cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differentiating between Moffitt's developmental taxonomy and Silverthorn and Frick's delayed-onset models of female offending

It is a criminological fact that females commit fewer delinquent acts than their male counterparts. This “gender gap” has long been recognized but specific questions concerning similarities or diff...
Suicide Attempts in Epileptics

Causative factors for the high epileptic suicide rate are reported from the Departments of Neurology, University Hospitals of Cleveland and the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
Dynamic sampling in training artificial neural networks with overlapping swarm intelligence

This paper describes an extension to overlapping swarm intelligence for training artificial neural networks. Overlapping swarm intelligence is an application of particle swarm optimization that divides the network into paths from input to output, with each path represented by a swarm. Previous versions of this algorithm showed success on training networks on a variety of datasets but the method suffers from an explosion in fitness evaluations due to the number of paths that need to be evaluated. We propose an extension to overlapping swarm intelligence to use asynchronous updates and dynamic subsets of swarms for each generation, and demonstrate that this method performs as well as basic overlapping swarm intelligence in terms of mean squared error and classification accuracy with fewer fitness evaluations.
Malnutrition and Oral Health in Children

The purpose of this paper is to review the effects of malnutrition on children’s oral health. Malnutrition negatively affects the development of craniofacial structures and teeth. Nutrient deficiencies during amelogenesis and dentinogenesis lead to defective tooth structures, which tend to harbor cariogenic bacteria. The role of vitamin D in prevention of dental caries is inconclusive. Some researchers believe dental caries is not multifactorial nor transmissible because caries cannot develop without sugars. There is conflicting information in relation to the effects of malnutrition in tooth eruption and exfoliation, but its deleterious influence is clear in the integrity of the oral mucosa and salivary function. An improper nutrition deprives the child from important nutrients for growth and development, including that of oral structures. More research is needed to elucidate the role of malnutrition in tooth development, exfoliation, and eruption.
Functional validation of the oncogenic cooperativity and targeting potential of tuberous sclerosis mutation in medulloblastoma using a MYC-amplified model cell line

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood. To identify targetable vulnerabilities, we employed inhibitor screening that revealed mTOR inhibitor hypersensitivity in the MYC-overexpressing medulloblastoma cell line, D341. Concomitant exome sequencing unveiled an uncharacterized missense mutation, TSC2A415V , in these cells. We biochemically demonstrate that the TSC2A415V mutation is functionally deleterious, leading to shortened half-life and proteasome-mediated protein degradation. These data suggest that MYC cooperates with activated kinase pathways, enabling pharmacologic intervention in these treatment refractory tumors. We propose that identification of activated kinase pathways may allow for tailoring targeted therapy to improve survival and treatment-related morbidity in medulloblastoma.
Synthesis and N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) Receptor Activity of Ketamine Metabolites

Ketamine is rapidly metabolized in the human body to a variety of metabolites, including the hydroxynorketamines. At least two hydroxynorketamines have significant antidepressant action in rodent models, with limited action against the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. The synthesis of 12 hydroxynorketamines and their binding affinity to the NMDA receptor is presented here.
The Determinants and Consequences of Accurate Beliefs About Childhood Vaccinations

In this article, we examine the individual predictors that are responsible for accurate beliefs about the link between vaccinations and autism. We then show how these beliefs affect policy preferen...
Pyelocaliceal diverticulum presenting as a disappearing renal mass.

AbstractWe report a rare case of a disappearing cystic mass of the kidney. Pyelocaliceal diverticulum has to be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with pyelonephritis and a space-occupying lesion of the kidney. Initial conservative therapy with antibiotics helps to determine the definitive diagnosis. Surgical management is recommended to prevent sequelae of pain and infection.
Cyber security of industrial communication protocols

In this paper, an industrial testbed is proposed utilizing commercial-off-the-shelf equipment, and it is used to study the weakness of industrial Ethernet, i.e., PROFINET. The investigation is based on observation of the principles of operation of PROFINET and the functionality of industrial control systems.
Centering a professional learning community on a learning progression for natural selection: transforming community, language, and instructional practice

In this study we examine the development of a professional learning community (PLC) centered on the practice of understanding student learning of natural selection. Eight biology teachers engaged with researchers to use an educative learning progression (LP) empirically developed from student work as a tool for exploring prior ideas and sharing potential instructional strategies to move students towards scientific understandings of natural selection. The PLC involved iterative cycles of development and reflection of the LP, formative assessments and feedback strategies. Three primary results are reported in this paper with respect to the PLC's development associated with the LP: transformation of interactions within the PLC, changes in the language teachers used to describe student thinking, and modifications in the ways instructional practices were shared. These changes demonstrate the potential for a PLC when used in conjunction with a LP to encourage meaningful changes in classroom practice.
Metabolism of Trypanosomidae and Bodonidae

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the chemical physiology of Trypanosomidae; it also discusses the same aspects of the Bodonidae. The Trypanosomidae are important as causative agencies of many important diseases of man and livestock. Trypanosomes become resistant against many drugs, the speed with which the resistance develops and the tenacity with which it is retained varying with different compounds. The biochemical mechanism of drug resistance seems to consist in the development of a mechanism diminishing the drug uptake. Biologically, a genetic change of some kind, perhaps a mutation, must be assumed in those cases where higher degrees of resistance have developed. The Bodonidae are free living protozoa or parasites of lower animals without economic importance. The free-living members of the family are found in surroundings containing little or no free oxygen. They have well-developed anaerobic mechanisms, but their nature is not yet known.
Issues in the development of a digital forensics curriculum

Digital technology is experiencing an explosion in growth and applications. This explosion has created the new concept of the cyber criminal and the need for security and forensics experts in the digital environment. This paper discusses the theory and rationale used in the development of curricula to provide experts for today's society in the digital security arena. It covers the rationale of the curriculum at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The course content discussed will combine digital forensics theory, history and practice with related technical abilities taught in a lab environment.
The theory evaluation scale: An epistemological tool for analyzing social work theories

The profession of social work places a strong emphasis on the utilization of theories in classroom settings as well as in clinical milieus. Therefore, it is understandable that social work students...
Thanks, mom and dad! An experimental study of gratitude letter writing for Asian and White American emerging adults

This study examined the effects of a gratitude writing intervention on Asian American and White American emerging adults’ positive and negative affect and experience of gratitude. A total of 581 em...
Colorimetric Sensor Array for Monitoring CO and Ethylene.

Developing miniaturized and inexpensive detectors remains an important and practical goal for field-deployable monitoring of toxic gases and other bioactive volatiles. CO (a common toxic pollutant) and ethylene (the phytohormone primarily responsible for fruit ripening) share the capability of strong back-π-bonding to low-oxidation-state metal ions, which has proved important in the development of metal-ion-based sensors for these gases. We report herein cumulative colorimetric sensor arrays based on Pd(II)-silica porous microsphere sensors and their application as an optoelectronic nose for rapid colorimetric quantification of airborne CO and ethylene. Quantitative analysis of two gases was obtained in the range of 0.5 to 50 ppm with detection limits at the sub-parts-per-million level (∼0.4 ppm) after 2 min of exposure and ∼0.2 ppm after 20 min (i.e., <0.5% of the permissible exposure limit for CO and <10% of the ethylene concentration needed for fruit ripening). We further validate that common potential...
Longitudinal association between phosphatidylcholines, neuroimaging measures of Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology, and cognition in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging

Abstract Plasma phosphatidylcholines (PCs) have been examined in the context of Alzheimer's disease dementia. However, their association with longitudinal changes in amyloid deposition remains unknown. This study investigated the associations of 8 plasma PC levels (PC aa [14:0_14:0], PC aa [16:0_16:0], PC aa [16:0_18:2], PC aa [16:0_22:6], PC aa [18:0_18:0], PC aa [18:0_18:1], PC aa [18:0_20:4], PC aa [18:1_18:1]) with cross-sectional and longitudinal measures of amyloid deposition, Alzheimer's disease–associated neurodegeneration (glucose metabolism and cortical thickness), and cognition (global- and domain-specific) of 1440 cognitively unimpaired participants (47% female, aged 50.7–95.3 years) in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. Longitudinally, higher baseline levels of PC aa [16:0_18:2], PC aa [18:0_18:1], and PC aa [18:1_18:1] were associated with slower decline in performance on tests of global cognition and specific cognitive domains. Furthermore, higher baseline levels of plasma PC aa (14:0_14:0) were associated with slower amyloid deposition and cortical thinning after multiple covariable adjustment (age, sex, education, medical comorbidity, dyslipidemia, statin use, and APOE4 allele presence). Our study findings support an independent association between plasma PC aa (14:0_14:0) with slower amyloid deposition and cortical thinning among cognitively unimpaired older adults.
Radiolabeling of mammalian cells in tissue culture by use of acetic anhydride. Potential value for studying the dynamics of protein turnover in living cells.

Abstract When Chinese hamster ovary cells, growing in monolayer culture, were treated with trace quantities of radioactive acetic anhydride, label was very rapidly introduced into both the plasma membrane and intracellular components, all of which reached similar specific radioactivities. The cells themselves showed no measurable loss in viability. The incorporated label was recovered predominantly in the form of acetyl groups on proteins. Since tyrosyl hydroxyls were not extensively acetylated, it seems likely that substitution occurred mainly on amino groups. There was no indication that the acetyl groups once introduced were labile or that the modified proteins were discriminated against by the cells, since, in dividing cells, the acetylated proteins were as long-lived as those labeled with radioactive l -leucine. Nor was there any evidence for reutilization of labeled acetate following protein turnover in cells maintained in a nonproliferating state on a medium lacking the essential amino acid l -isoleucine. We suggest that acetylation could provide an ideal means for introducing a very short “pulse” of radioactivity into proteins of living cells. In addition, the method should be extremely useful for studying processes such as enzyme induction and protein turnover where the problem of amino acid reutilization has long been recognized as a possible basis for artifacts.
Towards Patient-centered Diagnosis of Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea—A Review of Biomedical Engineering Strategies

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea in children has a prevalence of 5%. Polysomnography is considered to be the gold standard for diagnosis and stratification of the condition. However, it is res...
Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for trace level analysis of migrated secondary alkanesulfonate from poly(tetramethylene terephthalate) into food simulants

Secondary alkanesulfonate has been widely used as an antistatic additive in polymers for producing anti-dust food packaging containers. Currently, no reported method exists for accurate quantification of secondary alkanesulfonate in ethanolic and acidic food simulants. A new liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to quantify the migrated amount of secondary alkanesulfonate at trace levels in food simulants from a poly(tetramethylene terephthalate) containing secondary alkanesulfonate. The poly(tetramethylene terephthalate) samples loaded with the antistatic additive were exposed to various food simulants. The collected extracts were directly analyzed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry in electrospray ionization negative mode. As secondary alkanesulfonate is a mixture containing C14 to C17 chain lengths, it was separated on a Poroshell 120 EC-C8 column adopting methanol water gradient program. The migration of secondary alkanesulfonate ranged from 58 to 329 ppb; which is well within the allowed permissible regulatory limits and the adopted method was validated by conducting spiking studies and acceptable recoveries were obtained. The developed method was not only sensitive to detect lower levels of the migrated antistatic additive, but it also avoided more cumbersome sample preparation methodologies like sample enrichment and other derivatization approaches.
A Comparison of Single-Stage and Two-Stage Dry-Hopping Regimes

Multi-stage dry-hopping is a technique that is widely used by brewers to achieve intense hop aroma in beer. However, a thorough analysis of its efficacy does not exist in the published literature. ...
Chapter 1 – Historical Introduction

Publisher Summary Early synthesis of fullerenes was done using laser ablation of graphite targets in He gas to create fullerenes in the gas phase. An intense laser pulse was used to vaporize material from a graphite surface, thereby creating a hot carbon plasma. This hot plasma was quenched and entrained in a flowing inert gas (e.g., He) to form carbon clusters. The clustering was permitted to occur for 30–200μs, after which the gas stream was allowed to expand and cool, thereby terminating cluster growth. This laser ablation source was coupled to the front end of a time-of-flight mass spectrometer which allowed the mass spectrum of the clusters and molecules formed by the source to be measured. The mass spectrum above 40 carbon atoms shows a prominence for clusters of mass C60. This preponderance of the C60 line in the mass spectra was recognized by Kroto and Smalley at an early stage. By allowing the plasma to react for a longer time, they found that the C60 peak could be enhanced relative to the other peaks.
Democratic regression in comparative perspective: scope, methods, and causes

Between 1974 and 2005, a majority of states became democratic for the first time in history. However, a global democratic recession began in 2006 and has persisted – and deepened – over the past 14...
Evaluation of Tablet-Based Methods for Assessment of Contrast Sensitivity

Some astronauts have suffered degradation of vision during long-duration space flight, suffering from a condition that has come to be known as Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS). While related morphological changes can be observed with imaging technologies such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), it may be useful to have a rapid method for functional vision assessment. In this paper, we compare three tablet-based methods for rapid assessment of contrast sensitivity. First, a relatively novel method developed expressly for touch screens, in which the subject ”swipes” a frequency/contrast sweep grating to indicate the boundary between visible and invisible patterns; second, a method-of-adjustment task in which the subject adjusts the contrast of a grating patch up and down to bracket the visual threshold; and third, a traditional temporal two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task, in which the subject is presented with a near-threshold stimulus in one of two intervals, and must report the interval containing the stimulus. The swipe method shows variability comparable to the 2AFC method, and shows good agreement in estimates of the spatial frequency of peak sensitivity. The absolute sensitivity estimated with the swipe method is higher than that of the other methods, perhaps because subjects are biased to trace outside of the visible pattern region, or perhaps due to stimulus differences.
Urinary Outcomes for Men With High Baseline International Prostate Symptom Scores Treated With Prostate SBRT.

Purpose There are limited data regarding high-dose stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for prostate cancer in patients with poor baseline urinary function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate genitourinary (GU) toxicity and changes in patient-reported symptom severity scores after prostate SBRT in men with a high pretreatment International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Methods and Materials Seven hundred fifty-three patients treated with prostate SBRT at our institution from 2012 to 2019 were identified, of whom 72 consecutive patients with baseline IPSS ≥15 were selected for this study. GU toxicity according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v3.0 and IPSS were prospectively documented at each follow-up visit. Univariable logistic regression was used to evaluate for potential predictors of GU toxicity. Results Median follow-up in survivors was 26.8 months. The rates of acute grade 2 and 3 GU toxicity were 20.8% and 1.4%, respectively. The rates of late grade 2 and 3 GU toxicity were 37.5% and 5.6%, respectively. The majority of grade 2+ toxicities resolved by last follow-up, and when toxicities were regraded per CTCAE v5.0, there were no longer any grade 3 adverse events. Total IPSS and individual symptom subscores improved over time. Compared with baseline, median total IPSS at 24 ± 6 months was significantly lower (18 vs 12; P < .001) and the proportion of patients with severe scores (IPSS ≥20) decreased from 29.2% to 13.9%. Pretreatment urinary urgency was associated with late grade 2+ GU toxicity (odds ratio, 2.10; 95% confidence interval, 1.33-3.31; P = .001). Conclusions In men with baseline IPSS ≥15 managed with prostate SBRT, the rate of severe GU toxicity was low and patient-reported symptoms generally improved over time. Thus, high pretreatment IPSS should not deter clinicians from offering prostate SBRT.
Utilization and Functional Outcomes Among Medicare Home Health Recipients Varied Across Living Situations.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Home health (HH) is a major type of home-based skilled care available to Medicare beneficiaries. We examined the association between living situation (home alone, home with others, and assisted living (AL) residence) and utilization and functional outcomes among Medicare HH recipients. DESIGN Analysis of national data from the Outcome and Assessment Information Set, HH Compare, Medicare claims, and Area Health Resource Files. SETTING Medicare-certified HH agencies in the United States. PARTICIPANTS National population of Medicare beneficiaries ≥65 years old who received HH care in CY 2017 (N = 6,637,496). MEASUREMENTS Outcomes included time-to-event measures of hospitalization and emergency department (ED) visits, and improvement in activities of daily living (ADL) from the start to the end of the HH admission. RESULTS AL residents (12%) and patients living alone at home (24%) had longer survival time without hospitalization and ED visits than patients living with others at home (64%). Adjusting for covariates and HH agency-level random effects, and compared with patients living with others, AL residents had lower risk of hospitalization (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.85, P < .001) and ED visit (HR = 0.92, P < .001); however, less ADL improvement (β = 0.29 (29% less of total independence in one ADL)); and patients living alone had lower risk of hospitalization (HR = 0.94, P < .001) and ED visit (HR = 0.93, P < .001), yet more ADL improvement (β = -0.15 (15% more of total independence in one ADL)). CONCLUSION In the national population of Medicare HH recipients, patients living with others at home had the highest risk of hospitalization and ED visits, whereas AL residents had the lowest risk of hospitalization and patients living alone at home had the lowest risk of ED visits, meaning that combined support from HH and AL reduces acute care admissions. Evidence-based interventions are needed for HH patients living with others at home to avoid unnecessary acute care use.
Hypervelocity impact flash expansion geometry under various spacecraft surface electrical conditions

Abstract A more congested space environment due to increasing space activities introduces new threats to spacecraft operators. Among these threats include hypervelocity impacts from microparticles ( 1 µg) in the form of meteoroids and space debris. These microparticles travel at speeds between 11.2 and 72.8 km/s with respect to the Earth and can impact spacecraft forming a small ( ∼ 1 µm) and dense ( ∼ 10 26 m − 3 ) plasma. This plasma can generate a strong optical emission (impact flash) and a radio frequency (RF) emission. These emissions can lead to spacecraft electrical anomalies when the impacted spacecraft surface (target) carries high electrical potential due to various space weather effects. To understand the microparticle hypervelocity impact plasma and its associated threat to spacecraft electronics, we studied the hypervelocity impact flash expansion geometry under various spacecraft surface electrical conditions. Three high-speed broadband photomultiplier tubes (PMT) are used to capture the temporal evolution of the impact flash and the temporal evolution of the angular distribution of the impact flash expansion geometry in a 3 MV electrostatic dust accelerator during a ground-based experiment. Results indicate that the impact surface electrical condition has a statistically significant influence on the impact flash geometry, and a strong similarity between the impact plasma and flash expansion geometry. Thus, this paper provides new experimental support for the impact flash origin from and connection with the impact plasma, and serves as the first impact flash expansion geometry characterization under various impact surface electrical conditions in a collisionless environment ( 10 − 5 Torr).
A review of factors that influence the fracture toughness of extrusion-based additively manufactured polymer and polymer composites

Abstract Fracture toughness, is a critical aspect of a component’s strength and structural integrity. In additive manufacturing (AM) of polymers and polymer composites, the fracture toughness of the manufactured part is influenced by the bonding between the layers which is dependent on the material, geometric and processing parameters. Known factors that influence the bond strength and interfacial adhesion in 3D printed parts can be broadly divided into three main categories; 1) deposition related conditions (direction, nozzle size and geometry, temperature), 2) solidification related conditions (heat transfer, molecular movement, crystallinity and void formation) which also play a major role in defining properties and 3) composition and rheological behavior of the resins and the fiber microstructure (content, orientation and surface treatment). In this review, we identify factors that have been reported to influence interface bonding in 3D printed polymer and polymer composite parts. We discuss best practices, as recommended in the reported literature, to address fracture behavior and strategies to improve fracture toughness and structural integrity. Due to the layer-by-layer nature of 3D printed parts, which makes them orthotropic, most AM studies are mainly focused on application of Mode I and mixed mode loading to characterize interlaminar fracture toughness. Intralaminar and translaminar toughness behavior have mostly remained untouched or scarcely discussed in the AM literature. Our focus is to specifically address fracture toughness of 3D printed polymer composites made using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) additive manufacturing method. The material, process and geometric parameters used in FFF will impact the adhesion between layers and hence the fracture toughness and structural integrity. The review identifies the parameters that play key roles and discusses the mechanisms put forth by various researchers that influence the fracture toughness behavior under various modes of fracture. Important gaps in the literature are identified and the future outlook of AM using the FFF process is discussed.
Enhancing the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of carbon-fiber reinforced cement paste by coating the carbon fiber with nickel

Abstract The effectiveness of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is valuable for construction materials and can be enhanced by the addition of carbon fiber to cement. This work reports for the first time that nickel coating on carbon fiber enhances the shielding effectiveness (200–2000 MHz, radio wave) of carbon-fiber cement by increasing the absorption loss SEA , due to the increase in electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability . The SEA/thickness enhancement by the coating decreases with increasing fiber content, because the fiber content increase enhances the conductivity, thereby promoting SEA and diminishing the magnetic influence of the nickel. The SEA/SET (SET = total loss) tends to be higher with the coating. The reflection loss SER is not affected by the coating, because the coating increases both conductivity and permeability, which affect SER oppositely, and the skin depth is smaller for nickel than carbon. The SEA/thickness and SER increase with increasing fiber content, which promotes the conductivity. The trend is less clear with the coating, due to the coating affecting both conductivity and permeability. The SEA/thickness tends to increase with increasing frequency, whereas SER trends oppositely.
Extreme theory of functional connections: A fast physics-informed neural network method for solving ordinary and partial differential equations

Abstract We present a novel, accurate, fast, and robust physics-informed neural network method for solving problems involving differential equations (DEs), called Extreme Theory of Functional Connections, or X-TFC. The proposed method is a synergy of two recently developed frameworks for solving problems involving DEs: the Theory of Functional Connections TFC, and the Physics-Informed Neural Networks PINN. Here, the latent solution of the DEs is approximated by a TFC constrained expression that employs a Neural Network (NN) as the free-function. The TFC approximated solution form always analytically satisfies the constraints of the DE, while maintaining a NN with unconstrained parameters. X-TFC uses a single-layer NN trained via the Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) algorithm. This choice is based on the approximating properties of the ELM algorithm that reduces the training of the network to a simple least-squares, because the only trainable parameters are the output weights. The proposed methodology was tested over a wide range of problems including the approximation of solutions to linear and nonlinear ordinary DEs (ODEs), systems of ODEs, and partial DEs (PDEs). The results show that, for most of the problems considered, X-TFC achieves high accuracy with low computational time, even for large scale PDEs, without suffering the curse of dimensionality.
Does party polarization mobilize or de-mobilize voters? The answer depends on where voters stand

Abstract What effect does party polarization have on voter turnout? Focusing largely on polarization as a (negative) indicator of party indifference, the existing empirical work has found mixed results. We re-examine this question, recognizing that polarization influences voters through perceptions of both alienation and indifference; we argue that the effect of polarization depends on the position of the voter relative to the party options. We introduce a new relative measure of polarization and test its effect on turnout in the two-rounds of the French presidential elections. We find that where a voter stands relative to the spread of party options is a significant predictor of turnout. If parties are either far away from the voter or are indistinguishable from each other, there is little incentive to turn out. On the other hand, party polarization leads to higher participation when the voter is close to one party and far from another.
The History of Ocean Oxygenation.

The large-scale dynamics of ocean oxygenation have changed dramatically throughout Earth's history, in step with major changes in the abundance of O2 in the atmosphere and changes to marine nutrien...
Potato spindle tuber virus: a plant virus with properties of a free nucleic acid. I. Assay, extraction, and concentration.

Abstract Relative virus concentration in extracts prepared from tissue infected with potato spindle tuber virus (PSTV) was estimated by use of an infectivity index which is based on the dilution of inoculum, the time required for symptom expression on tomato plants, and the number of plants infected. Expressed sap or extracts prepared with buffers of low ionic strength (0.005 M K2HPO4) contained little infectivity (dilution end point 10−1); extracts prepared with buffers of high ionic strength (0.5 M K2HPO4) were highly infectious (dilution end points 10−3 to 10−4). Most infectious material remained in the supernatant after high-speed centrifugation (1–2 hours at 40,000 rpm) and in the upper and middle fractions of sucrose density gradients that were centrifuged for 16 hours at 24,000 rpm. Infectious material could be concentrated by precipitation with ethanol (dilution end points up to 10−7). Treatment with phenol had no appreciable adverse effect on the infectivity of PSTV preparations.
Spherical mechanism analysis of a surgical robot for minimally invasive surgery -- analytical and experimental approaches.

Recent advances in technology have led to the fusion of MIS techniques and robot devices. However, current systems are large and cumbersome. Optimizing the surgical robot mechanism will eventually lead to its integration into the operating room (OR) of the future becoming the extended presence of the surgeon and nurses in a room occupied by the patient alone. By optimizing a spherical mechanism using data collected in-vivo during MIS procedures, this study is focused on a bottom-up approach to developing a new class of surgical robotic arms while maximizing their performance and minimizing their size. The spherical mechanism is a rotational manipulator with all axes intersecting at the center of the sphere. Locating the rotation center of the mechanism at the MIS port makes this class of mechanism a suitable candidate for the first two links of a surgical robot for MIS. The required dexterous workspace (DWS) is defined as the region in which 95% of the tool motions are contained based on in-vivo measurements. The extended dexterous workspace (EDWS) is defined as the entire abdominal cavity reachable by a MIS instruments. The DWS is defined by a right circular cone with a vertex angle of 60o and the EDWS is defined by a cone with an elliptical cross section created by two orthogonal vertex angles of 60o and 90o. A compound function based on the mechanism's isotropy and the mechanism stiffness was considered as the performance metric cost function. Optimization across both the DWS and the EDWS lead to a serial mechanism configuration with link length angles of 74o and 60o for a serial configuration This mechanism configuration maximized the kinematic performance in the DWS while keeping the EDWS as its reachable workspace. Surgeons, using a mockup of two mechanisms in a MIS setup, validated these results experimentally. From these experiments the serial configuration was deemed most applicable for MIS robotic applications compared to a parallel mechanism configuration. The mechanical design of a cable actuated surgical robot was based on optimized link length angles. The system is currently being integrated into a fully operated two-arm system. Small form-factor surgical robotic arms with optimized dexterous workspaces will facilitate the integration of multiple arms while avoiding self-collision in the OR of the future.
Attenuation of Cerebral Ischemic Injury in Smad1 Deficient Mice

Stroke results in brain tissue damage from ischemia and oxidative stress. Molecular regulators of the protective versus deleterious cellular responses after cerebral ischemia remain to be identified. Here, we show that deletion of Smad1, a conserved transcription factor that mediates canonical bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling, results in neuroprotection in an ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) stroke model. Uninjured mice with conditional deletion of Smad1 in the CNS (Smad1 cKO) displayed upregulation of the reactive astrocyte marker GFAP and hypertrophic morphological changes in astrocytes compared to littermate controls. Additionally, cultured Smad1-/- astrocytes exhibited an enhanced antioxidant capacity. When subjected to I/R injury by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO), Smad1 cKO mice showed enhanced neuronal survival and improved neurological recovery at 7 days post-stroke. This neuroprotective phenotype is associated with attenuated reactive astrocytosis and neuroinflammation, along with reductions in oxidative stress, p53 induction, and apoptosis. Our data suggest that Smad1-mediated signaling pathway is involved in stroke pathophysiology and may present a new potential target for stroke therapy.
Application-specific thread schedulers for distributed applications

This paper describes our work to improve the performance of distributed applications. We aim at certain application characteristics such as balancing load, allowing separately written applications to work better together, allowing a distributed application to adapt its behavior in more flexible ways, and so on. Our approach is to write application-specific schedulers, which can access the global state of the application in making scheduling decisions. To achieve this goal, we extended our earlier work on CATAPULTS (Creating And Testing APplication-specific User Level Thread Schedulers), a domain-specific language for creating and testing application-specific user-level thread schedulers, to distributed applications by adding ‘master schedulers’ for dealing with the distributed parts of applications. This paper presents our design of, experimentation with, and implementation of distributed CATAPULTS. This paper presents several realistic examples to measure the feasibility of this approach, specifically: a website application, an embedded application, and load balancing. Each example has a scheduling goal for which we developed a customized scheduler. We measured the performance with and without the customized scheduler. The customized scheduler for each example was fairly straightforward to develop and each achieved its scheduling goal. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On the Convective Coupling and Moisture Organization of East Pacific Easterly Waves

AbstractProcesses associated with the local amplification of easterly waves (EWs) in the east Pacific warm pool are explored. Developing EWs favor convection in the southwest and northeast quadrants of the disturbance. In nascent EWs, convection favors the southwest quadrant. As the EW life cycle progresses, convection in the northeast quadrant becomes increasingly prominent and southwest quadrant convection wanes. The EW moisture budget reveals that anomalous meridional winds acting on the mean meridional moisture gradient of the ITCZ produce moisture anomalies supportive of convection in the southwest quadrant early in the EW life cycle. As EWs mature, moisture anomalies on the poleward side of the EW begin to grow and are supported by the advection of anomalous moisture by the mean zonal wind.In the southwest and northeast portions of the wave, where convection anomalies are favored, lower-tropospheric vorticity is generated locally through vertical stretching that supports a horizontal tilt of the wav...
Surface Structure Effects in Platinum/Ruthenium Methanol Oxidation Electrocatalysis

Catalytic activity of low-index platinum single-crystal faces, Pt(111), Pt(100), and Pt(110), and polycrystalline platinum toward methanol electrooxidation was enhanced by controlled amounts of electrodeposited ruthenium. Platinum surface structure affects all factors involved in the oxidation process: (i) ruthenium coverage corresponding to the highest methanol oxidation rate, (ii) rate of oxidation current decay, (iii) Tafel slopes and reaction turnovers, and (iv) apparent activation energy. We found a unique methanol oxidation reactivity at the Pt(111) surface covered by 0.2 monolayer of ruthenium. The turnover number from such a surface at 80 °C is approximately 1 order of magnitude higher than that from the industrial platinum/ruthenium catalyst. Therefore, the Pt(111)/Ru electrode is the best laboratory scale fuel cell anode for methanol oxidation. We conclude that crystallographic variables should be exploited in syntheses of novel metal-alloy catalysts for fuel cell use.
Finding patterns common to a set of strings

Abstract Assume a finite alphabet of constant symbols and a disjoint infinite alphabet of variable symbols. A pattern is a non-null finite string of constant and variable symbols. The language of a pattern is all strings obtainable by substituting non-null strings of constant symbols for the variables of the pattern. A sample is a finite nonempty set of non-null strings of constant symbols. Given a sample S, a pattern p is descriptive of S provided the language of p contains S and does not properly contain the language of any other pattern that contains S. The computational problem of finding a pattern descriptive of a given sample is studied. The main result is a polynomial-time algorithm for the special case of patterns containing only one variable symbol (possibly occurring several times in the pattern). Several other results are proved concerning the class of languages generated by patterns and the problem of finding a descriptive pattern.
A Cross-National Analysis of Principals’ Reports of School Violence

School violence is a growing problem throughout the world, although some nations exhibit higher rates of violence than others. This research examines the relationships between measures of strain and principals’ reports of school violence in schools across 39 nation-units derived from the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies survey. Using multilevel linear analysis, findings indicate that schools with larger eighth-grade sizes, fewer females, and greater resource shortages exhibit higher levels of violence across nations, in addition to higher national average school sizes and lower national levels of math achievement, lending support to strain theory. Interestingly, nations with higher gross domestic products (GDPs) and those that spend higher percentages of their GDP on education also exhibit higher levels of reported school violence, suggesting that potentially, the construct of school violence may be more socially acceptable to report and address in wealthier nations.
On the Trail of Courageous Behavior

This article is an examination of courageous behavior as manifested in the activities of American whistleblowers and environmental activists in the United States, Israel, and the former Czechoslovakia. It examines how these dissenters against illegal or unethical behavior were able to sustain their demand for accountable behavior by government and industry. The article, which draws upon interviews with sixty-four whistle-blowers and one hundred and forty activists, union officials, business executives and journalists, focuses on the significance of social capital in generating protest; the whistleblowers' and activists' strong cultural commitment to the efficacy of action; their determination to accumulate the evidence and expertise; their ability to secure strategically placed allies; and their mechanisms for overcoming fear and intimidation. The authors conclude by indicating the significance of sociology in analyzing, legitimizing, and publicizing the contributions of courageous individuals to the creation and maintenance of a democratic society.
Developmental and post-injury cortical gliogenesis: a genetic fate-mapping study with Nestin-CreER mice

The primary sources of cortical gliogenesis, either during development or after adult brain injury, remain uncertain. We previously generated Nestin-CreER mice to fate-map the progeny of radial glial cells (RG), a source of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in the nervous system. Here, we show that Nestin-CreER mice label another population of glial progenitors, namely the perinatal subventricular zone (SVZ) glioblasts, if they are crossed with stop-floxed EGFP mice and receive tamoxifen in late embryogenesis (E16-E18). Quantification showed E18 tamoxifen-induction labeled more perinatal SVZ glioblasts than RG and transitional RG combined in the newborn brain (54% vs. 22%). Time-lapse microscopy showed SVZ-glioblasts underwent complex metamorphosis and often-reciprocal transformation into transitional RG. Surprisingly, the E10-dosed RG progenitors produced astrocytes, but no oligodendrocytes, whereas E18-induction fate-mapped both astrocytes and NG2+ oligodendrocyte precursors in the postnatal brain. These results suggest that cortical oligodendrocytes mostly derive from perinatal SVZ glioblast progenitors. Further, by combining genetic fate-mapping and BrdU-labeling, we showed that cortical astrocytes cease proliferation soon after birth (<P10) and only undergo nonproliferative gliosis (i.e., increased GFAP expression without cell-division) after stab-wound injury in adult brains. By contrast, 9.7% of cortical NG2+ progenitors remained mitotic at P29, and the ratio rose to 13.8% after stab-wound injury. Together, these results suggest NG2+ progenitors, rather than GFAP+ astrocytes, are the primary source of proliferative gliosis after adult brain injury.
Is There Anything to Smile about? A Review of Oral Care for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) are at risk for dental disease and face substantial challenges in accessing both routine and preventive dental services. In terms of unmet needs it ranks third, following residential services and employment opportunities for this particular group of people. Poorer oral health status negatively impacts overall health and one's quality of life. Factors contributing to this problem include significantly higher rates of dental caries, periodontal disease, poor oral hygiene, low expectations, fear of treatment, and lack of awareness among individuals and carers. Additional factors include problems accessing dental care or denial of services because of inadequate education and clinical training, inappropriate bias, or inadequate levels of compensation to providers. Strategies to improve service delivery include individualized and coordinated care services, education of individuals, carers, and providers, including both classroom and clinical experiences with special needs patients in dental programs.
Short distance versus long distance physics: The classical limit of the minimal length uncertainty relation

We continue our investigation of the phenomenological implications of the ``deformed'' commutation relations $[{x}_{i},{p}_{j}]=i\ensuremath{\Elzxh}[(1+\ensuremath{\beta}{p}^{2}){\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\mathrm{ij}}+{\ensuremath{\beta}}^{\ensuremath{'}}{p}_{i}{p}_{j}].$ These commutation relations are motivated by the fact that they lead to the minimal length uncertainty relation which appears in perturbative string theory. In this paper, we consider the effects of the deformation on the classical orbits of particles in a central force potential. Comparison with observation places severe constraints on the value of the minimum length.
Carbon Monoxide: Residence Time in the Atmosphere

A lower limit of 0.1 year for the residence time of carbon monIoxide in the atmosphere is derived from radiocarbon measurements. The action of certain microorganisms and atmospheric photochemical reactions are possible mechanisms for the removal of carbon monoxide. This value can be compared with 2.7 years, a value deduced from estimated rates of carbon monoxide production and global measurements of atmospheric concentrations of carbon monoxide.
Neuropathological examination suggests impaired brain iron acquisition in restless legs syndrome.

Objective: To assess neuropathology in individuals with restless legs syndrome (RLS). Methods: A standard neuropathologic evaluation was performed on seven brains from individuals who had been diagnosed with RLS. The substantia nigra was examined in greater detail for iron staining and with immunohistochemistry for tyrosine hydroxylase and proteins involved in iron management. Five age-matched individuals with no neurologic history served as controls. Results: There were no histopathologic abnormalities unique to the RLS brains. Tyrosine hydroxylase staining in the major dopaminergic regions appeared normal in the RLS brains. Iron staining and H-ferritin staining was markedly decreased in the RLS substantia nigra. Although H-ferritin was minimally detected in the RLS brain, L-ferritin staining was strong. However, the cells staining for L-ferritin in RLS brains were morphologically distinct from those in the control brains. Transferrin receptor staining on neuromelanin-containing cells was decreased in the RLS brains compared to normal, whereas transferrin staining in these cells was increased. Conclusions: RLS may not be rooted in pathologies associated with traditional neurodegenerative processes but may be a functional disorder resulting from impaired iron acquisition by the neuromelanin cells in RLS. The underlying mechanism may be a defect in regulation of the transferrin receptors.