cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
COMPLEX EIGENSOLUTIONS OF RECTANGULAR PLATES WITH DAMPING PATCHES

Abstract A new analytical, energy based approach that predicts the vibration characteristics of a rectangular plate with multiple viscoelastic patches is presented. This paper extends the method presented earlier by the authors that was applied to the determination of the eigensolutions of viscoelacstically damped beams. The method first relates all motion variables of a sandwich plate in terms of the flexural displacement of the base structure. Then the flexural shape function sets are incorporated in the Rayleigh–Ritz minimization scheme to obtain a complex eigenvalue problem. This method allows for the visualization of complex models of all deformations of the viscoelastic core that are the major contributors to the overall energy dissipation. Comparison with the work of three prior investigators on a simply supported plate validates the model for the limiting case of full coverage. Benchmark experimental measurements are made on a plate with free edges, and five damping cases are considered. Analytical predictions of natural frequencies, modal loss factors and complex modes for all cases are in excellent agreement with modal measurements. A normalization scheme for complex mode shapes has also been developed. Finally, simplified loss factor estimation procedures are presented to illustrate the additive effect of damping patches.
Autoradiographic quantification of the efficacy of niridazole in mice infected with 75Se-labelled cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni

Abstract The effects of the anti-schistosomal drug, niridazole, on the migration of Schistosoma mansoni larvae, biosynthetically radioisotope-labelled with 75 [Se]-selenomethionine, was evaluated by autoradiography of compressed tissues of mice treated daily from Days 6 to 10 post-infection with 200 mg kg −1 niridazole. The results were compared with the migration of schistosomula in untreated controls. The distribution of schistosomula was altered in niridazole-treated mice, where there was a delayed migration from the lungs relative to the controls and significantly fewer schistosomula in total appeared to reach the liver. The total percentage of schistosomula detected as autoradiographic foci was significantly lower in treated mice than in the untreated controls. Niridazole-treated mice were free of any foci 10 days after the last treatment and no adult worms were recovered on perfusion of the hepatic portal system relative to control mice from which 5.8% of the infective cercariae were recovered as adult worms at Day 42 post-infection.
Enhanced-Discretization Interface-Capturing Technique (EDICT) for computation of unsteady flows with interfaces

Abstract We present the Enhanced-Discretization Interface-Capturing Technique (EDICT) for computation of unsteady flow problems with interfaces, such as two-fluid and free-surface flows. In EDICT, we solve, over a non-moving mesh, the Navier-Stokes equations together with an advection equation governing the evolution of an interface function with two distinct values identifying the two fluids. The starting point for the spatial discretization of these equations are the stabilized finite element formulations which possess good stability and accuracy properties. To increase the accuracy in modeling the interfaces, we use finite element functions corresponding to enhanced discretization at and near the interface. These functions are designed to have multiple components, with each component coming from a different level of mesh refinement over the same computational domain. The primary component of the functions for velocity and pressure comes from the base mesh called Mesh-1. A subset of the elements in Mesh-1 are identified to be at or near the interface, and depending on where the interface is, this subset could change from one time level to another. A Mesh-2 is constructed by patching together the second-level meshes generated over this subset of elements, and the second component of the functions for velocity and pressure comes from Mesh-2. For the interface function, we have a third component coming from a Mesh-3 which is constructed by patching together the third-level meshes generated over a subset of elements in Mesh-2. With parallel computation of the test problems presented here, we demonstrate that the EDICT can be used very effectively to increase the accuracy of the base finite element formulations.
DISSEMINATION OF FIBREOPTIC AIRWAY ENDOSCOPY SKILLS BY MEANS OF A WORKSHOP UTILIZING MODELS

A questionnaire was mailed to 182 attendees of four practical workshops on fibreoptic endoscopy. After the workshops, 35% of the attendees were able to introduce fibreoptic intubation into their clinical practice or improve their success rate. This suggests that a new psychomotor skill can be disseminated effectively to clinicians by a practical workshop that utilizes inanimate models, and is based on sound educational principles.
Towards a Contingency Theory of Enterprise Risk Management

Abstract Enterprise risk management (ERM) has become a crucial component of contemporary corporate governance reforms, with an abundance of principles, guidelines, and standards. This paper portrays ERM as an evolving discipline and presents empirical findings on its current state of maturity, as evidenced by a survey of the academic literature and by our own field research. Academics are increasingly examining the adoption and impact of ERM, but the studies are inconsistent and inconclusive, due, we believe, to an inadequate specification of how ERM is used in practice. Based on a ten-year field project, over 250 interviews with senior risk officers, and three detailed case studies, we put forward a contingency theory of ERM, identifying potential design parameters that can explain observable variation in the “ERM mix” adopted by organizations. We also add a new contingent variable: the type of risk that a specific ERM practice addresses. We outline a “minimum necessary contingency framework” (Otley 1980) that is sufficiently nuanced, while still empirically observable, that empirical researchers may, in due course, hypothesize about “fit” between contingent variables, such as risk types and the ERM mix, as well as about outcomes such as organizational effectiveness.
SIMSTAT with WORDSTAT: A Comprehensive Statistical Package with a Content Analysis Module:

SIMSTAT is an inexpensive but full-featured Windows/DOS statistical package. Sev - eral features set it apart from its competitors in the same price range. First, SIMSTAT offers extensive bootstrapping capabilities (bootstrapping is a statistical technique that uses resampling to estimate population parameters). Second, WORDSTAT, one of several modules that can be purchased to extend the capabilities of SIMSTAT, pro- vides a wide range of quantitative content analysis features that will be especially useful to researchers who work with relatively small text chunks. SIMSTAT and its modules are relatively easy to use, especially for users who have experience with SPSS, which SIMSTAT resembles.
Distal thoracic aorta as inflow for the treatment of chronic mesenteric ischemia.

Abstract Purpose: Mesenteric revascularization for chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI) traditionally involves antegrade or retrograde bypass graft originating from the supraceliac or infrarenal aorta. The distal thoracic aorta (DTA) may provide a better inflow source than the abdominal aorta. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results with the DTA used as inflow for the surgical treatment of CMI. Methods: All patients undergoing mesenteric revascularization for CMI with grafts originating from the DTA were identified from 1990 to 1999. A ninth interspace thoracoretroperitoneal incision was used for exposure, and distal aortic flow was maintained by use of a partial occlusion clamp. Results: Eighteen consecutive patients with CMI underwent mesenteric bypass grafting with the DTA used as inflow. All patients were admitted with chronic abdominal pain or weight loss, with two (12%) requiring urgent revascularization because of acute exacerbation of chronic symptoms. Fourteen (78%) patients had both celiac and superior mesenteric artery bypass grafts placed, and three (17%) patients had superior mesenteric artery grafts alone. There was one (6%) perioperative death and three (17%) major complications. There was no kidney failure, mesenteric infarction, or spinal cord ischemia. The life-table survival rate was 89%, 89%, and 76% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. All 18 patients remained symptom free and required no additional procedures to assist patency. There was no evidence of graft stenosis or occlusion (100% patency) for those grafts evaluated objectively during the mean follow-up of 34.8 months (range, 1-97 months). Conclusions: Antegrade mesenteric revascularization with the DTA used as inflow is associated with low morbidity and mortality rates. Furthermore, it provides excellent midterm patency and survival results and should be considered as a primary approach for reconstruction of patients with CMI. (J Vasc Surg 2001;33:281-8.)
Alignment Error Models and Ensemble-Based Data Assimilation

Abstract The concept of alternative error models is suggested as a means to redefine estimation problems with non-Gaussian additive errors so that familiar and near-optimal Gaussian-based methods may still be applied successfully. The specific example of a mixed error model including both alignment errors and additive errors is examined. Using the specific form of a soliton, an analytical solution to the Korteweg–de Vries equation, the total (additive) errors of states following the mixed error model are demonstrably non-Gaussian for large enough alignment errors, and an ensemble of such states is handled poorly by a traditional ensemble Kalman filter, even if position observations are included. Consideration of the mixed error model itself naturally suggests a two-step approach to state estimation where the alignment errors are corrected first, followed by application of an estimation scheme to the remaining additive errors, the first step aimed at removing most of the non-Gaussianity so the second step ...
Metabolism of Carotenoids by Enzymes of Oxygen Metabolism

Carotenoids are metabolized by lipoxygenases and other oxygenases in bacteria, plants and animals; however, the mechanisms of these reactions are poorly understood. We have studied the oxidation of β-carotene by soybean lipoxygenase as a model system for understanding these reactions in vivo. β-carotene inhibits the rate of peroxidation of linoleic acid and the production of linoleic hydroperoxide product in a concentration-dependent fashion. In the presence of soybean lipoxygenase, carotenoid absorbance at 452 nm is rapidly diminished (bleached), however, we have not yet been able to identify the carotenoid metabolites. Although autoxidation products were identified, no enzyme-dependent carotenoid metabolite absorbing over the range of 300 to 600 nm was eluted from reverse phase HPLC columns. Experiments are in progress to identify the enzymatic metabolites. Hydroperoxide products of lipoxygenases are precursors to leukotrienes and other cytokines, the production of which are associated with a number of inflammatory and allergic states. As β-carotene is associated with enhancement of the immune response, the inhibition of lipoxygenase products in vivo may represent an important mechanism by which carotenoids serve in immunoregulation.
Courtiers and Politics in Elizabethan Herefordshire: Sir James Croft, his Friends and his Foes

For well over a decade studies in local history have occupied a significant position in the historiography of early modern England. In particular, the study of the ‘county community’ as the most significant English political and governmental unit and as the primary sphere of social and affectional loyalties for the greater number of those Englishmen constituting the political nation has become securely established. Within this wide and fruitful field for continuing research the theme of the ‘points of contact’ or reciprocal communication between the court and the county, Westminster and the provinces, which Sir Geoffrey Elton raised not so long ago and which Kevin Sharpe more recently attempted to apply to the problems of government in early Stuart England, suggests that investigations of the gentry of a particular county might illustrate how this interchange between the centre and the localities functioned. For such a study to prove fruitful, however, one prerequisite would appear to be necessary: a member of a prominent county family, perhaps its head, who also holds a major office of state or position at court. Such a man was Sir James Croft whose eminent position in Herefordshire was founded on the contacts he made and the patronage he attracted in the last years of Henry VIII's reign. Although this position was threatened in the years of his disgrace during Queen Mary's reign, it gathered strength again in the 1560s, and reached its apogee during the following two decades. Between 1570 and his death in 1590, he served at court as comptroller of the household.
Note on the accuracy involved in the use of effective mass absorptiobn coefficients in X‐ray fluorescence analysis with polychromatic radiation

The question as to whether the multiple least squares regression of X-ray fluorescence analytical data used in an earlier paper and based on an equation derived for excitation by monochromatic radiation can be considered as valid with sufficient accuracy in an experimental system using polychromatic radiation as source of excitation was examined. The results of computer simulation of the process of X-ray fluorescence show that although definite differences in the intensities of fluorescent radiation arise as a result of the substitution of polychromatic primary radiation for a monochromatic source, the flexibility of the particular equation used for regression eliminates such deviations by incorporating them in the experimental regression coefficients. The overall accuracy of the regression was found to be satisfactory by any practical criteria.
Statistical Methods for Dissecting Triploid Endosperm Traits Using Molecular Markers: An Autogamous Model

The endosperm, a result of double fertilization in flowering plants, is a triploid tissue whose genetic composition is more complex than diploid tissue. We present a new maximum-likelihood-based statistical method for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying endosperm traits in an autogamous plant. Genetic mapping of quantitative endosperm traits is qualitatively different from traits for other plant organs because the endosperm displays complicated trisomic inheritance and represents a younger generation than its mother plant. Our endosperm mapping method is based on two different experimental designs: (1) a one-stage design in which marker information is derived from the maternal genome and (2) a two-stage hierarchical design in which marker information is derived from both the maternal and offspring genomes (embryos). Under the one-stage design, the position and additive effect of a putative QTL can be well estimated, but the estimates of the dominant and epistatic effects are upward biased and imprecise. The two-stage hierarchical design, which extracts more genetic information from the material, typically improves the accuracy and precision of the dominant and epistatic effects for an endosperm trait. We discuss the effects on the estimation of QTL parameters of different sampling strategies under the two-stage hierarchical design. Our method will be broadly useful in mapping endosperm traits for many agriculturally important crop plants and also make it possible to study the genetic significance of double fertilization in the evolution of higher plants.
American black bear predation of an adult white-tailed deer

Abstract American black bears (Ursus americanus) are opportunistic omnivores and can be proficient predators of neonate ungulates, but predation of adult ungulates is rare. In November 2009 we investigated a probable black bear predation of a radiocollared, adult (7.5 years old) female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in a densely vegetated, lowland conifer forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. The deer carcass was 80% buried with puncture wounds and lacerations on the back and hindquarters. The hide was everted, the intestines and stomach partially eaten, the mammary glands were punctured, and the skeleton remained articulated. All woody vegetation <5.0 cm diameter within 5 m of the carcass was trampled and contained bear and deer hair. We found no evidence of other carnivores. Based on the condition of the carcass, physical evidence at the site, and the similarity of this predation to reported black bear predations, we suggest this deer was attacked and killed by a black bear.
Reduced Infectivity in Cattle for an Outer Membrane Protein Mutant of Anaplasma marginale

Anaplasma marginale is the causative agent of anaplasmosis in cattle. Transposon mutagenesis of this pathogen using the Himar1 system resulted in the isolation of an omp10 operon insertional mutant referred to as the omp10::himar1 mutant. The work presented here evaluated if this mutant had morphological and/or growth rate defects compared to wild-type A. marginale. Results showed that the morphology, developmental cycle, and growth in tick and mammalian cell cultures are similar for the mutant and the wild type. Tick transmission experiments established that tick infection levels with the mutant were similar to those with wild-type A. marginale and that infected ticks successfully infected cattle. However, this mutant exhibited reduced infectivity and growth in cattle. The possibility of transforming A. marginale by transposon mutagenesis coupled with in vitro and in vivo assessment of altered phenotypes can aid in the identification of genes associated with virulence. The isolation of deliberately attenuated organisms that can be evaluated in their natural biological system is an important advance for the rational design of vaccines against this species.
The Pattern of Foreign Trade in Eastern Europe and its Relation to Economic Development Policy

I. Introduction, 377. — II. Actual development and trade patterns, 380. — III. Hypotheses regarding the Eastern European internal development and foreign trade pattern, 391.
Interference-driven adaptation in sparse approximation

Sparse approximation attempts to find an efficient signal representation by adaptively building a signal vector space from elements of a usually redundant and over-complete dictionary of atoms. Often, however, representations produced by iterative descent methods, such as orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP), will contain atoms that are poorly chosen and might later be confused as features of the signal. Poorly selected atoms bring about the selection other atoms that serve to correct for previous choices using destructive interference. This behavior diminishes the efficiency of a representation. In this paper, we propose and study a modification of the atom selection in OMP that takes into account the aforementioned effects. We find that a pursuit adapting to the interference between atoms can create a more efficient representation than that created by OMP, and one that is more representative of the signal and its features and less a reflection of the decomposition process.
Ultrastructure of a model basement membrane lacking type IV collagen.

Basement membranes (BMs) are specialized extracellular matrices which have important roles in cell attachment, migration, growth, and differentiation. The major components of these matrices include type IV collagen, laminin, entactin, and heparan sulfate proteoglycan. The framework or scaffold of BMs has been proposed to be type IV collagen (Yurchenco et al., 1986, J. Histochem. Cytochem., 34:93-102). However, a murine teratocarcinoma cell-line, M1536-B3, has been described which produces an extracellular matrix (ECM) composed of some of the known components of BM, e.g., laminin, entactin, and sulfated proteoglycan, but lacking type IV collagen (Chung et al., 1979, Cell, 16:277-287). With the use of morphological techniques, we have found that the ECM assembled by these cells is composed of multiple layers of electron-dense cords arranged in an interweaving meshwork with short 2-4 nm-diameter cylindrical rods embedded throughout. This organization closely resembles that reported for naturally occurring BMs, e.g., Reichert's membrane (Inoue et al., 1983, J. Cell Biol., 97: 1524-1537). The previous identification of known in vivo BM components in M1536-B3 ECM and the correspondence in morphological appearance of M1536-B3 ECM with that present in naturally occurring BMs suggests that a BM-type of ECM can be assembled without a type IV collagen framework, thus indicating that other components of BMs have a critical role in BM organization and assembly.
Path Planning for Networked Robotic Surveillance

In this paper, we consider a robotic surveillance problem where a fixed remote station deploys a team of mobile robots to spatially explore a given workspace, detect an unknown number of static targets, and inform the remote station of their findings. We are interested in designing trajectories (local motion decisions) for the robots that minimize the probability of target detection error at the remote station, while satisfying the requirements on the connectivity of the robots to the remote station. We show how such a design is possible by co-optimization of sensing (information gathering) and communication (information exchange) when motion planning. We start by considering the case where the robots need to constantly update the remote station on the locations of the targets as they learn about the environment. For this case, we propose a communication-constrained motion planning approach for the robots. We next consider the case where the remote station only needs to be informed of the locations of the targets at the end of a given operation time. By building on our communication-constrained results, we propose a hybrid motion planning approach for this case. We consider realistic communication channels that experience path loss, shadowing and multipath fading in the paper. Then, our proposed communication-aware motion planning approaches evaluate the probability of connectivity at unvisited locations and integrate it with the sensing objectives of the robots. We mathematically characterize the asymptotic behavior of our motion planning approaches and discuss the underlying tradeoffs. We finally devise strategies to increase their robustness to multipath fading and other channel estimation uncertainties.
Isolation of pure human peripheral blood T-lymphocytes using nylon wool columns.

Investigations in animals and man have demonstrated that lymphocytes can be subdivided into populations with large and small amunts of cell surface lmmunoglobulins, identified as bone marrow (B) and thymus (T) derived lymphocytes respectively. We damonstrate that the incubation of human peripheral blood lymphocytes with a sufficiently long column of nylon wool results in the recovery of a pure population of nonimmunoglobulin bearing cells. This provides for the first time an opportunity to study the functional properties of pure human T-lymphocytes.
Bcl-2 protects lymphoma cells from apoptosis but not growth arrest promoted by cAMP and dexamethasone

Glucocorticoids or increases in cellular cAMP promote apoptosis in many cell types, including murine S49 cells. We examined the impact of Bcl-2, an antiapoptotic protein, on S49 cell growth and dea...
Small Groups in Political Science

This chapter reflects a four-fold approach to the study of small groups as being significant as well as stuck. In turn, our attention will focus on three dimensions of the significance of the study of small groups; some basic orientations in the literature; a number of major dimensions that seem, at a minimum, required for differentiating small groups; and a few brief cases to show how small groups can be useful in comprehending the diverse subject matters of political science, whether the group phenomena merely emerge or are the result of planning and deliberate induction.
More Source Analyses of Obsidian from Tikal, Guatemala

AbstractIn 1984, 29 obsidian artifacts and an unworked nodule were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence in order to determine the source of the raw material. The results of analysis confirmed the succession of Highland Guatemalan sources utilized by the Maya previously proposed by Nelson and also revealed the presence of obsidian from two additional Central Mexican sources, bringing the total of Mexican sources to six. At present only the Pachuca and Otumba sources are represented by more than one or two examples.The unworked nodule is probably a tektite, because of its chemical composition, size, shape, color, and surface texture.The 1984 XRF analyses were also used to check identifications of obsidian sources made on the basis of macro-optical characteristics. The lack of correspondence between the two methods is due to the great within-source optical variability of Mesoamerican obsidian. At present, visual source-analyses should always be confirmed by more accurate and reliable physical-chemical methods.
Idealism and realism: beyond the great debate

The tendency of all debates is to exaggerate and to overkill, to claim and condemn too much. Then when the smoke has lifted and guns have been silenced, those who remain discover that the world is more complex and answers less certain than the debaters had led them to believe. It is as though worthy causes could not advance unless carried on the backs of overstatements. Think back in your lifetime to the progress which has been made toward desired ends: minority rights, women's liberation, the rights of the working man. Whenever movement has occurred, it has come in response to politics, propaganda and pressures. It has come because someone with a credible, sometimes noble cause planned and organized, but in their action almost always overdid at the price of generating reaction and counterattack. It may be stretching a point to compare thinking and political movements with wars and yet there is action and reaction, attack and counterattack in all three areas reminding us of Sir Herbert Butterfield's words:
In vitro Passive Transfer of Atopic Hypersensitivity

SummaryIn vitro sensitization of non-allergic human leukocytes by plasma from ragweed sensitive subjects was carried out. In 10 attempts with 6 sensitive plasmas and 7 normal bloods, only 3 pairs of individuals provided systems which demonstrated passive sensitization as determined by histamine release in presence of ragweed antigen. This finding is not related to major blood group incompatibility, and is unexplained. Diluted sensitive plasma brings about less histamine release. Plasma obtained from sensitive whole blood previously treated with ragweed antigen confers a diminished capacity upon normal cells to release histamine. There was no evidence that such plasmas possessed anaphylatoxin-like activity.
Attribution Hears a Who! The Case for Decision-Maker Based Attribution

In the late 1990s, Decision-based Performance Attribution (DPA) was introduced into performance reports and has slowly become the norm in the industry. As more analysts have examined this approach, the mathematical approaches have become elegant and the attribution has been refined to the last basis point. DPA focuses on breaking down total performance into the various decisions made in the fund: the Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) and the Excess, with the Excess further disaggregated into the tactical asset allocation (TAA), manager selection within each decision bucket, manager allocation and individual security selection. But does this approach miss a key facet of investing: namely, in a typical institutional fund, there is delegation of duties at many levels of the fund, and unless each individual or institution is held accountable for the decisions they make, inefficiencies and poor risk management will ensue. In this article, we will argue that the elephant in the room, is that attribution needs to be used to hold decision-makers accountable and attribution reports should answer the Who question, which as important as the What question which DPA seeks to address. We provide a simple non-technical template for this approach we call Attribution of Returns using Organizational Network (ARUN) and encourage more talented attribution specialists to develop a more robust paradigm and method of reporting.
Differential impacts from an extreme cold spell on subtropical vs. tropical specialist bees in southern Florida.

Gradual warming and changes in extreme weather patterns associated with human induced climate change are altering the range distributions of species. However, species responses to climate change are predicted to be more strongly affected by extreme events than by changes in mean values. As a result, measuring species' responses to extreme events in addition to the mean changes in climate are necessary to predict species range limits under future conditions. This study examines the impacts of a cold spell in southern Florida on native and an introduced oil-collecting bees by examining the bees' interactions with two native plants species. Our results provide evidence of differential impacts from an extreme cold event on a native, subtropical bee vs. an introduced, tropical bee. Specifically, the cold spell had little impact on the abundance of the native bee, while the abundance of the introduced, tropical bee was negatively impacted. Our findings demonstrate that extreme cold spells are important climate change-related phenomena that can have strong impacts on tropical species distributions and abundances, especially at the threshold of their thermal tolerances. Our approach also provided a rare opportunity to examine these impacts on multiple interacting species, which provides a more realistic assessment of the potential impacts of climate change.
Measurement of P-Toluenesulfonic Acid in Workplace Air by HPLC

Objective To establish a method for measuring p-toluenesulfonic acid in workplace air by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC).Methods p-toluenesulfonic acid in vapor and aerosol in workplace air was sampled using impregnated ultra-fine glass fiber filter paper,extracted with isopropanol in water and measured by ion pair high performance liquid chromatography.Results The accuracy of detection was 1.0μg/mL and the limit of quantification was 3.3 μg/L with the measuring range from 0 μg/mL to 1 000 μg/mL.The correlation coefficient(R2) was greater than 0.999 and the slope of the regression equation(Mean±SD) was 0.482 1±0.011 2.Filter paper containing 100 μg,500 μg or 2 500 μg of p-toluenesulfonic acid was analyzed 6 times for 5 consecutive days,.Its intra-day precision(RSD) was in the range of 1.9% to 2.7% and the inter-day precision(RSD) was within the range of 2.3% to 2.6%.The recovery of spiked samples was within the range of 91.6% to 102.8%.The mean p-toluenesulfonic acid aerosol sampling efficiency of ultra-fine glass fiber filter paper was 95.7%,and the mean p-toluenesulfonic acid vapor sampling efficiency of impregnated ultra-fine glass fiber filter paper was 95.2%.Samples were extracted with 2%(V/V) isopropanol in water and the extraction efficiency was greater than 97.4%.After sampling p-toluenesulfonic acid,the(impregnated) ultra-fine glass fiber filter paper could be stored at room temperature for at least 7 days.Conclusion This method has high accuracy,sampling and extraction efficiency,low detection limit,good precision and stability.It can be used for determination of p-toluenesulfonic acid in workplace air.
Problems in preparation of toxic herbs in the process of research and development of new Traditional Chinese Medicine

This article emphasized the problems about toxic herbs in the process of research and development of new Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM).It describe and explain what the researchers should pay attention to, such as processing,the usage and dosage,quality control of the toxic herbs,and chronic toxicity trial,clinical trial,the manual of clinical research and script of preparation of the new TCM.The goal is to lead the researchers to attach the importance of toxic herbs in the new TCM.
A comparison of African American and Caucasian stimulant users in 12-step facilitation treatment

Engagement in 12-step meetings and activities has been shown to be a powerful aid to recovery from substance use disorders. However, only limited attention has been given to ethnic and racial differences in attitudes toward 12-step and involvement. This study utilized data from a large multisite trial testing the effectiveness of a 12-step facilitation therapy with stimulant-dependent treatment seekers. We compared baseline differences and treatment outcomes between African American and Caucasian participants. A select few baseline differences were found (i.e., African Americans reported higher levels of spirituality than Caucasians; African American participants indicated more perceived benefits of 12-step involvement; Caucasians were more likely to endorse future involvement in 12-step). There were no outcome differences (e.g., substance use outcomes, 12-step meeting attendance). The tested intervention produced similar outcomes for both groups, indicating that it may be useful across racial categories.
Actively caring to prevent bullying in an elementary school: Prompting and rewarding prosocial behavior

This field study evaluated the impact of an intervention designed to prevent bullying among elementary-school students by prompting and rewarding prosocial behavior. More specifically, teachers of 404 second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students from an elementary school in northeast Virginia asked their students to look out for other students' prosocial behaviors (termed "actively caring") and to submit their stories about actively caring. At the start of every class day, the teachers read three of these stories and recognized one story and the two associated students (i.e., the observer and the performer) by providing each with a wristband engraved with "Actively Caring for People." For six consecutive Fridays, students reported their observations of bullying and completed a single item estimate of self-esteem. Weekly surveys revealed reductions in "being bullied" and "bullying others," as well as an increase in self-esteem.
Toward a Relational Understanding of Objectification, Body Image, and Preventive Sexual Health

There is a wealth of empirical support for objectification theory. Researchers have suggested an extension to the theory that includes risky sexual behaviors as a consequence of body shame. However, there are no known studies that place the association between body image and sexual behavior in the context of the interpersonal sexual relationship. The current study was grounded in objectification theory and relational cultural theory and sought to better understand how negative self-objectification, body appreciation, relationship quality, and preventive sexual health behaviors are related. An online survey was conducted with 399 emerging adult women in the Midwest, and the proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results suggest that, among this sample, negative self-objectification was indirectly related to preventive sexual health behaviors through body appreciation alone and through both body appreciation and relationship quality. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.
Gray-level co-occurrence matrices as features in edge enhanced images

In 1973, Haralick, Shanmugam, and Dinstein published a paper in the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics which proposed using Gray-Level Cooccurrence Matrices (GLCM) as a basis to define 2-D texture1. Over 14 different texture measures were defined using GLCM. In images with n × n grey levels, the size of the GLCM would be n × n which, for large n such as n=256, put a large computational load on the process and was also best suited for pixel distributions that were rather stochastic in nature. Such features as entropy, variance, correlation, etc. were proposed using the GLCM. When attempting to provide feature measures for man-made targets, most of the information contained in the target is contained by its edge distribution. Previous approaches form an edge outline of the target and then use some techniques such as Fourier descriptors to represent the target. However, in this case, extra steps need to be taken in order to assure that the edge outline is continuous or gaps in the outline somehow are dealt with when creating the Fourier coefficients for the feature vector. This paper presents an approach using GLCM where the gray scale image is put through an edge enhancement using any one of several edge operators. The resultant image is a binary image. For each point in the edge image, a 2×2 GLCM is created by placing an n × n window centered around the point and using the n2 neighboring points to build the GLCM's. This window should be sufficiently large to enclose the target of interest and the GLCM created provides the elements needed to define the features for the edge enhanced target. All software was created in Matlab2 using Matlab functions.
Effects of orthostatic hypotension on cognition in Parkinson disease

Objective: To investigate the relation between orthostatic hypotension (OH) and posture-mediated cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease (PD) using a cross-sectional and within-group design. Methods: Individuals without dementia with idiopathic PD included 18 with OH (PDOH) and 19 without OH; 18 control participants were also included. Neuropsychological tests were conducted in supine and upright-tilted positions. Blood pressure was assessed in each posture. Results: The PD groups performed similarly while supine, demonstrating executive dysfunction in sustained attention and response inhibition, and reduced semantic fluency and verbal memory (encoding and retention). Upright posture exacerbated and broadened these deficits in the PDOH group to include phonemic fluency, psychomotor speed, and auditory working memory. When group-specific supine scores were used as baseline anchors, both PD groups showed cognitive changes following tilt, with the PDOH group exhibiting a wider range of deficits in executive function and memory as well as significant changes in visuospatial function. Conclusions: Cognitive deficits in PD have been widely reported with assessments performed in the supine position, as seen in both our PD groups. Here we demonstrated that those with PDOH had transient, posture-mediated changes in excess of those found in PD without OH. These observed changes suggest an acute, reversible effect. Understanding the effects of OH due to autonomic failure on cognition is desirable, particularly as neuroimaging and clinical assessments collect data only in the supine or seated positions. Identification of a distinct neuropsychological profile in PD with OH has quality of life implications, and OH presents itself as a possible target for intervention in cognitive disturbance.
The Affordable Care Act's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program: Has the Biology Had Time to Catch Up With the Regulation?

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), which was established by the Affordable Care Act in 2012, requires that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reduce Medicare fee-for-service hospital readmission rates for conditions that account for expensive, high-volume admissions and
A symbolic motion planning approach for the reach-avoid problem

This paper addresses the motion planning problem for two autonomous robots (the defender and the attacker) with competitive objectives, which are involved in a reach-avoid scenario. This adversarial aspect of the game makes the problem complex with high computational cost. To address this problem, we propose a novel symbolic approach for the robot motion planning and control of the robots, which can effectively manage the complexity of the problem. The basic idea is to partition the environment into convex regions, and then, capture the desired objectives of the defender and the adversarial behavior of the attacker with temporal logic formulas. We also use finite two-player zero-sum games as a tool for the robot decision-making over the partitioned space. An illustrative examples has been provided to detail the steps of the proposed algorithm and the simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Experimental Models to Study the Origin and Role of Myofibroblasts in Renal Fibrosis

Most of the present knowledge on the pathomechanism of renal fibrosis is based on experimental studies with laboratory animals. Today, a variety of genetic and inducible animal models that mimic primary causes of human disease, such as diabetes mellitus, glomerulonephritis or lupus erythematodes are available. However, only few of these models progress consistently to interstitial fibrosis in the kidney involving interestitial fiberosis, tubular atrophy and glomerulosclerosis, common features of renal fibrogenesis. In this chapter, three different mouse models of human kidney disease are described highlighting their utility to study pathways leading to renal fibrosis.
Hyperreactio Luteinalis in the Third Trimester Complicating Fetal Hydrops and Mirror Syndrome

Hyperreactio luteinalis (HL) is a benign condition marked by bilateral ovarian cystic enlargement. It is rare and understanding its presentation will prevent unnecessary surgical intervention. A 21-year-old G1P0 with a spontaneous singleton pregnancy complicated by non-immune fetal hydrops and mirror syndrome developed abdominal pain and dyspnea. She underwent therapeutic amnioreduction at 31 3/7 weeks gestation due to presumed symptomatic polyhydramnios. An obstetric ultrasound showed large bilateral ovarian masses, maternal ascites, and a left pleural effusion. Due to abnormal fetal Dopplers, she underwent a cesarean section and ovarian biopsies at 31 4/7 weeks gestation. Pathology revealed bilateral corpus luteal cysts. New onset bilateral ovarian masses associated with HL can be seen in spontaneous pregnancies complicated by fetal hydrops and mirror syndrome, and are best treated conservatively. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2017;6(2):41-44 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jcgo439w
Un estadio para Estridentópolis: Modesto C. Rolland y su visión moderna de Xalapa / A Stadium for Stridentopolis: Modesto C. Rolland and his Modern Vision of Xalapa

Este articulo explora los trabajos de ingeniero Modesto C. Rolland en la ciudad de Xalapa, Veracruz, en 1925 y 1926. Los proyectos demuestran que Rolland y sus colaboradores estuvieron influenciados por sus contrapartes modernistas del siglo XX, pero tambien por economistas politicos y visionarios utopicos de finales del siglo XIX en Gran Bretana y Estados Unidos. This essay explores the works of engineer Modesto C. Rolland in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, in 1925 and 1926. His projects show that those involved were greatly influenced by their twentieth-century, modernist counterparts, but also by late-nineteenthcentury political economists and utopian visionaries from Britain and the United States.
Using Twitter in the Marketing and Advertising Classroom to Develop Skills for Social Media Marketing and Personal Branding

As use of social media continues to grow, there is evidence that student skills in social media marketing are inadequate to meet the needs of potential employers and that student skills in the prof...
Representation of Linear Viscoelastic Behavior by Mathematical Models

The representations discussed in the preceding three chapters are all related to the Boltzmann superposition principle which forms the analytic basis of the theory of linear viscoelastic behavior. In this chapter we discuss the representation of such behavior by empirical mathematical models which bear no relationship to the superposition principle. These models are useful when it is desired to describe linear viscoelastic behavior qualitatively by a small, easily manageable, number of parameters. The standard linear solid and liquid models satisfy the latter requirement but they do not model the distribution of respondance times so characteristic of viscoelastic behavior.
Disney, Pixar, and Neoliberal Nostalgia

Disney fantasy via restorative nostalgia long after Walt Disney’s death, Michael Eisner’s resignation, and Robert Iger’s tenure as CEO. Though representations of race, gender, and class have evolved since the first iterations of the “golden era,” Disney fantasy-as-ideology speaks to the unconscious as it manifests itself as language, discourse, culture, and social practice. Chapter 6 advances interpretations and analyses of Pixar Studio films like Monsters, Inc. and Wall-E, along with recent Disney films, including Frozen and Zootopia. Disney fantasy celebrates not only restorative nostalgia and its reactionary narratives about order, power, and the past; it also codifies subjugation in three ways: first, as a narrative arc in which the main character’s ultimate growth is symbolized as a willing subjugation to the Father and the Law; second, as a “public pedagogy” that hails the child-subject’s gaze and offers the film’s main character as the object of identification; and finally, the main character’s subjugation to the Father and the Law symbolizes precisely the real, material relations of power Disney fantasy teaches: subjugation as freedom, submission as agency.
Peer mentor versus teacher delivery of a physical activity program on the effects of BMI and daily activity: protocol of a school-based group randomized controlled trial in Appalachia.

Rural Appalachian populations have poorer health and fewer positive health-related behaviors compared to other United States populations. Appalachians are the most sedentary U.S. population and teens are particularly sedentary. Obesity prevention through improving physical activity is a top priority in Rural Healthy People 2020. Obesity prevalence among Appalachian teens exceeds the national rates of 13.9% and has consistently been greater than 26%. Organized sports has not been effective at improving daily physical activity or health outcomes for Appalachian teens. The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of a 10-week school-based intervention in promoting self-regulation of physical activity among adolescents not participating in organized sports. By using accelerometers, our study will measure both sedentary time and planned exercise during waking hours. The design for this four-year study is a group-randomized controlled trial (G-RCT). We will recruit high schools in 3 waves, with 4 in Wave 1, 8 in Wave 2, and 8 in Wave 3, for a total of 20 schools. For each wave of schools, we will randomly assign half of the schools to each condition--intervention (peer-to-peer mentoring [MBA]) and comparison (teacher-led [PBA])--for a total of 10 schools in each of the two conditions by study’s end. We will collect data at baseline (T1), 3 months post intervention (T2), and 6 months post intervention (T3). Linear Mixed Models (LMMs) and Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) will be used to test the main hypotheses. Power for this study was based the primary analysis comparing BMI outcomes at T2 between the groups, adjusting for baseline BMI values. This study provides age-appropriate lifestyle education and skill building. Peer-to-peer mentoring by local high school students and school-based tailored support strengthens sustainable behavioral change. Focusing on unique healthy-lifestyle challenges prevalent in low-resource areas such as Appalachia such as overcoming environmental, social, and psychological barriers may improve adherence to physical activity. Serving as role models, peer mentors may improve their own lifestyle behaviors, providing a dual intervention. NCT02329262 .