cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Noose Knots: Data Paralysis and Oppressive Psychological Tactics

Noose Knots identifies and illustrates the risk and protective factors in the contemporary ecological systems of each nation (US, UK, France and Canada). This chapter assesses the current behavioral health and mental wellness outcome data (special education, substance abuse, exposure to trauma, employment rates, school attrition rates, incarceration rates, etc.) and links them to ecological risk factors generated by each nation’s participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the colonization of Africa and other territories. An exploration of psychological phenomenon associated with oppressive forces (learned helplessness, stereotype threat, disidentification, self-fulfilling prophecy, racial stress, stigma, bias and access) contextualizes the data presented. This chapter ends by connecting the risk and protective factors to the statistical outcomes illustrated in biological and ecological markers (hair cortisol concentrations, cancer, diabetes, leading causes of death) along with an exploration of the dangers associated with frequent misdiagnoses (ASD, ODD, ADHD, IED and CD) and the etiological practices behind them.
Micro RNA 181c-5p: A promising target for post-stroke recovery in socially isolated mice

Abstract Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been tied to several neurological disorders, including ischemic stroke. It has also been established that social environments can modulate miRNA profiles. We have previously shown that post-stroke social isolation (SI) is linked to poor stroke outcomes and that miR-181c-5p emerged as one of few lead miRNAs that was downregulated in both stroke and SI. Therefore, in this study we examined the potential role of miR-181c-5p mimic in reversing the detrimental effects of post-stroke SI. Two to three-month-old C57BL/6 male mice were pair-housed (PH) for at least two weeks. After two weeks, mice underwent stroke survival surgery using middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and were randomly assigned to one of two housing conditions: stroke isolation (ST-ISO) or stroke pair-housing with a healthy partner (ST-PH). ST-ISO mice were randomized to receive either miR-181c-5p mimic or a scrambled RNA (7 mg/kg i.v./day×drug) control at 24 h and 48 h after stroke. The effects of miR-181c-5p mimic treatment were evaluated at 1, 3, and 7 days after stroke at histological, behavioral, and biochemical levels. Target genes of miR-181c-5p were then analyzed by qPCR using an RT2 Profiler qPCR Array of pre-coated miR-181c gene targets. Temporal profile expression data suggested that miR-181c-5p was significantly downregulated (p
The violation of a uniqueness theorem and an invariant in the application of Poincar\'{e}--Perron theorem to Heun's equation

The domain of convergence of a Heun function obtained through the Poincare--Perron (P--P) theorem is not absolute convergence but conditional one [2]. We show that a uniqueness theorem is not available if we apply the P--P theorem into the Heun's equation. We verify that the uniqueness theorem is only applicable when a local Heun function is absolutely convergent.
Youth and religion in an age of global citizenship identification: An 18-country study of youth

Abstract The world is becoming more globalized and interconnected. As a result, there is an emphasis on ensuring that the next generation can adapt and work in the budding global industries and new work environments. Faith-based organizations can supplement or complement governmental and familial entities in supporting youth as they grapple with the implications of globalization and global citizenship expectations. Our aim is to study the level of global citizen identification among religious and non-religious youth. Using the World Values Survey, we obtain data pertaining to 18–29-year-olds from 18 countries. We found that youth who identified with religious beliefs and religious practices are less likely to align with global citizenship tenets (e.g. accepts neighbors who are different from themselves), yet more commonly identify themselves as world citizens. These findings indicate that religious beliefs and religious behaviors mediate effects between individuals and global citizenship identifications. In return, religious affiliation may serve as a mediating structure that is instrumental in helping youth function in a world where identifying and living as a global citizen is expected.
Perioperative Care and Airway Management for a Patient With Sagliker Syndrome.

In this report, we present a case of a patient with a history of complex airway anatomy secondary to Sagliker syndrome (SS) who presented with acute exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure. The patient's difficult airway, complicated medical comorbidities, and poor psychosocial status posed a unique challenge for providing safe care during an emergency. The perioperative anesthesia service (PAS), led by critical care anesthesiologists, coordinated a multidisciplinary airway management plan. The PAS team also assisted this medically complex patient with her decision-making process. A 37-year-old female with SS, which is characterized by irreversible disfiguring of head and neck anatomy secondary to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and poorly controlled hyperparathyroidism, presented with acute exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure due to hypervolemia. The patient's respiratory status rapidly deteriorated despite aggressive hemodialysis, requiring transfer to the ICU. Given the challenging anatomy and poor respiratory reserve in this patient, the PAS team helped coordinate a comprehensive airway plan that involved transnasal fiberoptic intubation, and in case of emergency, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a bridge to a surgical airway. During the decision-making process, the patient was found to be in psychological distress and had limited insights into her condition. The PAS team helped facilitated multidisciplinary goals-of-care discussions for the patient and her family. Fortunately, the patient's oxygenation improved with noninvasive oxygen support and aggressive hemodialysis without the need for intubation. She was discharged with outpatient follow-up appointments arranged to discuss long-term management. This is the first reported case of SS in the United States. The early involvement by the PAS team helped coordinate a multidisciplinary care plan for this patient with a difficult airway and complex comorbidities. This report highlights an innovative airway algorithm for a potentially "cannot-intubate, cannot ventilate" complex airway, and the PAS team's role in providing support for the patient's physical and psychological needs, suggesting that a comprehensive perioperative service can improve the quality and safety of care, not only for surgical patients but also for medically complex patients as well.
S 2-orbifolds of N = 1 and N = 2 superconformal vertex algebras and W-algebras

We study S 2-orbifolds of N = 1 and N = 2 superconformal vertex algebras. For generic values of the central charge, we determine types of these orbifolds and prove that they are W-algebras. For som...
CSPACER: A Reduced API Set Runtime for the Space Consistency Model

We present our design and implementation of a runtime for the Space Consistency model. The Space Consistency model is a generalized form of the full-empty bit synchronization for distributed memory programming, where a memory region is associated with a counter that determines its consistency and readiness for consumption. The model allows for efficient implementation of point-to-point data transfers and collective communication primitives as well. We present the interface design, implementation details, and performance results on Cray XC systems. Our runtime adopts a reduced API design to provide low-overhead initiation and processing of communication primitives, enable threaded execution of runtime functions, and provide efficient pipelining, thus improving the computation-communication overlap. We show the performance benefits of using this runtime both at the microbenchmark level and in application settings.
A Positive Psychology Perspective on Designing a Technology-mediated Learning Experience: Engagement and Personal Development

This study takes a positive psychology approach to the integration of technology in the foreign language classroom. Specifically, it explores the benefits of using flow criteria (Czimmerman & Piniel, 2016; Egbert, 2003) to guide the design sequence of a technology-mediated project for a French for business course (advanced level). In the course of six weeks, twenty students progressed through several collaborative and individual tasks culminating in the co-constructionand presentation of a website designed to introduce a new company and product. The analysis of their reflection essays, produced at the conclusion of the project, shows that clear objectives, interest, time to explore, sense of control, and being pushed out of their comfort zone to address various challenges they encountered led to a meaningful experience. Experiencing positive emotions in relation to achievement and creativity was transformative leading them to build confidence, resilience, language skills and strategies, and plan for their future learning path. The findings suggest that fruitful integration of technology should not be judged solely on its effect on linguistic development but also on its potential to generate positive emotions to support engagement in foreign language learning.
Costs of abdominal aortic aneurysm care at a regional Veterans Affairs medical center with the implementation of an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening program.

Abstract Background Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening has demonstrated to be cost-effective in reducing AAA-related morbidity and all-cause mortality. However, the downstream care costs of an implemented AAA screening in clinical practice have not been reported. The purpose of this study is to determine direct regional Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) costs in implementing and sustaining an AAA screening program over a 10-year period. Methods A cost data analysis (adjusted to 2021 U.S. dollars) of an AAA screening program was conducted from 2007 to 2016, where 19,649 veteran patients aged 65-75 with a smoking history were screened at a regional VA medical center. A decision support system tracked direct and indirect encounter costs from Medicare billing codes associated with AAA care. Costs from a patient’s initial screening, follow-up imaging, to AAA repair or at the end of the analysis period, March 31, 2021, were recorded. Costs for AAA repairs outside the VA system were also tracked. Results A total of 1,183 patients screened were identified with an AAA ≥3.0 cm without history of repair. Estimated screening costs were $2.8 million or $280,000 annually ($143/screening) in the care of 19,649 screened patients. There were 221 patients who required repair (143 repairs in VA, 78 repairs outside VA). The average cost of elective endovascular repair was $43,021 and that of open repair was $49,871. The total costs for all elective repairs were $9,692,591. Screening, implementation, maintenance, and surgical repair cost involved in the management of patients with AAA disease was $13.7 million, with $10,686 per life-year lived after repair (5.8 ± 3.5 mean life-years) and $490 per life-year lived after screening (6.9 ± 3.5 mean life-years) for all patients screened. There were 13 deaths of unknown causes and one patient with a ruptured AAA that required emergency repair at a cost of $124,392. CONCLUSIONS Despite known limitations, the implementation of an AAA ultrasound screening program is feasible, cost-effective, and a worthwhile endeavor.
A Medical Support Application for Public based on Convolutional neural network to Detect Skin Cancer

Health problem, as the most currently wide social consensus, has attracted great attention in the medical domain and academic community. Especially most current females, they concern about their skin problems even more than average people. On the one hand, however, people may unconsciously ignore their skin problems since the peace of their work and life is getting faster and faster today. On the other hand, it is still hard for people to take time out to do a series of professional tests to discover the potential skin problems by going to hospitals even though they can notice the uncomfortable feeling in touching or the unnormal color surface of the skin. To alleviate the worry of people's skin problems effectively and warn them of the problems in time, we designed a medical support application for the public and community based on Convolutional Neural Network to detect common skin cancers in general. In this application, we trained a convolutional neural network that can effectively extract the medical knowledge that it can analyze whether the inputs, as known as skin images or non-skin images at first. The technology should analyze which kinds of skin problems from the skin images father. In addition, this application provides two extra supported functions, including the chat room and the personal center. A user can ask questions via the chat room that there is an AI assistant who would respond to the questions properly. It is also available for the user to contact a real doctor by typing the specific content. What's more, the personal center allows logged-in users to browse the history of tests and take feedback for the certain test based on the professional result of the skin problem.
Whole Genome Sequencing Illuminates the Developmental Signatures of Human Language Ability

1Language is the foundation of human social interaction, education, commerce, and mental health. The heritability underlying language is well-established, but our understanding of its genetic basis -- and how it compares to that of more general cognitive functioning-- remains unclear. To illuminate the language-specific contributions of rare and common variation, we performed whole genome sequencing in N=350 individuals who were characterized with seven latent language phenotypes. We conducted region, gene, and gene set-based analyses to identify patterns of genetic burden that disproportionately explained these language factors compared to nonverbal IQ. These analyses identified language-specific associations with NDST4 and GRIN2A, with common variant replication of NDST4 in an independent sample. Rare variant burden analyses revealed three distinct functional profiles of genes that make contributions to language: a prenatally-expressed profile with enrichment for chromatin modifiers and broad neuropsychiatric risk, a postnatal cortex-expressed profile with enrichment for ion channels and cognitive/neuropsychiatric associations, and a postnatal, subcortically-expressed profile with enrichment of cilium-related proteins. Compared to a profile strongly associated with nonverbal IQ, these language-related profiles showed less intolerance to damaging variation, suggesting that the selection patterns acting on language differ from patterns linked to intellectual disability. Furthermore, we found evidence that rare potential reversions to an ancestral state are associated with poorer overall specific language ability. The breadth of these variant, gene, and profile associations suggest that while human-specific selection patterns do contribute to language, these are distributed broadly across numerous key mechanisms and developmental periods, and not in one or a few "language genes".
Miraculous Consilience of Quantum Mechanics

Two events are said to be (positively) correlated when the occurrence of one increases the probability of the other. Provided that neither event causes the other, a causal model must “tie correlated events together” by postulating the existence of a common cause, or a hidden variable. But, Bell-type examples present multiple correlations that common causes do not explain because they tie the correlations together in the wrong way. Quantum mechanics succeeds where the common cause explanation fails. The successful quantum mechanical unification is a feature of good scientific theories that William Whewell referred to as the consilience of inductions. This essay describes how quantum mechanics achieves this successful consilience, and how it affects our interpretation of the theory.
Magnetic-domain structure of Nd2Fe14B permanent magnets

We report our studies of magnetic-domain structure in Nd2Fe14B permanent magnets using advanced transmission and scanning electron microscopy, including Lorentz imaging and electron holography. Domain-wall spacing D was measured as a function of thickness t for thin crystals, and also wall width of 90° and 180° domains; the domain-wall energies were calculated. Orientation and field dependence of the domain configuration and domain-wall behavior were examined in situ under different temperatures and applied fields. Characteristic magnetic structural features unique to corresponding bulk samples, such as reversed spike-domains and undulating domain boundaries, were also investigated.
Down-Regulation of the M6P/IGF-II Receptor Increases Cell Proliferation and Reduces Apoptosis in Neonatal Rat Cardiac Myocytes

The mannose 6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor-II receptor (M6P/IGF2R) is a multi-functional protein that has been implicated in regulation of cell growth and apoptosis. Cardiac myocytes express relatively high levels of M6P/IGF2R, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis has been identified in a variety of cardiovascular disorders, such as myocardial infarction and heart failure. However, involvement of M6P/IGF2R in the pathogenesis of these conditions has not been determined. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the role of M6P/IGF2R in regulation of cardiac myocyte growth and apoptosis. We down-regulated the expression of M6P/IGF2R in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes and examined the effect on cell proliferation and apoptosis. Infection of neonatal cardiomyocytes with an adenovirus expressing a ribozyme targeted against the M6P/IGF2R significantly reduced the level of M6P/IGF2R mRNA, as determined by RT-PCR and Ribonuclease Protection Assay (RPA). M6P-containing protein binding and endocytosis as well as the M6P/IGF2R-mediated internalization of 125I-IGF-II were lower in the ribozyme-treated cells than the control myocytes, indicating that the number of functional M6P/IGF2R in the ribozyme treated cells was reduced. Accordingly, a marked increase in cell proliferation and a reduced cell susceptibility to hypoxia- and TNF-induced apoptosis were observed in the ribozyme-treated cells. These findings suggest that M6P/IGF2R may play a role in regulation of cardiac myocyte growth and apoptosis. Down regulation of this gene in cardiac tissues might be a new approach to prevention of cell death or promotion of mitogenesis for certain heart diseases.
Designing low-complexity detectors for generalized SC-FDMA systems

Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) is proposed to alleviate the high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) issue in orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) transmissions. However, the SC-FDMA transmission does not fully exploit the multipath diversity provided by frequency-selective channel, where only diversity one can be collected even with maximum-likelihood detector. In this paper, we propose generalized SC-FDMA (GSC-FDMA) transmissions to enable the multipath diversity with low-complexity lattice-reduction (LR) aided linear detectors. Additionally, we develop a new LR algorithm which improves the asymptotic performance of linear detectors and achieves lower complexity than the well known existing LR-aided ones. The improved bit-error-rate (BER) performance relative to SC-FDMA systems is studied in simulations, where the significant gain of the LR-aided detectors is found for higher order constellations (16QAM and 64QAM).
Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease

Natural and postintervention studies have updated the expected outcomes for patients with pulmonary atresia with an intact ventricular septum, critical pulmonary stenosis, transposition of the great arteries, tricuspid atresia, and for recipients of pediatric transplants. Innovative surgical and nonsurgical procedures have been proposed for patients with systemic right ventricular failure, atrioventricular discordance, and coarctation of the aorta. This review highlights these and other important topics from this year's literature.
Examining the Role of Endogenous Opioids in Learned Odor-Stroke Associations in Infant Rats

Maternal touch profoundly regulates infant neural and behavioral development, and supports learned odor associations necessary for infant attachment. Endogenous opioids are well characterized to mediate the calming and analgesic properties of maternal touch; yet their role in learned odor-touch associations is unknown. We administered naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, before or immediately following classical conditioning with peppermint odor and tactile stimulation (stroking) in rat neonates. Results indicate odor-stroke conditioning produces odor preferences facilitated by endogenous opioids during acquisition and memory consolidation. These results provide additional evidence for the modulatory role of opioids in neonate learning and memory. Disturbances to this system may alter the impact of touch on infant development, particularly in the realm of learning necessary for attachment.
Thiazide and Thiazide-like Diuretics: An Opportunity to Reduce Blood Pressure in Patients with Advanced Kidney Disease

Thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics have been widely used as blood pressure-lowering agents for more than 5 decades. However, their use in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease has been limited and often discouraged. The exact mechanism of how thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics lower blood pressures is still in question. Emerging evidence suggests that thiazides and thiazide-like diuretics are effective as blood pressure-lowering drugs in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. Review of the literature suggests that physicians should not discard thiazide and thiazide-like diuretics as options for blood pressure management in patients with chronic advanced kidney disease.
Mutations in zebrafish leucine-rich repeat-containing six-like affect cilia motility and result in pronephric cysts, but have variable effects on left-right patterning

Cilia defects have been implicated in a variety of human diseases and genetic disorders, but how cilia motility contributes to these phenotypes is still unknown. To further our understanding of how cilia function in development, we have cloned and characterized two alleles of seahorse, a zebrafish mutation that results in pronephric cysts. seahorse encodes Lrrc6l, a leucine-rich repeat-containing protein that is highly conserved in organisms that have motile cilia. seahorse is expressed in zebrafish tissues known to contain motile cilia. Although mutants do not affect cilia structure and retain the ability to interact with Disheveled, both alleles of seahorse strongly affect cilia motility in the zebrafish pronephros and neural tube. Intriguingly, although seahorse mutations variably affect fluid flow in Kupffer's vesicle, they can have very weak effects on left-right patterning. Combined with recently published results, our alleles suggest that the function of seahorse in cilia motility is separable from its function in other cilia-related phenotypes.
Music Technology Partnerships: A Context for Music Teacher Preparation

The intersection of the arts with technology can provide educators with a focus that is more in tune with students’ lived experiences, providing a relevant context for the making of meaning. Yet the technological advances of the last few decades have done little to alter the pedagogical practice of most music teachers. Teaching with technology requires a shift in pedagogical practice from learning about technology to creating with technology. School-university partnerships can provide preservice and inservice teachers with the hands-on, technology-rich experiences and collaborative projects that are necessary to transform music teacher preparation.
Attainment of Gigavolt Potentials by Magnetic Insulation

THE principle of my idea can be explained by Fig. 1, which shows a cross section through the proposed machine. The machine has two concentric conductors of toroidal symmetry which are placed within a toroidal magnetic field coil producing a magnetic field directed along the circular toroidal ring axis and varying in time. The space inside the inner conductor and in between the inner and outer conductor is a hard vacuum. The inner conductor is assumed to have a minor radius of ri and the outer conductor a minor radius of ra.
Infective perivalvular abscess of the aortic ring: echocardiographic features and clinical course.

Abstract Aortic ring abscess is a serious complication of infective endocarditis that may be diagnosed by 2-dimensional echocardiography when an echocardiographic-free space or focal aortic root thickening is shown.1–4 Two related complications that markedly worsen prognosis in endocarditis are new atrioventricular conduction block and pseudoaneurysm formation.5–7 Using 2-dimensional echocardiography prospectively in 10 patients with endocarditis, we correlated the location of aortic ring abscesses with the development of atrioventricular conduction block and observed the development of 6 aortic ring pseudoaneurysms.
Effect of ischemic injury on subsequent rat lung allograft rejection

Background. It has been suggested that the frequency and severity of allograft rejection may be related to the degree of allograft ischemia. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ischemic insult correlates with lung allograft rejection. Methods. Forty-eight left lung transplants were performed from Lewis donor rats into F344 recipient rats. Allografts were divided into two groups based on the degree of ischemic insult. Transplantation was performed immediately (group 1, minimum injury) or after 18 hours of cold (1°C) preservation (group 2, severe injury). allografts were evaluated radiographically based on aeraction scores (0 = opaque to 6=normal). Animals were randomly sacrificed on days 7, 14, or 21 for histologic and immunohistochemical evaluation of rejection. Results. On postoperative day 3, significantly lower aeration score was demonstrated in group 2 (3.69 ± 1.71) compared to group 1 (5.0 ± 1.09) ( p 4+ , CD 8+ infiltrating lymphocyte population or expression of class II major histocompatibility complex antigen on bronchial epithelium. Conclusions. We conclude that ischemic injury in rat lung allograft does not correlate with the onset or severity of rejection.
Seismic Anisotropy of the Uppermost Mantle under Oceans

OLIVINE in rock-forming aggregates has a strong tendency during flow or deformation to develop a preferred orientation of its crystallographic axes. Turner1 describes a number of olivine fabrics developed under a variety of conditions. The pertinent examples, his figures numbers 7, 10 and 13, show fabrics for banded dunites in which the b crystallographic axis is strongly concentrated perpendicular to the banding, and figure 16, in which b is perpendicular to a plane of pronounced fissility. The (010) plane of olivine is the plane of the best cleavage and most probable glide plane for this mineral.
The boson peak in melt-formed and damage-formed glasses: A defect signature?

We describe the preparation and characterization of a glassy form of the moderately good glassformer PbGeO3, by mechanical damage, and compare its properties with those of the normal melt-quenched glass and the crystal. The damage-formed glass exhibits a DSC thermogram strikingly similar to that of a hyperquenched glass, implying that it forms high on the energy landscape. The final glass transition endotherm occurs within 4 K (0.006Tg) of that of the melt-quenched glass, but crystallization occurs at a lower temperature, as if pre-nucleated. In particular, we have studied the low frequency vibrational dynamics of the alternatively prepared amorphous states in the boson peak region, and find the damage-formed glass boson peak to be almost identical in shape to, but more intense than, that of the normal melt-formed glass, as previously found for hyperquenched glasses. In view of the quite different preparation procedures, this similarity would seem to eliminate equilibrium liquid clusters as a source of the boson peak vibrations, but leaves plausible a connection to force constant fluctuations or to specific vitreous state defects.
The lntergenerational transmission of family violence: The long-term effects of aggressive behavior

This paper examines the contention that family violence is passed down from generation to generation. The sample was primarily nonclinical and was composed of 14 clients of community guidance clinics and 82 members of a randomly selected control group. The primary hypothesis that individuals who are exposed to a high degree of physical punishment as children are more likely to resort to family violence as adults was supported. Studies of the modeling of aggression were examined to suggest factors which may mediate the hypothesized relationship. It was found that respondents who had grown up in an environment characterized by either low family warmth or high stress in combination with exposure to a high degree of parental punishment were more likely to use physical punishment in their own families. Also, family violence was more likely to be transmitted in same-sex rather than cross-sex linkages.
Anovaginal Reconstruction with Bilateral X-Flaps and Sphincteroplasty for Cloaca-Like Deformity After Obstetrical Injury

Up to 0.3 percent of complicated vaginal deliveries may result in a cloaca-like deformity with debilitating incontinence and symptoms similar to a rectovaginal fistula because of the lack of the distal rectovaginal septum. This video illustrates the surgical technique of an anovaginal and perineal reconstruction with X-flaps and sphincteroplasty without primary fecal diversion. The patients are placed in prone jackknife position. The flaps are marked with a pen. The junction/contact zone between rectal and vaginal mucosa is incised and the septum dissected up to the puborectalis muscle. The X-flaps are mobilized bilaterally. The posterior wall of the vagina and the anterior wall of the anal canal are then reconstructed with two suture layers each. Subsequently, an overlapping sphincteroplasty is performed and the puborectalis muscle centrally approximated. The flaps are then transposed beyond the midline to rebuild a perineal body. For all deeper reconstruction steps, 2/0 polyglactin 910 sutures (Vicryl®, Ethicon Inc., Somerville, NJ) are used; the skin is closed with running subcuticular sutures of poliglecaprone 25 (Monocryl®, Ethicon Inc.). In the end, the patient has regained a circumferentially proper length of the anal canal and the vagina, a closed ring of the anal sphincter, and a reconstructed perineal body with separation of anus and vagina. Cloaca-like deformity resulting from severe obstetrical injury is the worst and most debilitating form of sphincter injuries but often is not given appropriate attention. Reconstruction of the original anatomy is more complex than a simple sphincteroplasty, but a prophylactic fecal diversion is usually not necessary. The reseparation of the rectum and the vagina in conjunction with a sphincteroplasty achieves good results.
Peer pressure and adolescent substance use

Peer influence is regarded as one of the strongest determinants of juvenile delinquency and particularly adolescent substance use. A commonly held view is that social pressure from friends to use drugs and alcohol is a major contributor to substance use. Yet the notion of peer pressure, implied by the association between peer-group associations and drug behavior, is seldom tested empirically. As a crucial test of the group pressure model, this research examines the role of peer pressure in mediating the effect of differential association on individual use. Moreover, few studies examine the nature of the relationship between peers and substance use as it relates to the processes leading toand from use. Drawing on differential association and social learning theories, our research specifies the social processes (socialization, group pressure, social selection, and rationalization) which dictate particular causal pathways leading to and from substance use and then estimates the reciprocal influences among differential association, social pressure from peers, attitudes favorable toward substance use, and individual use. Using the 1977–1979 National Youth Survey panel data, we estimate a covariance structural equation model allowing for correlated measurement error. In the cross-sectional analyses, we find no main effects of overt peer pressure on substance use. Estimation of the reciprocal effects model also reveals that overt peer pressure does not significantly influence substance use and does not mediate the effect of differential association. Instead, the influences of socialization, social selection, and rationalization play significant roles in understanding substance use.
Putting Values and Institutions Back into the Theory of Strategic Action Fields

Neil Fligstein and Doug McAdam have presented a new theory of how collective action creates the structure and dynamics of societies. At issue is the behavior of social movements, organizations, sta...
Partial characterization of rat marrow stromal cells.

Fibroblast-like rat marrow stromal cell (CFU-F) cultures have been characterized in terms of their responsiveness to calciotropic hormones, metal ions, the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug, and by their putative paracrine role in the maintenance of active populations of osteoblasts at the marrow-bone interface. These studies indicate that CFU-Fs lack a complete osteoblast signature. Subconfluent CFU-Fs grown in the presence or absence of 10−7 M dexamethasone lack receptors for PTH and calcitonin, and fail to show enhanced cAMP or cGMP responses to 10−7 M 1–34 PTH (rat), or any evidence of osteocalcin production [±10−9 M 1,25-(OH)2D3]. Low concentrations of fluoride [10−12 and 10−9 M] stimulated CFU-F grownin vitro in serum-free media, though higher levels (10−7 M) did not alter normal growth patterns, indicating an action on bone cells more differentiated than CFU-Fs. Serum-free conditioned medium (CM) from control and ovariectomized (OVX)/OVX+ dihydrotachysterol-Rx rat CFU-F cultures was mitogenic for neonatal rat calvarial osteoblastsin vitro, but not for ROS 17/2.8 cells. The studies affirm the mesenchymal-like character of CFU-Fs and project their significant role in sustaining functional endosteal osteogenic cell populations.
Decoding Ability and Humor Production

Scholars have suggested that being “in tune” with others may be an important aspect of successful humor creation; however, few studies have specifically investigated this possibility. Thus, this study examined the relationship between decoding ability and humor orientation. Decoding ability was conceptualized as involving three communication constructs: conversational sensitivity, nonverbal sensitivity, and receiver apprehension. Consistent with predictions, results revealed positive relationships between (1) humor orientation and conversational sensitivity and (2) humor orientation and nonverbal sensitivity. Also consistent with predictions, a negative relationship was found between humor orientation and receiver apprehension. Further analysis indicated the three communication variables together accounted for 24% of the variance in humor orientation; only conversational sensitivity and receiver apprehension, however, accounted for unique variance. Overall, these findings suggest humor production may be r...
Methods of increasing the yield of petroleum electrode coke

1. The effect of pressures from 1 to 30 atm on the yield and quality of coke in the coking of various types of petroleum residues has been studied. 2. It has been established that the yield of coke can be increased by 5–11%, calculated on the feedstock, by increasing the pressure in the reaction zone to 6 atm. 3. Based on the experimental data, empirical relationships have been found for calculating the yield of coke when coking under pressure. 4. The effect of preliminary thermal condensation of coking feedstock on the yield of coke has been studied. It is shown that the use of the method described provides the possibility of increasing the yield of coke by 4–15%.
On the Classification of Meteorites

The classification of meteorites as a whole is briefly presented and discussed; in particular, it is pointed out that the intermediate or transitional group, now universally known as the siderolites (symbol, So), consists of 2 main subdivisions, namely the “irony stones,” hereinafter termed sideraerolites (Sa), and the “stony irons” or so-called lithosiderites (Li).
Strong conservation of electron-spin polarization for hydrogenic ions in electric-dipole transitions: Direct transitions.

The aspect of conservation of spin polarization in electric-dipole transitions is addressed for hydrogenic ions in a nonrelativistic time-dependent perturbation theory. The results show that for direct transitions the polarization is highly conserved. The depolarizing influence of the spin-orbit interaction on the initial spin orientation is only of the order of (\ensuremath{\alpha}Z${)}^{2}$ or less for hydrogenic ions.
GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE UTILIZATION BY MARINE ALGAE

SUMMARY A good relationship was found between the amount of phosphatase present at the surface of marine unicellular algae and their ability to utilize glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P) as a phosphorus source. Algae did not take up the whole molecule of G-6-P; those with phosphatase hydrolyzed the ester extracellularly and assimilated the PO 4. The phosphatases were usually phosphate-repressible, and they usually showed optimum activity at pH±7. Algae lacking phosphatases that could act on external substrates did not assimilate G-6-P; they became phosphorus-deficient and stopped growing. Of 13 species studied, only Cyclo-tella cryptica was capable of assimilating glucose for cell growth in darkness. Cyclotella utilized both the glucose and the phosphate of G-6-P, but only after hydrolysis by the alkaline phosphatase at the cell surface.
Active transport: Definitions and criteria

The thermodynamic definition of active transport is restated in terms of the rate of entropy production. A substance is said to be transported actively when the product of its flux by the force acting upon it across the membrane is negative. A general expression for the rate of entropy production in a complex membrane is which chemical reactions may occur is given, and this expression is developed for a somewhat simplified case. The resulting relation is used as a basis for defining and establishing experimental criteria for types of active transport. Two basic types are distinguished and are designatedcoupled transport andforced transport, respectively. Only the latter type is dependent upon energyielding chemical reactions.
Hybrid fs/ps Rotational CARS Temperature and Concentration Measurements Using Two Different ps-Duration Probe Beams.

A hybrid fs/ps pure-rotational CARS scheme is characterized for thermometry in furnace-heated air at temperatures from 290 to 800 K. Impulsive femtosecond excitation is used to prepare a rotational Raman coherence that is probed with a ps-duration beam generated from an initially broadband fs pulse that is bandwidth limited using air-spaced Fabry-Perot etalons. CARS spectra are generated using 1.5- and 7-ps duration probe beams with corresponding coarse and narrow spectral widths. The spectra are fitted using a simple phenomenological model for both shot-averaged and single-shot measurements of temperature and oxygen mole fraction. Our single-shot measurements exhibit high levels of precision when the spectrally coarse 1.5-ps probe beam is used. This systematic assessment of the hybrid CARS technique demonstrates its utility for practical application in moderatetemperature gas-phase systems.
Computed tomography in primary craniosynostosis

Computed tomography (CT) in primary craniosynostosis clearly demonstrates the superiority of CT in revealing the shape of the head, suture closure, and brain abnormalities and in follow-up after treatment.
Low loss hollow-core waveguide on a silicon substrate

Optical-fi ber-based, hollow-core waveguides (HCWs) have opened up many new applications in laser surgery, gas sensors, and non-linear optics. Chip-scale HCWs are desirable because they are compact, light-weight and can be integrated with other devices into systems-on-a-chip. However, their progress has been hindered by the lack of a low loss waveguide architecture. Here, a completely new waveguiding concept is demonstrated using two planar, parallel, silicon-on-insulator wafers with high-contrast subwavelength gratings to refl ect light in-between. We report a record low optical loss of 0.37 dB/cm for a 9- µ m waveguide, mode-matched to a single mode fi ber. Two-dimensional light confi nement is experimentally realized without sidewalls in the HCWs, which is promising for ultrafast sensing response with nearly instantaneous fl ow of gases or fl uids. This unique waveguide geometry establishes an entirely new scheme for low-cost chip-scale sensor arrays and lab-on-a-chip applications.
ELASTIC CONSTANTS OF SILVER AND GOLD

The three elastic constants ${\mathrm{C}}_{44}$, $\frac{1}{2}({C}_{11}\ensuremath{-}{C}_{12})$, and $\frac{1}{2}({C}_{11}+{C}_{12}+2{C}_{44})$ have been directly measured for silver and gold in the temperature range between 4.2 and 300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The various contributions to the values of the 0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K constants are analyzed in terms of a simple model which quite successfully describes copper. It is concluded that such a model is unsatisfactory when applied to the heavier noble metals because these appear to have large noncentral forces contributing to their constants. Combined with pressure data the present results show the elastic constants to be explicit functions of temperature. The Debye characteristic temperatures calculated from the 0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K elastic constants are shown to be in substantial agreement with the results from calorimetry.
Limitations of the Microwave Cavity Method of Measuring Electron Densities in a Plasma

The limitations of the conventional microwave cavity method of measuring the electron density are derived. The conventional method permits the electron density to be measured over a range of approximately two decades. The upper limit of the measurement of the electron density, roughly 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{9}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, is caused by plasma resonance due to the macroscopic polarization of the plasma and by the overlapping from higher order modes. The lower limit of the measurement of the electron density, roughly 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{7}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, is determined by how accurately the resonant frequency can be measured. The macroscopic electric polarization can be eliminated and the overlapping modes suppressed by designing the cavity so that the probing microwave field and the plasma have rotational symmetry around the same axis. The electric polarization limit is then replaced by a magnetic polarization limit and the available range is increased approximately one additional decade at 3000 Mc/sec. By decreasing the frequency from 3000 Mc/sec to 1 Mc/sec and by measuring the $Q$ or the losses of the plasma in a properly designed solenoid instead of a cavity the magnetic polarization limit can be raised even more. At 1 Mc/sec and at a pressure of 1 mm Hg the electron density corresponding to the magnetic polarization limit is ${10}^{15}$ to ${10}^{16}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$. The lower limit for the measurable electron density or the conductivity is determined by the sensitivity of the detecting arrangement, and the noise originating in the electron-ion plasma and is probably ${10}^{4}$ to ${10}^{5}$ times less than the maximum measurable electron density.
Phosphorylation and translocation of heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin in human myocardium after cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass

Objectives Cardiac surgery using cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass subjects myocardium to hypothermic reversible ischemic injury that can impair cardiac function. Research in animal and cell models demonstrates that acute myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury causes phosphorylation of heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin. Phosphorylation of heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin is implicated in the regulation of both beneficial and detrimental responses to ischemic injury. The phosphorylation status of these proteins in human myocardium after ischemic insults associated with cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass is unknown. Methods Right atrial appendage and chest wall skeletal muscle samples were collected from patients before and after cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass. Cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass-induced changes in phosphorylation and localization of heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin were determined using immunoblot and confocal microscopy with total and phospho-specific antibodies. Results Cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass increased the phosphorylation of heat shock protein 27 on serine 15, 78, and 82, and αB-crystallin on serine 59 and 45, but not serine 19. The majority of heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin localized to I-bands of cardiac myofilaments and shifted to a detergent insoluble fraction after cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass. Cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass–induced phosphorylation of specific heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin residues were associated with additional subcellular locations. Increases in phosphorylation of heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin were negatively correlated with cardiac function after surgery. Conclusion Cardiac surgery using cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass is associated with phosphorylation and myofilament translocation of heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin in human myocardium. Phosphorylation of specific heat shock protein 27 and αB-crystallin serine residues is associated with distinct localization. Understanding the human myocardial small heat shock protein response may have significant implications for surgical myocardial protection.
A time-gated fluorescence detector using a tuning fork chopper.

Abstract We describe an affordable gated fluorescence detection system to measure fluorescent compounds with long-lifetimes that uses a tuning fork chopper to block the intense excitation pulse from a flash lamp or short-lived fluorescence. A conventional non-gated inexpensive photosensor module is used to collect the luminescence signal. Using the long-lived luminescence from the terbium(III)–dipicolinic acid (DPA) chelate, we demonstrate a limit of detection (LOD) of 120 pM for DPA. This system is not only an order of magnitude less expensive than an electronically gateable phototomultiplier tube (GPMT), it exhibits no evidence of gradual loss of sensitivity, due likely to photocathode fatigue and deterioration, observed with a GPMT.
A Bayesian method for computing sample size and cost requirements for stratified random sampling of pond water

Abstract Estimating average environmental pollution concentrations and its variance is a fairly straight forward task in stratified random sampling. A more challenging concept is the introduction of the cost factor into this environmental model. Traditional statistical techniques have incorporated costs from sampling within a stratum as well as stratum weights to determine the stratum size and overall required sample size. Information in the form of informative prior distributions to determine a more coherent variance in the system yield a more precise Bayesian approach to the sample size and cost calculations. This approach results in a more efficient sampling strategy in terms of cost when considering a pre-specified margin of error for the sampling mean as well as the more complicated situation of correlation among the stratum samples.