cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Connecting perebor conjectures: search to decision reduction for formulas

A longstanding open question is whether there is an equivalence between the computational task of determining the minimum size of any circuit computing a given function and the task of producing a minimum-sized circuit for a given function. While it is widely conjectured that both tasks require "perebor," or brute-force search, researchers have not yet ruled out the possibility that the search problem requires exponential time but the decision problem has a linear time algorithm.In this paper, we make progress in connecting the search and decision complexity of minimizing formulas. Let MFSP denote the problem that takes as input the truth table of a Boolean function f and an integer size parameter s and decides whether there is a formula for f of size at most s. Let Search-MFSP denote the corresponding search problem where one has to output some optimal formula for computing f.Our main result is that given an oracle to MFSP, one can solve Search-MFSP in time polynomial in the length N of the truth table of f and the number t of "near-optimal" formulas for f, in particular O(N6t2)-time. While the quantity t is not well understood, we use this result (and some extensions) to prove that given an oracle to MFSP:• there is a deterministic [MATH HERE]-time oracle algorithm for solving Search-MFSP on all but a o(1)-fraction of instances, and• there is a randomized O(2.67N)-time oracle algorithm for solving Search-MFSP on all instances. Intriguingly, the main idea behind our algorithms is in some sense a "reverse application" of the gate elimination technique.
Transthoracic Echocardiography in Prone Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Feasibility Study.

Objectives Patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome are at risk for developing cardiac dysfunction which is independently associated with worse outcomes. Transthoracic echocardiography is an ideal imaging modality for goal-directed assessment and optimization of cardiac function and volume status. Prone positioning, while demonstrated to improve oxygenation, offload the right ventricle, and reduce short-term mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome, has previously precluded transthoracic echocardiography on these patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the ability to perform focused transthoracic echocardiography examinations on acute respiratory distress syndrome patients in the prone position. Design We performed a cross-sectional study of critically ill patients hospitalized for acute respiratory distress syndrome due to coronavirus disease 2019. Setting This study was conducted in medical and surgical intensive units in a tertiary hospital. Patients We examined 27 mechanically ventilated and prone patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome due to coronavirus disease 2019. Participants were examined at the time of enrollment in an ongoing clinical trial (NCT04306393), and no patients were excluded from echocardiographic analysis. Interventions None. Measurements and main results We were able to perform transthoracic echocardiography and obtain satisfactory images for quantitative assessment of right ventricular function in 24 out of 27 (88.9%) and left ventricular function in 26 out of 27 (96.3%) of patients in the prone position, including many who were obese and on high levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (≥ 15 cm H2O). Conclusions Transthoracic echocardiography can be performed at the prone patient's bedside by critical care intensivists. These findings encourage the use of focused transthoracic echocardiography for goal-directed cardiac assessment in acute respiratory distress syndrome patients undergoing prone positioning.
Socioeconomic Disparities in Patient Use of Telehealth During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Surge.

Importance The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic required the rapid transition to telehealth with the aim of providing patients with medical access and supporting clinicians while abiding by the stay-at-home orders. Objective To assess demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with patient participation in telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study included all pediatric and adult patient encounters at the Department of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery in a tertiary care, academic, multisubspecialty, multisite practice located in an early hot spot for the COVID-19 pandemic from March 17 to May 1, 2020. Encounters included completed synchronous virtual, telephone, and in-person visits as well as visit no-shows. Main Outcomes and Measures Patient demographic characteristics, insurance status, and 2010 Census block level data as a proxy for socioeconomic status were extracted. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were created for patient-level comparisons. Results Of the 1162 patients (604 females [52.0%]; median age, 55 [range, 0-97] years) included, 990 completed visits; of these, 437 (44.1%) completed a virtual visit. After multivariate adjustment, females (odds ratio [OR], 1.71; 95% CI, 1.11-2.63) and patients with preferred provider organization insurance (OR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.40-5.20) were more likely to complete a virtual visit compared with a telephone visit. Increasing age (OR per year, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.98-0.99) and being in the lowest median household income quartile (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.42-0.86) were associated with lower odds of completing a virtual visit overall. Those patients within the second (OR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.28-0.99) and lowest (OR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.17-0.62) quartiles of median household income by census block and those with Medicaid, no insurance, or other public insurance (OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.23-0.94) were more likely to complete a telephone visit. Finally, being within the lower 2 quartiles of proportion being married (OR for third quartile, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.29-0.86]; OR for lowest quartile, 0.39 [95% CI, 0.23-0.67]) was associated with higher likelihood of a no-show visit. Conclusions and Relevance These findings suggest that age, sex, median household income, insurance status, and marital status are associated with patient participation in telehealth. These findings identify vulnerable patient populations who may not engage with telehealth, yet still require medical care in a changing health care delivery landscape.
Single Serine on TSC2 Exerts Biased Control over mTORC1 Activation by ERK1/2 but Not Akt

The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is tightly controlled by tuberous sclerosis complex-2 (TSC2), itself regulated by kinase phosphorylation reflecting environmental cues. Among these kinases is protein kinase G that modifies TSC2 at S1365 (S1364, human). This minimally affects basal mTORC1 activity, but upon phosphorylation or with an SE mutation, it blocks mTORC1 co-activation by pathological stress. An SA (phospho-silenced) mutation does the opposite. Here we reveal S1365 exerts biased regulation over mTORC1 activity (S6K phosphorylation). In myocytes and fibroblasts, ERK1/2 stimulated mTORC1 via endothelin-1 (ET-1) is potently and bidirectionally regulated by S1365. By contrast, Akt stimulation of mTORC1 (insulin) is minimally impacted. S1365 phosphorylation rises with ET-1 but not insulin stimulation, supporting intrinsic engagement by one and not the other. Energy and nutrient modulation of mTORC1 are minimally influenced by S1365. Consistent with these findings, knock-in mice with SA or SE mutations develop identical obesity, glucose intolerance, and fatty liver disease. These results reveal an ERK1/2-biased TSC2 regulatory mechanism controlling mTORC1 activation, with implications for suppressing pathological but not physiological mTORC1 stimulation.
Structure and mechanism of 70-kDa heat-shock-related proteins.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the protein chemistry and mechanistic enzymology of the 70-kDa heat-shock-related protein family. Members of this family of proteins are present in cells under normal conditions. Induction of expression of some members in response to heat shock or other forms of cell stress is only a manifestation of an additional facet of the collective functions of the larger family of proteins. A stress-70 protein is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum and is referred as the binding protein. The stress-70 proteins are demonstrated to participate in diverse and seemingly unrelated activities: (1) disassembly of specific macromolecular aggregates, (2) interaction with extended and presumably unfolded polypeptides, and (3) renaturation or reactivation of certain proteins under some conditions. The stress-70 proteins have a common mechanism for transducing free energy of nucleotide hydrolysis into interactions with the protein/polypeptide substrates. The functional organization of stress-70 proteins within their primary, tertiary, and temperature-dependent structural transitions are provided. The enzymatic mechanism of stress-70 proteins involves ATPas mechanism, peptide recognition, coupling of peptide-binding and ATPase activities, and clathrin uncoating reaction.
Scheduling In Real-Time Transaction Systems

In many application areas database management systems may have to operate under real-time constraints. We have taken an integrated approach to developing algorithms for cpu scheduling, concurrency control (based both on locking and on optimistic concurrency control), conflict resolution, transaction restart, transaction wakeup, deadlock, buffer man- agement, and disk I/O scheduling. In all cases the algorithms directly address real-time constraints. We have developed new algorithms, implemented them on an experimental testbed called RT-CARAT, and evaluated their performance. We have paid particular note to how the algorithms interact with each other and to actual implementation costs and their impact on performance. The experimental results are numerous and constitute the first such results on an actual real-time database testbed. The main algorithms and conclusions reached are presented in this report.
Epstein-Barr virus polypeptides: effect of inhibition of viral DNA replication on their synthesis.

Abstract After Epstein-Barr virus superinfection of the human lymphoblastoid cell line Raji, a Burkitt lymphoma-derived line that contains Epstein-Barr virus genomes in an episomal form, at least 40 polypeptides could be resolved by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Eleven of the 40 polypeptides were immunoprecipitable by early antigen+/viral capsid antigen+ antiserum. The polypeptides could be divided into six classes, immediate-early, early, intermediate, late, very late, and persistent, depending upon the time of synthesis. Ten of the 40 polypeptides appeared to preexist before superinfection and persisted despite general cessation of host protein synthesis; none of the persistent proteins was immunoprecipitated by the Epstein-Barr virus antibody-containing serum. When viral DNA replication was blocked by a variety of inhibitors of DNA synthesis, a number of different patterns of polypeptide synthesis could be detected. The synthesis of six polypeptides was blocked by the most virus-specific inhibitors, acyclovir and phosphonoacetic acid. Additionally, in the presence of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine, and methotrexate, seven polypeptides showed oversynthesis.
Nonsymmetric buckle patterns in progressive plastic buckling

This paper presents the results of a series of experiments on the progressive plastic buckling of cylindrical shells under axial compressive load. It shows that, for shell bodies with anR/t less than 100, the normal axisymmetric ring buckling will develop into nonsymmetric patterns. We demonstrate that there exists also a class of shells within this thickness-radius range for which nonsymmetric plastic buckling always occurs without the prior formation of a ring. It appears from the limited number of tests made that, for a particularR, R/t, material and rate of loading, there is a critical value ofL, above which there is a high probability of the buckle pattern developing in a nonsymmetric fashion. It seems probable, too, that there are bands ofR/t for a particularL/R, R, material and rate of loading for which the buckle number will be constant. The experiments tend to indicate that the postbuckling efficiency of the shell decreases with increasing buckle number. The nonsymmetric patterns demonstrated appear to be inextensional deformations. They are very similar in character to the Yoshimura pattern which occurs as the limiting case for thin shells in axial compression and, under impact loading. Load-displacement histories are presented for some of the various modes of failure demonstrated.
Standard Setting in Language Testing

This chapter introduces standard setting within the framework of Bachman's assessment use argument, outlining its role for establishing links between test performances, interpretations of those performances, and the decisions made as a result. Standard setting is the application of socially moderated technical methodological approaches that address the challenges of establishing such links. It thus plays a critical role in establishing validity evidence for the use of test scores. While the application of standard-setting methods has its origin in certification testing and educational assessment, it has only recently begun to receive attention in language testing. The chapter provides an overview of current approaches to standard setting by first discussing several key aspects to be considered in the design of a standard-setting study: the selection and training of suitable participants, the incorporation of consensus-building processes and feedback, and the collection and documentation of evidence concerning the procedural validity of the study. Three major families of standard-setting methods are then introduced: the Angoff, the Bookmark, and the Body of Work methods. Essential features and important research findings concerning the merits of each are highlighted. The final sections outline several challenges for language testers as well as future directions. The authors argue that while language testers can provide a unique perspective for advancing research on the development of methodologically sound standard-setting approaches, they also need to become more fully acquainted with the large and growing body of standard-setting research undertaken in other fields, especially in educational measurement. Other challenges facing language testers include the planning of resources and the early integration of standard-setting considerations in the test development process. In the context of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the lack of an official policy body that stands behind the various standard-setting studies undertaken by individual testing agencies may also present a challenge. Keywords: Assessment evaluation; Assessment methods; Statistical analysis
SU-E-T-348: Effect of Treatment Table and Immobilization Devices On Surface Dose When Using a GRID Technique

Purpose: To determine the increase of surface dose of MLC-designed GRID therapy in the presence of immobilization devices and treatment table. Methods: To create a GRID field, our facility utilizes an MLC consisting of four millimeter wide leaves. The field is designed to have aperture sizes of 0.8 cm X 0.8 cm with inter-aperture distance of 3.2 cm. Gafchromic EBT3 film was placed between the surface of a solid water phantom and the immobilization device. The treatment table was also present within the beam path. The devices consist of carbon fiber exterior shell. A piece of film was also placed at maximal depth for the photon energy of 10 MV. Image files were converted to dose per a calibration curve based on the selected red channel. The surface dose to maximum dose was established by comparing the ratio of seven centrally located aperture regions-of-interest and four adjacent inter-aperture regions-of-interest were measured with the available software tools. Results: With no devices present in beam path, the ratio of surface dose to maximum dose was 11.5% ± 0.3% for aperture region and 7.0% ± 0.1% for inter-aperture region. When devices are present, the ratio of surface dose to maximum dose was 45.2% ± 0.5% and 33.8% ± 1.1%, respectively. Due to the presence of devices, the surface dose increases in aperture region by 3.8 times or in the inter-aperture region by 4.7 times. Conclusion: The purpose of using GRID technique is to deliver a single fractional dose in range of 15–20 Gy to a bulky lesion while also preserving skin tolerance. The increase of surface dose due to devices placed in beam path may increase the chance of skin toxicity in GRID therapy. Care should be used to determine best manageable patient immobilization while considering skin dose especially for posteriorly located lesions.
Effect of ADAMTS13 activity turnaround time on plasma utilization for suspected thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

BACKGROUND Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) due to deficiency of the von Willebrand-cleaving protease ADAMTS13 is a hematologic emergency that requires prompt initiation of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE). Long turnaround times (TATs) have precluded the use of pre-TPE measurement of ADAMTS13 activity for the initial diagnosis in most institutions. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS An in-house rapid TAT (r-TAT) assay for ADAMTS13 activity was implemented after 18 months of validation. In a quasi-experimental design using interrupted time series analysis, patterns of plasma utilization in patients with suspected TTP were assessed after implementation of this assay for ADAMTS13 activity and compared to utilization patterns for patients who received plasma exchange before r-TAT assay implementation designated the standard TAT period. RESULTS In the 18 months after implementation of the r-TAT ADAMTS13 assay, there was a significant reduction in plasma utilization per patient suspected of having TTP (mean, 144.5 units vs. 63.3 units of plasma per patients suspected of having TTP; p = 0.002). The mean number of exchanges per patient and mean number of exchanges after achieving a platelet count of at least 150 × 10(9) /L were lower in the r-TAT cohort (p < 0.001 for both). There was no significant difference in 30-day mortality. CONCLUSIONS Implementation of a rapid turnaround assay for ADAMTS13 resulted in a significant reduction in plasma utilization for patients with suspected TTP, without an increase in mortality. This study demonstrates that these data, provided in a timely fashion, can avoid unnecessary plasma exchange in patients who do not have TTP.
Amborella not a “basal angiosperm”? Not so fast

The sequence of the plastid genome of Amborella trichopoda, the putative sister to all other extant angiosperms, was recently reported (Molecular Biology and Evolution20: 1499‐1505). Goremykin et al. used sequence data for 61 plastid genes from Amborella and 12 other embryophytes in phylogenetic analyses and concluded that Amborella is not the sister to the remaining flowering plants; the monocots instead occupy this position. The authors attributed their results, which differ substantially from all recent phylogenetic analyses of angiosperms, to the increased character sampling (30 017 nucleotides in their aligned matrix) in their analysis relative to published studies that included fewer genes but more taxa. We hypothesized that the difference in topology is not due to limited character sampling in previous studies but to limited taxon sampling in the analysis by Goremykin et al. To test this, we conducted a series of phylogenetic analyses using a three-gene, 12 (or more)-taxon data set to evaluate the topological effects of (i) including three vs. 61 genes for (nearly) the same set of taxa, (ii) analyzing different codon positions, (iii) substituting representatives of other basal lineages for Amborella, (iv) replacing the grasses used to represent the monocots with other monocots, selected either for their phylogenetic position or randomly, and (v) adding other basal taxa— Nymphaea, Austrobaileya, magnoliids, and monocots—to the 12taxon data set. Our results demonstrate that the ‘‘monocots basal’’ topology obtained by Goremykin et al. is not due to increased character sampling of the plastid genome; their topology was obtained using only two plastid genes or two plastid genes and one nuclear gene. This topology was also retained when either Nymphaea or Austrobaileya was substituted for Amborella, demonstrating that any of the three basal lineages will attach to Calycanthus for lack of any other close branch. Furthermore, the ‘‘monocots basal’’ topology is not robust to changes in sampling of monocots. Simply adding Oncidium, for example, places Amborella sister to the other angiosperms. Thus, limited taxon sampling, focusing on organisms with complete genome sequences, can lead to artifactual results.
An on-chip W-band bowtie slot antenna in silicon

This paper presents a W-band fully on-chip bowtie slot antenna over a grounded low resistivity silicon substrate fabricated in 180 nm BiCMOS process. The measured results show that the proposed antenna could provide a wide input bandwidth covering the whole W-band. The simulated gain at 90 GHz is −1 dBi when considering several realistic effects.
Particle-in-cell simulation of dielectric wall accelerators

Computer simulations of dielectric wall accelerators using state-of-the-art multi-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) codes were carried out. Specifically, the cylindrical waveguide is lined with a dielectric with permittivity of 3.75 and its inner radius is 0.57cm. The temporal shape of the driving electron beam has a double-triangle profile with different amplitudes in beam current and its total pulse length is chosen to be 4 ps. The total charge of the drive beam is 5 nC. We used the two dimensional PIC code Merlin in cylindrical geometry to simulate self-consistently the electron beam propagation and the excitation of the wakefield in the dielectric wall waveguide. The initial choice of the beam energy is 100 MeV. Our simulations show a strong coherent excitation of the wakefield at the fundamental mode of 300 GHz with a peak longitudinal electric field amplitude of 117 MV/m. Higher order modes are also observed in our simulations. The longitudinal decelerating electric field at the beam position is 17.5 MV/m resulting in a transformer ratio of 6.7 which agrees very well with the 1-D theoretical value of 6.6. However, our simulations show the amplitude of the longitudinal electric field having a radial gradient in contrast to being constant predicted by the 1-D analytic theory in the ultra-relativistic limit. The effects of beam energy and emittance have also been studied. We further perform 3-D simulations using the LSP code to investigate effects due to azimuthal asymmetry. Detail comparison between 1-D analytic theory with 2-D and 3-D simulations using different beam parameters will be presented.
On the interpretation of fuzzy if then rules

The basic algorithm for reasoning in the fuzzy systems modeling method is introduced. Two classes of operators for interpreting the rules in these models are described, the Mamdani-Zadeh operator and the logical operator. The basic characteristics of these operators are presented and it is shown that the two classes of operators are distinguished by their response to a zero firing level. A class of Mamdani-Zadeh operators based upon the residuation operation is presented. A comparison is made between the performance of these residuation based Mamdani-Zadeh operators and the standard Mamdani-Zadeh operators derived from the t-norm. A new class of Mamdani-Zadeh operators based upon a generalization of the bounded difference is presented.
The effect of measurement approach and noise level on gene selection stability

Many biological datasets exhibit high dimensionality, a large abundance of attributes (genes) per instance (sample). This problem is often solved using feature selection, which works by selecting the most relevant attributes and removing irrelevant and redundant attributes. Although feature selection techniques are often evaluated based on the performance of classification models (e.g., algorithms designed to distinguish between multiple classes of instances, such as cancerous vs. noncancerous) built using the selected features, another important criterion which is often neglected is stability, the degree of agreement among a feature selection technique's outputs when there are changes to the dataset. More stable feature selection techniques will give the same features even if aspects of the data change. In this study we consider two different approaches for evaluating the stability of feature selection techniques, with each approach consisting of noise injection followed by feature ranking. The two approaches differ in that the first approach compares the features selected from the noisy datasets with the features selected from the original (clean) dataset, while the second approach performs pairwise comparisons among the results from the noisy datasets. To evaluate these two approaches, we use four biological datasets and employ six commonly-used feature rankers. We draw two primary conclusions from our experiments: First, the rankers show different levels of stability in the face of noise. In particular, the ReliefF ranker has significantly greater stability than the other rankers. Also, we found that both approaches gave the same results in terms of stability patterns, although the first approach had greater stability overall. Additionally, because the first approach is significantly less computationally expensive, future studies may employ a faster technique to gain the same results.
Bending and torsion properties of endodontic instruments

Abstract A torque meter and an improved testing method were used to determine the stiffness in bending, resistance to permanent bend, torsional stiffness, and maximum torsional deflection for conventional and standardized carbon steel and stainless steel root canal files and reamers. The bending and torsional properties showed a gradual increase in stiffness and decrease in resistance to permanent bend as size increased, indicating that a triangular instrument was considerably less stiff and more resistant to permanent bend and torsion than a corresponding square instrument. No differences were found in the stiffness properties of carbon steel and conventional stainless steel instruments, whereas the experimental stainless steel instruments were considerably less stiff because of their greater ductility. Considerable variation was found in torsional behavior of instruments at large angular deflections because of the variations in ductility of the material and the amount of work-hardening in the individual instruments. The greater ductility of the stainless steel files allowed greater maximum angular deflection than the corresponding carbon steel files, but no differences were noted in the reamers. In conclusion, it appears from the general similarity of bending and torsional stiffness and from the general improvement in maximum torsional deflection that the stainless steel instruments would be more advantageous for clinical use.
Peripheral arterial disease: Pathophysiology, risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a strong predictor of MI, stroke and death due to vascular causes. PAD affects 8-12 million people in the United States. As the population lives longer with chronic diseases, researchers estimate that the incidence of PAD will increase, likely increasing myocardial infarction, stroke and death. This paper reviews the epidemiology, pathophysiology, risk factors, treatment and management of PAD. With improved understanding of the disease process, risk factors and treatment, clinicians will be able to detect PAD earlier, provide diagnosis, treat and manage this disease. PAD is associated with reduced quality of life, and persons with PAD are also at risk of developing coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease. Better clinical evaluation and routine screening are important in identifying and treating patients at risk for PAD. All patients with PAD should receive risk-factor modification, such as treatment and education, about smoking cessation, blood pressure control and lowering of cholesterol. Appropriate pharmacological management includes antiplatelet therapy of aspirin, use of clopidogrel for those individuals who are sensitive to aspirin. Patients who have had bypass surgery or stent placement require dual antiplatelet therapy of aspirin and clopidogrel. The American Heart Association (AHA) states that treatment with beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors is appropriate pharmacotherapy to treat PAD. Other FDA approved medications such as Cilostazol and Pentoxifylline are also used in the treatment of pain associated with intermittent claudication.
Monte Carlo study of oxygen-vacancy ordering in YBa2Cu3-xMxO6+2c (M=Co,Fe,Al,Ga).

The effect of impurities at the Cu(1) site in the basal plane of the high-temperature superconductor YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 6+2{ital c}} on the oxygen-vacancy phase diagram is investigated by Monte Carlo simulation of an asymmetric next-nearest-neighbor lattice-gas model, in which the impurities are assumed to act as traps for oxygen atoms. First the phase diagram of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 6+2{ital c}} is determined, which shows the high-temperature orthorhombic and tetragonal phases, as well as the low-temperature double-cell orthorhombic and antiorthorhombic phases. Next the high-temperature orthorhombic-to-tetragonal transition of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3{minus}{ital x}}{ital M}{sub {ital x}}O{sub 6+2{ital c}} is studied within a single orthorhombic domain. This orthorhombic-to-tetragonal transition is a true phase transition, with a peak in the specific heat, in contrast with the orthorhombic-to-pseudotetragonal transition studied in previous theoretical studies. The orthorhombic-to-tetragonal phase boundary is found to shift to higher oxygen concentrations with increasing impurity concentration. A first-order approximation for the shift of the phase boundary is derived, which agrees with the Monte Carlo results.
Height and Social Adjustment

To the Editor .— There continues to be debate about whether short children suffer psychological stress from their short stature. Sandberg et al1 have reported that extremes of stature have minimally detectable impact on peer perceptions of social behavior, friendship, or acceptance in a general population of school children. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Human Growth Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to research, education, advocacy, and support for people with growth disorders. We believe that this research is important, because most reported studies on the psychological effect of short stature have been conducted in the population of children who have been referred for medical evaluation of their short stature. We hope to be able to support similar studies in the future. It is of interest that these observations differ from what is seen in patients referred to growth …
Initiation of feeding by provisioned patas monkeys: Evidence for the protection hypothesis

The applicability of the baboon-based protection hypothesis was tested with data from a provisioned, free-ranging group of Erythrocebus patas.The age/sex class of the individual which first approached and fed from one of the food hoppers during early morning feeding sessions was noted for 114 mornings. The presence of an observer, and periodically, rhesus monkeys,near the hopper made these approaches analogous to progressions described for feral baboons. Adult patas of both sexes approached and ate first significantly more frequently than was expected based on their respective proportions in the group, and immature monkeys less often. For adult females,initiating feeding was not correlated with dominance rank, although females in the middle and lower thirds of the hierarchy (n = 6 in each third) initiated feeding more frequently than did the females in the top third. The protection hypothesis accounts for the observed behavioral pattern, while explanations based on competitive exclusion and dominance relationships do not adequately account for the results.
Multipliers on Compact Lie Groups

Abstract Sufficient conditions are found for a biinvariant operator on a compact Lie group to be bounded on Lp, 1 < p < ∞. The proof uses properties of g-functions on such a group, and an analog to the familiar relationship between differentiation and multiplication under the Fourier transform.
Life's America: Family and Nation in Postwar Photojournalism

As the first periodical to present news stories through photographs, "Life" appealed to middle-class Americans as they faced the conflicts and the rapid changes of Cold War society. "Life's" photo-essays rendered such pressing concerns as world and domestic politics, labor disputes, civil rights protests, and social and economic mobility as human interest stories. By focusing on families, these stories portrayed major social issues in terms of personal achievement and adherence to particular values. Shaping a reassuring portrait of America, Life depicted the ideal family as white, suburban, and middle-class. For one representative feature story, the cover photograph shows an unfinished house in which a kneeling woman embraces two blond girls, and a man in a business suit protectively holds a toddler. The caption reads, 'Family Buys 'Best $15,000 House.' The cost of the house suggests this is a middle-class family with a bright future. The celebratory picture of this family with a bright future reveals no hint of the political and economic instability of the era. Wendy Kozol's readings of such photographs and their accompanying texts show how "Life" normalized the affluent nuclear family and supported middle-class consumption by defining the family as much by their possessions as by their conformity to traditional gender roles. Photo-essays about other social groups also focused on nuclear families and the quest for the 'American Dream'; minimizing the differences between social groups and experiences in this way enabled the magazine to present middle-class culture as a nationally shared ideal. Using feminist and cultural studies perspectives, Kozol considers how layout, composition, lighting, framing, and subject matter influenced "Life's" representation of domestic ideology. "Life's America" examines the production of visual images that for generations captured the essence of American culture and shaped photojournalism. Author note: Wendy Kozol is Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Oberlin College.
Megaprojects as urbanism

Solutions for a Modern City: Arup in Beijing Black Dog, London, UK, 2008; ISBN 978 1 906155 47 6 Solutions for a Modern City: Arup in Beijing has a series of questions embedded in its title. Soluti...
Tree ring growth and elemental concentrations in wood cores of oak species in eastern Pennsylvania: Possible influences of air pollution and acidic deposition

Abstract Annual ring growth patterns of red oak (Quercus rubra) and white oak (Q. alba) were compared from Lehigh Valley (near neutral soils) and the Pocono (acid soils) forests in eastern Pennsylvania. The two red oak populations were parallel, although statistically different, from 1935–1950. For white oak, the two populations had the same mean for the period of 1935–1965; and from 1965–1985 the means were different. Chemical analyses of wood cores had shown increasing concentrations of several trace elements in new rings of both oak species from the Lehigh Valley and the Pocono areas. Although the results suggest certain changes in growth pattern and chemical composition in the wood cores, no clear‐cut evidence that air pollution or acid rain was affecting the health of the two forests could be detected.
Cytochrome P-450 interactions with the 2-chloroethylnitrosoureas and procarbazine

Summary Monooxygenation of 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-( trans -α - methylcyclohexyl) - 1 - nitrosourea (Methyl CCNU) and 1-(2-chloroethyl)-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea (CCNU) in the presence of NADPH and O 2 by liver microsomes prepared from normal and phenobarbital-induced rats and mice were compared. The rate of Methyl CCNU hydroxylation was about 20 to 30 per cent of the rate of CCNU hydroxylation. A NADPH cytochrome P-450 dependent denitrosation of Methyl CCNU to the parent urea was observed. Single doses of CCNU (7.5, 15 and 30 mg/kg body wt) administered to rats two weeks prior to sacrifice and preparation of liver microsomes resulted in a dose-related decrease in cytochrome P-450 content, ethylmorphine N -demethylase and nitroreductase activities. These decreases gave values of 57, 33 and 60 per cent respectively relative to controls at the 30 mg/kg body wt dose level. Similar experiments are reported for the effects of CCNU treatment in vivo on CCNU monooxygenation by microsomes. These results are discussed in relation to previous studies with procarbazine.
Nightmares: Friend or foe?

Revonsuo's evolution-based theory places the nightmare as a prototype dream, which fully realizes its biological function. However, individuals who experience both repetitive (PTSD) nightmares and/or lifelong nontraumatic nightmares demonstrate impaired psychological functioning and attenuated information-processing. The importance of reconciling these discrepancies are addressed and ideas for providing stronger empirical tests of the model are presented.[Revonsuo]
Spin orbital angular momentum coupling effects on the electronic structure of nanocrystalline semiconductor clusters

Abstract The effects of crystal structure and spin-orbital angular momentum coupling on spectroscopic transitions in CdS, CdSe, and CdTe semiconductor clusters are investigated using accurate pseudopotentials. These calculations reveal that spin-orbit coupling splits the exciton peak into A, B, and C transitions. The C transitions exhibit much greater blueshift with cluster size than the A and B transitions. Furthermore, the C transitions exhibit stronger quantum confinement effect in zinc-blende than in wurtzite clusters of the same size. The calculated transition energies are in good agreement with the experimental data and spin-orbit coupling is able to reveal many of the trends in the experimental spectral shifts.
Creating Engaging Online Courses

The importance of engagement for learning, specifically related to online coursework, is discussed in this paper. The cognitive basis for engagement and instructional strategies for integrating it into coursework are described, as well as the challenges that instructors face in creating robust learning environments. The roles of teacher and learner must also evolve to accommodate these new models, with increased student responsibility and accountability. Finally, practical examples are given to demonstrate strategies for enhanced engagement in online coursework.
Leachability of chelated ion-exchange resins solidified in cement or cement and fly ash

Abstract Leach tests were conducted at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory ∗ on six small-scale specimens of cement-solidified ion-exchange resin wastes. The ion-exchange resins had been used to process reagent solutions following chemical decontaminations of primary coolant systems at five commercial light water reactors. The decontaminations were performed using the AP/Citrox, Can-Decon, Dow NS-1, and Low Oxidation-State Transition-Metal ION (LOMI) processes. The ion-exchange resin wastes were loaded with radionuclides, transition metals, and organic chelating agents, and were solidified in either unmodified Portland Type I cement or in a mixture of Portland Type I cement and fly ash. Wasteform specimens were leach-tested in deionized water at 23°C using the American National Standards Institute/American Nuclear Society (ANSI/ANS) Standard 16.1 procedure. Release rates, effective diffusivities, and leachability indexes of radionuclides, chelating agents, and stable metals were determined using ANS-16.1 diffusion release models. Releases of radionuclides, chelating agents, and metals from waste forms that degraded during leaching were similar to releases from waste forms that maintained their physical integrity during leaching. The presence of chelating agents in the waste forms did not adversely affect the leachability of the waste forms.
Using positive reinforcement to suppress behavior: some experimental comparisons with sibling conflict

Sibling conflict was used as a prototype problem behavior to compare the relative suppressive effects of two positive reinforcement procedures: reinforcement of a specific alternative behavior and omission training or differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). A total of 6 families containing 16 children served as subjects. The procedures were compared within individual families. The major findings were: (a) both procedures reduced the frequency of conflict, relative to baseline by approximately 50%, (b) there was no significant difference in the degree of suppression, produced by these two positive reinforcement procedures, (c) on nights when they were alone, mothers were able to carry out both procedures equally well and with comparable effects to nights when an experimenter was also present in the home, (d) although the percentage of conflict was reduced equally by both procedures, other behaviors were differentially affected, i.e., “appropriate interaction” was increased significantly more by the specific alternative response reinforcement procedure than by the DRO procedure and “no interaction” only showed a significant decline from baseline during the specific alternative response reinforcement procedure, (e) generalized suppression of conflict was observed on nights of the week when neither reinforcement procedure was in effect, (f) parents were able to extend the DRO procedure during a follow-up phase to 2-hr periods of the day and the percentage occurrence of sibling conflict continued to decline during this period.
Calcium-activated potassium channels contribute to human skeletal muscle microvascular endothelial dysfunction related to cardiopulmonary bypass

Background We investigated the role of calcium-activated potassium (KCa) channel activity in human skeletal muscle microvascular function in the setting of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Methods and Results Human skeletal muscle arterioles (80- to 180 μm in diameter) were dissected from tissue harvested before and after CPB. In vitro relaxation responses of precontracted arterioles in a pressurized no-flow state were examined in the presence of KCa channel activators/blockers and several other vasodilators. Post-CPB responses to the activator of intermediate (IKCa) and small conductance (SKCa) KCa channels, NS309, to the endothelium-dependent vasodilator adenosine 5′-diphosphate (ADP), and to substance P were reduced compared with pre-CPB responses (P Conclusion IK/SK-mediated relaxation is predominantly endothelium dependent, whereas BK-mediated relaxation seems to be largely independent of endothelial function in human skeletal muscle microvasculature. CPB-associated microvascular dysfunction likely arises in part from impaired function of endothelial SK and IK channels in the peripheral microvasculature.
Coaxial electrospinning of gelatin/polyvinyl alcohol composite nanofibers and evaluation of their material properties

Electrospinning has been used to fabricate nanofibrous scaffolds from a variety of synthetic and natural materials, including polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and gelatin. Although PVA possesses appealing mechanical properties for tissue engineering applications, it lacks adequate cellular recognition sites, which limits the material's bioactivity. In contrast, gelatin has desirable bioactivity but lacks adequate mechanical properties and can be difficult to handle. Therefore, coaxial electrospinning is employed to create nanofibers of these materials in a core/shell structure with gelatin forming the shell and PVA forming the core of the fibers. In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), mechanical testing, and cellular studies were utilized to evaluate the morphology and material properties of coaxially electrospun PVA/gelatin nanocomposite scaffolds in comparison to scaffolds composed of solely PVA or gelatin. This study yields insight into the potential of combining synthetic and natural polymers together in the engineering of composite nanofibers for a variety of tissue engineering applications.
Analyzing the Farm-Level Impact of Agricultural Credit: Discussion

agricultural credit in developing countries and the impact of many subsidized credit programs then in effect, especially those designed to increase small farmer access to loans. The 1973 AID spring review of small farmer credit, a comprehensive review of programs in several developing countries, represented the first major occasion when serious doubts were raised about the real impact of such programs.' Our critical review of research conducted up to the late 1970s led us to question the basic methodology of many impact studies and, therefore, their empirical results (David and Meyer). One fundamental problem was that much of the research failed to account for the wide range of production, consumption, and investment activities undertaken by a rural household. Given the fungibility of farm-household cash flow management, it is difficult to identify the true impact of loans supposedly given for farm production. Production loans from financial institutions may not contribute much additionality to farm input use and output if, because of fungibility, they simply substitute for own savings or other sources of loans.
Identifying and reporting risk factors for adverse events in endoscopy. Part I: cardiopulmonary events

M The risks of endoscopy procedures are likely affected by the competence of the endoscopist and the team (nursing, anesthesia, and technicians), the details of the specific procedure being performed, and the patient’s anatomy, demographics, and health status. In 2008, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) convened a workshop to recommend a lexicon to define and describe the adverse events (AEs) (previously commonly referred to as complications) that can result from endoscopy procedures.1 One additional goal of this workshop was to standardize the reporting of factors that may predict AEs, in clinical practice and in research. This list of such factors might enable the creation of risk strata (allowing comparison of AE rates by risk groups). In addition, AE rates among different groups of endoscopists and different groups of patients might be more appropriately compared by strata. Last, prospective risk assessment might enhance the quality of informed consent and facilitate decisions regarding procedural appropriateness.
Properties of an imaging gas scintillation proportional counter

Abstract A parallel-grid gas scintillation proportional counter (GSPC), coupled to a multiwire proportional counter (MWPC) through a UV transparent window, yields a new instrument that combines the good energy resolution of the GSPC with the imaging capabilities of the MWPC. The imaging gas scintillation proportional counter (IGSPC) operates on the principle of detecting the centroid of the UV light generated by X-ray photons interacting in the noble gas of the GSPC with a UV sensitive gas [e.g. Tetrakis (dimethylamino) ethylene (TMAE)] in the MWPC. A prototype version of the counter has been built which yields a measured performance of 9% (fwhm) energy resolution and 0.9 mm (fwhm) spatial resolution at 6 keV.