cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Health Lifestyles in Late Middle Age

A growing body of work identifies distinct health lifestyles among children, adolescents, and young adults and documents important social correlates. This study contributes to that line of research by identifying the health lifestyles of U.S. adults entering late middle age, assessing structural predictors of membership in different health lifestyles in this understudied age-group, and examining net associations between health lifestyles, chronic conditions, and physical health. The data come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 50+ Health Module. The analysis is based on respondents who answered the 50+ Health Module in 2008, 2010, 2012, or 2014 (N = 7,234). The results confirm similar relationships between health lifestyles and structural factors like class, gender, and race that prior studies observe and also reveal a unique pattern of associations between health lifestyle and health status because of diagnosed conditions that impact health behaviors in adulthood.
Community Development Corporations and Public Participation: Lessons from a Case Study in the Arkansas Delta

In this paper, I focus on the role of community development corporations (CDCs) in fostering public participation in the local political process. Using survey and interview data gathered from CDCs operating in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas, I show that the CDC is an important intermediary between the citizens and the local political arena. While, according to this study's findings, the CDCs' long-term goal is to develop a lasting sense of efficacy among CDC participants, leading to direct political participation by citizens, the nature of CDC funding does not fully support these efforts. As a result, these critical activities remain at the fringes of their official mission. By focusing on short-term outcomes rather than long-term development process, the money spent to improve the CDC constituency's capacity appears to miss its target. The results of the current study 1) shed light on the disconnect between the needs of CDCs and the objectives of funding agencies; and 2) help community practitioners interested in community development to better understand challenges related to engaging citizens in local issues and facilitating citizen participation in ways that enhance collective efficacy in poor communities.
Esophageal injury associated with catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: Determinants of risk and protective strategies

Catheter ablation has become an important element in the management of atrial fibrillation. Several technical advances allowed for better safety profiles and lower recurrence rates, leading to an increasing number of ablations worldwide. Despite that, major complications are still reported, and esophageal thermal injury remains a significant concern as atrioesophageal fistula (AEF) is often fatal. Recognition of the mechanisms involved in the process of esophageal lesion formation and the identification of the main determinants of risk have set the grounds for the development and improvement of different esophageal protective strategies. More sensitive esophageal temperature monitoring, safer ablation parameters and catheters, and different energy sources appear to collectively reduce the risk of esophageal thermal injury. Adjunctive measures such as the prophylactic use of proton-pump inhibitors, as well as esophageal cooling or deviation devices, have emerged as complementary methods with variable but promising results. Nevertheless, as a multifactorial problem, no single esophageal protective measure has proven to be sufficiently effective to eliminate the risk, and further investigation is still warranted. Early screening in the patients at risk and prompt intervention in the cases of AEF are important risk modifiers and yield better outcomes.
NCLB and the demand for highly qualified teachers: challenges and solutions for rural schools

Teacher shortages in special education have been a source of longstanding concern for professionals and parents involved in the education of students with disabilities. Because of their geographic ...
The Effect of Temperature on Ants and their Foraging Habits in Central Texas.

The Imported Red Fire Ant Solenopsis invicta is not only a painful nuisance to your sunday picnic but also of great importance to medical professionals and those with allergies associated with its painful bite. This study is aimed at providing information about S. invicta and their foraging habits in different temperatures in order to better control them in the College Station area. In order to collect data, six traps were placed next to ant piles throughout a grassy field indigenous to S. invicta over a period of about three weeks. These traps were baited with hot dog meat and set for a period of approximately 2 hours at the hottest time of day (2 P.M. - 4 P.M.) then collected and the ants were counted. This was done twice per week over the three week period. The resulting data showed that there was some correlation between temperature and amount of ants foraging, higher temperature related to higher amount of ants accounted for. Discrepancies in this trend were addressed by assessing additional climatic variables which may have caused interference, and a relationship was established between ant foraging behavior and mean wind speed. The size of the ant hills provided another clue into the number of ants found in each trap. The larger the ant bed the trap was placed to, the larger amount of ants were found foraging for food.
Understanding Mental Health App Use Among Community College Students: Web-Based Survey Study.

Background: Mental health concerns are a significant issue among community college students, who often have less access to resources than traditional university college students. Mobile apps have the potential to increase access to mental health care, but there has been little research investigating factors associated with mental health app use within the community college population. Objective: This study aimed to understand facilitators of and barriers to mental health app use among community college students. Methods: A web-based survey was administered to a randomly selected sample of 500 community college students from April 16 to June 30, 2020. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships between the use of mental health apps, perceived stress, perceived need to seek help for mental health concerns, perceived stigma, past use of professional mental health services, privacy concerns, and social influence of other people in using mental health apps. Results: Of the 500 participants, 106 (21.2%) reported use of mental health apps. Perceived stress, perceived need to seek help, past use of professional services, and social influence were positively associated with mental health app use. Furthermore, the effect of stress was mediated by a perceived need to seek help. Privacy concerns were negatively associated with mental health app use. Stigma, age, and gender did not have a statistically significant effect. Conclusions: These findings can inform development of new digital interventions and appropriate outreach strategies to engage community college students in using mental health apps.
Elevated ESR and CRP Prior to Second-Stage Reimplantation Knee Revision Surgery for Periprosthetic Joint Infection Are Associated with Increased Reinfection Rates

Purpose Although two-stage revision surgery is considered as the most effective treatment for managing chronic periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), there is no current consensus on the predictors of optimal timing to second-stage reimplantation. This study aimed to compare clinical outcomes between patients with elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) prior to second-stage reimplantation and those with normalized ESR and CRP prior to second-stage reimplantation. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 198 patients treated with two-stage revision total knee arthroplasty for chronic PJI. Cohorts included patients with: (1) normal level of serum ESR and CRP (n = 96) and (2) elevated level of serum ESR and CRP prior to second-stage reimplantation (n = 102). Outcomes including reinfection rates and readmission rates were compared between both cohorts. Result At a mean follow-up of 4.4 years (2.8–6.5 years), the elevated ESR and CRP cohort demonstrated significantly higher reinfection rates compared with patients with normalized ESR and CRP prior to second-stage reimplantation (33.3% vs. 14.5%, p Conclusion This study demonstrates that elevated serum ESR and/or CRP levels prior to reimplantation in two-stage knee revision surgery for chronic PJI are associated with increased reinfection rate after surgery. Elevation of both ESR and CRP were associated with a higher risk of reinfection compared with elevation of either ESR or CRP, suggesting the potential benefits of normalizing ESR and CRP prior to reimplantation in treatment of chronic PJI.
Community Vision Screening in Older Adults.

The available evidence does not support screening adults 65 years and older for visual impairment in the primary care setting.
Hemoglobin Fannin-Lubbock [alpha2 beta 2 119 (GH2) Gly replaced by Asp]. A new hemoglobin variant at the alpha1 beta 1 contact.

Hemoglobin Fannin-Lubbock was found in a 9-year-old Mexican-American female. The abnormal hemoglobin was detected as a fast-moving variant by electrophoresis on cellulose acetate at pH 8.4. Structural analysis indicated a substitution in the beta-chain of aspartic acid for glycine at position 119, a position involved in the alpha1beta1 contact of the hemoglobin tetramer. This contact between unlike chains is larger and undergoes a smaller shift during the process of oxygenation and deoxygenation that the alpha1beta2 contact (Perutz, M.F., Muirhead, H., Cox, J.M. and Goaman, L.C.G. (1968) Nature 219, 131-139). Mutations in this contact tend to cause slight or no changes in functional behavior. Apart from a mild anemia, the propositus did not exhibit any obvious clinical symptoms.
Virtual excursion in secondary education

In this paper, we highlight the current status of the implementation of excursions in different subjects at secondary school. We analyse the constraints for their implementation and the possibilities of using virtual excursion in teaching. In one part, there is a brief proposal for the formal side of the creation of virtual excursions in teaching at grammar schools. We shall also list examples of authored environments and the virtual excursions created within them.
A 360 MHz 3 V CMOS PLL with 1 V peak-to-peak power supply noise tolerance

In high-resolution graphics display devices, the jitter performance of phase-locked loops (PLL) limits the system performance. Power-supply noise coupling is a major cause of PLL jitter problems, especially with low-supply voltages and with multiple-clock synthesizers on the same device. This paper describes a 28- to 360 MHz 3.3 V PLL that uses a 0.5 /spl mu/m triple-metal digital CMOS process. The design uses a source follower VCO circuit combined with on-chip loop filter to achieve ac power supply noise tolerance up to 1 V peak-to-peak. This high-noise immunity design allows the PLL power supply to be directly connected to the digital VDD and GND on a mixed analog/digital chip. The PLL is implemented on a 600 k MOS transistor mixed-signal chip for high-speed data transfer clock and video clock generation. The power consumption for the PLL part is 3 mA when it is running at 250 MHz.
Academic Achievement of Recent Immigrants from Mexico

The academic achievement of recent immigrants from Mexico is a problem which has not been adequately studied and which may have important implications for bilingual education. Previous research seems to indicate that recent immigrants outperform native-born Mexican Americans. This study, however, presents evidence from research conducted at the junior high school level which contradicts previous findings concerning the relative superiority of recent Mexican immigrants. It was found that recent immigrants in the present sample attained significantly lower levels of academic achievement than native-born Mexican Americans. The problem of the relative achievement levels of these two groups is discussed in the context of three possible explanations: (a) socioeconomic differences, (b) the teacher expectancy effect, and (c) the native language theory. It is concluded that limited instruction in the home language of the child during the early primary years, followed by an abrupt shift to instruction in a second l...
Soldier Power Operational Benefit Analysis

An operational benefit analysis of military small unit power (SUP) equipment is presented in detail. SUP equipment is designed to improve power generation, conservation, and overall power management strategies for dismounted military units. The operational benefit analysis examines four tactical scenarios and considers a naive power management strategy and a SUP enabled power management strategy. The major findings and conclusions discussed in this paper include: specific conservation and generation strategies for select dismounted tactical scenarios; the importance of proper solar blanket employment; identification of a capability gap between 100W and 1000W in the power generation spectrum; the benefits of using conformal batteries; and the impact of inefficient PRC 154 battery swaps in the naive case.
The "Hand-off" as a Flawed Approach to Disseminating Innovation: Lessons from Chemistry

Drawing on studies of active learning methods in an undergraduate chemistry course at a research institution, we first present two case studies exploring the change processes and outcomes of the faculty member who designed the course and the one who adapted it. We then explore the nature of the problems experienced during the adaptation process. We conclude with recommendations for successfully diffusing innovations: adapting faculty members should choose innovations that genuinely interest them and are aligned with their goals, should experiment with innovations in a gradual way, and should receive support throughout the process.
Balancing Quantification and Obliviousness in the Design of Aspect-Oriented Frameworks

Aspect-oriented languages support modular programming by providing powerful referencing mechanisms that allow programmers to make quantified assertions about their programs. An aspect selects a set of program elements using a reference called a pointcut.An aspect also defines advicemethodsthat transform the control flow surrounding the selected program elements. It is difficult, however, to define a reusable aspect when the advice methods require access to the local context of the program elements, as the bindings of the advice parameters may vary in each application. This leads to a breakdown of the modularity, quantification and obliviousness properties of aspect-oriented programming. This paper presents a model for modularizing the crosscutting references found in aspect-oriented frameworks. An extension to AspectJ is presented that utilizes Java annotations to implement polymorphic advice method parameters.
DOWNREGULATION OF TETRODOTOXIN-RESISTANT SODIUM CURRENTS AND UPREGULATION OF A RAPIDLY REPRIMING TETRODOTOXIN-SENSITIVE SODIUM CURRENT IN SMALL SPINAL SENSORY NEURONS AFTER NERVE INJURY

Clinical and experimental studies have shown that spinal sensory neurons become hyperexcitable after axonal injury, and electrophysiological changes have suggested that this may be attributable to changes in sodium current expression. We have demonstrated previously that sodium channel α-III mRNA levels are elevated and sodium channel α-SNS mRNA levels are reduced in rat spinal sensory neurons after axotomy. In this study we show that small (C-type) rat spinal sensory neurons express sodium currents with dramatically different kinetics after axotomy produced by sciatic nerve ligation. Uninjured C-type neurons express both slowly inactivating tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) sodium current and a fast-inactivating tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) current that reprimes (recovers from inactivation) slowly. After axotomy, the TTX-R current density was greatly reduced. No difference was observed in the density of TTX-S currents after axotomy, and their voltage dependence was not different from controls. However, TTX-S currents in axotomized neurons reprimed four times faster than control TTX-S currents. These data indicate that axotomy of spinal neurons is followed by downregulation of TTX-R current and by the emergence of a rapidly repriming TTX-S current and suggest that this may be attributable to the upregulation of a sodium channel isoform that was unexpressed previously in these cells. These axotomy-induced changes in sodium currents are expected to alter excitability substantially and could underlie the molecular pathogenesis of some chronic pain syndromes associated with injury to the axons of spinal sensory neurons.
Adobe approaches to culturalization: two case studies

Adobe uses diverse user research methods for our Asian geographies. Our approaches differ depending on the target market and the feature set under consideration. There is no cookie-cutter approach to software culturalization. The target user and software space is the starting point for determining research approaches and areas of focus for design. We will focus on two products from our Pro and Consumer product lines and provide case studies for how these approaches differ for two very different product lines that have been culturalized for the Japanese market.
Vitamin and mineral supplements: do we really need them?

In the United States, 40 – 50% of the men and women 50 years of age or older regularly use multivitamin/mineral (MVM) supplements, making the annual sales of these supplements over $11 billion. However, the question remains whether using MVM supplements is beneficial to health. This article reviews the results of randomized studies of MVM supplements and individual vitamins/mineral supplements in relation to overall mortality and incidence of chronic diseases, particularly cancer and ischemic heart disease. The results of large-scale randomized trials show that, for the majority of the population, there is no overall benefit from taking MVM supplements. Indeed, some studies have shown increased risk of cancers in relation to using certain vitamins.
Internal Mammary Artery Cannulation

Abstract A technique of internal mammary artery cannulation is described. This approach offers a safe method for arterial monitoring in infants undergoing thoracotomy for palliative cardiac procedures.
Mushy Zone Equilibrium Solidification of a Semitransparent Layer Subject to Radiative and Convective Cooling

Abstract Equilibrium solidification in a semitransparent planar layer is studied using an isothermal mushy zone model. The layer is made up of a pure material being emitting, absorbing and isotropically scattering and is subject to radiative and convective cooling. The model involves solving simultaneously the transient energy equation and the radiation transport equation. An implicit finite volume scheme is employed to solve the energy equation, with the discrete ordinate method being used to deal with the radiation transport. A systematical parametric study is performed and the effects of various materials optical properties and processing conditions are investigated. It is found that decreasing the optical thickness and increasing the scattering albedo both lead to a wider mushy zone and a slower rate of solidification.
A survey of peptides containing sites of phosphorylation in nonhistone nuclear proteins

Abstract 32 P-labeled peptides obtained by pronase digestion of unfractionated nonhistone nuclear proteins were resolved on columns of Dowex 50, DEAE-Sephadex, Bio-Gel P2, and paper electrophoresis at pH 1.8. Each of 30 peptides analyzed contained predominantly glycine, glutamic acid and proline. The chain length ranged from 7 to 19 residues, including 1 to 4 phosphorylated residues per peptide. These results suggest phosphorylation sites in nonhistones involve a high negative charge density in non-helical regions of these proteins.
Identification of the elastic symmetry of bone and other materials.

Abstract A simplified classification scheme for the elastic symmetries of a solid is applied to the identification of the elastic symmetry of a material by three different methods—visual, stereological and numerical algorithm. Each method is illustrated with an application to bone tissues, but the methods apply to all materials.
Chronic lymphadenopathy simulating malignant lymphoma

A new symptom-complex is described characterized by onset of symptoms between 1 month and 2 years of age: significant generalized lymphadenopathy; hepatosplenomegaly; deviations in immunological status with alterations in gamma globulins and manifestations of auto-immune disease; variable lymph node histology; response to immunosuppressive drugs, and chronic course. The pathogenesis of this entity is not known but reasons are given to support the postulation of a primary immunological disorder.
Key tissue targets responsible for anthrax-toxin-induced lethality

Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax disease, is lethal owing to the actions of two exotoxins: anthrax lethal toxin (LT) and oedema toxin (ET). The key tissue targets responsible for the lethal effects of these toxins are unknown. Here we generated cell-type-specific anthrax toxin receptor capillary morphogenesis protein-2 (CMG2)-null mice and cell-type-specific CMG2-expressing mice and challenged them with the toxins. Our results show that lethality induced by LT and ET occurs through damage to distinct cell types; whereas targeting cardiomyocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells is required for LT-induced mortality, ET-induced lethality occurs mainly through its action in hepatocytes. Notably, and in contradiction to what has been previously postulated, targeting of endothelial cells by either toxin does not seem to contribute significantly to lethality. Our findings demonstrate that B. anthracis has evolved to use LT and ET to induce host lethality by coordinately damaging two distinct vital systems. Cell-type-specific anthrax toxin receptor CMG2-null mice are generated and used to show that the Bacillus anthracis toxins lethal toxin (LT) and oedema toxin (ET) target distinct cell types; in contrast to previous suggestions, it is shown that endothelial cells are not key targets for either toxin and instead LT targets cardiomyocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells whereas ET targets hepatocytes. Bacillus anthracis produces two toxins — anthrax lethal toxin and oedema toxin — which are targeted to tissues by captor-associated protective antigen. The two toxins have essential but little understood roles in pathogenesis. Here, Shihui Liu and colleagues generate mice lacking cell-type-specific anthrax toxin receptor capillary morphogenesis protein-2 (CMG2) and use them to show that the two toxins target distinct cell types. Contrary to previous suggestions, endothelial cells are not key targets for either toxin. Rather, lethal toxin targets cardiomyocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells, and oedema toxin targets hepatocytes. Recognition that the anthrax toxins are specifically targeting the cardiovascular system and liver may suggest supportive therapies that would limit tissue damage and increase survival in human anthrax infections.
Mottled cyan opacification of the posterior cornea in contact lens wearers.

Purpose We studied patients who had mottled cyan-colored opacities of the cornea to better understand the cause and prognosis of this entity. Methods We reviewed examinations of patients who had a mottled cyan opacification of the cornea. Risk factors, including contact lens wear and exposure to heavy metals, were analyzed. Clinical findings, pachymetry specular microscopy, and progression of the abnormality were noted. Results Six patients who had a mottled cyan opacification at the level of Descemet's membrane were identified. These opacities were located in the peripheral and midperipheral cornea. All patients had bilateral findings, had visual acuities of 20/20 or better, and were asymptomatic. All patients had worn soft contact lenses bilaterally for periods ranging from seven to 14 years. Conclusion All patients had the similar clinical appearance of a mottled cyan opacification at the level of Descemet's membrane in the peripheral cornea. Long-term contact lens wear appears to be associated; however, the exact cause is unclear.
The generalized Taub-NUT congruence in Minkowski spaces

With any shear-free congruence of null geodesics in a Lorentzian geometry there is associated a Cauchy-Riemann three-space; and in certain spacetimes including the Ricci-flat spacetimes with expanding null shear-free (n.s.f.) congruences the deviation form of the congruence picks out an integrable distribution of complex two-spaces in the CR geometry. Conversely, given a CR geometry with an integrable distribution of two-spaces one can construct an associated family of spacetimes with a null, shear-free congruence. The interesting problem is the restrictionR ab =0. We consider the case of n.s.f. congruences in Minkowski spacetime constructed from CR geometries of maximal symmetry. The special two-spaces are here taken to be those associated with either the Taub-NUT geometry or, as a limiting case, those associated with the Hauser twisting typeN solution. We obtain the most general solution for these cases.
Resolution of flying-spot scanner systems

Optical reader systems can condense data at the rate of 650 lines per minute, using the flying-spot scanner technique. Flying-spot systems are not new, but they have been held back by component limitations. Excellent system components are now available, and FSSS is being used to convert images into electrical signals for high-speed transmission of complex scientific, business, and defense information to remotely located computers or readers. Recently, photographs of the moon were made by Orbiter I and stored on film, to be retrieved and transmitted on command to an earth receiving station by a flying-spot scanner system.
Computer Mediated Markets: An Introduction and Preliminary Test of Market Structure Impacts

Electronic commerce may influence the way in which goods are traded between businesses. Many believe that Internet-based business-to-business e-commerce will reduce the extent to which firms buying goods and services are “locked in” to a single supplier. Using a secondary analysis of data collected in late 1996 on firms' use of electronic networks for transactions, we empirically test the effects of Internet use on buyer lock-in. Results are weak, but suggest that using the Internet rather than proprietary computer networks in connecting with external trading partners appears to lessen a buying firm's dependence on its primary supplier. The Internet seems to be especially valuable in allowing small firms to connect to external constituents.
The influence of multiple temporal memories in the peak-interval procedure.

Memories for when an event has occurred are used to anticipate future occurrences of the event, but what happens when the event is equally likely to occur at two different times? In this study, one group of rats was always reinforced at 21 s on the peak-interval procedure (21-only group), whereas another group of rats was reinforced at either 8 or 21 s, which varied daily (8–21 group). At the beginning of each session, the behavior of the 8–21 group largely lacked temporal control, but by the end of the session, temporal control was reestablished. When both groups were reinforced at 21 s, the patterns of responding were indistinguishable after subjects in the 8–21 group had experienced 13 reinforcement trials. Finally, the reinforcement times of previous sessions affected the 8–21 group, such that subjects were biased depending on the reinforcement time of the prior session. These results show that when the reinforcement time is initially ambiguous, rats respond in a way that combines their expectations of both possibilities; then they incrementally adjust their responding as they receive more information, but still information from prior sessions biases their initial expectation for the reinforcement time. Combined, these results imply that rats are sensitive to the age of encoded temporal memories in an environment in which the reinforcement time is variable. How these results inform the scalar expectancy theory, the currently accepted model of interval-timing behavior, is discussed.
Concentration Among International Banks A Note

The note presents evidence that concentration in international banking decreased over the period 1969-1979, and will continue to decrease. The data consists of static and dynamic measures applied to asset data for the world's 100 largest banks, and top 20 medium-term Euroloan syndicators (1977–1979).
Generalised parametric rao test for multi-channel adaptive detection of range-spread targets

This study considers the problem of detecting a multi-channel signal of range-spread targets in a homogeneous environment, where the disturbances in both test signal and training signals share the same covariance matrix. To this end, a generalised parametric Rao (GP-Rao) test is developed by modelling the disturbance as a multi-channel auto-regressive process. The GP-Rao test uses less training data and is computationally more efficient, when compared with conventional covariance matrix-based solutions. The theoretical detection performance of the GP-Rao test is characterised in terms of the asymptotic distribution under both hypotheses. Numerical results indicate that the proposed GP-Rao test attains asymptotically the constant false alarm rate property. Numerical results show that the GP-Rao test achieves better detection performance and uses significantly less training signals than the covariance matrix-based approach.
On the apparent molar volumes of nonelectrolytes in water

Apparent molar volumes of aqueous solutions of argon and xenon have been calculated using a previously developed comprehensive equation of state for nonelectrolyte systems. The equation consists of a virial expansion truncated after the fourth virial coefficient and a closed-form term approximating higher coefficients. Mixing rules are based on the composition dependence of virial coefficients, which is known from statistical mechanics. The equation accurately represents vapor-liquid and gas-gas equilibria for the Ar+H2O and Xe+H2O systems over wide ranges of pressure and temperature using two binary parameters. With the binary parameters determined from phase equilibrium data, the equation accurately predicts apparent molar volumes Vϕ in the near-critical and far-from-critical regions. Apart from reproducing experimental Vϕ data, the equation reveals remarkable maxima of Vϕ as a function of pressure and temperature in the near-critical region. The implications of this equation with respect to the Ar−H2O potential are discussed via the second virial coefficient.
Characterization of insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins in peritoneal dialysate

.Serum insulin-like growth factors (IGFs), which circulate bound to specific IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs), must exit the intravascular space before acting on target tissues. Little is known about the nature of IGF/IGFBPs in extravascular fluids of patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Peritoneal dialysate (PD) was studied since, after a short incubation, PD contains proteins which have entered an extravascular space; thus, IGF/IGFBP forms in PD are more likely than serum forms to interact with target tissues. IGF-I and IGF-II, and IGFBPs 1 – 4, were readily identified by specific immunoassays and/or 125iodine-IGF ligand blotting of simultaneously obtained PD and serum samples from seven CRF children; IGFBP-3 was a major IGFBP in PD as in serum. Where quantitated, IGF and IGFBP levels in PD were approximately 10% of serum concentrations. After separation of PD and serum by size-exclusion chromatography, serum had more IGFBP-3 in 150-kilodalton (kDa) than 35-kDa fractions, while PD had far less IGFBP-3 in 150-kDa than 35-kDa fractions. Immunoblot studies revealed a major 29-kDa IGFBP-3 fragment, in addition to intact 41- and 38-kDa IGFBP-3 forms, in PD and CRF serum; the 29-kDa form predominated in the 35-kDa PD fractions. These data suggest that the 29-kDa fragment is the IGFBP-3 form most likely to modulate IGF effects on target tissues of CRF individuals.
Evaluation of coronary artery bypass grafts and native coronary arteries using 64-slice multidetector computed tomography.

Background The conventional use of 16-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) remains somewhat limited for evaluating stenoses in vein graft distal anastomotic sites and in coronary arteries. We investigated the diagnostic accuracy of 64-slice MDCT for assessment of both grafts and coronary arteries in patients with coronary artery bypass grafts. Method The study group included 54 consecutive patients. One patient had to be excluded from the study because of arrhythmia. The remaining 53 patients with coronary artery bypass grafts underwent both 64-slice MDCT angiography and invasive coronary angiography. The MDCTs were analyzed for presence of significant stenosis (>50%) or occlusion in grafts and coronary arteries. The results were compared with those of invasive coronary angiography. Results Overall, 138 of 146 (94.5%) grafts including distal anastomoses were evaluable with MDCT. Evaluability of arterial grafts, venous grafts, distal runoff arteries, and nongrafted arteries was 90.3%, 98.6%, 84.0%, and 97.3%, respectively. After censoring nonevaluable grafts or arteries and considering them to be positive, the sensitivity to detect significant stenosis or occlusion in arterial grafts was 100% and specificity was 91.4%. In venous graft, sensitivity was 100% and specificity was 98.1%. In distal runoff arteries, sensitivity to detect significant stenoses was 83.3% and specificity was 80.2%. In nongrafted arteries, sensitivity was 100% and specificity was 87.5%. Conclusions Sixty-four-slice MDCT showed improved ability to assess bypass grafts and coronary arteries. However, there were still difficulties in assessment of distal runoff arteries in which relatively low diagnostic accuracy was observed that might limit clinical implementation of MDCT.
Biotechnology leasing: Special issues in leasing laboratory space

No matter the size or scope of a biotech laboratory project, neither landlords nor tenants should rely on traditional ‘form’ documents to address the many complex leasing issues unique to this industry. When negotiating and documenting a biotech lab lease, five clauses warrant particular attention. ‐ Construction of tenant improvements: Build‐outs of lab space can be highly specialised and elaborate. Tenants will require detailed involvement in design and construction of improvements while landlords may limit, to the extent possible, tenant improvements to those that are financeable, resuable and ‘generic’. ‐ Security deposits: Greater security in the form of a deposit and letter of credit may be required to balance the potentially higher risks and longer terms of many biotech laboratory leases. ‐ Hazardous materials: Most biotech laboratories will work with hazardous materials. Specially tailored lease provisions can help limit liability and mitigate the potential costs of removal, remediation and litiga...
THE EFFECT OF NITROGEN ON THE GROWTH, MORPHOLOGY, AND CRYSTALLINE QUALITY OF MPACVD DIAMOND FILMS

Abstract The influence of varying nitrogen concentrations (5–1000 ppm) on the conventional CH 4 /H 2 diamond film deposition process using a microwave plasma disk reactor is investigated. This reactor has important differences, such as reactor volume, power density, gas flow, from the common tubular microwave reactors. The experimental behavior indicates, that similar to the tubular reactors, the addition of small amounts of a nitrogen stabilizes the growth of high quality, {100} faceted films. However, the actual threshold nitrogen concentrations and the variation of these threshold concentrations versus other independent experimental variables differs considerably from tubular reactor performance. This suggests that reactor design has an important influence on the deposition process in the presence of impurities.
Calculation of monitor units for a linear accelerator with asymmetric jaws

A simple approach was developed that calculates the output factors and tissue maximum ratio of an asymmetric field at any point within the open field, and specifically both at the central axis (when the jaws do not shadow it) and at the effective center of the open field, using the existing tables for symmetric fields and the multidepth profile information for the largest available field size (either open or with a wedge present). Day’s method was adapted to calculate the effective values of the usual field‐size‐dependent parameters. This approach makes these parameters also dependent on the location of the calculation point relative to the field edges in an asymmetric field. This algorithm was tested by comparing its predictions with measurements of asymmetric and half blocked fields, with and without wedges, in a water phantom at different depths and off‐axis distances. The agreement between calculated and measured dose rate is within 1%–3% even in highly asymmetric fields for both 6‐ and 18‐MV photons.
Effect of Thread and Bearing Friction Coefficients on the Self-Loosening of Preloaded Countersunk-Head Bolts Under Periodic Transverse Excitation

A nonlinear mathematical model is developed for studying the self-loosening behavior of preloaded countersunk threaded fasteners that are subjected to cyclic transverse loads. Torque components acting on the bolt are divided into pitch and resistance torque components; the net torque determines whether or not the bolt will rotate loose under the external excitation. The accumulation of the differential amount of loosening rotation increments is converted into the gradual loss of the bolt tension/clamp load. Although the loosening model incorporates several system variables, this study is focused on investigating the effect of thread and bearing friction coefficients on the loosening of fasteners with coarse and fine threads. Model prediction of the self-loosening behavior is experimentally validated.
A Comparative Study of Social Mobility

EMPIRICAL research in social stratification has for long had the implicit rationale that the exposure of inequality was a political good and that over-all social justice would be served by producing this information. This is not a mere accident. Both the critique of capitalism, which came to a head during the depression, and the older utilitarian impulses animating and shaping so much of social science led it to be concerned, in different ways, with an attack upon privilege. The fact, too, that social science in its modern form arose in a society in which the fundamental victory of democracy over a hereditary oligarchy, if not fully consummated, was regarded as a matter of time, meant that there was a politically vital principle and even a political party in that society to which one could appeal in exposing yet remaining bastions of privilege. Even those later developments in social science which deny the possibility of democracy do not transcend the horizon laid down by the utilitarian framework. To be sure, writers in this later tradition, such as Michels, could not attack inequality with the buoyancy of their forebears against whom they were a reaction. Since, however, with a few exceptions they were (and still are) liberal democrats, although one is tempted to wonder exactly on what basis, their reflections and observations about the inevitability of inequality in the decisive respect, that is, between rulers and ruled, could only be made with a certain regret about the facts they felt compelled to adduce. We need not concern ourselves here with the validity of this point of view, e.g., its difficulties in attempting to account, among other things, for the power of public opinion in modern democratic societies.
Immunological effect of E.coli L-asparaginase.

The effect of asparaginase on cellular immunity was investigated on human peripheral blood lymphocytes incubated in the culture system. Results showed that asparaginase inhibits lymphocyte blastogenesis, both when stimulated with PHA or PKW, and in the mixed lymphocyte cultures. This happened when the enzyme was added directly to the culture medium, as well as when the enzyme was administered i.v. in humans, and then the blood lymphocytes were removed and put into the PHA-culture medium added to the lymphocyte donor's plasma. Crossed experiments showed that: a) lymphocytes from asparaginase injected subjects which were set up in a PHA-culture-medium to which plasma (20%) from non-injected subjects had been added, undergo a normal amount of blastogenesis; and b) lymphocytes from non-injected subjects, set up in a PHA-culture-medium with plasma (20%) from asparaginase injected subjects show an inhibition in their blastic transformation.
DISSECTION AND ORIENTED EMBEDDING OF SMALL SPECIMENS FOR ULTRAMICROTOMY.

A specimen is trimmed before fixation by slicing it and a substrate of moistened filter paper against a background of beeswax-lampblack mixture. The paper serves as a tab for transferring tissue to fixative. Specimens are further dissected with micro-instruments in uncured plastic. For orienting and embedding, a grid of several horizontal and one vertical filaments, obtained by untwisting a colored cotton thread, is prepared upon the face of a cured disk of embedding plastic. The filaments are attached at their ends by small squares of adhesive cellophane tape. The disk with grid is then covered with fresh plastic and the specimens are held in desired orientation by placing them between the vertical and horizontal filaments. These later serve as markers of the specimens during trimming and sectioning.
Transient immunoreactivity after laser tattoo removal: report of two cases.

Background and Objective Laser tattoo removal is one of most commonly used indications for medical lasers. Professional tattoos contain a multitude of potentially immunogenic chemicals that are released or modified by laser treatment. We studied potential immunologic reactions following laser tattoo removal. Study design/Patients and Methods Case report of two patients with immunologic reactions after laser tattoo removal. Results Two patients developed transient immunoreactivity that presented as regional lymphadenopathy after laser tattoo removal of professional black and blue-green tattoos. These reactions resolved without any complications. Conclusions Tattoo pigments released or modified by laser therapy may trigger transient immunoreactivity in susceptible individuals. Lesers Surg. Med. 40:231–232, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A bio-inspired bell kinematics design of a jellyfish robot using ionic polymer metal composites actuators

This paper presents the re-creation of the bell deformation cycle of the Aequorea victoria jellyfish. It focuses on the design, fabrication, and characterization of the bio-inspired bell kinematics of an IPMC actuated robotic jellyfish. The shape and bell kinematics of this underwater vehicle are based on the Aequorea victoria jellyfish. This medusa is chosen as a model system based on a comparative bell kinematics study that is conducted among different jellyfish species. Aequorea victoria is known by its low swimming frequency, small bell deformation, and high Froude efficiency (95%). Different methods of implementing the actuators underneath the bell with smaller IPMC actuators are investigated to replicate the natural jellyfish's bell deformation. Results demonstrates that proper placement of the IPMC actuators results in bell configuration that more accurately represents the deformation properties of the natural jellyfish. Smaller IPMC actuators are used to achieve the desired deformation and thus the power consumption is reduced by 70% compared to previous generations. A biomimetic jellyfish robot prototype is built, and its ability to swim and produce thrust with smaller IPMC actuators is shown. The robot swam with four actuators swam at an average speed 0.77 mm/s and consumed 0.7 W. When eight actuators were used the average speed increased to 1.5 mm/s with a power consumption of 1.14 W.
Automatic generation of 360 degree panorama from image sequences

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in using panoramic images in surveillance and target tracking applications. With the wide availability of off-the-shelf web-based pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras and the advances of CPUs and GPUs, object tracking using mosaicked images that cover a scene of 360° in near real-time has become a reality. This paper presents a system that automatically constructs and maps full view panoramic mosaics to a cube-map from images captured from an active PTZ camera with 1-25x optical zoom. A hierarchical approach is used in storing and mosaicking multi-resolution images captured from a PTZ camera. Techniques based on scale-invariant local features and probabilistic models for verification are used in the mosaicking process. Our algorithm is automatic and robust in mapping each incoming image to one of the six faces of a cube with no prior knowledge of the scene structure. This work can be easily integrated to a surveillance system that wishes to track moving objects in its 360° surrounding.
Effects of calcium channel antagonists on the phosphorylation of major protein kinase C substrates in the rat hippocampus.

Abstract K + -induced depolarization of rat hippocampal slices resulted in significant increases in the phosphorylation state of myristoylated, alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS; also known as 87K, pp80) and neuromodulin [also known as growth associated protein 43 (GAP43), B50, F1] as determined by back-phosphorylation using protein kinase C. The effect of organic Cnd inorganic Ca 2+ antagonists on the phosphorylation of these major protein kinase C substrates in the rat hippocampus was studied to determine whether Ca 2+ influx through L- or N-type voltage-sensitive Ca 2+ channels was required for the phosphorylation changes observed. The depolarization-induced changes appeared to be dependent on extracellular Ca 2+ , based en evidence indicating that the chelation of extracellular Ca 2+ with ethylene glycol-bis ( β -amino-ethyl ether)- N , N , N ′, N ′-temtetraacetic acid (EGTA) inhibited these changes. In addition, pretreatment of the slices with 500 μM Cd 2+ , but not 300 nM nimodipine, 10 μM ω-conotoxin GVIA or 10 μM MK-801, blocked the K + -induced change in phosphorylation. These results suggest that K + -induced changes in the phosphorylation of MARCKS and neuromodulin are mediated by Ca 2+ -dependent mechanisms other than, or in addition to, those sensitive to the organic Ca 2+ channel antagonists employed.