cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impact of Influenza on Acute Cardiopulmonary Hospitalizations in Pregnant Women

This study sought to quantify influenza-related serious morbidity in pregnant women, as measured by hospitalizations for or death from selected acute cardiopulmonary conditions during predefined influenza seasons. The study population included women aged 15-44 years who were enrolled in the Tennessee Medicaid program for at least 180 days between 1974 and 1993. In a nested case-control study, 4,369 women with a first study event during influenza season were compared with 21,845 population controls. The odds ratios associated with study events increased from 1.44 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97-2.15) for women at 14-20 weeks' gestation to 4.67 (95% CI 3.42-6.39) for those at 37-42 weeks in comparison with postpartum women. A retrospective cohort analysis, which controlled for risk factors identified in the case-control study, identified 22,824 study events during 1,393,166 women-years of follow-up. Women in their third trimester without other identified risk factors for influenza morbidity had an event rate of 21.7 per 10,000 women-months during influenza season. Approximately half of this morbidity, 10.5 (95% CI 6.7-14.3) events per 10,000 women-months, was attributable to influenza. Influenza-attributable risks in comparable nonpregnant and postpartum women were 1.91 (95% CI 1.51-2.31) and 1.16 (95% CI -0.09 to 2.42) per 10,000 women-months, respectively. The data suggest that, out of every 10,000 women in their third trimester without other identified risk factors who experience an average influenza season of 2.5 months, 25 will be hospitalized with influenza-related morbidity.
Democratic Leadership in the Modern Senate: The Emerging Roles of the Democratic Policy Committee

Unlike the House, Senate leadership is decentralized. Senate leaders have few formal powers and must rely, in part, on the power of persuasion to lead the Senate. The Democratic leadership effort in the Senate goes beyond the persuasive appeals of the floor leader. Based on participant-observation, this essay examines the emergence of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) as an arm of the Democratic leadership between the 101st and 103rd congresses. The DPC has become an important mechanism for building consensus in the Democratic Caucus, distributing information to Democratic Senate offices and building public support for the party's legislative agenda. These roles have become an essential element of Democratic leadership in the Senate and are likely to become a permanent component of the leadership effort in that chamber.
Testing the rhetoric: An approach to assess scenario planning's role as a catalyst for urban policy integration

Abstract Policy integration has become a high-priority objective for urban planning and management. At the same time, the transportation and urban planning fields have increasingly employed scenario planning approaches, not only to develop long-term strategy, but also—potentially—to strengthen organizational networks and encourage collaborative action. Yet these latter supposed outcomes of scenario planning remain under-theorized and largely untested. In this study, we propose a methodology, based on established theories of collaboration, to test the ability of a particular type of scenario planning to encourage collaboration between participants. We demonstrate the approach using a scenario planning process undertaken within the transportation and urban planning community in Portugal. The pre-/post-test experimental design uses a survey designed to assess participants’ propensity for future collaboration by measuring change in individuals’ perceptions and understandings. The results suggest that the process likely modestly increased participants’ propensity to collaborate, primarily by strengthening inter-agency networks. The effects on participants’ views and understanding remain inconclusive. We suggest that specific challenges in applying this specific scenario planning approach to public sector contexts may limit the method's potential in achieving inter-organizational collaboration. Nonetheless, only more widespread efforts to formally test the scenario planning rhetoric will reveal the true impacts on organization change.
The molecular basis for the specificity of fimE in the phase variation of type 1 fimbriae of Escherichia coli K-12.

Summary The expression of type 1 fimbriae in Escherichia coli is phase variable, with cells switching between fimbriate (ON) and afimbriate (OFF) phases. The phase variation is dependent on the orientation of a 314 bp DNA element (the switch) that undergoes DNA inversion. DNA inversion requires either fimB or fimE, sitespecific recombinases that differ in both specificity and activity. Whereas fimB promotes recombination with little orientational bias, fimE promotes recombination in the ON-to-OFF direction exclusively. In wildtype cells, fimE activity predominates and, hence, most bacteria are afimbriate. Here, it is shown that fimE specificity is caused by two different, but complementary, mechanisms. First, FimE shows a strong preference for the switch in the ON orientation as a substrate for recombination. Differences in the nucleotide sequence of the recombinase binding sites is a key factor in determining FimE specificity, although one or more additional cis-active sites that flank the fim switch also appear to be involved. Secondly, the orientation of the switch controls fimE in cis, most probably to control recombinase expression.
Liquid scintillators: Attributes and applications

Abstract Liquid scintillators are organic solutions which emit light in their interaction with ionizing radiation. The spectral distribution of this light is characteristic of the secondary solute, although vital energy degradation and transfer roles are assumed by the solvent and primary solute. In a liquid-scintillation detector the emitted light is collected at the cathode of a photomultiplier. Photoelectric conversion, electron multiplication, pulse amplification, sorting, and data presentation steps follow. Photon collection is a complex process consisting of reflection, scattering, and irreversible absorption. Liquid scintillators are evaluated by measurement of such properties as relative current, relative pulse height, decay-time, fluorescence spectrum, and absorption spectrum. The best solvents are alkylbenzenes and the most efficient solutes are polyarlys such as p-terphenyl, 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO), 2-phenyl-5-(4-biphenylyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD), and 1,5-di-[2-(5-phenyloxazolyl)]-benzene (POPOP). Liquid scintillators have an array of characteristic properties unmatched by any other variety of scintillator. These include inexpensiveness, ease of preparation, unlimited size or shape, high transparency, short decay-time, and ability to incorporate counting samples or neutron-capture solutes by dissolution or suspension. Liquid-scintillation detectors divide into two basic types: small-volume (with contained sample) and large-volume (with separate sample). Small-volume detectors have fast coincidence circuitry because of their primary application in H3 and C14 determinations, although many more-energetic beta and alpha emitters have been successfully counted. Different solvent systems allow homogeneous counting of a great variety of compounds. Suspension counting provides for the insoluble compounds. An internal standard is used to correct for quenching and to establish the disintegration rate of the sample. Large volume detectors use many photomultipliers but simple circuitry. The external source modification is useful for general considerations of geometry and for high-energy gamma resolution by multiple Compton scattering. Studies of μ mesons, neutrons and neutrinos have been carried out. The internal source modification is oriented to surround the sample, giving almost 4π coverage in studies of body retention of gamma emitters in mice, rats, monkeys, dogs, and humans.
Hemoglobinemia and the hemoglobinurias.

BLACKWATER, or more scientifically, hemoglobinuria, attracts the attention of patient and physician as do few other symptoms. Indeed, few other symptoms indicate so serious a disturbance of body pr...
Site A of the MCP-1 distal regulatory region functions as a transcriptional modulator through the transcription factor NF1.

Abstract The monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) functions to recruit monocytes and macrophages to areas of inflammation and is a prototypic chemokine subjected to coordinate regulation by immunomodulatory agents. TNF mediated regulation of MCP-1 occurs through a distal regulatory region located 2.5 kb upstream of the transcriptional start site. Within this region are two NF-kB motifs that are each critical for function. Site A, located within the distal regulatory region and upstream of the κB elements is required for maximal induction by TNF. However, unlike the κB elements and other MCP-1 regulatory elements, Site A is constitutively occupied by factors in vivo. To better understand the nature of Site A function, this report identified a Site A binding protein and provides a functional analysis of the element in driving transcription. The results showed that the transcription factor NF1/CTF binds to Site A both in vitro and in vivo. While Site A has no transcriptional activity on its own, it was found to augment the transcriptional activity of a GAL4-VP16 reporter system in an orientation and position independent manner. Because NF1 is known to interact with factors that modify nucleosomes, these results suggest a unique role for Site A in regulating MCP-1 expression.
Global SOF and Interagency Collaboration

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has emphasized the importance of international SOF collaboration, or what USSOCOM refers to as a “global SOF network.” It is difficult to achieve requisite levels of collaboration even among departments and agencies within a single country, much less on an international basis. Yet USSOCOM has been rightly praised for its trailblazing collaboration efforts in counterterrorism operations, so perhaps it can extend successful collaboration to its “global SOF network.” This article argues collaboration lessons from the past decade of counterterrorism operations can be used to facilitate better international SOF collaboration. Even if the lessons are well recognized they will be hard to act upon, especially when USSOCOM is using its indirect approach to SOF missions managed out of U.S. embassies overseas. But the first step in solving any problem is recognizing the nature of the problem and what is required to solve it. The rest is all disciplined, aggressive and intelligent implementation, which Special Operations Forces do well. Erratum P. 10: Figure 1 in the published version shows an adapted diagram from the US Army Field Manual (3-60) with notations inserted in red to reflect the notations made on a hand drawn diagram that appeared on p. 153 of Stanley A. McChrystal's book, My Share of the Task: A Memoir (Portfolio/Penguin, 2013). The author originally inserted in the manuscript a captured image of the diagram that appeared on p. 153 of Gen. McChrystal's book. The notations were McChrystal's, not those of author (Christopher Lamb), and their representation in the published diagram was not intended to suggest otherwise. This article is available in Journal of Strategic Security: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/jss/vol7/iss2/3
An annotated list of the publications of Rupert C. Barneby

Rupert Barneby had 263 publications (two of which were published with two volumes each) during his career (including 56 book reviews), and additionally published new taxa and combinations in 16 publications by B. A. Krukoff, S. L. Welsh, and A. Lourteig. In total, these publications amount to 7676 pages. Each entry was examined, was dated as accurately as possible, and was annotated with any new nomenclauture presented in the publication. Barneby published 4 new subtribes within the legumes, 9 new genera of legumes (one based on a new combination) and 6 new genera of Menispermaceae, 621 new species (including 6 new nothospecies), 16 new subspecies, 355 new varieties, and 1 new form. Additionally, he published 238 new infrageneric taxa (subgenera, sections, or subsections). he made numerous new combinations (including nomina nova) at the infrageneric level (169), the species level (582), the subspecific level (27), and the varietal level (533), as well as a single combination at the form level.
Be 8 States at 16.6 and 16.9 MeV and Final-State Coulomb Interactions

The shape, width, and location of the 16-MeV resonances in the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle energy spectrum from the ${\mathrm{Li}}^{6}({\mathrm{Li}}^{6}, \ensuremath{\alpha}){\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$ reaction were found to be a function of the angle taken by the breakup fragments in the subsequent decay of the ${\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$. This was caused by the long-range electrostatic interaction between the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particle and the breakup particles.
Prior Experience as a Factor in Habitat Selection by the Cichlid Fish Tilapia mossambica

Abstract The African cichlid fish, Tilapia mossambica (Peters), was selected for investigation of the role that prior-habitat experience may play in determining the choice of a resting habitat by fish. Fish were reared in different habitats and later tested for habitat selection. Three regimes were used (early, late, and continuous). Early-experience fish experienced a habitat the first 60 days of free-swimming; late-experience fish, the last 60 days before testing; and continuous-experience fish, from the time of free-swimming to testing. Half of the fish were tested at 4 months and half at 8 months. Each individual was observed for 1 hour during a 2-day period in an experimental tank, offering a choice of habitats. Early and continuous-experience fish (both 4 and 8 months) selected the conditioning habitat on the second day in the testing tank as measured by total time and number of habitat visits. Late-experience fish failed to select the conditioning habitat. Thus early experience (before sexual matur...
Diagnostic accuracy of otitis media and tympanocentesis skills assessment among pediatricians

The comparative study presented here evaluated pediatricians from Italy, Greece, South Africa, and a reference group in the USA to determine (i) their ability to accurately diagnose acute otitis media (AOM) and otitis media with effusion (OME) using otoscopy, (ii) their knowledge of antibiotics, and (iii) their technical competence in performing tympanocentesis. The participants included 66 pediatricians from Italy, 115 from Greece, 36 from South Africa and 2,190 from the USA (reference group). Each pediatrician viewed nine video-recorded otoscopic examinations of tympanic membranes, after which their ability to differentiate AOM, OME and normal was ascertained. Questions were posed regarding appropriate, pathogen-directed antibiotic selection for AOM. A mannequin model was used to assess the technical proficiency of each pediatrician in performing tympanocentesis. Results were recorded for each group as the mean percentage ± standard deviation. The correct diagnosis was made by each group of pediatricians in the following frequencies: Italy, 54±27% (range, 18–94%); Greece, 36±12% (range, 23–56%); South Africa, 53±21% (range, 22–88%); and the USA, 51±11% (range, 29–72%). The difference between results from Greece and the US reference group was statistically significant (P=0.002). Pediatricians from each group over-diagnosed AOM with the following frequencies: Italy, 18±19% (range, 2–49%); Greece, 34±13% (8–50%); South Africa, 23±14% (7–44%); and the US reference group, 26±19% (7–51%). Pediatricians correctly selected an antibiotic recommended for treatment of AOM caused by drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae as follows: Italy, 89%; Greece, 77%; South Africa, 82%; and the USA, 80%. For treatment of beta-lactamase-producing Haemophilus influenzae, the results were: Italy, 90%; Greece, 70%; South Africa, 81%; and the USA, 77%. Tympanocentesis was optimally performed by ≥86% of all pediatricians. The results indicate that pediatricians may often misdiagnose OME as AOM, but they select appropriate antibiotics about 80% of the time and can be trained to accurately perform tympanocentesis.
Modeling of ammonia dry deposition to a pocosin landscape downwind of a large poultry facility

Abstract A semi-empirical bi-directional flux modeling approach is used to estimate NH 3 air concentrations and dry deposition fluxes to a portion of the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (PLNWR) downwind of a large poultry facility. Meteorological patterns at PLNWR are such that some portion of the refuge is downwind of the poultry facility 52%, 66%, 57%, and 50% of time during winter, spring, summer, and fall, respectively. Air concentrations and dry deposition rates are highest in the northeasterly direction from the facility, consistent with prevailing wind patterns. Dry deposition rates along the axis of highest concentrations are 10.1 kg N ha −1 yr −1 at the refuge boundary closest to the facility, decreasing to 5.4 kg N ha −1 yr −1 1.5 km further downwind and continuing to decrease non-linearly to a deposition rate of 1.4 kg N ha −1 yr −1 8–10 km downwind. Approximately 10% of the refuge model domain receives ≥3.0 kg N ha −1 yr −1 as dry NH 3 deposition. Depending on the definition of the background air concentration, annual nitrogen loading to the refuge from background NH 3 dry deposition and NH 3 dry deposition associated with elevated concentrations downwind of the facility is between 41% and 79% higher than background dry NH 3 deposition alone. Relative to the total N deposition budget for the refuge, which includes all nitrogen compounds, total background N deposition plus NH 3 dry deposition associated with elevated concentrations downwind of the facility is, correspondingly, 6–10% greater than background total N deposition alone. From a process standpoint, predicted fluxes are most sensitive to uncertainty in the parameterization of the cuticular resistance.
Not just a job

My fourth and last duty station as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) brought me in 1979 to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. The beautiful 300-acre, college-like NIH campus is across the street from the National Naval Medical Center and
Localization of 3H‐nicotine, 125I‐kappa‐bungarotoxin, and 125I‐alpha‐bungarotoxin binding to nicotinic sites in the chicken forebrain and midbrain

We have previously localized cholinergic cell bodies and fibers within the midbrain of the chicken with choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry. In a continuing effort to characterize the central cholinergic system, the present study examines the distribution of various nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the forebrain and midbrain of the chicken. The binding of 3H-nicotine, 125I-kappa-bungarotoxin, and 125I-α-bungarotoxin was localized by film autoradiography in adjacent sections of the adult chicken brain, allowing a comparison of the distribution of different classes of nicotinic binding sites within the brain. Although all three ligands were often co-localized, there were areas that bound 3H-nicotine but not the 125I-neurotoxins, or vice versa. Very high densities of all three ligands were found in the hyperstriatum ventrale; the nucleus geniculatus lateralis, pars ventralis; the griseum tectale; the nucleus dorsolateralis anterior thalami; the nucleus lentiformis mesencephali, pars lateralis and pars medialis; the periventricular organ; and the stratum griseum et fibrosum superficial, layer f of the optic tectum. The nucleus spiriformis lateralis had the highest levels of 3H-nicotine binding in the chicken brain, but it did not bind either of the two snake neurotoxins. On the other hand, high levels of both 125I-α-bungarotoxin and 125I-kappa-bungarotoxin binding were found in the nucleus semilunaris and the nucleus ovoidalis, but these areas contained little or no 3H-nicotine binding. No unique 125I-kappa-bungarotoxin sites, unrecognized by 125I-α-bungarotoxin, were identified by the low resolution autoradiography performed in this study. In general, nicotinic receptors were found in areas that have been reported to contain cholinergic cell bodies or fibers. Comparison of our results with the expression of neuronal nicotinic receptor subunits, as determined by in situ hybridization, suggests that many of the high affinity 3H-nicotine sites are localized presynaptically, as, for example, in the retinorecipient nuclei and the nucleus interpeduncularis. The lack of 125I-kappa-bungarotoxin binding in the presence of α-bungarotoxin indicates that the chicken brain has only very low levels of a unique kappa-bungarotoxin site. This is in marked contrast to chicken, frog, and rat autonomic ganglia, where a unique kappa-neurotoxin-sensitive receptor has been identified and shown to mediate nicotinic neurotransmission. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Fatal air and bile embolism after percutaneous liver biopsy and ERCP

The major causes of death after percutaneous liver biopsy and ERCP includemassive hemorrhage, perforation of a viscus, or, in the case of ERCP, necrotizing pancreatitis. The presence of gas in the hepatic venous system after ERCP and sphincterotomy is reported, albeit rarely with fatal outcome. The likely mechanism is intramural dissection of insufflated air to the portal venous system after endoscopic sphincterotomy. Air embolism is an extremely rare cause of death after ERCP. To our knowledge, the only reported case is that of a 63-year-old woman who suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest after sphincterotomy for removal of a bile-duct stone. Cholangiography demonstrated air in the portal and the hepatic venous systems, as well as the pulmonary vasculature and the right heart on postmortem radiographs. The air was thought to have entered the portal venous system via venous radicles close to the major duodenal papilla that were transected inadvertently during sphincterotomy. Reported here is the first case in which an unfortunate fatal air and bile pulmonary embolism was caused by percutaneous liver biopsy followed by ERCP.
Stereoelectronic factors in CO, NO and O2 binding to heme from vibrational spectroscopy and DFT analysis

Abstract CO, NO and O2 are physiologically important molecules whose biochemistry is largely mediated by transient binding to transition metal ions, especially to Fe(II) in the heme prosthetic group. The mechanism of action is determined by interactions of the FeXO unit (X=C, N or O) with protein residues in the heme pocket. These interactions can be assessed via the FeXO vibrational frequencies, which are available from infrared (IR) and resonance Raman (RR) spectra. The vibrational frequencies are largely determined by the donor properties of the proximal ligand, and by the electrostatic field of the residues on the distal side of the bound XO. This field polarizes the FeXO unit and modulates backbonding from Fe to XO, resulting in anticorrelated shifts in the XO and FeX stretching frequencies. Empirically derived trends in the vibrational frequencies are supported by ab initio calculations using the density functional theory (DFT). DFT analysis also provides the correct geometries of the unconstrained FeXO units, and has been used to investigate the energy required for distortion from the equilibrium geometry. This energy is modest, even for the linear FeCO unit, indicating that steric forces from distal protein residues are not major determinants of the ligand binding energy. DFT analysis has also illuminated the contentious issue of the extent of FeCO distortion in myoglobin. While X-ray crystallographic analyses have yielded a range of geometries, the vibrational data are all consistent with an undistorted upright structure. However, DFT analysis of the sensitivity of IR polarization measurements, and of the νCO/νFeC backbonding correlation, indicates that the data allow up to 0.5 A off-axis displacement of the O atom in the FeCO unit. The energy cost of this much displacement is small, ca. 0.8 kcal mol−1, a value that is consistent with binding energy measurements on myoglobin mutants.
Information Technology Employees in State Government A Study of Affective Organizational Commitment, Job Involvement, and Job Satisfaction

This article explores the affective organizational commitment, job involvement, and job satisfaction of an increasingly important segment of the public sector workforce: information technology (IT) employees in state government. We propose a model that explores job characteristics and work experiences variables that together influence affective organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and job involvement. Using canonical correlation analysis, we find that role ambiguity, perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange, and task variety are the independent variables that together explain most of the variance in the affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction of IT employees working for one-state government. In contrast to findings based on private sector IT employees, our analysis does not identify major gender differences. Taken together, these findings advance our understanding of affective commitment and job satisfaction within the public sector and provide agency managers actionable ideas on how to retain valuable IT employees.
Decision-Oriented Health Technology Assessment: One Step Forward in Supporting the Decision-Making Process in Hospitals.

Abstract Objectives This article outlines the Decision-Oriented Health Technology Assessment: a new implementation of the European network for Health Technology Assessment Core Model, integrating the multicriteria decision-making analysis by using the analytic hierarchy process to introduce a standardized methodological approach as a valued and shared tool to support health care decision making within a hospital. Methods Following the Core Model as guidance (European network for Health Technology Assessment. HTA core model for medical and surgical interventions. Available from: http://www.eunethta.eu/outputs/hta-core-model-medical-and-surgical-interventions-10r. [Accessed May 27, 2014]), it is possible to apply the analytic hierarchy process to break down a problem into its constituent parts and identify priorities (i.e., assigning a weight to each part) in a hierarchical structure. Thus, it quantitatively compares the importance of multiple criteria in assessing health technologies and how the alternative technologies perform in satisfying these criteria. The verbal ratings are translated into a quantitative form by using the Saaty scale (Saaty TL. Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. Int J Serv Sci 2008;1:83–98). An eigenvectors analysis is used for deriving the weights' systems (i.e., local and global weights' system) that reflect the importance assigned to the criteria and the priorities related to the performance of the alternative technologies. Results Compared with the Core Model, this methodological approach supplies a more timely as well as contextualized evidence for a specific technology, making it possible to obtain data that are more relevant and easier to interpret, and therefore more useful for decision makers to make investment choices with greater awareness. Conclusions We reached the conclusion that although there may be scope for improvement, this implementation is a step forward toward the goal of building a "solid bridge" between the scientific evidence and the final decision maker's choice.
Photon-number uncertainty in a superconducting transition edge sensor beyond resolved-photon-number determination

As part of an effort to extend fundamental single-photon measurements into the macroscopic regime, we explore how best to assign photon-number uncertainties to output waveforms of a superconducting transition edge sensor and how those assignments change over that extended dynamic range. Three methods are used. At the lowest photon numbers (up to 20 photons), the widths of histogram peaks of individual waveforms are used to determine the uncertainty. From 100 to 1000 photons, mean waveforms are used to create a photon-number scale. The photon-number uncertainty of the detector in this range is given by the excess of the total variance of the photon number obtained from individual waveforms on this scale beyond the shot noise due to the source. In the midrange (from 10 to 100 photons), including a range where the two other methods do not produce definitive results, we fit waveforms to several adjacent mean waveforms to estimate the photon-number uncertainty. A one-standard-deviation uncertainty in photon number of no more than ±1 is found for pulses of up to 100 photons.
Key Considerations for Using No‐Harm Contracts With Clients Who Self‐Injure

One of the more controversial issues in working with people who self-injure is whether counselors should use no-harm contracts. Important therapeutic considerations include the efficacy of such contracts or agreements in preventing self-injury, the emotional and behavioral responses of clients, and the perceived protection these contracts or agreements may offer counselors. The authors weigh potential benefits and pitfalls and make recommendations for working collaboratively with clients to meet their individual needs.
An irreversible dipping sealing technique for anodized ZE41 Mg alloy

Anodized coatings are porous and sealing has been considered to be an essential step for anodized magnesium alloys. In this study, a new sealing technique was proposed and validated. Anodized ZE41 was dipped in an E-coating bath solution for a few seconds. After baking, the specimen was found to have considerably improved corrosion resistance. The corrosion rate and polarization current densities were found to be more than 3 orders of magnitude lower and the film breakdown potential over 50 mV higher for the anodized ZE41 after sealing in the E-coating bath solution than for the as-anodized ZE41. An irreversible electroless E-coating deposition model and corrosion mitigation mechanism for a sealed specimen are proposed.
Hands-On CIO Tackles Healthcare IT

In this new department for IT Pro, Joseph Williams interviews Jason Wood, IT Director at Proliance Surgeons, one of the largest surgical practices in the US. Wood gave up his CIO title to move forward in his career, which is part of what makes his story about life in the C-suite so interesting. Learn about his day-to-day life, why he took a demotion to get ahead, and what he thinks aspiring IT professionals should do to move up the ladder to the C-suite.
Two novel c-abl mRNAs are expressed in rat parotid salivary glands during in vivo β-adrenergic receptor stimulation

Abstract The c-abl proto-oncogene is transcribed in most cell lines and tissues into two mRNAs of 6.5 and 5.3 kb, which have different 5′ ends and encode two 150 kDa proteins that are largely colinear, but have different N-termini. We show here that two unusually short and abundant c-abl-related mRNAs of 1.5 and 1.3 kb appear in rat parotid salivary glands, within 1 day of in vivo administration of the β-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol. These transcripts are not found in the submandibular salivary gland or in the heart and they are too short to encode the known c-abl proteins. RNA blot, S1 nuclease protection and primer extension analysis suggest that the isoproterenol inducible parotid gland mRNAs do not contain the kinase domain, but represent part of the C-terminal segment of the abl reading frame.
The effects of corruption control, political stability and economic growth on deforestation-induced carbon dioxide emissions

This article formulates an empirical model that measures the short- and long-run effects of political stability, corruption control and economic growth on CO2 emissions from deforestation. Political stability and corruption have significant effects on forest cover in the short run and have lingering long-run effects. We derive a U-shaped forest–income curve where forest cover initially declines as per capita income increases, but starts to rise after an income turning point. Political stability and corruption control do not significantly affect the income turning point but both variables shift the forest–income curve up or down. The resulting CO2 emission–income curve is downward sloping and is based on changes in the levels of variables affecting forest cover. Increased political stability flattens the CO2 emissions–income curve, leading to smaller changes of CO2 emissions per unit change in income.
A Nitridoniobium(V) Reagent That Effects Acid Chloride to Organic Nitrile Conversion: Synthesis via Heterodinuclear (Nb/Mo) Dinitrogen Cleavage, Mechanistic Insights, and Recycling

The transformation of acid chlorides (RC(O)Cl) to organic nitriles (RC⋮N) by the terminal niobium nitride anion [N⋮Nb(N[Np]Ar)3]- ([1a-N]-, where Np = neopentyl and Ar = 3,5-Me2C6H3) via isovalent N for O(Cl) metathetical exchange is presented. Nitrido anion [1a-N]- is obtained in a heterodinuclear N2 scission reaction employing the molybdenum trisamide system, Mo(N[R]Ar)3 (R = t-Bu, 2a; R = Np, 2b), as a reaction partner. Reductive scission of the heterodinuclear bridging N2 complexes, (Ar[R]N)3Mo-(μ-N2)Nb(N[Np]Ar)3 (R = t-Bu, 3b; R = Np, 3c) with sodium amalgam provides 1 equiv each of the salt Na[1a-N] and neutral N⋮Mo(N[R]Ar)3 (R = t-Bu, 2a-N; R = Np, 2b-N). Separation of 2-N from Na[1a-N] is readily achieved. Treatment of salt Na[1a-N] with acid chloride substrates in tetrahydrofuran (THF) furnishes the corresponding organic nitriles concomitant with the formation of NaCl and the oxo niobium complex O⋮Nb(N[Np]Ar)3 (1a-O). Utilization of 15N-labeled 15N2 gas in this chemistry affords a series of 15N-l...
The Iconic Book: The Image of the Bible in Early Christian Rituals

To elucidate some of the origins of what Martin Marty has called “America’s Iconic Book,” this article analyzes early Christian rituals in which the Bible functions as an icon, that is, as a material object that invokes the presence of the divine. After an introductory discussion of icons, it shows that early Christian communal rituals of Gospel procession and display as well as popular and private ritual uses of scripture as a miracle-working object parallel the uses and functions of Orthodox portrait icons while circumventing issues of idolatry. Examples come from a survey of early Christian liturgies, conciliar and legal records, the physical appearance of Bibles and Gospel books, the representations of books in art, and written arguments from the iconoclastic controversies of the eighth and ninth centuries.
Production of gynogenetic and polyploid catfish by pressure-induced chromosome set manipulation

Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) eggs fertilized with sperm from blue catfish (I. furcatus) or channel catfish (60 or 90 s UV-irradiated, 0.08 or 0.12 J/cm2, respectively; 20–30% motility) were subjected to early hydrostatic pressure (5 min post-fertilization; 8000 psi; 3 min duration) to produce meiotic gynogens or late hydrostatic pressure (90 min post-fertilization) to produce mitotic gynogens. Polyploid hybrid catfish (I. punctatus X I. furcatus) were produced using eggs fertilized with untreated sperm followed by pressure treatments. Eggs fertilized with irradiated sperm (putative haploids) exhibited slow and abnormal development, and did not survive to hatch. Pressure treatments reduced the frequency of normal development at blastula, neurula and tailbud stages compared with stripped controls. Relative survival at 1.5 months was 2% for meiotic and 0.2% for mitotic gynogens, and 66% for triploid and 8% for tetraploid groups, compared with 27% survival of stripped controls. Sex ratios varied among families in hybrid groups but averaged close to 1:1 male:female, whereas offspring in gynogenetic families were all female. Particle size analysis of erythrocyte nuclear volumes indicated 91–100% triploidy induction, but only 4% tetraploidy induction. Although the numbers of gynogenetic channel catfish produced were small, the more than 500 viable offspring surviving represent foundation broodstock to facilitate genetic improvement strategies in this commercially important species.
Renal MR and CT angiography: current concepts

During the past decade, noninvasive CTA and MRA imaging techniques have replaced catheter angiography for evaluation of the renal arteries. This article reviews techniques for optimizing renal MRA and CTA, assesses the advantages and limitations of MRA and CTA, and provides the current indications for renal vascular imaging including renal artery stenosis screening. New and future developments in these rapidly evolving techniques are also discussed.
Doubling the Spectral Efficiency of Photonic Time-Stretch Analog-to-Digital Converter by Polarization Multiplexing

Spectral efficiency improvement via polarization multiplexing in photonic time-stretch analog-to-digital converter (TSADC) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. This technique improves the time-bandwidth product and reduces the demand on optical bandwidth.
Nonlinearities in quantum mechanics

Many of the paradoxes encountered in the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics can be shown to have plausible, more logical parallels in terms of nonlinear dynamics and chaos. These include the statistical exponential decay laws, interpretations of Bell’s inequalities, spontaneous symmetry breaking, and perhaps diffractive behavior and even quantization itself. Many of the so-called alternative explanations of quantum mechanics have toyed with ideas that approach chaotic behavior, but as they were formulated before the advent of modern chaos theory, they remained within linear systems or at most nonlinear perturbations to linear systems; however, only strongly nonlinear systems can provide the proper parallels to the Copenhagen paradoxes. Several examples of these will be covered qualitatively. Strongly nonlinear behavior related to quantum mechanics does not involve “hidden variables,” but chaos provides a bridge between the statistical behavior of quantum mechanics and deterministic behavior of classical mechanics. Perhaps both Einstein and Bohr were correct in their debates—chaos fundamentally provides the determinism so dear to Einstein, but in practice it must be interpreted statistically in the manner of Bohr.
Sustaining multiple ecosystem functions in grassland communities requires higher biodiversity

Society places value on the multiple functions of ecosystems from soil fertility to erosion control to wildlife-carrying capacity, and these functions are potentially threatened by ongoing biodiversity losses. Recent empirically based models using individual species’ traits suggest that higher species richness is required to provide multiple ecosystem functions. However, no study to date has analyzed the observed functionality of communities of interacting species over multiple temporal scales to assess the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality. We use data from the longest-running biodiversity-functioning field experiment to date to test how species diversity affects the ability of grassland ecosystems to provide threshold levels of up to eight ecosystem functions simultaneously. Across years and every combination of ecosystem functions, minimum-required species richness consistently increases with the number of functions considered. Moreover, tradeoffs between functions and variability among years prevent any one community type from providing high levels of multiple functions, regardless of its diversity. Sustained multifunctionality, therefore, likely requires both higher species richness than single ecosystem functionality and a diversity of species assemblages across the landscape.
Sliding contact energy measurement using a calibrated acoustic emission transducer

Acoustic emission (AE) transducers are commonly used to monitor the intensity of mechanical contacts in various sliding applications including magnetic head-disk interfaces (HDI). The authors introduce a method to obtain the electrical energy of the AE transducer from the output signal voltage. Calibration experiments were run to determine the calibration factor for converting the AE electrical energy to mechanical energy that is released during mechanical contacts at the HDI. Analytical models to calculate the energy released as a result of mechanical contacts arising from slider-disk interaction, from the presence of particulate contamination at the HDI, and those from head-disk interactions during dynamic load/unload (L/UL) in L/UL drives are presented. Experimental results for some of the cases described by the models are presented.
Initial experimental results from the MIT 140 GHz quasioptical gyro-TWT

The design and experimental results of a novel 140 GHz quasioptical gyro-TWT are presented. The gyro-TWT is designed to operate in a TE/sub 03/-like mode in a confocal waveguide to produce 100 kW at 140 GHz with a gain of 38 dB. Initial experiments have yielded 9 kW of power at a gain of 25 dB. The detuning characteristics also indicate a bandwidth of at least 1.4 GHz. The gyro-TWT interaction structure which is formed by a pair of confocal mirrors exhibits tremendous potential for high average power operation in the W-band and beyond.
Distribution of estrogen receptor alpha mRNA in the brain and inner ear of a vocal fish with comparisons to sites of aromatase expression.

Among vertebrates, teleost fish have the greatest capacity for estrogen production in the brain. Previously, we characterized the distribution of the estrogen-synthesizing enzyme aromatase in the brain of the midshipman fish. Here, we investigated the distribution of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα). A partial cDNA of ERα was cloned and used to generate midshipman-specific primers for RT and real-time PCR which identified transcripts in liver and ovary, the CNS, and the sensory epithelium of the main auditory endorgan (sacculus). In situ hybridization revealed abundant expression throughout the preoptic area, a vocal-acoustic site in the hypothalamus, amygdala homologs of the dorsal pallium, the pineal organ, the inner ear, the pituitary, and the ovary. Weaker expression was found in the midbrain's nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus and in the dimorphic vocal motor nucleus. ERα expression in the pineal, gonad, and pituitary axis may function to time seasonal abiotic cues to reproductive state, while expression in the vocal motor and auditory systems support neurophysiological evidence for estrogen as a modulator of vocal motor and auditory encoding mechanisms in midshipman fish. While ERα is restricted to specific nuclei, aromatase expression is abundant in glial cells throughout the entire forebrain, and high in midbrain and hindbrain – spinal vocal regions. The only site of aromatase-containing neurons is in the peripheral auditory system, where it is localized to ganglion cells in the auditory nerve. Estrogen production proximal to ERα-positive neurons may provide for focal sites of estrogen effects on reproductive-, vocal-, and auditory-related neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 483:91–113, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Robot Support System for Automotive Manufacturing Using MAP Communication Standards

This paper describes the implementation of a powerful system for the support of industrial robots using a MAP local area network. The features and performance of the installed system are described, with an emphasis on the advantages of using communication standards. Also discussed are techniques for using low-cost, microprocessor based technology and the UNIX-V operating system to accomplish useful manufacturing applications.
Caspase-2 modulates osteoclastogenesis through down-regulating oxidative stress.

Abstract The loss of caspase-2 (Casp-2) in mice results in an osteopenic phenotype associated with increased numbers of osteoclasts in vivo. In this study, we show that Casp-2 is involved in osteoclastogenesis. Protein levels of Casp-2 decrease during the differentiation of macrophages to osteoclasts. Furthermore, siRNA-mediated Casp-2 knockdown in osteoclast precursors or differentiation of bone marrow macrophage (BMM) precursors from Casp2−/− mice results in increased osteoclast numbers and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity. Casp2−/− osteoclasts are larger in size compared to wild-type osteoclasts and exhibited increased numbers of nuclei, perhaps due to increased precursor fusion. The loss of Casp-2 did not alter earlier stages of differentiation, but had a greater consequence on later stages involving NFATc1 auto-amplification and pre-osteoclast fusion. We have previously shown that the loss of Casp-2 results in increased oxidative stress in the bone. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is known to play a critical role in late osteoclast differentiation and we show that total ROS and specifically, mitochondrial ROS, significantly increased in Casp2−/− BMM precursors after RANKL administration, with a concomitant reduction in FoxO3a and its target antioxidant enzymes, catalase and superoxide 2 (SOD2). Because mitochondrial ROS has been identified as a putative regulator of the later stages of differentiation, the heightened ROS levels in Casp2−/− cells likely promote precursor fusion and increased osteoclast numbers. In conclusion, our results indicate a novel role of Casp-2 in the osteoclast as a modulator of total and mitochondrial ROS and osteoclast differentiation.
Economic Segmentation and Worker Earnings in a U.S.-Mexico Border Enclave

This study examines the effects of economic segmentation on worker earnings in El Paso, Texas, a city that is a major enclave on the U.S.-Mexico border. The investigation relies on the dual economy model, which maintains that the U.S. economy is divided into a monopoly and a competitive sector. This distinction is thought to be related to worker remuneration, with poorly paying jobs found primarily in the competitive sector. It is hypothesized that females and minority males are disproportionately located in the competitive sector and, therefore, that their income is negatively influenced. These hypotheses were tested using the 1980 U.S. Census Public Use Microdata file for the El Paso SMSA. In contrast to the dominant hypothesis this research found that women, particularly those of Mexican origin, were disproportionately located in the monopoly sector. However, women gained considerably less by virtue of monopoly sector employment than did males, especially those of Anglo origin. Generally the findings a...
The Undecidability of the Word Problem for Distributive Residuated Lattices

Let A = (X|R) be a finitely presented algebra in a variety V. The algebra A is said to have an undecidable word problem if there is no algorithm that decides whether or not any two given words in the absolutely free term algebra Tv(X) represent the same element of A. If V contains such an algebra A, we say that it has an undecidable word problem. (It is well known that the word problem for the varieties of semigroups, groups and l-groups is undecidable.)
A noninformative Bayesian approach to finite population sampling using auxiliary variables

In finite population sampling prior information is often available in the form of partial knowledge about an auxiliary variable, for example its mean may be known. In such cases, the ratio estimator and the regression estimator are often used for estimating the population mean of the characteristic of interest. The Polya posterior has been developed as a noninformative Bayesian approach to survey sampling. It is appropriate when little or no prior information about the population is available. Here we show that it can be extended to incorporate types of partial prior information about auxiliary variables. We will see that it typically yields procedures with good frequentist properties even in some problems where standard frequentist methods are difficult to apply.