but at 71°C, chops cooked using sous vide were less tender than grilled (P < 0.01). Steaks cooked to 71°C using sous vide had the lowest core coefficient of variation, whereas other treatments were not different. Cooking method had no effect on average WBSF within target endpoint temperature. Overall, these data indicate that sous vide is more precise and accurate in reaching target temperature but may decrease tenderness when used at 71°C in pork.
Detrusor Sphincter Dyssynergia

Detrusor sphincter dyssynergia is defined as the lack of external sphincter relaxation during voluntary voiding. This should not be confused with the term “detrusor dyssynergia” which has been applied to the unstable bladder. Detrusor sphincter dyssynergia frequently results in an incomplete voiding effort with elevated residual urine volumes. This condition commonly accompanies detrusor hyperreflexia and may occur in some patients without neurologic disease as a habituation to using a “guarding” reflex to prevent urinary leakage with detrusor instability. The first defense against urine loss is the voluntary contraction of the external striated sphincter of the urethra when an unstable bladder contraction occurs. The end result is evidenced by the trabeculation found in the bladder on cystoscopic examination, the increased EMG activity of the pelvic floor during attempted voiding, and the seemingly paradoxial increased residual urine columes resulting from this involuntary obstruction to urine flow.
Shielding of Equipment

There are a few things that can be done to reduce or stop interference. Firstly, don’t use old cables with cracked or damaged outer coverings, as moisture and water can leak into the cables. Don’t lay cables in areas of known sources of interference. This may seem obvious but it is surprising how many times it happens.
A SoC Design of TrustZone based Key Provisioning for FPGA IP Protection

With the rise of globalization, third party intellectual property 3PIP use in the system on chip SoC and the horizontal business model of outsourcing the manufacturing and packaging processes has improved the design time, cost and adoption of newer sub-micron technologies. This however results in sharing the intellectual property with system integrators and the offshore foundries which has resulted in the new security vulnerabilities of the semiconductor supply chain. IP protection laws aren’t consistent across all countries, so companies need to protect their IP from untrustworthy foundries attempting to pirate their design.In this work we propose "AAFLE" (Automated Application for FPGA Logic Encryption), an automated application for IP developers to protect their design with an automated flow to lock the design using state of the art logic locking schemes. We will propose a secure hardware isolation mechanism that leverages ARM TrustZone to enable a secure key provisioning system. The system uses TOPPERS/SafeG, a dual-OS monitor, which allows a execution of two operating systems simultaneously, a non-trusted OS confined to the isolated hardware and a trusted OS with access to the entire SoC. The non-secure OS is a Linux kernel with an application that will ask users for the correct key in order to unlock the system. The secure OS is an RTOS application that is responsible for storing and checking for a correct key input, as well as giving this key to the encrypted hardware in the programmable logic.
Semiclassical control theory of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering maximizing vibrational coherence for remote detection

A semiclassical theory that describes the generation of a coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) signal is presented that maximizes vibrational coherence in a mode predetermined by the pump, the Stokes, and the probe chirped pulse trains and takes into account the field propagation effects in a cloud of molecules. The buildup of the anti-Stokes signal, which may be used as a molecular signature in the backward CARS signal, is demonstrated numerically. The theory is based on the solution of the coupled Maxwell's and Liouville--von Neumann equations and focuses on the quantum effects induced in the target molecules by the control pulse trains. A deep convolutional neural network technique is implemented to evaluate time-dependent phase characteristics of the control fields. The effect of decoherence induced by spontaneous decay and collisional dephasing is examined.
On the Complexity of Separation From the Knapsack Polytope

We close three open problems in the separation complexity of valid inequalities for the knapsack polytope. Specifically, we establish that the separation problems for extended cover inequalities, (1,k)-configuration inequalities, and weight inequalities are all NP-complete. We also give a number of special cases where the separation problem can be solved in polynomial time.
Goal-setting behavior and need achievement in relation to competitive motor activity.

Abstract Goal-setting behavior and the personality disposition (n Ach) were examined among 62 male students participating in a series of competitive handball contests. Success/ failure was defined and examined both in terms of winning/ losing and in terms of goal attainment/ nonattainment. Results showed that subjects experiencing continuous success generally set higher precontest goals and more realistic pre- and postcontest goals than subjects experiencing continuous failure. High n Ach subjects set more realistic goals and performed better under competitive conditions than low n Ach subjects, but this distinction was only found to be true in subjects' first tournament contest.
Design of Suboptimal Minimax LQG Controller via Game Theory

The problem of design of minimax LQG controllers for linear systems with parameter uncertainty is considered in this paper. By replacing a minimax problem by a maximization problem, a design method for suboptimal minimax LQG controllers is proposed. The error bound between the worst performances of suboptimal and optimal minimax LQG controllers is estimated. Moreover, we show that under some conditions, those two solutions are equal.
Language-Based enforcement of privacy policies

We develop a language-based approach for modeling and verifying aspects of privacy policies. Our approach relies on information-flow control. Concretely, we use the programming language Jif, an extension of Java with information-flow types. We address basic leaks of private information and also consider other aspects of privacy policies supported by the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) and related systems, namely the notion of purpose and the retention of data.
Antenatal maternal low protein diet: ACE-2 in the mouse lung and sexually dimorphic programming of hypertension.

Elevated blood pressure is an important global health problem, and in-utero under-nutrition may be an important factor in the pathogenesis of hypertension. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that antenatal maternal low protein diet (MLPD) leads to sexually dimorphic developmental programming of the components of the pulmonary renin-angiotensin system. This may be important in the antenatal MLPD-associated development of hypertension. In pregnant mice, we administered normal (control) and isocaloric 50 % protein restricted diet, commencing one week before mating and continuing until delivery of the pups. From the 18th to 24th week postnatal, we measured blood pressure in the offspring by use of a non-invasive tail-cuff method. In the same mice, we examined the mRNA and protein expression of the key components of the pulmonary renin-angiotensin system. Also, we examined microRNA complementary to angiotensin converting enzymes (ACE) 2 in the offspring lungs. Our results demonstrate that as a consequence of antenatal MLPD: 1) pup birthweight was significantly reduced in both sexes. 2) female offspring developed hypertension, but males did not. 3) In female offspring, ACE-2 protein expression was significantly reduced without any change in the mRNA levels. 4) miRNA 429, which has a binding site on ACE-2 - 3’ UTR was significantly upregulated in the female antenatal MLPD offspring. 5) In males, ACE-2 mRNA and protein expression were unaltered. We conclude that in the mouse, antenatal MLPD-induced reduction of ACE-2 in the female offspring lung may be an important mechanisms in sexually dimorphic programming of hypertension.
Time for Each Other: Work and Family Constraints Among Couples

Little is known about couples' shared time and how actual time spent together is associated with well-being. In this study, the authors investigated how work and family demands are related to couples' shared time (total and exclusive) and individual well-being (happiness, meaningfulness, and stress) when with one's spouse. They used individual-level data from the 2003-2010 American Time Use Survey (N = 46,883), including the 2010 Well-Being Module. The results indicated that individuals in full-time working dual-earner couples spend similar amounts of time together as individuals in traditional breadwinner-homemaker arrangements on weekdays after accounting for daily work demands. The findings also show that parents share significantly less total and exclusive spousal time together than nonparents, though there is considerable variation among parents by age of the youngest child. Of significance is that individuals experience greater happiness and meaning and less stress during time spent with a spouse opposed to time spent apart.
Ask and Ye Shall Receive? The Dynamics of Employer-Provided Flexible Work Options and the Need for Public Policy

This article addresses two fundamental questions about flexible scheduling: Do managers use ascriptive information in deciding which requests for flexible work scheduling to grant among employees? And, do employees comprehend this managerial bias in deciding whether to ask for flexible work arrangements? Study 1 found that managers were most likely to grant flextime to high-status men seeking flexible schedules in order to advance their careers. In contrast, flexible scheduling requests from women were unlikely to be granted irrespective of their job status or reason. In Study 2, we found that employees were unaware of these managerial biases: women assigned high-status jobs and requests for career advancement reasons were the most likely to think their requests would be granted, while men in the same scenarios were least likely to believe this. Organizational and policy implications are discussed.
Oxygen-induced nano-faceting of Re(112¯1)

Abstract We report results from a detailed study of oxygen-induced faceting of Re( 11 2 ¯ 1 ) using low energy electron diffraction (LEED). Depending on conditions for reaction with oxygen, the initially planar Re( 11 2 ¯ 1 ) surface evolves sequentially to form zigzag chains consisting of ( 01 1 ¯ 0 ) and ( 10 1 ¯ 0 ) facets that coexist with stepped ( 11 2 ¯ 1 ) plateaus; three-sided pyramids exposing ( 01 1 ¯ 0 ), ( 10 1 ¯ 0 ) and ( 33 6 ¯ 4 ) facets; a faceted surface with five facets including ( 01 1 ¯ 0 ), ( 10 1 ¯ 0 ), ( 11 2 ¯ 2 )-(2 × 1), ( 01 1 ¯ 1 )-(2 × 1) and ( 10 1 ¯ 1 )-(2 × 1); and four-sided pyramids exposing { 01 1 ¯ 0 } and { 01 1 ¯ 1 }-(2 × 1) facets. We have observed reversible morphological transitions between the faceted surfaces and discovered that each intermediate facet in the evolutionary chain contains microscopic structural elements of the preceding and following facets, which may provide a natural explanation for the microscopic mass transport pathways in the morphological evolution. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) data confirm the morphology of faceted surfaces and give complementary information to LEED results.
Instrumentation for Computerized Heart Catheterization

An instrumentation scheme for performing computerized heart catheterization has been developed. Objectives in the development were 1) low cost, 2) stability, 3) reliability, and 4) simplicity of operation. These objectives were achieved by using integrated-circuit operational-amplifier techniques coupled with simplified noninteractive controls. Use of the equipment in four hospitals over the past four years on over 1500 catheterizations has shown it to be ideal for heart catheterizations and other clinical and experimental settings where cardiovascular measurements are made.
Identification of discrete disulfide-linked oligomers which distinguish 18 S from 14 S acetylcholinesterase.

Abstract Acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) purified by affinity chromatography from 1.0 m ionic strength extracts of electric organ from the eel Electrophorus electricus consists of a mixture of 18 and 14 S enzyme forms. When examined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate without exposure to disulfide reducing agents, these purified preparations show two major high molecular weight bands (>300,000), labeled oligomers A and B, in addition to a major band corresponding to catalytic subunit dimers (150,000 M r ). All these major bands reflect intersubunit disulfide bonding. The 18 and 14 S forms in purified preparations were separated by extensive sucrose gradient centrifugation. Gel analyses of the isolated 18 and 14 S pools indicated that the larger oligomer A derives from the 18 S pool, while oligomer B is found primarily in the 14 S pool. These observations support a previous model for 18 S acetylcholinesterase ( T. L. Rosenberry and J. M. Richardson (1977) Biochemistry , in press ) which considers this molecule to consist of one oligomer A unit, composed of three pairs of catalytic subunits disulfide-bonded to a collagen-like tail structure, and three catalytic subunit dimers. Proteolytic cleavage of the tail structure in the 18 S form can occur to release an 11 S enzyme tetramer containing a residual tail fragment and to leave a 14 S form. We propose this 14 S form to consist of one oligomer B unit, composed of two pairs of catalytic subunits disulfide-bonded to the remaining tail structure, and two catalytic subunit dimers.
Staff perceptions of residents across the long-term care landscape

Aims. This paper reports a study to determine how facility-, resident-, family- and staff-level indicators are empirically associated with staff members’ perceptions of residents in nursing homes (NHs), assisted living facilities (ASLs) and family care homes (FCHs). Background. While various efforts have described the ramifications of staff–resident interactions in nursing homes (NHs), few studies identify the factors that potentially influence staff members’ perceptions of residents in multiple long-term care settings. Methods. The participants were 41 care staff located in five NHs, five ASLs, and 16 FCHs randomly selected in Kentucky, United States of America. Face-to-face and telephone interviews were conducted with care staff, residents in their care, family members of residents, and administrators of participating facilities. Telephone interviews measured staff perceptions of residents on two domains: cohesion (perceived feelings of closeness between staff and residents) and knowledge of residents’ personal lives and care needs. Results. Regression models found that staff who were married, reported more positive attitudes towards family members, and worked in smaller facilities reported greater staff–resident cohesion. In addition, staff who cared for a higher percentage of residents with learning difficulties indicated greater knowledge of residents. Conclusion. The findings emphasize the need to consider elements of staff–family relationships when considering staff perceptions of residents. They also imply that clinical interventions designed to enhance social relationships in NHs can be extended across the long-term care landscape to influence the staff–resident–family triad positively.
The power spectral density of maximum entropy charge constrained sequences

A limit on the absolute value of the running digital sum of a sequence is known as the charge constraint. Such a limit imposes a spectral null at DC. The maximum-entropy distribution of a charge-constrained sequence is presented. A closed-form expression for the power spectral density of maximum-entropy charge-constrained sequences is given and plotted. >
In situ light scattering study of particles synthesized in a RF silane-ammonia glow discharge

Abstract Glow-discharge synthesis is an attractive candidate technology for making ultrafine ceramic precursors. Using light scattering, we studied in situ the size, mass, and structure of submicron particles generated in a radio frequency glow discharge of a silane-and-ammonia gas mixture. By dynamic light scattering, we found that large particles congregated near the ion sheath boundary with smaller particles in the bulk of the plasma. No anisotropy in particle velocities was observed, and we found excellent agreement between the intensity correlation data and a theory based on an isotropic Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution. Of particular interest was the transport behavior of the particles, which, in the rarefied environment of the glow discharge, exhibited kinetic behavior persisting up to 100 μs and hydrodynamic behavior for longer times. The equipartition mass of the particles was obtained in the kinetic regime, and a drag factor was derived from the hydrodynamic regime. Near the ion sheath boundaries, where an intense band of scattering could be seen, static light scattering indicated a relatively large radius of gyration that could be reconciled with the mass only by assuming a low density, ramified particle structure. Ex situ small-angle neutron scattering showed that the particles were slightly rough.
Dimension reduction in regression without matrix inversion

SUMMARY Regressions in which the fixed number of predictors p exceeds the number of independent observational units n occur in a variety of scientific fields. Sufficient dimension reduction provides a promising approach to such problems, by restricting attention to d < n linear combinations of the original p predictors. However, standard methods of sufficient dimension reduction require inversion of the sample predictor covariance matrix. We propose a method for estimating the central subspace that eliminates the need for such inversion and is applicable regardless of the (n, p) relationship. Simulations show that our method compares favourably with standard large sample techniques when the latter are applicable. We illustrate our method with a genomics application.
Sex ratios among children of lupus pregnancies.

A recent paper1 stated that maternal antibody to the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) causes death of female fetuses of BALB/c mice, leading to offspring male/female (m/f) ratios greater than the normal ratio of 1.0. Since about 40% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have anti-NMDAR, if the mouse model is predictive, m/f ratios in human SLE pregnancies might exceed the United States normal ratio of 1.048. Our pregnancy studies offer an opportunity to test this prediction. PROMISSE (Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) is a multicenter, prospective study of pregnancies of mothers with lupus;2 the Research Registry for Neonatal Lupus (RRNL) is a registry of families in which the mother has anti-SSA/Ro and/or SSB/La antibodies and at least one child with neonatal lupus. RRNL includes both affected and unaffected children.3 The table displays m/f ratios of liveborn children of RRNL and PROMISSE, stratified by maternal serology and maternal and fetal diagnosis, and compared to the PROMISSE control group of normal women and to the United States norm. (PROMISSE patients with antiphospholipid antibody were excluded). Ratios are similar if stillborn children are counted. The m/f ratios are 1.0 for children of mothers with negative tests for anti-NMDAR and <1.0 for those with positive tests (p = 0.36). Because anti-DNA antibodies often coexist with anti-NMDAR antibodies, we compared m/f ratios in anti-DNA positive and negative patients and found no difference (p = 0.30). M/f ratios of patients with and without pregnancy complications did not differ (p = 0.34). Thus our human data do not confirm the mouse experiments. Table Male/female ratios of liveborn children in RRNL and PROMISSE studies, stratified by maternal or fetal diagnosis, fetal sex, and maternal serology. Inclusion of stillborn children does not change the ratios. See text for abbreviations. Prior data on human SLE fetal sex ratios are weak: in a national birth registry containing 68,600 women, conclusions were based on the 42 women who had a diagnostic code identifying them has having lupus.4 A summary of published case series (diagnostic criteria unspecified) reported studies ranging in size between 14 and 249 children; the four largest series, constituting half the infants, had a combined m/f ratio of 1.07, 5 Our prospective studies, having rigorous definition of maternal diagnosis and fetal outcome, are more likely to be correct, and the mouse-based hypothesis of male predominance of liveborn children incorrect. Our data reemphasize that the mouse models do not invariably predict human outcomes.
Making Connections: An Agenda for the Future

As the 21st century approaches, solutions to societal, political, and economic problems have not kept pace with medicine and technology. It has become increasingly clear that the profession of health and physical education can be a major contributor to the future of society through education and prevention. Even small changes in the development of positive, healthful lifestyles can result in savings in the trillions. The impact of physical education on wellness programs, development of self-esteem, and values orientation in combating crime and drug abuse is evident from the literature. Nevertheless, physical education and its leadership must reevaluate its mission and status—including teacher preparation, the role of the subdisciplines, multidisciplinary teams, and coalition of health agencies and physical education—as part of the total education of the child as new directions for the future. Physical education professionals must recognize that health and physical education is truly at the center of educa...
Who's Tops in Corporate Reputation?

Ask people to nominate the companies they hold in highest regard and they will all volunteer a name and an opinion. Some will nominate a company because of a direct experience they have had with its products and services. Others will base their opinion on the returns they have earned from investing in the company's shares. Sum up these opinions from a representative segment of the general public, and you have a snapshot of the company's reputation.
A unified approach to introductory computer science: can one size fit all?

We discuss our recent experience offering a single introductory computer science course for all students with no prior computer science coursework. The new course interleaves material from traditional CS0 and CS1 courses, providing all students with both a broad overview and an appreciation for the algorithmic foundations of the discipline of computer science. We describe our motivation for this approach, the content of the new course, and some conclusions based on our experiences and feedback from student course evaluations.
The solubility of colloidal ferric hydroxide and its relevance to iron concentrations in river water

Abstract Concentrations of dissolved iron in equilibrium with colloidal ferric hydroxide were experimentally determined by dialysis followed by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results were compared to values obtained from the literature. The referenced values were determined by electrochemical methods under a wide variety of experimental conditions which necessitated corrections for the presence of ferric complexes and for variations in ionic strengths. The combined set of historical and present data was consistent with the mass action equation, αFe3+α2.35OH− = 10−31.7, where αi, is the activity of species i. The equation is proposed to represent the solubility of aqueous ferric hydroxide colloids. Published data from rivers, corrected for incomplete separation of colloidal from dissolved iron and, dialyzed samples of Delaware River water with pH values adjusted to range between 5 and 8 were fit to the solubility equation. Both sources of evidence demonstrated concentrations of dissolved iron to be near saturation with colloidal ferric hydroxide.
Quantitative autoradiography of the serotonin transporter to assess the distribution of serotonergic projections from the dorsal raphe nucleus

The binding of 3H-CN-IMI to 5-HT uptake sites, as measured by quantitative autoradiography, was used as a marker of serotonergic neurons. Within the dorsal raphe nucleus the binding of 3H-CN-IMI was compared in adjacent coronal sections of rat brain to the binding of 3H-DPAT to 5-HT1A receptors, which have a known somatodendritic localization. The heterogeneous pattern of binding of these two radioligands within the dorsal raphe nucleus was similar and corresponded to the distribution of serotonergic cell bodies as visualized by 5-HT immunohistochemistry. Intracerebroventricular administration of 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT), which caused a dramatic loss of 5-HT immunoreactivity and 3H-DPAT binding to 5-HT1A receptors, resulted in a marked reduction of 3H-CN-IMI binding in this nucleus. Treatment of rats with a dose of parachloroamphetamine (PCA) which has been reported to selectively lesion serotonergic processes arising from the dorsal raphe nucleus, while sparing serotonergic cell bodies and projections from the median raphe nucleus, did not alter the binding of 3H-DPAT or 3H-CN-IMI in the dorsal raphe nucleus; serotonergic cell bodies appeared morphologically unaffected. The lack of effect of PCA treatment on the binding of 3H-DPAT and 3H-CN-IMI is consistent with a somatodendritic localization of the 5-HT transporter in the dorsal raphe nucleus. PCA treatment appeared to produce a moderate loss of serotonergic innervation in serotonergic terminal field areas as visualized by serotonin immunohistochemistry. The reductions in 3H-CN-IMI binding observed in terminal field areas (24 to 69%) following treatment of rats with PCA did not reflect a marked differential innervation of forebrain areas by the dorsal and medial raphe nuclei as expected from previous biochemical studies, and were not entirely consistent with the findings of neuroanatomical studies using histochemical techniques. Site-specific injection of 5,7-DHT into the dorsal raphe nucleus produced an 80 ± 11% reduction in the binding of 3H-CN-IMI in this nucleus, whereas the binding of 3H-CN-IMI in the median raphe nucleus was not reduced. The reductions in 3H-CN-IMI binding measured in the caudate putamen, frontal and entorhinal cortex as a result of specific lesion of the dorsal raphe nucleus were suggestive of a heavy innervation of these areas by the dorsal raphe nucleus as indicated in neuroanatomical studies. In the hippocampus, our data were consistent with an overlapping innervation of these areas by both the dorsal and median raphe nuclei and are not reflective of predominantt innervation by the medial raphe nucleus. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Phospholipid transfer activity in synchronous populations of Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Abstract Studies of intracytoplasmic membrane biogenesis employing steady-state synchronously dividing populations of Rhodobacter sphaeroides reveal that the translocation of pre-existing phospholipid into the growing membrane is concurrent with cell division (Cain, B.D., Deal, C.D., Fraley, R.T. and Kaplan, S. (1981) J. Bacteriol. 145, 1154–1166), yet the mechanism of phospholipid movement is unknown. However, the discovery of phospholipid transfer protein activity in R. sphaeroides (Cohen, L.K., Lueking, D.R. and Kaplan, S. (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 721–728) provides one possible mechanism for phospholipid movement. Therefore the level of phospholipid transfer activity in cell lysates of synchronized cultures was measured and was shown to increase stepwise coinciding precisely with the increase in cell number of the culture. Although the amount of transfer activity per cell remained constant throughout the cell cycle, the specific activity of the phospholipid transfer activity showed a cyclical oscillation with its highest value coincident with the completion of cell division. Purified intracytoplasmic membrane can be used as phospholipid acceptor in the developed phospholipid transfer assay by employing either cytoplasmic membrane or liposomes as the phospholipid donor. Intracytoplasmic membrane isolated from the cells prior to division (high protein to phospholipid ratio) served as a better phospholipid acceptor in the phospholipid transfer system when compared with membranes derived from the cells following cell division (low protein to phospholipid ratio).
Quality assurance and analysis of water levels in wells on Pahute Mesa and vicinity, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada

Periodic and continual water-level data from 1963-1998 were compiled and quality assured for 65 observation wells on Pahute Mesa and vicinity, Nye County, Nevada. As part of the quality assurance of all water levels, ancillary data pertinent to computing hydraulic heads in wells were compiled and analyzed. Quality-assured water levels that were not necessarily in error but which did not represent static heads in the regional aquifer system, or required some other qualification, were flagged. Water levels flagged include those recovering from recent pumping or well construction, water levels affected by nuclear tests, and measurements affected by borehole deviations. A cursory examination of about 30 wells with available water-level and down-hole temperature data indicate that water levels in most wells on Pahute Mesa would not be significantly affected by temperature if corrected to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Wells with large corrections (greater than 10 feet) are those with long water columns (greater than 1,500 feet of water above the assumed point of inflow) in combination with mean water-column temperatures exceeding 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Water-level fluctuations in wells on Pahute Mesa are caused by several factors including infiltration of precipitation, barometric pressure, Earth tides, ground-water pumpage, and seismic events caused by tectonicmore » activity and underground nuclear testing. No observed water-level fluctuations were attributed to a naturally occurring earthquake. The magnitude and duration of changes in water levels caused by nuclear tests are affected by the test size and the distance from a well to the test. Identifying water levels that might be affected by past nuclear tests is difficult because pre-testing water-level data are sparse. Hydrologically significant trends were found in 13 of 25 wells with multiple years of water-level record. The largest change in water levels (1,029 feet in 25 years) occurred in well U-19v PS 1D as a result of the Almendro nuclear test. Likely explanations for trends in most of the wells are either changes in precipitation patterns that affect recharge rates to the ground-water system, pumping effects from water-supply well U-20 WW, or a combination of these two factors.« less
Probing the unusual isotope effects in ozone formation: Bath gas and pressure dependence of the non-mass-dependent isotope enrichments in ozone

Abstract Laboratory and atmospheric measurements of the isotopic composition of ozone have shown large and unusual ‘non-mass-dependent’ enrichments in 17O and 18O of ∼10% relative to the O2 from which it is formed. We present measurements of the bath gas and pressure dependence of the isotope enrichments in ozone formed by photolysis of O2 in the presence of Ar, O2, CO2, and SF6 from 50 to 760 Torr. The results provide new insights into the origin of the dynamically-driven symmetry-related isotope effect involved and new benchmarks for theory, including elimination of all isotope selectivity for ozone formation in SF6 by 700 Torr.