cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intra-individual and inter-individual variability in daily sitting time and MVPA

Abstract Objectives Little is known about how much variability exists in free-living sitting time within individuals. The purpose of this study was to examine intra-individual variability of objectively determined daily sitting time and to determine if this variability was related to weekly averages of sitting duration or recommended moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Also, this study determined the reliability of free-living sitting and MVPA time as it useful for guiding researchers in determining how many days of monitoring are needed. Design An activPAL monitor was worn for 7 consecutive days by 68 women (52 ± 8 years). Methods Intra-individual range of daily sitting time was calculated. Generalizability theory analysis determined the reliability of daily sitting and recommended MVPA. Results Mean sitting time was 9.0 ± 1.8 h/day and the within individual weekly mean range was 4.5 ± 1.7 h/day. Similarly, there was a 4.5 h/day difference in sitting time between the mean of the lowest sitting (6.7 ± 0.8) and highest sitting (11.3 ± 1.1 h/day) quartiles. The intra-individual range in daily sitting did not differ among quartiles of sitting time (i.e., 4.9 ± 1.9, 4.1 ± 1.9, 5.1 ± 1.5, 3.9 ± 1.1 h/day for the 1st–4th quartiles) nor among quartiles of MVPA (i.e., 4.2 ± 1.8, 4.7 ± 2.0, 4.6 ± 1.5, 4.4 ± 1.3 h/day for the 1st–4th quartiles). A reliability coefficient of 0.80 was achieved with 4 days of objectively measured sitting time and 7 days for MVPA. Conclusions The findings suggest exposure to relatively high levels of sedentary time may occur in people regardless of weekly averages in sitting and regular exercise due to the high day-to-day variation in daily sitting time (4.5 h/d range within a week).
Absolute Wavelength Photonic Time Stretch Spectroscopy

In applications such as data communication, medicine, sensing and scientific research, communication signals and phenomena of interest occur on time scales too rapid and at throughputs too high to be sampled and digitized in real time. The future of telecommunications, switching networks, biomedical imaging, and remote sensing with ever-increasing the required speed of capturing, processing and computing is demanding for high speed and high-throughput signal processing units. Photonic-based real-time instruments are the promising candidates for this severe problem, they are capable of operating on signals at Terahertz speeds. To give some examples, the record throughput of recently developed instruments such as MHz-frame-rate brightfield cameras, ultra-high-frame-rate fluorescent cameras for biological imaging, and wideband photonic-assisted analog to digital conversion has enabled the discovery of optical rogue waves, the detection of cancer cells in blood with sensitivity of one cell in a million and demonstration of ADCs with 1 Tera bits per second sampling rate.
Symposium review: The relevance of bovine milk phospholipids in human nutrition—Evidence of the effect on infant gut and brain development

This paper reflects the concepts reviewed during the presentation in the Joint MILK/Lactation Biology Symposium at the ADSA 2018 Annual Meeting. Our intention is to update the concepts and advances in the area of research regarding milk phospholipids or polar lipid fraction as part of a dairy ingredient used today in nutritional studies that focus on gut health as well as brain development of infants. Although processing advances have allowed the production of novel ingredients rich in milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) components, mostly monitored by phospholipid concentration and presence of membrane proteins, there is wide variability in their composition and structure. Furthermore, we aimed to include in the phospholipid fraction of milk nanovesicles designated as milk exosomes, which are secreted into milk by different secretion mechanisms than those of the fat globules but are also made up of a unique mixture of polar lipids. We consider imperative the study of polar lipid-derived structures from milk regarding composition and structure to gain insights into their biological effect in human health. Nevertheless, and tolerating the differences in composition and concentration of their components, studies supplementing the diet of infants with polar lipids (i.e., MFGM components) have shown significant advances in several areas of human health and well-being. Here we present a summary of the important components of MFGM and milk exosomes as well as an overview of the effects on gut health and brain and cognitive development when added to the diet of infants.
Description of an ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block and the spread of dye in dog cadavers

Abstract Objectives To describe a technique to perform an ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane (ESP) block and determine the distribution and potential complications after injection of two volumes of methylene blue in dog cadavers. Study design Prospective experimental cadaveric study. Animals A total of eight dog cadavers weighing 9.3 ± 1.9 kg. Methods Ultrasound-guided injections dorsal to the transverse process and ventral to the erector spinae muscles aimed at the fifth thoracic transverse process were performed bilaterally in each dog using 0.5 and 1.0 mL kg−1 dye solution [low volume (LV) and high volume (HV) treatments, respectively]. Treatments were randomly assigned to the right or left side of each dog, resulting in a total of 16 injections. Anatomical dissections determined dye spread characteristics, including epaxial muscles spread, staining of spinal nerves, dorsal rami, ventral rami (intercostal nerves) and sympathetic trunk spread. Staining indicating potential complications (epidural, mediastinal and intrapleural spread) was recorded. Results There was complete staining of at least one dorsal ramus following all injections. A more extensive spread was observed along the muscles in the HV compared with LV (p = 0.036). No significant difference between multisegmental dorsal rami spread (six out of eight injections in each treatment) was noted. Out of 16 injections, one in LV treatment resulted in multisegmental spinal nerve staining and one in HV treatment resulted in ventral ramus (intercostal nerve) staining. Use of anatomic landmarks resulted in inaccurate identification of the fifth transverse process in at least six out of 16 injections (38%). No sympathetic trunk, epidural, mediastinal or intrapleural staining was observed. Conclusions and clinical relevance Ultrasound-guided ESP injections resulted in extensive staining along the epaxial muscles, as well as staining of the dorsal rami in all dogs. The incidence of dorsal rami mutisegmental spread was the same in both treatments.
Surgical Necrotizing Enterocolitis: Early Surgery - The Key to Live Bowel and Quality Life

Premature babies <30 weeks’ gestation with surgical necrotizing enterocolitis (SNEC) and presenting late with bowel perforation, septicaemia, bone marrow depression, and multiorgan failure, carry 30–50% mortality even following ‘last-ditch surgery’ guided by Bell’s criteria, that were designed for staging the disease and not for timing of surgery. Surgeons have sacrificed well-proven criteria for management of the ‘acute abdomen’, driving neonatologists to inappropriately prolonged complex conservative care and delaying surgery until ‘all else has failed’. Lucky survivors frequently suffer from functionally damaged bowel or the short bowel state requiring long-term parenteral nutrition, complex bowel reconstruction, and possibly transplant with life-long immunosuppression.
The role of resilience in healthcare transitions among adolescent kidney transplant recipients.

Purpose AYAs with KTs experience high rates of premature allograft loss during the HCT. There is a critical need to identify protective factors associated with stable HCT. Resilience-the ability to adapt and thrive in the setting of adversity-has known positive impact on health outcomes. This study explored the novel role of resilience constructs as protective factors in securing stable HCT among AYA with KT. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews of adolescents and young adults who transitioned from a single pediatric transplant center to multiple adult nephrology centers between 2010 and 2017. Interviews explored the role of key resilience constructs in participants' lives around the time of HCT. Participants were stratified into stable or unstable HCT groups based on biological markers of allograft function and clinical data from chart review. Content analyses of interview transcripts were reviewed and compared among HCT groups. Results Thirty-two participants enrolled (17 stable; 15 unstable). Key resilience constructs more salient in the stable versus unstable HCT group were confidence in and connection to one's healthcare team. Reports of healthcare self-management competencies were similar across both HCT groups. Conclusions Confidence in and connection to one's healthcare team appear to be linked with a stable HCT among AYA with KT. This suggests that interdependence, the ability to foster connections with and elicit support from healthcare providers, as opposed to complete independence or autonomy, which is often advised in the HCT process, is a critical component of resilience linked to stable HCT.
No Radio Left Behind: Radio Fingerprinting Through Deep Learning of Physical-Layer Hardware Impairments

Due to the unprecedented scale of the Internet of Things, designing scalable, accurate, energy-efficient and tamper-proof authentication mechanisms has now become more important than ever. To this end, in this paper we present ORACLE, a novel system based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to “fingerprint” (i.e., identify) a unique radio from a large pool of devices by deep-learning the fine-grained hardware impairments imposed by radio circuitry on physical-layer I/Q samples. First, we show how hardware-specific imperfections are learned by the CNN framework. Then, we extensively evaluate the performance of ORACLE on several first-of-its-kind large-scale datasets of WiFi-transmissions collected “in the wild”, as well as a dataset of nominally-identical (i.e., equal baseband signals) WiFi devices, reaching 80-90% accuracy is many cases with the error gap arising due to channel-induced effects. Finally, we show through an experimental testbed, how this accuracy can reach over 99% by intentionally inserting and learning the effect of controlled impairments at the transmitter side, to completely remove the impact of the wireless channel. Furthermore, to scale this approach for classifying potential thousands of radios, we propose an impairment hopping spread spectrum (IHOP) technique that is resilient to spoofing attacks.
Performance fatigability and neuromuscular responses for bilateral versus unilateral leg extensions in women.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare isokinetic peak torque and the patterns of responses for electromyographic (EMG) and mechanomyographic (MMG), amplitude (AMP) and mean power frequency (MPF) for bilateral (BL) versus unilateral (UL), maximal, isokinetic leg extensions. Eleven recreationally trained women (Mean ± SD: age 22.9 ± 0.9 yrs; body mass 60.5 ± 10.1 kg; height 167.2 ± 6.4 cm) performed 50 maximal, BL and UL isokinetic leg extensions at 60° s−1 on separate days. Electromyographic and MMG signals from the vastus lateralis of the nondominant leg were recorded. Five separate 2 (Condition [BL and UL]) × 10 (Repetitions [5–50]) repeated measures ANOVAs were performed to examine normalized EMG AMP, EMG MPF, MMG AMP, MMG MPF, and isokinetic torque. The results indicated no significant interactions or main effects for EMG AMP and MMG AMP. There were significant interactions for normalized isokinetic peak torque (p
Symposium: The Role of Human Factors Standards in Advancing Science and Practice: Some Examples from Automotive, Nuclear, Healthcare, and Petrochemical Industries:

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) has created a Task Force to help implement Goal D of the HFES Strategic plan (https://www.hfes.org/about-hfes/strategic-plan), to “translate the scie...
A holistic approach to user privacy in academic libraries

Abstract Academic libraries have long been seen as trustworthy stewards of user information, but in an increasingly dispersed digital environment, it has become challenging for libraries to provide completely safe online experiences. This essay, written from the perspective of a systems librarian at Boston College, suggests that academic libraries need to re-invent their privacy practices to better align with today's online reality. A collaborative, holistic approach is proposed: embedding privacy into how libraries collect, how they implement online access, how they teach, and how they advocate for privacy on their campuses. By taking a comprehensive look at privacy concerns across the library and the campus, and by developing practices grounded in the ethical underpinning of our profession, academic librarians can begin to earn back the trust of our users.
Families and Emotions

As attention to the emotional dimensions of social structure, culture, and individual development has grown, scholars have renewed their interest in the emotional lives of family members. The current chapter examines three key areas of interdisciplinary research on emotion within families. It first explores how biological predispositions are activated and shaped through processes of emotional socialization within families. The chapter then examines the gendered performance of emotion work, demonstrating how family-related emotion management connects embodied experience with the maintenance of social systems over time. And finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of how emotional capital links emotion in families with members’ experiences in other institutions. Given that families are charged with passing on emotion knowledge, skills, and capacities to the next generation, the chapter highlights the ways that families are critical for understanding how emotions contribute to the reproduction of inequalities as well as having the potential to mobilize transformational social practice.
Adverse maternal environment and western diet impairs cognitive function and alters hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor promoter methylation in male mice

Adverse maternal environment (AME) and high-fat diet in early childhood increase the risk of cognitive impairment and depression later in life. Cognitive impairment associates with hippocampal dysfunction. A key regulator of hippocampal function is the glucocorticoid receptor. Increased hippocampal GR expression associates with cognitive impairment and depression. Transcriptional control of GR relies in part upon the DNA methylation status at multiple alternative initiation sites that are tissue specific, with exon 1.7 being hippocampal specific. Increased exon 1.7 expression associates with upregulated hippocampal GR expression in early life stress animal models. However, the effects of AME combined with postweaning western diet (WD) on offspring behaviors and the expression of GR exon 1 variants in the hippocampus are unknown. We hypothesized that AME and postweaning WD would impair cognitive function and cause depression-like behavior in offspring in conjunction with dysregulated hippocampal expression of total GR and exon 1.7 variant in mice. We found that AME-WD impaired learning and memory in male adult offspring concurrently with increased hippocampal expression of total GR and GR 1.7. We also found that increased GR 1.7 expression was associated with decreased DNA methylation at the GR 1.7 promoter. We speculate that decreased DNA methylation at the GR 1.7 promoter plays a role in AME-WD induced increase of GR in the hippocampus. This increased GR expression may subsequently contribute to hippocampus dysfunction and lead to the cognitive impairment seen in this model.
Antagonistic control of myofiber size and muscle protein quality control by the ubiquitin ligase UBR4 during aging.

Sarcopenia is a degenerative condition that consists in age-induced atrophy and functional decline of skeletal muscle cells (myofibers). A common hypothesis is that inducing myofiber hypertrophy should also reinstate myofiber contractile function but such model has not been extensively tested. Here, we find that the levels of the ubiquitin ligase UBR4 increase in skeletal muscle with aging, and that UBR4 increases the proteolytic activity of the proteasome. Importantly, muscle-specific UBR4 loss rescues age-associated myofiber atrophy in mice. However, UBR4 loss reduces the muscle specific force and accelerates the decline in muscle protein quality that occurs with aging in mice. Similarly, hypertrophic signaling induced via muscle-specific loss of UBR4/poe and of ESCRT members (HGS/Hrs, STAM, USP8) that degrade ubiquitinated membrane proteins compromises muscle function and shortens lifespan in Drosophila by reducing protein quality control. Altogether, these findings indicate that these ubiquitin ligases antithetically regulate myofiber size and muscle protein quality control. Sarcopenia is the age-associated functional decline and atrophy of muscle fibers, and it has been proposed that it might be counteracted by inducing myofiber hypertrophy. Here, the authors show that expression levels of the ubiquitin ligase UBR4 are increased with ageing, and that whilst its genetic ablation rescues muscle atrophy, it is also associated with reduced protein quality and impaired force production in Drosophila and mouse models.
Human reaction times

You and I are standing together when someone sets off a firecracker behind us. After a quarter of a second you jump! I, being considerably older, jump well after you react to the shock. How do we measure this reaction time? In this note I will remind you of an old favorite and show you a new measurement apparatus, and then you will see how a quite different demonstration allows the measurement of human reaction time.
RF Acoustic Microsystems Based on Suspended Lithium Niobate Thin Films: Advances and Outlook

This paper presents a review of the radio frequency (RF) thin-film lithium niobate (LiNbO3) based acoustic microsystems. Thanks to their high electromechanical coupling (k2), low loss, and great frequency scalability, thin-film LiNbO3 has outperformed state-of-the-art acoustic technologies in the past decade. This paper first reviews the acoustic wave transduction and propagation in thin-film LiNbO3 and then showcases the emerging acoustic applications.
Lessons from the HGDP

Race to the Finish. Identity and Governance in an Age of Genomics. By Jenny Reardon. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2005. 251 pp. $55, £35.95. ISBN 0-691-11856-6. Paper, $17.95, £11.95. ISBN: 0-691-11857-4. In-formation Series. The author explores the history of the Human Genome Diversity Project and discusses its implications for future work in the contentious intersection of genetics, race, and politics.
Active dried baker's yeast

Summary By choice of nutrients and inhibitors a study of fermentation of mono- and disaccharides by dried baker's yeast has been made. It is concluded that in the development of a maximal fermentation by this yeast at least three systems may be involved. (a) A system leading to the fermentation of hexose or sucrose in the absence of nutrients other than the sugar. (b) A system causing an increase in this rate of fermentation of hexose but requiring nutrients. (c) A system bringing about the induction of maltose fermentation also requiring nutrients. System (b) probably causes the production of further transport sites. Deterioration of the dried yeast during storage under nitrogen affects the second and third of these systems more than the first.
The foundations of a provably secure operating system (PSOS)

PSOS has been designed according to a set of formal techniques embodying the SRI Hierarchical Development Methodology (HDM). HDM has been described elsewhere, 1 – 3 and thus is only summarized here. The influence of HDM on the security of PSOS is also discussed elsewhere. 4 In addition, Linden 5 gives a general discussion of the impact of structured design techniques on the security of operating systems (including capability systems).
What's new in curriculum design: working with industry

Summary form only given. The process of curriculum design in computing sciences has changed little in the last three decades, while the content of computing curricula has changed continuously because of the technology upon which it is based and the explosive growth of knowledge in the field. However, developments in computing have changed the process that is being used by a number of groups in curriculum development, specifically, curricula are being developed by groups of individuals representing both academia and industry. This change is evidenced in several projects funded by the National Science Foundation. This involvement of industry may enliven the learning environment and increase student motivation to learn. Industry has developed a greater involvement in colleges and universities. The trend toward outcomes based assessment has frequently resulted in an active Industry Advisory Board or a survey of industry to evaluate the recent graduates they have hired. The recent shortage of IT workers has forced industry to recruit regularly on college campuses and to take a greater interest in the preparation of students in the computing sciences.
Tissue engineering for the replacement of organ function in the genitourinary system

Acquired and congenital abnormalities may lead to genitourinary organ damage or loss, requiring eventual reconstruction. Tissue engineering follows the principles of cell transplantation, materials science, and engineering toward the development of biological substitutes that would restore and maintain normal function. Tissue engineering may involve matrices alone, wherein the body's natural ability to regenerate is used to orient or direct new tissue growth, or the use of matrices with cells. Both synthetic and natural biodegradable materials have been used, either alone or as cell delivery vehicles. Tissue engineering has been applied experimentally for the reconstitution of several urologic tissues and organs, including bladder, ureter, urethra, kidney, testis, and genitalia. Fetal applications have also been explored. Recently, several tissue engineering technologies have been used clinically including the use of cells as bulking agents for the treatment of vesicoureteral reflux and incontinence and urethral replacement. Recent progress suggests that engineered genitourinary tissues may have clinical applicability in the future.
LazySync: A New Synchronization Scheme for Distributed Simulation of Sensor Networks

To meet the demands for high simulation fidelity and speed, parallel and distributed simulation techniques are widely used in building wireless sensor network simulators. However, accurate simulations of dynamic interactions of sensor network applications incur large synchronization overheads and severely limit the performance of existing distributed simulators. In this paper, we present LazySync, a novel conservative synchronization scheme that can significantly reduce such overheads by minimizing the number of clock synchronizations during simulations. We implement and evaluate this scheme in a cycle accurate distributed simulation framework that we developed based on Avrora, a popular parallel sensor network simulator. In our experiments, the scheme achieves a speedup of 4% to 53% in simulating single-hop sensor networks with 8 to 256 nodes and 4% to 118% in simulating multi-hop sensor networks with 16 to 256 nodes. The experiments also demonstrate that the speedups can be significantly larger as the scheme scales with both the number of packet transmissions and sensor network size.
Perforation of the Colon with Intra-Abdominal Abscess Formation Due to Amebiasis: Report of a Case

Summary An unusual case of amebiasis manifested by the insidious development of an abdominal abscess is presented. The need for considering amebic infestation in obscure diseases which may or may not implicate the large bowel is stressed.
Design considerations for motor-controller integration of a single phase induction motor packaged drive

In this paper, the concept of "smart motor" or motor-controller integration is proposed and hardware setup is also presented. This paper compares possible topologies for single phase permanent-split-capacitor induction motor adjustable speed drive from the aspects of number of inverter legs, minimum DC bus voltage requirement and DC bus current RMS value, etc. The combination of different front-end converter and inverter stages provides various performance features of the drives. The topology with voltage doubler and three-leg inverter is selected for hardware implementation of a packaged drive. Other design considerations and experimental results are presented.
Anisotropic spin relaxation in n -GaAs from strong inhomogeneous hyperfine fields produced by the dynamical polarization of nuclei

Previous studies have shown that the nuclear spin polarization in GaAs is spatially inhomogeneous. The authors of this paper argue that the hyperfine interaction between the electron spins and inhomogeneous nuclear field is of Dyakonov-Perel type. They show that the inclusion of corresponding anisotropic spin relaxation mechanism produces a better fit of the experimentally measured Hanle effect.
Associations of daily pediatric asthma emergency department visits with air pollution in Newark, NJ: utilizing time-series and case-crossover study designs

AbstractObjective: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting children. This study assesses the associations of ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) with pediatric emergency department visits in the urban environment of Newark, NJ. Two study designs were utilized and evaluated for usability. Methods: We obtained daily emergency department visits among children aged 3–17 years with a primary diagnosis of asthma during April to September for 2004–2007. Both a time-stratified case-crossover study design with bi-directional control sampling and a time-series study design were utilized. Lagged effects (1-d through 5-d lag, 3-d average, and 5-d average) of ozone and PM2.5 were explored and a dose–response analysis comparing the bottom 5th percentile of 3-d average lag ozone with each 5 percentile increase was performed. Results: Associations of interquartile range increase in same-day ozone were similar between the time-series and case-crossover study designs (RR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.04–1.12) ...
Studies on Leukocyte Phosphatases. III. Inhibition of Leukocyte Acid Phosphatase by Zinc

Whereas the activity of leukocyte alkaline phosphatase is stimulated by Zn2+, it inhibits acid phosphatase activity. The degree of inhibition of acid phosphatase depends on the pH of the medium, being greater as the pH approaches neutrality. This inhibition may be at least partially reversed by the addition of amino acids, which suggests that interactions of Zn2+ and amino acids may play an important role in regulating the overall phosphatase activity of the leukocyte.
Campus assistant application on an Android platform

College campuses can be large, confusing, and intimidating for new students and visitors. Finding the campus may be easy using a GPS unit or Google Maps directions, but this changes when you are actually on the campus. There is no service that provides directional assistance within the campus itself. This paper presents the architecture and design specifications for a campus assistant application on an Android platform. Scenarios are illustrated for the Florida Atlantic University - Boca Raton campus.
Determination of precursor order and particular weighting functions from kinetic data.

Abstract The analysis of kinetic data from biochemical and physiological tracer experiments has been advanced theoretically and practically by the interpretation of the output data as point values of a function resulting from the convolution (the integral operation ∫ 0 t f(r)g(t-r)dr) of the input function with an unknown weighting function. This weighting function characterizes the system; most notably, it indicates the number of compartments or precursor order in certain classes of systems. A simple method of determining precursor order from data relating input and output to time is presented here. Where the input is a ( t ), the output is b ( t ) and the weighting function is g ( t ), g (n) (0)= (m+n+1)! m! lim +→ b + n+1 a under the conditions implied by the usual physical restraints and where (1) a ( i ) (0) = 0, i m ; a ( m ) (0) ≠ 0, and (2) g ( j ) (0) = 0, j n Thus, n can be determined for g ( n ) (0) ≠ 0, and n + 1 is the precursor order. In addition a method is presented for determining the exponential constants a i and the polynomials A i where (1)a (1) (0)=0, i> m ; a (m) (0)≠0,and (2)g (j) (0)=0,j>n is known or assumed for the weighting function. An artificial example and data from a biochemical experiment are analyzed with these relations. The problem of selecting a limit is discussed and related to the general characteristics of models and synthesis of models.
Home health care nurses as a new channel for smoking cessation treatment: Outcomes from project CARES (Community-nurse Assisted Research and Education on Smoking)

Abstract Background. Clinical guidelines for smoking cessation may not be sufficient for helping some subgroups of smokers quit. Incorporating smoking cessation into home-based medical care can proactively reach high-risk smokers who may not have access to (or spontaneously seek) smoking cessation. Method. Home health care nurses (N = 98) were randomly assigned to deliver either Motivational Enhancement (ME; Motivational Interviewing + Carbon Monoxide Feedback) or Standard Care (AHCPR Guidelines for smoking cessation) to their patients. Seventy percent of patients were eligible and willing to participate (N = 273; 54% female, mean age = 57 years, 83% Caucasian, 41% Results. Biochemically verified continuous abstinence rates at the 12-month follow-up were 4.2% (SC) and 8.7% (ME) for intent to treat analyses, and 5.2% (SC) and 11.8% (ME) using all available cases (P > 0.05). ME reported more quit attempts and significantly greater reductions in the number of cigarettes smoked per day at all follow-ups through 12 months of post-treatment (all P values Conclusions. Use of an existing public health channel such as home health care to reach smokers who vary in their motivation to quit could have the potential for large public health impact.
The structure and resonance Raman spectra – structure correlations for methyloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-alanine ethyl dithioester

The structure of methyloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-alanine ethyl dithioester has been determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The N—C—C—S(thiol) and C—N—C—C(S) torsional angles are 141(1)° and −69(2)°, respectively. Consequently, the N and thiono (C=S) sulfur atoms are in close contact and the (thiono) distance is 3.078(5) A. The structure is a perturbed A conformer, which we designate A′, by analogy to a previously characterised A conformer (Huber etal., Biochemistry, 21 3109 (1982)). The angles for the Phe residue are −87(2) and 151(2)°, respectively. A Raman spectroscopic study of a single crystal of the LL form and a resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopic study of powdered methyloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanyl-DL-alanine ethyl dithioester establish the RR signature of the dithio moiety for the compound in the A′ form. The RR spectrum of the dithioester in CCl4 defines the RR signature for the C5 form in solution, while the RR spectrum from a solution in H2O/CH3CN provides information on the signatures ...
Effects of shuttle bay environment on UV sensitive photographic film results of measurements aboard STS-7 and STS-8

Schumann emulsions, having low gelatin content and no protective gelatin overcoating, are extremely sensitive to environmental conditions and handling. Experiments using this emulsion are to be flown on the space shuttle within the cargo-bay. Because the environment of the cargo-bay is unknown, a Get-Away-Special payload was designed to expose Kodak-type SO 652 Schumann emulsion to the residual atmosphere of the cargo-bay. The experiment was programmed to make exposures for various time periods to determine the maximum length of time the film could be exposed in making a measurement and what precautions would be required to preserve the film during ascent into orbit and reentry. The results of the STS-7 and STS-8 flights indicated that long exposures in the shuttle bay do not produce high fog levels in orbit. Observations of severe bleaching of the latent image makes protection of the emulsion during reentry manditory and increase of fog levels with time set a limit of four weeks (preferably less than three) between installation and recovery of the emulsion for processing.
Similarities of Drosophila rab GTPases based on expression profiling: completion and analysis of the rab-Gal4 kit.

We recently generated rab-Gal4 lines for 25 of 29 predicted Drosophila rab GTPases. These lines provide tools for the expression of reporters, mutant rab variants or other genes, under control of the regulatory elements of individual rab loci. Here, we report the generation and characterization of the remaining four rab-Gal4 lines. Based on the completed ‘rab-Gal4 kit’ we performed a comparative analysis of the cellular and subcellular expression of all rab GTPases. This analysis includes the cellular expression patterns in characterized neuronal and non-neuronal cells and tissues, the subcellular localization of wild type, constitutively active and dominant negative rab GTPases and colocalization with known intracellular compartment markers. Our comparative analysis identifies all Rab GTPases that are expressed in the same cells and localize to the same intracellular compartments. Remarkably, similarities based on these criteria are typically not predicted by primary sequence homology. Hence, our findings provide an alternative basis to assess potential roles and redundancies based on expression in developing and adult cell types, compartment identity and subcellular localization.
Extraction of Shape Skeletons from Grayscale Images

Shape skeletons have been used in computer vision to represent shapes and discover their salient features. Earlier attempts were based on morphological approach in which a shape is eroded successively and uniformly until it is reduced to its skeleton. The main difficulty with this approach is its sensitivity to noise and several approaches have been proposed for dealing with this problem. In this paper, we propose a new method based on diffusion to smooth out the noise and extract shape skeletons in a robust way. In the process, we also obtain segmentation of the shape into parts. The main tool for shape analysis is a function called the “edge-strength” function. Its level curves are smoothed analogs of the successive shape outlines obtained during the morphological erosion. The new method is closely related to the popular method of curve evolution, but has several advantages over it. Since the governing equation is linear, the implementation is simpler and faster. The same equation applies to problems in higher dimension. Unlike most other methods, the new method is applicable to shapes which may have junctions such as triple points. Another advantage is that the method is robust with respect to gaps in the shape outline. Since it is seldom possible to extract complete shape outlines from a noisy grayscale image, this is obviously a very important feature. The key point is that the edge strength may be calculated from grayscale images without first extracting the shape outline. Thus the method can be directly applied to grayscale images.
In vivo roles of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), catalase and the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS) in deermice

The relative importance of ADH and MEOS for ethanol oxidation in the liver has yet to be elucidated. The discovery of a strain of deermice genetically lacking ADH (ADH-) which can consume ethanol at greater than 50% of the rates seen in deermice having ADH (ADH+) suggested a significant role for non-ADH pathways in vivo. To quantitate contributions of the various pathways, we examined first the ethanol oxidation rates with or without 4-methylpyrazole in isolated deermice hepatocytes. 4-Methylpyrazole significantly reduced the ethanol oxidation in both ADH+ and ADH- hepatocytes. The reduction seen in ADH- cells can be applied to correct for the effect of 4-methylpyrazole on non-ADH pathways of ADH+ deermouse hepatocytes. After correction, non-ADH pathways were found to contribute 28% of ethanol metabolism at 10 mM and 52% at 50 mM. When using a different approach namely measurement of the isotope effect, MEOS was calculated to account for 35% at low and about 70% at high blood ethanol concentrations. Thus, we found that two different complementary approaches yielded similar results, namely that non-ADH pathways play a significant role in ethanol oxidation even in the presence of ADH.
Solution of the two-channel spin-flavor Kondo model

We investigate a model where an impurity couples to both the spin and the flavor currents of the two-channel conduction electrons. This model can be used as a prototype model of a magnetic impurity tunneling between two sites in a metal, and of some heavy-fermion systems where the ground state of the impurity has a fourfold degeneracy. The system is shown to flow to a doubly degenerate non-Fermi-liquid fixed point; the thermodynamic quantities show NFL behaviors, but the transport quantities show Fermi-liquid (FL) behavior. A spin-flavor coupling double tensor term is shown to drive the system to one of the two singlet FL fixed points. The relation with the SU(4) Coqblin-Schrieffer model is studied. The implications for possible experiments are given.
Division of labour and specification of castes in the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta buren

Abstract Division of labour in Solenopsis invicta follows a familiar pattern: younger, smaller ants tend toward brood care while older, larger ants tend toward foraging. However, long-term observations of marked individuals reveal that length of nursing and foraging ‘careers’ and the age of transition between these activities vary considerably between and within size groups, and are related to length of life. Experiments with entire colonies show that larger ants are more likely than smaller ants to forage for insect prey. There are two main worker castes, ‘nurses’ and ‘foragers’, whose members span a wide age-size range, and a large ‘reserve’ subcaste, heterogeneous in age, size, and behaviour: reserves may nurse, forage, store liquid food, or relay food from nurses to foragers. The proportion of ants engaged in foraging decreases with colony size because many ants in large colonies are not exposed to recruitment signals.
Effect of iodination level on the properties of radioiodinated fibrinogen.

Abstract The effect of iodination level on the biological clearance of radioiodinated fibrinogen was investigated. Canine, human and rabbit fibrinogen were included in the study to also test for possible differences among various species. Iodination of fibrinogen with 3 to 9 iodine atoms/molecule resulted in essentially unchanged isotopic clottability as compared to preparations at the conventional level of 0.5 iodine atom/molecule. No changes in molecular size due to covalent aggregation were observed by SDS gel electrophoresis with radioiodinated human fibrinogen preparations. Canine and human fibrinogen iodinated with up to 4.5 iodine atoms/molecule exhibited little change in biological clearance behavior relative to the conventional iodination level. However, rabbit fibrinogen iodinated with 3.5 iodine atoms/molecule displayed a difference in clearance when compared to the 0.5 iodine atom/molecule preparations. Thus, canine and human fibrinogen can be iodinated with 4.5 iodine atoms/molecule without altering their biological clearance behavior while rabbit fibrinogen is more sensitive to this iodination level.
Oncostatin M Stimulates Collagen and Glycosaminoglycan Production by Cultured Normal Dermal Fibroblasts: Insensitivity of Sclerodermal and Keloidal Fibroblasts

It is thought that normal fibrotic repair progresses to dermal fibrosis when fibroblasts are activated persistently by chronic exposure to cytokines such as transforming growth factor-β. However, additional cytokines and mechanisms may play a role in the development of fibrosis. Thus, we examined a recently described T-lymphocyte/macrophage-derived cytokine, oncostatin M, for its effect on the production of collagen and glycosaminoglycan by microcultures of normal dermal, sclerodermal, and keloidal fibroblasts. Treatment with oncostatin M for 48 h induced dose-dependent (1-100 ng/ml) increases in the collagen and glycosaminoglycan production of nine normal fibroblast strains, which in the absence of fetal bovine serum at 100 ng/ml averaged 196% and 244%, respectively. Oncostatin M treatment increased both types I and III procollagens and their mRNA transcripts, as well as levels of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin-4/6 sulfates, and dermatan sulfate, but not fibronectin or general non-collagenous protein synthesis. In contrast, the collagen production of six of eight sclerodermal and keloidal fibroblast strains was essentially unresponsive to oncostatin M treatment, with 100 ng/ml inducing an average increase of only 34% for the eight fibrotic strains, Oncostatin M stimulation of fibrotic fibroblast glycosaminoglycan production was also hyporesponsive, as 100 ng/ml of oncostatin M induced an average increase of only 101%. These results indicate that oncostatin M could function as a stimulator of normal fibrotic repair via activation of fibroblast collagen and glycosaminoglycan synthesis and that the persistent activation of sclerodermal and keloidal fibroblasts is accompanied by a loss of sensitivity to oncostatin M stimulation.
Regression for machine translation evaluation at the sentence level

Machine learning offers a systematic framework for developing metrics that use multiple criteria to assess the quality of machine translation (MT). However, learning introduces additional complexities that may impact on the resulting metric's effectiveness. First, a learned metric is more reliable for translations that are similar to its training examples; this calls into question whether it is as effective in evaluating translations from systems that are not its contemporaries. Second, metrics trained from different sets of training examples may exhibit variations in their evaluations. Third, expensive developmental resources (such as translations that have been evaluated by humans) may be needed as training examples. This paper investigates these concerns in the context of using regression to develop metrics for evaluating machine-translated sentences. We track a learned metric's reliability across a 5 year period to measure the extent to which the learned metric can evaluate sentences produced by other systems. We compare metrics trained under different conditions to measure their variations. Finally, we present an alternative formulation of metric training in which the features are based on comparisons against pseudo-references in order to reduce the demand on human produced resources. Our results confirm that regression is a useful approach for developing new metrics for MT evaluation at the sentence level.
Single crystal synthesis and magnetism of the BaLn2O4 family (Ln = lanthanide)

Abstract The series of compounds in the Ba Ln 2 O 4 family ( Ln = La–Lu, Y) has been synthesized for the first time in single crystalline form, using a molten metal flux. The series crystallizes in the CaV 2 O 4 structure type with primitive orthorhombic symmetry (space group Pnma , #62), and a complete structural study of atomic positions, bonds, angles, and distortions across the lanthanide series is presented. With the exception of the Y, La, Eu, and Lu members, magnetic susceptibility measurements were performed between 2 K and 300 K. BaCe 2 O 4 and BaYb 2 O 4 display large crystal fields effects and suppression of magnetic ordering. All compounds show signs of magnetic frustration due to the trigonal arrangements of the trivalent lanthanide cations in the structure.
Absence of trapped surfaces and singularities in cylindrical collapse

The gravitational collapse of an infinite cylindrical thin shell of generic matter in an otherwise empty spacetime is considered. We show that geometries admitting two hypersurface orthogonal Killing vectors cannot contain trapped surfaces in the vacuum portion of spacetime causally available to geodesic timelike observers. At asymptotic future null infinity, however, congruences of outgoing radial null geodesics become marginally trapped, due to convergence induced by shear caused by the interaction of a transverse wave component with the geodesics. The matter shell itself is shown to be always free of trapped surfaces, for this class of geometries. Finally, two simplified matter models are analytically examined. For one model, the weak energy condition is shown to be a necessary condition for collapse to halt; for the second case, it is a sufficient condition for collapse to be able to halt.
Characteristics of participants in peripartum interventional research

AbstractObjective: To identify characteristics of pregnant women potentially influencing the decision to participate in peripartum interventional research.Methods: Women screened as eligible to participate in two prospective interventional trials conducted in the labor and delivery unit at a single center were included. Characteristics of eligible women were compared based on their decision whether to participate or not. The best predictors of research participation were identified using multivariable logistic regression analyses.Results: Of the 605 subjects who screened as eligible to participate, 363 (60%) agreed to participate and 242 (40%) declined. Women using a private obstetric provider or who had prior obstetrical complications were less likely to participate [aOR 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4–0.8)] and [aOR 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4–0.9)], respectively. A history of a mental health condition and a higher body mass index (BMI) were marginally more likely to participate [aOR 1.5 (95% CI: 1.0–2.3)] and [aOR 1.03 (95% CI:...
FRENCH ABSOLUTISM, MARSEILLAIS CIVIC HUMANISM, AND THE LANGUAGES OF PUBLIC GOOD

This article contributes to current historical knowledge on the relationship between Crown and local municipal power in Old Regime France. In particular, it examines the political language of bien public mobilized by Marseillais elites and royal administrators between 1660 and 1700 in the context of French commercial expansion. Traditionally, ‘public good’ could be understood in two distinct ways. Derived from royal absolutist doctrine, public good was what the king willed to preserve the state, a collection of diverse, corporate bodies held together by royal justice and reason. Derived from civic humanistic, municipal traditions, public good was the united will of the civic community. Investigating three moments where these two definitions of public good converged and collided – during Marseille's urban expansion (1666), in the local justification of modern commerce, and in the deliberations at the Council of Commerce (1700) – this article points to several mutations in the language of public good at the end of the seventeenth century. Pointing to the convergence of civic humanistic and absolutist traditions, this article demonstrates that centralization under Louis XIV, rather than obscuring local traditions, allowed for the intensification of civic humanistic, republican sensibilities.