cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: Clinical Implementation in Individual Cardiovascular Risk Assessment

The approach briefly outlined in this chapter for obtaining accurate measurements of carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measurements is proposed for consideration in the practice of the SHAPE atherosclerosis-screening program. While this protocol is more detailed than some would prefer from a time and cost perspective, it provides a more valid and reliable estimate of risk in an individual subject than other protocols that focus on fewer anatomical segments, fewer ultrasonic interrogation angles, and on only the far (deeper) walls. Cost-effective analyses should be performed to determine if this protocol can be further condensed while maintaining the accuracy of the risk estimate for an individual patient. In summary, images of both near and far wall segments are optimized in sequence for measurement at each interrogation angle and anatomical site. A minimum of five complete cardiac cycles of images are stored for later offline measurement for each wall-angle-site combination. An examination with complete data will include a total of 36 carotid wall image sequences for measurement. As the sonographer reaches a high skill level, total scan time should not exceed 30 min. Before proceeding with the detailed examination of the carotid arteries, an initial rapid scan of the defined carotid segments is performed including a transverse scan of the entire 30 mm length. If one or more focal plaques greater than about 1.3–1.5 mm in thickness are observed, or consistent CIMT thickening greater than 1.2 mm is observed, the individual will have a mean CIMT exceeding the 95th percentile, corresponding to the very high-risk category of the SHAPE guideline. In such an individual, a detailed CIMT assessment may not required. A simple algorithm derived from results of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study is used to compute an estimate of absolute cardiovascular risk (percent chance of experiencing a heart attack or stroke within 10 years) from the composite mean CIMT calculation.
Statistical Mechanics and Ergodic Theory

The purpose of this chapter is to tie together a number of concepts that have been presented earlier. Stochastic models and information-theoretic quantities such as entropy are not disjoint concepts. They overlap nicely in the context of statistical mechanics, where stochastic models describe general classes of equations of motion of physical systems.
Interpregnancy interval and abnormally invasive placentation

Introduction The presence of a previous uterine scar is a strong risk factor for developing abnormally invasive placentation (AIP). We sought to determine whether a short interpregnancy interval predisposes to AIP. We hypothesized that a short interpregnancy interval after a previous cesarean delivery increases the risk of AIP in comparison with a longer interpregnancy interval. Material and methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of women with a histological diagnosis of AIP and a history of a previous cesarean section. Women were included in the control group if they had a previous cesarean section with a placenta underlying the previous uterine scar or an anterior previa. The time interval between pregnancy and AIP data was analyzed using the chi-square test and two-tailed Fisher's exact test. Results There was no statistical difference in the interpregnancy interval between women who had AIP vs the control group. Gravidity and parity were found to be significantly higher in the women with AIP vs the controls. Conclusions These results suggest that a short interpregnancy interval may not increase the risk of developing AIP.
Sustainable Affordable Housing

Sustainable real estate development is an essential component of intergenerational justice, in part because the real estate sector creates more than 20% of the world’s carbon emissions. Governments, recognizing that environmentally sustainable real estate development involves higher upfront costs, have encouraged green building by offering publicly funded incentives such as tax credits, grants, reduced approval fees, and streamlined permitting. Using market measurement innovations such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, investors can promote environmentally sustainable development by prioritizing real estate developers that embrace environmentally conscious practices. Even though real estate in general still underperforms in many other sectors in terms of its environmental sustainability, trends are encouraging. Commercial real estate has embraced green building as a concept, and the World Economic Forum predicts that approximately 55% of all new commercial properties in 2020 will be “built green.” The affordable housing sector, however, needs more than marginal governmental carrots and sticks to be able to implement sustainability practices. Environmental sustainability will elude affordable housing as long as it remains in its current, financially unsustainable state. Government housing assistance programs are unpredictable, underfunded, and may to some extent perpetuate rather than solve the problem of housing need. The nation’s supply of affordable housing is rapidly declining in quality as well as quantity, and rising housing costs and stagnant incomes mean that an ever-increasing number of lower-income households must devote an unsustainably high percentage of their income toward housing costs. Our affordable housing system cannot go green until the system stops operating in the red. Properly conceived, affordable sustainability of housing and sustainable affordability of housing are mutually enforcing concepts. Successful housing laws and policy must therefore find a way to achieve both.
The Politics of Propaganda in Contemporary Tyrannies

For centuries many tyrants have used their own version of propaganda to legitimize their rule and to preempt any opposition. In recent years, though, current tyrants have had to combine the more standard forms of propaganda with new, more radical approaches in order to maintain regime stability. Importantly, these tyrants have had to change their propaganda tactics so that they could deal with the emergence of multiple and widespread forms of communication controlled by the people rather than the tyranny itself. A threat emerges to tyrants in that the use of email, Facebook, Twitter, and other new media sources can counter official explanations of events and reveal the weaknesses, violence, or falsehoods of the tyranny. Hence tyrants must step up their own propaganda efforts as well as attempt to shut down the new communication technologies through a variety of ways. This paper thus evaluates the effectiveness of contemporary propaganda use by tyrants and their opposition, arguing that control over the regime ultimately rests with the faction who wins the propaganda battle. The paper investigates whether tyrants can attain regime stability by adopting and manipulating the same forms of communication used by their opponents or the people.
Sense of Filial Obligation and Caregiving Burdens Among Chinese Immigrants in the United States.

Background/objectives Focusing on Chinese immigrants, this study examined (1) whether filial obligation, the core social norm in the Chinese culture, is related to caregiving burdens; and (2) whether level of acculturation of the caregivers moderates the above relationships. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Chicago, Illinois. Participants A purposive sample of 393 Chinese adult immigrants who were primary caregivers of parents aged 60 years or older. Measures Sense of filial obligation was captured by felt responsibility toward parents in six domains (respect, make happy, care, greet, obey, and provide financial support). Caregiving burdens were measured by the Caregiver Burden Inventory. Acculturation was measured by 12 questions about respondents' language preference in different settings and ethnicity of individuals they interact with. Results A stronger sense of filial obligation was significantly associated with lower levels of developmental (β = -.15), emotional (β = -.18), social (β = -.20), and physical (β = -.10) burdens. For subjective burdens (developmental, social burdens), such a protective effect of filial obligation was stronger among caregivers with lower acculturation levels. For more objective burdens (time-dependent, physical burdens), stronger filial obligation was actually associated with greater burdens among caregivers with higher acculturation levels. Conclusion Programs focusing on celebrating the cultural heritage of immigrants and improving the relationship between the parents and children may be helpful to reduce caregiving burdens. Intervention programs that help Chinese immigrant caregivers to find the most appropriate way to balance traditional and new social norms are important to provide successful care to aging Chinese immigrants. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:S564-S570, 2019.
Sparse Point Registration

This work introduces a Sparse Point Registration (SPR) method for performing robust registration given the geometric model of the object and few sparse point-measurements (<20) of the object’s surface. Such a method is of critical importance in applications such as probing-based surgical registration, manipulation, etc. Our approach for SPR is iterative and in each iteration, the current best pose estimate is perturbed to generate several poses. Among the generated poses, the best pose as evaluated by an inexpensive cost function is used to estimate the locally optimum registration. This process is repeated, until the pose converges within a tolerance bound. Two variants of the SPR are developed: deterministic (dSPR) and probabilistic (pSPR). Compared to the pSPR, the dSPR is faster in converging to the local optimum, and requires fewer parameters to be tuned. On the other hand, the pSPR provides uncertainty information in addition to the registration estimate. Both the approaches were evaluated using various standard data sets and the compared to results obtained using state-of-the-art methods. Upon comparison with other methods, both dSPR and pSPR were found to be robust to initial pose errors as well as noise in measurements. The effectiveness of the approach is also demonstrated with an application of robot-probing based registration.
Pre- and post-operative counseling for women on hormonal contraceptives receiving sugammadex at an academic hospital

Sugammadex is a steroid binder and can potentially bind the estrogens and progestins contained within hormonal contraception. Therefore, the FDA label for sugammadex contains a drug-drug interaction warning between this medication and hormonal contraception, advising that women taking hormonal contraception use a backup contraceptive method or abstinence for seven days after exposure to sugammadex. However, given concerns that this warning may not be appropriately provided to at-risk patients, we conducted a retrospective chart review to identify women administered sugammadex while using hormonal contraception to identify documented counseling on this drug-drug interaction prior to implementation of a formalized counseling process. We reviewed 1000 randomly selected charts from the University of Colorado Hospital between January 2016 and December 2017. We identified 134 women using hormonal contraception at the time of sugammadex exposure; only one patient (0.7%, 95% CI 0.0, 4.1) had documented counseling. One patient had an unintended pregnancy within the same cycle as her exposure to sugammadex. Improved counseling processes are needed to avoid unnecessary risk for unintended pregnancies.
Food and Society at Real Alto, an Early Formative Community in Southwest Coastal Ecuador

We investigated foodways at Real Alto, an early Formative (4400–1800 BC) Valdivia site in coastal Ecuador, using starch and phytoliths recovered from 50 stone tools from three residential and two ceremonial structures, as well as 46 human dental calculus samples, to explore how food reflects the social relationships and economy of the community. Maize was important in daily meals and ceremonial foods by the Middle Valdivia (2800–2400 BC), but it was only one component of an agricultural system that included yuca, arrowroot, lleren, canna, yam, jackbean, squash, gourd, chili, and cotton. Ceremonial and everyday foods at Real Alto did not differ: actions surrounding food were both domestic and ceremonial, depending on context. Households had equal access to annual crops and to root-tubers with longer growing seasons. Gelatinized starch was commonly recovered on tools, indicating the processing of cooked foods. Dental calculus residues confirmed common consumption of cooked foods, fruits, and root-tubers. Cultivating crops with different water and growing season requirements necessitated diverse practices, potentially including selection of short-season varieties, hand watering, and growing crops over multiple rainy seasons. The latter two practices required increased labor inputs: access to labor was likely a key element supporting the nascent social hierarchy that emerged by the Middle Valdivia.
Improving Test Chip Design Efficiency via Machine Learning

Competitive position in the semiconductor field depends on yield which is becoming more challenging to achieve high levels due to the increasing complexity associated with the design and fabrication of leading-edge integrated circuits (ICs). Consequently, test chips, especially full-flow logic test chips, are increasingly employed to investigate the complex interaction between layout features and the process before and during product ramp. However, designing a high quality full-flow logic test chip can be time-consuming due to the huge design space. This work describes a design methodology that deploys a random forest classification technique to predict synthesis outcomes for test chip design exploration. Experiments on creating five full-flow logic test chips, which mimic five different designs, demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed methodology. To be specific, those design experiments demonstrate that the machine learning aided flow speeds up design by 11× with negligible performance degradation.
Connecting Chemistry to Social Justice in a Seminar Course for Chemistry Majors

Undergraduate chemistry majors should be encouraged to consider chemistry-based solutions to issues that impact their daily lives as well as the lives of poor and marginalized populations worldwide. Some issues that disproportionately influence historically disadvantaged populations are also directly related to or could be impacted by chemistry. This idea of addressing social justice with chemistry is not often addressed in chemistry curricula but has recently gained importance with students and instructors. In response to this challenge and need, a seminar course was developed to assist chemistry majors in connecting chemistry concepts to social justice issues. The seminar course aimed at teaching scientific research and communication skills but thematically added social justice concepts while focusing on chemistry advances that relate to, for example, environmental racism, forensic chemistry, opioid addiction, women’s health, and food disparities. Students in this course demonstrated an understanding of recent chemistry research while also expressing compelling connections to social justice challenges.
Home-Grown Values and Incentive Compatible Auction Design

The behavioral properties of several auctions designed to elicit individual valuations for an object are studied using controlled laboratory experiments. Our experiments lead us to conclude that there are some behavioral differences between alternative incentive-compatible institutions for eliciting home-grown values, contrary to the theoretical expectation that these institutions are isomorphic. These results are consistent with earlier experimental results using induced values. The most important finding is that English auctions appear to elicit lower bids than Vickrey auctions, after controlling for observable socio-economic characteristics. Moreover, English auction bids also exhibit significantly less residual variance and may be sensitive to the number of rival bidders. It appears that the real-time learning allowed in the English auction significantly affects subject behavior. We also find that values elicited with the Becker, DeGroot and Marshak institution differ from those in both English and Vickrey auctions.
Exercise Capacity and Risk of Death Across the Age Spectrum in 750,302 Male and Female US Veterans

Background: Most studies that have evaluated the association between exercise capacity and the risk of all-cause mortality have focused on middle-aged Caucasian populations. We assessed the risk associated with fitness in male and female participants 30-95 years of age and of different ethnicities. Methods:In this retrospective cohort study, we included male and female US Veterans who completed an exercise treadmill test (ETT) between 1999-2020. We assigned participants to one of ten age-specific fitness categories (deciles) based on peak metabolic equivalents (METs) achieved during the ETT. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality assessed from Veterans Affairs medical records up to Dec 31, 2020. We compared fitness categories with Cox proportional hazard model adjusted for age, body-mass index, ethnic origin, sex, cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular risk factors and medications. Findings: We assessed 750,302 US male and female US Veterans nationwide, ages 30-95 years (mean age 61.3 years, SD 9.8 years). During a median follow-up of 9.8 years (IQR 5.6-14.0), 164,288 died with an average yearly mortality rate of 22 deaths per1,000 person-years. The association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and mortality risk was independent, inverse, and graded for all ages, ethnicities, and gender. Compared to the least fit group within each age category, mortality risk was 50% lower at peak exercise capacities of approximately 10.0 METs for those 30-49 years, 8.0 METs for septuagenarians, and 7.0 METs for octogenarians. The lowest mortality risk was observed at approximately 14.0 METs with no additional decline or increase in risk beyond this level. Being unfit, defined having exercise capacity below the median ( 2 times higher mortality risk compared to being fit (≥8.5 METs), and was higher than the risk of the traditional cardiac risk factors examined. Interpretation: Higher CRF is independently associated with lower mortality risk for all ages, ethnicities, and gender. Exercise capacity <8.5 METs carried a greater risk than that of the traditional cardiac risk factors. Approximately 50% lower risk was noted in all age categories, commensurate to an exercise capacity achievable by most individuals within a given age category. Funding: None to declare. Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: This paper was approved by The Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
Chronic Anemia and Fatigue in Elderly Patients: Results of a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Exploratory Study with Epoetin Alfa

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of epoetin alfa treatment on hemoglobin (Hb), fatigue, quality of life (QOL), and mobility in elderly patients with chronic anemia. DESIGN: An exploratory, 32 week, randomized, double-blind, crossover treatment trial. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-two community-dwelling individuals aged 65 and older with chronic anemia (Hb ≤11.5 g/dL). INTERVENTION: Subcutaneous epoetin alfa or placebo weekly for 16 weeks (Phase I) with crossover to the opposite treatment (Phase II). MEASUREMENTS: Hb and QOL scores from the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) measurement system. Mobility was assessed as a secondary outcome using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test. RESULTS: Of the 62 subjects enrolled, complete data were analyzed for 58 in Phase I and 54 participants in Phase II. Of those enrolled, most were African American (95%) and female (85%) and had multiple comorbidities and a mean age±standard deviation of 76.1±7.2. Mean baseline Hb was 10.5±0.9 g/dL (7.3–11.5). In Phase I, 67% of those taking epoetin alfa, and in Phase II, 69% of those taking epoetin alfa had an increase in Hb of more than 2 g/dL, significantly more than those taking placebo (P<.001). Similarly, elderly participants significantly improved on the fatigue and anemia subscales of the FACIT across phases (all P<.05). No significant differences were found between treatment and placebo on TUG scores. Epoetin alfa was well tolerated. CONCLUSION: In this trial involving predominantly older African-American women with anemia, a direct relationship existed between increases in Hb during epoetin alfa therapy and improvements in fatigue and QOL.
A Design Case Featuring the Graduate Design Studio at Indiana University Bloomington’s Human-Computer Interaction Design Program

In this article the author illustrates the design of a physical space that was created to serve as a performance intervention for graduate students in the Human-Computer Interaction Design (HCId) program in the School of Informatics, Indiana University Bloomington. Opened in Fall 2010, the HCId Graduate Design Studio was designed to help facilitate collaboration between students and faculty in the HCId Program. An effort was made to document the Studio and students working in the Studio over an extended period of time. The author visited the Design Studio a minimum of ten times between late January and late April 2011. Visits were conducted on different days of the week (Monday - Friday) and at different times of the day to capture a variety of students and activity level in the Studio. In order to gain a perspective on the two distinct groups of students who utilize the Studio, interviews of graduate students from both the HCId Master of Science and Doctoral program were conducted. In addition interviews were conducted of two other important stakeholders, the HCId Program Director and the Director of Facilities for the School of Informatics, both of whom were heavily involved in the design of the Studio. Through faculty and student interviews, text descriptions, photographs, and audio and video recordings this article addresses the design features and their impact, both successful and unsuccessful, on student and faculty collaboration of the HCId Graduate Design Studio.
A View of Some Consensus Methods for Trees

Due to space limitations, we will be quite terse. Embellishments of the theme presented here can be found in (McMorris and Neumann 1982) and (Neumann 1982). We will not give any propaganda as to why the study of consensus is important, assuming most participants of this conference are aware that the topic has recently been drawing considerable attention.
Physical degradation of lignified stem tissues by ruminal fungi.

Ruminal bacteria or fungi were selected by the addition of cycloheximide or streptomycin and penicillin, respectively, to ruminal fluid, and the weakening and degradation of lignified tissues in alfalfa and Bermuda grass stems by these treatments and whole ruminal fluid were evaluated in vitro. Dry weight loss in alfalfa was similar for whole ruminal fluid and streptomycin-penicillin treatment, whereas that with streptomycin-penicillin treatment was significantly higher ( P ≤ 0.05) than that with cycloheximide treatment. In Bermuda grass, dry weight loss was significantly higher with streptomycin-penicillin than that with whole ruminal fluid and cycloheximide treatment, which were equal. Both peak load (Newtons) and peak stress were less ( P ≤ 0.05) for streptomycin-penicillin treatment than with other treatments in both forages. Fungi colonized the lignified ring in alfalfa and tended to reduce the width of cell walls in this tissue, but a large number of fungal penetrations through cell walls was not observed. In contrast, fungal rhizoids frequently penetrated into and through cell walls in the lignified ring of Bermuda grass, often expanding the pit fields between the cells. Ruminal fungi disrupt lignified tissues in stems, and their activity results in a weakened residue more amendable to physical degradation. This weakening may allow plant digesta to be more easily broken apart during animal9s rumination and thus facilitate digesta flow and fiber utilization. Images
Genotype-Dependent Tumor Regression in Marek’s Disease Mediated at the Level of Tumor Immunity

Marek’s disease (MD) of chickens is a unique natural model of Hodgkin’s and Non Hodgkin’s lymphomas in which the neoplastically-transformed cells over-express CD30 (CD30hi) antigen. All chicken genotypes can be infected with MD virus and develop microscopic lymphomas. From 21 days post infection (dpi) microscopic lymphomas regress in resistant chickens but, in contrast, they progress to gross lymphomas in susceptible chickens. Here we test our hypothesis that in resistant chickens at 21 dpi the tissue microenvironment is pro T-helper (Th)-1 and compatible with cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) immunity but in susceptible lines it is pro Th-2 or pro T-regulatory (T-reg) and antagonistic to CTL immunity. We used the B2, non-MHC-associated, MD resistance/susceptibility system (line [L]61/line [L]72) and quantified the levels of key mRNAs that can be used to define Th-1 (IL-2, IL-12, IL-18, IFNγ), Th-2 (IL-4, IL-10) and T-reg (TGFβ, GPR-83, CTLA-4, SMAD-7) lymphocyte phenotypes. We measured gene expression in both whole tissues (represents tissue microenvironment and tumor microenvironment) and in the lymphoma lesions (tumor microenvironment) themselves. Gene ontology-based modeling of our results shows that the dominant phenotype in whole tissue as well as in microscopic lymphoma lesions, is pro T-reg in both L61 and L72 but a minor pro Th-1 and anti Th-2 tissue microenvironment exists in L61 whereas there is an anti Th-1 and pro Th-2 tissue microenvironment in L72. The tumor microenvironment per se is pro T-reg, anti Th-1 and pro Th-2 in both L61 and L72. Together our data suggests that the neoplastic transformation is essentially the same in both L61 and L72 and that resistance/susceptibility is mediated at the level of tumor immunity in the tissues.
Use of the labor-delivery-recovery room in an urban tertiary care hospital.

Single-room maternity care is an attractive delivery system to obstetricians and consumers. We reviewed the first 15 months' experience in a committed labor-delivery-recovery room unit where all patients were admitted for single-room care regardless of risk. The rate of transfer to a traditional delivery room for vaginal delivery was 3.8%. (Ann J OBSTET GYNECOL 1990;162:23-4.)
Exact two-sample permutation tests based on the randomized play-the-winner rule

In comparing two treatments in a clinical trial, the randomized play-the-winner rule tends to assign more study subjects to the better treatment. It is applicable when patients have delayed responses to treatments. It is not deterministic and is less vulnerable to experimental bias than other adaptive designs. In this paper, an efficient algorithm is provided to construct exact permutation tests for testing the equality of the two treatments with the randomized play-the-winner rule. The test procedure is illustrated with a real-life example. The example shows that the design used in the trial should not be ignored in the analysis.
Reforming Pedagogy: Inservice Teacher Education and Instructional Reform

To what extent can a large-scale national teacher-enhancement project help science teachers employ new pedagogical methods in the science classroom? In this study, data from 13 high school physics teachers who taught 23 classes with 401 students were examined to determine the extent to which a teacher-enhancement project can alter teachers’ pedagogy. Three groups of teachers were examined: experienced users of the new pedagogy, beginning users of the new pedagogy, and a group of comparison teachers who used traditional instructional methods. Results suggest the reform effort can increase the extent to which teachers engage students in experiments and use alternative assessment methods; however, helping teachers use constructivist discussion methods and discuss the nature of scientific inquiry appears to be more difficult. The implications for inservice teacher education are discussed.
One-Dimensional System of Bosons with Repulsive δ -Function Interactions at a Finite Temperature T

The equilibrium thermodynamics of a one-dimensional system of bosons with repulsive $\ensuremath{\delta}$- function interaction is found to be intermediate between those of a one-dimensional free-boson and a one-dimensional free-fermion system. Numerical comparisons are given.
Distribution of Kudoa inornata Plasmodia in the Musculature of its Host, the Spotted Seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus

ABSTRACT: The myxozoan Kudoa inornata is a common parasite of the skeletal muscles of spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus. This study was conducted to determine the distribution of plasmodia of K. inornata within individual C. nebulosus in order to identify muscle areas of least variation where future sampling would result in easily obtainable, repeatable, and dependable measurement of infection status. Fish were captured in the wild during June 2011. Muscle samples from 9 body areas were collected, in replicate, from each of 15 specimens of C. nebulosus of various ages and lengths infected by K. inornata. Body areas sampled included 6 locations from the fish epaxial and hypaxial muscles and 1 from each of the adductor mandibulae (cheek muscle), the cranial epaxial muscle, and the muscle of the caudal peduncle. Replicate samples were weighed and the number of plasmodia in each was recorded to determine the average density of plasmodia per gram of muscle in each area. The average density of plasmodia amo...
Mechanism of Fusion Triggering by Human Parainfluenza Virus Type III COMMUNICATION BETWEEN VIRAL GLYCOPROTEINS DURING ENTRY

Parainfluenza viruses enter host cells by fusing the viral and target cell membranes via concerted action of their two envelope glycoproteins: the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and the fusion protein (F). Receptor-bound HN triggers F to undergo conformational changes that render it fusion-competent. To address the role of receptor engagement and to elucidate how HN and F interact during the fusion process, we used bimolecular fluorescence complementation to follow the dynamics of human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3) HN/F pairs in living cells. We show that HN and F associate before receptor engagement. HN drives the formation of HN-F clusters at the site of fusion, and alterations in HN-F interaction determine the fusogenicity of the glycoprotein pair. An interactive site, at the HN dimer interface modulates HN fusion activation property, which is critical for infection of the natural host. This first evidence for the sequence of initial events that lead to viral entry may indicate a new paradigm for understanding Paramyxovirus infection.
Gender Effects on Spectators' Attitudes toward Wnba Basketball

The primary objective for this research was to apply the concepts of multifactorial gender identity theory and test the effects of gender on spectators’ attitudes towards women’s professional basketball. The sample consisted of 466 women and 107 men. Results show that expressive traits and egalitarian gender-role attitudes extend our understanding of the relationship between gender and spectators’ affect for women’s professional basketball. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical contributions, and recommendations for future research are proposed.
Impact of air bubbles in a dielectric liquid when subjected to high field strengths

Abstract The dielectric breakdown of gas bubbles entrapped in liquid food flowing through the cavity of a pulsed electric field treatment chamber has been a limiting factor in this non-thermal food preservation technology. Prediction of electric field enhancement due to gas bubbles is an important tool in the design, modification, and optimization of the treatment chamber's electrode geometry and pressurization. Simulation of the electrostatic characteristics of a coaxial treatment chamber with specified voltage of 25 kV, filled with dielectric material with conductivity of 0.6 S/m containing gas bubbles, evidenced a significant perturbation in the electric field. The magnitude of electric fields generated inside the bubbles was almost two times higher than in the homogeneous food. Without pressurization (atmospheric conditions), the dielectric breakdown strength of the gas-filled bubbles was exceeded, thus indicating the risk of arcing. A system pressurization of approximately 8 atm could be sufficient to limit arcing when small gas bubbles (∼1 mm) are present. The presence of gas bubbles caused the field magnitude to decrease significantly near the boundary of the bubble, thus threatening the uniformity of the PEF treatment across the chamber gap. This perturbation in the electric field was more significant when more than one bubble was present or when smaller gaps were used. The dielectric breakdown threshold at a given pressure is more likely to be exceeded by bigger bubbles (>1 mm) entrapped in a fluid processed in smaller treatment chamber gaps (3 mm), than by smaller bubbles (
Some intramolecular michael additions of adenine derivatives

In our attempts to prepare polymerizable derivatives of nucleic acid bases, we investigated the reaction of adenine (1) and 9-(cyanoethyl)adenine (4) with acrylic anhydride and acryloyl chloride. Reactions of adenine with methyl acrylate and vinyl acrylate were also examined. The results show that these reactions are solvent dependent and the intermediate acryloyladenine 3 can undergo a facile intramolecular Michael reaction to form 7.
Long-term outcome of patients with intraoperative parathyroid level remaining above the normal range during parathyroidectomy.

Background Criterion requiring intraoperative parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) drops >50% from the highest, preincision or preexcision level, 10 minutes after the abnormal gland's excision predicts operative success with 98% accuracy. The purpose of this study is to correlate IOPTH dynamics with recurrent hyperparathyroidism (RecHPT) and eucalcemia with high PTH (HPTH). Methods We followed 383 consecutive patients with parathyroidectomy guided by IOPTH monitoring using the above criterion for >6 months. Calcium and PTH levels were measured for 50 months (range, 6–173). Patients were divided in 2 groups: group 1 comprised 302 participants with IOPTH levels that decrease to the normal range (NR), and group 2, with 81 participants who had >50% IOPTH decrease but remained above the normal range. The incidence of RecHPT and eucalcemia with HPTH was evaluated. Results RecHPT was found in 2% (8/383) of patients and eucalcemia with HPTH was present in 19% (74/383). In group 1, 17% (52/302) had eucalcemia with HPTH, whereas in group 2, this incidence was 27% (22/81; P = .04). However, only 2% of those (6/302) in group 1 and 2.5% (2/81) in group 2 developed RecHPT ( P = .76). Conversely, 70.5% of those (57/81) in group 2 were eucalcemic with normal PTH. Conclusion Although postoperative eucalcemia with HPTH was significantly higher among patients with IOPTH above the normal range than in patients in group 1, the incidence of RecHPT was not increased. The majority of patients in whom IOPTH did not drop to the normal range continue to be biochemically normal after the operation.
The Effect of a Computerized Reminder System on the Prevention of Postoperative Venous Thromboembolism

Study objective To measure the effect of an altered process of care, directed by a computerized reminder system, on rates of symptomatic postoperative venous thromboembolism. Design Comparisons of preintervention and postintervention measurements. Setting A university-affiliated community hospital in Utah. Patients Two-thousand seventy-seven consecutive patients who underwent major operations in four surgical divisions between January 1, 1997, and October 31, 1997 (preintervention), and 2,093 consecutive patients who underwent the same procedures between January 1, 1998, and October 31,1998 (postintervention). Intervention A program to prevent venous thromboembolism developed from American College of Chest Physicians guidelines, and an altered work process directed by a computerized reminder system. Measurements Rates of symptomatic, objectively confirmed deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), and death attributable to venous thromboembolism occurring within 90 days of the date of surgery. Results The preintervention and postintervention cohorts did not differ with respect to age, severity of illness, number of risk factors for venous thromboembolism, or individual risk factors for venous thromboembolism. The overall prophylaxis rate increased from 89.9% before implementation of the computerized reminder system to 95.0% after implementation (p Conclusions Computerized reminder systems combined with altered care procedures increase the rate of prophylaxis against venous thromboembolism without decreasing the rate of symptomatic venous thromboembolism when the baseline rate of prophylaxis is high. A population of surgical patients exists who are resistant to American College of Chest Physicians-recommended prophylactic measures against venous thromboembolism. New strategies are needed to address prophylaxis-resistant venous thromboembolism.
Protein refolding in silico with atom-based statistical potentials and conformational search using a simple genetic algorithm.

Abstract A distance-dependent atom-pair potential that treats long range and local interactions separately has been developed and optimized to distinguish native protein structures from sets of incorrect or decoy structures. Atoms are divided into 30 types based on chemical properties and relative position in the amino acid side-chains. Several parameters affecting the calculation and evaluation of this statistical potential, such as the reference state, the bin width, cutoff distances between pairs, and the number of residues separating the atom pairs, are adjusted to achieve the best discrimination. The native structure has the lowest energy for 39 of the 40 sets of original ROSETTA decoys (1000 structures per set) and 23 of the 25 improved decoys (∼1900 structures per set). Combined with the orientation-dependent backbone hydrogen bonding potential used by ROSETTA and a statistical solvation potential based on the solvent exclusion model of Lazaridis & Karplus, this potential is used as a scoring function for conformational search based on a genetic algorithm method. After unfolding the native structure by changing every phi and psi angle by either ±3, ±5 or ±7 degrees, five small proteins can be efficiently refolded, in some cases to within 0.5 A Cα distance matrix error (DME) to the native state. Although no significant correlation is found between the total energy and structural similarity to the native state, a surprisingly strong correlation exists between the radius of gyration and the DME for low energy structures.
Deconvolution of the Chemical Shift Effects in Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging

When the gradient strength is not strong enough to suppress the chemical shift effects, it is possible to apply a numerical deconvolution technique to remove the chemical shift artifacts. The Wiener filter and an apodization function are combined to produce an effective deconvolution method for the NMR images obtained by standard spin-echo NMR imaging technique. In the deconvolution process, an NMR spectrum is utilized which is taken at the same condition as the NMR image but with the phase encoding and the read gradients off.
On the Decomposition of Fuzzy Functions

An algorithm for obtaining simple disjunctive decompositions of fuzzy functions is described. The insufficiency of Boolean methods for simplification of fuzzy functions is discussed. Special properties of the decomposed fuzzy structures are introduced and their relationships to two-valued logic are investigated. This new algorithm is the first one in a containing research in the area of multivalued and fuzzy decompositions of complex systems.
Role Conflict for Aides in a Homemaker Aide Program for Frail Elderly Persons

To determine whether aides in a homemaker program for the frail rural elderly experienced role conflict, the views of clients, aides, and staff were examined by means of an 18-item Likert-type test which assessed the difficulty of an aide in various possible problematic situations. While consensus existed among the three groups on a few items, a significant interaction of clients, aides, staff × item indicated that, for the most part, whether or not a situation was perceived as a difficult problem depended upon who did the rating. What aides saw as a difficult problem situation for themselves often differed markedly from what the staff and clients saw. Clients and staff often differed significantly from one another. This lack of consensus suggests that a direct service worker in a program such as this one might often not only find himself in an uncomfortable situation, but even worse, such a situation will not necessarily be recognized by either the program's clients or staff.
Contributions to the cross shock electric field at a quasiperpendicular collisionless shock

[1] The normal electric field structure of a supercritical (Mms = 5.2), quasiperpendicular (θBn = 70°) collisionless shock is examined using Cluster four-spacecraft observations of the terrestrial bow shock. Comparing the observed electric field with magnetic field and plasma observations, two different techniques find that the J × B/ne term in the generalized Ohm's law accounts for a majority of the large-scale normal electric field and potential drop encountered by the ions - the solar wind ion deceleration is in good empirical agreement with the observed potential drop, confirming earlier work. Large amplitude electric field fluctuations on shorter timescales, corresponding to fine scale structure, are not observed to contribute to the ion energization.
Accurate coverage-dependence incorporated into first-principles kinetic models: Catalytic NO oxidation on Pt (1 1 1)

The coverage of surface adsorbates influences both the number and types of sites available for catalytic reactions at a heterogeneous surface, but accounting for adsorbate–adsorbate interactions and understanding their implications on observed rates remain challenges for simulation. Here, we demonstrate the use of a density functional theory (DFT)-parameterized cluster expansion (CE) to incorporate accurate adsorbate–adsorbate interactions into a surface kinetic model. The distributions of adsorbates and reaction sites at a metal surface as a function of reaction conditions are obtained through Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations on the CE Hamiltonian. Reaction rates at those sites are obtained from the CE through a DFT-parameterized Bronsted–Evans–Polyani (BEP) relationship. The approach provides ready access both to steady-state rates and rate derivatives and further provides insight into the microscopic factors that influence observed rate behavior. We demonstrate the approach for steady-state O2 dissociation at an O-covered Pt (1 1 1) surface—a model for catalytic NO oxidation at this surface—and recover apparent activation energies and rate orders consistent with experiment.
Pressure‐Induced Activity Loss in Solid State Catalase

The pressure-induced reductions in the activities of a number of enzymes in the solution state, and more recently in the solid state, have been reported. To further investigate the effect of pressure on proteins in the solid state, the enzyme catalase was used as a model. Compacts containing 150.0 +/- 0.2 mg of catalase powder were prepared on instrumented laboratory presses using various compaction pressures between 0 and 669 MPa. After compaction, a spectrophotometric assay was utilized to determine the pseudo-first-order rate constants for the catalase-catalyzed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. These rate constants were used to calculate the change in catalase activity. Results indicated a loss in catalase activity of up to 30% at compaction pressures of 251 MPa or greater. While the mechanism which produces the loss of enzyme activity is not clear, a strong linear correlation between enzyme activity and compaction pressure was seen over the range of pressures (0-251 MPa) where the decrease in activity occurred. In addition, compact densities were calculated and correlated to enzyme activity values. This correlation did not appear to be as strong.
Characterization of triboluminescent enhanced discontinuous glass–fiber composite beams for micro-damage detection and fracture assessment

Abstract This work reports the micro-emissions of triboluminescent (TL) concentrated composites and their evaluation at the onset of damage and crack propagation. Unreinforced vinyl ester resin and discontinuous glass–fiber reinforced non-prismatic beams were fabricated incorporating 10 wt% concentration of a highly triboluminescent material (ZnS:Mn). Triboluminescent observations were seen in both two- and three-phase composite systems throughout the failure loading-cycle. Results indicate emissions occur at various intensities corresponding to initial notch-length and imminent micro-matrix fracture. The fracturing or deformation energy was estimated by an experimental method of the J -integral analysis [1], where a lower threshold for excitation was found to be approximately less than 0.5 J m −2 , below its respective critical composite fracture energy (~3 and 7 J m −2 ). Initiation of micro-cracks was observed for reinforced samples and were subjected to three-point bend tests in lieu of the multiple signatures of the transient signal response.
Self-similar p -adic fractal strings and their complex dimensions

We develop a geometric theory of self-similar p-adic fractal strings and their complex dimensions. We obtain a closed-form formula for the geometric zeta functions and show that these zeta functions are rational functions in an appropriate variable. We also prove that every self-similar p-adic fractal string is lattice. Finally, we define the notion of a nonarchimedean self-similar set and discuss its relationship with that of a self-similar p-adic fractal string. We illustrate the general theory by two simple examples, the nonarchimedean Cantor and Fibonacci strings.
Computer modeling of thermal quenching of chromium photoluminescence in fluoride elpasolites

Abstract Radiationless transition rates were predicted ab initio in K 2 NaScF 6 :Cr 3+ and K 2 NaGaF 6 :Cr 3+ . Embedded cluster calculations provided adiabatic potential energy functions of a 1g , e g and t 2g nearest-neighbor fluorine displacements in both ground ( 4 A 2g .) and excited ( 4 T 2g .) states. Transition rates were calculated from normalized lineshape functions G (Ω) derived by evaluating vibrational overlap integrals for an arbitrary combination of linear, quadratic and anharmonic coupling. Predicted transition rates, which are lower than experimental values, were not improved by including anharmonicity.