cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Passive Solar Heating System for the Perimeter Zone of Office Buildings

Abstract The objective of this passive solar system is to heat the perimeter zone of an office building during the less occupied hours (6 P.M.-12 P.M. ) in order to cut down on the use of perimeter heaters. The system integrates daylighting and phase change materials for heat storage. Phase change panels are embedded in the ceiling of an office space. The top of the light shelf is coated with a specularly reflective film such that 90% of the direct solar radiation incident upon it will be reflected toward the phase change panel. The light shelf is designed to rotate about its centroidai axis parallel to the window. The theoretically determined solar areas on the phase change panel coupled with solar radiation data for the city of Montreal, Quebec, were used to determine the amount of solar energy available for passive storage for each daylight hour of a typical day of each winter month (Oct.-Mar.). Simulation included balancing solar and internal gains against losses and estimating life cycle cost benefit...
Biomedical engineering: the career of choice

In the author's opinion, the biomedical engineer is ideally trained to work at the intersection of science, medicine, and mathematics to solve biological and medical problems, so that a university degree in biomedical engineering will prepare you for many professions. The following questions are explored: What do biomedical engineers do? How do biomedical engineers differ from other engineers? How much education does a biomedical engineer require? How can a high school education prepare me for studies in biomedical engineering? What types of university courses will prepare me to be a biomedical engineer? What kind of practical experience can I expect to gain while training? Where do I get more information?.
Nitroalcohol Induced Hydrogel Formation in Amine-Functionalized Polymers

Certain β-nitroalcohols degrade under basic conditions or upon heating to form formaldehyde. This reaction provides an elegant approach to generate formaldehyde within a system at a desired time using the stimulus of pH or temperature. Using β-nitroalcohols as a delivery agent for formaldehyde, polymer crosslinking can be induced via stimulus. Such an approach is akin to those used to prepare “self-healing” polymers, which have received much attention recently. Herein, we describe the use of certain β-nitroalcohols as a masked formaldehyde delivery system and demonstrate its use as a crosslinking agent of amine functionalized polymers to form hydrogels. We examine the temperature and pH dependence of 2-nitro-1,3-propanediol and 2-(hydroxymethyl)-2-nitro-1,2-propanediol on the rate and extent of gelation and characterize the resulting gel by swelling and FTIR experiments.
Judicial Adjudication and the Spatial Structure of Production: Two Decisions by the National Labor Relations Board

Two decisions by the National Labor Relations Board are analysed with regard to their spatial implications. It is shown that these decisions, issued in 1982 and 1984 with respect to the contract rights of labor and capital in a particular firm, can have fundamental effects on the spatial configuration of economic activity. The substantive ideological and legal arguments are analysed, as are the underlying conceptions of contract rights. Implications are also drawn about the importance of the legal perspective in understanding local labor-market patterns in the United States of America.
An observation of rapid thermocline formation in the Middle-Atlantic Bight

Abstract A time-series temperature profile has been constructed from XBT drops made during the spring of 1973 at an industrial waste disposal site 60 km off the coast of Delaware. Isothermal conditions were found throughout the water column until mid-April. Surface warming was sudden and accomplished without detectable return to isothermy. Thermocline formation is attributed to a combination of vernal warming and influx of a warm water mass from the southeast. The temperature at 3 meters rose from 6.7 to 9.5 °C in 98 hours, an average of 0.7 deg./day. A distinct thermocline formed between 18 and 23 meters (ΔT = 1.8 °C) within 7 days of the cessation of isothermy. No appreciable deepening of the thermocline was observed in the month following its formation. The rate of near-surface warming was greatly reduced after thermocline formation. Temperature at 3 meters rose from 9.6 to 13.3 °C in the 30-day period from 21 April to 20 May, an average of 0.1 deg./day. Short-term incursions of warm bottom water were observed on two occasions, one before themocline formation and one after thermal stratification. Density stratification in the area is primarily thermally induced in the period following thermocline formation.
Consumer response to quantity surcharges: Implications for retail price setters

Abstract Quantity surcharges occur when a larger-sized package of a brand has a higher per-unit price than its smaller-sized counterpart (which is otherwise equivalent in terms of quality and type of packaging). Although consumers typically expect larger packages to have a quantity discount (i.e., lower per unit prices), quantity surcharges are common among package goods items. Two experimental studies are presented in which consumers' reactions to surcharges are examined. Surcharge pricing was found to impact consumers' evaluations of surcharged brands and their evaluations of retail pricing. In addition, quantity surcharges were found to have a substantial influence on purchase behavior. Moderators of these effects include quantity discount beliefs (i.e., the extent to which consumers believe that large packages are assigned smaller unit prices), surcharge magnitude, and gender. Implications of these findings for retail price setters and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Effects of protein aggregates: an immunologic perspective.

The capacity of protein aggregates to enhance immune responses to the monomeric form of the protein has been known for over a half-century. Despite the clear connection between protein aggregates and antibody mediated adverse events in treatment with early therapeutic protein products such as intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) and human growth hormone, surprisingly little is known about the nature of the aggregate species responsible for such effects. This review focuses on a framework for understanding how aggregate species potentially interact with the immune system to enhance immune responses, garnered from basic immunologic research. Thus, protein antigens presented in a highly arrayed structure, such as might be found in large nondenatured aggregate species, are highly potent in inducing antibody responses even in the absence of T-cell help. Their potency may relate to the ability of multivalent protein species to extensively cross-link B-cell receptor, which (1) activates B cells via Bt kinases to proliferate, and (2) targets protein to class II major histocompatability complex (MHC)-loading compartments, efficiently eliciting T-cell help for antibody responses. The review further focuses on protein aggregates as they affect an immunogenicity risk assessment, the use of animal models and studies in uncovering effects of protein aggregates, and changes in product manufacture and packaging that may affect generation of protein aggregates.
Cubic spline curve fitting with controlled end conditions

Several approximate methods for cubic spline curve fitting have been developed and successfully used. This paper presents a more flexible version of a proven technique by using a set of end conditions suggested by Nutbourne. The advantages and disadvantages of several techniques are clarified and sample graphical output is given. The results should be of greatest interest to users of inexpensive, computer graphics equipment who are interested in improving passive graphical output.
Sports and American Education

In November 1914, the 70,000-seat Yale Bowl opened as the home field for the New Haven university's Bulldogs, holding half again as many fans as its counterpart at arch-rival Harvard, completed in 1903. Together, both stadiums ushered in a new era of stadium construction across the nation, providing the infrastructure for what came to be known as the Golden Age of American Sport in the 1920s a building boom that included Princeton's Palmer Stadium, but also such shrines of major league baseball as Boston's Fenway Park (1912) and Yankee Stadium in the Bronx (1923). This boom echoed, in turn, a similar wave of stadium building in Britain, where football madness focused on the sport we now call soccer. The rise of what we now term big-time college athletics occurred as part of a burgeoning mass market that developed around spectator sports in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This market encompassed events as varied as the America's Cup, Pierre de Coubertin's "modern" Olympic movement, the rise of international soccer, the World Series, and the annual naming of Walter Camp's All-American squad in college football. Significantly, college football achieved its first zenith in this larger process through which sport became an article of mass consumption. Collegians Red Grange and Notre Dame's "Four Horsemen" featured prominently on the same sports pages that chronicled the triumphs of Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. Even as thousands of fans trooped into venues throughout the country to cheer the local version of fictional Yale football hero Frank Meriwell, voices from within the academy, including Harvard president Charles Eliot
Controlled release of pendant bioactive materials from acrylic polymer colloids

Abstract This paper describes polyacrylate ester latex particles, 40 to 400 nm in diameter, which are prepared by aqueous emulsion polymerization. These particles possess pendant drug moieties attached by ester linkages. Sustained release of the active material is achieved by either acid- or base-catalyzed hydrolysis of the pendant linkages. The redox system used to initiate polymerization produces latex particles with sulfate and sulfonate endgroups at the interface. Conversion of these groups to their strong acid form by ion exchange causes the particles to “self-catalyze” ester hydrolysis and subsequent drug release. This results in steady rates of release over long periods of time. The kinetics of drug release from two different systems based on this technology will be presented. Potential applications will also be discussed.
Reductionism's Demise: Cold Comfort

. Nonreductive physicalism, as opposed to reductionism, enjoys wide popularity by virtue of being regarded as comporting with the traditional image of human beings as free and ontologically unique without the difficulties of mind-body dualism. A consideration of reasons, both good and bad, for which reductionism is rejected suggests instead that the move to nonreductive physicalism does nothing to mitigate the implications of a physicalist account of human nature.
Metabolome searcher: a high throughput tool for metabolite identification and metabolic pathway mapping directly from mass spectrometry and using genome restriction

Mass spectrometric analysis of microbial metabolism provides a long list of possible compounds. Restricting the identification of the possible compounds to those produced by the specific organism would benefit the identification process. Currently, identification of mass spectrometry (MS) data is commonly done using empirically derived compound databases. Unfortunately, most databases contain relatively few compounds, leaving long lists of unidentified molecules. Incorporating genome-encoded metabolism enables MS output identification that may not be included in databases. Using an organism’s genome as a database restricts metabolite identification to only those compounds that the organism can produce. To address the challenge of metabolomic analysis from MS data, a web-based application to directly search genome-constructed metabolic databases was developed. The user query returns a genome-restricted list of possible compound identifications along with the putative metabolic pathways based on the name, formula, SMILES structure, and the compound mass as defined by the user. Multiple queries can be done simultaneously by submitting a text file created by the user or obtained from the MS analysis software. The user can also provide parameters specific to the experiment’s MS analysis conditions, such as mass deviation, adducts, and detection mode during the query so as to provide additional levels of evidence to produce the tentative identification. The query results are provided as an HTML page and downloadable text file of possible compounds that are restricted to a specific genome. Hyperlinks provided in the HTML file connect the user to the curated metabolic databases housed in ProCyc, a Pathway Tools platform, as well as the KEGG Pathway database for visualization and metabolic pathway analysis. Metabolome Searcher, a web-based tool, facilitates putative compound identification of MS output based on genome-restricted metabolic capability. This enables researchers to rapidly extend the possible identifications of large data sets for metabolites that are not in compound databases. Putative compound names with their associated metabolic pathways from metabolomics data sets are returned to the user for additional biological interpretation and visualization. This novel approach enables compound identification by restricting the possible masses to those encoded in the genome.
Liquid crystal polymers containing macroheterocyclic ligands. III. Side chain liquid crystalline polymethacrylates containing mesogenic units based on diarylacetylenes and benzo‐15‐crown‐5

The synthesis and polymerization of 4′-[4-ethynyl-1-(11-methacryloylundecan-1-yloxy) benzene] benzo-15-crown-5 (8), 4′-[4-ethynyl-4′-(11-methacryloylundecan-1-yloxy) biphenyl] benzo-15-crown-5 (15), 4′-[2-ethynyl-6-(11-methacryloylundecan-1-yloxy) naphthalene] benzo-15-crown-5 (24), and 4′-[2-ethynyl-6-(11-methacryloylundecan-1-yloxy)naphthalene]-5′-ethylbenzo-15-crown-5 (35) is described. The synthesis and characterization of 4′-[4-(4-ethynyl-1-(2-ethynyl-6-(6-hydroxyhexan-1-yloxy)naphthathalene)benzene]) benzo-15-crown-5 (29) is also presented. Both monomers and polymers were characterized for their mesomorphic behavior. 8, poly(8), and 15 are crystalline. Due to the insolubility of 15, poly(15) could not be synthesized. 24 is crystalline, while poly(24) displays a monotropic nematic mesophase. 29 exhibits also a monotropic nematic mesophase. 35 is crystalline, while poly(35) displays an enantiotropic nematic mesophase which is kinetically controlled due to its close proximity to the glass transition temperature.
Multilocus Phylogenetics of a Rapid Radiation in the Genus Thomomys (Rodentia: Geomyidae)

Species complexes undergoing rapid radiation present a challenge in molecular systematics because of the possibility that ancestral polymorphism is retained in component gene trees. Coalescent theory has demonstrated that gene trees often fail to match lineage trees when taxon divergence times are less than the ancestral effective population sizes. Suggestions to increase the number of loci and the number of individuals per taxon have been proposed; however, phylogenetic methods to adequately analyze these data in a coalescent framework are scarce. We compare two approaches to estimating lineage (species) trees using multiple individuals and multiple loci: the commonly used partitioned Bayesian analysis of concatenated sequences and a modification of a newly developed hierarchical Bayesian method (BEST) that simultaneously estimates gene trees and species trees from multilocus data. We test these approaches on a phylogeny of rapidly radiating species wherein divergence times are likely to be smaller than effective population sizes, and incomplete lineage sorting is known, in the rodent genus, Thomomys. We use seven independent noncoding nuclear sequence loci (total ∼4300 bp) and between 1 and 12 individuals per taxon to construct a phylogenetic hypothesis for eight Thomomys species. The majority-rule consensus tree from the partitioned concatenated analysis included 14 strongly supported bipartitions, corroborating monophyletic species status of five of the eight named species. The BEST tree strongly supported only the split between the two subgenera and showed very low support for any other clade. Comparison of both lineage trees to individual gene trees revealed that the concatenation method appears to ignore conflicting signals among gene trees, whereas the BEST tree considers conflicting signals and downweights support for those nodes. Bayes factor analysis of posterior tree distributions from both analyses strongly favor the model underlying the BEST analysis. This comparison underscores the risks of overreliance on results from concatenation, and ignoring the properties of coalescence, especially in cases of recent, rapid radiations. (Gene tree; importance sampling; incomplete lineage sorting; multilocus phylogeny; pocket gopher; species tree; Thomomys. Geomyidae.)
Split Injection Strategy for Prompt Cold Starting and Low White Smoke Emissions

Progressing needs for prompt cold start of direct injection Diesel engines is the motivation behind this study. Authors have examined the autoignition and combustion processes in the early firing cycles of the engine and proposed a strategy to reduce the cranking period and the white smoke emissions. The concept is to accelerate the preparation of the combustible mixture during the cranking process. This is achieved by splitting the injected fuel in two parts and controlling its timing. The duration of the first injection is limited such that the spray penetrates through the combustion chamber and evaporates before it reaches the walls. The dwell between the two injections is adjusted to allow time for the first spray to mix with the fresh charge, form a combustible mixture and start producing the autoignition radicals. The second part would evaporate and autoignite by reacting with the radicals before it reaches the cool walls. The strategy is verified on a 1.2 L Ford Diata Diesel engine equipped with a first generation common rail fuel injection system. The cycle resolved hydrocarbons, and NOx emissions are measured by high response detectors. In addition, the mass and constituents of the white smoke are measured. All the experiments for this paper have been conducted after the engine has been soaked at the normal room temperature for at least eight hours. The results showed that there is an optimum strategy for the split injection that would minimize the cranking period and white smoke emissions.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Revisiting the Rotating Call Schedule in Less Than 80 Hours Per Week

Purpose The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) work-hour restrictions have prompted many surgical training programs to adopt a night-float resident coverage system (NF). Dissatisfaction with NF prompted us to transition to a rotating junior resident call model (Q4) with 24-hour call shifts at the outset of the 2007-2008 academic year. We performed a prospective study to determine the influence of this transition on resident education, morale, and quality of life, as well as on ACGME work rule compliance and American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE) scores. Methods Residents were surveyed after 1 year of NF and again 1 year after the introduction of Q4. Responses to a series of statements about the influence of the call model (NF or Q4) on educational opportunities and morale were solicited. The survey used a 5-point Likert response scale (1 = complete disagreement to 5 = complete agreement). Median values of participant responses were calculated and compared using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Compliance with ACGME work rules, ABSITE scores, and operative case logs from the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 academic years were also compared. Results Residents were significantly more enthusiastic about Q4 compared with NF, particularly when asked about the influence these systems had on morale (median response = 4.0 [Q4] compared with 2.0 [NF]; p = 0.001) and engagement of residents by the teaching faculty (median response = 4.0 [Q4] compared with 1.0 [NF]; p = 0.001). Case logs revealed a similar operative experience for first-year residents irrespective of the call schedule (p = 0.51). Excellent compliance with ACGME work rules was maintained as reflected by the percentage of monthly 80-hour violations per resident months worked (3% [Q4] compared with 0.7% [NF]). No difference was observed in the ABSITE scores of first-year residents (a mean percentile point increase of 1 was found after the introduction of Q4). Conclusions Educational opportunities, compliance with ACGME work rules, and ABSITE scores can be preserved despite a transition from NF to Q4. Residents greatly prefer a rotating call schedule.
Decoding, Reading, and Reading Disability

To clarify the role of decoding in reading and reading disability, a simple model of reading is proposed, which holds that reading equals the product of decoding and comprehension. It follows that there must be three types of reading disability, resulting from an inability to decode, an inability to comprehend, or both. It is argued that the first is dyslexia, the second hyperlexia, and the third common, or garden variety, reading disability.
Trypsinogen-like cDNAs and quantitative analysis of mRNA levels from the Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella.

Two cDNA fragments encoding full-length trypsinogen-like proteins were cloned from larvae of two strains (RC688s and HD198r) of the Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), which differed in their sensitivity to Bacillus thuringiensis protoxins. One cDNA fragment contained 874 nucleotides, including a 780-nucleotide open reading frame that encoded a trypsinogen-like protein (PiT2b). Another cDNA fragment amplified from bothP. interpunctella strains contained 864 nucleotides including a 780 bp open reading frame encoding a second trypsinogen-like protein (PiT2c). The cDNA sequence of PiT2b shared 89% sequence identity with PiT2a, a trypsinogen-like protein cloned previously from this species. The cDNA sequences of PiT2a and PiT2c shared 83% identity. The cDNA sequence identity between PiT2b and PiT2c was 80%. The cDNA for PiT2b from strain RC688s was different at six nucleotide positions from that of PiT2b from strain HD198r. Five nucleotide replacements occurred in the open reading frame leading to amino acid changes at all five positions. There were five nucleotide differences in the cDNAs forPiT2c trypsinogen- like proteins from the two strains. Two nucleotide substitutions in the open reading frame resulted in replacements of two amino acid residues in the deduced protein sequences. Amino acid sequences for PiT2a and PiT2b shared 84% identity, but only 50% identity was observed between PiT2c and the other two trypsinogen-like proteins. The deduced amino acid sequences for PiT2b and PiT2c included both signal and zymogen activation peptides and amino acid sequence motifs which are conserved in seven homologous trypsinogen-like proteins from other insects. Typical features of the putative trypsinogen-like proteins from P. inter- punctella included the serine proteinase active site triad (His 81 , Asp 133 , and Ser 233 ), three pairs of cysteine residues for disulfide bridges, and three residues, Asp 227 , Gly 250 , and Gly 260 , that help to confer trypsin-like specificity to the enzymes. Quantitative RT- PCR analyses showed that, in fourth instar larvae, RC688s had 1.6-fold higher PiT2a trypsinogen-like mRNA than did HD198r. Expression of PiT2b mRNA was 3.4-fold higher in HD198r than in RC688s. Expression of PiT2c mRNA was 2.8-fold higher in RC688s than in HD198r. Mean accumulation levels of mRNAs for all three trypsinogen-like proteins were slightly higher in RC688s than in HD198r based on total RNA, and 1.3-fold higher in RC688s than in HD198r based on wet weight of larval body tissues. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Do Expectancies for Reinforcement From Smoking Change After Smoking Initiation

Expectancies are important predictors of smoking behavior. Recent research suggests that expectancies are not stable, and vary across internal and external states and levels of cigarette consumption. Expectancies may also vary between individuals as a function of temperamental characteristics such as behavioral undercontrol (BU). While pre-initiation expectancies have been linked to subsequent smoking behaviors, no study has assessed the effect of smoking initiation on expectancies. The present study was designed to test the hypotheses that both positive (PRE) and negative (NRE) reinforcement expectancies would increase following initiation, and that these changes would be moderated by BU. College students were interviewed 12–15 months apart. Those who initiated smoking between assessments (n = 69) were included in the present study. Linear mixed models showed a significant increase in PRE but not NRE from pre- to post-initiation. The relationship between NRE and time was moderated by BU, such that higher BU was associated with significantly larger post-initiation increases in NRE. Findings suggest that PRE and NRE change significantly following experience with smoking. Further, undercontrolled, impulsive individuals may be particularly vulnerable to smoking with the intention of alleviating aversive states.
Some properties of the multiple sidelobe canceller (MSLC) perturbation beam

The adaptive action of an MSLC can be viewed as the additive combination of the unadapted main beam and a perturbation beam formed by the weighted sum of the array of auxiliary elements. For a single-zero-band-width (narrow band1 interference source, the perturbation beam is uniformly weighted and is steered to the interference source. It is shown that the beam is non- uniformly weighted for the non-zero bandwidth case. It is also shown that if the main and auxiliary antennas are spatial points, then the perturbation beam is non-uniformly weighted, steered to the interference source, and peaks at the interferer angle. For the more realistic case of a non-Point main antenna, the perturbation beam does not peak at the interferer angle for any bandwidth.
Increased Risk of Cancer in Infertile Men: Analysis of U.S. Claims Data

Purpose: Aberrations in reproductive fitness may be a harbinger of medical diseases in men. Data suggest a higher risk of testicular cancer in infertile men. However, the relationship between infertility and other cancers remains uncertain.Materials and Methods: We analyzed subjects from the Truven Health MarketScan® claims database from 2001 to 2009. Infertile men were identified through diagnosis and treatment codes. Comparison groups were created of men who underwent vasectomy and a control cohort of men who were not infertile and had not undergone vasectomy. The incidence of cancer was compared to national U.S. estimates. Infertile men were also compared to men who underwent vasectomy and the control cohort using a Cox regression model.Results: A total of 76,083 infertile men were identified with an average age of 35.1 years. Overall 112,655 men who underwent vasectomy and 760,830 control men were assembled. Compared to age adjusted national averages, infertile, vasectomy and control subjects in the s...
Overview on research and development of computer-aided diagnostic schemes

Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) has become a practical clinical approach in diagnostic radiology, although at present only in the area of detection of breast cancer in mammograms. Current research efforts have been focused on detection and classification of images of many different types of lesions in a number of organs, obtained with various imaging modalities. It is likely that the present results of CAD are only at the tip of the iceberg. Although automated computer diagnosis is a concept based on computer algorithms only, CAD is a concept established by taking into account equally the roles of physicians and computers. The effect of CAD on differential diagnosis has already indicated that the performance level is high, and that CAD would be ready for clinical trials and commercialization efforts. The presentation of images similar to those of an unknown case may be useful as a supplemental tool for CAD in the differential diagnosis.
The actin gene ACT1 is required for phagocytosis, motility, and cell separation of Tetrahymena thermophila.

A previously identified Tetrahymena thermophila actin gene (C. G. Cupples and R. E. Pearlman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:5160-5164, 1986), here called ACT1, was disrupted by insertion of a neo3 cassette. Cells in which all expressed copies of this gene were disrupted exhibited intermittent and extremely slow motility and severely curtailed phagocytic uptake. Transformation of these cells with inducible genetic constructs that contained a normal ACT1 gene restored motility. Use of an epitope-tagged construct permitted visualization of Act1p in the isolated axonemes of these rescued cells. In ACT1Δ mutant cells, ultrastructural abnormalities of outer doublet microtubules were present in some of the axonemes. Nonetheless, these cells were still able to assemble cilia after deciliation. The nearly paralyzed ACT1Δ cells completed cleavage furrowing normally, but the presumptive daughter cells often failed to separate from one another and later became reintegrated. Clonal analysis revealed that the cell cycle length of the ACT1Δ cells was approximately double that of wild-type controls. Clones could nonetheless be maintained for up to 15 successive fissions, suggesting that the ACT1 gene is not essential for cell viability or growth. Examination of the cell cortex with monoclonal antibodies revealed that whereas elongation of ciliary rows and formation of oral structures were normal, the ciliary rows of reintegrated daughter cells became laterally displaced and sometimes rejoined indiscriminately across the former division furrow. We conclude that Act1p is required in Tetrahymena thermophila primarily for normal ciliary motility and for phagocytosis and secondarily for the final separation of daughter cells.
Implications of Voluntary Communication Based on Gender, Education Level and Cultural Issues in an Online Environment

Because of the method(s) of communication in a particular class, gender and cultural differences can lead to a different mix of voluntary communication in the online or blended class setting from that of a traditional classroom. Given the hybrid nature of courses taught by the School of Information at the University of South Florida, a comparison can be made among the same students in class using different methods of class communication. Comparisons between graduate, undergraduate and student-athletes in School of Information courses can also be made. This paper examines the differences experienced by students of varying cultural backgrounds in their willingness to participate in class discussion depending upon the type or types of communication media used and will discuss the implications for effective course design.
A Pilot Study Assessing Simulation Using Two Simulation Methods for Teaching Intravenous Cannulation

Abstract Educators often wonder which of competing strategies should be used for knowledge and skill acquisition. This pilot study explored learning outcomes as well as educational practices and design features using a traditional mannequin IV arm and a computer-based haptic task trainer (CathSim). Those using CathSim had a significant increase in post-test scores. Students identified feedback and diverse ways of learning as the most important educational practices. Feedback and provision of cues were design features identified as most important by students.
Homogenization-based constitutive models for porous elastomers and implications for macroscopic instabilities: I—Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to provide homogenization-based constitutive models for the overall, finite-deformation response of isotropic porous rubbers with random microstructures. The proposed model is generated by means of the “second-order” homogenization method, which makes use of suitably designed variational principles utilizing the idea of a “linear comparison composite.” The constitutive model takes into account the evolution of the size, shape, orientation, and distribution of the underlying pores in the material, resulting from the finite changes in geometry that are induced by the applied loading. This point is key, as the evolution of the microstructure provides geometric softening/stiffening mechanisms that can have a very significant effect on the overall behavior and stability of porous rubbers. In this work, explicit results are generated for porous elastomers with isotropic, (in)compressible, strongly elliptic matrix phases. In spite of the strong ellipticity of the matrix phases, the derived constitutive model may lose strong ellipticity, indicating the possible development of shear/compaction band-type instabilities. The general model developed in this paper will be applied in Part II of this work to a special, but representative, class of isotropic porous elastomers with the objective of exploring the complex interplay between geometric and constitutive softening/stiffening in these materials.
On the sub-Riemannian geometry of contact Anosov flows

We investigate certain natural connections between sub-Riemannian geometry and hyperbolic dynamical systems. In particular, we study dynamically defined horizontal distributions which split into two integrable ones and ask: how is the energy of a sub-Riemannian geodesic shared between its projections onto the integrable summands? We show that if the horizontal distribution is the sum of the strong stable and strong unstable distributions of a special type of a contact Anosov flow in three dimensions, then for any short enough sub-Riemannian geodesic connecting points on the same orbit of the Anosov flow, the energy of the geodesic is shared equally between its projections onto the stable and unstable bundles. The proof relies on a connection between the geodesic equations and the harmonic oscillator equation, and its explicit solution by the Jacobi elliptic functions. Using a different idea, we prove an analogous result in higher dimensions for the geodesic flow of a closed Riemannian manifold of constant negative curvature.
S-2, A NEW PHENOTYPE IN THE MN BLOOD GROUP SYSTEM.

Summary A new MN phenotype has been described, the type S2 being a weak variant of S. It is apparently produced by a new MN allele, designated MS2. Resume Un nouveau phenotype MN a ete decrit, le type S2, qui n'est qu'une variante faible de S. Il est vraisemblablement produit par un nouvel allele MN denomme MS2. Zusammenfassung Es wird ein neuer MN-Phanotyp beschrieben. Es handelt sich um den Typ S2, eine schwache Variante von S. Diese beruht offenbar auf einem neuen MN-Allel, welches als MS2 bezeichnet wurde.
The epidemiology of neonatal brachial plexus palsy in the United States.

Background: The nationwide incidence of neonatal brachial plexus palsy in the United States is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of this condition in the United States and to identify potential risk factors for neonatal brachial plexus palsy. Methods: Data from the 1997, 2000, and 2003 Kids' Inpatient Database data sets were utilized for this study. Patients were identified with use of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9), code 767.6 for neonatal brachial plexus palsy. Previously reported risk factors for this condition, including shoulder dystocia, instrumented delivery, breech delivery, an exceptionally large baby (>4.5 kg), heavy infant weight for gestational dates, multiple birth mates, and cesarean delivery, were also identified with use of ICD-9 codes. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was utilized to assess the association of neonatal brachial plexus palsy with its risk factors, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, such as gender, race, and payer status; hospital-based characteristics, such as number of hospital beds, hospital location, region, type, and teaching status; and the effect of time. Results: Over eleven million births were recorded in the database, and 17,334 had a documented brachial plexus injury in the total of three years, yielding a nationwide mean and standard error of incidence of neonatal brachial plexus palsy in the United States of at least 1.51 ± 0.02 cases per 1000 live births. The incidence of this condition has shown a significant decrease over the years (p 4.5 kg) had a fourteen times greater risk, and forceps delivery had a nine times greater risk for injury. Having a twin or multiple birth mates and delivery by cesarean section had a protective effect against the occurrence of neonatal brachial plexus palsy. Forty-six percent of all children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy had one or more known risk factors, and fifty-four percent had no known risk factors. Conclusions: This nationwide study of neonatal brachial plexus palsy in the United States demonstrates a decreasing incidence over time. Shoulder dystocia poses the greatest risk for brachial plexus injury, and having a twin or multiple birth mates and delivery by cesarean section are associated with a protective effect against injury. Most children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy did not have known risk factors. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Transplantation tolerance and its outcome during infections and inflammation

Much progress has been made toward understanding the mechanistic basis of transplantation tolerance in experimental models, which implicates clonal deletion of alloreactive T and B cells, induction of cell-intrinsic hyporesponsiveness, and dominant regulatory cells mediating infectious tolerance and linked suppression. Despite encouraging success in the laboratory, achieving tolerance in the clinic remains challenging, although the basis for these challenges is beginning to be understood. Heterologous memory alloreactive T cells generated by infections prior to transplantation have been shown to be a critical barrier to tolerance induction. Furthermore, infections at the time of transplantation and tolerance induction provide a pro-inflammatory milieu that alters the stability and function of regulatory T cells as well as the activation requirements and differentiation of effector T cells. Thus, infections can result in enhanced alloreactivity, resistance to tolerance induction, and destabilization of the established tolerance state. We speculate that these experimental findings have relevance to the clinic, where infections have been associated with allograft rejection and may be a causal event precipitating the loss of grafts after long periods of stable operational tolerance. Understanding the mechanisms by which infections prevent and destabilize tolerance can lead to therapies that promote stable life-long tolerance in transplant recipients.
The Legacy of Charles Maurras

T HE DEATH of Charles Maurras on November 16, 1952, brought to a close an era in the history of anti-democratic doctrines in France. He was one of the great figures in the ideological revolt that rejected the principles of the French Revolution in the name of order and stability. While some non-traditionalist writings were drawn upon-notably those of Proudhon, Sorel, and Comte his political thought was related in its sources to de Maistre, Fustel de Coulanges, Taine, Renan, and Barres.I For the present at least, the chain of French traditionalist writings of distinctive merit and import is broken. A successor or near-successor to the autocrat of the Action FranCaise has not appeared. It is with this fact in view that the present post-mortem is being undertaken in an effort to assess the relevance of the Maurrassian ideas to the present climate of French politics. Prior to 1940 Maurras enjoyed considerable esteem as an intellectual leader; and that personal distinction, in a country where intellect counts for much in the political world, was a major factor in the prestige which his doctrine acquired. Election to the French Academy in 1938 was one of the pinnacles of a brilliant career as a poet, essayist, journalist, historian, and political prophet. The fact that he had been imprisoned in 1936 following conviction for incitement to murder2 had no bearing on his intellectual status and consequent eligibility for the Academy. French history is strewn with the
THE PRELAYING INTERVAL OF EMPEROR GEESE ON THE YUKON-KUSKOKWIM DELTA, ALASKA

Abstract ABSTRACT We marked 136 female Emperor Geese(Chencanagica) in western Alaskawith VHF or satellite (PTT) transmittersfrom 1999 to 2003 to monitor their spring arrivaland nest initiation dates on the Yukon Delta, andto estimate prelaying interval lengths once at thenesting area. Ninety-two females with functionaltransmitters returned to the Yukon Delta in thespring after they were marked, and we located thenests of 35 of these individuals. Prelayingintervals were influenced by when snow melted inthe spring and individual arrival dates on theYukon Delta. The median prelaying interval was15 days (range = 12–19 days) in a year when snowmelted relatively late, and 11 days(range = 4–16 days) in two warmer yearswhen snow melted earlier. In years when snow meltedearlier, prelaying intervals of <12 daysfor 11 of 15 females suggested they initiated rapidfollicle development on spring staging areas. Theprelaying interval declined by approximately0.4 days and nest initiation date increasedapproximately 0.5 d...
Parathyroid gland angiography with indocyanine green fluorescence to predict parathyroid function after thyroid surgery.

Background Postoperative hypoparathyroidism remains the most common complication following thyroidectomy. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the use of intraoperative parathyroid gland angiography in predicting normal parathyroid gland function after thyroid surgery. Methods Angiography with the fluorescent dye indocyanine green (ICG) was performed in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy, to visualize vascularization of identified parathyroid glands. Results Some 36 patients underwent ICG angiography during thyroidectomy. All patients received standard calcium and vitamin D supplementation. At least one well vascularized parathyroid gland was demonstrated by ICG angiography in 30 patients. All 30 patients had parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels in the normal range on postoperative day (POD) 1 and 10, and only one patient exhibited asymptomatic hypocalcaemia on POD 1. Mean(s.d.) PTH and calcium levels in these patients were 3·3(1·4) pmol/l and 2·27(0·10) mmol/l respectively on POD 1, and 4·0(1.6) pmol/l and 2·32(0·08) mmol/l on POD 10. Two of the six patients in whom no well vascularized parathyroid gland could be demonstrated developed transient hypoparathyroidism. None of the 36 patients presented symptomatic hypocalcaemia, and none received treatment for hypoparathyroidism. Conclusion PTH levels on POD 1 were normal in all patients who had at least one well vascularized parathyroid gland demonstrated during surgery by ICG angiography, and none required treatment for hypoparathyroidism.
Emergency Department Management of Transient Ischemic Attack: A Survey of Emergency Physicians.

Background Patients are at high risk for stroke following a transient ischemic attack (TIA). The ideal setting for evaluating and treating patients with TIA has not been established, resulting in variability in emergency department (ED) TIA management. We conducted a survey to describe ED TIA management and factors that influence disposition determination for TIA patients. Methods We administered a mail survey to 480 randomly selected members of the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians. Survey questions addressed current ED TIA management, the acceptability of the ABCD 2 risk-stratification tool, and disposition recommendations for a series of hypothetical TIA patients. Results A total of 188 (39%) responses were received. Head computed tomography (96.2%) and antiplatelet therapy (88.2%) were the most commonly reported ED interventions. Over 85% of respondents reported admitting most or all TIA patients. The ABCD 2 score had low acceptability among emergency medicine physicians and was rarely incorporated into practice (10.7%). Respondents identified a short-term risk of stroke of less than 2% (95% confidence interval: 1.6-2.4) as an acceptable threshold for discharge; however, most respondents recommended admission even for low-risk TIA patients. Those with access to an outpatient TIA clinic were less likely to admit low-risk TIA patients; those with access to an observation unit were more likely to admit. Conclusions In this survey, ED physicians preferred hospital admission for most TIA patients, including those at low risk for stroke. The ABCD 2 risk-stratification tool had low acceptability. Further research is needed to refine risk-stratification tools and define the optimal setting for TIA evaluations.
Structural Characterization of Ru-B 4c Multilayers Fabricated By Magnetron Sputtering

Multilayer structures composed of alternating, ultrathin layers of Ru and B4C have been fabricated using DC magnetron sputtering. These multilayers are potentially important as normal incidence x-ray reflectors at wavelengths above the boron K-absorption edge at 65A. The detailed structure of the layers has been characterized using x-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. It is found that, under optimized deposition conditions, continuous layers can be grown that have smooth and abrupt interfaces. The normal incidence reflectivity at x-ray wavelengths of ~70A has been measured, and values as high as 20% have been obtained.
Incidence and prevalence of episcleritis and scleritis in Northern California.

PURPOSE To evaluate the incidence and prevalence of episcleritis and scleritis in a large well-defined population in Northern California. METHODS Secondary analysis was performed on data from the Northern California Epidemiology of Uveitis Study. The patient database of a large regional health maintenance organization was searched for all patients who potentially experienced ocular inflammatory disease during the 12-month study period. Medical records were reviewed for all potential patients to confirm ocular inflammatory disease and specific diagnosis, establish the time of onset, and collect additional data. Age- and sex-stratified quarterly study population data were used to calculate incidence rates and prevalence ratios. RESULTS After reviewing 2011 possible cases, 297 new-onset cases of episcleritis, 39 prior-onset cases of episcleritis, 25 new-onset cases of scleritis, and 8 prior-onset cases of scleritis were confirmed. For episcleritis, the overall incidence was 41.0 per 100,000 person-years and an annual prevalence ratio of 52.6 per 100,000. The overall incidence of scleritis was 3.4 per 100,000 person-years and an annual prevalence ratio of 5.2 per 100,000 persons. For both episcleritis and scleritis, there was a statistically significant increase in eye disease in older patients (P = 0.05 and <0.001, respectively) and for women in comparison with men (P = 0.001 and <0.001, respectively). Patients with scleritis were older than those with episcleritis (P = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS This study found that patients with scleritis were older than those with episcleritis and that women had higher rates of both episcleritis and scleritis compared with what men had.
A BEHAVIORAL DEFICIT ASSOCIATED WITH PHENYLKETONURIA IN RATS.

SummaryA behavioral testing procedure utilizing a swimming water maze has been reliable in rapidly detecting and quantifying a performance decrement in rats made phenylketonuric by feeding excessive quantities of L-phenylalanine from weaning.