cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cognitive control and associated neural correlates in adults with spina bifida myelomeningocele.

Objective Accelerated aging can occur in adult survivors of neurodevelopmental disorders, but has been narrowly studied in spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM). Since discrete aspects of cognitive control and related neural network macrostructure deteriorate in normal aging, the specificity and trajectory of cognition and neuropathology incurred across adulthood in SBM were examined. Method Adults (N = 120) with and without SBM completed working memory span and manipulation tasks, and an inhibitory control task. A subset (n = 53) underwent structural MRI. Effects of group, age, and their interaction on performance and select gray matter volumes were examined. Results Adults with SBM had significantly poorer working memory accuracy and overall inhibitory control performance than typical peers. Age negatively predicted inhibitory control. Group × Age significantly interacted on span accuracy; advanced age related to diminished performance in typical adults, but not in adults with SBM. SBM related to disproportionately enlarged cortical and putamen and reduced hippocampus volumes. Group × Age significantly interacted on cortical, but not subcortical gray matter volumes. Dorsolateral prefrontal, hippocampus, and putamen volumes negatively correlated with cognitive performance. Conclusions Supporting previous literature, current findings elucidated a profile of executive impairment in SBM that was maintained in a parallel maturational trajectory to typical aging. Accelerated aging in cognitive control or subcortical gray matter was not supported in SBM. However, reductions in anterior and posterior cortical regions were exacerbated in older adults with SBM compared with typical peers. Overall results supported persistent anomalous neurodevelopmental maturation across the life span in SBM that related to diminished cognitive control. (PsycINFO Database Record
Roles of Transport Limitations and Mineral Heterogeneity in Carbonation of Fractured Basalts

Basalt formations could enable secure long-term carbon storage by trapping injected CO2 as stable carbonates. Here, a predictive modeling framework was designed to evaluate the roles of transport limitations and mineral spatial distributions on mineral dissolution and carbonation reactions in fractured basalts exposed to CO2-acidified fluids. Reactive transport models were developed in CrunchTope based on data from high-temperature, high-pressure flow-through experiments. Models isolating the effect of transport compared nine flow conditions under the same mineralogy. Heterogeneities were incorporated by segmenting an actual reacted basalt sample, and these results were compared to equivalent flow conditions through randomly generated mineral distributions with the same bulk composition. While pure advective flow with shorter retention times promotes rapid initial carbonation, pure diffusion sustains mineral reactions for longer time frames and generates greater net carbonate volumes. For the same transpo...
Awareness as a First Step Toward Overcoming Implicit Bias

In this book chapter, Cynthia Lee explains that raising awareness of implicit bias is a necessary first step toward eliminating such bias. Lee discusses various ways legal actors can raise awareness about implicit bias, including implicit bias trainings and jury instructions attempting to educate jurors about implicit bias. She concludes that making racial bias (or other types of bias) salient is probably the most effective way to raise awareness of implicit bias in the courtroom setting and discusses the social science literature that supports this conclusion. In light of some studies suggesting that making bias salient may backfire, she suggests that making bias salient may be more effective in certain environments where the decision maker has sufficient time to deliberate, such as jury deliberations, as opposed to other environments where the decision maker has little time to deliberate and has to make a quick decision.
The Nuts and Bolts of Breastfeeding: Anatomy and Physiology of Lactation

Breastmilk is the physiologic norm for infant nutrition. Despite recommendations from major health organizations, many women in the U.S. are not achieving this metric. Understanding breast anatomy and lactation physiology will allow physicians to gain knowledge of the processes, which control lactation enabling physicians to appropriately manage the breastfeeding dyad. The interplay of hormones involved in lactation and milk management affect milk initiation, as well as ongoing milk production (galactopoesis). The unique components of breastmilk that provide protection against infection and chronic diseases also change between and during feeds. Colostrum and the importance of early skin-to-skin after delivery will also be discussed.
Pretransplant Gut Colonization with Intrinsically Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (E. gallinarum and E. casseliflavus) and Outcomes of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Abstract Pretransplant gut colonization with intrinsically vancomycin-resistant enterococci (iVRE) (Enterococcus gallinarum and Enterococcus casseliflavus) is uncommon and with unknown clinical impact. In a matched-pairs analysis of patients with versus without iVRE colonization (n = 18 in each group), we demonstrated significantly higher 2-year overall survival (86% [95% confidence interval, 52% to 96%] versus 35% [95% confidence interval, 8% to 65]; P
An evolutionary perspective on intergroup dating bias

ABSTRACTAcross a diversity of contexts, men tend to exhibit greater intergroup bias than do women. However, in the domain of dating, this trend is reversed, such that women more strongly prefer to date men of their own racial group. Researchers employing an evolutionary perspective suggest that this sex difference can be explained by an evolutionary history in which men and women faced distinct adaptive challenges in their interactions with outgroup men. For women, outgroup men posed a recurrent threat of sexual coercion. Given the importance of reproductive choice in female mating strategies, this may have exerted selection pressure for psychological mechanisms that promote avoidance of outgroup men. Here we pre-registered a two-study design to examine whether women’s intergroup dating bias, manipulated via nationality to control for racial stereotypes, could be altered by manipulating the formidability of outgroup dating targets, thereby ameliorating or exacerbating their perceived threat. The design di...
Some Remarks on the Arithmetic-geometric Index

Using an identity for effective resistances, we find a relationship between the arithmetic-geometric index and the global ciclicity index. Also, with the help of majorization, we find tight upper and lower bounds for the arithmetic-geometric index.
Destructive stationary phase gradients for reversed-phase/hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography

Abstract The use of stationary phase gradients for liquid chromatography (LC) is a promising new strategy to allow for specific control over the selectivity of a separation by having a gradual change in the ligand density along the length of the column. Unfortunately, there have been very few, if any, methods to prepare continuous stationary phase gradients on traditional packed LC columns. In this work, destructive methodologies are used to create stationary phase gradients on commercial C18 columns by infusing trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) onto the column through controlled rate of infusion (CRI). The introduction of TFA via CRI while the column is heated at 80 °C promotes acid hydrolysis of the alkylsilane ligand in a gradient fashion. Characterization with scanning electron microscopy and Barrett-Joyner-Halenda pore size distributions of the stationary phase after fabrication of the destructive gradient establishes that the chromatographic support was not damaged during the procedure. The shape of the gradient was examined using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. TGA and ATR-FTIR showed an increase in the percent carbon loss along the length of the column, indicating that there was an increase in the C18 ligand from the front to the end of the column. Two selectivity tests demonstrated a decrease in the hydrophobicity and increase in the silanol activity of the stationary phase gradient from the uniform C18 counterpart. Additionally, the fabrication of the destructive stationary phase gradient resulted in two different surface functionalities allowing hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions with analyte species depending on the mobile phase composition. Plots of the log of retention factor versus percent acetonitrile illustrated that these stationary phase gradients have two separation mechanisms: reversed-phase (RP) and hydrophilic interaction. Coupling the stationary phase gradient with a mobile phase gradient shows differences in the peak widths and the resolution of phenolic compounds, indicating that the orientation of the stationary phase gradient has the potential to enhance the resolution of a separation. With this methodology, stationary phase gradients can be fabricated on previously used RP columns, allowing for these columns to be repurposed.
Showing humanity: violence and visuality in Kashmir

This paper examines the burst of visual production that emerged from and around Indian-occupied Kashmir in July 2016, when the Indian paramilitary and police began to implement for the first time a...
High-Resolution Hydrographic Surveys Near the Shelfbreak in the East China Sea: Joint Studies with National Taiwan University

Abstract : For this project, we jointly planned and executed a major field program in the East China Sea northeast of Taiwan. We along with our Taiwanese collaborators performed high-resolution hydrographic surveys over the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope during August/September 2009. The field work was in close collaboration with numerical modelers from MIT who were assimilating the high-resolution hydrographic data into their model and producing ocean circulation forecasts including uncertainty forecasts. During the field experiment, we measured a major fresh water pulse from the runoff from Typhoon Morakot, which caused the most typhoon-related rainfall over Taiwan in 50 years. Our results show strong alongshelf gradients of freshwater at the shelfbreak associated with this freshwater pulse. Our data has been used by the modelers to verify the uncertainty forecasts and the predicted error distribution compares very well with the actual error distribution.
An Analysis of the Gimballed Horizontal Pendulum System for Use as a Rotary Vibrational Energy Harvester

This paper examines a gimballed horizontal pendulum for use as an energy harvester. It can be designed for threshold escape behavior rather than the conventional method of matching frequencies. A nonlinear electromechanical model is developed to study the system’s equilibrium states as a function of tilt angle. Bifurcation diagrams are generated to illustrate these equilibria and their associated stability. A bifurcation point is solved for analytically and the implications for an energy harvester, one that can be designed to jump across stable attractors based on forcing amplitudes, are discussed.
Gap Junctions in Glia

The historical perception of glia as simply the glue or putty that holds together the neurons in the nervous system has undergone a recent, radical change (Dermietzel and Spray, 1998). Glia are now known to possess many of the channels, receptors, and transport machinery formerly assigned exclusively to neurons for dissipation of local changes in the neuronal microenvironment. Endowed with these mechanisms, individual glial cells, astrocytes in particular, respond to diverse nervous system signals and thus actively participate in brain function. Because glial cells are connected to one another by gap junction channels, allowing direct intercellular diffusion of ions and signaling molecules, the receptors on individual glia could be effectively shared throughout the network. Thus, gap junctions serve to coordinate and integrate glial activity throughout the nervous system, providing a mechanism whereby both bulk flow of water and solutes as well as regenerative processes such as Ca2+ waves may travel long distances.
Inside BAM Racing: rethinking the sponsorship match-up process in 'America's fastest-growing sport'

This paper expands upon existing sports sponsorship 'match-up' research by offering an interview-driven, empirically-grounded, 'thick' description of the decision-making processes of sports organisations in developing athlete-sponsor-team relationships. By focusing on a particular NASCAR (The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) organisation (BAM Racing), the study offers an in-depth interpretation of the sometimes 'messy' methods employed by executives in grafting an effective, synergistic match-up. The paper concludes with a discussion on the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Evaluating the impact of COVID-19: A cohort comparison study of drug use and risky sexual behavior among sexual minority men in the U.S.A.

Abstract Background Sexual minority men who use drugs have high sexual HIV transmission risk. Sexual interactions may also increase COVID-19 risk.This study compared marijuana use, other illegal drugs use (i.e. cocaine/crack, methamphetamine, MDMA/ecstasy, GHB, and ketamine) and sexual behavior with casual partners among sexual minority cismen active on social networking and dating applications before and during the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods This cohort-control study compared 455 adult respondents (surveyed May 6th to 17th, 2020) and a matched sample selected from 65,707 respondents surveyed pre-COVID. Participants were recruited on social networking and dating applications and completed surveys online. Results The proportion reporting marijuana use declined significantly in the COVID cohort (34.5 % versus 45.7 % pre-COVID,p Conclusions While the proportion of participants reporting drug use and condomless anal sex with casual partners declined in the COVID cohort, the association between drug use and sexual behavior was magnified. Sexual minority men who use drugs are significantly more likely to engage in sexual behaviors that place them at risk for HIV and COVID-19 transmission.
Role of sleep duration and obesity-related health behaviors in young children

Adverse health outcomes and obesity are especially high among children with sleep deficiencies. Such health consequences may differentially affect children 2-5 years of age, during which time children undergo drastic shifts in sleep patterns and neurological development. To date, little epidemiologic research has examined the link between sleep and obesity-related health behaviors among this age group. We investigated the relationship between sleep and eating/physical activity behaviors among children aged 2-5 years old. In fall 2018, parents and teachers of 1,169 children attending 34 Early Childcare Education (ECE) centers in Georgia completed surveys on sleep patterns and obesity-related health and eating behaviors. In this analysis, sleep was not associated with various child eating behaviors either at home or in the classroom, however, shorter sleep duration was found to be associated with lower physical activity during the school day (p < 0.01). Furthermore, when stratifying by gender, girls sleeping <10 h were less likely to eat more than one vegetable at home than those sleeping ≥10 h (p = 0.04). This preliminary evidence is a starting point, from which researchers may continue elucidating the drivers of obesity in this understudied population.
Abstract 15084: A Retrospective Analysis of Atrial Fibrillation Patients Aged 80 Years and Older Prescribed a Low-dose Non-vitamin K Antagonist Anticoagulant

Background: The very elderly and those receiving low doses of the direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) were underrepresented in trials leading to the approval of Apixaban 2.5 mgs BID (A), Riva...
Software Framework for Federated Science Instruments

There is an unprecedented promise of enhanced capabilities for federations of leadership computing systems and experimental science facilities by leveraging software technologies for fast and efficient operations. These federations seek to unify different science instruments, both computing and experimental, to effectively support science users and operators to execute complex workflows. The FedScI project addresses the software challenges associated with the formation and operation of federated environments by leveraging recent advances in containerization of software and softwarization of hardware. We propose a software framework to streamline the federation usage by science users and it’s provisioning and operations by facility providers. A distinguishing element of our work is the support for improved interaction between experimental devices, such as beam-line instruments, and more traditional high-performance computing resources, including compute, network, storage systems. We present guiding principles for the software framework and highlight portions of a current prototype implementation. We describe our science use case involving neutron imaging beam-lines (SNAP/BL-3, Imaging/CG-1D) at the Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Additionally, we detail plans for a more direct instrument interaction within a federated environment, which could enable more advanced workflows with feedback loops to shorten the time to science.
Highly selective brain-to-gut communication via genetically defined vagus neurons

The vagus nerve innervates many organs, and most, if not all, of its motor fibers are cholinergic. However, no one knows its organizing principles-whether or not there are dedicated neurons with restricted targets that act as "labeled lines" to perform certain functions, including two opposing ones (gastric contraction versus relaxation). By performing unbiased transcriptional profiling of DMV cholinergic neurons, we discovered seven molecularly distinct subtypes of motor neurons. Then, by using subtype-specific Cre driver mice, we show that two of these subtypes exclusively innervate the glandular domain of the stomach where, remarkably, they contact different enteric neurons releasing functionally opposing neurotransmitters (acetylcholine versus nitric oxide). Thus, the vagus motor nerve communicates via genetically defined labeled lines to control functionally unique enteric neurons within discrete subregions of the gastrointestinal tract. This discovery reveals that the parasympathetic nervous system utilizes a striking division of labor to control autonomic function.
Keeping it in the family: Cultural socialization among Haitian American families:

The broad areas of ethnic and racial socialization have been studied as essential aspects of immigrant and African American families. Yet, there has been less understanding of how these processes i...
Differences in the purification and solution properties of PurC gene products from Streptococcus pneumoniae and Bacillus anthracis

Abstract 4-(N-succino)-5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide synthetase (PurC) is a key enzyme in the de novo purine biosynthetic pathway of bacteria and an ideal target pathway for the discovery of antimicrobials. Bacillus anthracis (Ba) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp) are two of the bacteria shown to be severe detriments to public health. To be able to carry out the experimentation that leads to drug discovery, high yields of pure soluble recombinant protein must first be obtained. We studied two recombinant PurC proteins from B. anthracis and S. pneumoniae, using Escherichia coli as the host cells. These two proteins, with very similar amino acid sequences, exhibit very different solution properties, leading to a large difference in yields during protein purification under the same conditions. The yield for SpPurC (>50 mG per gram of cells) is ten times greater than that for BaPurC (
Partial deoiling process for beneficiating dolomitic phosphate pebble.

As part of a program to address the long-term need to ensure adequate supplies of domestic phosphate raw materials, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has conducted considerable research on dolomitic phosphate rock beneficiation. The discovery that alkyl diphosphonic acids act as phosphate mineral depressants led to the development of several processes involving a carbonate flotation step for the effective beneficiation of these problem ores. Most recently, a partial deoiling process in which the reagent consumption is greatly reduced has been developed. The reduction is achieved because part of the initial feed is beneficiated without passing through the separate carbonate flotation step. Using this method, a phosphate product containing 30.6–30.9% P2O5 and 0.7–0.8% MgO was obtained from a Florida dolomitic phosphate pebble that contained about 23% P205 and 2.0% MgO. The P2O5 recovery was 80.8–86.5%.
Differential cascode voltage switch with the pass-gate (DCVSPG) logic tree for high performance CMOS digital systems

A new circuit configuration, the differential cascode voltage switch with the pass-gate logic tree (DCVSPG), is presented. In this circuit family, the authors use the pass-gate logic tree to replace the nMOS logic tree in the conventional DCVS circuit in order to eliminate the floating-node problem. By eliminating the floating-node, the DCVSPG shows superior performance, silicon area and power consumption. Moreover, the dynamic DCVSPG also provides the leverage of relieving the charge redistribution concern and reinforces the signal integrity in the typical pre-charge dynamic circuits. The principle of operation of the DCVSPG is explained. A simple synthesis technique of the pass-gate logic tree is discussed. Finally, a 64-bit carry look-ahead adder is designed by using the static DCVSPG circuit. A nominal cycle time (T/sub a/=22 degrees C and power supply of 2.5 V) of 2.0 ns is obtained by using a 0.5 mu m CMOS technology. >
Photorefractive optical information processing

Applications of photorefractive devices for radio frequency signal processing problems are reviewed. The problems of signal correlation, filtering and adaptive filtering are addressed using the time integrating property of grating formation in photorefractive crystals. The dynamic range of photorefractive crystals is sufficiently large for critical applications such as adaptive signal processing. New system architectures that use photorefractive two-beam coupling are demonstrated for the problems of tunable notch filtering and adaptive notch filtering. >
INFLUENCE OF A PORTABLE TRANSCUTANEOUS OXYGEN MONITOR (TcPO 2 ) ON OXYGEN CONCENTRATION (FiO 2 ) CHANGES DURING NEONATAL TRANSPORTS

INFLUENCE OF A PORTABLE TRANSCUTANEOUS OXYGEN MONITOR (TcPO 2 ) ON OXYGEN CONCENTRATION (FiO 2 ) CHANGES DURING NEONATAL TRANSPORTS
A normalized constant-modulus algorithm

The constant-modulus algorithm (CMA), while the most commonly used blind equalization technique, converges very slowly. We propose a "normalized" constant-modulus algorithm (analogous to the widely used normalized LMS algorithm) with an adjustable step size that greatly increases the convergence rate for noise colorings with large eigenvalue spreads. The normalized step size is proportional to that required to achieve the desired modulus with the current data vector. Only a few extra operations per update are required. Many applications now using the constant modulus algorithm should achieve greatly improved convergence rates at almost negligible computational increase by adopting the new normalized CMA algorithm.
Extreme polar warmth during the Cretaceous greenhouse? Paradox of the late Turonian δ18O record at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 511

[1] Oxygen isotope data for upper Turonian planktonic foraminifera at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 511 (Falkland Plateau, 60°S paleolatitude) exhibit an ∼2‰ excursion to values as low as -4.66‰ (Vienna Peedee belemnite standard; PDB) coincident with the warmest tropical temperature estimates yet obtained for the open ocean. The lowest planktonic foraminifer δ 1 8 O values suggest that the upper ocean was as warm as 30-32°C. This is an extraordinary temperature for 60°S latitude but is consistent with temperatures estimated from apparently coeval mollusc δ 1 8 O from nearby James Ross Island (65°S paleolatitude). Glassy textural preservation, a well-defined depth distribution in Site 511 planktonics, low sediment burial temperature (∼32°C), and lack of evidence of highly depleted pore waters argue against diagenesis (even solid state diffusion) as the cause of the very depleted planktonic values. The lack of change in benthic foraminifer δ 1 8 O suggests brackish water capping as the mechanism for the low planktonic δ 1 8 O values. However, mixing ratio calculations show that the amount of freshwater required to produce a 2‰ shift in ambient water would drive a 7 psu decrease in salinity. The abundance and diversity of planktonic foraminifera and nannofossils, high planktonic:benthic ratios, and the appearance of keeled foraminifera argue against lower-than-normal marine salinities. Isotope calculations and climate models indicate that we cannot call upon more depleted freshwater δ 1 8 O to explain this record. Without more late Turonian data, especially from outside the South Atlantic basin, we can currently only speculate on possible causes of this paradoxical record from the core of the Cretaceous greenhouse.
Molecular mechanisms of cognitive and behavioral comorbidities of epilepsy in children

Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) such as autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) and epilepsies are heterogeneous disorders that have diverse etiologies and pathophysiologies. The high rate of co-occurrence of these disorders, however, suggests potentially shared underlying mechanisms. A number of well-known genetic disorders share epilepsy, intellectual disability, and autism as prominent phenotypic features, including tuberous sclerosis complex, Rett syndrome, and fragile X syndrome. In addition, mutations of several genes involved in neurodevelopment, including ARX, DCX, neuroligins, and neuropilin 2 have been identified in children with epilepsy, IDDs, ASDs, or a combination of thereof. Finally, in animal models, early life seizures can result in cellular and molecular changes that could contribute to learning and behavioral disabilities. Increased understanding of the common genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms of IDDs, ASDs, and epilepsy may provide insight into their underlying pathophysiology and elucidate new therapeutic approaches for these conditions.
Antral G-cell and D-cell numbers in Helicobacter pylori infection: effect of H. pylori eradication.

Abstract Background: It has recently been recognized that Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with abnormalities in the regulation of gastrin secretion. We investigated whether there was a relationship between H. pylori infection and G-cell and D-cell numbers. Methods: The numbers of antral G cells and D cells were compared between 20 patients with duodenal ulcer and 24 volunteers, 12 with and 12 without H. pylori infection. The effect of eradication of H. pylori infection on G-cell number was also evaluated. Antral mucosal biopsy specimens were examined using immunohistochemical techniques specific for the presence of gastrin and somatostatin. Results: The number of G cells was significantly ( P H. pylori infection results in a dramatic reduction in stimulated gastrin secretion, it is not associated with a change in the numbers of antral G cells or D cells in patients with duodenal ulcer. Conclusions: It is concluded that H. pylori infection-associated increase in gastrin secretion appear to be related to local factors regulating G-cell function.
Selective Regulation of CD8 Effector T Cell Migration by the p110γ Isoform of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase

Chemokine-mediated T cell migration is essential to an optimal immune response. The p110γ isoform of PI3K is activated by G protein-coupled receptors and regulates neutrophil and macrophage chemotaxis. We used p110γ-deficient mice to examine the role of p110γ in CD8 T cell migration and activation in response to viral challenge. Naive CD8 T cell migration in response to CCL21 in vitro and trafficking into secondary lymphoid organs in vivo was unaffected by the loss of p110γ. Furthermore, loss of p110γ did not affect CD8 T cell proliferation and effector cell differentiation in vitro in response to anti-CD3 stimulation or in vivo in response to vaccinia virus (VV) challenge. However, there was reduced migration of p110γ knockout (p110γ −/− ) CD8 effector T cells into the peritoneum following i.p. challenge with VV. The role of p110γ in CD8 effector T cell migration was intrinsic to T cells, as p110γ −/− CD8 effector T cells exhibited impaired migration into the inflamed peritoneum following secondary transfer into wild-type recipients. In addition, p110γ −/− CD8 effector T cells exhibited impaired migration in vitro in response to inflammatory chemoattractants. Although wild-type mice efficiently cleared VV at high viral doses, infection of p110γ knockout mice resulted in visible illness and death less than a week after infection. Thus, p110γ is dispensable for constitutive migration of naive CD8 T cells and subsequent activation and differentiation into effector CD8 T cells, but plays a central role in the migration of effector CD8 T cells into inflammatory sites.
Radial basis function interpolation of unstructured, three-dimensional, volumetric particle tracking velocimetry data

Unstructured three-dimensional fluid velocity data were interpolated using Gaussian radial basis function (RBF) interpolation. Data were generated to imitate the spatial resolution and experimental uncertainty of a typical implementation of defocusing digital particle image velocimetry. The velocity field associated with a steadily rotating infinite plate was simulated to provide a bounded, fully three-dimensional analytical solution of the Navier–Stokes equations, allowing for robust analysis of the interpolation accuracy. The spatial resolution of the data (i.e. particle density) and the number of RBFs were varied in order to assess the requirements for accurate interpolation. Interpolation constraints, including boundary conditions and continuity, were included in the error metric used for the least-squares minimization that determines the interpolation parameters to explore methods for improving RBF interpolation results. Even spacing and logarithmic spacing of RBF locations were also investigated. Interpolation accuracy was assessed using the velocity field, divergence of the velocity field, and viscous torque on the rotating boundary. The results suggest that for the present implementation, RBF spacing of 0.28 times the boundary layer thickness is sufficient for accurate interpolation, though theoretical error analysis suggests that improved RBF positioning may yield more accurate results. All RBF interpolation results were compared to standard Gaussian weighting and Taylor expansion interpolation methods. Results showed that RBF interpolation improves interpolation results compared to the Taylor expansion method by 60% to 90% based on the average squared velocity error and provides comparable velocity results to Gaussian weighted interpolation in terms of velocity error. RMS accuracy of the flow field divergence was one to two orders of magnitude better for the RBF interpolation compared to the other two methods. RBF interpolation that was applied to vortex identification in experimental data showed reduced noise and reliable calculation of vortex ring geometry.
Correlates of sophisticated listener judgments of esophageal air intake noise.

Abstract Twenty-four laryngectomees, ranging widely in speaking ability, read a standard passage for audio recording. Four experienced voice clinicians rated the acceptability of the speakers' air intake noise. Independently, overall speech proficiency ratings were obtained for 18 of the subjects. Five objective measures of the subjects' esophageal speech were obtained using a real-time intensity display on a storage oscilloscope. Judges' reliability was determined by Pearson Product Moment Correlations. Ratings were submitted to multiple regression analysis. The means of air intake noise acceptability were the criterion variables; the objective measures and speech proficiency scores were the predictor variables. Three predictors were positively correlated (
Relationship of Fiber Type Composition to Marbling and Tenderness of Bovine Muscle

Beef carcasses (n = 65) were selected to range widely in marbling (moderately abundan: to practically devoid) and maturity (A, n = 25; B, n = 19; C, n = 6; D, n = 8; E, n = 7). Number, percent, area and mean diameter of β-red (βR), α-white (αW) and α-red (αR) muscle fibers were determined. Warner-Bratzler shear force values and taste panel tenderness ratings were also obtained. αW muscle fiber parameters were negatively correlated (P < 0.05) to marbling and tenderness ratings while αR and βR parameters were positively correlated (P < 0.05) to these quality attributes. The ratio of αW fiber area to βR and/or αR fiber area was correlated (P < 0.05) with marbling and tenderness. Regression analyses indicate that muscle fiber type composition is more highly related to marbling (marb) than it is to shear force value (SFV) or tenderness rating (TR) although all relationships were significant (P < 0.10). The relationship of these quality indicators to fiber type is greater within A maturity [marb, coefficient of determination (C.D.) = 65.09; SFV, C.D. = 65.09; SFV, C.D. = 28.85; TR, C.D. = 62.94] than for the entire population (murb, C.D. = 49.16; SFV, C.D. = 18.71; TR, C.D. = 30.47). It appears that the oxidative capacity of a muscle is related to marbling and tenderness and that muscle fiber type composition could possibly be used as a predictor of marbling potential.
Ancient DNA analysis of human populations

The use of ancient DNA (aDNA) in the reconstruction of population origins and evolution is becoming increasingly common. The resultant increase in number of samples and polymorphic sites assayed and the number of studies published may give the impression that all technological hurdles associated with aDNA technology have been overcome. However, analysis of aDNA is still plagued by two issues that emerged at the advent of aDNA technology, namely the inability to amplify a significant number of samples and the contamination of samples with modern DNA. Herein, we analyze five well-preserved skeletal specimens from the western United States dating from 800–1600 A.D. These specimens yielded DNA samples with levels of contamination ranging from 0–100%, as determined by the presence or absence of New World-specific mitochondrial markers. All samples were analyzed by a variety of protocols intended to assay genetic variability and detect contamination, including amplification of variously sized DNA targets, direct DNA sequence analysis of amplification products and sequence analysis of cloned amplification products, analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms, quantitation of target DNA, amino acid racemization, and amino acid quantitation. Only the determination of DNA sequence from a cloned amplification product clearly revealed the presence of both ancient DNA and contaminating DNA in the same extract. Our results demonstrate that the analysis of aDNA is still an excruciatingly slow and meticulous process. All experiments, including stringent quality and contamination controls, must be performed in an environment as free as possible of potential sources of contaminating DNA, including modern DNA extracts. Careful selection of polymorphic markers capable of discriminating between ancient DNA and probable DNA contaminants is critical. Research strategies must be designed with a goal of identifying all DNA contaminants in order to differentiate convincingly between contamination and endogenous DNA. Am J Phys Anthropol 111:5–23, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Exploring the Relevance of Interpersonal Dependency as a Treatment Issue in Batterer Intervention

Objective: The purpose of the study was to (a) investigate the pretreatment levels of interpersonal dependency and violence among men entering a 16-week, court-mandated, batterer intervention program (BIP) and determine if there were any associations between interpersonal dependency and violence and (b) evaluate the treatment effect of a standard BIP in altering levels of interpersonal dependency among treatment completers. Method: The study employed a secondary analysis of 114 men, 56 treatment completers and 58 dropouts. Results: Analysis indicated that men who assault women and are court ordered into treatment are excessively dependent on their intimate partners prior to beginning treatment, that level of interpersonal dependency is unrelated to a multidimensional conceptualization of domestic violence (i.e., psychological aggression, physical assault, sexual coercion and injury), and that the BIP did not alter the level of interpersonal dependency among treatment completers. Conclusion: Implications o...
Leukemia in a Child with a History of Medulloblastoma

Leukemia of mixed lineage, was diagnosed in a 6.5-year-old boy with a history of medulloblastoma, 38 months after his initial cancer diagnosis. Therapy had included craniospinal radiation and nitrosourea-based chemotherapy. In addition, onset of leukemia was preceded by therapy with recombinant growth hormone for short stature. Although rare, leukemia is a treatment-related complication for patients with past brain tumors whose follow-up should therefore include surveillance with complete blood counts.
An Integrated Framework for Optimizing CO2 Sequestration and Enhanced Oil Recovery

CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) is a technique for commercially producing oil from depleted reservoirs by injecting CO2 along with water. Because a large portion of the injected CO2 remains in place, CO2-EOR is an option for permanently sequestering CO2. This study develops a generic integrated framework for optimizing CO2 sequestration and enhanced oil recovery based on known parameter distributions for a depleted oil reservoir in Texas. The framework consists of a multiphase reservoir simulator coupled with geologic and statistical models. An integrated simulation of CO2–water–oil flow and reactive transport is conducted, followed by a global sensitivity and response surface analysis, for optimizing the CO2-EOR process. The results indicate that the reservoir permeability, porosity, thickness, and depth are the major intrinsic reservoir parameters that control net CO2 injection/storage and oil/gas recovery rates. The distance between injection and production wells and the sequence of alternating CO2...
On LP stochastic representations

In this note we give a simpler but more powerful proof of the stochastic integral representation theorem.
Clovis in context: New light on the peopling of the Americas

Until recently, the first Americans were thought to be fluted-point spear-hunters from the Siberian steppes. Near the end of the Ice Age, they followed big-game herds over the Bering land bridge into the open, upland habitats of the interior of North America about 12,000 years ago. Rapidly extinguishing the big game herds with their deadly hunting methods, they pressed southward in search of new herds and reached the tip of South America about a thousand years later. Today, nearly 70 years after the first excavations at Clovis, New Mexico, the type site for this culture, new sites and new dates from both North and South America are forcing a revision of the earlier picture of the migrations and adaptations of the first Americans. But despite recurring claims that human colonization of the Western Hemisphere began as early as 20,000 or more years ago with the arrival of generalized foragers lacking a projectile-point tradition, no definitive data gives empirical support for a human presence before c. 12,000 before the present (B.P.). All supposed pre-Clovis cultures except one in Alaska have failed to withstand careful scrutiny of their data. In addition, despite recent claims for cultural and biological links of the migrants to Europe or the Pacific Islands, the skeletons and cultural assemblages of Paleoindians throughout the hemisphere point consistently to a northeast Asian origin. According to new data, Paleoindian ancestors in Beringia c. 12,000 years ago were not specialized, fluted-point hunters of large game, but broad-spectrum hunter-gatherers using triangular or bipointed, lanceolates. Diverse cultures descended from these ancestors, not only the big-game hunting Clovis culture of the North American high plains. And just as Clovis did not set the cultural pattern for the hemisphere, it was not the earliest culture. Fully contemporary with the earliest possible Clovis dates of c. 11,200, in South America there already were maritime foragers on the Pacific coast, small-game hunters in the southern pampas, and tropical forest riverine foragers in the eastern tropical lowlands. The Clovis culture thus was just one of several regional cultures developed in the millennium after the initial migration. It could not have been the ancestor of the other early Paleoindian cultures. This new picture of Paleoindian cultures changes understanding of initial human adaptive radiation in the Americas and has implications for general theories of human evolution and behavioral ecology.
Updated resonance photodecay amplitudes to 2 GeV.

We present the results of an energy-dependent and set of single-energy partial-wave analyses of single-pion photoproduction data. These analyses extend from threshold to 2 GeV in the laboratory photon energy, and update our previous analyses to 1.8 GeV. Photo-decay amplitudes are extracted for the baryon resonances within this energy range. We consider two photoproduction sum rules and the contributions of two additional resonance
HOUSE OF MIST, DE MARÍA LUISA BOMBAL: UNA NOVELA OLVIDADA

Erroneamente se ha sostenido que House of Mist es la version al ingles de La ultima niebla. Tal vez por esto no ha sido traducida al espanol y ha recibido escasa atencion critica. Ambas novelas desarrollan un mismo tema, pero lo tratan desde perspectivas distintas. En House of Mist las relaciones intertextuales con el cuento de hadas, especialmente con Cenicienta y La Bella y la Bestia, son el soporte literario para el desarrollo de la tematica amorosa, la caracterizacion de los personajes y la significacion ultima del texto. En el presente trabajo documento la confusion critica que aun existe sobre ambos textos para despejar equivocos. Analizo la significacion de las relaciones intertextuales entre House of Mist y los cuentos mencionados, para concluir que la novela avanza el pensamiento de Bombal sobre las relaciones de genero y contribuye, por lo tanto, a una mejor comprension de la totalidad de su obra.
Weight loss—there is an app for that! But does it adhere to evidence-informed practices?

Little is known about how much smartphone apps for weight control adhere to evidence-informed practices. The aim of this study was to review and summarize the content of available weight control apps. Information on content, user rating, and price was extracted from iTunes on September 25, 2009. Apps (n = 204) were coded for adherence to 13 evidence-informed practices for weight control. Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups of apps based on endorsement practices. Only a small percentage of apps had five or more of the 13 practices (15%). Latent class analysis revealed three main types of apps: diet, physical activity, and weight journals (19%); dietary advice and journals (34%); and weight trackers (46%). User ratings were not associated with apps from these three classes. Many apps have insufficient evidence-informed content. Research is needed that seeks to develop, improve, and evaluate these apps.
Quantum dots in diagnostics and detection: principles and paradigms

Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that exhibit exceptional optical and electrical behaviors not found in their bulk counterparts. Following seminal work in the development of water-soluble quantum dots in the late 1990's, researchers have sought to develop interesting and novel ways of exploiting the extraordinary properties of quantum dots for biomedical applications. Since that time, over 10 000 articles have been published related to the use of quantum dots in biomedicine, many of which regard their use in detection and diagnostic bioassays. This review presents a didactic overview of fundamental physical phenomena associated with quantum dots and paradigm examples of how these phenomena can and have been readily exploited for manifold uses in nanobiotechnology with a specific focus on their implementation in in vitro diagnostic assays and biodetection.
A comprehensive study of the predictive accuracy of dynamic change-impact analysis

We comprehensively study the predictive accuracy of dynamic change-impact analysis.We assess this accuracy with large numbers of both artificial and repository changes.We found that dynamic impact analyses can suffer from both low precision and low recall.The accuracy for typical repository changes can be even lower than for random changes.Short executions of programs can be associated with an even lower recall. The correctness of software is affected by its constant changes. For that reason, developers use change-impact analysis to identify early the potential consequences of changing their software. Dynamic impact analysis is a practical technique that identifies potential impacts of changes for representative executions. However, it is unknown how reliable its results are because their accuracy has not been studied. This paper presents the first comprehensive study of the predictive accuracy of dynamic impact analysis in two complementary ways. First, we use massive numbers of random changes across numerous Java applications to cover all possible change locations. Then, we study more than 100 changes from software repositories, which are representative of developer practices. Our experimental approach uses sensitivity analysis and execution differencing to systematically measure the precision and recall of dynamic impact analysis with respect to the actual impacts observed for these changes. Our results for both types of changes show that the most cost-effective dynamic impact analysis known is surprisingly inaccurate with an average precision of 38-50% and average recall of 50-56% in most cases. This comprehensive study offers insights on the effectiveness of existing dynamic impact analyses and motivates the future development of more accurate impact analyses.
Advances in Chagas disease drug development: 2009–2010

Purpose of reviewThe need for better drugs to treat patients with Chagas disease remains urgent. This review summarizes the advancements in drug development over the past 2 years.Recent findingsDrug development efforts are almost exclusively occurring as preclinical research, although phase II studi
A note on Beethoven's metronome

Abstract An analysis is made of the amount that a metronome can be slowed by friction before its motion becomes unacceptably irregular. The study was prompted by the fact that many of the metronome marks given by Beethoven for his music are considered to be too fast, and the question arises as to whether this could have been due to frictional retardation of his metronome, causing the musician to have set his instrument at higher-than-desired frequencies. It is concluded that frictional effects conceivably could produce about a 10% reduction in frequency, but this amount is insufficient to explain all of the metronome marks in question.