cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Materials Technology and Fabrication Tolerances on Guided-Wave Optical Communication and Signal Processing

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the effects of materials technology and fabrication tolerances on guided-wave optical communication and signal processing. These effects may be summarized as follows. (1) Surface and interface roughness, volume defects, and absorption will lead to substantial insertion losses for propagation in optical waveguides. (2) The limitations of the refractive indices of materials have forced to use geometrical deformations for focusing and reflection that are very sensitive to surface contour deformations. (3) Since the scattering effect from a single dielectric discontinuity is very small, a phased array of discontinuities must be used to achieve modulation, deflection, focusing, beam-splitting, and filtering. (4) Coupling, power division, and branching of channel waveguides present an especially stringent set of fabrication requirements for the uniformity of the guided-wave structures and the accuracy of the geometrical shapes. (5) The interconnection of different optical and electronic devices on the same chip requires extensive research in materials technologies to provide different alloy composition materials at different spatial locations and in processing technologies to be compatible with each other for the fabrication of very different devices.
Enhancing the Representational Power of i2b2 through Referent Tracking

The Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) software platform has proven successful in leveraging clinical enterprise data for the identification of cohorts of patients satisfying certain demographic, phenotypic and genetic criteria in support of further studies. An unanswered question thus far is whether i2b2 search criteria could include characteristics of assertions themselves, e.g. diagnoses, rather than what the assertions (observations) are about, e.g. diseases. This would allow, for instance, to find cohorts of patients for which different providers have been in disagreement about what condition the patient is suffering from. Previous research has shown that this requires more explicit detail about, and unique identification of, two sorts of entities: those that directly or indirectly contribute to the coming into existence of such observations and those that are either explicitly mentioned or merely implied in the assertions. Our research here demonstrates that i2b2's modifier system can be used to represent the relationships between observations and their explicit or implied referents on the one hand, and between relevant referents themselves on the other hand, both in combination with the storage of explicit unique instance identifiers for these observations and referents in i2b2's fact table. While this approach adheres to i2b2's base functionality and implementation specifications, it makes explicit ambiguities and confusions that would otherwise remain undetected.
Testosterone Treatment in Infants With 47,XXY: Effects on Body Composition.

Context Boys with XXY have greater adiposity and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Infants with XXY have lower testosterone concentrations than typical boys, but no studies have evaluated adiposity in infants with XXY or the physiologic effects of giving testosterone replacement. Objective To determine the effect of testosterone on body composition in infants with XXY. Design Prospective, randomized trial. Setting Tertiary care pediatric referral center. Participants 20 infants 6 to 15 weeks of age with 47,XXY. Intervention Testosterone cypionate 25 mg intramuscularly monthly for three doses vs no treatment. Main Outcome Measures Difference in change in adiposity (percent fat mass z scores); other body composition measures, penile length, and safety outcomes between treated and untreated infants; and comparison with typical infants. Results The increase in percent fat mass (%FM) z scores was greater in the untreated group than in the treated group (+0.92 ± 0.62 vs -0.12 ± 0.65, P = 0.004). Increases in secondary outcomes were greater in the testosterone-treated group for total mass, fat-free mass, length z score, stretched penile length, and growth velocity (P < 0.002 for all). At 5 months of age, adiposity in untreated infants with XXY was 26.7% compared with 23.2% in healthy male infants of the same age (P = 0.0037); there was no difference in %FM between the treated XXY boys and controls. Reported side effects were minimal and self-limited; no serious adverse events occurred. Conclusions Adiposity of untreated infants was 15% greater than that of male controls by 5 months of age. Testosterone treatment for infants with XXY resulted in positive changes in body composition.
Abstract 004: Aberrant CD4+ T Cell Function in Stroke-prone Hypertensive Rats Due to a Mutation in Stim1

The genetic mechanism of end organ injury in hypertension may involve gene variation in genes participating in inflammation and its regulation. We identified a novel truncating mutation in the hype...
DRUG-INDUCED PULMONARY DISEASE

Drug-induced lung disease is a common iatrogenic illness. Different drugs can cause similar pulmonary syndromes/presentations. The most common presentation is an abnormality on the chest X-ray in an asymptomatic patient or a symptom-sign complex. Early diagnosis is very important and requires maintaining a high index of suspicion in the appropriate clinical settings. The final diagnosis is usually one of exclusion. Cessation of the drug is usually enough for therapy for most drug toxicities; corticosteroid administration may be needed.
Towards Objection Detection Under IoT Resource Constraints: Combining Partitioning, Slicing and Compression

We consider deploying an object detection pipeline over a heterogeneous IoT network. We consider a setting where a camera-equipped IoT edge node communicates wirelessly with a cloud server. In many real-world domains, the bandwidth of this connection is constrained and variable, while the edge node may have insufficient compute resources to perform complex machine learning tasks such as object detection. Building on prior work in the image classification space, we propose an approach for detection that first partitions a deep neural network model at a given layer and then applies progressive transmission of intermediate convolutional filter maps. This capability can be exercised in response to dynamically varying network bandwidth. Further, we consider the application of lossy compression to the filter maps themselves, exposing a broader set of communication compression trade-offs that includes a choice for the representation size transmitted as well as the lossy compression level applied. The model is trained specifically to optimize distributed operation including the need for the cloud stage to decode and process a variable size representation. We investigate the performance of this approach in terms of a detection accuracy-communication cost trade-off. We compare to approaches that compress images and perform detection using cloud offload. Our results show that our approach achieves a significantly better detection accuracy-communication cost trade-off compared to cloud offload of JPEG compressed images.
Behavioral responses of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) to turbulent flow during fishway passage attempts

An understanding of how undesirable and desirable fish species respond behaviorally to turbulent flow in fishways would guide development of selective fish passage techniques. We applied high-resol...
Sub-diffraction-limit Optofluidic Imaging

A great interest in the integration between microfluidics and fluorescence microscopy has led to the flourishing of new flow-based imaging methods for both bench-top and portable solutions. Nonetheless, such systems still operate in a diffraction-limited regime due to the fact that super-resolution techniques are usually incompatible with a continuous sample flow. Here, we propose an optofluidic-based system that allows resolution doubling in moving samples, paving the way for the addition of sub-diffraction-limited imaging to the available tools for optofluidic devices.
Perceived injustice mediates the relationship between socioeconomic status and physical function among individuals with chronic low back pain

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is among the most prevalent musculoskeletal pain conditions, accounting for the largest number of years lived with disability. A growing literature suggests that low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with diminished physical functioning and increased physical limitations, antecedents for disability. Emerging evidence also suggests that pain-related perceived injustice is a risk factor for poor CLBP outcomes, including pain-related disability. Relatedly, maladaptive patterns of appraisal (e.g., perceived injustice) may be shaped by prior adverse social experiences, such as inequalities resulting from low SES. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine whether perceived injustice mediates the relationship between income status (i.e., an indicator of SES) and physical function among individuals with CLBP. CLBP patients (N = 129) completed the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), an objective measurement instrument of lower extremity functioning. Additionally, patients completed a series of questionnaires including study demographics, the Injustice Experience Questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression Scale, and the Brief Pain Inventory – Short Form. In a regression-based model adjusted for sex, racial/ethnic status, depression, and current level of pain severity, findings revealed that perceived injustice significantly mediated the association between income level and physical function [Indirect Effect = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.0005 to 0.06]. Specifically, lower level of income was associated with greater perceived injustice (p = 0.006), which in turn was associated with diminished physical performance (p = 0.02). This study is among the first to examine associations between socioeconomic status, perceived injustice, and physical function. Our findings suggest that injustice perception may be a mechanism through which income status impacts current physical function, which may potentially lead to long-term disability over time. These findings reinforce the importance of further examining injustice appraisals as targets for intervention, especially among low income individuals with CLBP. This research was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (Goodin).
Survivors: Warsaw under Nazi Occupation

Survivors tells the harrowing story of life in Warsaw under Nazi occupation. As the epicentre of Polish resistance, Warsaw was subjected to violent persecution, the ghettoization of the city's Jewish community, the suppression of multiple uprisings, and an avalanche of restrictions that killed hundreds of thousands and destroyed countless lives. In this study into the unique brutality of wartime Warsaw, Jadwiga Biskupska traces how Nazi Germany set out to dismantle the Polish nation and state for long-term occupation by targeting its intelligentsia. She explores how myriad resistance projects emerged within the intelligentsia who were bent on maintaining national traditions and rebuilding a Polish state. In contrast to other studies on the Holocaust and World War II, this book focuses on Polish behavior and explains who was in a position to contest the occupation and collaborate with it, while answering lingering questions and addressing controversies about Nazi empire and the Holocaust in Eastern Europe.
The role of noninvasive imaging in the diagnostic workup for pulsatile tinnitus.

ObjectiveWe sought to assess the diagnostic yield of advanced noninvasive imaging in the evaluation of patients with pulsatile tinnitus.BackgroundPulsatile tinnitus can be caused by high-risk cereb...
Motherhood and the Other: Fashioning Female Power in Flavian Epic

Introduction: Other and same: Female presence in Flavian epic 1. Mourning endless: Female otherness in Statius' Thebaid 2. Defining the other: From altera patria to tellus mater in Silius Italicus' Punica 3. Comes ultima fati: Regulus' encounter with Marcia's otherness in Punica 6 4. Playing the same: Roman and non-Roman mothers in the Punica Epilogue: Virgins and (M)others: Appropriations of same and other in Flavian Rome
Agricultural Diversity in the Prehistoric Southwest

ABSTRACTPrehistoric Southwestern agricultural systems are characterized by their inherent diversity. Generalized models based on large-scale geographic (for example, desert and mesa) adaptations, or as reflective of cultural complexity, are not supported by existing evidence. Rather, the reconstruction of prehistoric farming systems demands attention to specific adaptive responses given highly localized environmental situations.
Improving performance of distributed haskell in mosix clusters

We present experimental results demonstrating the performance improvement obtained in our distributed Haskell implementation when we replaced scheduling according to a micromanagement paradigm with contention-driven scheduling with automatic load balancing. This performance enhancement has important implications in the area of automatic run-time optimization.
Maximizing Influence Through Information-Overloaded Online Social Networks

Online social communities have become an important communication channel for people to share and discover information. Pieces of information spread within the community via the underlying social network, from one individual to another. However, with the unprecedented ease and low cost of communication provided by online systems, information overload emerges as a negative factor that potentially threatens the effectiveness of communication. As such, traditional single-message based diffusion models, such as Independent Cascade Model (ICM), are inadequate for describing the role of information overload. We then proposed an extended version of ICM (EICM) that explicitly takes the message multiplicity into account, after examining the message exchange patterns observed from a real online social community. We extensively evaluated this new diffusion model and compared with standard ICM in addressing one fundamental algorithmic problem related to viral marketing: How to select a set of network nodes/individuals to facilitate information diffusion and maximize influence? The evaluation results obtained from using both real and simulated data sets show that our approach results in node-selection heuristics outperforming well-studied notions of various centrality measures based on the ICM. The study and findings presented in this research have important managerial implications. In particular, from a viral marketing perspective, information overload effect should be recognized in order for campaign managers to build advantages in their influence maximization decisions.
SCLEROGLUCAN BIOPOLYMER PRODUCTION, PROPERTIES, AND ECONOMICS

Production and solution properties which may make scleroglucan polysaccharide economically advantageous for onsite production and use in tertiary oil recovery were investigated. Scleroglucan, which is similar in viscosity and shear thinning to xanthan, can be produced in a 3-day batch or 12 h continuous fermentation. Yield is nearly 50% based on input glucose. Gross biopolymer-biomass separation may be effected using microscreening, a low energy process, followed by polish filtration. Polymer flux may be improved by hydrolysis with an endolaminarinase from Rhizopus arrhizius QM 1032. Simple feedstock requirements and low growth pH, together with the difficulty of resuspending dried polymer, may encourage field biopolymer fermentation and use of purified culture broth.
Statement of Cash Flows

The statement of cash flows is the third required financial statement for all companies. The cash flow statement is a complement to the income statement in the balance sheet. It was added as a requirement with the income statement and the balance sheet in 1988 as required financial documents for all businesses by the US Security and Exchange Commission. The statement shows the change of actual cash flow in a company over a period of time. As we described earlier, some expenses and incomes do not actually represent real cash dollars. This document describes the actual cash flow into and out of the entity. It starts with cash at the beginning of a period such as a year or physical period and then adds and subtracts the actual cash flow during the period. The income statement presented earlier is concerned about the company making a profit. Statement of cash flows is concerned about the company generating enough cash to be viable and sustainable. The company generates a surplus of cash; then the organization can be considered viably stable if they generate more cash than they spend. In general there are three sections or activities in the statement of cash flows: operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities. People and groups who are mainly interested in the cash flow statements are accounting personnel, lenders and creditors, shareholders, employees and contractors, and potential investors into the business.
A Review of “Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina”

This collection of essays grew out of a conference held at the University of Pennsylvania in February 2006 addressing the rebuilding of urban places after disaster using post-Katrina New Orleans as...
A Feedforward $10\times$ CMOS Current-Ripple Suppressor for Switching Power Supplies

With the advent of wireless microsensors and other microscale applications, switching supplies fully integrated on chip or into the package are desirable and often necessary. The problem with small inductors is that they exhibit low inductance and larger equivalent series resistance (ESR); in other words, they induce larger ripples in the output and higher conduction power losses. This brief presents and verifies a current-ripple suppression technique in which a discrete 2 × 2 × 1 mm3 4.7-?H inductor is effectively multiplied by subtracting a replica of the inductor's ac ripple current, allowing only a residual ripple to reach the output. Experimental results from a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor integrated circuit prototype demonstrate a currentand output-ripple reduction of 10.8 X and 25.8 X, respectively. The ESR power savings in the smaller inductor favorably offset the quiescent power lost in the multiplier (128 mW), outperforming its higher nonmultiplied 47-?H counterpart at high loads (above 250 mA).
Organic matter quantity and source affects microbial community structure and function following volcanic eruption on Kasatochi Island, Alaska

In August 2008, Kasatochi volcano erupted and buried a small island in pyroclastic deposits and fine ash; since then, microbes, plants and birds have begun to re-colonize the initially sterile surface. Five years post-eruption, bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) copy numbers and extracellular enzyme activity (EEA) potentials were one to two orders of magnitude greater in pyroclastic materials with organic matter (OM) inputs relative to those without, despite minimal accumulation of OM (< 0.2%C). When normalized by OM levels, post-eruptive surfaces with OM inputs had the highest β-glucosidase, phosphatase, NAGase and cellobiohydrolase activities, and had microbial population sizes approaching those in reference soils. In contrast, the strongest factor determining bacterial community composition was the dominance of plants versus birds as OM input vectors. Although soil pH ranged from 3.9 to 7.0, and %C ranged 100×, differentiation between plant- and bird-associated microbial communities suggested that cell dispersal or nutrient availability are more likely drivers of assembly than pH or OM content. This study exemplifies the complex relationship between microbial cell dispersal, soil geochemistry, and microbial structure and function; and illustrates the potential for soil microbiota to be resilient to disturbance.
Parallel Tree Techniques and Code Optimization

In this paper we present an O(logn) parallel algorithm for the problem of generating optimum code for arithmetic expressions. The model of computation we use is the EREW P-RAM. The algorithm illustrates two general methods for the parallel manipulation of data stored in binary trees. The first (Compression Tree Method) extends the Parallel tree contraction method of Miller and Reif to the EREW P-RAM. The second is a modification of the Euler Path method.
Biological aspects of mobile communication fields

Our knowledge on the biological effects of RF radiation has been increasing for many decades. It has become a focus of attention because of the accelerated use of RF radiation for wireless communication over the past few years. It is fairly well established that at sufficiently high power levels, RF and microwave energy can produce deleterious biological effects. Wireless communication systems use low power modulated forms of RF and microwave radiation that was not investigated extensively in the past. Thresholds and SARs for biological effects both vary widely. Many specific questions must be answered before any consistent, dependable and scientific conclusions can be drawn for the biological effects and safety of wireless mobile communication systems. Nevertheless, available data do not suggest any immediate cause for concern of a impending threat to public health from acute or short term exposure to low level RF and microwave radiation. Investigations to answer some of the questions have already begun. Many of them are designed to study the effects of long term exposure. When considering repeated, low level irradiation, the possibility of cumulative effects have been raised. While there is presently no confirmed evidence for cumulative effect, there is little information to the contrary. Large scale epidemiological investigations should also be undertaken among the two-way mobile communication and cellular telephone users who may be exposed to varying levels of RF radiation over time. Better understanding is needed of the mechanisms of interaction between RF/microwave radiation and biological systems, and of the significance of any observed effects. Enormous progress has been made in the difficult area of dosimetry. However, measurement of energy distribution in and around a subject for exposure assessment remains a challenge, more so for large numbers of people. This type of quantitative information is also required for extrapolation from animal experimentation to human response.
Mutations which alter the level or structure of nsP4 can affect the efficiency of Sindbis virus replication in a host-dependent manner

Two mutants of Sindbis virus have been isolated which grow inefficiently at 34.5 degrees C in mosquito cells yet replicate normally in chicken embryo fibroblast cells at the same temperature. In addition, these mutants exhibit temperature-sensitive growth in both cell types and are RNA- at the nonpermissive temperatures (K.J. Kowal and V. Stollar, Virology 114:140-148, 1981). To clarify the basis of this host restriction, we have mapped the causal mutations for these temperature-dependent, host-restricted mutants. Functional mapping and sequence analysis of the mutant cDNAs revealed several mutations which mapped to the amino terminus of nsP4, the putative polymerase subunit of the viral RNA replicase. These mutations resulted in the following amino acid changes in nsP4: leucine to valine at residue 48, aspartate to glycine at residue 142, and proline to arginine at residue 187. Virus containing any of these mutations was restricted in its ability to replicate in mosquito but not chicken embryo fibroblast cells at 34.5 degrees C. In addition to its temperature-dependent, host-restricted phenotype, virus derived from one cDNA clone also exhibited decreased levels of nsP34 and nsP4 yet contained only a silent change in its genome. This C-to-U mutation occurred at nucleotide 5751, the first nucleotide after the opal termination codon separating nsP3 and nsP4. Our results suggest that this substitution decreases readthrough of the opal codon and diminishes production of nsP34 and nsP4. Such a decrease in synthesis rates might lead to levels of these products which are insufficient for viral RNA replication in mosquito cells at the higher temperature. This work provides the first evidence that nsP4 function can be strongly influenced by the host environment.
SCOUT - a low cost autonomous surface platform for research in cooperative autonomy

In order to advance research efforts in the area of cooperative autonomy, a low cost autonomous surface craft, SCOUT (Surface Craft for Oceanographic and Undersea Testing) was developed by engineers at the MIT Department of Ocean Engineering. Design objectives include simplicity, robustness, versatility and improved operational utility. Four vehicles were fabricated during the summer of 2004 and a number of field experiments have been conducted using these craft. This paper discusses the design of the SCOUT vehicle and introduces some examples of the utility of this platform as a tool for improved software development, particularly in the area of cooperative autonomy.
Subjective truth: A critique

This paper will examine the concept of subjective truth, indicating what it can and can not sensibly mean. Although the paper is centrally concerned with this concept, it also will serve to establish a point of textual interpretation. Many critics of Kierkegaard have claimed he maintains a subjectivist position on truth claims, that somehow what is true or false is simply a matter of individual decision. H. J. Paton, for example, in The Modern Predicament interprets Kierkegaard in this way. 1 This interpretation is mistaken and we can see why it is mistaken if we compare what Kierkegaard says about truth and subjectivity with some interpretations of what subjective truth might mean. The concept of subjective truth has no established use and, thus, a discussion of it is an exploration of possibility rather than fact. Or more accurately, it is implied by attitudes which are very extensively found but that implication has not been systematically formulated by the owners of those attitudes. These attitudes collectively express the position of subjectivism and subjective truth is the view on truth implied by, although not confined to, that position. The importance of the concept of subjective truth lies as much in its intertwining in these attitudes as it does in its status as a theoretical possibility. Simply as a concept it seemingly could be at home in any area where truth is a relevant issue since it suggests a possibility of how truth could be found in any area where truth can be found. But it is more pressing as a problem related to actual beliefs and attitudes. Subjectivism is a position which has never lacked for adherents and it surely is not currently in a fallow period either. But seemingly few philosophers have been among these advocates; it is a view of the layman and not the professional. This situation complicates a discussion of the related concept of subjective truth. Since the concept's adherents have lacked the analytic and argumentative tools needed for its philosophical formulation, one who would discuss it philosophically is required to be, in a sense, both advocate and critic. He must both define the problem, formulate the position, explore its meanings, and then present the criticisms of his own work. This paper is such an attempt. Because the concept is found inchoate, I have given considerable space simply to the ordering of the various possible meanings of the concept. And to put order into the exploration I have adopted a division of the paper into four sections. First, I shall
Ordovician oxygen isotopes and paleotemperatures

Abstract Valid marine δ18O proxies have been defined from three Ordovician units and with previously estimated sea water δ18O values we have calculated paleotemperatures for low latitude settings during a greenhouse climatic era. Valid marine proxies include: marine equant, bladed and translucent fibrous calcite. These cements are interpreted to be valid marine proxies based on cathodoluminescence, minor element content, abundance of microdolomite and stable isotopic (both altered marine and non-marine calcite phases) values. Valid marine proxies from the Chickamauga (Alabama), Holston (Tennessee) and Kullsberg (Sweden) formations have an overall range of δ18O values in each unit that is confined to within 1‰ unlike altered marine cements, which exhibit significantly wider ranges of δ18O values. We suggest a likely non-glacial Ordovician sea water value of −2±1‰ SMOW from which paleotemperatures can be calculated. Calculated paleotemperatures are broadly consistent with Crowley and Baum's (1995) Late Ordovician paleoclimatic model.
Inelastic Scattering of 31-MeV Alpha Particles from Zn 64 and Zn 66

The ($\ensuremath{\alpha},{\ensuremath{\alpha}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$) reaction on ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{64}$ and ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{66}$ has been studied using the 31-MeV $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle beam from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology cyclotron, with an over-all energy resolution of 80-120 keV. Angular distributions are presented, both for levels with known spin, and for levels whose spin and parity have not been previously determined. New ${3}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, ${4}^{+}$, and ${5}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ assignments are made both by comparison with levels of known spin and with the distorted-wave Born approximation. Good angular distributions are presented for the weak states at 1.81 MeV (${2}^{+}$) and 2.32 MeV (${4}^{+}$) in ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{64}$. They are both out of phase with the ${2}^{+}$ and ${4}^{+}$ single-excitation states. The slope of the angular distribution for the 2.32-MeV (${4}^{+}$) level is shallower than for the single-excitation ${4}^{+}$ state, while the slopes are the same for the ${2}^{+}$ states. Transition strengths in ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{64}$ and ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{66}$ are compared. Fractionation of ${3}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ strength in ${\mathrm{Zn}}^{64}$ has been observed, but it is smaller than that found in the calcium isotopes.
Exploring the Multitude of Real-Time Multi-GPU Configurations

Motivated by computational capacity and power efficiency, techniques for integrating graphics processing units (GPUs) into real-time systems have become an active area of research. While much of this work has focused on single-GPU systems, multiple GPUs may be used for further benefits. Similar to CPUs in multiprocessor systems, GPUs in multi-GPU systems may be managed using partitioned, clustered, or global methods, independent of CPU organization. This gives rise to many combinations of CPU/GPU organizational methods that, when combined with additional GPU management options, results in thousands of "reasonable" configuration choices. In this paper, we explore real-time schedulability of several categories of configurations for multiprocessor, multi-GPU systems that are possible under GPUSync, a recently proposed highly configurable real-time GPU management framework. Our analysis includes the careful consideration of GPU-related overheads. We show system configuration strongly affects real time schedulability. We also identify which configurations offer the best schedulability in order to guide the implementation of GPU-based real-time systems and future research.
Impact of Mindfulness Training on Counseling Students' Perceptions of Stress

Research continues to document the positive effects of mindfulness on physical and mental health. Mindfulness is beginning to be incorporated into the professional training of mental health practitioners; however, documentation of the effects of mindfulness training on trainees is still needed. This article uses qualitative research to explore whether a mindfulness class based on Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program may be a promising prophylactic for the stress that causes burnout among mental health workers. Forty-one students participated in this research study. Participants indicated that mindfulness increased (a) present-moment orientation and (b) increased their awareness and acceptance of feeling states and bodily states related to stress. Participants described that through this acceptance and awareness, they increased their ability to preempt stress, increased their confidence in ameliorating stress, and increased self-compassion. Students also indicated greater confidence regarding their ability to prevent burnout and their future as mental health workers.
Urodynamic services, personnel and training in the United Kingdom

Objective To audit the provision of urodynamic services in the UK, with particular emphasis on the personnel involved and the training they received. Methods A questionnaire was sent to 163 centres carrying out urodynamics in the UK asking for information on the department providing the service, the frequency of use, the number of patients investigated, professional training of the personnel and whether the personnel thought that the training was adequate. Results Most urodynamic facilities in the UK function on a part-time basis. Urodynamics are carried out by a variety of healthcare professionals but most are performed by doctors and nurses. Half the respondents considered the training to be inadequate. Conclusion Consideration should be given to requiring a minimum standard of training for personnel carrying out urodynamics in the UK to ensure that a quality service is provided.
Medium-resolution Autonomous in situ Gamma Detection System for Marine and Coastal Waters

We are developing a medium-resolution autono- mous in situ gamma detection system for marine and coastal waters. The system is designed to extract and preconcentrate isotopes of interest from natural waters prior to detection in order to eliminate signal attenuation of the gamma rays traveling through water and lower the overall background from the presence of naturally occurring radioactive iso- topes ( 40 K and U-Th series radionuclides). Filtration is used to preconcentrate target isotopes residing on suspended particles, while chemosorption is employed to preferentially extract truly dissolved components from the water column. Used filter and chemosorbent media will be counted autonomously using two LaBr3 detectors in a near 4-p configuration around the samples. A compact digital pulse processing system, developed in-house and capable of run- ning in coincidence mode, is used to process the signal from the detectors to a small on-board computer. The entire sys- tem is extremely compact (9 00 dia. 9 30 00 len.) and platform independent, but designed for initial deployment on a research buoy. A variety of commercial and in-house nano- porous chemosorbents have been selected, procured or produced, and these and filter and detector components have been tested.
Networks and vehicle routing for municipal waste collection

Vehicle routing for municipal waste collection encompasses a variety of problems. In this paper, we explore the techniques we have developed for solving some of these problems.
Design and Engineering of Protein Platforms for Multiple Functions

We have designed a simple protein, monomeric four-α-helix bundle, which can serve as a platform for diverse set of oxidoreductase related functions. We describe the progressive design steps taken from the simplest α-helical peptide toward functionalized proteins. This platform has considerable latitude for external charge patterning and internal control of stability, both globally and locally. We show how ligation of photoactive and redox cofactors can induce the stabilization and structuring of helices. We demonstrate that this platform can accomplish not one, but variety of functions, including electron transfer to natural proteins, O2 binding sustained for seconds, CO and NO sensing, millisecond superoxide bursts and triplet-excited state-driven nanosecond charge-separation followed by micro to millisecond electron tunneling reactions. We will present our strategies for optimizing bacterial expression, assembly of natural cofactors such as hemes, flavins, iron-sulfur clusters, quinone, nicotinamide and light active cofactors (porphyrins, chlorins) and many more synthetic analogues with a control over the distance and orientation that allow tuning for specific selected function. These maquette proteins can be altered to assemble in water, membranes and on a range of surfaces including titania. Such versatility makes this protein platform suitable for further iterative designs for light energy harvesting, photochemical charge separation, oxygen transport, oxidative metabolism as well as understanding of fundamental properties of enzyme activity, stability, and folding.
On the anisotropy of the aperture correlation and effective transmissivity in fractures generated by sliding between identical self‐affine surfaces

[1] We present a theoretical analysis of the anisotropy of the aperture correlation and effective transmissivity in fractures generated by sliding/shear between identical self-affine surfaces. Expressions are derived for the aperture correlation function in different directions, highlighting longer persistence and a larger integral scale normal to the shear than parallel to it. A stochastic perturbation analysis of the Reynolds equation leads to an effective transmissivity tensor with higher transmissivity normal to the shear. The hydraulic anisotropy depends on the coefficient of variation of the aperture field and the Hurst exponent. Numerical simulations are presented to evaluate the above theoretical predictions.
Integrating rewards and cognition in the frontal cortex

Research indicates that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) contributes to working memory and executive control, whereas the ventral frontal cortex (VFC) contributes to affective and motivational processing. Few studies have examined both the functional specificity and the integration of these regions. We did so using fMRI and a verbal working memory task in which visual cues indicated whether recall performance on an upcoming trial would be linked to a monetary reward. On the basis of prior findings obtained in delayed response tasks performed by nonhuman primates, we hypothesized that (1) VFC would show an increase only in response to a cue indicating potential for a monetary reward; (2) DLPFC would show sustained activity across a delay interval for all trials, though activity in rewarded trials would be enhanced; and (3) regions engaged in speech-based rehearsal would be relatively insensitive to monetary incentive. Our hypotheses about DLPFC and rehearsal-related regions were confirmed. In VFC regions, we failed to observe statistically significant effects of reward when the cue or delay epochs of the task were examined in isolation. However, an unexpected and significant deactivation was observed in VFC during the delay epoch; furthermore, a post hoc voxelwise analysis indicated a complex interaction between (1) the cue and delay epochs of the task and (2) the reward value of the trials. The pattern of activation and deactivation across trial types suggests that VFC is sensitive to reward cues, and that portions of DLPFC and VFC may work in opposition during the delay epoch of a working memory task in order to facilitate task performance.
Dynamic measurements of the acute and chronic effects of lysosomotropic agents on hepatocyte lysosomal pH using flow cytometry.

Previous investigators measuring the pH of lysosomes have used digitized video microscopy (DVM) in freshly isolated or cultured cells. Although useful, this technique is time consuming, requires the use of an image analysis system, and is limited by the fact that measurements can be made in only a relatively small number of cells. The aim of this study was to develop and initially apply a technique using flow cytometry to make dynamic measurements of lysosomal pH in a large number of living hepatocytes. Rats were injected intraperitoneally with fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (FITC-Dex), a pH-sensitive fluorescent probe that is sequestered into lysosomes. Hepatocytes were isolated 16 hours after injection by collagenase perfusion. Lysosomal pH was measured in 20,000 hepatocytes per animal using flow cytometry with excitation at 488 nm and emission at 530 nm (pH sensitive) and 585 nm (pH insensitive). A standard curve of pH versus the 530/585 nm ratio was generated with FITC-Dex-loaded hepatocytes by equilibrating intralysosomal pH with extracellular pH using ionophores and metabolic inhibitors. The acute effects of chloroquine and methylamine were determined by exposing isolated hepatocytes to these lysosomotropic agents. The effect of chronic administration of chloroquine and Triton WR-1339 (Rutger Chemical, Inc., Irvington, NJ) on lysosomal pH was also measured. Intralysosomal pH was 4.67 + 0.02, nearly identical to the value 4.70 + 0.05 previously measured by us using DVM. Both chloroquine and methylamine caused both rapid (<1 minute), major (0.5 to 2.0 pH units), and dose-dependent increases in lysosomal pH as well as changes in lysosome morphology. In contrast, although chronic chloroquine and Triton WR-1339 administration caused dramatic ultrastructural changes in lysosomal morphology, lysosomal pH was not increased by either of these agents suggesting that their pharmacological mechanisms are not mediated by their effects on lysosomal pH. These results show the utility and validity of using flow cytometry in living cells to quantify dynamic changes in the pH of lysosomes and show a dissociation of morphological and pH responses of hepatocyte lysosomes to chronic treatment with lysosomotropic agents.
Microcombustors Based on Controllable Solid Fuel Elements

This paper focuses on the control of solid-fuel burn rate by controlling the solid-fuel chemistry or by controlling heat losses. Laser cutting and lamination have been used to fabricate milli-scale test structures to characterize burn rates of composite solid fuel. The base ingredients for the solid fuels tested were phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN), ammonium perchlorate (AP), and sodium azide (SA). These base ingredients were tested alone or mixed with hydroxyl-terminated poly-butadiene (HTPB) plus various accelerants. Several experiments were performed to test the controllability of composite solid fuels. Burn-rate tests at atmospheric pressure consisted of 250 to 500 micron deep square combustion chambers packed with fuel and resistively heated on the top surface until combustion was achieved. Experiments were also performed to increase burn rate through chamber pressurization. Reaction times for a set amount of fuel were observed to increase exponentially as nozzle diameter was decreased. Finally, combustion chamber geometry was altered to control reaction propagation by increasing localized heat losses. A 500 micron thick triangular chamber was fabricated and ignited at the larger end, allowing the reaction to propagate toward the triangle tip. These results indicate that controllable actuation of solid propellants on the microscale for non-thrust, gas generation actuator applications is feasible.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Why youth leave care: Understandings of adulthood and transition successes and challenges among youth aging out of child welfare

Abstract Child welfare policies and practices are changing to allow more youth to remain in care beyond age 18. Yet, the majority of youth do not stay. Given recent evidence suggesting that remaining in care may be beneficial, there is a need to understand why youth leave. Using data gathered from in-depth interviews with young people aging out of care, this paper explores this question, relating it to youths' understandings of adulthood and the successes and challenges they face during their transitions. We find that youth leave care because of misunderstanding and misinformation about the requirements for remaining in care, as well as because of a desire for autonomy and independence. Specifically, many youth equated adulthood with independence, and thus felt that they needed to leave care to achieve adulthood. Unfortunately, these efforts to be independent often hinder youths' development of supportive relationships, which they reported to be one of the greatest challenges in their transitions. Based on these findings, we conclude by challenging the conflation of adulthood and independence, as well as of childhood and dependence, calling for connected autonomy as a goal for child welfare involved young people of all ages.
The interaction of chromium with nucleic acids

Native and denatured calf thymus DNA, and homopolyribonucleotides were compared with respect to chromium and protein binding after an in vitro incubation with rat liver microsomes, NADPH, and chromium (VI) or chromium (III). A significant amount of chromium bound to DNA when chromium (VI) was incubated with the native or the denatured form of DNA in the presence of microsomes and NADPH. For both native and denatured DNA the amount of protein bound to DNA increased with the amount of chromium bound to DNA. Denatured DNA had much higher amounts of chromium and protein bound than native DNA. There was no interaction between chromium(VI) and either form of DNA in the absence of the complete microsomal reducing system. The binding of chromium(III) to native or denatured DNA was small and relatively unaffected by the presence of microsomes and NADPH. The binding of chromium and protein to polyriboadenylic acid (poly(A], polyribocytidylic acid (poly(C], polyriboguanylic acid (poly(G] and polyribouridylic acid (poly(U] was determined after incubation with chromium(VI) in the presence of microsomes and NADPH. The magnitude of chromium and protein binding to the ribopolymers was found to be poly(G) much greater than poly(A) approximately equal to poly(C) approximately equal to poly(U). These results suggest that the metabolism of chromium(VI) is necessary in order for chromium to interact significantly with nucleic acids. The metabolically-produced chromium preferentially binds to the base guanine and results in DNA-protein cross-links. These findings are discussed with respect to the proposed scheme for the carcinogenicity of chromium(VI).
Congestive heart failure after atrial fibrillation ablation.

A 49-year-old man with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) underwent catheter ablation of AF [pulmonary vein (PV) isolation, left atrial linear lesions, and ablation of complex fractionated atrial electrograms], with a 3.5 mm open-irrigation ablation catheter. Overall, 4.4 L of crystalloid fluid was administered during the procedure. Seventy-two hours post-discharge, the patient reported symptoms of dyspnoea and a 3.6 kg weight gain. The electrocardiogram was unchanged and demonstrated sinus …