cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Curriculum bias and reading achievement test performance

The overlap of words specifically taught in reading textbooks with the contents of standardized reading achievement tests may be a source of bias that is frequently overlooked in psychoeducational assessments. This study compares the standardized achievement test performance of 62 second graders receiving instruction in two different reading curricula (Open Court and Houghton-Mifflin) to determine whether either curriculum generates different quantitative estimates of reading achievement. Reading subtest scores derived from the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement-Brief Form (K-TEA), the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (WRAT-R), and the Reading Recognition and Reading Comprehension subtests from the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) were examined. Grade level equivalents and scaled scores from the California Achievement Test (CAT) were also examined. Three Curriculum × Test repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted using grade level scores (2×7), standard scores (2×4), and CAT scaled scores (2 × 5) as dependent measures. A significant Curriculum × Test interaction was identified, suggesting differences among tests in estimates of reading ability as a function of the reading program.
The effect of additive outliers on the forecasts from ARIMA models

Assume that a time series of length n = T+k includes an additive outlier at time T and suppose this fact is ignored in the estimation of the coefficients and the calculation of the forecasts. In this paper we derive the resulting increase in the mean square of the l-step-ahead forecast error. We show that this increase is due to (i) a carry-over effect of the outlier on the forecast, and (ii) a bias in the estimates of the autoregressive and moving average coefficients. Looking at several special cases we find that this increase is rather small provided that the outlier occurs not too close to the forecast origin. In such cases the point forecasts are largely unaffected. Our conclusion concerning the width of the prediction intervals is different, however. Since outliers in a time series inflate the estimate of the innovation variance, we find that the estimated prediction intervals are quite sensitive to additive outliers.
The safety of misoprostol

TITLE: The Safety of Misoprostol AUTHOR: Anke Hemmerling, MD, MPH Bixby Fellow of Population and International Health University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health 513 Warren Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-6390 Email: anke@berkeley.edu Misoprostol, Safety, Post Partum Hemorrhage KEYWORDS: Misoprostol is currently on the WHO Essential Drug List for treatment of gastric ulcers, for induced abortion in combination with mifepristone, and more recently for induction of labor. The WHO will review its role as an essential drug for control of post partum hemorrhage (PPH) in early 2007. Relevant data on the safety of misoprostol has been accumulated since the introduction of the drug in the late 1980s. Since then, millions of individuals worldwide have used up to four tablets (800 mcg) daily for treatment and prevention of gastric ulcer. Multi-center trials following thousands of users [1, 2], as well as a review of the worldwide safety data [3] and a Cochrane Review in 2002 [4] failed to report any misoprostol related deaths or side effects severe enough to demand the cessation of treatment. Common side effects for long term misoprostol users with gastric ulcers were the same as seen in some women treated for PPH – and include chills, fever, diarrhea and nausea. Four cases of acute toxicity after accidental or intentional overdose with misoprostol are described in the peer-reviewed literature, two of them in women beyond 30 weeks of pregnancy. [5-8] After ingesting a large number of misoprostol tablets, sometimes mixed with other medication, tachycardia, nausea and abdominal pain and, in some cases, hyperthermia was reported, although the authors of these reports emphasize the complete resolution with supportive care within 12 hours. Bentov [7] concludes that his case of overdose with 42 tablets (8.4 mg) over three days “illustrates the relative safety of the drug”. The literature also reports one case of severe hyperthermia post partum reaching 41.9 C following a normal dose of 800 mcg of oral misoprostol and requiring intensive supportive care. [9] Although no other extreme cases of severe hyperpyrexia are reported, several studies on PPH using oral misoprostol of 400-600 mcg describe transient pyrexia of 38 degrees Celsius
Pilipino American Identity Development Model

This article examines the identity development of F/Pilipino Americans. Because of a distinct history and culture that differentiates them from other Asian groups, F/Pilipino Americans may experience a different ethnic identity development than other Asian Americans. A nonlinear 6-stage ethnic identity development model is proposed to promote proper therapeutic treatment. Este articulo examina el desarrollo de la identidad de los f/filipino-americanos. Debido a una historia y una cultura distinta que los hace diferenciar de otros grupos asiaticos, los f/filipino-americanos pueden experimentar un desarrollo de identidad etnica distinto al de otros grupos asiatico-americanos. Se propone un modelo de desarrollo de identidad etnica no-lineal de seis etapas, para promover el tratamiento terapeutico apropiado.
Drug company gifts to medical students: the hidden curriculum

Policies to restrict promotional gifts to students seem to affect later prescribing behavior
On the restriction of processes by the Clausius-Duhem inequality

Die thermodynamische Theorie von Coleman und Noll wird durch die Annahme erweitert, dass die Ungleichung von Clausius-Duhem sowohl Prozesse wie auch Stoffgleichungen einschrankt. Diese verallgemeinerte Interpretation der Clausius-Duhem-Ungleichung wird durch zwei Beispiele illustriert. Das erste bildet den Rahmen fur eine Plastizitatstheorie, in der die Einschrankung der Prozesse sich als ebenso wesentlich herausstellt wie diejenige der Stoffgleichung.
Primary care physician supply, insurance type, and late-stage cancer diagnosis.

Background Understanding the joint effects of insurance type and primary care physician density on stage at diagnosis is essential to elucidating the healthcare access and late-stage cancer relationship. Purpose To determine if the relationship between primary care physician density and odds of late-stage cancer are modified by insurance type at diagnosis. Methods Case patients were Ohio adults diagnosed between 1996 and 2008 with cancer of one of the following sites: female breast, cervix, colon/rectum, lung/bronchus, melanoma of the skin, oral cavity and pharynx, or prostate ( N =376,425). County-level physician density was obtained from the Ohio Department of Health. Multilevel logistic regression models estimated odds ratios of late-stage cancer diagnosis associated with increases in primary care physician density by insurance type. Analyses were conducted in 2014. Results Decreases in late-stage diagnosis of cancers of the breast, prostate, melanoma of the skin, oral cavity and pharynx, or lung/bronchus associated with increases in primary care physician density were strongest among those with private insurance, whereas those with Medicare (prostate, oral cavity and pharynx, lung/bronchus), Medicaid (lung/bronchus), uninsured (prostate), and other/unknown (prostate, oral cavity and pharynx, lung/bronchus) did not benefit as greatly, or experienced significant increases in late-stage cancer diagnosis (other/unknown [female breast], Medicaid [melanoma of the skin], and uninsured [colon/rectum]). Conclusions As primary care physician density increases, those with private insurance consistently benefit the most in terms of late-stage cancer diagnosis, whereas those with several other insurance types experience flatter decreases or significantly higher odds of late-stage cancer diagnosis.
New measurements of the Raman and the IR spectrum of K2Cr2O7

Abstract Raman spectra of a monocrystal of K 2 Cr 2 O 7 and a water solution of K 2 Cr 2 O 7 have been excited with a 6-mW He-Ne laser, 6328A, and new bands and bands splittings have been observed. The far- ir spectrum of the crystal powder in a polyethylene matrix has been obtained from 400–40 cm −1 and six new bands are recorded. In the monocrystal three new Raman bands are seen at 130 cm −1 , 564 cm −1 and 744 cm −1 . The Raman bands observed in the monocrystal correlate well with the earlier ir data up to 556 cm −1 .
Premodern Flows in Postmodern China: Globalization and the Sipsongpanna Tais

At this time, word arrived that the Lord Buddha had descended from the heavens to live among people, and that he had brought with him good fortune, wisdom, and a written alphabet. Thereupon, everyone went to the Lord Buddha to request the written alphabet. The different ethnic groups each took their own tools for preserving the alphabet: Hans took paper, Tais took palm leaves, and Akhas took buffalo hides.' They followed the same route, climbing mountains and fording rivers, traveling many months and years before they finally arrived at the sacred mountain where the Lord Buddha preached to the people. Together they kneeled before the Lord Buddha and requested the alphabet. The Lord Buddha wrote the same alphabet on the paper, palm leaves, and buffalo hides. As the people returned, they swam across rivers. The currents were strong and rapid, the waves surged to and fro, the paper brought by the Hans was soaked through, and the letters on the paper changed to resemble bird scratches; [as for] the buffalo hides the Akha had brought, because they got hungry along the way, they [the Akha] roasted and ate the buffalo hides. Only the letters that were carved on the palm leaves, which were not affected when wet and could not be roasted and eaten, preserved the form of the alphabet given by the Lord
Unit‐cell dilation in model ethylene copolymers

Single crystals of model ethylene copolymers have been grown in dilute solution. The effects of narrow molecular weith distribution (MWD) and a perfectly random distribution of ethyl branches (ca. 17 per 1000 main-chain carbon atoms) on the unit cell of this ethylene copolymer analog were examined. X-ray diffraction on dried powder samples revealed expansions of up to 1.5% in a and 0.5% in b. a increased as a mild function of molecular weight; the dependence of b on MW was not as clearly defined. Electron diffraction studies on isolated suspensiongrown single crystals yielded lattice parameters much more strongly expanded. The large expansion in the basal plane of the unit cell is hypothesized to be accompanied by a fore-shortening of the projected c-axis distance. This is accomplished by and orthorhombic-to-hexagonal polymorphic transformation in which the chains are hypothesized to adopt a disordered helical conformation. The driving force for this transformation is electron irradiation damage of the single-crystal specimens. The rapidity of the transformation is believed to be due to the model polyethylene crystals being in a higher-energy, defect-containing condition prior to irradiation.
A real-time malleable molecular surface

Abstract We describe a method for generating a molecular surface using a parametric patch representation. Unlike previous methods, this algorithm generates a parametric patch surface which is smooth and G1 continuous and manipulable in real-time. Crucial to our approach is the creation of a net of approximately equilateral triangles from which we generate the control points used as the basis for describing the surface. We present in detail the method used for generating the triangular net and accompanying control points, along with examples of the resulting surfaces.
Early undernutrition and later hippocampal damage: Effects on spontaneous behaviors and reversal learning

Rats from dams that were well fed or underfed (50% food reduction) during lactation received either large lesions of the dorsal hippocampus or sham operations at 60 days of age. The animals then were tested for open-field behavior, spontaneous alternation, spontaneous exploration, and spatial discrimination reversal learning. Main effects of nutrition were found in the open field and on the spatial learning and reversal tasks, as well as in body weight, eye opening, and time of appearance of body hair. Significant lesion effects were found in the open field and on spontaneous alternation and reversal learning. In contrast to two earlier studies, early diet had little effect on the response to later brain damage. These data show that the finding that early diet can affect the behavioral response to focal brain damage later in life may not generalize across all experimental conditions.
Second language pronunciation: State of the art in instruction

Abstract The state of the art in teaching pronunciation is the topic of this article. Section 2 discusses types of competencies second language learners must gain to communicate with intelligible pronunciation. These include stress (loudness, pitch, and vowel length), rhythm, linking and assimilation, and sounds (vowels, consonants, and consonant clusters). Section 3 asks the question, “Should nativelike pronunciation be a goal?,” and answers that question by discussing instructional, social, psychological, and maturational factors affecting development of language skills. Section 4 offers a research-based approach to teaching pronunciation based on the foregoing information.
Observations of near-inertial current variability on the New England shelf

[1] Observations from the Coastal Mixing and Optics (CMO) moored array (deployed from August 1996 through June 1997) and supplemental moored observations are used to describe near-inertial current variability over the New England shelf. Near-inertial band current variance comprises 10–20% of the total observed current variance, and has episodic peak speeds exceeding 30 cm s−1. Near-inertial current variability during CMO is characterized by a first baroclinic mode vertical structure with one zero-crossing between 15 and 50 m. The zero-crossing is shallower during periods of stronger stratification. Laterally, near-inertial variability is coherent over the extent of the CMO moored array, and cross-shelf decorrelation scales for near-inertial currents are about 100 km, approximately the entire shelf width. The magnitude of near-surface near-inertial variability is stronger in the summer and weaker in the winter, following the seasonal variation in stratification and opposite the seasonal cycle in wind stress variance. During CMO, near-surface near-inertial kinetic energy is inversely related to surface mixed layer depth. Near-inertial variance decreases onshore, matching approximately the cross-shelf decrease in near-inertial energy predicted by a two-dimensional, linear, flat-bottom, two-layer, coastal wall model. In this model, the nullifying effects of a baroclinic wave emanating from the coastal wall play a dominant role in controlling the onshore decrease. Finally, strong persistent anticyclonic relative vorticity shifts near-inertial variability on the New England shelf to subinertial frequencies.
Simulation of circular patch antenna on a sphere using the conformal finite difference time domain (CFDTD) algorithm

The conformal finite difference time domain (CFDTD) algorithm is employed in this paper to simulate the radiation and impedance characteristics of circular microstrip patches mounted on a spherical surface. Numerical results not only demonstrate its versatility, but the accuracy and numerical efficiency of the CFDTD method as well.
New decomposition of the S matrix for multichannel resonant collisions.

The usual decomposition of the multichannel scattering matrix near an isolated, narrow resonance is given as a sum of a direct and resonant part. The direct part of the S matrix which describes the background scattering is regular and unitary. The resonant part features a pole at the complex resonance energy, and both its magnitude and phase change rapidly as the energy varies. Given the S matrix, it is often a cumbersome task to extract the resonance energy and partial widths from the usual decomposition. We propose a new decomposition (which is related to the usual one) that overcomes this difficulty. The new resonant part is a complete analog of the single-channel S matrix. Its magnitude is constant and its phase jumps by 2..pi.. as the energy passes through the resonance. The resonant time delays for each state-to-state transition are independent of the channel indices, and exhibit the same Lorentzian shape from which the resonance energy and total width are readily obtained. The square of the magnitude of the resonant S-matrix elements are the state-to-state transition probabilities of the resonant scattering and are expressed in terms of the channel partial widths. The applicability of the proposed decomposition is demonstrated inmore » a coupled-channel study of multichannel resonances in H-CO collisions using a global ab initio potential-energy surface.« less
Investing in substance abuse research: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation story

3. 1991–1999: Working toward the substance abuse goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S6 3.1. Healthy Nations: Reducing Substance Abuse among Native Americans (1991) . . . . . . S6 3.2. SmokeLess States: Statewide Tobacco Prevention and Control Initiatives (1993) . . . . . S6 3.3. Tobacco Policy Research Program (1993)/Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (1996). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S6 3.4. A Matter of Degree: Reducing High-risk Drinking among College Students (1996). . . . S7 3.5. The Center for Tobacco-Free Kids (1996). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S7 3.6. Addressing Tobacco in Managed Care (1997) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S7 3.7. Reducing Underage Drinking through Community and State Coalitions (1997) . . . . . . S7
NEUROLOGIC MANIFESTATIONS OF HIV INFECTION

A wide spectrum of central and peripheral nervous system abnormalities may be associated with HIV infection. These disorders may be caused by HIV infection, result as secondary complications related to immunosuppression, or be a neurotoxic effect of therapeutic agents. The range of neurologic disorders includes dementia, focal cerebral mass lesions, myelopathy, peripheral neuropathies, and myopathy. Early diagnosis and therapy is critical, and may result in substantial improvement in patients' quality and quantity of life. This article reviews the approach to differential diagnosis of these neurologic disorders and presents theories of pathogenesis and current approaches to treatment.
Evaluation of Ge(Li) Compton suppression spectrometers for non-destructive radiochemical analysis

Ge(Li) Compton suppression spectrometers are evaluated relative to the specific needs of the analytical radiochemist. Their application to the analysis of radionuclides found in neutron activation, fission product, and environmental radionuclide analyses is discussed.
Determining body composition by radiation absorption spectrometry

Fat lean cellular and bone mineral mass determination in living bodies, using radiation absorption spectrometry
Aymara forms of walking: a linguistic anthropological reflection on the relation between language and motion

Based on ethnographic case studies in the Bolivian Altiplano (highlands) this article examines the relationship between language and movement. In doing so, I include three levels of analysis. I first identify two forms of analysis corresponding to cognitive linguistics and phenomenology. I derive a third level of analysis from my case studies. The richness of Aymara expression on walking manifests the need to understand the ways in which walkers exploit and suffer the world. In this regard walking involves physical displacement, knowledge of the world, and the endurance of the body. The ethnographic case-studies call for an understanding of the ways the body exploits and suffers the physical and affective constraints of walking: for example, age, traces of labor, habits, health, terrain, fatigue, boredom, and so on.
Bone regeneration in the rat mandible with bone morphogenetic protein-2: a comparison of two carriers.

Objective To compare mandibular bone regeneration with bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) delivered with two carriers: a hyaluronic acid polymer (HY), and a collagen carrier complexed with calcium hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate (collagen/HA/TCP). Study design Defects were created in the bilateral mandibular bodies of 16 Sprague-Dawley rats. The defects were filled with the HY carrier, the HY carrier loaded with BMP-2, the collagen/HA/TCP carrier, or the collagen/HA/TCP carrier loaded with BMP-2. Animals were euthanatized after 6 weeks, and the hemi-mandibles were analyzed histomorphologically. Results Specimens containing BMP-2 had significantly larger new bone and marrow volumes than control specimens. Specimens in the hyaluronan/BMP-2 group tended to have larger volumes of new bone and osteoid than collagen/HA/TCP/BMP-2 specimens, though these differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion The HY and collagen/HA/TCP carriers had comparable efficacy for bone healing with BMP-2. Significance Bone morphogenetic proteins can be delivered with commercially available alloplasts as osteogenic bone substitutes for the repair of craniofacial bone defects. EBM rating: B-2.
The diameter of a zero divisor graph

Let R be a commutative ring and let Z(R)∗ be its set of nonzero zero divisors. The set Z(R)∗ makes up the vertices of the corresponding zero divisor graph, Γ(R), with two distinct vertices forming an edge if the product of the two elements is zero. The distance between vertices a and b (not necessarily distinct from a) is the length of the shortest path connecting them, and the diameter of the graph, diam(Γ(R)), is the sup of these distances. For a reduced ring R with nonzero zero divisors, 1⩽diam(Γ(R))⩽diam(Γ(R[x]))⩽diam(Γ(R〚x〛))⩽3. A complete characterization for the possible diameters is given exclusively in terms of the ideals of R. A similar characterization is given for diam(Γ(R)) and diam(Γ(R[x])) when R is nonreduced. Various examples are provided to illustrate the difficulty in dealing with the power series ring over a nonreduced ring.
Seductions of Criminology: Katz on Magical Meanness and Other Distractions

Seductions of Crime is an important book, not because it resolves the problems of theoretical criminology (it does not) but because it pressures criminologists to reconsider their assumptions and methods-and their politics. Katz identifies conceptual and methodological shortcomings in much criminological research, but his own work exemplifies some of the distractions that limit the scope and power of our inquiries. The major premise is that traditional criminology has failed to explain criminal behavior because social "background" variables (class, ethnicity, etc.) have been treated as if they directly caused individual behavior. (Merton's anomie theory is especially criticized as the prototype of such theorizing.) Katz argues that research stemming from traditional theories has consequently been off target, characterized by a "background to foreground" approach unable to get at the motivational dynamics of actual individuals electing to commit deviant acts. The meaning of deviance for
CONTEXT SPECIFICITY OF CONDITIONED‐REINFORCEMENT EFFECTS ON DISCRIMINATION ACQUISITION

Pigeons were trained on a series of reversals of a simultaneous form discrimination in which the trial outcomes were separated from the choice responses by an 8-s delay interval. Different conditions were defined by the stimuli occurring during the two halves of the delay interval. Discrimination learning was greatly facilitated by having differential stimuli during the delay following correct versus incorrect choices. When the differential stimuli appeared only at the midpoint of the delay, some facilitation occurred relative to when no different stimuli occurred, but there was substantially less facilitation than when the differential stimuli occurred immediately contingent on choice. A reversed-stimulus condition, in which the stimulus at the onset of the delay following a correct choice was the same as that during the last segment of the delay following an incorrect choice, and the stimulus at the onset of the delay following an incorrect choice was the same as that preceding food during the last segment of the delay following a correct choice, also facilitated discrimination learning relative to the nondifferential stimulus conditions.
Joint estimation of glottal source and vocal tract for vocal synthesis using Kalman smoothing and EM algorithm

In this paper, a joint parameter estimation of the derivative glottal source waveform and the vocal tract filter is presented where aspiration noise and observation noise are taken into account within a state-space model. The Rosenberg-Klatt glottal model is used in conjunction with an all-pole filter to model voice production. The EM algorithm is employed to iteratively estimate the model parameters in a maximum-likelihood sense, utilizing a Kalman smoother in the expectation step. The model and estimator allow for improved estimates of model parameters for resynthesis, yielding an output which sounds natural and remains flexible for modification, a desirable property for expressive vocal synthesis.
Attribute Grammars and their Applications

N ::= 0 N.val = 0 N ::= 1 N.val = 1 N ::= N0 Nl.val = 2 * N val N ::= N1 Nl.val = 2 * N val + 1 An attribute grammar involving only synthesized attributes is called an S-attributed grammar. It is straightforward to parse a binary string using this grammar and then compute the value of the string using a simple top-down left-to-right traversal of the abstract syntax tree. The above attribute grammar is not unique. One can construct a different S-attributed grammar for the same language and the same semantics as follows.
Keyswitch orientation can reduce finger joint torques during tapping on a computer keyswitch.

Objective: To examine the effects of keyswitch orientation on joint torques. Background: The fingertip produces primarily vertical forces during single-finger tapping on a computer keyswitch. However, horizontal force components within the sagittal plane of the finger could reduce net joint torques. Method: Eleven participants tapped on a keyswitch oriented in three directions: vertical, tilted 30° such that when pressed it moved away from the user (similar to a positive-tilt keyboard), and tilted 30° such that when pressed it moved toward the user (similar to a negative-tilt keyboard). Participants also tapped on a prototype cantilever keyswitch design in which the key cap moves along the arc of a bending beam gradually away from the user. Miniature electro-optical goniometers measured the finger posture, and a two-axis force sensor measured fingertip forces. Results: Tapping on a keyswitch oriented such that it moves away from the user when pressed reduced net joint torques by 47% relative to tapping on...
Collaborative training with a more experienced partner: remediating low pretraining self-efficacy in complex skill acquisition.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effectiveness of collaborative training for individuals with low pretraining self-efficacy versus individuals with high pretraining self-efficacy regarding the acquisition of a complex skill that involved strong cognitive and psychomotor demands. BACKGROUND: Despite support for collaborative learning from the educational literature and the similarities between collaborative learning and interventions designed to remediate low self-efficacy, no research has addressed how self-efficacy and collaborative learning interact in contexts concerning complex skills and human-machine interactions. METHOD: One hundred fifty-five young male adults trained either individually or collaboratively with a more experienced partner on a complex computer task that simulated the demands of a dynamic aviation environment. Participants also completed a task-specific measure of self-efficacy before, during, and after training. RESULTS: Collaborative training enhanced skill acquisition significantly more for individuals with low pretraining self-efficacy than for individuals with high pretraining self-efficacy. However, collaborative training did not bring the skill acquisition levels of those persons with low pretraining self-efficacy to the levels found for persons with high pretraining self-efficacy. Moreover, tests of mediation suggested that collaborative training may have enhanced appropriate skill development strategies without actually raising self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: Although collaborative training can facilitate the skill acquisition process for trainees with low self-efficacy, future research is needed that examines how the negative effects of low pretraining self-efficacy on complex skill acquisition can be more fully remediated. APPLICATION: The differential effects of collaborative training as a function of self-efficacy highlight the importance of person analysis and tailoring training to meet differing trainee needs. Language: en
Graph coloring algorithms for fast evaluation of Curtis decompositions

Finding the minimum column multiplicity for a bound set of variables is an important problem in Curtis decomposition. To investigate this problem, we compared two graph coloring programs: one exact, and another one based on heuristics which can give, however, provably exact results on some types of graphs. These programs were incorporated into the multi-valued decomposer MVGUD. We proved that the exact graph coloring is not necessary for high-quality functional decomposers. Thus we improved by orders of magnitude the speed of the column multiplicity problem, with very little or no sacrifice of decomposition quality. Comparison of our experimental results with competing decomposers shows that for nearly all benchmarks our solutions are best and time is usually not too high.
NSF budget revisions

The revised FY 1981 budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF) reduces the agency's request by 6.9%. According to the first detailed information on cuts that has been released by the agency, the original budget of $1.148 billion will be reduced to $1.074 billion. An additional $18 million, for applied research, is to be deferred from the FY 1980 request until a later time. As a result, Engineering and Applied Sciences will be shorn of $9.5 million; the remaining $8.5 million is spread over most other programs.
Categorization and Naming: Basic-Level Sorting in Eighteen-Month-Olds and Its Relation to Language

2 studies investigate whether 18-month-old children spontaneously sort objects into basic-level categories, and how this ability is related to naming. In Study 1, 18-month-old children were given spontaneous sorting tasks, involving both identical objects and objects with basic-level intracategory variation. Children were scored as having passed the tasks if they produced “exhaustive grouping,” that is, physically grouped all the objects of one kind into one location and the objects of the other kind into a different location. The children also received means-ends and object-permanence tasks. Children's parents received a checklist of early names. Children who produced exhaustive grouping used significantly more names than those who did not, in both identical and basic-level cases. There was no such relation between object-permanence and naming or between means-ends performance and naming. In Study 2, children received arrays of the same objects, with either identical objects or objects with basic-level variation in each group. No significant differences were found between the identical and basic-level tasks. However, as in the previous task, performance on both types of categorization was related to naming. Children who produced exhaustive grouping were reported to produce more names than those who did not. There appears to be a close relation between object categorization and naming in young children. The theoretical implications of this empirical association are discussed.
Ultrasensitive protein detection in blood serum using gold nanoparticle probes by single molecule spectroscopy

A one-step rapid and ultrasensitive immunoas- say capable of detecting proteins in blood serum is devel- oped using gold nanoprobes and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy FCS. In this approach we take advantage of the inherent photoluminescence property of gold nanopar- ticles GNPs to develop a fluorophore-free assay to ob- serve binding entities by monitoring the diffusion of bound versus unbound molecules in a limited confocal volume. 40-nm GNPs conjugated separately with rabbit anti-IgG Fc and goat anti-IgG Fab when incubated in blood se- rum containing IgG forms a sandwich structure constitut- ing dimers and oligomers that can be differentiated by to detect IgG in blood serum at a limit of detection LOD of 5p g/ml. The novelty of integrating GNPs with FCS to de- velop a sensitive blood immunoassay brings single mol- ecule methods one step closer to the clinic. © 2009 Society of
Invasive species threats to native aquatic insect biodiversity and conservation measures in Hawai’i and French Polynesia

Impacts of invasive species, and of attempts to control them, on the aquatic invertebrate fauna of Hawaii and French Polynesia are reviewed and discussed, as a foundation for determining conservation need. Aquatic insects are poorly documented in the region, with many species undescribed, so that practical conservation must be pursued with highly incomplete basic taxonomic knowledge. The establishment of at least one dedicated reserve for aquatic invertebrates is recommended for each high island in an archipelago, as an aid to safeguarding local endemic species, and other recommendations include increased monitoring for new alien species (particularly of fish), planning for removal of alien species from selected water bodies where alien species are less likely to recolonize, effective protection of key sites with high biodiversity value, and securing sites for future restoration and translocation or rare and endangered species.
Modeling the 3D Rotational and Translational Motion of Magnets over a Conducting Guideway using a Combined Field and Lumped-Parameter Model

The rotation of radial positioned magnets over a thin aluminum sheet or ladder guideway induces currents in the guideway that can simultaneously create thrust and lift forces. The uses of a flat split-guideway topology can also generate guidance forces when offset from the center. The magnetic rotor that creates these forces has been termed an electrodynamic wheel (EDW) and maybe useful for realizing the goal of creating a low cost high-speed maglev vehicle. Additional guidance force can be obtained by turning the EDW, as with a car. The use of a Halbach rotor is necessary in order to create sufficient lift force.
Peritoneal Washings After Power Morcellation in Laparoscopic Myomectomy: A Pilot Study

Abstract Study Objective To evaluate if peritoneal washings of the abdominopelvic cavity during laparoscopic myomectomy can detect leiomyoma cells after power morcellation. Design Prospective cohort pilot study. Setting University of North Carolina Hospitals, an academic, tertiary referral center (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). Patients Patients undergoing laparoscopic or robotic myomectomy for suspected benign leiomyoma by members of the Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery division between September 2014 and January 2015. Intervention Washings of the peritoneal cavity were collected at 3 times during surgery: the beginning of the procedure once the peritoneal cavity was accessed laparoscopically, after the myoma was excised and myometrial incision closed, and after uncontained power morcellation. Measurements and Main Results Twenty patients were included in the analysis. The median morcellation time was 16 minutes (range, 2–36). The median specimen weight was 283.5 g (range, 13–935). Cytologic evaluation (ThinPrep with Papanicolaou staining) did not detect any smooth muscle cells. Cell block histology, however, detected spindle cells in 6 postmorcellation samples. Three of these 6 cases also had spindle cells detected on the postmyomectomy closure samples. When performed on the postmorcellation samples, desmin and smooth muscle actin immunostaining were positive, confirming the presence of smooth muscle cells. Conclusion Cell block histology, but not cytology, can detect leiomyoma cells in peritoneal washings after power morcellation. With myomectomy, there is some tissue disruption that seems to cause cell spread even in the absence of morcellation. Further protocol testing might allow peritoneal washings to be used in assessing containment techniques and testing comparative safety of different morcellation methods.
Three-Step Model of Terrorist Violence

Terrorist violence is a distinct type of violence. It has a different design architecture than personal (suicide), interpersonal (murder, theft, assault), or collective (mob, riot, crowd) violence. Employing three primitives, the social roles of perpetrator, victim, and target, which can be distributed across different sets of individuals, one-step, two-step, and three-step models are derived as structural descriptions of personal, interpersonal/collective, and terrorist violence. Why the unique design properties of terrorist violence poses a problem for the present theory of collective violence is also discussed.
The Physics of an Optimized Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle

An optimized stroke path for a flapping wing micro air vehicle in hover is studied. A flapping plate in quiescent flow is used as the basis for the study. The body is modeled as a thin two-dimensional flat plate and is represented as a collection of discrete vortices. Unsteady effects, including leading-edge separation, are captured by vortex shedding. Singleparameter studies suggest an angle of incidence of approximately 40 is optimal for simple flapping motion. A more complex figure-eight stroke path with a fixed translational stroke and a variable angle of incidence based on B-splines is imposed. Using three B-splines, an optimal solution for the angle of incedence as a function of stroke path is presented. Small changes in design variables can yield local maxima which can challenge traditional gradient-based optimization techniques.
Reactions of Esters of Stearic Acid with Ethylenediamine in Alcoholic Solution

Each kind of the two esters of stearic acid and ethylenediamine (mole ratio 1 : 8) were refluxboiled together. As a resulf, it was made clear that the reactivity of each ester to ethylenediamine was different greatly by the kind of alcohol composing the ester and the chlorohydrin ester changed into the corresponding substituted amide more easily than the methyl ester. Several products obtained from the chlorohydrin ester were investigated.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy and Joint-replacement Surgery: Are We Making a Difference?

Outcomes for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have improved over the past decade, owing to recognition of the importance of a structured “treat-to-target” treatment protocol and of early treatment, in addition to increasing access to potent therapies. American College of Rheumatology response criteria, quality of life measures, and differences in radiographic progression have all been used as treatment endpoints to demonstrate improvement. Studies such as Grigor et al ’s TICORA and Verstappen et al ’s CAMERA clearly demonstrate that disease management protocols emphasizing tight control result in lower disease activity, more patients in remission, and less joint damage1,2. Initiation of therapy and achieving low disease activity early in the first year of disease has a major effect on clinical and radiographic outcomes years later3. Finally, initiating aggressive treatment after onset of RA and maintaining tight control is a feasible “real world” strategy4. These changes provide the backdrop for reports that confirm a clear decrease in orthopedic surgery of the upper extremity and soft tissue for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), although rates appear stable for total knee (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA)5,6. In this context, there is now greater interest in using rates of orthopedic surgery, and more specifically, arthroplasty as endpoints to indicate successful disease control in patients with RA. In this issue of The Journal Widdifield and colleagues describe 2 cohorts of incident RA patients over 66 years of age in Ontario and Quebec, and investigate the relationship between the use of methotrexate (MTX) and other disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy and the rate of arthroplasty7. The outcome of interest was … Address correspondence to Dr. S.M. Goodman, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th St., New York, New York 10021, USA. E-mail: goodmans{at}hss.edu
Adaption of Elisa for the Detection oCampylobacter Antibodies and its Application in Seroepidemiological Studies in Sheep and Cattle Herds

ELISA was adapted for the study of antigenic relations among important Campylobacters and for the presence of anti-campylo-bacter antibodies in 394 sheep and 265 cattle. Rabbit anti-C. jejuni, C. coli, G. fetus subsp. fetus and C. laridis heat-stable antigen sera were evaluated against 29 Campylobacter strains and 6 other bacteria. Anti-C. jejuni and G. coli reacted strongly with homologous antigens and weakly with C. fetus subsp. fetus, C. laridis and C. fecalis antigens. C. fetus subsp. fetus serum reacted mainly with its homologous antigen. C. laridis serum showed closer reactivity to C. jejuni than to C. fetus subsp. fetus, C. coli and C. fecalis. Insignificant cross-reactions were observed with Y. enterocolitica, S. dublin and E. aerogenes heat-stable antigens, Ewes vaccinated with C. fetus subsp. fetus bacterin showed higher ELISA titers against C. fetus subsp. fetus antigens than non-vaccinated ewes or rams. Twenty-five percent of the vaccinated animals showed titers as low as 95 % of the non-vaccinated animals. In cattle the lowest antibody titers against C. fetus subsp. fetus, C. jejuni, C. coli and C. laridis antigens were exhibited by the precolostrum sera followed by the postcolostrum and adult sera. These studies demonstrated the applicability of the ELISA test in seroepidemiological investigations concerning the distribution and significance of Campylobacter antibodies in food animal sera.
Imaging the Dorsal-Ventral Axis of Live and Fixed Drosophila melanogaster Embryos

Optimal imaging conditions are of critical importance in developmental biology, as much of the data in the discipline is acquired through microscopy. However, imaging deep sections of tissue, especially live tissue, can be a technical challenge due to light scattering and difficulties in mounting the sample. In particular, capturing high-quality images of dorsal-ventral cross sections requires "end-on" mounting to orient the anterior-posterior axis vertically. Here we present methods to mount and image dorsal-ventral cross sections of both live and fixed Drosophila melanogaster embryos. Our methods have the advantages of being rapid, allowing deep optical sections, and not requiring expensive, specialized equipment.
Readability of Patient Education Materials in Hand Surgery and Health Literacy Best Practices for Improvement.

Purpose This study aimed to update a portion of a 2008 study of patient education materials from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Web site with new readability results, to compare the results to health literacy best practices, and to make recommendations to the field for improvement. Methods A sample of 77 patient education documents were downloaded from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Web site, handcare.org, and assessed for readability using 4 readability tools. Mean readability grade-level scores were derived. Best practices for plain language for written health materials were compiled from 3 government agency sources. Results The mean readability of the 77 patient education documents in the study was 9.3 grade level. This reading level is reduced from the previous study in 2008 in which the overall mean was 10.6; however, the current sample grade level still exceeds recommended readability according to best practices. Conclusions Despite a small body of literature on the readability of patient education materials related to hand surgery and other orthopedic issues over the last 7 years, readability was not dramatically improved in our current sample. Using health literacy as a framework, improvements in hand surgery patient education may result in better understanding and better outcomes for patients seeing hand surgeons. Clinical relevance Improved understanding of patient education materials related to hand surgery may improve preventable negative outcomes that are clinically significant as well as contribute to improved quality of life for patients.
Cardiac Glycoside Interaction with Solubilized Myocardial Sodium- and Potassium-Dependent Adenosine Triphosphatase

Canine myocardial microsomal membranes were exposed under optimum binding conditions to 8 nM[3H]ouabain, a concentration producing only partial inhibition of the (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity in this preparation. Microsomal membrane components were then solubilized with the nonionic detergent Lubrol-WX. After centrifugation at 100,000 x g for 1 h and gel permeation chromatographiy on Sepharose 6B, [3H]ouabain was found exclusively in fractions containing (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity, and closely paralleled the enzyme activity profile. In Lubrol-solubilized preparations, bound [3H]ouabain penetrated the gel with a component of apparent molecular weight 600,000. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation and liquid isoelectric focusing of Lubrol-solubilized preparations also resulted in close correspondence between the presence of [3H]ouabain and (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity. Lubrol-solubilized (Na+ + K+)-ATPase interacted with ouabain in a manner similar to the membrane-bound enzyme, as judged by identical half-maximal inhibitory concentrations of 60 nM. Thus solubilization of myocardial microsomal membrane components resulted in preservation of ouabain binding and did not disclose any highaffinity receptor separable from (Na+ + K+)-ATPase by these techniques.