cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
We need to know more about the economics of pediatric dental practice.

Reports by the ADA, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, and the HCFA all confirm the improving economics of dental practice, a reflection of increasing use of dental services by children of all ages. Unfortunately, the continued activity of questionable proprietary economic surveys results in a jaded group of practitioners continuously asked to respond. It is inexcusable that we just don't know very much about the income of the profession.
Mutual regulation between IGF-1R and IGFBP-3 in human corneal epithelial cells.

The insulin-like growth factor type 1 receptor (IGF-1R) is part of the receptor tyrosine kinase superfamily. The activation of IGF-1R regulates several key signaling pathways responsible for maintaining cellular homeostasis, including survival, growth, and proliferation. In addition to mediating signal transduction at the plasma membrane, in serum-based models, IGF-1R undergoes SUMOylation by SUMO 1 and translocates to the nucleus in response to IGF-1. In corneal epithelial cells grown in serum-free culture, however, IGF-1R has been shown to accumulate in the nucleus independent of IGF-1. In this study, we report that the insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) mediates nuclear translocation of IGF-1R in response to growth factor withdrawal. This occurs via SUMOylation by SUMO 2/3. Further, IGF-1R and IGFBP-3 undergo reciprocal regulation independent of PI3k/Akt signaling. Thus, under healthy growth conditions, IGFBP-3 functions as a gatekeeper to arrest the cell cycle in G0/G1, but does not alter mitochondrial respiration in cultured cells. When stressed, IGFBP-3 functions as a caretaker to maintain levels of IGF-1R in the nucleus. These results demonstrate mutual regulation between IGF-1R and IGFBP-3 to maintain cell survival under stress. This is the first study to show a direct relationship between IGF-1R and IGFBP-3 in the maintenance of corneal epithelial homeostasis.
Narratologia transmedia e transmedia storytelling

The term fransmedia storytelling has gone viral in media studies. But to what extent does it label a truly new phenomenon, different from the older concepts of adaptation and transfictionality? What does it really mean to tell a story through different media and under what conditions is it desirable? In this article, I examine several types of projects that could be considered as ‘transmedia storytelling’, without necessarily fitting within the paradigm of ‘West Coast’ (i.e. Hollywood) fransmedia, and I look at three types of discourse associated with the phenomenon - the industry discourse, the fan discourse and scholarly discourse - in the hope of distinguishing scholarly discourse from the other two and defining some of its goals.
Femtosecond Lasers for Ophthalmic Surgery Enabled by Chirped-Pulse Amplification

Eyes on the Prize This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded to Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou, recognizes their invention that enabled the development of femtosecond lasers. These lasers have...
Prescription Drug User Fees, Priorities, Politics and Reform Directions

The Food and Drug Administration now depends to a substantial degree on user fees paid by drug companies to support the salaries of the medical reviewers who advise the agency on the appropriateness of approving a drug. The funding and its extent creates a perception of "capture" of the agency by the industry. The legislative authorization for the fees also expire every five years and the agency and the industry negotiate behind closed doors on the renewal and the goals for the timing of reviews. Because of the sunset, the Administration can be held "hostage" to accepting legislative changes of debatable merit to avoid having to layoff needed reviewers. This article considers the reforms needed to address these problems.
The state of structured reporting: the nuance of standardized language

Radiology reports are the principal form of communication with the referring provider. Unfortunately, they can be a form of communication riddled with errors and inscrutable statements burying the intended meaning, failing to achieve the main task for which it was made: communicating key imaging findings as they pertain to the clinical question being posed. Structured reporting is a multifaceted and modular solution to problematic reports, with variable iterations and benefits. Structured reports have been adapted across departments and even national societies, with standardized format, content and language. Newer developments include contextual reporting and common data elements. Herein, we discuss the various forms and levels of structured reporting and the latest advancements, as well as the general acceptance within radiology. We also discuss some areas for improvement as the practice of structured reporting matures.
Angiomorphology of the human renal clear cell carcinoma. A light and scanning electron microscopic study.

The vascular system of human renal clear cell carcinoma was studied using light microscopy of silicon rubber-injected specimens and scanning electron microscopy of conventionally prepared tissue and vascular corrosion casts. The system was found to exhibit the following features: (1) a well developed superficial vascular coat showing different pattern on the anterior and on the posterior side of the tumour, (2) an internal vascular network composed of altered and displaced preexisting vessels, numerous newly formed ones and those recruited from adjacent structures, (3) quantitative prevalence of dilated veins and distended capillaries, (4) a remarkable proliferative reaction of stellate veins, (5) characteristic features of the intratumour vasculature in the form of avascular nodules surrounded by basket-like capillary plexuses and separated by well vascularized “septa”, (6) a relatively less dense vascularization of central tumour areas, frequently exhibiting necrotic foci, and the highest density of vessels in areas close to the superficial vascular coat, and (7) morphological evidence for a continuous remodelling of the tumour vasculature. The observed patterns of the vascular system seem to provide a pathway for further tumour expansion.
Insurance Payer Type and Patient Income Are Associated with Outcomes after Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

Objective. To assess the independent association of insurance and patient income with total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) outcomes. Methods. We used the 1998–2014 US National Inpatient Sample. We used multivariable-adjusted logistic regression to examine whether insurance type and the patient’s median household income (based on postal code) were independently associated with healthcare use (discharge destination, hospital stay duration, total hospital charges) and in-hospital complications post-TSA based on the diagnostic codes (fracture, infection, transfusion, or revision surgery). We calculated the OR and 95% CI. Results. Among the 349,046 projected TSA hospitalizations, the mean age was 68.6 years, 54% were female, and 73% white. Compared to private insurance, Medicaid and Medicare (government insurance) users were associated with significantly higher adjusted OR (95% CI) of (1) discharge to a rehabilitation facility, 2.16 (1.72–2.70) and 2.27 (2.04–2.52); (2) hospital stay > 2 days, 1.65 (1.45–1.87) and 1.60 (1.52–1.69); and (3) transfusion, 1.35 (1.05–1.75) and 1.39 (1.24–1.56), respectively. Medicaid was associated with a higher risk of fracture [1.74 (1.07–2.84)] and Medicare user with a higher risk of infection [2.63 (1.24–5.57)]; neither were associated with revision. Compared to the highest income quartile, the lowest income quartile was significantly associated with (OR, 95% CI): (1) discharge to a rehabilitation facility (0.89, 0.83–0.96); (2) hospital stay > 2 days (0.84, 0.80–0.89); (3) hospital charges above the median (1.19, 1.14–1.25); (4) transfusion (0.73, 0.66–0.81); and (5) revision (0.49, 0.30–0.80), but not infection or fracture. Conclusion. This information can help to risk-stratify patients post-TSA. Future assessments of modifiable mediators of these complications are needed.
The Role of Melanopsin and Other Opsins in Circadian Clock Resetting

The profound effects of the circadian clock on physiology and behavior are frequently ignored. Differences in the time of day during which drugs are administered can result in dramatic differences in efficacy and tolerance of side effects. Chronic fatigue and gastrointestinal irritability experienced by shift workers, and the general malaise of jet lagged travelers are manifestations of our reluctance to accept the impact of the body’s 24-hour pacemaker. It has recently been reported that chronic jet lag produces temporal lobe atrophy and spatial cognitive deficits.1 Several sleep disorders such as advanced sleep phase syndrome have been attributed to a dysfunctional circadian system.2
Multi-Specific CAR Targeting to Prevent Antigen Escape

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has demonstrated remarkable remission induction rates for relapsed/refractory B cell malignancies. However, loss of the CAR-targeted antigen, known as antigen escape, accounts for a substantial percentage of relapses following CAR therapy and is a major barrier to durable remission. Here, we discuss mechanisms for antigen escape and strategies to prevent this pattern of relapse, including the use of multi-specific CARs, which recognize and target multiple tumor-associated antigens simultaneously. Preclinical and early clinical trial data indicates that multi-specific CAR therapy for B cell malignancies is both safe and effective. Optimal combinations of target antigens, as well as different multi-specific CAR formats, are currently being evaluated. Although still in early stages of development, multi-specific CAR therapy represents a promising approach to mitigate antigen loss–related relapses and improve durability of remission in patients with refractory B cell malignancies, and may be applicable to other types of cancer.
Patient experiences and provider perspectives on a hospital-based food pantry: a mixed methods evaluation study.

Objective The purpose of this evaluation study was to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement in programme functioning and common aspects of patients' experiences at a hospital-based food pantry. Design Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with patients and a cross-sectional survey for providers were used. Interview transcripts were coded using both inductive and deductive approaches and assessed for inter-rater reliability. Descriptive statistics were produced from quantitative data. Setting An academic urban safety-net hospital in the Northeastern US offering inpatient and outpatient services. Participants Thirty patients and 89 providers. Results Patients expressed feeling comfortable, trusting the food, high satisfaction with food quality, convenience, and lack of stigma at the hospital-based pantry. Patients mentioned the pantry helped them eat more fruits and vegetables, but expressed concerns about the healthfulness of other foods distributed. Providers believed they should discuss food insecurity (FI) with patients (99 %) and that the pantry improves the health of patients (97 %), but faced barriers to consistently screening for FI and referring patients to the pantry, such as insufficient training on FI (53 %) and time constraints (35 %). Conclusions Findings suggest hospital-based food pantries may have several advantages. Hospitals with onsite food pantries must work to eliminate barriers to FI screening and pantry referral. To optimize their impact, such pantries should develop nutritional guidelines for food donations and connect patients with nutrition education resources. Future research should examine health outcomes for patients using hospital-based food pantries.
Trapping rhodium vinylcarbenoids with aminochalcones for the synthesis of medium-sized azacycles

Abstract A rhodium carbenoid initiated cascade has been developed for the stereoselective synthesis of medium-sized azacycles. The cascade approach utilizes readily accessible N-benzyl protected aminochalcones and vinyldiazo compounds to access 9-membered azacycles through a carbene- nitrogen insertion/aldol/oxy-Cope sequence. The cascade reaction has proven general with a range of N-benzyl protected aminochalcones and vinyldiazos to provide diverse medium-sized azacycles.
Symbolic Convergence in the 2015 Duggar Scandal Crisis Communication

ABSTRACTIn May 2015, a crisis erupted for the Duggar family from the TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting” after InTouch Magazine published an article detailing how Josh Duggar – the eldest son i...
Seeing Cities through Urban Art

This article offers insights into how to use what are now readily-available digital versions of ‘urban art’ to explore different facets of city life. It uses paintings as a more nuanced alternative...
Suppression of Ovary Development of Worker Honeybees by Association with Workers Treated with Carbon Dioxide

SummaryNewly emerged worker honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) aged less than 24 h were placed into queen less cages and given a section of empty drone comb and unlimited supplies of honey, water and pollen. Cages were kept in an incubator at 34 ± 1°C. Workers treated with a 15-min exposure to CO2, at 0–3 days of age produced significantly fewer eggs than controls that received no CO2;. Workers in queenless cages for 4–6 days before CO2 narcosis had egg production equal LO that of controls. Thus CO2, had no apparent effect after the workers had been queenless for 4 days. In a second study, 5 untreated workers shared cages with 25 sisters that had been treated with three 15-min doses of CO2. Association with the treated workers retarded ovary development of the untreated cagemates when compared to sister bees in identical cages that contained no bees given CO2, Cages with treated workers consumed only 17% as much pollen as controls. So low pollen consumption may have reduced the total amount of protein that was...
Sleep Disorders in Veterans: Prevalence, Consequences, and Treatment

A higher prevalence of sleep disorders has been found in veteran populations than in civilian samples. Veterans are vulnerable to sleep disorders due to the irregularity of their deployment of sleep/wake schedules, harsh living conditions, the stress of combat, elevated rates of physical and psychological injury, and issues associated with postdeployment psychosocial reintegration. The most common sleep disorders include insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). While nightmare disorder and restless leg syndrome are also present in veterans, they do not have the same negative effects on outcomes and are generally not as clinically pertinent for veterans. The consequences of insomnia and OSA on co-occurring disorders, treatment, societal costs (e.g., healthcare costs, absenteeism), and quality of life are enormous. Left undiagnosed and untreated, sleep disorders may unnecessarily undermine patient rehabilitation and recovery. Screening presents a challenge due to symptom overlap with co-occurring disorders (e.g., OSA, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], and anxiety) and the lack of some traditional risk factors among younger veterans (e.g., BMI). Together, treating veterans for sleep disorders offers a unique and underutilized way to optimize quality-of-life outcomes, especially among veterans with co-occurring psychiatric disorders such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) or PTSD. Increasing awareness of screening and treatment options should be an increased focus for any clinician working with veterans. Given the high need for evidence-based interventions and the Veterans Affair’s (VA) commitment to advancing care, research and clinical guidelines for veterans can help inform clinical care for everyone.
Structural and Contextual Cues in Third-Person Pronoun Interpretation by Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Neurotypical Peers

This study investigates the use of structural and discourse contextual cues in the interpretation of third-person pronouns by children and adolescents with autism and their neurotypical peers. Results show that referent-biasing contextual information influences pronominal interpretation and modulates looking patterns in both groups compared to a context-neutral condition. These results go against the predictions of Weak Central Coherence and the notion that pragmatics in general is impaired in ASD, since the ASD group was able to use details in discourse context to influence the pronominal interpretation process. However, although discourse context influenced looking patterns in both groups, the groups nevertheless diverged in the nature of these patterns, suggesting that behavioral differences may emerge in more complicated discourse tasks.
Discovery of an undescribed species of Aulacoseira from highland Costa Rica

The genus Aulacoseira is cosmopolitan and often abundant in fresh waters. In Costa Rica, freshwater diatom surveys have been restricted to flowing waters, aside from our own explorations. Among sed...
Chemokines as phosphatidylserine-bound 'find-me' signals in apoptotic cell clearance

Chemokines are positively charged cytokines that attract leukocytes by binding to anionic glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on endothelial cells for efficient presentation to leukocyte G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The atypical chemokine CXCL16 has been reported to also bind the anionic phospholipid phosphatidylserine (PS), but the biological relevance of this interaction remains poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that PS binding is in fact a widely shared property of chemokine superfamily members that, like GAG binding, induces chemokine oligomerization. PS is an essential phospholipid of the inner leaflet of the healthy cell plasma membrane but it is exposed in apoptotic cells to act as an 9eat-me9 signal that promotes engulfment of dying cells by phagocytes. We found that chemokines can bind PS in pure form as well as in the context of liposomes and on the surface of apoptotic cells and extracellular vesicles released by apoptotic cells, which are known to act as 9find-me9 signals that chemoattract phagocytes during apoptotic cell clearance. Importantly, we show that GAGs are severely depleted from the surface of apoptotic cells and that extracellular vesicles extracted from apoptotic mouse thymus bind endogenous thymic chemokines and activate cognate chemokine receptors. Together these results indicate that chemokines tethered to surface-exposed PS may be responsible for the chemotactic and find-me signal activity previously attributed to extracellular vesicles, and that PS may substitute for GAGs as the anionic scaffold that regulates chemokine oligomerization and presentation to GPCRs on the GAG-deficient membranes of apoptotic cells and extracellular vesicles. Here, we present a new mechanism by which extracellular vesicles, currently recognized as essential agents for intercellular communication in homeostasis and disease, can transport signaling cytokines.
LA GRAMÁTICA HA MUERTO. LA POESÍA DE CÉSAR VALLEJO Y EL DEDO DEICIDA

“Dios”, como tema, referencia o vocablo, resalta como uno de los elementos mas recurrentes de la poesia de Cesar Vallejo (1892-1938). Los heraldos negros (1919) y Espana, aparta de mi este caliz (1939, postumo), el primer y ultimo poemario de Vallejo, respectivamente, son colecciones donde “Dios” es una de sus batallas centrales y multifaceticas; centralidad que se extravia significativamente en sus obras intermedias: Trilce (1922) y Los poemas humanos (1939, postumo). El tema de “Dios” en la poesia de Vallejo ha sido tratado por la critica como un ejemplo de la crisis religiosa del poeta o como un ejemplo de la forma en que la poesia contemporanea reemplaza “lo sagrado” en la modernidad secularizada. Este trabajo, en cambio, se concentrara especificamente en las formas en que el anuncio de Nietzsche, “Dios ha muerto”, ha sido reflexionado por los filosofos Alain Badiou y Alenka Zupancic, para distinguir, a partir de esas propuestas, como aparece en la poesia de Vallejo esta declaracion y las consecuencias esteticas que esa muerte conlleva, sobre todo en la ejecucion de una poesia sin leyes preconcebidas. Si Nietzsche afirmaba “Dios ha muerto”, Vallejo exploraba una poesia que se escribe un dia en que “Dios estuvo enfermo, grave”. Pensar las consecuencias esteticas de ese ‘Dios’ que estuvo enfermo de Vallejo son las preocupaciones de este ensayo.
Effectiveness of Mindfulness Meditation vs Headache Education for Adults With Migraine: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance Migraine is the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Most patients with migraine discontinue medications due to inefficacy or adverse effects. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may provide benefit. Objective To determine if MBSR improves migraine outcomes and affective/cognitive processes compared with headache education. Design, Setting, and Participants This randomized clinical trial of MBSR vs headache education included 89 adults who experienced between 4 and 20 migraine days per month. There was blinding of participants (to active vs comparator group assignments) and principal investigators/data analysts (to group assignment). Interventions Participants underwent MBSR (standardized training in mindfulness/yoga) or headache education (migraine information) delivered in groups that met for 2 hours each week for 8 weeks. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was change in migraine day frequency (baseline to 12 weeks). Secondary outcomes were changes in disability, quality of life, self-efficacy, pain catastrophizing, depression scores, and experimentally induced pain intensity and unpleasantness (baseline to 12, 24, and 36 weeks). Results Most participants were female (n = 82, 92%), with a mean (SD) age of 43.9 (13.0) years, and had a mean (SD) of 7.3 (2.7) migraine days per month and high disability (Headache Impact Test-6: 63.5 [5.7]), attended class (median attendance, 7 of 8 classes), and followed up through 36 weeks (33 of 45 [73%] of the MBSR group and 32 of 44 [73%] of the headache education group). Participants in both groups had fewer migraine days at 12 weeks (MBSR: −1.6 migraine days per month; 95% CI, −0.7 to −2.5; headache education: −2.0 migraine days per month; 95% CI, −1.1 to −2.9), without group differences (P = .50). Compared with those who participated in headache education, those who participated in MBSR had improvements from baseline at all follow-up time points (reported in terms of point estimates of effect differences between groups) on measures of disability (5.92; 95% CI, 2.8-9.0;P Conclusions and Relevance Mindfulness-based stress reduction did not improve migraine frequency more than headache education, as both groups had similar decreases; however, MBSR improved disability, quality of life, self-efficacy, pain catastrophizing, and depression out to 36 weeks, with decreased experimentally induced pain suggesting a potential shift in pain appraisal. In conclusion, MBSR may help treat total migraine burden, but a larger, more definitive study is needed to further investigate these results. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT02695498
Eigenmode analysis of the sheared-flow Z-pinch

Experiments have demonstrated that a Z-pinch can persist for thousands of times longer than the growth time of global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities such as the m = 0 sausage and m = 1 kink modes. These modes have growth times on the order of t a = a / v i, where vi is the ion thermal speed and a is the pinch radius. Axial flows with d u z / d r ≲ v i / a have been measured during the stable period, and the commonly accepted theory is that this amount of shear is sufficient to stabilize these modes as predicted by numerical studies using the ideal MHD equations. However, these studies only consider specific equilibrium profiles that typically have a modest magnitude for the logarithmic pressure gradient, q P ≡ d ln P / d ln r, and may not represent experimental conditions. Linear stability of the sheared-flow Z-pinch is studied here via a direct eigen-decomposition of the matrix operator obtained from the linear ideal MHD equations. Several equilibrium profiles with a large variation of qP are examined. Considering a practical range of k, 1 / 3 ≲ ka ≲ 10, it is shown that the shear required to stabilize m = 0 modes can be expressed as d u z / d r ≥ C γ 0 / ( k a ) α. Here, γ 0 = γ 0 ( k a ) is the profile-specific growth rate in the absence of shear, which scales approximately with | q P |. Both C and α are profile-specific constants, but C is order unity and α ≈ 1. It is further demonstrated that even a large value of shear, d u z / d r = 3 v i / a, is not sufficient to provide linear stabilization of the m = 1 kink mode for all profiles considered. This result is in contrast to the currently accepted theory predicting stabilization at much lower shear, d u z / d r = 0.1 v i / a, and suggests that the experimentally observed stability cannot be explained within the linear ideal-MHD model.
Practical Considerations in Adopting New Technology for Facial Cosmetic Procedures.

The field of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery encompasses both surgical and nonsurgical facets, creating a supplemental level of care and an additional layer of complexity. Determining the “best course of care” can be very difficult in experienced situations, but even more so when considering adopting an emerging technology. A basic and practical method of analyzing a new technology requires investigating the risk-to-benefit assessment, the utility and clinical outcomes compared with other treatment options, and an introspective ethical appraisal of whether the technology is foremost for patient care purposes. Even after employing a new technology, constant monitoring and reevaluation of the results is necessary to determine if it should be continued or altered.
Mechanically Enhanced Catalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide over Defect Hexagonal Boron Nitride

The hydrogenation of waste gas carbon dioxide into value added molecules could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on nonrenewable energy sources. Catalytic paths toward this goal typically involve high pressures and low abundance transition metal catalysts. Here, we have found that vacancies induced in defect-laden hexagonal boron nitride (dh-BN) can effectively activate the CO₂ molecule for hydrogenation. Subsequent hydrogenation to formic acid (HCOOH) and methanol (CH₃OH) occur through vacancy facilitated coadsorption of hydrogen and CO₂. More importantly, we find that dh-BN catalyzes formic acid formation observable at reaction temperatures above 160 °C and pressures of 583 kPa, while methanol formation is observed at lower temperatures (as low as 20 °C). Methanol formation occurs with a TOF of 1.52 × 10–² s–¹ and TON of 289 at 20 °C. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a major greenhouse gas and the main component of all combustion products produced in power generation and transportation. In addition, boron and nitrogen are abundant elements and thus, catalysts prepared from h-BN would allow catalytic recovery of value-added molecules facilitating efforts to reduce the emissions of this gas.
Nonindustrial private forest landowner perspectives on forest certification: A look at awareness and barriers

Abstract Sustainable forest management is a universally desired goal to provide ecological, economic, and social benefits. Sustaining forest benefits across the landscape in Arkansas depends on nonindustrial private forest landowners (NIPF) who own 58% of forestland in the state. Forest certification is an effective “market based” mechanism for improving forest management to achieve sustainability. A mixture of mail and online surveys collected data on Arkansas NIPF landowners' demographic and forestland characteristics, ownership motivations, and attitudes regarding perceived benefits and drawbacks of forest certification. A binary logistic regression model revealed that age, gender, education, timber harvest intentions, motivations for owning forestland, and perspectives regarding the potential benefits of forest certification influenced landowners' awareness and interests in forest certification. These findings provide insight into NIPF landowners' attitudes in participating in a forest certification program. The findings are useful for developing outreach and education programs promoting NIPF landowners' participation in forest certification in Arkansas and other southern states.
Translational Anisotropy and Rotational Diffusion of Gold Nanorods in Colloidal Sphere Solutions.

We studied the translational and rotational diffusion of gold nanorods within a rod/sphere composite liquid using fluctuation correlation spectroscopy (FCS). The nanorods of length L ∼ 60 nm and diameter d ∼ 17 nm were used at a fixed concentration of ∼1 pM. The concentration of colloidal Ludox spheres (size ∼ 26 nm) was varied up to a volume fraction of ϕ = 0.3 or approximately 7 spheres/L3. Our experiments showed significant translational anisotropy as the sphere concentration was increased. The translational diffusion parallel to the rod axis (DT∥) followed very close to the bulk viscosity of the solution. However, the diffusion normal to the rod axis (DT⊥) experienced a significantly higher frictional force. For volume fraction ϕ > 0.1 a slightly modified caging theory by Pecora and Deutch could explain the rotational diffusion of the rods very well. At low volume fraction the agreement is poor, which we interpreted as modification of the local ordering of the spheres, which can affect the rod rotation.
Electron Microscope Study of Ribonucleic Acid of Myxoviruses

Abstract Intact ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules in an extended form were extracted from purified influenza virus and observed in the electron microscope. For this study, the RNA extraction procedure and the Kleinschmidt protein monolayer technique were modified. The mean lengths of RNA from X7, X7-F1, and WSN strains of influenza virus were found to be 2.69, 2.55, and 2.37 μm, respectively. From these measurements, the corresponding estimated molecular weights would be 2.9, 2.8, and 2.5 × 106 daltons. X7 and WSN RNA preparations were exposed to pH 3 to disrupt intact molecules. Histograms of length measurements showed five peaks, which were interpreted to represent the five pieces of RNA reported to exist in the influenza virion. X7 RNA appeared to be more stable than WSN RNA when stored at 4 C. The profiles of histograms of incomplete virus RNA suggest that the high molecular-weight component is missing. In preliminary experiments on Newcastle disease virus RNA, molecules of various lengths were observed.
A 54/spl times/54 bit multiplier with a new Redundant Binary Booth's encoding

A fast multiplier with a new Redundant Binary Booth's Encoding (RBBE) for Radix-8 has been developed. The new RBBE enables one to directly generate all Redundant Binary Partial Products (PP) including the hard multiple of 3/spl times/Multiplicand with no additional circuitry or time delay. Also, the use of TGs in Partial Product Selection Circuit permits the rapid generation of PPs. In this work, a word size of 54 bits is chosen to comply with the IEEE double-precision floating-point standard, which consists of one sign bit and 53 bits of fraction. Thus, the RBBE unit for Radix-8 generates 18 Redundant Binary PPs to be accumulated by a Redundant Binary Adder (RBA) tree. Due to the simplicity of the necessary interconnections between the adders, the RBA tree has a regular layout. The output of the RBA tree is in the Redundant Binary (RB) form, which needs to be converted to Standard Binary (SB) form. Although this conversion can be performed by a Carry Look Ahead (CLA) adder, a better conversion circuit has been designed to take advantage of the RB number system. The proposed design contains a converter of a higher speed and a lower transistor count. As a result, the proposed fast multiplier accepts two 54 bit SB numbers and produces a final product of 108 bit SB number.
Moist synoptic transport of CO2 along the mid‐latitude storm track

[1] Atmospheric mixing ratios of CO2 are strongly seasonal in the Arctic due to mid-latitude transport. Here we analyze the seasonal influence of moist synoptic storms by diagnosing CO2 transport from a global model on moist isentropes (to represent parcel trajectories through stormtracks) and parsing transport into eddy and mean components. During winter when northern plants respire, warm moist air, high in CO2, is swept poleward into the polar vortex, while cold dry air, low in CO2, that had been transported into the polar vortex earlier in the year is swept equatorward. Eddies reduce seasonality in mid-latitudes by ∼50% of NEE (∼100% of fossil fuel) while amplifying seasonality at high latitudes. Transport along stormtracks is correlated with rising, moist, cloudy air, which systematically hides this CO2 transport from satellites. We recommend that (1) regional inversions carefully account for meridional transport and (2) inversion models represent moist and frontal processes with high fidelity.
Modeling IT ethics: a study in situational ethics

Misuse of computer information systems has caused significant losses to business and society, even though computing has benefited both businesses and professionals. To this end, several measures have been suggested that both prevent and deter losses. One deterrent measure is to identify individual and situational characteristics of people who act ethically/ unethically. This study identifies specific charIlzak Benbasat was the accepting senior editor for this paper. acteristics that are associated with and may influence the ethical behavior intention of information systems employees when faced with ethical dilemmas. The results of the study show that individual and situational characteristics do influence ethical behavior intention.
Alternating direction adaptive grid generation for three-dimensional regions

An alternating direction adaptive procedure is a process of moving grid points to adapt to a disturbance by performing a sequence of coordinate directional sweepS. In each direction, points are moved along coordinate curves that are taken one at a time in a sequence that covers all grid points. The primary motion comes from the equidistribution of a weight function that in general can be applied to curves on a surface over our physical region. Such surfaces have been called "monitor surfaces" [I] and are merely a convenient way of expressing the adaptive data as a single relatively simple object. The basic alternating direction method and its application to monitor surfaces is given in [2] where also a historical account of work leading up to the general methods developed therein is presented. In the present work, we split the directional sweeps into two phases, we consider three-dimensional grids, and we establish orthogonality controls in three dimensions.
Effect of Caffeine on Elderly Men with Mild Functional Impairment

Background: Caffeine has been shown to improve physical performance in many studies in young adults, particularly athletes, but its effect on elderly individuals has not been well studied, particularly in those in early stages of functional decline. Methods: A double-blinded placebo controlled trial was performed in which 11 elderly subjects performed chair stands, a Timed Up-and-Go Test, Six Minute Walk Test, and knee extensions before and 1 h after consuming a 200 mg caffeine tablet or a placebo. Fatigue was measured using a 0–6 Likert scale. Data were analyzed using 2×2 (condition×time) repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: The ingestion of a single 200 mg tablet of caffeine did not significantly improve any of the physical performance measures studied or reduce fatigue. Conclusion: While caffeine has enhanced measures of physical performance in healthy younger and older individuals, short-term caffeine administration did not have this effect in a population of mildly functional impaired old...
Human vascular smooth muscle cells produce an intracellular form of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a proinflammatory monocyte- and macrophage-derived cytokine that has potent vasorelaxant effects on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). VSMC themselves also express both IL-1 alpha- and beta-genes, suggesting that IL-1 may be an autocrine regulator of VSMC function. The present study demonstrates that human saphenous vein VSMC (HSVSMC) produce IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), a specific inhibitor of IL-1 action. IL-1Ra was produced constitutively in most experiments, and its production was upregulated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and by IL-1 beta. IL-1Ra produced by HSVSMC remained predominately cell associated and was not detectable extracellularly. Furthermore, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis and cDNA sequencing indicated that HSVSMC express the alternatively spliced form of IL-1Ra which lacks the signal peptide present in secreted IL-1Ra. HSVSMC also produced IL-1 alpha and the precursor form but not the mature form of IL-1 beta. These results suggest that HSVSMC lack active IL-1 beta-converting enzyme. Like IL-1Ra, IL-1 beta precursor and IL-1 alpha remained cell associated, predominately in the cytosolic fraction. IL-1 beta induced production of both IL-1Ra and IL-1 alpha at each time point and concentration tested. In contrast, platelet-derived growth factor and transforming growth factor-beta augmented production of IL-1Ra, but not that of IL-1 alpha. These results are suggestive of an autocrine role for cell-associated IL-1Ra, as well as for IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta, in the regulation of VSMC function.
The C-SPAN Video Archives: A Case Study

The C-SPAN Archives is a successful video archives of primary public affairs programming created and aired by C-SPAN. Now in its twenty-sixth year, the archives has confronted the challenges of creating an off-satellite archives, developing an indexing and cataloging system, providing access, and implementing new technology. These are issues with which other news archives must deal. This case study demonstrates lessons learned and problems solved that can be valuable for others thinking about these issues. As a total electronic collection of two hundred thousand hours, it represents a modern digital archives and a model for other news networks.
Invading from the garden? A comparison of leaf herbivory for exotic and native plants in natural and ornamental settings

Abstract The enemies release hypothesis proposes that exotic species can become invasive by escaping from predators and parasites in their novel environment. Agrawal et al. (Enemy release? An experiment with congeneric plant pairs and diverse above- and below-ground enemies. Ecology, 86, 2979–2989) proposed that areas or times in which damage to introduced species is low provide opportunities for the invasion of native habitat. We tested whether ornamental settings may provide areas with low levels of herbivory for trees and shrubs, potentially facilitating invasion success. First, we compared levels of leaf herbivory among native and exotic species in ornamental and natural settings in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In the second study, we compared levels of herbivory for invasive and noninvasive exotic species between natural and ornamental settings. We found lower levels of leaf damage for exotic species than for native species; however, we found no differences in the amount of leaf damage suffered in ornamental or natural settings. Our results do not provide any evidence that ornamental settings afford additional release from herbivory for exotic plant species.
Assessment of hand function through the coordination of contact forces in manipulation tasks.

Exploration of force coordination has been one of the most often used approaches in studies of hand function. When holding and manipulating a hand-held object healthy individuals are typically able to highly coordinate the perpendicular (grip force; GF) with the tangential component of the contact force (load force; LF). The purpose of this review is to present the findings of our recent studies of GF-LF coordination. Regarding the mechanical factors affecting GF-LF coordination, our data suggest that both different hand segments and their particular skin areas could have markedly different friction properties. It also appears that the absolute, rather than relative safety margin (i.e., how much the actual GF exceeds the minimum value that prevents slipping) should be a variable of choice when assessing the applied magnitude of GF. The safety margin could also be lower in static than in free holding tasks. Regarding the involved neural factors, the data suggest that the increased frequency, rather than an increased range of a cyclic LF could have a prominent detrimental effect on the GF-LF coordination. Finally, it appears that the given instructions (e.g., ‘to hold’ vs. ‘to pull’) can prominently alter GF-LF coordination in otherwise identical manipulation tasks. Conversely, the effects of handedness could be relatively week showing only slight lagging of GF in the non-dominant, but not in the dominant hand. The presented findings reveal important aspects of hand function as seen through GF-LF coordination. Specifically, the use of specific hand areas for grasping, calculation of particular safety margins, the role of LF frequency (but not of LF range) and the effects of given instructions should be all taken into account when conducting future studies of manipulation tasks, standardizing their procedures and designing routine clinical tests of hand function.
Design aspects of hybrid adsorbent-membrane reactors for hydrogen production

We present a detailed investigation of the design characteristics and performance of a novel reactor system, termed the hybrid adsorbent-membrane reactor (HAMR), for hydrogen production. The HAMR concept, originally proposed by our group 1,2 for esterification reactions, couples the reaction and membrane separation steps with adsorption on the membrane feed or permeate side. The HAMR system investigated previously involved a hybrid pervaporation membrane reactor and integrated the reaction and pervaporation steps through a membrane with water adsorption. Coupling reaction, pervaporation, and adsorption significantly improved the performance. In this paper, we investigate a new HAMR system involving a hybrid packed-bed catalytic membrane reactor coupling the methane-steam-reforming reaction through a porous ceramic membrane with a CO 2 adsorption system. The present HAMR system is of potential interest to pure hydrogen production for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells for various mobile and stationary applications. The reactor characteristics have been investigated for a range of temperature and pressure conditions relevant to the aforementioned applications. The HAMR system exhibits enhanced methane conversion, hydrogen yield, and product purity and shows good promise for reducing the hostile operating conditions of conventional methane-steam reformers and for meeting the product purity requirements for PEM operation.
Biomimetic optical filter based chemical sensing techniques

Biomimetic, filter-based sensors have been designed to detect chemicals of interest. We present some of the existing approaches, and a new comparative-discrimination spectral detection approach for detection of overlapping chemical spectra.
Bulimia symptoms and other risk behaviors during pregnancy in women with bulimia nervosa.

Objective The current study examined the change in bulimic symptoms as well as alcohol, drug, and tobacco use during pregnancy in subjects with bulimia nervosa. Method A self-report questionnaire was used to collect retrospective data on eating disorder symptoms and substance use during pregnancy from 129 participants in a long-term study of bulimia nervosa. Follow-up data were collected for a total of 322 pregnancies occurring over a 10–15-year period. Results Overall, subjects reported that body dissatisfaction worsened, but binge eating and purging improved during pregnancy. However, the number of women completely abstinent from bulimic symptoms did not change significantly with pregnancy. Body esteem often worsened with pregnancy, particularly for women with active bulimia symptoms. Self-reported alcohol use significantly declined with pregnancy. Discussion In general, bulimia nervosa symptoms decreased during pregnancy, although the number of women completely abstinent did not change significantly. © 2004 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 36: 220–223, 2004.
Minimum performance bounds for evaluating contractors performance during construction of highway pavement projects

For project control during construction, evaluating the performance of contractors is usually established through progress measurement that compares the actual performance to the planned performance. Corrective actions and/or performance penalties are then established as relative measures that judge the actual performance based on current project plans without considering the performance of other similar projects or the lowest performance that projects could reach while still being successful. To establish a generalized benchmark measure and a non‐project‐specific project control tool, the concept of minimum performance bounds is explained in relation to their development for highway pavement projects. The bounds were developed using constrained‐parameters polynomial regression and cluster analysis for a sample of 497 highway pavement projects in Washington State. Minimum bounds for small, medium and large projects were fairly distinguishable signifying the project size effect on the location and shape of...
Inserting sulfur donor ligands in axial positions of an extended trinickel chain

Abstract The stoichiometric reaction of [Ni3(dpa)4(CH3CN)2](PF6)2 (1) with NaSPh in dichloromethane, affords the linear trinuclear complex Ni3(dpa)4(SPh)2 (2) in good yield and excellent purity (dpa is the anion of 2,2′-dipyridylamine). This compound represents the first extended metal atom chain (EMAC) with sulfur-containing axial ligands and was characterized by X-ray single-crystal diffraction, elemental analysis, ESI–MS, UV–vis spectrum and magnetic susceptibility measurements.
Plankton communities of three Central Florida lakes

A study of planktonic primary productivity and community structure was carried out on three lakes of varying morphometric and chemical features, but which were within a single watershed in Central Florida. Primary productivity in these lakes was evaluated by means of in situ light and dark bottle determinations as well as by calculations based upon chlorophyll and light data. Lake Mize, a deep sinkhole lake containing highly colored waters of low pH, proved to be a very unproductive lake, while Biven's Arm, a shallow-basin lake with alkaline waters and Newnan's lake, a shallow-basin like with highly colored waters both showed relatively high productivities. Phytoplankton components of the two productive lakes were quite similar to one another in being composed of bloom-forming blue-green and green algae, while the predominant forms in Lake Mize were chrysophytes, dinoflagellates and a diatom. Zooplanktonic forms were more uniform among the lakes than were the phytoplankton, though population levels reflected relative productivities among the lakes. Rotifers predominated in the Lake Mize plankton while cladocerans were relatively inabundant. This was opposite to the condition in Biven's Arm and Newnan's Lake. It is suggested that the constant presence of larval Chaoborus in the water column in Lake Mize may be partially responsible for the paucity of cladocera.