cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of lecture instruction on student performance on qualitative questions

The impact of lecture instruction on student conceptual understanding in physics has been the subject of research for several decades. Most studies have reported disappointingly small improvements in student performance on conceptual questions despite direct instruction on the relevant topics. These results have spurred a number of attempts to improve learning in physics courses through new curricula and instructional techniques. This paper contributes to the research base through a retrospective analysis of 20 randomly selected qualitative questions on topics in kinematics, dynamics, electrostatics, waves, and physical optics that have been given in introductory calculus-based physics at the University of Washington over a period of 15 years. In some classes, questions were administered after relevant lecture instruction had been completed; in others, it had yet to begin. Simple statistical tests indicate that the average performance of the “after lecture” classes was significantly better than that of the “before lecture” classes for 11 questions, significantly worse for two questions, and indistinguishable for the remaining seven. However, the classes had not been randomly assigned to be tested before or after lecture instruction. Multiple linear regression was therefore conducted with variables (such as class size) that could plausibly lead to systematic differences in performance and thus obscure (or artificially enhance) the effect of lecture instruction. The regression models support the results of the simple tests for all but four questions. In those cases, the effect of lecture instruction was reduced to a nonsignificant level, or increased to a significant, negative level when other variables were considered. Thus the results provide robust evidence that instruction in lecture can increase student ability to give correct answers to conceptual questions but does not necessarily do so; in some cases it can even lead to a decrease.
Why Can't This Patient Look Up? Bilateral Vertical Gaze Palsy

Abstract We report a case of a patient with profound bilateral vertical gaze palsy resulting from a unilateral thalamic lesion—one of only a handful of such cases ever reported. The patient had significant symptomatic vertical diplopia that was disabling functionally and vocationally. We discuss pathways whereby a unilateral lesion can cause bilateral gaze palsy. We also report on the successful functional and vocational rehabilitation of the patient's vertical diplopia. To our knowledge, this is the first report of successful rehabilitation of a patient with bilateral vertical diplopia due to a central lesion.
Reverse short and narrow channel effects in n and p transistors: quantification of the enhanced diffusion and the gate oxide thickness increase

Abstract The threshold voltage (VT) of CMOS 6 IBM technology n and p transistors function of their length L was investigated. A reverse short channel effect (RSCE) was observed simultaneously on the n inverted and p buried channel transistors, i.e. a VT n ( L ) increase and a correlated VT p ( L ) decrease when L was decreased. The same effect was observed for narrower channels. After correction of the standard short channel effect, the correlation between VT n ( L ) and VT p ( L ) was explained by two components: first a boron oxidation enhanced diffusion in the channel during the sidewall polysilicon gate oxidation; second, an increase of the gate oxide electrical thickness inversely proportional to the gate conductor width. This thickness increase was interpreted as due to a contaminant diffusion from the gate stack sidewall during the sidewall oxidation, either oxygen producing a physical thickness increase, or fluorine reducing the oxide dielectric constant.
Analysis and evaluation of Secos, a protocol for energy efficient and secure communication in sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks are increasingly being used in applications where the communication between nodes needs to be protected from eavesdropping and tampering. Such protection is typically provided using techniques from symmetric key cryptography. The protocols in this domain suffer from one or more of the following problems-weak security guarantees if some nodes are compromised, lack of scalability, high energy overhead for key management, and increased end-to-end data latency. In this paper, we propose a protocol called Secos that mitigates these problems in static sensor networks. Secos divides the sensor field into control groups each with a control node. Data exchange between nodes within a control group happens through the mediation of the control head which provides the common key. The keys are refreshed periodically and the control nodes are changed periodically to enhance security. Secos enhances the survivability of the network by handling compromise and failures of control nodes. It provides the guarantee that the communication between any two sensor nodes remains secure despite the compromise of any number of other nodes in the network. The experiments based on a simulation model show a seven time reduction in energy overhead and a 50% reduction in latency compared to SPINS, which is one of the state-of-the-art protocols for key management in sensor networks.
A Propellor-Type Vertical Anemometer

Abstract A vertical anemometer of the propeller type is described. The instrument is sensitive and economical and output is acceptable to most zero-center millivolt recorders. The voltage output reverses in polarity when the direction of rotation reverses (updrafts or downdrafts).
Chronic spinal cord injury induced changes in the responses of thalamic neurons

Abstract Sensory disturbances following spinal cord injury (SCI) include chronic pain, which is often localized at spinal levels just rostral to the lesion (referred to as at-level neuropathic pain) and not effectively relieved by traditional treatments. In the present study, a clinically relevant spinal contusion injury was made at the spinal T8 level in 11 deeply anesthetized male rats. Behavioral testing just prior to terminal electrophysiological experiments (done at 30 days post-injury) demonstrated at-level sensitivity to touching the trunk (i.e., allodynia) in 64% of the animals. Electrophysiological data (urethane anesthesia) were obtained for 218 single somatovisceral convergent neurons that were located throughout 12 subregions of the thalamus. In total, 90% (197 of 218) responded to noxious at-level pinch, compared to 52% for pinching the dorsal trunk at the same level in uninjured controls (our previously published data—recorded from 133 total neurons). In addition, 33% of the total neurons tested also responded to gentle touch (dorsal trunk) versus 9% in controls. A comparison of electrophysiological and behavioral data for each individual animal reveals novel tactile neuronal responses within ventral and posterior thalamic subnuclei for those rats showing signs of at-level allodynia. These data suggest that neurons in specific regions of thalamus undergo significant changes in responsiveness following severe chronic SCI. The observed plasticity and ensuing hypersensitivity are likely part of the central reorganization producing the multitude of sensory disturbances that surface following SCI.
The Effect of Visual Cues on Scoring of Clinical Word-Recognition Tests

Purpose During routine clinical speech assessment, if the person being tested were to write down what he or she heard, it would not always match what the audiologist heard while scoring the listene...
A monoclonal antibody against an epitope common to HLA-B locus antigens

Abstract A monoclonal antibody G4 that appears to be directed against a determinant common to akl HLA-B locus antigens is described. This antibody reacted with a large panel of B and T lymphocytes and cell lines, but it did not react with two lines that do not serologically express HLA antigens (Daudi and K562) and two lines that expressed A-locus but not B-locus antigens (8402 and HPBMLT). The F(ab′) 2 fragment of G4 blocked B-locus but not A-locus HLA alloantisera. By immunoprecipitation and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis G4 reacted with a dimer consisting of a heavy chain of 44,000 daltons and a light chain of 12,7000 daltons.
Retirement versus Age: Assessing the Efficacy of Retirement as a Segmentation Variable

This study examines the relative importance of retirement status as a basis for segmenting markets. A survey instrument was mailed to 500 male consumers living throughout the U.S. They were categorized by retirement status, age, income, and physical health. A series of chi-square tests were run in respect to a number of marketing-related activities. The results clearly indicate that retirement status is a valid segmentation variable.
To Infinity and Beyond!: Introduction to the Special Issue

Disney/Pixar character, Buzz Lightyear’s audacious exclamation, ‘‘To infinity and beyond,’’ captures the exciting developments in CBT with children and youth. The articles in this special issue balance the historical roots, current traditions, and future innovations in CBT spectrum approaches for youth. Each contribution reflects the dynamic nature of treatment development, application, and refinement. The articles translate the basic research finding to direct clinical practice. Moreover, the papers offer rich and diverse perspectives on CBT with youth. In the initial article, Friedberg, Hoyman, Behar, Tabbarah, Pacholec, Keller, and Thordarson celebrate the empirical, theoretical, and clinical advances achieved by CBT over the years. From newborn practice, to a powerful player on the field, CBT ‘‘came a long way.’’ The article tracks the various steps CBT took to become a vital modality and then detail recent advances that work to sustain its prestigious status. Instead of rigidly sticking with traditional roots, CBT continues to evolve with current progress by partnering with neuroscience, restructuring into a flexible modular system to be applied to a wider number of youth, and capitalizing on technological advances. CBT developers also adapt practices to increase cultural salience. Friedberg, Hoyman and colleagues emphasize the importance of staying current and relevant during changing eras. Rialon-Berry and Lai provide an informative summary of use of technology to supplement and transform conventional delivery of CBT. Most youth embrace technology and are able to access the internet and mobile devices. Rialon-Berry and Lai review the current available computerand internet-based programs noting the gains youth make in these programs. Mobile applications available for download to devices help youth generalize skills or improve self-monitoring; this technology allows for easy-to-track outcomes that are likely more reliable. Rialon-Berry and Lai caution that technological advances come with some warnings: these new tools
Light scattering measurement and Avrami analysis of the lamellar to inverse hexagonal phase transition kinetics of the lipid DEPE.

Abstract The lamellar to inverse hexagonal phase transition of lipids is much studied as a model for understanding cellular processes such as membrane fusion and pore formation. Much remains unknown, including a theoretical understanding and a definitive value of the phase transition temperature for DEPE, as literature values vary over 10 °C. Avrami theory has been commonly used to analyze phase transition kinetics. However, to the best of our knowledge, Avrami theory has not been used to analyze the lamellar to inverse hexagonal transition in lipids until now. We used laser light scattering to measure phase transition temperature of the lipid DEPE (1,2-dielaidoyl-sn-phosphatidylethanolamine) and found it to be 61.0 ± 0.5 °C. We found the hysteresis, |Tmeasured − Tequilibrium|, scaled as rβ, where r is the ramp rate and β = 0.29 ± 0.02. This is the same power law behavior found by others for an isomer of DEPE known as DOPE (1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3 ethanolamine); however, DEPE exhibits roughly half the hysteresis of DOPE. An analysis of DEPE kinetics yields Avrami exponents ranging from 1 to 7, suggesting the transition propagates one dimensionally and is initiated by a widely varying nucleation rate.
Semantics Scales Up: Beyond Search in Web 3.0

Concern for scalability &#x2014; both in computational terms and in terms of human effort needed to develop semantic models and background knowledge &#x2014; has hampered the adoption of semantic techniques and the Semantic Web. This concern is misplaced given the extensive progress the past decade has seen on standards, methods, and technologies for developing semantic models or ontologies, semantic annotations, and techniques for semantic integration, analysis, and reasoning. Such progress is complemented by myriad recent success stories that use semantics in broad-based applications such as Web search, as well as in a growing number of vertical domains. As the future of computing expands beyond cyberspace to cyber-physical-social computing, with extensive growth in social and sensor data, semantics will play an even larger and more pervasive role in exploiting larger amounts of increasingly heterogeneous and multimodal data.
Distribution of Discretionary Time by Retired People

This study is a survey of the activities of retirees of a Fortune 500 manufacturing company. The objective was to provide a baseline description of activities as people adjust to changes associated with retirement and decremental changes of aging. A sample of 40 retirees was interviewed to obtain information on 1) demographics, living conditions, and health; 2) distribution of time over activities of work, recreation, family, and volunteering; 3) changes associated with aging and socio-economic factors. It is intended to provide an activity picture that will be a context for identifying behavioral problems and devices, organizations, and supporting aids to enhance quality of life.Respondents represent the gamut of occupations and skill levels, socio-economic conditions, and ethnic diversity characteristics of a large, midwestern manufacturing corporation. The distribution of ages in the retiree population and sample were equivalent The activities surveyed include reading, watching television, household ch...
Bilateral osteomyelitis due to intraosseous infusion: Case report and review of the English-language literature

Intraosseous infusion, a mode of peripheral access largely abandoned in the 1940s and 1950s, is becoming increasingly popular in the setting of pediatric crisis. While complications are rare when the procedure is properly performed, the risk of osteomyelitis increases with prolonged infusions. We present a case of bilateral osteomyelitis secondary to intraosseous infusion.
The Invertebrate Fauna of Plummers Island, Maryland: Introduction and Background

ABSTRACT The biota of Plummers Island, Maryland, the research home of the Washington Biologists' Field Club, has been the subject of countless biological investigations over the last 100 years. While the flora and vertebrate fauna are fairly well known, the invertebrate fauna remains poorly documented with the exception of several families of insects. This paper presents a brief description of the site, notes on land-use over the last 100 years, and comments on collecting and research activities focused on invertebrates. It also serves as an introduction for the contributions that constitute this volume—a collection of papers on various aspects of the invertebrate fauna.
Electromagnetic coupling through a wire-penetrated small aperture in and infinite conducting plane

The electromagnetic coupling of an incident plane wave through an electrically small aperture, penetrated by a wire, in an infinite conducting screen is considered. An equivalent-circuit model for the analysis of the wire-aperture coupling is developed using Norton's equivalence theorem. The method of moments is used to find the equivalent network parameters in the model. Numerical results are presented for several cases of interest. >
Electrical transport properties of the rare-earth ion substituted (Ti, Ps)Sr1.6Ba0.4(Ca0.8R0.2)Cu2Ox superconducting system

Abstract Systematic studies on the electrical transport properties of a series of rare-earth (RE) ion substituted (Tl, Pb)Sr 1.6 Ba 0.4 (Ca 0.8 R 0.2 )Cu 2 O x superconductors are performed by measuring the transport critical temperature T c and critical current density J c . It is found that the substituted samples by trivalent RE elements exhibit similar T c '[sps](≈99K), which are much higher than that of the unsubstituted sample (≈73 K). However, the sample doped by the amount of Tb shows a small change in T c while that of the Ce doped sample decreases dramatically from that of the unsubstituted material. We attribute this effect to the mixed valence of RE ions. The J c does not vary significantly from sample to sample for materials exhibiting a high T c , indicating that the magnetic moment of the unpaired 4f-electrons has essentially no effect on the scattering of superconducting carriers. The J c of the unsubstituted material has been found to be 1.7×10 5 A/cm 2 at 4.2 K in the absence of an external field, which represents the highest J c achieved in Tl-based polycrystalline superconductors so far. The results are also compared with those obtained in the RE substituted YBCO and BSCCO systems.
Lactation and bone turnover: a conundrum of marked bone loss in the setting of coupled bone turnover.

Context: Mothers who exclusively breastfeed lose up to 10% of their bone mass. This is primarily mediated by PTHrP, in combination with low estrogen levels. The mechanisms underlying this marked bone loss are unknown. Uncoupling of bone turnover, which is seen in other prototypical states of bone loss, would seem the likely explanation. However, the most current markers of bone turnover have not been studied in human lactation. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess bone formation in lactating humans using the most current bone turnover markers. Design and Participants: We conducted a prospective cohort study with repeated measures of bone metabolism in a volunteer sample of 49 women, recruited into three study groups: lactating, bottle feeding, and healthy controls. The postpartum women were studied at 6–8 and 12–14 wk postpartum, whereas the controls were studied at the follicular phase of their menstrual cycles. Outcome Measures: Biochemical markers of bone turnover were assessed. Results: Mean serum C-telopeptide of type I collagen, a sensitive marker of bone resorption, was approximately 2-fold higher in lactating women as compared with bottle-feeding and healthy controls (P = 0.037 and P < 0.001, respectively). Surprisingly, amino-terminal telopeptides of procollagen 1, the most current marker of bone formation, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, and osteocalcin were all significantly higher in the lactating group as compared with controls (P < 0.001, P = 0.002, and P < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: In contrast to prototypical states of rapid bone loss (myeloma, cancer, and immobilization) in which markers of bone turnover display marked uncoupling, lactational bone loss, as assessed in this small exploratory study, is distinct, showing comparably rapid bone loss in the face of apparent osteoclast-osteoblast coupling.
Comparison of optical and mechanical measurements of second normal stress difference relaxation following step strain

Relaxation of the second normal stress difference (N 2) following step strain of a concentrated monodisperse polystyrene solution has been studied using mechanical and optical rheometry. Measurements of normal thrust in a parallel plate geometry are corrected for strain inhomogeneity and combined with independent measurements of the first normal stress difference (N 1) to determine N 2. Optical experiments were performed using a novel configuration where flow birefringence data collected using multiple light paths within the shear plane are combined with the stress-optical law to determine all three independent stress components for shearing deformations. This technique eliminates end effects, and provides an opportunity to oversample the stress tensor and develop consistency checks of experimental data. N 2 is found to be nonzero at all accessible times, and relaxes in roughly constant proportion to N 1. This reflects nonaffine distribution of chain segments, even well within the regime of chain retraction at short times. Data collected with the two techniques are reasonably consistent with each other, and with results of previous studies, generally lying between the predictions of the Doi-Edwards model with and without the independent alignment approximation. The normal stress ratio −N 2/N 1 shows pronounced strain thinning in the nonlinear regime.
Measurement of Myeloperoxidase in Leukocyte-Containing Tissues☆☆☆

An improved method is reported for measurement of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in tissues. While spectrophotometric methods based on oxidation of O-dianisidine or other dyes have been reported for MPO measurement in pure polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), these methods often fail to accurately assay MPO activity in tissues. We observe that tissue myoglobin or vascular hemoglobin markedly effects the spectrophotometric assay for MPO. Under optimal conditions of 0.53 mM O-dianisidine, 0.15 mM H2O2, pH 6.0, either myoglobin or hemoglobin produced absorbance at 460 nm in a concentration-dependent manner similar to that of MPO. In perfused heart tissue, myoglobin caused a major problem with the assay resulting in an inability to obtain accurate linear results as a function of MPO concentration and PMN number. To eliminate the effect of tissue myoglobin or vascular hemoglobin on the assay, one-step gel filtration chromatography of tissue extracts was introduced. MPO, myoglobin, and hemoglobin were easily separated using a Sephadex G-75 column according to the difference in their molecular weights. A linear relationship between the MPO activity and PMN number was observed only after processing the tissue extracts through the Sephadex G-75 column. Thus, MPO activity in PMN-containing tissues can be precisely quantitated after one-step purification on a molecular exclusion column. Enzyme purification with removal of myoglobin is essential for obtaining accurate measurement of MPO activity and quantitation of PMNs in muscle tissue.
The content of children's definitions: The oral-written distinction

The extant literature on oral and written language has shown several interesting differences in terms of production and style. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the content of word definitions provided by children in both the oral and written modes. A total of 30 typically developing children (mean age: 9 years; 2 months) defined common nouns in the oral and written modes. The definitions were coded for use of categorical terms (e.g., apple: fruit) and attributes (e.g., apple: red). The findings indicated that children displayed different types of word knowledge in the two modes, with written definitions generally having the advantage for production of categorical terms. Results are discussed with respect to the higher level of planning that is generally involved in written language compared to oral language. Implications for assessment and education are also discussed. This study expands the extant literature on how mode of language production can exert a considerable influence on a chi...
Chest Roentgenography After Outpatient Thoracentesis

Objective To evaluate the clinical utility of posteroanterior chest roentgenograms after thoracentesis in the outpatient setting. Design We undertook a retrospective study of clinical records of outpatient thoracenteses performed between January and December 1996 by the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic Rochester. Material and Methods The medical records of 54 men and 39 women who underwent 123 outpatient thoracenteses were reviewed. Exclusion criteria were the need for pleural biopsy at time of thoracentesis or the need for ultrasound-guided assistance for completion of the procedure. Indications for thoracentesis and postthoracentesis chest roentgenography were analyzed. Results Of 123 thoracenteses performed in the outpatient setting during the specified study period, 104 met the inclusion criteria. Of these 104 thoracenteses, 54 (52%) were followed by chest roentgenography. Pneumothorax occurred in only 5 of these 104 procedures (5%), in 5 separate patients. Three of these patients were asymptomatic and did not require therapeutic intervention; the two symptomatic patients required hospitalization and chest tube drainage. Of the two pneumothoraces in patients with symptoms, one was detected on the same day as the thoracentesis, and the other was diagnosed 2 days later. The patients who did not undergo postthoracentesis chest roentgenography had no reported complications. Of the 54 chest roentgenograms, 52 were obtained in asymptomatic patients, with no suspicion of pneumothorax. These x-ray studies led to a total cost of $4,862 and detection of three pneumothoraces that did not require therapy. Conclusion Routine performance of chest roentgen- ography after outpatient thoracentesis can incur substantial cost. A more selective approach to this practice is needed, both to optimize patient care and to manage limited medical resources efficiently. Postthoracentesis chest roentgenograms should be limited to patients with symptoms indicative of thoracentesis-induced pneumothorax.
Permeation of Phenol through Ethylene Copolymer Hollow Fibers

Hollow fibers were spun from low-density polyethylene, an ethylene/propylene copolymer, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers, and ethylene/ethyl acrylate copolymers. The phenol permeation rates throug...
The optimization of electromagnetic energy within a dissipative slab

Abstract Consider an electromagnetic plane wave impinging normally on a one-dimensional dissipative medium characterized by spatially varying permitivity and conductivity profiles. In this paper a technique is presented for choosing from among all incident plane waves with fixed energy and duration, one which maximizes the electromagnetic energy within a specified region of the medium. This is done by using the Green's operator for dissipative media of Krueger and Ochs to formulate the problem as an optimization problem in which a weakly continous functional is maximized over a weakly compact set of square- integrable functions. The maximizing incident signal is seen to be an eigenfunction of a compact. Fredholm integral operator. The efficacy of this technique is demonstrated by numerically computing these eigenfunctions for one example medium and comparing the resulting energy distribution with that of an analogous minimizing signal.
Corporate PACs and the Stock Market: The Case of the 2004 Presidential Election

The 2004 U.S. presidential election was very close. Rumors from exit polls on Election Day showed that John Kerry would likely win, but the actual vote counts revealed on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning showed that George Bush had been re-elected. This sets up a natural experiment for studying the shareholder-wealth impact of rumor and eventual outcome of election on firms which made an investment in public policy through PAC donations. The authors find that the stock of companies whose PAC contributions favored Democrats performed better on Tuesday and those that favored Republicans performed better on Wednesday. In general, most S&P 500 companies appear to have favored the Republican victory with both their PAC donations and by the reaction of their stock price to election results.
Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Directed by Extracellular Matrix-Mimicking Ligands in a Biomimetic Self-Assembled Peptide Amphiphile Nanomatrix

This study investigated the ability of nanoscale, biomimetic peptide amphiphile (PA) scaffolds inscribed with specific cellular adhesive ligands to direct the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) without osteogenic supplements. PA sequences were synthesized to mimic the native bone extracellular matrix (ECM), expressing different isolated ligands (i.e., RGDS, DGEA, KRSR). All PAs were presented as self-assembled two-dimensional coatings for the seeded hMSCs. Initial attachment results demonstrated that the different PAs could be individually recognized based on the incorporated adhesive ligands. Long-term studies assessed osteogenic differentiation up to 35 days. The RGDS-containing PA nanomatrix expressed significantly greater alkaline phosphatase activity, indicating the early promotion of osteogenic differentiation. A progressive shift toward osteogenic morphology and positive staining for mineral deposition provided further confirmation of the RGDS-containing PA nanomatrix. Overall, the PA nanomatrix clearly has great promise for directing the osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs without the aid of supplements by mimicking the native ECM, providing an adaptable environment that allows for different adhesive ligands to control cellular behaviors. This research model establishes the beginnings of a new versatile approach to regenerate bone tissues by closely following the principles of natural tissue formation.
Reactions of amines with a dimer of hexafluoropropene and with a perfluorovinyl sulfide prepared with hexafluoropropene

Abstract Some reactions of amines with a perfluorovinylsulfide, (CF 3 ) 2 CFSC(CF 3 )CFCF(CF 3 ) 2 , prepared from hexafluoropropene (HFP) and sulfur [1] are compared to reactions of the same amines with the thermodynamic dimer of HFP, (CF 3 ) 2 CCFCF 2 CF 3 . Many new ketenimines, eneamines, amidines, nitriles, and quinoline derivatives are reported.
Dietary menhaden oil reduced resistance of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) to Edwardsiella ictaluri

Abstract Fingerling channel catfish were fed practical-type diets supplemented with 2% catfish offal oil, beef tallow, or menhaden oil for 8 or 10 weeks at 24±1°C under laboratory conditions in two separate experiments. At the end of the feeding period, fish were exposed to live Edwardsiella ictaluri by immersion and mortalities were recorded daily for 3 weeks. Growth, feed efficiency, and survival rate of channel catfish at the end of the feeding period were not significantly different among dietary treatments in either experiment. Fish fed a diet supplemented with menhaden oil had significantly higher levels of 20:5n−3, 22:6n−3, and total n−3 HUFA (highly unsaturated fatty acids), and lower levels of 20:4n−6 and total n−6 HUFA in liver polar lipids than fish fed the other two diets. Average mortality of fish exposed to E. ictaluri was 21 and 15% higher for fish fed supplemental menhaden oil than for fish fed supplemental catfish offal oil in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Antibody titers were not different among fish regardless of diet, 3 weeks after exposure to E. ictaluri. The results of this study indicate that channel catfish fed practical diets containing 2% menhaden oil are more susceptible to E. ictaluri. These results do not preclude the use of menhaden fish oil in catfish diets, but it may be prudent to use a mixture of menhaden oil and other animal and/or plant lipids in commercial catfish feeds to provide a balance in the dietary n−3 n−6 ratio.
A Prescription For Change: The Need For Qualified Physician Leadership In Public Health

A key element missing in the federal bioterrorism preparedness plan is qualified physician leadership at the local level. Physicians now lead fewer than one-fourth of local health departments. When appointed leaders are not physicians, leadership falls on elected officials or non–medical administrators who become managers of outbreaks. As illustrated in recent case examples, these leaders may find themselves in medical emergencies that they are not qualified to handle. In serious disease outbreaks, unprepared leadership could contribute to unnecessary illness and death. Here I propose strategies to increase qualified physician leadership in state and local public health infrastructures.
Theoretical performance of a hydrogen-bromine rechargeable SPE fuel cell

Abstract A mathematical model was formulated to describe the performance of a hydrogen-bromine fuel cell. Porous electrode theory was applied to the carbon felt
Case-matched comparison of perioperative outcomes after surgical treatment of sigmoid diverticulitis in solid organ transplant recipients versus immunocompetent patients.

Aim To compare the perioperative outcomes following surgery for sigmoid diverticulitis in transplant recipients and immunocompetent patients. Method Solid organ transplant recipients operated on for sigmoid diverticulitis from 1995 to 2010 were case-matched to immunocompetent patients based on surgical procedure, American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, Hinchey score, elective vs urgent surgery, age ± 10 years and year of surgery ± 5 years. Demographics, clinical presentation and perioperative outcomes were assessed. Results Of 5329 consecutive patients undergoing heart, lung, kidney and liver transplantation since 1995, 51 (0.6%) underwent surgery for diverticulitis between 1995 and 2010 with 14% mortality and 45% morbidity. Urgent surgery in 37/51 patients [Hartmann’s procedure 28, sigmoidectomy with diverting ileostomy 8, loop ileostomy 1 (9 cases within 2 months after transplantation)] was associated with significantly increased postoperative mortality (19%vs 0%, P = 0.01), increased morbidity (51%vs 24%, P = 0.03) and longer mean hospital stay (19 vs 13 days, P = 0.1) when compared with immunocompetent patients. Four patients undergoing urgent surgery had suffered previous episodes of diverticulitis treated nonoperatively. Elective surgery was associated with no mortality in 14 transplant recipients (nine sigmoidectomy with diverting ileostomy, five sigmoidectomy without diversion) or in immunocompetent controls. Following elective procedures, transplant recipients had similar morbidity and increased hospital stay (29% and 9.6 vs 6.5 days, P = 0.2, respectively). Permanent stoma rates and postoperative morbidity after stoma takedown were comparable in the two groups. All living patients except one (kidney) retained their graft function. Conclusions Urgent surgery for sigmoid diverticulitis in transplant recipients is associated with worse postoperative outcomes when compared with immunocompetent patients, unlike elective surgery. Future studies will need to clarify the role of early surgery after the first diverticulitis episode.
Next-generation transcriptome sequencing, SNP discovery and validation in four market classes of peanut, Arachis hypogaea L.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which can be identified in the thousands or millions from comparisons of transcriptome or genome sequences, are ideally suited for making high-resolution genetic maps, investigating population evolutionary history, and discovering marker–trait linkages. Despite significant results from their use in human genetics, progress in identification and use in plants, and particularly polyploid plants, has lagged. As part of a long-term project to identify and use SNPs suitable for these purposes in cultivated peanut, which is tetraploid, we generated transcriptome sequences of four peanut cultivars, namely OLin, New Mexico Valencia C, Tamrun OL07 and Jupiter, which represent the four major market classes of peanut grown in the world, and which are important economically to the US southwest peanut growing region. CopyDNA libraries of each genotype were used to generate 2 × 54 paired-end reads using an Illumina GAIIx sequencer. Raw reads were mapped to a custom reference consisting of Tifrunner 454 sequences plus peanut ESTs in GenBank, compromising 43,108 contigs; 263,840 SNP and indel variants were identified among four genotypes compared to the reference. A subset of 6 variants was assayed across 24 genotypes representing four market types using KASP chemistry to assess the criteria for SNP selection. Results demonstrated that transcriptome sequencing can identify SNPs usable as selectable DNA-based markers in complex polyploid species such as peanut. Criteria for effective use of SNPs as markers are discussed in this context.
Dosimetric Anchoring of In Vivo and In Vitro Studies for Perfluorooctanoate and Perfluorooctanesulfonate

In order to compare between in vivo toxicity studies, dosimetry is needed to translate study-specific dose regimens into dose metrics such as tissue concentration. These tissue concentrations may then be compared with in vitro bioactivity assays to perhaps identify mechanisms relevant to the lowest observed effect level (LOEL) dose group and the onset of the observed in vivo toxicity. Here, we examine the perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). We analyzed 9 in vivo toxicity studies for PFOA and 13 in vivo toxicity studies for PFOS. Both PFCs caused multiple effects in various test species, strains, and genders. We used a Bayesian pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling framework to incorporate data from 6 PFOA PK studies and 2 PFOS PK studies (conducted in 3 species) to predict dose metrics for the in vivo LOELs and no observed effect levels (NOELs). We estimated PK parameters for 11 combinations of chemical, species, strain, and gender. Despite divergent study designs and species-specific PK, for a given effect, we found that the predicted dose metrics corresponding to the LOELs (and NOELs where available) occur at similar concentrations. In vitro assay results for PFOA and PFOS from EPA’s ToxCast project were then examined. We found that most in vitro bioactivity occurs at concentrations lower than the predicted concentrations for the in vivo LOELs and higher than the predicted concentrations for the in vivo NOELs (where available), for a variety of nonimmunological effects. These results indicate that given sufficient PK data, the in
PTSD in DSM-III: A Case in the Politics of Diagnosis and Disease

The American Psychiatric Association published the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) in 1980. Unlike DSM-II, it included the listing “post-traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD). The PTSD diagnosis is the product of a concerted effort to reintroduce war neurosis into the official psychiatric nomenclature. This paper tells the sociological story of who put PTSD in DSM-III and how they did it.
A medical-surgical nurse's perceptions of caring for a person with severe mental illness.

Background:When hospitalized for medical conditions, many people with severe mental illness (SMI) have poor outcomes, yet little is known about contributing factors. Studies exploring the care experience from nurses’ perspectives described care processes as “difficult.” None of these studies were conducted in the United States, and sociocultural contexts significantly affect perceptions of SMI.Objective:The purpose of this inquiry was to explore a medical–surgical nurse’s perceptions of caring for a hospitalized person with SMI in the United States.Design:A qualitative, descriptive case study was used. RESULTS: The nurse’s experience was characterized by categories of tension, discomfort, lack of professional satisfaction, and difficult.Conclusions:This case study revealed a negative care experience, similar to conclusions of investigations conducted in other countries. Understanding of nurses’ care experiences can inform efforts to improve practice environments, provide resources, or develop models of ca...
Topic modeling and applications in web 2.0

Along with the exponential growth of text data on the Web, particularly of the user-generated content, comes an increasing need for hierarchically organizing documents, retrieving documents accurately, and discovering evolutionary trends of various popular topics from the data. However, all of these are challenging due to the diversity, heterogeneity, noisiness and time-sensitivity of Web 2.0 data. Motivated by this, we tackle the challenges at a fundamental level, by proposing a novel topic modeling method with ontological guidance. It may be used to discover topic language models formalizing various terms relevant to given topics using the Web data. The topic model takes into account both the ontological relationships amongst the topics defined in a topic taxonomy and also word co-occurrence patterns in the data to automatically identify the portions in the data relevant to the topics. Then, it estimates language models for these topics from these relevant portions. At an application level, we use the topic model to propose novel approaches for three different tasks, namely hierarchical text classification without labeled data, information retrieval with pseudo-relevance feedback, and discovering topic evolutionary trends. Our classification experiment on the IPTC (International Press and Telecommunications Council) taxonomy, containing more than 1100 topics, shows that our approach achieves a performance of 67% in terms of the hierarchical version of the F-1 measure, without using any labeled data. Our retrieval experiments on five benchmark datasets show that compared to baseline retrieval (without pseudo-relevance feed-back), our approach improves on average 39% in terms of mean average precision. Finally, for the last task, using blog data, our approach discovers meaningful insights on how the crowd responds to various news topics such as the language used to discuss each topic, how this language drifts over time, and when the crowd’s focus on a topic increases, reaches a peak, and declines.
Each of the activities of signal recognition particle (SRP) is contained within a distinct domain: Analysis of biochemical mutants of SRP

Abstract Signal recognition particle (SRP), a small ribonucleoprotein required for targeting secretory proteins to the ER, has three known functions: signal recognition, elongation arrest, and translocation promotion. Because SRP is inactivated by the sulfhydryl alkylating reagent N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), we have attempted to establish structure-function relationships within SRP by assembling particles in which a single protein is modified. Alkylation of the 6872 kd protein of SRP yields a particle that arrests elongation but fails to promote translocation and no longer interacts with SRP receptor. Alkylation of the 54 kd protein yields a particle that fails to recognize signal sequences. This approach has allowed us to map activities to specific protein domains on SRP, and should be generally useful for analyzing other ribonucleoproteins.
Regulatory Mechanisms in Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in First Internodes of Sorghum vulgare: Effect of Presumed Inhibitors of Protein Synthesis

There was a 6 to 24-hour lag in the production of anthocyanins in the light after excision of 4-day-old etiolated internodes of Sorghum vulgare variety Wheatland milo. In internodes infiltrated with water, apigeninidin was formed first at 12 to 24 hours and continued to be produced slowly. Luteolinidin was formed slightly later, but its formation rapidly exceeded that of apigeninidin. Cyanidin was the last type to be produced, but equaled the amounts of luteolinidin by 4 days. In noninfiltrated internodes, the production of cyanidin was greatly accelerated, beginning at about 6 hours. Data from experiments with inhibitors that presumably affect protein synthesis at different loci indicated that protein synthesis was necessary for maximum production of all 3 anthocyanins, but that different steps were rate limiting. Light independent synthesis of apigeninidin and luteolinidin was inhibited by chloramphenicol and l-ethionine but not by actinomycin D and 8-azaguanine. However, the synthesis of these 2 anthocyanins was not inhibited by puromycin, but was sometimes stimulated. The light-induced synthesis of cyanidin was inhibited by actinomycin, azaguanine, chloramphenicol and ethionine. Actinomycin no longer was inhibitory if added after incubation for 6 hours in air. All inhibitors were capable of inhibiting to various degrees either the incorporation of 14 C-uracil into RNA or 14 C-leucine into protein. The inhibitor data suggest that the light insensitive synthesis of apigeninidin and luteolinidin may be controlled by enzyme synthesis at the level of ribosomes via stable mRNA, while the light-induced production of cyanidin is dependent initially on the production of mRNA. The latter hypothesis is similar to that recently proposed by Lange and Mohr for a cyanidin produced in Sinapis seedlings.
The Snog and Grog Club: Social Personhood in Hospice Care

The popularity of British hospice day care signals the expanding boundaries of palliative care beyond end-stage illness. In this article, I examine the ways hospice philosophy was interpreted and implemented in an outpatient day therapy setting run by a multidisciplinary team of health professionals. Findings suggest that hospice day care staff members used several strategies to help patients cope and retain a sense of personhood while facing numerous emotional and physical challenges associated with life-threatening illness. Health professionals in the United States will need to prepare for patients accessing hospice and palliative care services earlier in the illness trajectory to take advantage of these opportunities for patient support and advocacy.
The enzymic breakdown of lipids to volatile and non-volatile carbonyl fragments in disrupted tomato fruits

Physical disruption of tomato fruits results in the degradation of endogenous lipids by hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes. Acyl hydrolase, phospholipase D, lipoxygenase and hydroperoxide cleavage enzymes are active in this tissue. A sequential enzymic pathway is proposed by which tissue lipids are hydrolysed to free (mainly polyunsaturated C18) fatty acids which are subsequently oxidised to their hydroperoxides by lipoxygenase action. The C18 hydroperoxides are cleaved (by an enzyme which is specific for 13-hydroperoxide isomers) to volatile C6 aldehydes (hexanal or cis-3 hexenal) and non-volatile C12w-oxoacids. The non-volatile fragment from linoleic acid was identified as 12-oxo-dodec-cis 9-enoic acid.
Parents of Schizophrenic Individuals: What We Say Is What We See

The language used to describe the families of schizophrenic individuals is reviewed briefly. It is suggested that this language has negative connotations and is a legacy of past theory interpreting parents as primary causal agents in schizophrenia. If we are to engage the families of schizophrenic patients in cooperative therapeutic endeavors, we must begin to speak to and about those families in more neutral terms. Dincin, Selleck, and Streicker (1978) recently advocated the restructuring of parental attitudes in the treatment of schizophrenia. The authors further suggested seeking the active participation of parents in helping their schizophrenic "adult child" move beyond the family environment. While their goal is certainly one to which I subscribe (Bernheim and Lewine 1979), the article does reveal a professional ambivalence that frequently arises in interactions with the families of schizophrenic patients. Specifically, families may be viewed as both victims of and causal agents in schizophrenia. The latter view seems especially to reflect an implicit moral evaluation of parents and other family members as willful "evil" agents. Although the overall tone of the article by Dincin, Selleck, and Streicker (1978) is sympathetic to the families of schizophrenics, consider the following paragraphs: