cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of a ten step protocol to decrease postoperative spinal wound infections.

Aim To define a ten-step protocol that reduced the incidence of surgical site infection in the spine surgery practice of the senior author and evaluate the support for each step based on current literature. Methods In response to unexplained increased infection rates at our institution following spine surgery, a ten-step protocol was implemented: (1) preoperative glycemic management based on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c); (2) skin site preoperative preparation with 2% chlorhexidine gluconate disposable cloths; (3) limit operating room traffic; (4) cut the number of personnel in the room to the minimum required; (5) absolutely no flash sterilization of equipment; (6) double-gloving with frequent changing of outer gloves; (7) local application of vancomycin powder; (8) re-dosing antibiotic every 4 h for prolonged procedures and extending postoperative coverage to 72 h for high-risk patients; (9) irrigation of subcutaneous tissue with diluted povidone-iodine solution after deep fascial closure; and (10) use of DuraPrep skin preparation at the end of a case before skin closure. Through an extensive literature review, the current data available for each of the ten steps was evaluated. Results Use of vancomycin powder in surgical wounds, routine irrigation of surgical site, and frequent changing of surgical gloves are strongly supported by the literature. Preoperative skin preparation with chlorhexidine wipes is similarly supported. The majority of current literature supports control of HbA1c preoperatively to reduce risk of infection. Limiting the use of flash sterilization is supported, but has not been evaluated in spine-specific surgery. Limiting OR traffic and number of personnel in the OR are supported although without level 1 evidence. Prolonged use of antibiotics postoperatively is not supported by the literature. Intraoperative use of DuraPrep prior to skin closure is not yet explored. Conclusion The ten-step protocol defined herein has significantly helped in decreasing surgical site infection rate. Several of the steps have already been shown in the literature to have significant effect on infection rates. As several measures are required to prevent infection, instituting a standard protocol for all the described steps appears beneficial.
Balancing Informed Evaluation with Efficiency: Applying Copyright and Licensing Evaluation to Reserves and Interlibrary Loan

AbstractThis article examines steps taken at one academic library to address issues encountered when attempting to create a foundation of copyright knowledge to assist staff in reserves and interli...
Construction of Plant Transformation Vector of Maize C4-PEPC Gene for RNAi

Maize C4-PEPC gene plays an important role in the C4 photosynthesis of it,Two pairs of primers containing restriction enzyme site were designed and used to amplify sequences from pBI121 C4-PEPC.Two PCR products were double digested by corresponding enzymes respectively and inserted between XhoI and SpeI enzyme sites of expression vector pTA7002.Confirmed by restriction endonucleases,the RNAi expression vector was transformed into Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA105 by freezing-thaw method,it provided an important basis for further studying its RNAi effection.
No Difference Between Age-Matched Male and Female C57BL/6J Mice in Photopic and Scotopic Electroretinogram a- and b-Wave Amplitudes or in Peak Diurnal Outer Segment Phagocytosis by the Retinal Pigment Epithelium

Mice provide informative models of enormous utility for eye research. Sex as biological variable must be considered when conducting studies exploring mouse models. To determine if sex confounds neural retina or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) activity in wild-type C57BL/6J mice, we compared male and female mice with respect to retinal light response and RPE phagocytosis. We tested 2-month-old mice at peak fertility and 12-month-old mice past fertility. Retinal function was assessed by quantifying a- and b-wave amplitudes of photopic and scotopic electroretinograms (ERGs). These experiments did not reveal differences between male and female mice at either age. As expected from earlier studies, 12-month-old mice showed reduced light responses compared to 2-month-old mice, but age-related decline was identical for male and female mice. RPE functionality was assessed by quantifying RPE phagosome content 1 h after light onset in mice 2 months of age, an age of maturity of the process of outer segment turnover that includes RPE phagocytosis. These experiments did not reveal differences in RPE phagocytosis between male and female mice. Altogether, male and female C57BL/6J mice do not differ in retinal light response and peak RPE phagocytic activity. Retinal activity is impaired with age to the same extent in male and female mice. Our results justify testing mixed-sex mouse cohorts in studies on outer segment renewal and RPE phagocytosis and illustrate the importance of careful consideration of cohort age.
Vocational Interests: Revisiting Assumptions About Their Development and What They Predict

Vocational interest assessments are a unique tool in that they are used to predict outcomes far into the future. The use of interest assessments for predictive purposes is supported by decades of research showing that vocational interests are highly stable over time and predict several important career and academic outcomes. Yet new research findings have led to a better understanding of why interests are important and how they develop and change with age. In this chapter, we review recent research on the development and predictive validity of interests with a focus on career guidance implications. The chapter is organised into two parts. The first part reviews research on the development of vocational interests. The second part reviews research on the predictive validity of interests for a variety of career and academic outcomes. A major conclusion is that interests are surprisingly strong predictors of performance-related outcomes (e.g., job performance and career success), but are not as consistently associated with satisfaction-based outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction) as popular literature would suggest. The chapter concludes by reviewing theoretical and practical implications aimed at better understanding the interest development process and the outcomes associated with interest fit.
Disparities in self-reported eating disorders and academic impairment in sexual and gender minority college students relative to their heterosexual and cisgender peers

Objective The purpose of the current study was threefold: (a) compare rates of self-reported anorexia nervosa (AN), self-reported bulimia nervosa (BN), and eating pathology-specific academic impairment (EAI) by gender identity (cisgender men, cisgender women, transgender or genderqueer) and sexual orientation (gay or lesbian, bisexual, unsure, other), (b) examine associations between gender identity, sexual orientation, and eating outcomes, and (c) identify for whom rates of eating disorder diagnosis and impairment is greatest. Method The study includes a sample of Minnesota students (n = 13,906) who participated in the College Student Health Survey from 2015 to 2018. Chi-square tests with bootstrapping examined differences in eating pathology rates between groups. Adjusted logistic regressions tested the association between gender identity, sexual orientation, and self-reported eating outcomes. Results Chi-square results revealed heightened rates of self-reported AN, self-reported BN, and EAI in cisgender women, transgender or genderqueer, and sexual minority (e.g., lesbian or bisexual) students. Logistic regression analyses in cisgender men and cisgender women revealed higher odds of self-reported AN, self-reported BN, and EAI in sexual minority students relative their heterosexual peers. Chi-square analyses indicated that bisexual cisgender women reported heightened rates of all three eating pathology measures relative to other sexual and/or gender (e.g., transgender) minority students. Discussion Individuals with marginalized gender and/or sexual orientation identities report heightened rates of eating pathology, with cisgender bisexual women reporting the poorest outcomes relative to individuals from other marginalized identities. Preventive efforts and more research are needed to understand the mechanisms driving this disparity and to reduce prevalence among marginalized groups.
Sketching Dictionary Based Robust PCA in Large Matrices

In this paper, our goal is to rapidly locating a few outliers and recover a low dimensional space spanned by inliers, with the particular interest when the outliers have known basis. A simple two-step approach is proposed based on a sketching procedure with theoretical guarantees for the performance. We show that exact identification of the outliers and recovery of the subspace can be achieved using sketched samples as few as the rank plus the number of outliers, ignoring logarithmic factors. This results in significant improvement on both sampling and computational efficiency. Comprehensive numerical experiments are provided to show the efficiency of our proposed method.
Adolescent Adverse Childhood Experiences and Risk of Adult Intimate Partner Violence

Introduction Exposure to adverse experiences during adolescence may have significant implications for intimate partner violence during adulthood because it is during this developmental stage that many youth begin to have romantic relationships. Yet, few prospective longitudinal analyses on this topic exist. This study aims to fill a gap in the literature by examining the adverse childhood experiences during adolescence and intimate partner violence 15 years later during adulthood. Methods Multilevel negative-binomial regression was used to examine the relationship between adolescent adverse childhood experiences (age 13–19 years) and adult intimate partner violence (age 28–34 years) in 499 participants over 5 waves of data from a 24-year longitudinal study (Wave 1: 1994) based in Flint, Michigan. Adolescent adverse childhood experiences included being a victim of violence, observed family conflict, parental intoxication, parental divorce, and observed community violence. Data analysis was conducted between 2019 and 2020. Results First, investigators modeled the adverse childhood experience variables as a summary score to predict intimate partner violence during adulthood while controlling for known risk factors and individual random effects. Secondly, this study examined individual adverse childhood experiences iteratively to understand which adverse experiences predicted intimate partner violence in adulthood and found that observed community violence remained significant when accounting for all other adverse childhood experiences (β=0.276, p Conclusions These findings support the negative effects of community violence in adolescence on later risk of intimate partner violence. Prevention interventions that focus on community health and violence prevention with a focus on healthy adolescent development may be pertinent in lowering intimate partner violence victimization in adulthood.
Radiation for laser-driven rescattering near the ultimate high-energy cutoff: The single-atom response and bremsstrahlung limit

The discovery of laser-driven rescattering and high harmonic radiation out to a maximum photon energy of 3.17 times the ponderomotive energy laid the groundwork for attosecond pulse generation and coherent x rays. As the laser field drives the interaction to higher energies, relativity and the Lorentz force from the laser magnetic field enter into the dynamics. Recent studies of laser rescattering have included these effects to give a quantitative description of rescattering dynamics in the high-energy limit, i.e., recollision energies of order 1,000 hartree (27 keV). In this high-energy limit, we treat the emitted high harmonic radiation from rescattering as a bremsstrahlung process. We find the highest-energy photons in the radiated energy spectra follow the rescattering electron energy near the ultimate cutoff. The effective charge from the ion core shielding does not affect the radiation yield at cutoff; however, the overall energy radiated does scale quadratically with the atomic number of the parent ion.
Inequality and Well-Being in Transition: Linking Experience and Perception to Policy Preferences

This chapter reviews the dynamics of economic inequality in the region from the early 1990s until today, distinguishing between actual and perceived inequality dynamics. It then looks at whether inequality matters for the well-being of people, and for their policy preferences. The evidence reviewed shows that the early 1990s saw a sharp increase in inequality, although reliable data from that period is patchy. Over the past 2 decades, on the other hand, income inequality has been declining in the majority of transition economies. These dynamics in observed inequality are somewhat at odds with perceptions of inequality being relatively high, and the chapter reviews some of the possible drivers of the discrepancy, with a focus on inequality of opportunity and considerations of fairness.
Non-unitary Entanglement Dynamics in Continuous Variable Systems

We construct random unitary Gaussian circuit for continuous-variable (CV) systems subject to Gaussian measurements. We show that when the measurement rate is nonzero, the steady state entanglement entropy saturates to an area-law scaling. This is different from many-body qubit system, where a generic entanglement transition is widely expected. The absence of entanglement phase transition is attributed to the diverging entangling time for the local degrees of freedom under unitary evolution, in contrast to the order one time to disentangle by local measurement. For the same reasoning, the absence of transition should also hold for other non-unitary Gaussian CV dynamics.
Cigarette Smoking and Risk Perceptions During the COVID-19 Pandemic Reported by Recently Hospitalized Participants in a Smoking Cessation Trial.

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for severe COVID-19 disease. Understanding smokers’ responses to the pandemic will help assess its public health impact and inform future public health and provider messages to smokers. To assess risk perceptions and change in tobacco use among current and former smokers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cross-sectional survey conducted in May–July 2020 (55% response rate) 694 current and former daily smokers (mean age 53, 40% male, 78% white) who had been hospitalized pre-COVID-19 and enrolled into a smoking cessation clinical trial at hospitals in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Perceived risk of COVID-19 due to tobacco use; changes in tobacco consumption and interest in quitting tobacco use; self-reported quitting and relapse since January 2020. 68% (95% CI, 65–72%) of respondents believed that smoking increases the risk of contracting COVID-19 or having a more severe case. In adjusted analyses, perceived risk was higher in Massachusetts where COVID-19 had already surged than in Pennsylvania and Tennessee which were pre-surge during survey administration (AOR 1.56, 95% CI, 1.07–2.28). Higher perceived COVID-19 risk was associated with increased interest in quitting smoking (AOR 1.72, 95% CI 1.01–2.92). During the pandemic, 32% (95% CI, 27–37%) of smokers increased, 37% (95% CI, 33–42%) decreased, and 31% (95% CI, 26–35%) did not change their cigarette consumption. Increased smoking was associated with higher perceived stress (AOR 1.49, 95% CI 1.16–1.91). Overall, 11% (95% CI, 8–14%) of respondents who smoked in January 2020 (pre-COVID-19) had quit smoking at survey (mean, 6 months later) while 28% (95% CI, 22–34%) of former smokers relapsed. Higher perceived COVID-19 risk was associated with higher odds of quitting and lower odds of relapse. Most smokers believed that smoking increased COVID-19 risk. Smokers’ responses to the pandemic varied, with increased smoking related to stress and increased quitting associated with perceived COVID-19 vulnerability.
Identification and characterization of rostral ventromedial medulla neurons synaptically connected to the urinary bladder afferents in female rats with or without neonatal cystitis.

The neurons in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) play a major role in pain modulation. We have previously shown that early-life noxious bladder stimuli in rats resulted in an overall spinal GABAergic disinhibition and a long-lasting bladder/colon sensitization when tested in adulthood. However, the neuromolecular alterations within RVM neurons in the pathophysiology of early life bladder inflammation have not been elucidated. In this study, we have identified and characterized RVM neurons that are synaptically linked to the bladder and colon and examined the effect of neonatal bladder inflammation on molecular expressions of these neurons. A transient bladder inflammation was induced by intravesicular instillation of protamine sulfate and zymosan during postnatal days 14 through 16 (P14-16) followed by pseudorabies virus PRV-152 and PRV-614 injections into the bladder and colon, respectively, on postnatal day P60. Tissues were examined 96 hours post-inoculation for serotonergic, GABAergic, and enkephalinergic expressions using In situ Hybridization and/or Immunohistochemistry techniques. The results revealed that >50% of RVM neurons that are synaptically connected to the bladder (i.e., PRV-152+) were GABAergic, 40% enkephalinergic, and about 14% expressing serotonergic marker TpH2. Neonatal cystitis resulted in a significant increase in converging neurons in RVM receiving dual synaptic inputs from the bladder and colon. In addition, neonatal cystitis significantly downregulated GABA transporter VGAT with a concomitant increase in TpH2 expression in bladder-linked RVM neurons suggesting an alteration in supraspinal signaling. These alterations of synaptic connectivity and GABAergic/serotonergic expressions in RVM neurons may contribute to bladder pain modulation and cross-organ visceral sensitivity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Educators' online teaching self-efficacy and compassion fatigue during the COVID-19 pandemic: The dual roles of connect"."

Guided by the job demands-resources model and social-cognitive theory, we examined how educator perceived school connectedness and their attempts to connect with school members (i.e., administrators, staff, students, and families) concurrently and interactively influenced educators' compassion fatigue and online teaching self-efficacy during distance learning in the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Participants were 321 educators in a large, urban school district in northern California. Results of linear regression modeling suggested that educators with longer years of working in education and White educators reported higher levels of compassion fatigue than their counterparts. White educators also reported a lower level of online teaching self-efficacy than their counterparts. With the control of educators' gender, race/ethnicity, and years of teaching in education, educators' self-reported school connectedness is negatively associated with compassion fatigue. Educators' attempts to connect with students not only positively associated with compassion fatigue but also intensified the negative association between school connectedness and compassion fatigue. Moreover, educators' school connectedness and attempts to connect with administrators and staff both positively associated with online teaching self-efficacy. Also, educators' attempts to connect with families mitigated the positive association between school connectedness and online teaching self-efficacy. The findings highlight the importance of promoting educators' school connectedness in improving educators' occupational wellbeing. It also highlights that educators' school connectedness and their attempts to connect with certain group of school members mutually and interactively influence educators' compassion fatigue and online teaching self-efficacy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Vibrations of Annular Plates of Variable Thickness

An exact solution for the circular frequencies of a polar orthotropic annular plate of uniform and parabolic thickness under the action of in-plane forces is presented. The annular plate is reinforced with simply supported edge beams at both the inner and outer boundaries. The edge beams are subjected to uniform, radial compressive loadings. Frequency parameters are determined for both axisymmetric and higher modes and are found to be functions of the in-plane loads, plate dimensions and rigidities, edge beam stiffness and moment of inertia parameters, and the profile of the plate. The use of edge beams in this investigation provides a practical method of simulating various types of edge conditions for the polar orthotropic annular plate — including the limiting cases of the simply supported and clamped edge.
TU-AB-207-00: Digital Tomosynthesis

Digital Tomosynthesis (DT) is becoming increasingly common in breast imaging and many other applications. DT is a form of computed tomography in which a limited set of projection images are acquired over a small angular range and reconstructed into a tomographic data set. The angular range and number of projections is determined both by the imaging task and equipment manufacturer. For example, in breast imaging between 9 and 25 projections are acquired over a range of 15° to 60°. It is equally valid to treat DT as the digital analog of classical tomography - for example, linear tomography. In fact, the name “tomosynthesis” is an acronym for “synthetic tomography”. DT shares many common features with classical tomography, including the radiographic appearance, dose, and image quality considerations. As such, both the science and practical physics of DT systems is a hybrid between CT and classical tomographic methods. This lecture will consist of three presentations that will provide a complete overview of DT, including a review of the fundamentals of DT, a discussion of testing methods for DT systems, and a description of the clinical applications of DT. While digital breast tomosynthesis will be emphasized, analogies will be drawn to body imaging to illustrate and compare tomosynthesis methods. Learning Objectives: 1. To understand the fundamental principles behind tomosynthesis, including the determinants of image quality and dose. 2. To learn how to test the performance of tomosynthesis imaging systems. 3. To appreciate the uses of tomosynthesis in the clinic and the future applications of tomosynthesis.
Equational Logic as a Programming Language

This book provides a comprehensive description of the theoretical foundations, design, and implementation of an innovative logic programming language in which computations are produced directly from equational definitions. Like LISP and Prolog, the equational programming language is based on the concept that a programmer should give a mathematical description of the result of a computation rather than a series of commands to direct a computation. Unlike LISP and Prolog, however, the equational programming language strictly follows the rules of equational logic, providing powerful programming techniques not available in conventional languages."Equational Logic as a Programming Language" covers the entire spectrum of theoretical and applied work involved in eight years of designing and implementing the equational logic programming language. Separate chapters cover the intuitive logical semantics of the language, the powerful programming techniques supported by it and their connections to procedural techniques such as coroutines, the methods used to produce a highly flexible implementation of the language with very little manpower, and the potential for implementation on parallel computers.Michael J. O'Donnell is Associate Professor of Computer Science at The Johns Hopkins University, on leave from Purdue University. "Equational Logic as a Programming Language" is included in the Foundations of Computing Series, edited by Michael Garey.
Effects of Fear Arousal on Attitude Change: Recent Developments in Theory and Experimental Research1

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a preliminary theoretical framework that may help to bring some order out of the apparently chaotic state of existing data on the relation between fear arousal and attitude change. The implications of the theoretical analysis have been examined in the light of the available experimental findings. In reviewing the evidence, the chapter does not attempt to cover all investigations that purport to deal with the effects of fear arousal on attitude change, but concentrates on those that appear to have met the necessary conditions to compare the relative effectiveness of communications that induce different intensities of fear. It is apparent that although some puzzling inconsistencies can be resolved by the proposed theoretical framework, others remain that cannot be accounted for in any compelling way. Nevertheless, even in its rudimentary form, the theoretical model seems to have considerable heuristic value, and is pointed out by emphasis on some fresh leads concerning interacting variables that ought to be investigated. In discussing these leads, the chapter indicates why it is believed that research on the new questions posed by the theoretical model will have a fairly good chance of improving the quality and consistency of experimental results.
Growth as A Finite Displacement Field

The growth of an animal or plant may be described by a time-dependent displacement field. When cells proliferate throughout a tissue, growth may be regarded as a spatial distribution of mass sources. To allow for anisotropic growth, a growth rate tensor may be defined which is similar to a strain rate tensor. Some tissues, notably bones, horns, and seashells, grow by accretion on certain surfaces which move as new tissue is produced. Such growth is modeled by a surface distribution of mass sources. At each point of the surface, a vector is assigned whose magnitude and direction specify the rate and direction of growth. Growth can lead to internal stresses that may be relieved by stress relaxation or additional growth. The vocabulary of distributed dislocations may be adapted to describe growth which produces internal stresses. A psychological aspect of growth concerns the identification of invariant aspects of a growth displacement field which are recognized as maturation of form.
Matching, Auctions, and Market Design

I provide a brief introduction to the early literatures on Matching, Auctions, and Market Design.The design of matching markets and auctions has brought economic theory and practice together. Indeed, this is an area where microeconomic theory has had its largest direct impact. This is in part because it focuses on settings where people interact according to very clearly delineated rules. Thus, the strategic interactions of the participants are relatively easy to model, and outcomes are comparatively straightforward to assess relative to the many other less structured interactions that occur in an economy. In view of this, these are arenas where economic theory has directly shaped institutions ranging from the systems by which students are assigned to public schools to the manner in which governments have auctioned to the rights to parts of the broadcast spectra in particular geographic regions.
Finding cores of random 2-SAT formulae via Poisson cloning

For the random 2-SAT formula $F(n,p)$, let $F_C (n,p)$ be the formula left after the pure literal algorithm applied to $F(n,p)$ stops. Using the recently developed Poisson cloning model together with the cut-off line algorithm (COLA), we completely analyze the structure of $F_{C} (n,p)$. In particular, it is shown that, for $\gl:= p(2n-1) = 1+\gs $ with $\gs\gg n^{-1/3}$, the core of $F(n,p)$ has $\thl^2 n +O((\thl n)^{1/2})$ variables and $\thl^2 \gl n+O((\thl n))^{1/2}$ clauses, with high probability, where $\thl$ is the larger solution of the equation $þ- (1-e^{-\thl \gl})=0$. We also estimate the probability of $F(n,p)$ being satisfiable to obtain $$ \pr[ F_2(n, \sfrac{\gl}{2n-1}) is satisfiable ] = \caseth{1-\frac{1+o(1)}{16\gs^3 n}}{if $\gl= 1-\gs$ with $\gs\gg n^{-1/3}$}{}{}{e^{-\Theta(\gs^3n)}}{if $\gl=1+\gs$ with $\gs\gg n^{-1/3}$,} $$ where $o(1)$ goes to 0 as $\gs$ goes to 0. This improves the bounds of Bollobas et al. \cite{BBCKW}.
Studies on Textile Dyes for Biological Staining II. A Trichrome Stain for General Use

This trichrome staining procedure differentially stains elastic fibers, collagen fibers and mucin. Gomori's aldehyde-fuchsin is used for elastic fibers; fast yellow TN is the component used for collagen and cytoplasm; pontacyl blue black SX is the nuclear stain. Procedure: Paraffin sections to water; aldehyde-fuchsin, 30 min; 70% ethanol; distilled water; 0.75% pontacyl blue black SX in 1.5% K.2Cr2O7, 15 min; tap water; 70% ethanol to wash off all free dye; 2% fast yellow TN in 95% ethanol, 5 min; dehydrate, clear and cover.
Formation of ordered domains in membrane-bound DNA

The interactions between DNA molecules adsorbed on fluid membranes are calculated. The adsorbing DNA perturbs the equilibrium packing of the lipids, thereby giving rise to membrane-induced, attractive interactions. These balance the direct repulsive interactions between DNA molecules. As a result, DNA adsorbed on membranes is predicted to form ordered domains characterized by a finite spacing, which varies with the membrane characteristics and the solution Debye screening length. Comparing the model predictions to recent experiments (Yang et al. 1996) yields excellent agreement with only one free (i.e., experimentally unknown) parameter.
Mechanistic Based DEM Simulation of Particle Attrition in a Jet Cup

Abstract The attrition of particles is a major industrial concern in many fluidization systems as it can have undesired effects on the product quality and on the reliable operation of process equipment. Therefore, to accommodate the screening and selection of catalysts for a specific process in fluidized beds, risers, or cyclone applications, their attrition propensity is usually estimated through jet cup attrition testing, where the test material is subjected to high gas velocities in a jet cup. However, this method is far from perfect despite its popularity, largely due to its inconsistency in different testing set-ups. In order to better understand the jet cup testing results as well as their sensitivity to different operating conditions, a coupled computational fluid dynamic (CFD)–discrete element method (DEM) model has been developed in the current study to investigate the particle attrition in a jet cup and its dependence on various factors, e.g. jet velocity, initial particle size, particle density, and apparatus geometry.
European Approaches to Improving Access to and Managing the Stock of Legislation

This paper explains what is meant by the stock of legislation, the issues associated with its management, why it is important to manage it and the different policies, institutions and tools used to ensure its accessibility, transparency and simplicity. It shows how different approaches have been adopted at different times for different purposes. A number of tasks need to be undertaken to manage the stock of legislation in any entity or country. These are to identify the stock of legislation, to store it electronically, to review the whole of the stock to eliminate duplications and confusion caused by excessive amendments and finally to put in place institutional arrangements to maintain the stock in a well-managed format. The paper concludes that the management of the stock of legislation is as important as the management of the flow of new legislation as a means of maintaining the quality of legislation and in turn the quality of democracy and the functioning of the rule of law. Definitions Given that each country has its unique terminology for similar policy tools and activities and that this is a field where law, political science and economics interact each with their own cant and jargon, a glossary of words and phrases is set out at the end of the paper.
Quantum nondemolition measurement of an optical intensity via Kerr effect in a nonlinear heterostructure

A novel configuration of quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of optical intensity of an electromagnetic (EM) wave via wave coupling in a nonlinear heterostructure is suggested. An example of such a measurement for a heterostructure formed by spatially modulated density of cascade-type three-level atoms is considered.
Purification of low molecular weight forms of seminal vesicle specific antigen by immunoaffinity chromatography on bound monoclonal antibody MHS-5.

Abstract A method has been developed for purification of the low molecular weight forms of seminal vesicle specific antigen (SVSA). Pooled, liquified seminal fluid was fractionated by CM cellulose chromatography followed by two cycles of monoclonal antibody affinity chromatography. Analysis of the final product shows microheterogeneity of the purified immunoreactive peptides in the range of 9–12 kDa. In one run, from 1138 mg starting material, 2.78 mg of SVSA protein was obtained, a recovery of 0.24% of the total protein in the starting material. The purified material as assessed by scanning densitometry of Coomassie stained gels is 99% pure. These findings indicate that the three-step chromatographic method is useful for purifying the low molecular weight forms of SVSA.
Vulnerability to the Effects of Recession: Minority and Female Workers

Neo-Marxist crisis theory and sectoral analysis are used to analyze differential vulnerability to the effects of recessions among minority and female workers. The 1974-75 recession is used as a case study to examine the numerous labor market consequences encountered by workers employed in various industrial and service sectors. By focusing crisis theory on the 1974-75 slump, conclusions are reached about the relationship among sectoral analysis, differential vulnerability to labor market disruption, and discrimination directed toward minority and female workers. Inconsistent with neo-Marxist predictions, the data show more support for an explanation based on simple labor market discrimination. Sociologists have produced a fairly extensive literature examining socioeconomic attainment and income differences between racial and ethnic groups (e.g., Becker 1971; Cummings 1980; Cutright 1965; Farley 1977; Glenn 1963, 1966; Greeley 1974; Poston and Alvirez 1973; Reich 1971; Szymanski 1976). Additionally, much sociological research has been done on employment inequities between males and females (e.g., Epstein 1970; Fuchs 1971; Goldberg 1969; Rosenfeld 1980; Stevenson 1974; Sutter and Miller 1973; Weisskoff 1972; Zeilner 1973). Sociological researchers have also examined wage and employment differentials between workers in various sectors of the economy (Averitt 1968; Beck, Horan, and Tolbert 1976; Bibb and Form 1977; Hodson 1978, 1983, 1984; Reich, Gordon, and Edwards 1973). Despite the growing body of literature associating race and gender with labor market inequities, sociologists have not systematically examined the differential impact of economic collapse on gender strata and racial groups. While it is obvious that recessions and severe economic crises produce widespread layoffs, pay and workload reductions, and a *I thank my colleagues Thomas Keil, Lenora Paradis, and Wayne Usui for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. I also appreciate the critical assistance of an anonymous referee whose comments were especially helpful in strengthening the manuscript. Address correspondence to the author, Department of Sociology, University of Louisville, Louisville,
Climate in the Interior Design Studio: Implications for Design Education

Researchers in the social sciences and in education have established that the classroom climate has a significant effect on a variety of student performance variables. The primary purpose of this study was to analyze empirically the interior design studio climate to better understand the dynamics of this educational environment. The College Classroom Environment Scales (CCES) instrument, which includes six subscales related to student perceptions of the classroom climate, was administered to 41 interior design students in three studios at a large public research university. The results were compared to a theoretical model representing conventional classroom climates to determine if and how the interior design studio classroom climate varied. Additionally, this study measured the degree of variance in interior design student perceptions of the studio classroom climate relative to the student's level in the interior design program (junior, senior, fifth-year senior). Finally, this study considered the relationship between student perceptions of the studio classroom climate and their individual academic performance as reported by the instructors. The results of this study support some previous research conclusions concerning the nature of design studio education, while challenging others. The findings clearly suggest that understanding the studio classroom climate can be an effective tool for design educators as they seek to respond to changing student populations and to create educational settings that maximize student achievement.
Preparation and structural characterization of [Fe3(h5-C5H5)3(CO)5As4O5]+BF4-: An unusual transition metal derivative of As4O6

Abstract The reaction of arsenic trifluoride with a m-xylene solution of cyclopentadienyliron dicarbonyl dimer contained in a Pyrex-glass vessel has unexpectedly produced the tetrafluoroborate salt of the highly unusual [Fe3(h5-C5H5)3(CO)5As4O5]+ monocation. An X-ray diffraction analysis has elucidated unequivocally both the stoichiometry and atomic arrangement of this compound in complete harmony with its physical and chemical properties. The diamagnetic monocation may be envisioned as arising from the cubic Ta bird-cage As4O6 molecule through the replacement of one of its six edge-bridged oxygen atoms with an iron-bridged [Fe(h5-C5H5)(CO)]+ species together with the concomitant addition of a terminal one-electron donating [Fe(h5-C5H5)(CO)2] ligand to each of the two iron-bridged arsenic atoms in order for them to maintain a closed-shell electronic configuration The resulting [As4O5Fe] core closely conforms to C2v-2mm symmetry, while the entire monocation has an approximate mirror plane. A salient structural feature is that there is no appreciable structural influence on the As4O6 architecture due to this formal transmutation into the monocation other than an increase of 0.06 A along the iron-bridged edge of the nonbonded tetrahedron of arsenic atoms. The orange-red compound crystallizes with four monocations and four BF4- anions in a monoclinic unit cell of P21/c symmetry with a = 15.571(3), b = 14.800(3), c = 15.389(3) A, and β = 126.176(6)°. The crystal structure has been refined to a final unweighted R1 value of 4.5% for 2400 independent diffractometry-collected data with I ⩾ 2.0 σ(I).
The effects of perfluoro-n-decanoic acid in the rat heart☆

Perfluoro-n-decanoic acid (PFDA) is a synthetic chemical resembling a 10-carbon fatty acid. Several studies have suggested that the toxic mechanism of PFDA may involve impaired lipid metabolism and/or altered cell membrane function. We examined the possibility that altered cell membrane structure in the heart might lead to changes in the functional activity of the organ. Functional characteristics were determined in the isolated perfused rat heart by measuring the ability of the heart to respond to either sympathetic nerve stimulation or infused norepinephrine. PFDA reduced the intrinsic resting heart rate and the inotropic response to a stimulus with maximal effects occurring 8 days after dosing. In addition, resting heart rate measured in vivo was found to be reduced in PFDA-treated rats 6 to 8 days after dosing. β-Receptor binding studies conducted 8 days after a single dose of PFDA showed that the maximum binding capacity was reduced by PFDA treatment without significant changes in receptor affinity. It is concluded that the reduction in the inotropic response to catecholamines following PFDA treatment may be explained in part by lower β-receptor density in the myocardial cell membrane. These effects may be related to the early fall in serum thyroid hormone levels as previously reported.
THE INFLUENCE OF AGE AND GENDER ON THE DRIVING PATTERNS OF OLDER ADULTS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of age and gender on the driving patterns of 300 older adults. Odds of driving less than every day increased significantly with age and female gender. However, no differences were found in the reduction of overall driving. Females were more likely than men to have stopped or reduced driving under certain adverse conditions and for elective purposes. The driving patterns of today's cohort of older females suggest that the gender gap may be narrowing. Social and cultural issues such as security, safety, and identity with driving may explain existing gender differences.
Música Norteña: Mexican Migrants Creating a Nation between Nations

Musica Nortena: Mexican Migrants Creating a Nation between Nations Cathy Ragland Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2009 233 pp., ISBN 978-1-5921-3747-3 (paperback US$30.95) An impressively imp...
Quantum imaging: enhanced image formation using quantum states of light

We review recent research in the field of quantum imaging. Quantum imaging deals with the formation of images that possess higher resolution or better signal-to-noise characteristics than conventional images by making use of the coherence properties of quantum light fields. Quantum imaging also deals with indirect imaging methods such as ghost imaging, in which image information is conveyed not by a single light field but by the correlations between two separate light fields. In this contribution we concentrate primarily on recent results in the area of ghost imaging.
Physicochemical Parameters of Protein Additives and Their Emulsifying Properties

The relationships between protein solubility, surface hydrophobicity (Ho), free sulfhydryl (SHF) and disulfide bond (SSB) content and time of emulsification that determine the emulsion activity index (EAI) and emulsion stability (ES) of five protein additives were investigated at two different ionic strengths (Z = 0.054 and Z = 0.46, pH 6.5). The variables that described EAI at Z = 0.054 were associated with protein disperability and Ho, while protein rigidity factors explained most of the EAI variability at Z = 0.46. The ES models showed similar variable relationships as the EAI models at the same Z. The differences between models at different Z indicated that the relationships between the variables were affected by the ionic strength.
Effect of bicarbonate, phosphate, and saline lavage solutions on the dissolution of ferrous sulfate tablets.

AbstractThe liberation of iron from ferrous sulfate tablets was studied in vitro to determine the influence of typical lavage solutions used to treat iron poisoning. In separate experiments, one or six tablets were immersed in simulated gastric fluid that contained bicarbonate, phosphate, or normal saline. The amounts of iron liberated from the single tablet studies were not significantly different among the three lavage solutions. In the 6-tablet experiments, the liberation of iron was significantly (p< 0.05) retarded by bicarbonate and phosphate lavage solutions compared to saline. The clinical significance of these findings is difficult to assess without correlation in vivo. Studies comparing the lavage solutions for iron poisoning should consider the wide intertablet variability in dissolution, the retardation of iron liberation from multiple tablets by bicarbonate and phosphate, and the use of iron tablets instead of iron solutions.
Synthesis and magnetic characterization of Mn and Co spinel ferrite-silica nanoparticles with tunable magnetic core

A method for coating silica on CoFe2O4 and MnFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles has been developed by using a reverse micelle microemulsion approach. The ability to controllably synthesize magnetic nanoparticulate cores independent of encapsulation provides great flexibility in tuning the magnetic properties of this magnetic nanocomposite system by controlling the magnetic properties of nanoparticulate cores. For these spinel ferrite nanoparticles, the saturation and remnant magnetizations decrease upon silica coating. The coercivity of silica-coated CoFe2O4 nanoparticles does not show any change after coating, while the coercivity of MnFe2O4 nanoparticles decreases by 10% after they have been coated with silica.
What we research: survey of American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons member publications

Object. The goal of this study was to create a searchable database of research manuscripts authored by members of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (AANS/CNS) to describe the nature and character of the research currently being undertaken by neurosurgeons. Methods. Manuscripts published by all physician members listed in the 2001 AANS/CNS Membership Directory (6921 physicians) were gathered into a database through individual literature searches of the author name for the calendar year 2001. Duplicate publications were purged and the database was reviewed for accuracy. An internal verification of the database revealed a 4% underreporting rate. Statistics from the database were compiled and displayed with information about AANS/CNS members and their clinical activities. The AANS/CNS members published a total of 2748 research the manuscripts in 479 different journals during 2001. Thirty-eight percent of the manuscripts (1042 of 2748) were authored by ...
Effect of ZnO Processing on the Photovoltage of ZnO/Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Solar Cells

Proper contact and band alignment across the heterojunction interface is critical to the performance of hybrid pi-conjugated polymer-nanostructured metal oxide photovoltaic devices. We investigated the effect of ZnO surface processing on ZnO/poly(3-hexylthiolphene) device performance. Devices in which the ZnO films/nanorods were heated at 150 °C in air exhibited an open circuit voltage ∼200 mV higher than devices with ZnO treated by UV/ozone. We conclude that the differences observed in the two types of devices predominantly arise from changes in interfacial dipoles, and intermediate materials processing can be critical to solar cell performance.
Loudness adaptation: resolution of a psychophysical enigma.

Abstract Traditional measurement of loudness adaptation based on binaural matching has been challenged by Scharf (1983) and others as an artifact of binaural interaction due to contrast effects. Weiler, Sandman, and Pederson (1981) addressed this problem by developing a monaural technique called the ipsilateral comparison paradigm (ICP), which demonstrates strong adaptation effects within the auditory system. The two experiments described in this report support the meaningfulness of that procedure. They show that the ICP is not confounded by psychophysical contrast as suggested by Canevet, Scharf, and Botte (1983); they also demonstrate that the results obtained with the ICP are robust—adaptation effects were noted across a broad range of intensities and were similar when psychophysical reports were made by magnitude estimation and graphic rating means.