cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pinterest and fashion forecasting: Engaging students in the learning process

The purpose of this activity was to incorporate an emerging social networking site, Pinterest, in the development of a new course, Retail Trend Analyst. Pinterest, launched in 2009, is used by 15% of the adults using the Internet. Further, it is widely used by college educated females (Ferenstein, 2012). The students in the new graduate course were primarily female, and most were college seniors enrolled in a graduate course. Because of these factors, there were two major objectives in teaching the course: (1) develop a course in fashion forecasting for students transitioning to the graduate program, and (2) incorporate technology they would enjoy but would easily incorporate the timeliness of their research on trends.
Plastron Pigmentation Variation in a Coastal Turtle Species of Conservation Concern (Malaclemys terrapin)

Abstract Malaclemys terrapin inhabits salt marshes of the coastal United States and has been historically divided into seven subspecies. Two of the described subspecies, M. t. pileata and M. t. littoralis, occur along the western and eastern coastlines of Louisiana, respectively. To better understand potential boundaries of these two subspecies, we documented pigmentation variation of the plastron along the coast of Louisiana where the subspecies supposedly intergrade. Photographs of the plastron were taken of captured individuals and we quantified pigment with a photoprocessing software (ImageJ). We found pigmentation differences between sexes, with females having lighter plastrons than males. The plastron pigmentation of females decreased with increasing plastron length, whereas that of males varied by site but not length. Plastron pigmentation did not correlate with longitude in either sex, indicating that there is no geographical cline in this trait. We suggest that large females might be released fro...
Energy Harvesting for Sustainable Smart Spaces

Abstract Energy sustainability is a challenge in making smart spaces truly pervasive. Renewable energy technologies have become a promising solution to reduce energy concerns that arise due to limited battery in wireless sensor networks, the backbone of many smart spaces. While this enables us to prolong the lifetime of a wireless sensor network (perpetually), the realization of such sustainable micro-scale energy harvesting system is challenging due to the unstable nature of environmental energy sources and demanding requirements of applications. In this chapter, we show the model of micro-scale energy harvesting system and research efforts both in designing low-power efficient hardware platforms and in creating software components to operate micro-scale energy harvesting systems at their maximum potentials. We highlight the need of deployment study of micro-scale energy harvesting systems in addition to designing and operating research and propose middleware architecture for a unified structured way to optimize energy harvesting system performance.
Characterization of Lhr-Core DNA helicase and manganese- dependent DNA nuclease components of a bacterial gene cluster encoding nucleic acid repair enzymes.

Lhr is a large superfamily 2 helicase present in mycobacteria and a moderate range of other bacterial taxa. A shorter version of Lhr, here referred to as Lhr-Core, is distributed widely in bacteria, where it is often encoded in a gene cluster along with predicted binuclear metallo-phosphoesterase (MPE), ATP-dependent DNA ligase, and metallo-β-lactamase exonuclease enzymes. Here we characterized the Lhr-Core and MPE proteins from Pseudomonas putida. We report that P. putida Lhr-Core is an ssDNA-dependent ATPase/dATPase (Km, 0.37 mm ATP; kcat, 3.3 s−1), an ATP-dependent 3′-to-5′ single-stranded DNA translocase, and an ATP-dependent 3′-to-5′ helicase. Lhr-Core unwinds 3′-tailed duplexes in which the loading/tracking strand is DNA and the displaced strand is either DNA or RNA. We found that P. putida MPE is a manganese-dependent phosphodiesterase that releases p-nitrophenol from bis-p-nitrophenyl phosphate (kcat, 212 s−1) and p-nitrophenyl-5′-thymidylate (kcat, 34 s−1) but displays no detectable phosphomonoesterase activity against p-nitrophenyl phosphate. MPE is also a manganese-dependent DNA endonuclease that sequentially converts a closed-circle plasmid DNA to nicked circle and linear forms prior to degrading the linear DNA to produce progressively smaller fragments. The biochemical activities of MPE and a structure predicted in Phyre2 point to MPE as a new bacterial homolog of Mre11. Genetic linkage of a helicase and DNA nuclease with a ligase and a putative exonuclease (a predicted homolog of the SNM1/Apollo family of nucleases) suggests that these enzymes comprise or participate in a bacterial DNA repair pathway.
Peanut residue distribution gradients and tillage practices determine patterns of nitrogen mineralization

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) harvest practices create residue distribution gradients in the field that lead to spatial and temporal variability in available nitrogen (N) during subsequent crop growth. The objective of this study was to quantify N mineralization from peanut residue loading rates that are reflective of postharvest residue distribution gradients under simulated conventional and conservation tillage. A field study was conducted in Florida, USA beginning in September 2015. Fresh shoot residues were placed in litterbags at loading rates (1.1, 2.2, 4.5, and 6.7 Mg ha−1 on an air-dry weight basis) that were based on the residue distribution gradient measured in the field following harvest. Three tillage scenarios were simulated by placing litterbags on the soil surface (no-till) or burying them at 0.10 m depth in fall or spring (fall and spring tillage, respectively). Litterbags were retrieved periodically over 365 days. Buried residues mineralized N faster than surface residues, even when buried residues had high levels of recalcitrant fractions, as was the case with spring-incorporated residues. Exponential models predicted that during a wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crop, residue loading rates of 1.1, 2.2, 4.5, and 6.7 Mg ha−1 would mineralize 3–6, 5–12, 24–34, and 35–41 kg N ha−1, respectively, depending on tillage practice. At the same loading rates, N mineralization estimates dropped to 2–4, 3–6, 9–11, and 5–18 kg N ha−1 during a hypothetical cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) crop planted the following spring. These results suggest that peanut harvest and tillage practices cause large spatial and temporal variability in available N following harvest and may partially explain inconsistencies and spatial variability in subsequent crop performance when peanut residues are relied upon as a N source and mineral N fertilization is reduced.
Identify the Maximal Cluster of Hosts Based on Data Fusion and Machine Learning Algorithms for Intrusion Detection

This paper explores an approach to identify the maximal cluster of hosts based on the proposed data fusion and clustering algorithms. The data fusion algorithm works with the cross-testing F1-measure matrices of three supervised machine learning algorithms to identify the similarity of the hosts with regards to intrusion detection. After identifying the hosts similarities, the clustering algorithm is developed to identify the maximal cluster. Through applying the experimental data set, we have identified a maximal cluster which consists of 5 hosts out of 16 hosts in a network. This maximal cluster identification based on the data fusion and machine learning algorithms can detect the similar anomaly behaviors generated by the same hacking mechanism to multiple machines in a network at the same time period. Furthermore, integrating the generated learning models from multiple machines or clusters could generate a robust detection model without time consuming training process based on all the network flows.
How Dye May Prevent Dying from Cancer: Perceiving Imperceptible Dysplasia in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Author(s): Lewin, Sara M; Wen, Kwun Wah; Velayos, Fernando S; Mahadevan, Uma; Beck, Kendall R
Bias toward Internet advertisement of robotic nephrectomy.

e15559 Background: Despite unclear benefits over radical nephrectomy (RN), Robotic Assisted Nephrectomy (RaN) has become a more commonly chosen approach for kidney surgery. A reason for this could ...
Developmental Phonological Disorders I: A Clinical Profile

Detailed information on the speech, language, prosody, and voice characteristics of children with developmental phonological disorders is central to diverse research questions. The present study provides a clinical profile of 178 children with developmental phonological disorders. It includes information from prior reports (Shriberg & Kwiatkowski, 1982a; Shriberg, Kwiatkowski, Best, Hengst, & Terselic-Weber, 1986) and from several new measures on a sample of 64 children. The speech, prosody-voice, and causal-correlates profiles for the most recent sample are consistent with prior findings, providing a descriptive profile for forthcoming subgroup research and companion studies addressing short-term (Shriberg, Kwiatkowski, & Gruber, 1994) and long-term (Shriberg, Gruber, & Kwiatkowski, 1994) speech-sound normalization.
Yield determination in winter wheat under different water regimes

Abstract Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is grown in a wide range of water regimes and produces both grain and forage in the U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP). Despite being relatively adapted to water stress, decreased water supply has become the main abiotic factor limiting wheat yield in the region. A 5-yr field study was conducted to investigate the yield determination in winter wheat under a center pivot irrigation system. Twenty elite wheat cultivars were grown at four water regimes, I100, I75, I65, and I50 to meet 100%, 75%, 65%, and 50% evapotranspiration (ET) requirement, respectively. The 2011 and 2013 seasons had all irrigation levels, while there were only two irrigation levels in 2012 (I50 and I65) and 2014 (I75 and I100), and three irrigation levels in 2015 (I50, I75, and I100). In most seasons, ET, biomass, and grain yield decreased consistently from higher to lower water regime, but water use efficiency (WUE) and harvest index (HI) were the highest at I75. Averaged across all years and genotypes, grain yield was reduced by only 5% from I100 to I75 indicating that reducing irrigation to meet 75% of ET requirement can still achieve similar yield to I100 and maximize HI and WUE. Newer cultivars including Duster, Endurance, Winterhawk, TAM 112, and TAM 113 had greater yield at I50 compared to other cultivars. Grain yield showed a strong relationship with biomass, HI, and ET. At lower water regimes (I50, I65), all three yield components (spikes per square meter, seeds per spike, and kernel weight) were correlated to grain yield. At higher water regimes (I75 and I100) grain yield was consistently related to kernel weight. This study demonstrated that high yield can be achieved at an irrigation level of I75. In addition, planting newer drought tolerant cultivars may provide yield benefits under water-limited conditions in the SGP.
Applying a level set method for resolving physiologic motions in free-breathing and non-gated cardiac MRI

In cardiac MRI, ECG triggering is used or patients are required to hold their breath, to alleviate motion artifacts and deterioration of image quality. However, ECG signal quality is often suboptimal and patients may not be able to adequately hold their breath. Alternative solutions for tracking breathing and cardiac beating can open the way for robust free-breathing and ECG-less cardiac MRI. Herein, we present a novel approach that isolates the effect of breathing, as well as computes both the breathing and cardiac beating waveforms directly from real-time MRI sequences. It turns a challenge into an opportunity to guide the reconstruction of high temporal resolution images. The proposed method is based on a level-set method to segment the left ventricle from a real-time MR sequence collected with free breathing and without ECG triggering. The algorithm extracts an evolving surface area, which captures the heart's systolic contraction and diastolic expansion in real-time. The computed time series of the heart's dynamic area is subjected to wavelet analysis, where the breathing and pulsation components are separated. The method was investigated on 12 real-time cardiac MRI acquisitions. We demonstrate that the left ventricular area, as computed by the level set method, produces breathing and cardiac waveforms similar with those extracted by cardiac MR experts (ground-truth). This proof-of-concept work demonstrates the capabilities of the proposed methodology paving the way for incorporation into real-time or retrospective reconstruction of high resolution cardiac MR.
Evaluating Characteristics of CUDA Communication Primitives on High-Bandwidth Interconnects

Data-intensive applications such as machine learning and analytics have created a demand for faster interconnects to avert the memory bandwidth wall and allow GPUs to be effectively leveraged for lower compute intensity tasks. This has resulted in wide adoption of heterogeneous systems with varying underlying interconnects, and has delegated the task of understanding and copying data to the system or application developer. No longer is a malloc followed by memcpy the only or dominating modality of data transfer; application developers are faced with additional options such as unified memory and zero-copy memory. Data transfer performance on these systems is now impacted by many factors including data transfer modality, system interconnect hardware details, CPU caching state, CPU power management state, driver policies, virtual memory paging efficiency, and data placement.This paper presents Comm|Scope, a set of microbenchmarks designed for system and application developers to understand memory transfer behavior across different data placement and exchange scenarios. Comm|Scope comprehensively measures the latency and bandwidth of CUDA data transfer primitives, and avoids common pitfalls in ad-hoc measurements by controlling CPU caches, clock frequencies, and avoids measuring synchronization costs imposed by the measurement methodology where possible. This paper also presents an evaluation of Comm|Scope on systems featuring the POWER and x86 CPU architectures and PCIe 3, NVLink 1, and NVLink 2 interconnects. These systems are chosen as representative configurations of current high-performance GPU platforms. Comm|Scope measurements can serve to update insights about the relative performance of data transfer methods on current systems. This work also reports insights for how high-level system design choices affect the performance of these data transfers, and how developers can optimize applications on these systems.
Overview of Placenta Pathology

The placenta is a very common, but often underappreciated, surgical pathology specimen. Gross examination of the placenta should be organized and routine, in order to efficiently identify abnormalities; only a proper gross examination will allow appropriate diagnosis. Gross findings and lesions discussed here include those of the umbilical cord (length, knots, coiling, insertion), membranes (discoloration, plaques, insertion), and disc (size, infarcts, abnormal shapes). The histologic findings are also discussed by site: cord (inflammation, thrombosis, remnants), membranes (pigment, lesions, chorionicity of twins, maternal arteriopathy), and disc (villous maturity, infarcts, hydropic change, villitis, specific infections). Finally, there is a discussion of the unifying diagnoses: maternal vascular malperfusion, fetal vascular malperfusion, and amniotic fluid infection sequence.
Stand dynamics and topographic setting influence changes in live tree biomass over a 34-year permanent plot record in a subalpine forest in the Colorado Front Range

Climate-induced increases in tree mortality are reported for many forests worldwide. Understanding the potential effects on carbon pools requires long-term monitoring of changes in forest biomass. ...
Mast cell peptidases (carboxypeptidase A and chymase)-mediated hydrolysis of human angiotensin-(1-12) substrate.

Abstract Angiotensin processing peptidases (carboxypeptidase A (CPA) and chymase) are stored in cardiac mast cell (MC) secretory granules in large quantity and are co-released into the extracellular environment after activation/degranulation. In the human heart, chymase is primarily responsible for angiotensin II (Ang II) generation from the alternate substrate angiotensin-(1–12) (Ang-(1–12)). We investigated the individual and combined hydrolytic specificity of CPA and chymase enzymes (1:1 and 1:⅓ ratio) in the processing of the human Ang-(1–12) (hAng-(1–12)) substrate. To determine the Km and Vmax, the CPA and recombinant human chymase (rhChymase) enzymes were incubated with increasing concentrations of hAng-(1–12) substrate (0–300 μM). We found that CPA alone sequentially metabolized hAng-(1–12) substrate into angiotensin-(1–9) (Ang-(1–9), 53%), Ang II (22%) and angiotensin-(1–7) (Ang-(1–7), 11%) during a 15 min incubation. In the presence of rhChymase alone, 125I-hAng-(1–12) was directly metabolized into Ang II (89%) and no further hydrolysis of Ang II was detected. In the presence of both CPA + rhChymase enzymes (1:1 or 1:⅓ ratio), the amount of Ang II formation from 125I-hAng-(1–12) within a 5 min incubation period were 68% or 65%, respectively. In the presence of both (CPA + rhChymase), small amounts of Ang-(1–9) and Ang-(1–7) were generated from 125I-hAng-(1–12). The Km and Vmax values were 150 ± 5 μM and 384 ± 23 nM/min/mg of CPA and 40 ± 9 μM and 116 ± 20 nM/min/mg of rhChymase. The catalytic efficiency (Vmax/Km ratio) was higher for rhChymase/hAng-(1–12) compared to CPA/hAng-(1–12). Compared to CPA, chymase has a much higher affinity to hydrolyze the hAng-(1–12) substrate directly into Ang II. In addition, Ang II and Ang-(1–7) are the end products of chymase and CPA, respectively. Overall, our findings suggest that the Ang II generation from hAng-(1–12) is primarily mediated by chymase rather than CPA.
Liquid parties, dense populism:

Before proceeding, I would like to clarify briefly two interpretative premises, one methodological and one normative, which sustain my argument. Understanding the transformations facing constitutio...
Building bridges with book club: Supporting international students’ comfort and belonging on campus

An evolving issue that many universities face is the challenge of a welcoming and comfortable campus climate for international students. Host to more than 1 million students in 2018, the United States remains the top destination of international students globally. Many foreign students go to large institutions, but increasingly students from China, India, Saudi Arabia, and other countries enroll at smaller institutions or satellite campuses of state schools. More than 40% of international students studying in the United States in 2018 were at baccalaureate degree granting institutions.
Spatial perspectives enhance modeling of nanomaterial risks

Novel engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly being manufactured and integrated into renewable energy generation and storage technologies. Past research estimated the potential impact of this increased demand on environmental systems, due to both the life cycle impact of ENM production and the potential for their direct release into ecosystems. However, many models treat ENM production and use as spatially implicit, without considering the specific geographic location of potential emissions. By not considering geographical context, ENM accumulation or impact may be underestimated. Here, we introduce an integrated predictive model that forecasts likely ENM manufacturing locations and potential emissions to the environment, with a focus on critical environmental areas and freshwater ecosystems. Spatially explicit ENM concentrations are estimated for four case study ENMs that have promising application in lithium‐ion battery production. Results demonstrate that potential ENM exposure from manufacturing locations within buffer zones of sensitive ecosystems would accumulate to levels associated with measured ecotoxicity risk under high release scenarios, underscoring the importance of adding a spatial and temporal perspective to life cycle toxicity impact assessment. This predictive integrated modeling approach is novel to the nanomaterial literature and can be adapted to other regions and material case studies to proactively inform life cycle tradeoffs and decision‐making.
Measured dc Arc-flash Risk in a Photovoltaic System

The deployment of high-power dc equipment are increasing, including solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, but very few studies have quantified dc arc-flash risks. Most dc arc-flash literature is based on the theory. More real-world testing is needed to compare theoretical calculations against real-world conditions to validate and improve predictions of hazards. This paper quantifies the risk from arc-flash in a commercially operating 1,000-kWdc ground-mounted PV-plant by measuring arc-current, arc-voltage, and incident energy and comparing results against existing models. The study reveals that none of the available models accurately predict real-world risk. It is also found that a PV source acts as a sustainable constant-current source during an arc-flash event.
Simultaneous Isolation of Glial and Neuronal Fractions from Rat Brain Homogenates: Comparison of High-Affinity L-Glutamate Transport Properties

An improved three-step Percoll density gradient centrifugation technique is described for simultaneous isolation of glial plasmalemmal vesicles (GPV) and synaptosomal vesicles (SYN) from a rat brain homogenate. While electron microscopy revealed that fractions contained intact vesicles with markedly distinct morphological features, measures of high-affinity [3H]choline uptake, glutamine synthetase and carbonic anhydrase activities, as well as Western blot analyses for glial fibrillary acidic protein and neuron specific enolase, served to confirm the low level of neuronal contamination in GPV fractions as well as the low level of glial contamination in SYN fractions. In addition, GPV and SYN fractions were used to characterize the kinetic and pharmacological properties of sodium-dependent [3H]L-glutamate transport. In conclusion, these results demonstrate the usefulness of this method for obtaining highly-enriched, functionally viable populations of glial and neuronal elements which are suitable for studies of their respective cell functions in vitro.
Analysis of a 180-degree U-turn maneuver executed by a hipposiderid bat

Bats possess wings comprised of a flexible membrane and a jointed skeletal structure allowing them to execute complex flight maneuvers such as rapid tight turns. The extent of a bat's tight turning capability can be explored by analyzing a 180-degree U-turn. Prior studies have investigated more subtle flight maneuvers, but the kinematic and aerodynamic mechanisms of a U-turn have not been characterized. In this work, we use 3D optical motion capture and aerodynamic simulations to investigate a U-turn maneuver executed by a great roundleaf bat (Hipposideros armiger: mass = 55 g, span = 51 cm). The bat was observed to decrease its flight velocity and gain approximately 20 cm of altitude entering the U-turn. By lowering its velocity from 2.0 m/s to 0.5 m/s, the centripetal force requirement to execute a tight turn was substantially reduced. Centripetal force was generated by tilting the lift force vector laterally through banking. During the initiation of the U-turn, the bank angle increased from 20 degrees to 40 degrees. During the initiation and persisting throughout the U-turn, the flap amplitude of the right wing (inside of the turn) increased relative to the left wing. In addition, the right wing moved more laterally closer to the centerline of the body during the end of the downstroke and the beginning of the upstroke compared to the left wing. Reorientation of the body into the turn happened prior to a change in the flight path of the bat. Once the bat entered the U-turn and the bank angle increased, the change in flight path of the bat began to change rapidly as the bat negotiated the apex of the turn. During this phase of the turn, the minimum radius of curvature of the bat was 5.5 cm. During the egress of the turn, the bat accelerated and expended stored potential energy by descending. The cycle averaged total power expenditure by the bat during the six wingbeat cycle U-turn maneuver was 0.51 W which was approximately 40% above the power expenditure calculated for a nominally straight flight by the same bat. Future work on the topic of bat maneuverability may investigate a broader array of maneuvering flights characterizing the commonalities and differences across flights. In addition, the interplay between aerodynamic moments and inertial moments are of interest in order to more robustly characterize maneuvering mechanisms.
In eosinophilic esophagitis, budesonide orodispersible tablets maintained remission at 48 wk.

SOURCE CITATION Straumann A, Lucendo AJ, Miehlke S, et al. Budesonide orodispersible tablets maintain remission in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of patients with eosinophilic esophagitis. Gastroenterology. 2020;159:1672-85. 32721437.
Effect of Ligand Polarity on the Internal Dipoles and Ferroelectric Distortion in BaTiO3 Nanocubes.

Surface adsorbates and surrounding matrix species have been demonstrated to affect the properties of nanoscale ferroelectrics and nanoscale ferroelectric composites; potentially counteracting performance losses encountered that can occur in small particle sizes. In this work we investigate the effects of nonpolar oleic acid (OA) and polar tetrafluoroborate (BF 4 - ) ligand capping on the surface of various sizes of BaTiO 3 nanocubes with combined neutron diffraction and neutron pair distribution function (PDF), density functional theory (DFT), and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) methods. The low real space PDF region provides an unobstructed view of rhombohedral (split short and long) Ti-O distances in BaTiO 3 nanocubes, mimicking the well-established order-disorder local structure found in bulk BaTiO 3 . Interestingly, the intermediate-range order in nanocubes is found to be orthorhombic, rather than tetragonal. We conclude that polar ligands adsorbed at BaTiO 3 surfaces stabilize the correlation length scale of local rhombohedral distortions in ferroelectric nanoparticles relative to nonpolar ligands.
Understanding Narrative-Driven Intergroup Conflict Dynamics Using Computational Cognitive Coherence Maps

Humans make sense of the world through narratives. Therefore, adversaries often use conflict-sustaining narratives to maintain dominance and delegitimize the actions of the rivals. To better unders...
Evidence-Based and Culturally Sustaining Practices for Diverse Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders:

Children from diverse backgrounds are more likely to receive special education services for emotional or behavioral disorders. These data validate the research that advocates for practitioners to u...
Mechanical behavior of inorganic lithium-conducting solid electrolytes

Abstract All-solid-state batteries using lithium-conducting solid electrolytes (SEs) require not only favorable electrochemical properties but also optimal mechanical properties. SEs need to exhibit high enough stiffness to resist lithium dendrite growth while also being compliant and ductile enough to accommodate volumetric expansions of the electrodes. Thus, understanding the chemo-mechanical behavior of SE materials is essential for their effective development and deployment. In this work, the temperature-dependent deformation behavior of a range of inorganic sulfide (LSPS, LPSCl) and oxide (LAGP, LLZTO) SEs has been systematically investigated for the first time. Quasi-static, viscoelastic, and viscoplastic nanoindentation experimentation was conducted on these materials over a range of temperatures (from −40 to 300 °C). The elastic modulus and hardness properties of the sulfide vs. oxide material categories largely grouped together, with the cold pressed and subsequently sintered LLZTO oxide showing favorably low hardness and high tendency to creep. While all the oxide and sulfide materials exhibited minimal viscoelastic damping, consistent viscoplastic creep behavior was observed and quantitatively analyzed. The temperature dependence of the creep stress exponent was key for identifying the dominant creep mechanism in the material systems.
Acquired pulmonic atresia. Total obstruction to right ventricular outflow after systemic to pulmonary arterial anastomoses for cyanotic congenital cardiac disease

Abstract Attention is called to the development of total obstruction to right ventricular outflow in patients with cyanotic congenital cardiac disease after systemic to pulmonary arterial anastomoses. The clinical and necropsy features are described in 4 patients in whom right ventricular outflow obstruction developed (in 3 at valve level-“acquired pulmonic atresia”-and in 1 at infundibulum) from 13 to 19 years after pulmonary to systemic shunt operations. The mechanism of development of right ventricular outflow obstruction in these patients is discussed.
Electrochemistry of tetracyanoquinodimethane polyer-modified electrodes: Effect of polymer film composition on site-site interactions

Abstract Charge transport through polymer films containing the tetracyanoquinodimethane (tcnq) structure in the polymer chain and swollen with acetonitrile solvent has been studied as a function of film composition. Variation of the film composition was achieved by synthesis of a tcnq terpolymer and by casting blended films of the tcnq polyester and an isomorphic polyester containing a benzene ring in place of the tcnq structure. Formation of uniform blends at room temperature and below was indicated for the neutral polymers, but phase separation takes place on repeated cycling of the films between the 0 and −1 oxidation states. Redox center site-site interactions were probed by following dimer formation of the tcnq.− radical anion and by the charge transport process as measured by chronocoulometric Cottrell slopes. ESR and cyclic voltammetric data indicate that interchain, and not interchain, interactions occur in the reduced films.
Loneliness in Older Chinese Adults: A Risk Factor for Elder Mistreatment

OBJECTIVES: To examine loneliness as a risk factor for elder mistreatment in an urban, community-dwelling Chinese population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study. SETTING: Major urban medical center in NanJing, China. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred twelve subjects aged 60 and older who presented to the general medical clinic. The mean age of the participants was 70, and 34% were female. Mean education level was 8.5 years of schooling. MEASUREMENTS: Loneliness was assessed using validated instruments, and direct questions were asked regarding mistreatment experienced by older adults. RESULTS: Elder mistreatment was found in 35.2% of the participants. After adjusting for confounding factors, feeling of often lacking companionship (odds ratio (OR)=4.06; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.49-11.10) and feeling of sometimes being left out in life (OR=1.69; 95% CI=1.01-2.84) were positively associated with the risk of mistreatment. Risk of mistreatment was also correlated with higher total loneliness scores (OR=2.74; 95% CI=1.19-6.26). CONCLUSION: Loneliness appeared to be a risk factor associated with elder mistreatment in this older Chinese population. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm this finding. An exploration of Chinese culture and tradition may yield insight into shaping a prevention framework for mistreatment of older Chinese people. Language: en
Combined medicine/pediatrics training programs.

Ferrari and Shumway in their article in this issue of Pediatrics provide information concerning the combined medicine/pediatrics training programs. These programs were initiated in 1967 but attracted little attention until recent years, during which the rapid proliferation and the number of positions offered has reflected the increasing interest of housestaff applicants in such programs. In 1980, there were 4 programs (9 positions); in 1983, 13 programs (45 positions); in 1985, 56 programs (161 positions); in 1987, 70 programs (206 positions,); and in 1988, 76 programs (232 positions). By comparison, in pediatrics, there were 1808 positions in 1980 and 2009 positions in 1987, whereas in categorical internal medicine, there were 5078 positions in 1980 and 5341 positions in 1987.
General considerations in programming CIF applications

This chapter is an introduction for programmers new to CIF to ways of creating new `CIF-aware' applications and of adapting existing applications to make them CIF-aware. We review general considerations in programming CIF-aware applications, ranging from leaving an application CIF-unaware and relying on external filter utilities to do the job, through engineering an existing application to directly read and write CIFs, to writing a new CIF-aware application from scratch.
Oral contraceptives and primary liver cancer: temporal trends in three countries.

Objective To determine if vital statistics support a temporal association between the introduction of oral contraceptives (OC) and the incidence of, and mortality from, primary liver cancer in three countries from different regions of the world. Methods We used Cancer Incidence in Five Continents , volumes I–VI, for incidence data on primary liver cancer in the United States and Japan. The Centre for Epidemiology in Stockholm provided the incidence data for Sweden. We obtained mortality data for the U.S. from Vital Statistics of the United States , for Japan from The World Health Statistics Annual , and for Sweden from Swedish government sources. We compiled data on the prevalence of OC use in all three countries from multiple sources, including the National Survey of Family Growth, The Population Council, and original articles. Results Despite several hundred million woman-years of exposure to OCs, primary liver cancer incidence and mortality rates among women have not changed substantially in the United States. In Sweden, another country with extensive OC use, the primary liver cancer incidence trends in women paralleled those of men. The incidence of, and mortality rate from, primary liver cancer is gradually rising in Japan, where OC use has been negligible. Conclusion Population-based data from three industrialized countries with very different patterns of oral contraceptive use provide no support for a measurable effect of OCs on primary liver cancer. Although case-control studies from developed countries have suggested an increase in risk, if such an effect does exist, the public health impact appears to be negligible.
The Top-Down/Bottom-Up Controversy from a Constructionist Approach. A Method for Measuring Top-Down Effects Applied to a Sample of Older People

Two different theories, called bottom-up and top-down, were developed to understand the determinants of an individual's satisfaction. Experimental studies didn't provide unanimous results, and confirmed, to different extents, both theories. Aside from these classic theories, a constructionist approach was developed. The purposes of this study were to examine the top-down/bottom-up controversy from a constructionist point of view and to obtain a new method for measuring the top-down effects in different satisfaction judgements. In this approach, an individual's satisfaction is viewed as constructions, evoked by the specific question in its particular context, and made by people using cognitive strategies. This view implies that the correlation between satisfaction judgements may reflect the use of the same strategies, rather than a causal effect. From this point of view, the top-down and bottom-up effects, described by the classic theories, cannot be seen as a pattern of causal links among satisfaction domains; therefore we propose a reinterpretation of these concepts in which they refer to ways used by people to construct their satisfaction judgements. On these grounds, we developed a method to extract the weight of top-down effects from correlation coefficients between satisfaction judgements. Two hypotheses concerning the different weight of top-down processes in the different satisfaction judgements were subsequently developed.
A Review of “Pain Management for Older Adults: A Self-Help Guide”

Pain management in our older patients will continue to become a more challenging issue for health care providers as the “graying” of our society continues to increase in the coming years. Indeed, p...
Pilot Non-Conformance to Alerting System Commands During Closely Spaced Parallel Approaches

Pilot non-conformance to alerting system commands has been noted in general and to a TCAS-like collision avoidance system in a previous experiment. This paper details two experiments studying collision avoidance during closely-spaced parallel approaches in IMC, and specifically examining possible causal factors of, and design solutions to, pilot non-conformance.
John Fisher Kennedy – student and statesman of hydraulic engineering

ABSTRACTJohn Fisher Kennedy (1933–1991) had a remarkably accomplished career in hydraulic engineering, including his service as President of the International Association for Hydraulic Research (1980–1983). Though alluvial river behaviour was the hydraulics topic closest to his heart, Kennedy also made scholarly contributions to other hydraulics topics: notably, river thermal and ice processes, the design and operation of thermal- and hydro-power plants, as well as various hydraulic structures. He had an energetic entrepreneurial spirit and was an engaging communicator, often speaking and writing about progress in hydraulic engineering, history of hydraulics, and leadership in hydraulics. Additionally, as a bibliophile he was always keen to share his knowledge of culture, history, and music. His impressive career as marked by many achievements including being one of the youngest engineers ever elected to the prestigious US National Academy of Engineering. We reflect upon Kennedy's work and the qualities t...
Solitary patterns solutions having infinite slopes or cusps for fifth-order KdV like equations in higher dimensions

In this paper we consider a modified form of fifth-order KdV equation (fKdV) that exhibits solutions with solitary patterns having cusps or infinite slopes. We formally construct a framework for studying this problem in higher dimensions. Two distinct sets of general formulas, that are of substantial interest, are developed for this variant fK(n,n) for all positive integers n, n>=1.
Andropause : an androgen deficiency state in the ageing male

An age-related decline in circulating testosterone levels has been shown to occur in the adult male population starting as early as middle age and continuing on into old age. This decline in testos...
Sulfhydryl reactive phenylarsine oxide inhibits signal transduction in NK and LAK cells: effect on zeta-chain phosphorylation and phosphatidylinositol level.

Abstract The specific role of sulfhydryl groups in cell-mediated cytoxicity (CMC) is still unknown. Here we demonstrate that natural killer cells and lymphokine-activated killer cells, when incubated with phenylarsine oxide (PAO), an organoarsenic compound showed a dose- and time-dependent inhibition of CMC and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). PAO interacted directly with the effector cells (EC) without affecting the target cells (TC) or EC:TC conjugate formation. The loss of cytotoxicity was not due to lack of degranulation or to inhibition of serine esterases in PAO-treated cells. However, PAO inhibited the target-induced down regulation of phosphatidylinositol (PI) level in NK cells indicating that PAO blocked the cytolytic cascade at an early stage, upstream of PI. In addition, PAO also did not affect the disulfide link of the zeta-chain dimers, implicated in signal transduction in cytotoxic lymphocytes but did cause the rapid phosphorylation of the zeta chain. Finally, the effect of PAO on CMC was competitively blocked by dithiothreitol, a dithiol, but not by β-mercaptoethanol, a mono-thiol. Taken together, these results indicate for the first time how sulfyhydryl groups may regulate CMC and ADCC.
New antibiotics in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Neomycin was shown to be an effective drug in extrapulmonary tuberculosis but proved considerably less favorable in advanced pulmonary forms; it was apparently without effect in tuberculous meningitis.
Allocation to male and female function in hermaphrodites, in sexually polymorphic populations

Evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) methods are applied to the problem of allocation to male and female reproductive functions, in gynodioecious and distylous populations. It is shown that hermaphrodites in gynodioecious populations experience a selective pressure to become more male in gender than they would be in the absence of females. In distylous populations, if one morph receives less compatible pollen than the other, and if this limits female fertility measured as seed production, then this morph is under selection to allocate more to male functions, and the other morph more to female. Even when the degree of pollen flow is only weakly asymmetrical, the ESS allocations can differ markedly between the two morphs.
Managing Stochastic Multiproduct Systems: Model, Measures, and Analysis

We consider a model for managing a single stage that produces multiple items. The production rates are finite, and there are switchover times. The interarrival times and quantities of demands for the items are random, and demand may occur for a set of items. We consider order focussed measures: cost based on response times; service levels based on quoted lead times and Type-1 service. We operate the stage in the following manner: (1) there is a cyclic schedule that determines the sequence of items and the number of times a particular item is produced in a cycle; (2) given a cyclic schedule, production of each item follows a modified base-stock policy or a (s, S) policy. We present a simulation based procedure to obtain good values for the base stock levels or S (for any fixed S-s) for each of the above performance measures. Numerical results indicate that good solutions can be obtained with modest computational effort. We also report on a real world implementation of this model.
Feminine sex role and depression in middle-aged women

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship of sex-role orientation and depression in middle-aged women. It was hypothesized that middle-aged females who were clinically depressed would score higher in feminine characteristics on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) than similar women who were not depressed. The subjects were two groups of women between the ages of 35 and 50. The clinical group consisted of 15 women who were currently diagnosed as depressive and who were undergoing treatment for depression at three local mental health centers. The nonclinical group consisted of 24 women who were not currently seeking treatment for depression and who had never undergone psychiatric treatment or therapy. All subjects were administered the BSRI and Beck's Depression Inventory. Results supported the hypothesis that depression in middle-aged females is related to their degree of acceptance of the traditional feminine role. For all subjects, depression scores were positively correlated with femininity scores. It was concluded that the woman who subscribes to a traditional feminine role stereotype has a greater vulnerability to depression in her middle years.
A Model of Economic System—Ecosystem Interaction:

The basic Ayres—Kneese materials-balance model is extended by appending a model of a set of ecosystems together with the corresponding linkages. Both submodels employ linear transformation depictio...
Dynamic soil-structure interaction of rectangular reinforced concrete lifelines

Abstract This paper evaluates the dynamic response of rectangular cylindrical reinforced concrete structures subjected to earthquakes, with some consideration of the interaction effects and the proper use of finite element methods over the entire behavioural domain.
Failure to detect crystalline brushite in embryonic chick and bovine bone by X-ray diffraction.

We have reexamined the question of whether brushite (CaHPO4· 2H2O) occurs in embryonic bone. On the basis of the experiments reported here, and a reexamination of data previously obtained in this laboratory, we have concluded that crystalline brushite as a separate phase identifiable by X-ray diffraction does not occur in embryonic chick or bovine bone. Crystalline brushite previously identified in this laboratory in the less-mineralized fractions of embryonic chick bone was apparently formed artifactually during the fractionation process, possibly from preexisting domains of HPO4−2 groups in a noncrystalline brushite-like configuration.
A Sealed Liquid Cell for In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy of Controlled Electrochemical Processes

A microfabricated liquid cell that permits imaging and controlling of electrochemical processes in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) has been developed, and its capabilities are demonstrated. The liquid cell comprises two silicon chips with suspended electron-transparent silicon nitride membranes that encapsulate and hermetically seal a thin ( $\sim 100$ nm) liquid layer in the TEM high-vacuum environment. Up to 10 integrated electrodes with selectively exposed areas allow multiple experiments to be performed on the same chip, and the electrode geometry has been designed to facilitate the assembly of nanostructures or nanoscale patterning of thin-film materials on the electrodes. We demonstrate the cell operation by picoampere-level electrochemical control and imaging of copper electrodeposition. A wide variety of materials and electrolytes may be studied with this cell design, and the relatively small ( $\sim 1 \mu $ $\mathrm{m}^{2}$ ) exposed electrode areas enable quantitative electrochemical control at low currents.
Primary sequence of ionic self‐assembling peptide gels affects endothelial cell adhesion and capillary morphogenesis

Appropriate choice of biomaterial supports is critical for the study of capillary morphogenesis in vitro as well as to support vascularization of engineered tissues in vivo. Self-assembling peptides are a class of synthetic, ionic, oligopeptides that spontaneously assemble into gels with an ECM-like microarchitecture when exposed to salt. In this paper, the ability of four different self-assembling peptide gels to promote endothelial cell adhesion and capillary morphogenesis is explored. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured within ionic self-assembling peptide family members, RAD16-I ((RADA)(4)), RAD16-II ((RARADADA)(2)), KFE-8 ((FKFE)(2)), or KLD-12 ((KLDL)(3)). HUVECs suspended in RAD16-I or RAD16-II gels elongated and formed interconnected capillary-like networks resembling in vivo capillaries, while they remained round and formed clusters within KFE-8 or KLD-12 gels. As HUVECs attach to RAD16-I and RAD16-II significantly better than the other peptides, these differences appear to be explained by differences in cell adhesion. Although adhesion likely occurs via bound adhesion proteins, there appears to be no difference in protein binding to the peptides investigated. Results indicate that, although these oligopeptides have similar mechanisms of self- assembly, their primary sequence can greatly affect cell adhesion. Additionally, a subset of these biomimetic ECM-like materials support capillary morphogenesis and thus may be useful for supporting vascularization.