cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Three-Fraction Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Treatment of Vestibular Schwannoma (Acoustic Neuroma) in Patients with Neurofibromatosis Type 2

Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) patients risk complete deafness from either bilateral vestibular schwannoma (VS) or its treatment. Both microsurgical resection and Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) have been associated with poorer rates of hearing preservation in patients with NF2 than in sporadic VS. In an attempt to maximize hearing preservation while maintaining good tumor control, we have conducted a prospective trial of three fraction SRS for the treatment of VS in patients with NF2. Eleven VS in 10 patients with NF2 were treated. Conventional frame-based Stereotactic localization was used. Mean maximal tumor diameter was 19.5 mm (range 11–28). A total dose of 21 Gy was administered in 7 Gy fractions with a mean interfraction interval of 12 hours. Patients were evaluated with neurologic examination, MRI, and audiometry. No patients were lost to follow-up. One patient died due to complications following surgical resection of a contralateral VS. Tumor (10–46 months posttreatment, mean 26 months) was stable or decreased in 9 of 10 tumors (90%). One patient experienced slight tumor enlargement at 27 months, which subsequently regressed. Actuarial rate of hearing preservation at 2 years was 67%. All patients (n = 5) with good pretreatment hearing (Gardner–Robertson grade 1 or 2) had preserved useful hearing (grade 1–3) at 1 year. Two patients (grade 3 and 4 hearing) lost all hearing within 24 hours of treatment; another patient with grade 3 hearing lost residual hearing over 6 months. One patient developed facial spasms. Three-fraction SRS for acoustic neuroma is well tolerated in patients with NF2 and is associated with a lower risk of hearing loss and other cranial neuropathy than single-fraction treatment. Continued follow-up will be necessary to evaluate long-term tumor control and hearing preservation.
Describing Independent Eating Occasions among Low-Income Adolescents

The purpose of this formative, cross-sectional study was to describe independent eating occasions (iEOs) among a convenience sample of low-income early adolescents (10–13 years, n = 46) in 10 U.S. states, including environmental context, foods selected and reasons for selection, and parental rules about foods consumed. Participants took pictures of all foods consumed over 24 h and participated in semi-structured interviews to describe the context of each eating occasion using the pictures as a guide. Responses based on a total of 304 eating occasions were coded to classify foods based on United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) MyPlate food groups and to characterize parental rules and reasons for food selection. Average age was 10.9 ± 1.1 years and 60% were female. Approximately 58% of eating occasions were classified as iEOs with approximately 65% as snacks. Most iEOs took place at home. Foods frequently consumed during iEOs were from the sweets, total fruit, dairy, and whole fruit food categories. Primary parental rules for iEOs focused on avoiding certain foods and not eating too much. Early adolescents selected foods for convenience, taste preferences, and availability. Foods selected during iEOs were based on parent, household and early adolescent factors, which could be addressed to influence overall diet quality.
Pharmacologic Approaches to Pediatric Acute Pain States

Children may experience acute pain for a variety of reasons, including surgical procedures, oncologic processes, and sickle cell vaso-occlusive episodes. A thoughtful analgesia plan must consider the source of pain, patient developmental level, prior opioid use, ability to tolerate oral medications, and patient comorbidities. Opioid pain medications are effective at treating acute pain, but are associated with significant side effects at higher doses. Multimodal analgesia is a strategy that utilizes multiple nonopioid medications working synergistically at different locations along the pain pathway to achieve better pain control with an improved side effect profile compared to opioids alone.
The Afterlife of Extraction in the Coal Region: An Exploration into the ‘Land of the Living Dead’

The Anthracite is a region living in the shadow of industrial collapse. Historically, it was a place destined to be inseparable, culturally and psychically, from exploitative, industrial coal extraction. Employing miners to dangerous, often deadly occupations in the mines, and extracted futures chock full of health hazards – the mines have not only extracted coal, they have extracted a landscape and its population. Prideful associations with the former coal industry vibrate willingly among the region’s common chatter. Culture cannot be removed in ideology from the coal industry’s past. While once defining a place, this pride, now serves as some ghostly sentiments lost in a vacuum tube, like the industry itself, unable to come to fruition. In the afterlife of industrial America, former coal towns and residents are left with the dually inflicted trauma of an extracted past and a precarious future lying ahead without coal. The area is alive in a sense yet the lifeblood of coal has ceased to flow. This is my investigation of what it means to live in ‘the land of the living dead’: an apt description for a region haunted by relics of the past and persisting material reminders, left with no ability to manifest them again in the present. Using navigation, photography, and analysis as a means, I wish to investigate what it means to live in the Anthracite region now. What it means to live in a place that has been extracted. What it means to have a pride for an industry that failed. And, what it is to live in coal’s absence.
Paired Courses: Using Liberal Arts to Improve Business Education

This paper summarizes paired courses, a technique that is being used to incorporate the benefits of liberal arts into the business curriculum. This technique pairs a required business course with a liberal arts course that students take concurrently during a semester. The courses have overlapping themes and activities to build specific competencies that are desired by organizations, such as communication (all types), critical thinking and problem solving, emotional intelligence, and organizational professionalism. These competencies are identified by exploring national surveys and conducting a local survey of business professionals. The paired courses utilize a variety of exercises with the ultimate goals of building desired workplace-related skills in students and improving their practical reasoning ability. The exercises do this by strengthening students’ analytical thinking, understanding of multiple framing, and reflective exploration of meaning through various techniques. Many of the activities are explained in detail with some additional resources provided. Teachers can utilize the same activities or adapt them to their classroom.
Online Control of Process Variance Using Feedback

For many stochastic control problem formulations, design objectives typically include constraining the covariance of the outputs of the system. Recent engineering challenges have demonstrated an interest in controlling system output covariances to a setpoint. However, open-loop control of system output covariance can be exceptionally challenging when the system has significant plant uncertainties. This paper explores closed-loop control of the system's output covariance using a windowed variance function. The stochastic nature of the windowed variance feedback means that root locus and other classical control design techniques cannot be immediately used. Expected value analysis is used to generate transfer functions for the average response of such systems, and the results are used to design controllers. Stochastic simulations are presented to verify the analytical results and make other observations concerning closed-loop variance control.
The role of microstructure in the impact induced temperature rise in hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB)–cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine (HMX) energetic materials using the cohesive finite element method

In this work, microstructure dependent impact-induced failure of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB)–cyclo-tetra-methylene-tetra-nitramine (HMX) energetic material samples is studied using the cohesive finite element method (CFEM). The CFEM model incorporates experimentally measured viscoplastic constitutive behavior, experimentally measured interface level separation properties, and phenomenological temperature increase due to mechanical impact based on viscoplastic and frictional energy dissipation. Nanoscale dynamic impact experiments were used to obtain parameters for a strain-rate dependent power law viscoplastic constitutive model in the case of bulk HTPB and HMX as well as the HTPB–HMX interfaces. An in situ mechanical Raman spectroscopy (MRS) setup was used to obtain bilinear cohesive zone model parameters to simulate interface separation. During analyses, the impact-induced viscoplastic energy dissipation and the frictional contact dissipation at the failed HTPB–HMX interfaces is found to have a significant contribution toward local temperature rise. Microstructures having circular HMX particles show a higher local temperature rise as compared to those with diamond or irregularly shaped HMX particles with sharp edges indicating that the specific particle surface area has a higher role in temperature rise than particle shape and sharp edges. Regions within the analyzed microstructures near the HTPB–HMX interfaces with a high-volume fraction of HMX particles were found to have the maximum temperature increase.
War, Musar, and the Construction of Humility in Modern Jewish Thought

This article considers how the musar (virtue-focused) tradition in Jewish ethics may shape Jewish moral judgments on questions of war and peace, focusing on various constructions of the virtue of humility in modern Jewish thought. It gives particular attention to concepts of humility advanced by Menachem Mendel Lefin, the leading figure of the Polish Haskalah, and it suggests that Lefin’s model of critical selfassessment, especially if carried out in partnership with those from different nations or traditions, could help to restrain the misplaced pride, enthusiasm, and impulses to dehumanize enemies that may emerge at times of war. The article brings Lefin’s approach into dialogue with three Jewish thinkers who argued that proper humility should in some cases encourage the use of violence and even the dehumanization of enemies: the Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi Simhah Zissel Ziv, the American Reform rabbi Kaufmann Kohler, and the militant Orthodox Israeli rabbi Meir Kahane.
The Photopolymer Science and Technology Award

The photopolymer Science and Technology Award No. 071100, the Outstanding Achievement Award 2007, was presented to Hiroshi Ito (IBM Almaden Research Center) for his outstanding achievements in photopolymer science and technology, "Development of new advanced resist materials for microelectronics".
What is the source of chronic low back pain and does age play a role

Objective. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence, mean age, and association of prevalence and age of lumbar internal disc disruption (IDD), facet joint pain (FJP), sacroiliac joint pain (SIJP), spinal and pelvic insufficiency fractures, interspinous ligament injury/Baastrup's Disease, and soft tissue irritation by fusion hardware. Design. The study's design was a retrospective chart review. Setting. The study was set in an academic spine center. Patients. A total of 378 cases from 358 patients were reviewed of which 170 cases from 156 patients who underwent diagnostic procedures were included. Interventions. Discography, dual diagnostic facet joint blocks, intra-articular sacroiliac joint injections, anesthetic injections of painful interspinous ligaments/opposing spinous processes/posterior fusion hardware, or percutaneous augmentation were performed. Outcome Measures. Prevalence and age were analyzed for each diagnosis group. Methods. Patients with recalcitrant low back pain underwent diagnostic procedures based on their clinical presentation until the pain source was identified. Results. The prevalence of internal disc disruption, facet joint pain and sacroiliac joint pain was 42%, 31%, and 18%, respectively. Patients with internal disc disruption were significantly younger than those with facet joint pain or sacroiliac joint pain. Increased age was associated with a decreased probability of internal disc disruption and increased probabilities of facet joint pain and sacroiliac joint pain as the source of low back pain until approximately age 70. Conclusion. Our data confirm the intervertebral disc as the most common etiology of chronic low back pain in adults. Based on our sample, the younger the patient, the more likely low back pain is discogenic in origin. Facetogenic or sacroiliac joint pain is more likely in older patients.
A family of single-phase transformerless inverters with asymmetric phase-legs

In recent years, the photovoltaic (PV) transformerless inverters are becoming more and more popular, and a variety of inverter topologies have been proposed. With a review of the state-of-the-art transformerless inverter topologies and the related pulsewidth modulation (PWM) method, this paper proposes a family of transformerless inverter topologies with asymmetric phase-legs. PWM modulation and inverter operating modes are then detailed, experiment results demonstrate the validity of proposed inverter topology.
Takeover Bids and Target Directors' Incentives: Retention, Experience and Settling-Up

I investigate the nature of the incentives that lead outside directors to serve stockholders' interests. Specifically, I document the effect of a takeover bid on target directors, both in terms of its immediate financial impact and its effect on the number of future board seats held by those target directors. Directors are rarely retained following a completed offer. All target directors hold fewer directorships in the future than a control group, suggesting that the target board seat is difficult to replace. The direct financial impact of a completed merger is predominately negative for outside directors. This documents a cost to outside directors should they fail as monitors, forcing the external control market to act for them. Future seats are related to pre-bid performance. Among directors of poorly-performing firms, those that rebuff an offer are penalized in the directorial labor market, while those who complete the merger fare better. I also find some evidence that less-experienced outside directors gain seats from the experience of the takeover bid.
Higher Dimensional Aztec Diamonds and a (2d + 2)-Vertex Model

Motivated by the close relationship between the number of perfect matchings of the Aztec diamond graph introduced in [5] and the free energy of the square-ice model, we consider a higher dimensional analog of this phenomenon. For d ≥ 1, we construct d-uniform hypergraphs which generalize the Aztec diamonds and we consider a companion d-dimensional statistical model (called the 2d + 2-vertex model) whose free energy is given by the logarithm of the number of perfect matchings of our hypergraphs. We prove that the limit defining the free energy per site of the 2d + 2-vertex model exists and we obtain bounds for it. As a consequence, we obtain an especially good asymptotical approximation for the number of matchings of our hypergraphs.
Regulatory Takings and Property Rights Confront Sea Level Rise: How Do They Roll?

Under the Beach and Shore Preservation Act, the State of Florida is authorized to conduct extraordinarily expensive beach renourishment projects to restore damaged coastal properties. The statute advances the State’s interest in repairing the damage to the coastal ecosystem and economy caused by hurricanes, high winds, and storm surges. The effect of a renourishment project conducted under the statute is to fix the legal boundary of the littoral property owner at an Erosion Control Line. Plaintiffs in Walton County v. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. claimed that the statute took their common law property rights to their boundary, which would, but for the Act, move gradually landward or seaward, maintaining contact with the water. The Florida Supreme Court disagreed and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection to determine whether the state court reinterpreted Florida’s common law as a pretext for upholding the statute against the plaintiffs’ taking claim and, if so, whether that reinterpretation constituted a “judicial taking.” The Court ultimately decided that the Florida court’s interpretation was correct and that there was no regulatory taking. A majority of the Court could not agree as to whether a state court’s interpretation of state common law could constitute a “judicial taking.” This article discusses greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, sea level rise, and the ferocity of coastal storms associated with climate change. It explores the tension between these movements in nature and the policy of the State of Florida to fix property boundaries, which under common law would move landward as sea level rises. The property rights and title to land of littoral landowners are described and the effect of the Beach and Shore Preservation Act on them discussed. The article contrasts the Florida coastal policy regarding beach and shore protection with the policies and programs of federal, state, and local governments that use other approaches such as accommodating rolling easements, prohibiting shoreline armoring, requiring removal of buildings, purchasing development rights or the land itself, and imposing moratoria on rebuilding after storm events. These may be less expensive and more realistic approaches to long-term coastal erosion and avulsive events and the inevitability of sea level rise as the climate warms and worsens. The article concludes with a recommendation that the framework for federal, state, and local cooperation in coastal management be revisited and strengthened so that the critical resources and knowledge are brought to bear on this critical issue. It suggests that strengthening those ties, rather than radically restructuring the relationship between state and federal courts, is a more productive method of meeting the needs of a changing society.
The European Procurement Directives and The Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (T-TIP): Advancing U.S. - European Trade and Cooperation in Procurement

Regulatory efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, in anti-corruption and procurement, are become more interdependent, as the two systems, U.S. and European, evolve in parallel. That convergence continued as the European Union finalized its new directives on procurement, and the United States and Europe moved forward in negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), which would (among other things) address barriers to trade in procurement. This piece reviews the T-TIP agreement’s potential impact on procurement, in the near and long term. The European T-TIP negotiators are likely to demand greater access to sub-central (state) procurement markets, in return for reducing barriers to European markets, such as in agriculture. In the longer term, the T-TIP negotiations may well lead to a formalized process for addressing regulatory barriers to trade, including – potentially – barriers raised by procurement regulations. This piece (delivered in February 2014, at the Thomson Reuters Government Contracts Year in Review conference, Washington, D.C.) discusses what were then the pending European procurement directives, focusing, especially, on the “classical” procurement directive, rather than on the proposed directives governing concessions or utilities. The piece reviews some of the more important elements of the draft European procurement directive, assesses whether those elements may have discriminatory impacts on U.S. exporters, and asks whether those discriminatory effects could be mitigated by better cooperation between regulators on either side of the Atlantic.
Computation of unstable limit cycles in large-scale power system models

The paper presents novel algorithms for computing the presence of critical unstable limit cycles in large-scale nonlinear systems. The algorithms are illustrated in realistic large-scale models of the western American electric power system. The algorithms provide insight into the interaction of stable and unstable limit cycles in influencing the evolution of an electric black-out experienced by the western American power system on August 10,1996.
Simulating natural selection in landscape genetics.

Linking landscape effects to key evolutionary processes through individual organism movement and natural selection is essential to provide a foundation for evolutionary landscape genetics. Of particular importance is determining how spatially-explicit, individual-based models differ from classic population genetics and evolutionary ecology models based on ideal panmictic populations in an allopatric setting in their predictions of population structure and frequency of fixation of adaptive alleles. We explore initial applications of a spatially-explicit, individual-based evolutionary landscape genetics program that incorporates all factors ‐ mutation, gene flow, genetic drift and selection ‐ that affect the frequency of an allele in a population. We incorporate natural selection by imposing differential survival rates defined by local relative fitness values on a landscape. Selection coefficients thus can vary not only for genotypes, but also in space as functions of local environmental variability. This simulator enables coupling of gene flow (governed by resistance surfaces), with natural selection (governed by selection surfaces). We validate the individual-based simulations under Wright-Fisher assumptions. We show that under isolation-by-distance processes, there are deviations in the rate of change and equilibrium values of allele frequency. The program provides a valuable tool (CDPOP v1.0; http://cel.dbs.umt.edu/software/CDPOP/) for the study of evolutionary landscape genetics that allows explicit evaluation of the interactions between gene flow and selection in complex landscapes.
Sonochemistry: Environmental Science and Engineering Applications

Sonochemical engineering is a field involving the application of sonic and ultrasonic waves to chemical processing. Sonochemistry enhances or promotes chemical reactions and mass transfer. It offers the potential for shorter reaction cycles, cheaper reagents, and less extreme physical conditions, leading to less expensive and perhaps smaller plants. The amount of things that can be accomplished with sonochemistry is, at this stage, only limited by the minds of those working in this exciting field. Existing literature on sonochemical reacting systems is chemistry-intensive, and applications of this novel means of reaction in environmental remediation and pollution prevention seem almost unlimited. For example, environmental sonochemistry is a rapidly growing area that deals with the destruction of organics in aqueous solutions. However, some theoretical and engineering aspects are not fully understood. This paper reviews the field comprehensively by combining the existing knowledge from chemistry with insi...
Rational design, preparation, and characterization of a therapeutic enzyme mutant with improved stability and function for cocaine detoxification.

Cocaine esterase (CocE) is known as the most efficient natural enzyme for cocaine hydrolysis. The major obstacle to the clinical application of wild-type CocE is the thermoinstability with a half-life of only ∼12 min at 37 °C. The previously designed T172R/G173Q mutant (denoted as enzyme E172–173) with an improved in vitro half-life of ∼6 h at 37 °C is currently in clinical trial Phase II for cocaine overdose treatment. Through molecular modeling and dynamics simulation, we designed and characterized a promising new mutant of E172–173 with extra L196C/I301C mutations (denoted as enzyme E196–301) to produce cross-subunit disulfide bonds that stabilize the dimer structure. The cross-subunit disulfide bonds were confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The designed L196C/I301C mutations have not only considerably extended the in vitro half-life at 37 °C to >100 days, but also significantly improved the catalytic efficiency against cocaine by ∼150%. In addition, the thermostable E196–301 can be PEGylated to significan...
Debris-flow runout predictions based on the average channel slope (ACS)

Prediction of the runout distance of a debris flow is an important element in the delineation of potentially hazardous areas on alluvial fans and for the siting of mitigation structures. Existing runout estimation methods rely on input parameters that are often difficult to estimate, including volume, velocity, and frictional factors. In order to provide a simple method for preliminary estimates of debris-flow runout distances, we developed a model that provides runout predictions based on the average channel slope (ACS model) for non-volcanic debris flows that emanate from confined channels and deposit on well-defined alluvial fans. This model was developed from 20 debris-flow events in the western United States and British Columbia. Based on a runout estimation method developed for snow avalanches, this model predicts debris-flow runout as an angle of reach from a fixed point in the drainage channel to the end of the runout zone. The best fixed point was found to be the mid-point elevation of the drainage channel, measured from the apex of the alluvial fan to the top of the drainage basin. Predicted runout lengths were more consistent than those obtained from existing angle-of-reach estimation methods. Results of the model compared well with those of laboratory flume tests performed using the same range of channel slopes. The robustness of this model was tested by applying it to three debris-flow events not used in its development: predicted runout ranged from 82 to 131% of the actual runout for these three events. Prediction interval multipliers were also developed so that the user may calculate predicted runout within specified confidence limits.
Genetic contributions to body weight in mice: relationship of exploratory behavior to weight.

Objective: The A/J and C57BL/6J mouse strains differ markedly in their exploratory behavior and their weight gain on a high-fat diet. We examined the genetic contributions of exploratory behavior to body weight and tested for shared, pleiotropic loci influencing energy homeostasis. Research Methods and Procedures: Segregating (A×B6)F2 intercross (n = 514) and (B6AF1×A/J)N2 backcross (N = 223) populations were studied, phenotyping for weight and exploratory behaviors. Relationships among traits were analyzed by correlations. Weight traits were dissected with a genome-wide scan. Results: Modest correlations were found between exploratory behaviors and weight, explaining 2% to 14% of the variance. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for body weight at 8 weeks (wgt8), 10 weeks (wgt10), and 2-week weight gain (difference between weeks 8 and 10) on a 6% fat diet were mapped. Two QTL on chromosome 1 (peaks at 66 cM and 100 cM; Bw8q1) affected wgt8 [likelihood of the odds ratio (Lod), 3.0 and 4.4] and wgt10 (Lod, 2.2 and 3.4), respectively. In the backcross, a significant QTL on chromosome 4 (peak at 66 cM; Bw8q2) affected wgt 8 (Lod, 3.3) and wgt10 (Lod, 3.1). For 2-week weight gain, suggestive QTL were mapped on chromosomes 4 and 6. The chromosome 6 QTL region overlaps a human 7q locus for obesity. A search for between-strain sequence polymorphisms in the leptin and NPY genes was unrevealing. Discussion: In mice, loci influencing exploratory activity play a modest role in body-weight regulation. Some forms of obesity may emerge from loci regulating normal body weight.
NADH dehydrogenase and NADH oxidation in Bacillus megaterium

Only one type (membrane-bound form) of NADH dehydrogenase could be detected in the log-phase cells ofBacillus megaterium. By sonification this enzyme could be effectively solubilized, while NADH oxidase remained bound to the membrane. A molecular weight of about 40 Kd was estimated for the dehydrogenase by gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) with an activity stain. Mercuric chloride and 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide (HQNO) were inhibitors for both the NADH dehydrogenase and oxidase inB. megaterium. The inhibition studies of NADH oxidation suggested that NADH dehydrogenase provided the primary electron source for NADH oxidase in this organismin vitro. NADH dehydrogenase was highly specific for NADH, and Km was estimated to be 28.2 μM. The enzyme was subjected to end-product inhibition of a competitive type.
Pharmacological Activation of Myosin II to Correct Pancreatic Cancer Cell Mechanics

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) annually affects 44,000 people in the U.S. and has an abysmal five-year survival rate of around 6%, which is nearly unchanged over the past 40 years. Pharmacological strategies for treating cancer have primarily focused on inhibiting cell growth through specific genetic pathways, which typically either fail to abolish the disease or lead to compensatory regulatory changes and subsequently, to drug resistance. Importantly, alterations in mechanical properties are a common feature of cancer cells, yet targeting cell mechanics remains an under-utilized approach for drug development.Here we develop a system for targeting cell mechanics for the discovery of novel therapeutics. We designed a live-cell, high-throughput chemical screen to identify mechanical modulators in Dictyostelium discoideum. We characterized 4-hydroxyacetophenone (4-HAP), which increases the cellular cortical tension by enhancing the cortical localization of the mechanoenzyme myosin II, independent of myosin heavy-chain phosphorylation regulation. To shift cell mechanics, 4-HAP requires myosin II, including its full power stroke. We further establish that changes in key cytoskeletal protein distributions correlate with the changes in the biomechanical profile of PDAC progression. In addition to actin-crosslinkers, we detect that non-muscle myosin II distributions vary across PDAC states: specifically myosin IIA increases, myosin IIB decreases, and myosin IIC increases in metastatic cells. We further demonstrate that invasive pancreatic cancer cells are more deformable than normal pancreatic ductal epithelial cells, a mechanical profile that was partially corrected with 4-HAP. Tests of 4-HAP in mouse models of metastatic pancreatic disease are underway. Overall, 4-HAP modifies nonmuscle myosin II-based cell mechanics across phyla and disease states and provides proof-of-concept that cell mechanics offer a rich drug target space, allowing for possible corrective modulation of tumor cell behavior.
The Colloquium as a Pedagogy of Dialogue

A pedagogy of dialogue can facilitate student civic engagement and critical self-reflection into divisive social issues. Although several scholars theorize and support this claim, few describe their practices for teaching students how to become agents of social change in their everyday lives through dialogic public discourse. This paper describes the context and methods used to foster students’ understandings of divergent points of view during a winter intersession colloquium that was affiliated with a campus and community lecture series at a women's liberal arts college.
Cultural Beliefs and Mental Health Treatment Preferences of Ethnically Diverse Older Adult Consumers in Primary Care

Background Beliefs concerning the causes of mental illness may help to explain why there are significant disparities in the rates of formal mental health service use among racial/ethnic minority elderly as compared with their white counterparts. This study applies the cultural influences on mental health framework to identify the relationship between race/ethnicity and differences in 1) beliefs on the cause of mental illness, 2) preferences for type of treatment, and 3) provider characteristics. Method Analyses were conducted using baseline data collected from participants who completed the cultural attitudes toward healthcare and mental illness questionnaire, developed for the Primary Care Research in Substance Abuse and Mental Health for the Elderly study, a multisite randomized trial for older adults (65+) with depression, anxiety, or at-risk alcohol consumption. The final sample consisted of 1,257 non-Latino whites, 536 African Americans, 112 Asian Americans, and 303 Latinos. Results African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos had differing beliefs regarding the causes of mental illness when compared with non-Latino whites. Race/ethnicity was also associated with determining who makes healthcare decisions, treatment preferences, and preferred characteristics of healthcare providers. Conclusions This study highlights the association between race/ethnicity and health beliefs, treatment preferences, healthcare decisions, and consumers' preferred characteristics of healthcare providers. Accommodating the values and preferences of individuals can be helpful in engaging racial/ethnic minority patients in mental health services.
A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE RESPONDING MAINTAINED BY INTERVAL SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

Interval schedules of reinforcement maintained pigeons' key-pecking in six experiments. Each schedule was specified in terms of mean interval, which determined the maximum rate of reinforcement possible, and distribution of intervals, which ranged from many-valued (variable-interval) to single-valued (fixed-interval). In Exp. 1, the relative durations of a sequence of intervals from an arithmetic progression were held constant while the mean interval was varied. Rate of responding was a monotonically increasing, negatively accelerated function of rate of reinforcement over a range from 8.4 to 300 reinforcements per hour. The rate of responding also increased as time passed within the individual intervals of a given schedule. In Exp. 2 and 3, several variable-interval schedules made up of different sequences of intervals were examined. In each schedule, the rate of responding at a particular time within an interval was shown to depend at least in part on the local rate of reinforcement at that time, derived from a measure of the probability of reinforcement at that time and the proximity of potential reinforcements at other times. The functional relationship between rate of responding and rate of reinforcement at different times within the intervals of a single schedule was similar to that obtained across different schedules in Exp. 1. Experiments 4, 5, and 6 examined fixed-interval and two-valued (mixed fixed-interval fixed-interval) schedules, and demonstrated that reinforcement at one time in an interval had substantial effects on responding maintained at other times. It was concluded that the rate of responding maintained by a given interval schedule depends not on the overall rate of reinforcement provided but rather on the summation of different local effects of reinforcement at different times within intervals.
Peru's Postponed Revolution

Observers of Peru since Carleton Beals (1934) have been pre-dicting “fire on the Andes.” When Bolivia began its basic social transformation in 1952, a Peruvian conflagration seemed all the more inevitable. Then, in 1962, what appeared to be Peru's version of the Sierra Maestra phase of “the revolution” began in the densely populated mountainous areas of the south.
Effects of the number of developers on code quality in open source software: a case study

Eleven open source software projects were analyzed to determine if the number of committing developers impacts code quality. We use cyclomatic complexity, lines of code per function, comment density, and maximum nesting as surrogate measures of code quality. We find no significant evidence to suggest that the number of committing developers affects the quality of software.
Locus of Control Orientation and Perception of “Hurricane” in Fifth Graders

Summary The effects of a natural aversive stimulus (Hurricane Eloise in 1975) on locus of control and perception of the concept “hurricane” were investigated among 463 fifth graders from Title I schools in two coastal cities along Florida's Panhandle. Although both cities were threatened, only one was hit. Of the 269 Ss in the city hit, 184 had fourth grade locus of control scores. The hypotheses were (a) children in the city hit would not show the expected age-related increase in internality; (b) children in the city hit would be more external than children in the city not hit; and (c) children in the city hit would perceive the concept “hurricane” more positively than children in the city not hit, largely because of the effect of the positive view of internals in the city hit. The third hypothesis was supported. The results were interpreted from perceptual defense and aversive conditioning viewpoints. The lack of support for the first two hypotheses is consistent with recent disaster literature on the l...
Paraffin dehydrocyclization. Part 10. Conversion of n-octane with supported Pt—Sn catalysts at 100 psig

Abstract The n -octane conversion data at 100 psig conditions show that the presence of tin in a Pt-alumina catalyst increases conversion when a non-acidic support is used but decreases the activity of a catalyst with an acidic alumina support. The above observation applies for catalysts prepared by coimpregnation of Sn and Pt onto the support, but not for a catalyst prepared by coprecipitation of a tin-aluminum oxide support which is then impregnated with Pt. For the catalysts prepared by coimpregnation, tin decreases the activity by poisoning acid sites that are needed for the bifunctional cyclization pathway but this is not the case for the coprecipitated catalyst for a similar Sn/Pt ratio. The role of tin in altering the activity and selectivity of Pt catalysts is correlated to catalyst characterization data.
Noise in phosphorus-implanted buried channel MOS transistors

Abstract Noise measurements on phosphorus-implanted buried channel MOS transistors are reported. The data are interpreted as two superimposed generation-recombination ( g – r ) spectra with different time constants plus a white spectrum due to thermal-like noise of the conducting channel.
The polar lipids from keratinized tissues of some vertebrates

1. The lipids from a variety of keratinized tissues from terrestrial vertebrates were extracted with chloroform:methanol and the nonpolar and saponifiable lipids were removed. The composition of the remaining polar lipids was examined by thin layer chromatography and color reactions. 2. The tissues studied included: hair from a monkey (Macacca fascicularis), dog (Canis familiaris), raccoon (Procyon lotor) and cow (Bos taurus); full-thickness epidermis from a pig (Sus scrofa) and pilot whale (Globicephala melaena); epidermal scales and feathers from a fowl (Gallus gallus); scales, feathers, beaks and claws from a turkey (Meleagris gallopavo); hoof and horn from cattle (Bos taurus); and cast skins from a Columbian boa (Boa constrictor) and a Ball python (Python regius). 3. All of the tissues contained both simple ceramides and highly polar glycolipids (presumably gangliosides). 4. Glycolipids of intermediate polarity were present in all of the tissues from birds and snakes and in the mammalian tissues which contained unkeratinized epidermal cells, but were absent from fully keratinized mammalian tissues such as hair, hoof and horn. 5. The presence of the highly polar gangliosides provides for the formation of the multiple intercellular lipid lamellae which have been observed in the epidermal horny layer of mammals, birds and reptiles and which are believed to constitute the epidermal barrier to water diffusion.
Hydrolysis and Condensation of Self-Assembled Monolayers of (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane on Ag and Au Surfaces

Self-assembled monolayer films of (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (3MPT) and their hydrolysis products on Ag and Au surfaces are characterized using Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electrochemistry. 3MPT monolayers are formed through metal−thiolate bonding through the S atom on both metals, similar to other alkanethiol chemisorption chemistries. The orientation of 3MPT molecules in these monolayers is similar on both metals. Prior to hydrolysis, the molecules form an organized monolayer with the methoxy headgroups oriented largely parallel to the surface and the propyl chain in a largely trans conformation. When the methoxy groups are hydrolyzed, the 3MPT molecules cross-link through the formation of siloxane bonds. Although the surface vibrational spectroscopy indicates the presence of a small number of unreacted silanol groups on the siloxane surface, cyclic voltammetry of underpotential deposition of Pb suggests that the Si−O−Si networ...
Evaluation of a 3 year intervention to increase adoption of safer nursery crop production practices

Abstract Background We conducted a 3 year intervention to increase awareness and adoption of eight more profitable nursery crop production practices that reduced certain traumatic and musculoskeletal injury hazards. Methods We disseminated information to nursery managers across seven states using information channels they were known to rely on (e.g. trade publications, public events, university Extension, other managers). We evaluated rolling, independent, probability samples (n = 1200) with mail questionnaires before the intervention and after each of 3 intervention years. We also evaluated samples (n = 250) from a comparison group of New Zealand nursery managers. Results The intervention was associated with increased awareness of four of the eight practices among US managers after year 3 compared to their baseline: zippers (20 vs. 32%, p ≤ 0.000), stools (11 vs. 22%, p ≤ 0.001), pruners (29 vs. 40%, p ≤ 0.014), and tarps (24 vs. 33%, p ≤ 0.009). There were no changes in adoption. New Zealand manager awareness was increased for hoes after year 2 compared to their baseline (35 vs. 52%, p ≤ 0.010). Conclusions A modest, regionwide information dissemination intervention was associated with increased awareness, but not adoption.
Purification and characterization of an abundant rubber particle protein from guayule

Abstract Guayule rubber particles, which have high rubber transferase (RuT) activity, contain several characteristic proteins. The most abundant of these was purified by preparative gel electrophoresis and characterized. Designated the rubber particle protein (RPP), it is present in all guayule lines studied to date. RPP has an apparent M r of 48 500 and an isoelectric point of pI 6.2 which corresponds to a pI of 6.17 predicted by amino acid analysis. Antibodies were raised successfully against RPP and used for immunological analysis. Concanavalin A binds to blotted RPP indicating that it is a glycoprotein. When concanavalin A is added to purified rubber particles, it results in their rapid agglutination. However, protease treatments of purified rubber particles indicate that RPP is positioned inside the particle. Thus, it appears that RPP is positioned within the rubber particle, but at the surface, and that its oligosaccharide moiety extends to the particle exterior.
Oral Interaction in Cooperative Learning Groups: Speaking, Listening, and the Nature of Statements Made by High-, Medium-, and Low-Achieving Students

ABSTRACT Oral interaction within cooperative learning groups was observed for high-, medium-, and low-achieving students. Initially, cooperative and individualistic learning situations were compared on achievement and attitudes. Forty-eight 4th- grade American students were assigned to learning situations on a stratified random basis controlling for ability and sex. They participated in the study for 55 min a day for 15 instructional days. Two observation schemes were used. The results for the cooperative situation were factor analyzed to determine the basic dimensions of oral interaction within cooperative learning groups. Five orthogonal factors were identified: Exchanging Task-Related Information, Elaborating on the Information, Encouraging Each Other to Learn, Disagreeing With Each Other's Conclusions, and Making Nontask Comments and Sharing Personal Feelings. The oral participation of students from different achievement levels was differentially related to achievement. Vocalizing was found to be more...
Determining reliability of clinical assessment scores in real time.

Background: Assessment score reliability is usually based on a single analysis. However, reliability is an essential component of validity and assessment validation and revision is a never-ending cycle. For ongoing assessments over extended time frames, real-time reliability computations may alert users to possible changes in the learning environment that are revealed by variations in reliability over time. Purpose: To develop software that calculates the reliability of clinical assessments in real time. Methods: Over 2,400 assessment forms were analyzed. We developed software that calculates reliability in real time. Software accuracy was verified by comparing data from our software with a standard method. Factor analysis determined scale dimensionality. Results: Correlation between our software and a standard method was excellent (ICC for kappas = 0.97; Cronbach's alphas differed by < 0.03). Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.94 to 0.97 and weighted kappa ranged from 0.08 to 0.40. Factor analysis confirmed ...
Residue ionization and ion transport through OmpF channels.

Single trimeric channels of the general bacterial porin, OmpF, were reconstituted into planar lipid membranes and their conductance, selectivity, and open-channel noise were studied over a wide range of proton concentrations. From pH 1 to pH 12, channel transport properties displayed three characteristic regimes. First, in acidic solutions, channel conductance is a strong function of pH; it increases by approximately threefold as the proton concentration decreases from pH 1 to pH 5. This rise in conductance is accompanied by a sharp increase in cation transport number and by pronounced open-channel low-frequency current noise with a peak at ∼pH 2.5. Random stepwise transients with amplitudes at ∼1/5 of the monomer conductance are major contributors to this noise. Second, over the middle range (pH 5 ÷ pH 9), channel conductance and selectivity stay virtually constant; open channel noise is at its minimum. Third, over the basic range (pH 9 ÷ pH 12), channel conductance and cation selectivity start to grow again with an onset of a higher frequency open-channel noise. We attribute these effects to the reversible protonation of channel residues whose pH-dependent charge influences transport by direct interactions with ions passing through the channel.
Depth of field extension in a low power microscope objective

Three different techniques for extending the depth of field of a low-power (4x) microscope objective system are examined experimentally: wavefront coding with a cubic phase mask, amplitude modulation with a large central obscuration, and added spherical aberration. Their relative merits are discussed and demonstrated with sample images.