cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Self-medication practices in two California Mexican communities.

Although social scientists have taken up the study of medication use in both developing and developed nations, the medication practices of immigrants remain largely unstudied. In this study, qualitative research was employed in order to describe and compare self-medication practices in two California Mexican immigrant groups: families living along the border near Tijuana, Mexico, and migrant farm worker families residing in illegal encampments and substandard housing in San Diego's North County. Medication and health seeking practices were found to vary according to the specific political–economic, sociocultural, and geographic contexts in which different subpopulations of California Mexicans live. The California–Mexico border area was examined as an important context for considering self-medication behaviors, since it permits border-crossing into Tijuana for the purpose of buying Mexican pharmaceuticals at low cost without a prescription. The popularity of injections among California Mexicans and the cross-border purchasing of injectable antibiotics and vitamins are discussed as issues of particular relevance for immigrants living along the border.
Evolution of Inorganic and Organometallic Photochemistry: Historical Perspective and Commentary

This introduction is written in an historical, personal vein. While certainly incomplete, hopefully it will provide flavor to and some perspective on the development of inorganic and organometallic photochemistry. Our own first encounter with photochemistry is recorded in a 1950 publication [1]; we were studying the exchange of 14CN− with various cyano complexes and only after puzzling initial results did we realize that in the case of Mo(CN) 8 4− the observed exchange was induced by the newly installed fluorescent lighting (an approximate quantum yield of 7.5 is reported in Welker’s thesis, using uranyl oxalate actinometry, along with an interesting sequence of color changes). Later, on a 1954 sabbatical visit to the laboratory of J. Bjerrum, this writer was impressed not only by the large collection of Cr(III) and Co(III) ammine complexes from the time of S.M. Jorgensen, but also by anecdotal mentions of their sensitivity to sunlight.
Tailoring Library Instruction for Non-Science Majors Taking Hybrid and Online Science Classes: Student Perceptions of Information Literacy in the Virtual Environment

An instruction librarian and a biology professor at a small, urban commuter college campus worked together to provide research instruction to non-science majors in selected hybrid and online biolog...
Self-Consistent Numerical Simulation of Carbon Arc for Nanoparticle Synthesis

Self-consistent model of atmospheric pressure carbon arc discharge in helium atmosphere was developed in the framework of the nanoparticle synthesis project1 and implemented into the 3D CFD-code ANSYS CFX, which was highly customized for this purpose. Arc discharge model consists of fluid model for non-equilibrium plasma coupled with models of heat transfer in electrodes, ablation of anode, carbon deposition at cathode and space charge sheathes.
Does teaching rigorously really enhance undergraduates’ intellectual development? The relationship of academic rigor with critical thinking skills and lifelong learning motivations

While previous research has examined outcomes related to academic rigor, mixed findings have resulted from differing conceptualizations of rigor as well as varying methodological approaches. Defining rigor as those in-class practices and assignments that require students to engage in deep learning and demonstrate cognitive complexity, we use longitudinal student-level data from 46 four-year institutions in the USA to examine the relationship of academic rigor with undergraduate development of critical thinking skills and two aspects of self-motivated learning (need for cognition and positive attitudes towards literacy). We find that academic rigor is positively related to both aspects of self-motivated learning at the end of the first year of college, with an advantage for students who enter college with low ACT scores and those with less positive attitudes about reading and writing. Rigor is positively related to all three outcomes at the end of the fourth year, with the magnitude of these relationships tending to increase from the first year to the fourth year. Further, by disaggregating the composite measure of rigor into subscales that separate rigorous in-class practices from rigorous exams and assignments, we find that the relationship between rigor and intellectual development is sometimes driven by one form of rigorous practice, with in-class rigor especially benefitting the critical thinking skills of first-generation students. These findings have important implications for instructors, administrators, and scholars in higher education.
Mitotic Motor KIFC1 is an organizer of microtubules in the axon

KIFC1 (also called HSET or kinesin-14a) is best known as a multifunctional motor protein essential for mitosis. The present studies are the first to explore KIFC1 in terminally postmitotic neurons. Using RNA interference to partially deplete KIFC1 from rat neurons (from animals of either gender) in culture, pharmacologic agents that inhibit KIFC1, and expression of mutant KIFC1 constructs, we demonstrate critical roles for KIFC1 in regulating axonal growth and retraction as well as growth cone morphology. Experimental manipulations of KIFC1 elicit morphological changes in the axon as well as changes in the organization, distribution, and polarity orientation of its microtubules. Together, the results indicate a mechanism by which KIFC1 binds to microtubules in the axon and slides them into alignment in an ATP-dependent fashion and then cross-links them in an ATP-independent fashion to oppose their subsequent sliding by other motors.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Here, we establish that KIFC1, a molecular motor well characterized in mitosis, is robustly expressed in neurons, where it has profound influence on the organization of microtubules in a number of different functional contexts. KIFC1 may help answer long-standing questions in cellular neuroscience such as, mechanistically, how growth cones stall and how axonal microtubules resist forces that would otherwise cause the axon to retract. Knowledge about KIFC1 may help researchers to devise strategies for treating disorders of the nervous system involving axonal retraction given that KIFC1 is expressed in adult neurons as well as developing neurons.
Driving Cycle Analysis Methods Using Data Clustering for Machine Design Optimization

Machine design optimization is usually based on one or few operating points, but when a driving cycle is considered, cluster analysis can be performed to determine the representative operating points of the driving cycle, which can be used in the optimization process to enhance the overall efficiency of the driving cycle. Furthermore, the machine performance indices can be guaranteed in different domains, especially if multiphysics design optimization is considered. This work discusses the basics of analyzing the driving cycle to determine the clusters, representative points and optimization weights. The paper weighs up the pros and cons of the data clustering methods for their application in machine design optimization. This paper proposes the X-Means method to determine the clusters and representative points of the torque-speed profile. Moreover, a case study is performed on the WLTP driving cycle to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method for driving cycle analysis for machine design optimization.
A survey of the training experiences and needs of paraprofessionals serving adults with brain injury.

Objective: To conduct a survey of the training experiences and needs of paraprofessionals (frontline staff) serving adults with moderate–severe TBI from the perspectives of four stakeholder groups:...
Analytic model of a compound thermal-field emitter and its performance

A methodology for implementing the recently developed reformulated general thermal-field equation describing simultaneous thermal and field emission contributions to electron emission is developed, with modifications directed to enhancing speed and accuracy of computation as demanded by emitter characterization and electron beam simulations. An accurate factor to correct both thermal-field ( T F) and high field (Fowler-Nordheim or FN) predictions based on a rapid Lorentzian fit model is given. The analytic protrusion model is constructed from modifications to a point dipole model that allow surface elements and field enhancement factors to be rapidly evaluated. The model is applied to an analytical model of a protrusion on a bump in a diode configuration to characterize how current-voltage I ( V ) relations are affected by T F emission conditions. In addition, it is also shown (i) how aggressively Schottky’s conjecture is undermined as the protrusion dimensions become larger; (ii) how the total current in the T F regime can be substantially larger than predicted by canonical [FN and Richardson-Laue-Dushman (RLD)] formulations; (iii) how an optimal protrusion size may exist; and (iv) how the inference of field enhancement, notional emission area, and work function are poorly predicted using conventional methods relying on the canonical FN and RLD equations even outside the thermal-field regime, even though data can be linear on FN and RLD plots.
A 21-Year-Old Woman With Joint Pain and Skin Ulceration.

The illness started with pain and stiffness in her bilateral hands and wrists four months prior, with progression to bilateral elbows, knees, and ankles. The pain and stiffness were worse in the morning and limited her ability to use her hands or walk comfortably. She also noted swelling of her hands, knees, and ankles. The pain and swelling improved slightly with ibuprofen. She also noted increased fatigue, alopecia, decreased appetite, and nausea. She went to urgent care one month earlier and a physician prescribed ibuprofen and obtained initial serologies.
Pay more attention to the balance between “treat to target” and risk of hypoglycemia——Comment on the strategy of glycemic control in diabetic patients with cardiovascular disease

Diabetes results in excess cardiovascular mortality.Unexpectedly,more strict glucose control induced more death in a large scale clinical trial and the increased hypoglycemia was a suspected offender.In order to decrease the risk of hypoglycemia,three steps should be taken into consideration in future treatment of hyperglycemia in diabetic patients with cardiovascular disease: ( 1 ) Identifying hypoglycemia early even in its paradoxical feature.( 2 )Achieving glucose targets with personality.( 3 ) Designing the strategy of lowering plasma glucose more carefully,to pay special attention avoiding hypoglycemia. Key words: Diabetes mellitus; Cardiovascular disease; Hyperglycemia; Hypoglycemia
Spatial variation in feeding ecology of age-0 lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis in Lake Huron

Age-0 lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis stomachs from western Lake Huron were examined in 2018 to evaluate spatial variation in feeding ecology. Overall, age-0 lake whitefish had narrow diet ni...
Chemical Effects on the Ultimate Properties of Polymer Networks in the Glassy State

Highly crosslinked polymer networks have been prepared by crosslinking low molecular weight, reactive copolymers. The dependence of the ultimate properties of these networks in the glassy state on the molecular weight of the prepolymer, its functionality, the stoichiometry of the reactants and conversion of the reactive groups has been measured. It is shown that the ultimate properties are remarkably sensitive to slight variations in chemical composition and network topology. This dependence could not be rationalized in terms of network parameters or defects on a molecular scale (as is the case in the rubbery state) but might be explained if incoherent network structures were to form.
Rituximab as an Adjuvant Rescue Treatment for Ocular Cicatricial Pemphigoid.

PURPOSE Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (OCP) can lead to devastating ocular complications without prompt treatment. A number of immunomodulatory agents have been attempted with varying success. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of rituximab as an adjuvant to immunomodulatory treatments (IMTs) in refractory OCP. METHODS The clinical records of 14 patients with treatment refractory OCP treated with rituximab as monotherapy or in combination with IMTs were retrospectively reviewed, with a focus on demographics, treatments prerituximab and postrituximab, total number of rituximab infusions, response to treatment, and ocular outcomes including staging and best-corrected visual acuity. RESULTS Thirteen patients (92.9%) achieved a complete response with rituximab over a mean period of 4.3 months. The average sustained complete response time in those without relapse was 29.7 months. Five patients relapsed over a mean period of 15 months, 2 of whom were able to regain control over a mean of 2.5 months with additional rituximab treatments. At the final evaluation, rituximab-based therapy improved ocular outcomes in OCP by stabilizing Foster staging and preventing the deterioration of best-corrected visual acuity in 72% of eyes. In total, 90% of eyes with Foster stages 3 or less did not progress. All patients were able to decrease IMT dosage and/or transition to less potent adjuvant treatments. CONCLUSIONS The consideration of rituximab earlier in treatment of OCP as a rescue and/or maintenance therapy could result in an earlier arrest of disease progression, resulting in preservation of patients' vision, and enable tapering of adjuvant IMT.
Toward Analytical Modeling and Evaluation of Curvature-Dependent Distributed Friction Force in Tendon-Driven Continuum Manipulators

In this paper, we present an analytical modeling approach to address the problem of tension loss in a generic variable curvature tendon-driven continuum manipulators (TD-CM) occurring due to the tendon-sheath distributed friction force. Despite the previous approaches in the literature, our presented model and the iterative solution algorithm do not rely on a priori known curvature/shape of the TD-CM and can be implemented on any TD-CM with constant/ variable curvatures with a continuous neutral axis function. The performance of the proposed modeling approach in predicting the distributed tendon tension and tension loss has been evaluated via simulation and experimental studies on a TD-CM with planar bending. Results demonstrate the outstanding and accurate performance of our novel modeling and the proposed solution algorithm.
Treating Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: Guidelines for Clinical Practice

Self-injurious behaviors affect millions of adolescents each year, indicating a public health problem needing attention and intervention. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the act of purposefully ...
Environmental enrichment reduces heroin seeking following incubation of craving in both male and female rats.

Abstract Background Contemporary treatments for heroin use disorder demonstrate only limited efficacy when the goals are long term abstinence and prevention of relapse. We have demonstrated that environmental enrichment (EE) reduces cue-induced heroin reinstatement in male rats. The present study is an attempt to extend the “anti-relapse” effects of EE to female rats and to periods where incubation of craving is hypothesized to occur. Methods This experiment implemented a 3-phase procedure. In Phase 1, male and female rats were trained to self-administer heroin for 15 days. Phase 2 consisted of a 3- or 15-day forced abstinence (FA) period. In Phase 3 half of the rats were placed into EE and the other half in non-EE housing and subsequently tested for responding in extinction (no heroin or cues) for 15 days followed by a cue-induced reinstatement test. Results We found that rats in the 15 days FA condition showed significantly enhanced drug seeking during extinction, irrespective of sex. We also found that EE significantly reduced this effect. During reinstatement, EE significantly reduced drug seeking in male and female rats and in both 3- and 15-day FA groups. Conclusions EE, with or without prolonged FA, effectively reduced heroin seeking in male and female rats. These findings indicate that EE can reduce drug-seeking in males and females and when putative incubation of craving (i.e., prolonged abstinence period) has occurred and suggest that it may aid in the development of future long-term behavioral treatments for individuals at risk for heroin relapse.
Applicant Familiarity Becomes Most Important Evaluation Factor in USMLE Step I Conversion to Pass/Fail: A Survey of Plastic Surgery Program Directors.

Background In 2020, Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) changed to a pass/fail reporting. Step 1 has been one of the main factors for both inviting applicants for interviews and for ranking in Plastic Surgery. Due to this change, we hypothesize that Step 2 CK – currently the only remaining, universal quantitative metric – will become the main factor in the residency selection process. Methods A survey-based cross-sectional study of United States (US) integrated plastic surgery program directors (PSPDs) investigated the factors that would assume importance following the change in the reporting pattern. Results Respondents reported that personal prior knowledge of the applicant, Letters of recommendation (LORs), Step 2 CK scores, and away rotation at the institution of interest would become the most important factors (median ratings of 5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, respectively on a 5-point Likert scale). Eighty-three percent of respondents were strongly dissatisfied with the conversion to pass/fail reporting. LOR's received the highest ranking (median,1; IQR,1-2) as the component used for offering away rotations after the implementation of the pass/fail reporting, followed by the applicant's medical school (median, 3; IQR, 3-4), and grades obtained during medical school (median,3; IQR,1.75-4). Standardized assessment during rotations are recommended by 67% of PSPDs. Conclusions Future emphasis will be placed primarily on subjective metrics, including applicant familiarity. Step 2 CK, LORs, and away rotation at the institution of interest are other factors of importance. PSPDs welcome the adoption of objective assessments of patient care and medical knowledge to improve the current selection process.
Research on Discharge Sound Recognition Based on Machine Learning and Convolutional Neural Network Training Algorithm

Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a machine learning method based on statistical learning theory and structural risk minimization principle. The selection of many parameters directly affects the performance of SVM. SVM can be used as a classifier for estimating sound source position, and the anti-noise ability of the algorithm can be improved by selecting appropriate parameters. Convolutional neural network (CNN) can directly obtain effective information from the original image, omitting the processes of preprocessing, feature extraction and data reconstruction of the original image, and is highly invariant to displacement, scaling and other forms of distortion. By setting different solver parameters, network structure and the number of training samples, the results of defect recognition are compared and analyzed, and it is found that the improved Alexnet network has strong adaptive learning ability, which provides a new idea for pattern recognition in DC cable fault diagnosis.
African Human Rights Organizations: Questions of Context and Legitimacy

The human rights movement is largely the product of the horrors of World War II. The development of its normative content and structure is the direct result of the abominations committed by the Third Reich during that war. Drawing on the Western liberal tradition, the human rights movement arose primarily to control and contain state action against the individual. It is ironic that it was the victors of the war, most of whom held colonies in Africa, who determined and prevailed upon the United Nations to give form and content to the human rights movement. It is this exclusionary beginning and lack of genuine universality – the absence of major cultures and geographically specific historical perspectives – that are the source of serious tensions within the human rights movement today. This chapter examines the problems raised by the transplantation of this movement – which is uniquely a creature of the North – to Africa and the prospects for viable nongovernmental human rights organizations (NGOs) on the continent. There is no future for the human rights movements in Africa unless it can secure domestic ideological, financial, and moral support from interested constituencies.
Genetic algorithms with adaptive parameters for phased array synthesis

Motivated by Darwin's theories of evolution and the concept of "survival of the fittest", genetic algorithms are commonly used to solve many optimization and synthesis problems. An important issue facing the user is the selection of genetic algorithm parameters, such as mutation rate, mutation range, and number of crossovers. The paper demonstrates a genetic algorithm that simultaneously adapts these parameters during the optimization process, which is shown to outperform its best static counterpart when used to synthesize phased array weights to satisfy a specified far field sidelobe envelope. When compared to conventional static parameter implementations, computation time is saved in two ways: (1) the algorithm converges faster; (2) the need to tune parameters by hand (generally done by repeatedly running the code with different parameter choices) is reduced.
Whole-cell protein patterns of nonhemolytic group B, type Ib, streptococci isolated from humans, mice, cattle, frogs, and fish.

Whole-cell protein and physiological patterns of nonhemolytic group B, type Ib, streptococci isolated from humans, cattle, frogs, fish, and mice were compared. Isolates from humans, fish, and mice were identical. Only minor differences were seen in the isolates from human, bovine, and frog sources. Nonhemolytic group B streptococci from humans, fish, and mice and, to a lesser extent, from cattle and frogs share several characteristics, including a high similarity in proteins (on the basis of molecular weight); this suggests that they may have a common ancestry. Images
2-Pentene hydroformylation catalyzed by polymer-anchored versus homogeneous cobalt complexes: the effect of chelating phosphine

Abstract Polymer-anchored cobalt carbonyl phosphine complexes have been synthesized for use as hydroformylation catalysts. Three types of structures were prepared, including ℘-C6H4PPh2Co(CO)3Co(CO)3Ph2PC6H4-℘, 2, ℘-C6H4CH2PPh2Co(CO)3Co(CO)3Ph2PCH2C6H4-℘, 4; and the chelated species ℘-C6H4P(Ph)CH2CH2PPh2Co(CO)3Co(CO)3, 5. 2-Pentene hydroformylations were studied using both the resin-anchored catalysts and the corresponding homogeneous species. Resin catalysts containing the diphos unit (i.e., 5) displayed a higher selectivity to n-hexanal when compared with the corresponding homogeneous catalytic species (all experiments were performed with H2/CO = 1/1 at 1100–1150 psi and 40 °C. Resins with structures 2 and 4 gave about the same selectivities as their homogeneous analogs (i.e., Co2(CO)8 plus PPh3) when compared at equivalent P/Co ratios, except when the phosphine loading on the resin was either very high or very low.
Heavy doping effects in p-n-p bipolar transistors

This paper presents the heavy doping effects on the injection current characteristics in p-n-p transistors with a heavily doped but thin base region. The results of the present study indicate that 1) at room temperature the hole current injected into heavily doped base is insensitive to the impurity compensation effect, 2) a linear relationship between the base sheet resistance and the collector-current density is observed when the base doping density is under 1 × 1019cm-3. This relationship becomes supralinear as the doping density further increases. As a result, useful current gain exists in thin base transistors even when the base doping is greater than 1 × 1019cm-3. From the collector-current-base sheet-resistance relationship and the base doping profile, the effective intrinsic carrier density as a function of the doping density is evaluated and found to increase 8.7 times over that of pure silicon, when the average doping density is 5 × 1019cm-3(maximum doping density 1 × 1020cm-3). 3) The collector current and the current gain of the transistors become less sensitive to the temperature as the base doping density increases. We had observed a current gain up to 30 at 77 K for transistors with the maximum base doping density in the 1018cm-3range. The transistors with lower base doping suffer much more degradation in current gain when the temperature is lowered to 77 K.
Hemagglutinins in the mucus of Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stoutii.

Abstract 1. 1. A disc electrophoretic and immunologic comparison was made of Pacific hagfish (Eptatretus stoutii) serum and a concentrated, water-soluble fraction of mucus. 2. 2. Usually 12–15 protein components were obtained by disc electrophoresis of mucus and the profile was similar in many regions to that of serum. 3. 3. Usually at least two and sometimes four proteins of mucus could be shown to be immunologically related by double diffusion. 4. 4. Natural hemagglutinins which were found in mucus by direct hemagglutination were also shown to have heat-sensitivity similar to hemagglutinins in serum.
UNICEF Report: enormous progress in child survival but greater focus on newborns urgently needed

The world has made enormous progress in improving child survival since 1990, reducing the under-five mortality rate by nearly half from 90 to 46 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013. Currently, the global under-five mortality rate is falling faster than at any other time over the past two decades. Yet, progress is insufficient to meet the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) which calls for reducing the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. If current trends continue in all countries, the world will not meet the target until 2026, 11 years behind schedule. To accelerate progress in child survival, focusing on the newborn is critical since the share of all under-five deaths occurring in the neonatal period (the first 28 days of life) is increasing. Globally, 44 per cent of the 6.3 million under-five deaths occurred in the neonatal period in 2013. Many of these deaths are easily preventable with simple, cost-effective interventions administered before, during and immediately after birth. However, UNICEF’s analysis reveals a remarkably high degree of variability in the utilization and quality of services provided to pregnant women and their babies. Furthermore, quality care is grossly lacking even for babies and mothers in contact with the health system. The latest levels and trends in child mortality as well as the coverage and quality of key maternal and newborn care from pregnancy through childbirth and the postnatal period are the subject of the new UNICEF report Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed Progress Report 2014 released recently in September.
Demonstration of a Cognitive Radio Front End Using an Optically Pumped Reconfigurable Antenna System (OPRAS)

A cognitive radio front end using an optically pumped reconfigurable antenna system (OPRAS) is investigated. The scheme consists of a ultrawideband antenna and a reconfigurable narrowband antenna in close proximity to one another. The narrowband reconfigurability is achieved by a integrating laser diodes within the antenna structure to control the switching state of photoconductive silicon switches. This scheme has the advantage of eliminating the use of optical fiber cables to guide light to the switches, and enables easier integration of the reconfigurable antenna in a complete communication system. The performance of the proposed technique is presented, and comparisons are made to other commonly used switching techniques for reconfigurable antennas, such as techniques based on PIN diodes and RF microlectromechanical systems integration. The application of this antenna design scheme serving as the receive channel in a cognitive radio communication link is also demonstrated.
The canyon hypothesis.

ABSTRACT The three-dimensional structure of human rhinovirus 14 has a deep surface depression or "canyon" encircling each of the twelve fivefold vertices. The canyon's surface is inaccessible to th...
Consumer Involvement and Psychological Antecedents on Eco-friendly Destinations: Willingness to Pay More

ABSTRACT This study investigates first, the influence of self-esteem on the consumer's involvement with eco-friendly product seeking. Second, it seeks to demonstrate the extent to which the consumer's involvement in eco-friendly travel destinations, their demand for variation in eco-friendly tourist destinations, and their desire for unique eco-friendly travel destinations influences their willingness to spend more on these types of products. Results indicate that self-esteem plays an important role in consumer involvement in eco-friendly travel destinations. Environmental involvement and uniqueness seeking have a positive relationship with willingness to pay more; however, the relationship between product involvement and variety seeking and willingness to pay more demonstrates otherwise. It appears that a consumer education on eco-friendly travel destination needs to be strengthened in order to create changes in consumption patterns.
On the Calculation of Polarizabilities and Van der Waals Forces for Atoms in S States

The perturbation scheme of M\o{}ller and Plesset, which has as its basis a complete set of solutions of the Fock single-electron differential-integral equation, is extended to the calculation of atomic polarizabilities and van der Waals force constants. The present treatment differs in three respects from the previous treatments of Kirkwood and Buckingham. First, the Hartree-Fock model is used consistently throughout the calculation. Additional functions are introduced to complete the set of single-electron functions. Sum rules are developed for these functions with the aid of their common Hamiltonian. These replace the Kuhn-Reiche sum rules, which do not apply in their usual form. Second, atomic polarizabilities are expressed as a sum of sums in the perturbation scheme. An ordered set of lower bounds is derived for the first of these sums and also for similar expressions for van der Waals force constants. Third, the contribution of each electron is considered separately. The lower bounds are evaluated exactly with the help of the sum rules developed. In this way are obtained for the approximate values of the atomic polarizability of beryllium and argon 4.14\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}24}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$ and 1.28\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}24}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$, respectively. Likewise the constant $\ensuremath{\mu}$ in the van der Waals energy, $\frac{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\mu}}{{R}^{6}}$, is found to be about 222\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}60}$ erg ${\mathrm{cm}}^{6}$ for two beryllium atoms and 63.7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}60}$ erg ${\mathrm{cm}}^{6}$ for two argon atoms. The observed atomic polarizability of argon is 1.63\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}24}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$.
The characterization of high-resolution G-banded chromosomes of man

The detailed characterization of G-banding patterns of high resolution human chromosomes has been possible with the utilization of a refined cell synchronization technique which routinely yields a large number of excellent quality cells in late prophase, prometaphase, early metaphase, and mid-metaphase. The mitotic cells exhibit up to a 400% increase in the number of bands previously visualized by standard methods. From studies of the banding patterns, it has become evident that the G-positive and, to some extent, the G-negative bands of mid-metaphase results from a coalescence of finer subbands of earlier stages and that each band and its corresponding subbands maintain a constant location throughout the process of chromosome condensation. A precise schematic representation of the number, position, height and staining intensity of bands is presented for the five largest chromosomes of the complement at the four mitotic stages.
Comparative Efficacy of Topical Ciprofloxacin for Treating: Mycobacterium fortuitum and Mycobacterium chelonae Keratitis in an Animal Model

Mycobacterium fortuitum and M. chelonae are the two most common causes of nontuberculous mycobacterial keratitis, and they may be difficult to differentiate at diagnosis. Mycobacterium fortuitum is generally more sensitive to ciprofloxacin in vitro than is M. chelonae. Using a rabbit model, we compared the efficacy of topical ciprofloxacin (3 mg/ml) against M. chelonae keratitis to its efficacy against M. fortuitum keratitis. After four days of therapy, ciprofloxacin significantly reduced the number of both organisms in treated eyes compared to untreated control eyes (both P values M. fortuitum than M. chelonae (P = .01). When treated and untreated eyes were compared after therapy in the M. fortuitum group, ciprofloxacin treatment was associated with a reduction in mean stromal infiltrate area (P = .03) and in the tendency to form satellite lesions (P = .07). A clinical effect was not observed in the M. chelonae group. Although ciprofloxacin is effective against both organisms, it appears to be less effective against M. chelonae than M. fortuitum in vivo.
On the numerical solution of a certain class of non-linear cauchy problems arising from integral equation theory

A numerical algorithm for solving a system of non-linear partial differential integral equations is presented. These equations result from applying the method of invariant imbedding to the solution of a certain class ofFredholm integral equations of the second kind [2]. The algorithm is compared with a more standard method of solution and some numerical results presented.
Variation in male sexual behavior

Relaxation of natural selection on sexual performance traits in male ruminants has increased phenotypic variation in these heritable traits. Thus, males with sub-standard sexual performance continue to reproduce. This has created a "dud" phenomenon that is costly to animal agriculture. Identification and culling of these lesser performers at an early age and identification of high performing males are critical management goals that must be addressed, and for which greater research priority is needed.
Intrinsic dosimetry: Elemental composition effects on the thermoluminescence of commercial borosilicate glass

Intrinsic dosimetry is the method of measuring total absorbed dose received by the walls of a container holding radioactive material. By considering this dose in tandem with the physical characteristics of the radioactive material housed within the container, this method can provide enhanced pathway information for interdicted radioactive samples. Thermoluminescence (TL) dosimetry was used to measure ionizing radiation dose effects on stock borosilicate glass. Differences in TL glow curve shape and intensity were observed for glasses from different geographical origins. The different TL signatures strongly correlated with the concentration of alkaline earth metals and the ratio of sodium to the total amount of alkali metal present in the borosilicate glass.
Abstract B11: Expression of microRNAs-135b and -196b in response to cellular stress in leukemia cells

MicroRNAs are a class of non-coding small RNA molecules that have roles in important biological processes. Multidrug resistance is a key obstacle to successful cancer therapy in human cancers. To determine whether microRNAs have a role in the development or maintenance of multidrug resistance, we used the TaqMan™ Human MicroRNA Array to investigate the expression of microRNAs in multidrug resistant (MDR) CCRF-CEM human T-cell leukemia cells (CEM/VM-1-5) and drug-sensitive parental line, CCRF-CEM (CEM). The MDR line was selected for resistance to teniposide and is cross-resistant to etoposide and other drugs. Our profiling study of 365 microRNAs revealed that certain microRNAs are differentially expressed between CEM/VM-1-5 and CEM cells, and we focused our subsequent work on two of these: miR-135b and -196b. Since MDR cells were selected and developed by stepwise increases in concentrations of teniposide, we therefore asked whether these altered microRNAs in MDR CEM/VM-1-5 cells are associated with cellular responses to genotoxic agents. We observed substantial increases in miR-135b and -196b expression in drug-sensitive CEM cells following their short exposure (3 to 48 hours) with etoposide, doxorubicin and topotecan, but not in cells treated with vinblastine or paclitaxel, suggesting that the upregulation of these two microRNAs might be the consequence of DNA damage. We also found similar increases in miR-135b and -196b in other leukemia cell lines (RPMI 8226 [myeloma], HL-60 [acute promyelocytic leukemia], Jurkat and MOLT-4 [both acute T cell leukemia]), but not in solid tumor-derived cell lines (MCF7 breast cancer and A2780 ovarian cancer). This suggests that induction of expression of these microRNAs is histiotype-specific. To further confirm that upregulation of these two microRNAs is a consequence of DNA damage, we examined expression of miR-135b and -196b following ionizing radiation. When we treated CEM pairs with ionizing radiation, MDR CEM/VM-1-5 cells were more radioresistant compared to CEM cells. As expected, higher doses of radiation induced miR-135b and -196b expression in MDR CEM/VM-1-5 cells compared to CEM cells, in accordance with what we observed in cells treated with the DNA damaging agent etoposide. Moreover, time-course and dose-response studies showed that the elevation of miR-135b and -196b correlated positively with the exposure time and radiation dosage. Together, our results suggest that microRNAs might play a significant role in cellular response to genotoxic agents and upregulation of miR-135b and -196b appears to be a marker of DNA damage in leukemia cells. (Supported in part by RO1CA40570 from NCI to WTB, and in part by UIC.) Citation Format: Tsui-Ting Ho, Xiaolong He, Ahmet Dirim Arslan, William T. Beck. Expression of microRNAs-135b and -196b in response to cellular stress in leukemia cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Noncoding RNAs and Cancer; 2012 Jan 8-11; Miami Beach, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B11.
School Choice Policies and Racial Segregation: Where White Parents’ Good Intentions, Anxiety, and Privilege Collide

A growing body of school choice research has shown that when school choice policies are not designed to racially or socioeconomically integrate schools, that is, are “colorblind” policies, they generally manage to do the opposite, leading to greater stratification and separation of students by race and ethnicity across schools and programs. Since white, advantaged parents are more likely to get their children into the highest-status schools regardless of the school choice policy in place, we believed that more research was needed on how those parents interact with school choice policies and whether they would support changes to those policies that would lead to less segregation across schools. Our interviews with advantaged New York City parents suggest that many are bothered by the segregation but that they are concerned that their children gain access to the “best” (mostly white) schools. The contradictions inherent in their choices are reconcilable, we argue, by offering more diverse and undivided scho...
Early Genital Surgery to Remain Controversial

In late 2005, 50 international experts spanning multiple medical specialties gathered to revisit treatment guidelines for infants born with intersex diagnoses (see “Consensus Statement on Management of Intersex Disorders”1 in this month’s Pediatrics Electronic Pages ). It marked the first time that physicians had so thoroughly revisited the medical standard of care for these diagnoses since psychologist John Money and his associates first proposed treatment standards for infants with intersex disorders in the 1950s.2,3 Participants agreed to recommend several important changes to care that demonstrate a significant shift in thinking regarding the treatment of infants with intersex disorders. Providing admirable recognition and caution, the guidelines stress that intersex conditions are not shameful, that psychological care should be integral to medical care, and that open communication with … Address correspondence to Katrina A. Karkazis, PhD, MPH, Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University, 701 Welch Rd, Suite A1105, Palo Alto, CA 94304. E-mail: karkazis{at}stanford.edu
Photoplethysmographic Documentation of Improved Microcirculation After Pentoxifylline Therapy

Pentoxifylline is the prototype of a new class of drugs that improve periph eral blood flow mainly by increasing red blood cell flexibility. Few studies have been performed to objectively evaluate the effect of the drug in a routine clinical setting.In 11 patients with intermittent claudication, photoplethysmography was used to monitor the effect of pentoxifylline on the microcirculation in the lower extremities. Values obtained improved significantly (p < .0001) under therapy. Concomitant measurements of ankle-brachial indices showed no significant changes despite clinical improvement. Diabetic patients in this study seemed to benefit from treatment with pentoxifylline at least as much as nondiabetic pa tients.Photoplethysmography proved to be a very efficient and inexpensive method of studying the effects of pentoxifylline. Ankle-brachial indices are not a suit able method of detecting flow changes attributable to the mechanism of action of this drug.
The Poisson inverse Gaussian (PIG) generalized linear regression model for analyzing motor vehicle crash data

ABSTRACTThis article documents the application of the Poisson inverse Gaussian (PIG) regression model for modeling motor vehicle crash data. The PIG distribution, which mixes the Poisson distribution and inverse Gaussian distribution, has the potential for modeling highly dispersed count data due to the flexibility of inverse Gaussian distribution. The objectives of this article were to evaluate the application of PIG regression model for analyzing motor vehicle crash data and compare the results with negative binomial (NB) model, especially when varying dispersion parameter is introduced. To accomplish these objectives, NB and PIG models were developed with fixed and varying dispersion parameters and compared using two data sets. The results of this study show that PIG models perform better than the NB models in terms of goodness-of-fit statistics. Moreover, the PIG model can perform as well as the NB model in capturing the variance of crash data. Lastly, PIG models demonstrate almost the same prediction...
Assessment of testing needs and test facilities for the lunar Dust Management Project

The NASA Dust Management Project has been established to address relevant high priority needs for lunar dust mitigation technologies to be used during lunar surface operations. 1 2 A key task of the project is to support the assessment of test planning and test facility requirements for dust mitigation technology evaluation and demonstration. The overall objectives of the assessment include a) delineation of testing philosophy and needs and b) the identification and evaluation of the capabilities of available and suitable NASA and non-NASA test facilities to identify potential gaps between testing needs and current operational testing capabilities. The approach, methodology and initial results of this ongoing assessment are described in this paper.
An ab initio study of PuO2 and of PuN2

Abstract Ab initio electronic structure calculations using correlated wavefunctions have been performed to investigate the structures, vibrational frequencies and energetics of PuO 2 and PuN 2 molecules in their low-lying electronic states. For PuO 2 , the 5 Σ g + —[(1δ u ) 2 (1φ u ) 2 ] and the 5 Φ u —[(1δ u ) 2 (1φ u ) 1 (4σ g ) 1 ] states are found to be nearly degenerate energetically. However, frequency considerations indicate that the 5 Σ g + state is the preferred candidate for the ground state. The CCSD(T) computed vertical ionization energy of PuO 2 of 9.92 eV compare favorably with the experimentally determined ionization energy of 9.43 eV. For PuN 2 , the 3 Π g —[(1δ u ) 1 (1φ u ) 1 ] state is predicted to be the ground state. The ω 3 mode frequency computed for the 3 Π g ground state at the CCSD and CCSD(T) levels, when scaled by 0.93 and 0.92, respectively, agrees perfectly with the ν 3 frequency of 1030 cm −1 reported from infrared matrix isolation studies.
Vitamin E, γ-tocopherol, reduces airway neutrophil recruitment after inhaled endotoxin challenge in rats and in healthy volunteers.

Abstract Epidemiologic studies suggest that dietary vitamin E is an important candidate intervention for asthma. Our group has shown that daily consumption of vitamin E (γ-tocopherol, γT) has anti-inflammatory actions in both rodent and human phase I studies. The objective of this study was to test whether γT supplementation could mitigate a model of neutrophilic airway inflammation in rats and in healthy human volunteers. F344/N rats were randomized to oral gavage with γT versus placebo, followed by intranasal LPS (20 μg) challenge. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and lung histology were used to assess airway neutrophil recruitment. In a phase IIa clinical study, 13 nonasthmatic subjects completed a double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study in which they consumed either a γT-enriched capsule or a sunflower oil placebo capsule. After 7 days of daily supplementation, they underwent an inhaled LPS challenge. Induced sputum was assessed for neutrophils 6 h after inhaled LPS. The effect of γT compared to placebo on airway neutrophils post-LPS was compared using a repeated-measures analysis of variance. In rats, oral γT supplementation significantly reduced tissue infiltration (p
Pleasure and pain: perceptual bias and its implications for software engineering

There is a bias in human perception that has practical and ethical implications for product evaluation in general and software evaluation in particular. A user's recall of an experience can significantly differ from his or her feelings during the experience. This article describes its implications for software engineering.
The effects of chloropromazine and pentobarbital on behavior maintained by electric shock or point loss avoidance in humans

Human volunteer subjects were trained to press a lever to avoid or escape electric shock or loss of points which could be redeemed for money at the termination of the study. The effects of pentobarbital and chlorpromazine on avoidance and escape behavior were compared. Both aversive stimuli maintained behavior which was differentially sensitive to these two drugs. Chlorpromazine caused a decrease in avoidance responding at doses which had little effect on escape responding. Pentobarbital, in contrast, suppressed avoidance responding at doses which also had a suppressant effect on escape responding.
Review: Steroid avoidance or withdrawal does not increase mortality or graft loss in kidney transplant patients

Source Citation Pascual J, Zamora J, Galeano C, Royuela A, Quereda C. Steroid avoidance or withdrawal for kidney transplant recipients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009;(1):CD005632. 19160257