cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Large-scale mantle convection and the aggregation and dispersal of supercontinents

The first time-dependent numerical simulations of continental aggregation and dispersal demonstrate a dynamic feedback between the motion of continental plates and mantle convection. Plate velocity is intrinsically episodic. Continental plates aggregate over cold downwellings and inhibit subduction and mantle cooling; the mantle overheats and fragments the continent under tension. Overall, the models are in agreement with the present geophysical state of the mantle and the geological record over the last 200 million years.
Discourses of dislike: responses to ethics education policies by life scientists in the U.K., Italy, and the U.S.

Recently established policies for ethical conduct of researchers have resulted in efforts to implement those policies through educational practices. While these policies and training efforts have good intentions, how do researchers respond? Little research has been conducted to understand how researchers react to ethics policies, and to ethics education requirements as a particularly salient part of the policies. This research explores variations in the responses of life scientists to policies originating in the U.K., E.U. and U.S., between 2000 and 2003. Semi-structured interviews with 30 life scientists in the U.K., Italy and the U.S. provide the basis for the findings. Across the interviews, scientists consistently reported dislike of the ways the ethics policies and ethics programs are implemented, but with variation by country. U.K. life scientists regarded the policies tied to Research Council (RC) funding with a skeptical attitude, expecting that policies would change with RC leadership. Italian li...
Earnings and Mobility of Legal and Illegal Immigrant Workers in Agriculture

This paper presents theoretical and empirical evidence that unauthorized immigrants are more likely to be selected into low-wage, low-skill farm jobs than are otherwise similar legal workers. Controlling for this selection process, the earnings of unauthorized workers are significantly lower than the earnings of legal workers in high-skill farm jobs. These findings are shown to be consistent with expected profit maximization by farm employers. Legalization of farmworkers under the Special Agricultural Worker (SAW) program is not likely to increase farmworker earnings and may result in wage decreases in some farm jobs.
Decreased ceramide transport protein (CERT) function alters sphingomyelin production following UVB irradiation.

Increased cellular ceramide accounts in part for UVB irradiation-induced apoptosis in cultured human keratinocytes with concurrent increased glucosylceramide but not sphingomyelin generation in these cells. Given that conversion of ceramide to non-apoptotic metabolites such as sphingomyelin and glucosylceramide protects cells from ceramide-induced apoptosis, we hypothesized that failed up-regulation of sphingomyelin generation contributes to ceramide accumulation following UVB irradiation. Because both sphingomyelin synthase and glucosylceramide synthase activities were significantly decreased in UVB-irradiated keratinocytes, we investigated whether alteration(s) in the function of ceramide transport protein (or CERT) required for sphingomyelin synthesis occur(s) in UVB-irradiated cells. Fluorescently labeled N-(4,4-difluoro-5,7-dimethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene-3-pentanoyl)-d-erythro-sphingosine (C5-DMB-ceramide) relocation to the Golgi was diminished after irradiation, consistent with decreased CERT function, whereas the CERT inhibitor N-(3-hydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-3-phenylpropyl)dodecanamide (1R,3R isomer) (HPA-12) produced an equivalent effect. UVB irradiation also induced the rapid formation of a stable CERT homotrimer complex in keratinocytes as determined by Western immunoblot and mass spectrometry analyses, a finding replicated in HeLa, HEK293T, and HaCaT cells and in murine epidermis. Ceramide binding activity was decreased in recombinant CERT proteins containing the UVB-induced homotrimer. The middle region domain of the CERT protein was required for the homotrimer formation, whereas neither the pleckstrin homology (Golgi-binding) nor the START (ceramide-binding) domains were involved. Finally like UVB-treated keratinocytes, HPA-12 blockade of CERT function increased keratinocyte apoptosis, decreased sphingomyelin synthesis, and led to accumulation of ceramide. Thus, UVB-induced CERT homotrimer formation accounts, at least in part, for apoptosis and failed up-regulation of sphingomyelin synthesis following UVB irradiation, revealing that inactive CERT can attenuate a key metabolic protective mechanism against ceramide-induced apoptosis in keratinocytes.
Customer safety: direct marketing's undermarketed advantage

In addition to products and services, the direct marketing transaction offers a commodity that is priceless: the customer's personal shopping safety. The potential for danger in today's store environment enables the direct marketer to highlight customer safety as a major distinguishing component of the direct product offering. The inherent customer safety of the direct marketing transaction is vital to society. It is also a feature which, if optimally marketed, offers profit potential whose magnitude may not have existed since Ward, Sears, and Roebuck made shopping available to rural America. Thus, the direct marketer has an immense opportunity and obligation to educate consumers to insist on personal shopping safety as a key purchase criterion. Discussed are marketplace danger and how retailers are addressing it, opportunities and obligations for direct marketers, the theory and practice of marketing the direct shopping safety advantage, and two examples of approaches to creating safety advantage messages. Eighteen research hypotheses are presented, as is a table of nine topics for future study.
Combination treatment with bortezomib and thiostrepton is effective against tumor formation in mouse models of DEN/PB-induced liver carcinogenesis

Nanoparticle-encapsulated thiazole antibiotic, thiostrepton, has been shown to be an effective agent for inhibiting tumor growth in solid tumor models through the inhibition of proteasomal activity by the induction of apoptosis in cancer cells. Here, we show the efficacy of thiostrepton-micelles in inhibiting tumor growth in a DEN/PB-induced liver cancer model. We also demonstrate an enhanced anticancer effect of the combination treatment of thiostrepton with bortezomib, another proteasome inhibitor in this liver cancer model.
The socialist: "silicon ceiling": East German women in computer science

Up until the fall of the Wall in 1989, the Communist regime of East Germany promoted policies of gender equality in education and in the work force, but these policies fell far short of creating true equality of opportunity for women in information technology. In terms of sheer numbers, women came much closer to achieving equality in East German universities than was the case in the capitalist West, making up half or more of students in software-related majors. The East German social state was, moreover, set up in such a way that women could readily combine motherhood and a career. None the less, there was pervasive discrimination against women in hiring and promotion. Moreover, gendered thinking molded the day-to-day work experiences and professional lives of women in the information technology workforce in more subtle ways.
In Vivo NMR Spectroscopy Studies of Cerebral Metabolism in Rats after Portal-Caval Shunting.

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a clinical condition resulting from either insufficient liver function or the construction of a shunt from the portal to the systemic circulation. As a result, several compounds known to be neurotoxic are no longer removed from the blood by the liver. Hepatic encephalopathy is characterized by increasing neurological impairment leading to coma (for review see Duffy and Plum, 1982). Although information is available from both clinical studies and from research using experimental animal modes of HE, there is still much that is unknown about the biochemical mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this disorder. Of the several toxic compounds increased in the blood and in brain tissue during the course of HE, the finding of an increased ammonia concentration has received the most attention (Butterworth et al., 1987).
A tile-based system for the rapid display of symbolized Digital Nautical Chart data

For efficient retrieval and display of Digital Nautical Chart (DNC®) imagery, a tiled-based approach is presented. By preprocessing the data into persistent image tiles, the presented method can minimize or eliminate image processing steps during the retrieval process. Tile-based approaches define constant image sizes and scales for geographic regions, therefore tiles can be pre-generated and stored in a format needed for transmission to users. This greatly improves the performance of applications that visualize DNC® data and allows for advanced caching of DNC® imagery tiles. In addition, the evenly-spaced and commonly-sized images are stored in files that are easily indexed allowing for simple and fast lookup of DNC® imagery tiles for a given geographic area.
Efficient incorporation of CoA, NAD and FAD into RNA by in vitro transcription

Protein enzymes frequently recruit small molecule coenzymes to perform a variety of biochemical reactions. While the catalytic activities of RNA have been expanding rapidly, a similar strategy for RNA to utilize coenzymes and to increase its functional capabilities has yet to be demonstrated. A general in vitro transcription procedure has been developed to efficiently prepare RNA with coenzymes CoA, NAD and FAD covalently attached to the 5' end. These adenosine-containing coenzymes initiate transcription under the T7 class II promoter by T7 RNA polymerase. In addition to the three coenzymes, other adenosine-containing molecules may be incorporated into the first nucleotide position of RNA as well. This method provides easy access to CoA-, NAD- and FAD-RNA, which may find broad applications in generating coenzyme- utilizing ribozymes. In addition, both oxidized FAD and reduced NADH are highly fluorescent. NADH-RNA and FAD-RNA can therefore be used as probes for DNA/RNA detection and for structural investigation of RNA function by fluorescence spectroscopy.
Pulse compression of CW injection seeded gain-switched diode laser

A commercially available gain-switched diode laser was injection seeded by a CW laser diode to provide a controlled frequency chirped output which was compressed by a grating pair and telescope. Pulses were generated with a width of 12 ps and a peak power of 0.19 W at a repetition rate of 3.2 GHz. >
Stemflow nutrient inputs to soil in a successional hardwood forest

Stemflow and throughfall from a regenerating (8-year-old) southern Appalachian hardwood forest were collected to examine the relative importance of tree bole nutrient leaching in response to acid deposition. Samples from nine (2 m2) stemflow collection plots were analyzed for four dormant season and 11 growing season rainstorm events. Results showed that, relative to throughfall fluxes, stemflow accounted, on average, for approximately 8.5% of total water reaching the forest floor during both dormant and growing season storms. Relative to foliar leaching, K-, SO4-, and PO4 ions appear to be the most easily leached ions from young tree stems. Proportional nitrate and base cation stemflow fluxes increased significantly (p<0.05) with growing-season storm-event duration, suggesting that the stemsurface nutrient pool is depleted by precipitation more slowly than the foliar pool. On average, proportional stemflow fluxes of SO4 (12%) and K (14%) were consistently higher than reported maximum values for more mature forest stands, which indicates that small-scale stemflow inputs of ions such as these to the forest floor may be important in early successional ecosystems.
A Controllable Complexity Soft-Output Suboptimal Convolutional Decoder

Suboptimal decoding of convolutional codes, motivated by the need to deal with large constraint length codes, has in the past been achieved by stack algorithms or sequential decoding, which typically do not produce soft outputs, which may be desirable in some modern iterative decoding frame-works. Motivated by an approximate posterior equalizer, we present a suboptimal decoder which employs a similar decomposition for binary convolutional codes observed in additive white Gaussian noise. This results in mixed-field arithmetic (GF(2) and R). The GF(2) (convolutional code) arithmetic means that the central limit theorem does not apply. Instead, we invoke Gallager's lemma to compute the distribution of the interfering terms. Under various assumptions of independence (resulting in different complexities) the channel posterior probability can be approximated, resulting in a soft-output decoder. Initial results indicate effective performance when dependencies among rows are incorporated. The method may also extend to arbitrary binary linear codes.
Ammonia oxidation kinetics and temperature sensitivity of a natural marine community dominated by Archaea.

Archaeal ammonia oxidizers (AOAs) are increasingly recognized as prominent members of natural microbial assemblages. Evidence that links the presence of AOA with in situ ammonia oxidation activity is limited, and the abiotic factors that regulate the distribution of AOA natural assemblages are not well defined. We used quantitative PCR to enumerate amoA (encodes α-subunit of ammonia monooxygenase) abundances; AOA amoA gene copies greatly outnumbered ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and amoA transcripts were derived primarily from AOA throughout the water column of Hood Canal, Puget Sound, WA, USA. We generated a Michaelis–Menten kinetics curve for ammonia oxidation by the natural community and found that the measured Km of 98±14 nmol l−1 was close to that for cultivated AOA representative Nitrosopumilus maritimus SCM1. Temperature did not have a significant effect on ammonia oxidation rates for incubation temperatures ranging from 8 to 20 °C, which is within the temperature range for depths of measurable ammonia oxidation at the site. This study provides substantial evidence, through both amoA gene copies and transcript abundances and the kinetics response, that AOA are the dominant active ammonia oxidizers in this marine environment. We propose that future ammonia oxidation experiments use a Km for the natural community to better constrain ammonia oxidation rates determined with the commonly used 15NH4+ dilution technique.
Effect of Elastic Constants on Stress In A Composite Under Plane Deformation

When a composite body consisting of two isotropic and elastic phases is subjected to prescribed surface tractions, generally the stress field depends on three parameters involving the elastic con stants. If the composite is in a state of plane deformation, and there are no net forces on internal boundaries, however, the stress depends on only two combinations of elastic constants. Convenient constants for the composite material are proposed.
Effects of UMB24 and (±)-SM 21, putative σ2-preferring antagonists, on behavioral toxic and stimulant effects of cocaine in mice

Earlier studies have demonstrated that antagonism of σ1 receptors attenuates the convulsive, lethal, locomotor stimulatory and rewarding actions of cocaine in mice. In contrast, the contribution of σ2 receptors is unclear because experimental tools to selectively target this subtype are unavailable. To begin addressing this need, we characterized UMB24 (1-(2-phenethyl)-4-(2-pyridyl)-piperazine) and (±)-SM 21 (3α-tropanyl-2-(4-chorophenoxy)butyrate) in receptor binding and behavioral studies. Receptor binding studies confirmed that UMB24 and (±)-SM 21 display preferential affinity for σ2 over σ1 receptors. In behavioral studies, pretreatment of Swiss Webster mice with UMB24 or (±)-SM 21 significantly attenuated cocaine-induced convulsions and locomotor activity, but not lethality. When administered alone, (±)-SM 21 produced no significant effects compared to control injections of saline, but UMB24 had locomotor depressant actions. Together, the data suggest that σ2 receptor antagonists have the potential to attenuate some of the behavioral effects of cocaine, and further development of more selective, high affinity ligands are warranted.
Recurrence of herpes simplex encephalitis associated with temozolomide chemoradiation for malignant glioma: a case report and review of the literature

Although herpes simplex encephalitis is not classically considered an opportunistic infection, reactivation of herpes simplex is being seen increasingly in patients with cancer or immunosuppression. The authors present a patient with malignant glioma and HSV-1 encephalitis whose PCR-proven encephalitis recurred after temozolomide (TMZ) chemoradiation despite acyclovir therapy, and summarize details of four other cases of HSV-1 encephalitis associated with TMZ. The similarity among these cases raises the likely need for longer treatment courses and/or oral suppressive therapy in patients at risk for herpes simplex infections who are receiving TMZ.
Changes in tissue morphology and collagen composition during the repair of cortical bone in the adult chicken.

UNLABELLED An animal model was developed to study the histology and collagen chemistry of healing cortical bone. A hole was cut through the cortex of the mid-shaft of the humerus of the adult chicken, which allowed for repair at a mechanically stable site. After one to two weeks the collagen of the repair tissue, which consisted principally of woven bone, contained almost three times as much hydroxylysine as the collagen of normal adult bone and thus resembled the collagen of embryonic long bones. By eight weeks, when lamellar one predominated, the hydroxylysine content had fallen to normal levels. Type I was the major genetic type of collagen present throughout. No type-II collagen, characteristic of cartilage, was detected; this was consistent with the histological findings. The results established that hydroxylysine-rich type-I collagen can be made by osteoblasts of adult animals as well as by those of embryos and early postnates. CLINICAL RELEVANCE In order to understand the biological characteristics of fracture healing, it is vital to study not only the macroscopic organization of the repair tissue but also the chemical properties of its molecular components. The strength of healing fractured bone, and indeed of normal bone, depends largely on the properties of the structural protein collagen. To date, it is not known whether the collagen in healing fractures is the same as that in normal bone, or whether it has distinct chemical features that may suit it for bone repair.
Graduate Experience in Science Education: The Development of a Science Education Course for Biomedical Science Graduate Students

The University of Rochester's Graduate Experience in Science Education (GESE) course familiarizes biomedical science graduate students interested in pursuing academic career tracks with a fundamental understanding of some of the theory, principles, and concepts of science education. This one-semester elective course provides graduate students with practical teaching and communication skills to help them better relate science content to, and increase their confidence in, their own teaching abilities. The 2-h weekly sessions include an introduction to cognitive hierarchies, learning styles, and multiple intelligences; modeling and coaching some practical aspects of science education pedagogy; lesson-planning skills; an introduction to instructional methods such as case studies and problem-based learning; and use of computer-based instructional technologies. It is hoped that the early development of knowledge and skills about teaching and learning will encourage graduate students to continue their growth as educators throughout their careers. This article summarizes the GESE course and presents evidence on the effectiveness of this course in providing graduate students with information about teaching and learning that they will use throughout their careers.
Liquid crystalline acrylic copolymers for high-solids enamel coatings

Carboxyl functional liquid crystalline (LC) acrylic copolymers were synthesized and were compared with carboxyl functional control copolymers of Mn about 5000–15,000. Both types were crosslinked with a hexakismethoxymethyl melamine (HMMM) resin at 150°C, a temperature below the clearing points of the LC copolymers. Birefringent phases were visible in the crosslinked films made from LC polymers. FT-IR indicated the presence of unreacted COOH in all crosslinked materials. Unreacted COOH groups in crosslinked LC copolymers appeared only slightly higher than those in crosslinked amorphous copolymers. The potential utility of these LC copolymers as binders for thermosetting coatings was assessed. Variables studied were HMMM content, the length of PHBA grafts, Tg and Mn of the acrylic copolymer backbone, and functionality. Optimum LC copolymers have low backbone Tg ( 35 KHN), high impact resistance (> 80 in. ib), excellent adhesion, and good solvent resistance.
Ovarian Carcinoma: Diagnostic Immunohistochemistry of MUCIN4 (MUC4)

Ovarian cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths among U.S. women and has the highest fatality-to-case ratio of all gynecologic malignancies. It affects > 22,000 women and accounts for > 16,000 deaths every year with a projected 5 year mortality rate exceeding 70% (Jemal et al. 2007). This is, in part, due to the lack of early diagnosis, which makes it one of the most challenging of all cancers to fight. In fact, no observable or defined symptoms of disease are evident until it has metastasized. Therefore, there is a need to develop sensitive and reliable biomarker(s) for early detection, so that the high morbidity and deaths in ovarian cancer patients can be minimized. Current strategies for the detec-tion are based on biochemical markers, such as CA125, and biophysical markers assessed by ultrasound and/or Doppler imaging of the ovaries. The clinical utility of these strategies for early diagnosis, however, is limited due to the lack of specificity and sensitivity.
Comparative Data on GC Capillary Columns Having Various Diameters and Film Thicknesses

Bonne efficacite pour 5 colonnes du commerce, Quadrex, Supelco, Perkin-Elmer, avec methylsilicone
THE CORE MEMBER OF THE GANG

The personality of the core member of the delinquent contraculture is depicted as marked by a generalised feeling that others are hostile or indifferent to his welfare, plus inferiority feelings with regard to conventional activities outside the home. It is hypothesised that (i) child-rearing practices fostering the development of these person ality traits are most likely to be found in urban slums; (2) there is a strong congeniality between these personality traits and the salient traits of the delinquent contraculture; (3) there is a significant relationship between the personality traits and the intense but fragile quality of gang cohesion. The core member of the gang with a delinquent contraculture 1 characterised by wholesale malice, diversified stealing and sectarian ism 2 is not the average gang member but the member " who needs the gang more than anyone else . . . and who is always working to keep the gang together and in action." (Yablonsky, i960, p. 127). He is the totally committed gang member whose contacts with law breaking groups since childhood have been more intimate and frequent than with conventional groups (differential association). (Sutherland, 1947.) He is likely to pursue, at great personal cost, an adult criminal career while his former " partners in crime " have long abandoned their delinquent ways and associations and are enacting conventional occupational and family roles. In him, the * Chairman, Dept, of Sociology, Morris Harvey College, Charleston, West Virginia. 1 In substituting " contraculture " for " subculture " I am following the suggestion of Yinger (i960, p. 629) : " I suggest the use of the term ' contraculture ' wherever the normative system of a group contains, as a primary element, a theme of conflict with the values of the total society, where personality variables are directly involved in the development and the maintenance of the group's values, and wherever its norms can be understood only by reference to the relationship of the group to a surrounding dominant culture." (This writer's italics.) 2 Cloward and Ohlin (i960) discuss three types of gang : the " criminal " gang devoted to illegal means of securing an income, the " conflict " gang where violence is an important means of securing status, the " retreatist " gang where the consumption of drugs is stressed. The gang discussed in this paper is a fusion of the first two types. Its general features have been described by Cohen (1955).
Research on urban consumers' attitudes and perception on food safety in the catering industry in Beijing

With the rapid development of the food catering industry,high quality dining is required by more and more consumers.Food safety issues have attracted serious concern in China and get to be the top concern of the urban residents.Aiming at clarifying the main consumers' concerns on food safety in catering and probing into the urban consumers' attitudes toward food safety in Beijing,aquantitative method(n=612)was used to analyze consumers' attitudes and perception on food safety.As a result,five main food safety problems that consumers concerned have been identified,including stale raw food materials,unhygienic repast environment,food additive abuse,unregulated food operation and the personal health condition of the operating staff.Then the causes leading to these problems was calibrated as the proprietors' profit pursuing and ignorance of consumers' benefits,the lack of discriminative capacity on food stuff quality and the low capacity of law enforcement.Thereafter,the approaches to improving〗food safety was suggested to educate consumers on food safety,improve management and enhance the self-discipline of food caterers,reinforce media exposure,intensify supervision on food safety,and enforce the legislation.
Effect of different kinds of silica on mechanism of peroxide crosslinking of EPDM rubber used in insulation

The effects of fumed silica A380,fumed silica A200 and deposited silica on thermal decomposition properties of dicumyl peroxide( DCP) were investigated by mean of differential scanning calorimetry( DSC).The blend sample was made of DCP, silica and EPDM rubber.The effects of silica on curing characteristic parameters of EPDM blend were studyed by vulcameter. The effects of silica on dynamic mechanical properties,section microstructure and crosslink density of EPDM vulcanizates were investigated respectively by senior extension rheometer,scanning electronimicroscope( SEM) and balanced swelling method. Results show that three kinds of silica can reduce the thermal decomposition apparent activation energy of DCP and optimum curing time t 90,among which fumed silica A380 is the best; The crosslink density of EPDM vulcanizates will linearly increase with the content of silica below 40phr,deposited silica is the best; The compatibility between silica and EPDM and dynamic properties for silica filled EPDM compounds are the best for fumed silica A200,when the content of silica is 20 Phr.
Understanding the physician liability insurance crisis.

Just when you thought declining reimbursement and rising expenses had squeezed your practice dry, liability insurance premiums began to climb dramatically. Here’s what’s behind the increases.
EFFECT OF SELENIUM SUPPLEMENTATION ON PROTEOMIC SERUM BIOMARKERS IN ELDERLY MEN.

To determine the effect of selenium supplementation on the human proteomic profile.Serum samples were collected in this pilot study from a randomized placebo controlled Phase 2 clinical trial (Watchful Waiting (WW)).Subjects were followed every three months for up to five years at the University of Arizona Prostate Cancer Prevention Program.One hundred and forty men (age < 85 years) had biopsy-proven prostate cancer, a Gleason sum score less than eight, no metastatic cancer, and no prior treatment for prostate cancer.As part of the WW trial, men were randomized to placebo, selenium 200 μg/day or selenium 800 μg/day. For the purpose of the current study, 40 subjects enrolled in the WW study (20 from the placebo group and 20 from Se 800 μg/day group) were selected.Baseline serum samples were collected at each follow-up visit and stored at -80 degrees Celsius. A multiplexed proteomic panel investigated changes in 120 proteins markers simultaneously.Thirteen proteins (Apolipoprotein J, IL-10, IL-1 alpha, MMP-3, IL-12p70, IL-2 receptor alpha, cathepsin B, eotaxin, EGFR, FGF-basic, myeloperoxidase, RANTES, TGF-beta) were determined to be either statistically (p-value < 0.05) or marginally significantly (0.05 < p-value <0.1) changed in the selenium supplemented group as compared to placebo.Although independent validation of these results is needed, this study is the first of its kind to utilize high throughput fluorescence based protein multiplex panel in analyzing changes in the proteomic profile due to selenium supplementation. Results from this study provide insight into the ability of selenium to modulate numerous protein markers and thus impact various biological processes in humans.
Comparison of ambulatory and clinic blood pressure and heart rate in older persons with isolated systolic hypertension.

We compared the blood pressure (BP) measurements obtained with a random-zero sphygmomanometer and an ambulatory BP monitor in older persons with isolated systolic hypertension at one site of the multicenter, randomized, double-blind clinical trial, the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP) randomized clinical trial. The subjects were community-dwelling elderly participants with isolated systolic hypertension enrolled in the SHEP study and already receiving stable doses of double-blind medication (n = 35 for active treatment group; n = 32 for placebo group). We measured seated (clinic) BP obtained with a random-zero sphygmomamanometer, pulse rate, and BP and heart rate measurements obtained with an ambulatory BP monitor (average 24 h, daytime, and nighttime BP and heart rate). Across treatment groups clinic and ambulatory systolic BPs were not significantly different, but the placebo group had higher ambulatory, but not clinic, diastolic BPs. Within each treatment group (active treatment and placebo) there were no significant differences between clinic and average 24 h, daytime, or nighttime ambulatory systolic BPs. There were also no significant differences between clinic diastolic BP and average 24 h, daytime, or nighttime ambulatory diastolic BPs in the active treatment group, but in the placebo group average 24 h diastolic BP obtained by the ambulatory monitor was 4.6 mm Hg higher than clinic diastolic BP (P = .001). The average 24 h heart rate was 6 to 7 beats/min higher as measured by the ambulatory monitor compared to clinic pulse (P < .01). In the placebo group of this study, average 24 h ambulatory diastolic BPs were consistently higher than clinic diastolic BPs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Expanding Dress Code Requirements in the Doctor of Pharmacy Program

Although the use of a professional dress code is standard practice across colleges and schools of pharmacy during introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences, requiring professional attire is not applied consistently during the didactic portion of students’ education. There are arguments for and against the adoption of a professional dress code throughout the entire doctor of pharmacy program, including the classroom setting. Given uncertainty regarding the potential benefits and challenges that may arise from adopting a professional dress code in the didactic portion of a student pharmacist’s education, it is perhaps not surprising that programs adopt disparate policies regarding its use. This exploration was conducted as part of a series of debates held in conjunction with the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s (AACP) Academic Leadership Fellows Program (ALFP) and was presented at the 2015 AACP Interim Meeting on February 7, 2015.
Mixed-Mode and Mode-II Fatigue Crack Growth in Woven Composites

A woven carbon/epoxy composite was subjected to fatigue crack growth under mixed Mode-I/Mode-II loading to obtain crack growth behavior at different cyclic strain energies. Owing to the woven structure of the material, pure Mode-II fracture is usually a difficult proposition because of friction, interference, and interlock of woven tows in adjacent plies at an interlaminar crack. These limitations were overcome by the use of a novel form of mixed Mode-I/Mode-II specimen, which imposes sufficient crack surface opening (Mode-I) to alleviate ply–ply interactions, but not so much as to obscure the sliding (Mode-II) response. Comparison with pure Mode-I fatigue crack growth data, in conjunction with a fracture interaction criterion, provided a means to extract the Mode-II behavior.
Regional and backbone networks

Summary form only given. Consideration is given to a general web consisting of disjoint sets of data repositories, computing facilities, and terminals of all kinds. An examination is made of the current status of this growth in communications. How this could be done is discussed form the point of a user of mass storage facilities. The author considers how things got started, and what forces are currently active. >
Let's Rethink Join Optimization in Distributed Systems

Distributed shared-nothing systems that process large-scale data has seen unprecedented developments over the last decade. The advent of Google’s MapReduce [2] and Hadoop [3] has been followed by a series of systems with relational operators or SQL-like interfaces, such as Pig [8], Hive [10], Spark [12], SparkSQL [9], and Myria [4]. One of the core operations performed by these systems is evaluating relational joins. Along with these systems developments, there has also been very exciting progress on join algorithms both in the serial and distributed settings. However, the algorithmic progress in joins and the developments in large-scale data processing systems have not yet met. Current systems typically perform pairwise join plans, which perform well on data with primary and foreign key constraints, but are ill-suited and suboptimal for more complex sparse data that many modern applications process [7]. As new distributed data processing systems are rapidly being developed, we believe it is the right time to rethink how joins should be optimized in these systems. In this abstract, we argue that there is a promising opportunity to implement and experiment with a new set of join algorithms in distributed systems. Table 1 summarizes the algorithms we discuss and their properties. The specific problem we consider is the evaluation a conjunctive
Nurses on health care governing boards: An integrative review

Abstract Background Nurses are key change agents in health care; yet, nurses have not been sufficiently engaged on boards to shape decision making. Without an equal voice in the boardroom, nurses cannot fulfill their professional obligation to society. Purpose The purpose of this study was to understand the progression in research focus and recommendations over time about nurses on boards (NOB), identify research gaps, and make research/practice recommendations. Methods An integrative review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines (2009) for data evaluation and analysis. Eleven studies (six quantitative, three qualitative, and two quasi-mixed methods) were included in the review. Findings The focus/recommendations of research about NOB have changed from passive observation to action-oriented inquiry that considers nurse expertise and value but lacks a coordinated approach to advance board appointments for nurses. Conclusion A systematic approach to the research is needed to advance NOB as key agents in health care transformation and social justice.
Co-hydrotreatment of tire pyrolysis oil and vegetable oil for the production of transportation fuels

Abstract Catalytic hydrotreatment followed by products isomerization is an effective technology to convert vegetable oil to a green fuel composed of straight and branched chain aliphatic hydrocarbons. The content of aromatics in this fuel is very low. In this paper we study the co-hydrotreatment of vegetable oil and tires oil in the presence of a CoMo/Al 2 O 3 catalyst as a way of utilizing existing infrastructure created for vegetable oil processing for tire oil up-grading in order to obtain fuel cuts with aromatics. Hydrotreatment studies with different vegetable oil/tires oil blend ratios were conducted. The yield and composition of the resulting hydrotreated oils are reported. Aliphatic hydrocarbons ranging from C7 to C20 derived from vegetable oils and aromatics from C6 to C16 derived from the tire oil were identified as products. The resulting oils were then successfully distilled into naphtha, kerosene, diesel and gas oil cuts. The yield, chemical composition and the fuel properties of the transportation fuel cuts obtained are reported and compared with commercial petro derived fuels.
Bicomponent ultrashort echo time T2* analysis for assessment of patients with patellar tendinopathy.

Purpose To compare bicomponent ultrashort echo time (UTE) T2* parameters of patellar tendon between healthy volunteers and patients with patellar tendinopathy. Materials and methods This study was performed with Institutional Review Board approval and with all subjects signing informed consent. A UTE- T2* mapping sequence was performed at 3.0T on the knees of 10 healthy volunteers and in 11 patients with patellar tendinopathy. The UTE- T2* relaxation times of the fast relaxing macromolecular bound water component ( T2*F) and the slow relaxing bulk water component ( T2*S) and the fraction of the fast relaxing macromolecular bound water component (FF ) of patellar tendon were measured in all subjects. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare UTE- T2* parameters between healthy volunteers and patients with patellar tendinopathy. Results Mean T2*F, T2*S, and FF of the patellar tendon was 1.5 msec, 23.1 msec, and 79.5%, respectively, for healthy volunteers and 1.9 msec, 22.3 msec, and 75.5%, respectively, for patients with patellar tendinopathy. There were statistically significant differences between groups of subjects for T2*F (P = 0.01) and FF (P = 0.007) but not T2*S (P = 0.10) of the patellar tendon. Conclusion Patients with patellar tendinopathy had significantly higher T2*F and significantly lower FF of patellar tendon than healthy volunteers, which suggests that bicomponent UTE- T2* parameters can detect changes in the composition and microstructure of degenerative tendon. Level of evidence 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;46:1441-1447.
Adaptive basis selection for compressed sensing in robotic tactile skins

Tactile robotic skins consist of thousands to millions of tiny sensing elements that cover the surface of a robot. The data loads, timing requirements, and hardware constraints in tactile skins make real-time tactile data acquisition challenging. In previous work, we developed a compressed sensing tactile data acquisition system to address these challenges. In this work, we propose a method to adaptively select a basis for each compressed tactile signal to improve the overall signal reconstruction accuracy. A classifier is trained offline using a set of candidate bases and training signals. When each new compressed signal is acquired, the classifier identifies which basis to use in reconstructing the full tactile signal from the compressed one. We evaluate our method using data generated by our tactile skin simulation system. Our evaluations show that our adaptive basis selection method consistently outperforms approaches that use a single basis for signal reconstruction.
Recent Results from IceCube

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic kilometer detector located at the geographic South Pole. IceCube was designed to detect high-energy neutrinos from cosmic sources, and the DeepCore exten...
Genetic Diversity and Cereal Rust Management

Publisher Summary Cereal populations with adequate levels of durable resistance are most likely to be developed by combining different tactics, as is the case in natural ecosystems. Several mechanisms contribute to the protection of cereal populations from rusts in natural ecosystems. These include specific and general resistance, tolerance, and disease escape mechanisms, such as early maturity and late rusting. Race-specific resistance often occurs in abundance in the centre of co-evolution of the small grains and their rusts. However, in contrast to agroecosystems, this resistance occurs in a diverse pattern; different plants within a population possess different race-specific resistance genes. Thus, rust populations are buffered because no single genotype is virulent on all plants in the population. This chapter discusses strategies to provide functional genetic diversity to protect the cereal crops from rust fungi. It describes the use of genetic diversity in agriculture. The chapter explains three classifications of spatial diversity—intrafield, interfield, and interregional—that are arbitrary, but convenient, points along a continuum.
Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor (MPNST) and Triton Tumor

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are tumors that arise from cellular components of a normal nerve, i.e., Schwann cells and perineurial cells. They are relatively uncommon and very aggressive soft-tissue tumors seen in two settings, sporadic and associated with neurofibromatosis (NF) type 1. Despite the two clinical scenarios, the biological background, loss of NF1 expression by deletion or mutation, is believed to be similar. Older, abandoned terms for MPNST include neurofibrosarcoma, malignant schwannoma, and neurogenic sarcoma.
Co-Treatment of Groups of Differentiated Substance Abusers

There is a continuing controversy among treatment personnel over how to treat whom among drug users. Understanding differences in personality structure and function may provide clues which will permit careful delineation of the variety of treatment programs designed to meet the needs of particular groups of drug users. Traditional approaches to differentiating among users rely on behavior definitions of the type of drug, frequency, and the intensity of use. We propose a psychodynamic definition of hard and soft core drug use based on the careful assessment of levels of trust and denial. Treatment strategies are geared to meet the user at his or her level of personality organization with outcome measures providing an assessment of the relative effectiveness of differentiated treatment. The therapeutic community provides a vehicle through which investigation of this type will be conducted.
Virtual Intimacy in the Therapeutic Space: Help or Hindrance?

Cybertherapy is becoming a common treatment practice in a technologically sophisticated world, and includes the use of such modes as the telephone, texts, iChat, email, online forums, Skype therapy, video conferencing, and avatar therapy. This chapter explores the research to date, and uses a case vignette to illustrate the advantages, disadvantages, and complex concerns of conducting Skype therapy
Measurement of the Ω- magnetic moment

A sample of 24 700 ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ hyperons was produced by a prolarized neutral beam in a spin-transfer reaction. The ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ polarizations are found to be -0.054\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.019 and -0.149\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.055 at mean ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ momenta of 322 and 398 GeV/c, respectively. The directions of these polarizations give an ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ magnetic moment of -(1.94\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.17\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.14)${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}}_{\mathit{N}}$
Carbon dioxide splitting using an electro-thermochemical hybrid looping strategy

Reclaiming oxygen (O2) efficiently from carbon dioxide (CO2), a major product of human metabolism, is a key technology to minimize the oxygen supply required for challenging missions such as manned deep space exploration. Ideally, a method that can convert CO2 into elemental carbon (C) and O2 under mild conditions is highly desirable; however, due to the highly unfavorable thermodynamics, direct CO2 splitting requires extreme conditions. Herein, we present an electro-thermochemical hybrid looping (ETHL) strategy to split CO2 into C and O2 under mild conditions with a 100% theoretical oxygen recovery efficiency, which cannot be accomplished using any existing electrochemical or thermochemical process. The ETHL process combines an electrochemical step that reduces CO2 into carbon monoxide (CO) with a thermochemical step that further converts CO into C and CO2. By recycling the produced CO2 from the thermochemical step back to the first electrochemical step, this closes the loop with C and O2 as the only products. The results showed 96% selectivity for the CO2 electrolysis step and nearly 100% selectivity for the CO thermochemical step, demonstrating the feasibility of the ETHL strategy for complete oxygen recovery from CO2.
Antioxidant capacity and phytochemical content of 16 sources of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS).

Abstract Corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a co-product of the fuel ethanol industry that is an excellent source of energy, digestible amino acids, and digestible phosphorus. However, the antioxidant capacity and phytochemical content of DDGS and how it is influenced by production parameters is unknown. Therefore, 16 DDGS samples obtained from different ethanol production plants in the U.S. were characterized for antioxidant capacity, vitamin E, xanthophylls, and ferulic acid content and compared with corn. The antioxidant capacity of DDGS samples, measured using the 2,2-diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, varied almost 2 folds among samples, but in all cases was more than 3 times that of corn. All DDGS samples had a considerably greater concentration of tocopherols and tocotrienols (lipid-soluble antioxidants) than corn. However, the relative concentrations among the tocopherols and tocotrienols tended to be similar to corn. The xanthophyll lutein was present in all DDGS samples and in all cases exceeded the content in corn. Zeaxanthin was detected in most samples. The total ferulic acid content of the DDGS samples was almost 3-fold greater than corn, but, as in corn, almost all was present in a bound form. However, the concentration of unbound (free) ferulic acid was more than 3 times the concentration found in the corn sample. Thus, DDGS is a rich source of phytochemical compounds and may provide antioxidant and health benefits beyond its macronutrient composition. However, differences in processing can greatly influence the phytochemical content and quality of DDGS. In particular, thermal abuse due to excessive heat used in drying may lead to lipid oxidation products that may have deleterious effects when incorporated into feeds.