cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Charge permutation reactions in beam type mass spectrometers

Abstract This is a review of the gas-phase reactions, in beam type mass spectrometers, that change the charge states of ions. The Cooks research group has been a leader in both the understanding and use of these charge-changing reactions. The charge of ions can be manipulated in beam type instruments via collisions with neutral gas atoms or molecules in the high ion kinetic energy regime. The two major processes, charge inversion and charge stripping due to high energy ion/neutral collisions, are discussed. Charge permutation reactions often result in the formation of unique ion structures that aid in the differentiation of isomers. The products of charge permutation reactions may possess excess internal energy that cause the ions to fragment, and these fragment ions may provide complementary information to that obtained from high energy collision-induced dissociation. The charge of ions also can be changed as a result of a collision with a surface in the low ion kinetic energy regime. Charge exchange and charge inversion processes that occur as a result of low energy ion/surface collisions are presented.
Zero based budgeting in the planning process

An attempt is made to integrate the zero based budgeting (ZBB) procedure into the firm's planning process. Previous studies have failed to provide an integrative framework for the application of ZBB which may account for some of the conflicting results obtained in previous ZBB programmes. Next, the results of an empirical assessment of the effectiveness of the ZBB integrative framework in service oriented organizational units are reported. Strong support is evident for the ZBB planning framework developed here using constituency oriented indicators of effectiveness.
Carbamazepine treatment of agitation in nursing home patients with dementia: a preliminary study

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of carbamazepine versus placebo on ratings of behavior in agitated nursing home patients with dementia. DESIGN: Nonrandomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial conducted in 25 patients in two nursing homes. INTERVENTION: Carbamazepine and placebo were administered during two 5-week periods separated by a 2-week washout. The carbamazepine dose was determined for each patient by a nonblinded physician who did not participate in ratings (modal dose 300 mg/day). MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome measures were Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores and Clinical Global Impression of Change, rated by blind observers. Secondary measures of behavior, adversity, cognition, and functional status were also included. MAIN RESULTS: Median total Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale score decreased 7 points on carbamazepine versus 3 on placebo (P = 0.03). Sixteen subjects were rated as improved globally on carbamazepine versus four on placebo (P = 0.001). Secondary measures of behavior showed similar changes at significant or suggestive (P <0.10) levels. One subject developed carbamazepine-induced tics, and one died with a pneumonia. There was minimal other adversity. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study suggests that carbamazepine in low doses can reduce agitated behaviors in some patients, with limited adversity resulting. Further research is required to confirm and extend this finding before it can be considered routine clinical practice.
Global phenological response to climate change in crop areas using satellite remote sensing of vegetation, humidity and temperature over 26years

Abstract The recent increase in food prices has revealed that climate, combined with an expanding population and a widespread change in diet, may result in an end to an era of predictable abundance of global cereal crops. The objective of this paper is to estimate changes of agriculturally-relevant growing season parameters, including the start of the season, length of the growing period and the position of the height or peak of the season, in the primary regions with rainfed agriculture during the past 26 years. Our analysis found that globally, 27% of cereal crop areas have experienced changes in the length of the growing season since 1981, the majority of which had seasons that were at least 2.3 days per year longer on average. We also found both negative and positive trends in the start of season globally, with different effects of changing temperature and humidity being isolated depending on the country and region. We investigated the correlation between the peak timing of the growing season and agricultural production statistics for rain fed agriculture. We found that two thirds of the countries investigated had at least 25% of pixels with crop production that behaved differently than expected from the null hypothesis of no correlation. The results show that variations in the peak of the growing season have a strong effect on global food production in these countries. We show that northern hemisphere countries and states appear to have improved model fit when using phenological models based on humidity while southern hemisphere countries and states have improved model fit by phenological models based on accumulated growing degree days, showing the impact of climate variability during the past two and a half decades.
Proteomic identification of potential susceptibility factors in drug-induced liver disease.

Drug-induced liver disease (DILD) causes significant morbidity and mortality and impairs new drug development. Currently, no known criteria can predict whether a drug will cause DILD or what risk factors make an individual susceptible. Although it has been shown in mouse studies that the disruption of key regulatory factors, such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10, increased susceptibility to DILD caused by acetaminophen (APAP), no single factor seems to be absolute. As an approach to better understand the multifactorial basis of DILD, we compared the hepatic proteome of mice that are resistant (SJL) and susceptible (C57Bl/6) to APAP-induced liver disease (AILD), using solution-based isotope-coded affinity tag (ICAT) liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Several novel factors were identified that were more highly expressed in the livers of SJL mice, including those involved in stress response, cell proliferation and tissue regeneration, and protein modification, implicating thes...
Energy partitioning of ultrasonic waves beyond the critical angle at flat boundaries

Abstract Energy partitioning equations for oblique longitudinal waves incident on an interface were coded for a HP 9820 calculator. Program output includes phase angles and imaginary surface wave intensities that have not been previously published. The surface wave intensities may be helpful in understanding the critical angle dip that is experimentally observed. A complete code listing and typical output are included.
The Textile Interface Swatchbook: Creating graphical user interface-like widgets with conductive embroidery

The Textile Interface Swatchbook demonstrates how conductive embroidery can render graphical user interface-like (GUI) widgets on fabric. Such widgets might be used to control mobile electronics such as a music player, mobile phone, or projected display. At present, six swatches have been created for the swatchbook: pleat, menu, rocker, multi-touch gesture, zipper, and proximity. The three most diverse and original are discussed here. In addition, we develop a hybrid resistive-capacitive touch sensing technique designed to be more tolerant to the flexing typical of fabric. We hope to develop the Textile Interface Swatchbook into a reference tool for textile interfaces.
Similarity of peptides in two antigen-combining fragments released from a rabbit antibody by papain.

DURING an examination of the enzymatic hydrolysis of rabbit γ-globulin, it was noted that only one-half to two-thirds as many peptides could be differentiated in the hydrolysates as was expected from the amount of base needed to maintain pH during hydrolysis : approximately 50 peptides were distinguished following hydrolysis of rabbit antibodies with trypsin, 70 following chymotrypsin and 100 following subtilisin, whereas approximately 100, 150 and 210 µmoles of sodium hydroxide per µmole of antibody respectively were required to maintain pH at 8.0. The results suggested the possibility that similar or identical peptides were released from different parts of the same molecule resulting in a smaller number of detectably different peptides than the number of peptide bonds broken. An opportunity to test this hypothesis was afforded by Porter's isolation of three large peptide fragments from papain hydrolysates of rabbit γ-globulin1. Two of these, I and II, had antibody characteristics and together comprised 50–60 per cent of the antibody molecule; the third fraction, III, was easily crystallized but had no antibody activity. In the work reported here, the peptides of these three fragments were compared.
On Domesticating Transnational Corporations: South Africa and the Automotive Industry

(1981). On domesticating transnational corporations: South Africa and the automotive industry. The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics: Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 157-173.
Modeling Heat Conduction and Radiation Transport with the Diffusion Equation in NIF ALE-AMR

The ALE-AMR code developed for NIF is a multi-material hydro-code that models target assembly fragmentation in the aftermath of a shot. The combination of ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian) hydro with AMR (Adaptive Mesh Refinement) allows the code to model a wide range of physical conditions and spatial scales. The large range of temperatures encountered in the NIF target chamber can lead to significant fluxes of energy due to thermal conduction and radiative transport. These physical effects can be modeled approximately with the aid of the diffusion equation. We present a novel method for the solution of the diffusion equation on a composite mesh in order to capture these physical effects.
Another Piece of the Puzzle: Advancing Social Capital Theory by Examining the Effect of Political Party Relationship Quality on Political and Civic Participation

The purpose of this study was to build strategic communication theory by integrating organization-public relationship (OPR) variables from the relationship management literature into existing models of civic and political participation found in social capital theory. The study used data from a telephone survey of 998 residents of a mid-sized city during early 2008 to examine the interaction among interpersonal communication, media use, interpersonal trust, perceptions of respondents' relationships with their political parties, civic and political participation, and confidence in government. Results indicated that interpersonal communication, new media use, and relationship with political parties were related to increases in civic and political participation. Strong relationships with parties were also related to increased confidence in government. Implications of the integration of OPR variables into social capital theory are discussed as well as implications of social capital theory and OPR for strategic...
A benzodiazepine antagonist inhibits the cerebral metabolic and respiratory depressant effects of fentanyl.

Abstract It is reported that benzodiazepines such as diazepam will stimulate the opiate receptor system and that B-carboline drugs, which are benzodiazepine antagonists, may interact with opiate receptors directly. The ability of 3-hydroxymethyl-B-carboline (3-HMC) to antagonize several parameters of fentanyl anesthesia was tested here in rats. Fentanyl (25 and 100 ug/kg iv) produced dose dependent depression of cerebral blood flow (CBF), measured by radioactive microspheres, and cerebral oxygen consumption (CMRO 2 ). These effects were significantly inhibited by 10 mg/kg 3-HMC iv. To test for the specificity of this effect, 3-HMC was also given to rats ventilated with inspire concentrations of 2% halothane. Halothane depressed CMRO 2 equally in 3-HMC and vehicle treated rats, indicating no significant effect of the benzodiazepine antagonist. Blood pressure was increased in 3-HMC compared to vehicle treated animals during both fentanyl and halothane anesthesia. CBF was increased in 3-HMC vs vehicle treated rats during halothane anesthesia but this could be accounted for by the elevated blood pressure and lack of cerebral autoregulation rather than a direct cerebrovascular effect. 3-HMC decreased the sleep time and respiratory depressant effects of fentanyl but enhanced the analgesic effects of the opiate, as measured by time to respond to a hot plate stimulus. These results indicate that 3-HMC has the ability to specifically antagonize fentanyl anesthesia. These effects may be produced by an action of 3-HMC at the benzodiazepine receptor and/or by an action of the B-carboline at opioid receptors.
Learning a hierarchy of discriminative space-time neighborhood features for human action recognition

Recent work shows how to use local spatio-temporal features to learn models of realistic human actions from video. However, existing methods typically rely on a predefined spatial binning of the local descriptors to impose spatial information beyond a pure “bag-of-words” model, and thus may fail to capture the most informative space-time relationships. We propose to learn the shapes of space-time feature neighborhoods that are most discriminative for a given action category. Given a set of training videos, our method first extracts local motion and appearance features, quantizes them to a visual vocabulary, and then forms candidate neighborhoods consisting of the words associated with nearby points and their orientation with respect to the central interest point. Rather than dictate a particular scaling of the spatial and temporal dimensions to determine which points are near, we show how to learn the class-specific distance functions that form the most informative configurations. Descriptors for these variable-sized neighborhoods are then recursively mapped to higher-level vocabularies, producing a hierarchy of space-time configurations at successively broader scales. Our approach yields state-of-theart performance on the UCF Sports and KTH datasets.
Opioid-binding cell adhesion molecule (OBCAM)-related clones from a rat brain cDNA library.

Abstract A rat brain cDNA library was screened with probes constructed from portions of the cDNA (OBCAM) encoding the opioid-binding cell adhesion molecule (OBCAM). Three clones of interest were isolated and sequenced. The largest clone, DUZ1, had a putative open reading frame (ORF) essentially identical to OBCAM in its C-terminal 318 amino acids (aa), but differing in its N-terminal aa (20 vs. 27 in OBCAM), and in all of its 5′-noncoding regions. The other clones, SG8 and SG13, had a putative ORF essentially identical to that of OBCAM, but differed from each other in a portion of their 5′-noncoding region. This study suggests that there is a family of OBCAM-like genes.
The definition, taxonomy, epidemiology, and ecology of self-injurious behavior

The paper is a theoretical analysis of the evolution of the concepts related primarily to the definition and to the antecedents of self-injurious behavior (SIB). It was found that the definition of SIB as currently used contains surplus meanings unrelated to its scientific utility. At present, a restricted definition of SIB is not warranted because its basic parameters have not been studied adequately. Analysis of SIB taxonomies suggests two subclasses of SIB: social and nonsocial. Epidemiological studies of SIB suggest chronic and acute subsamples that differ in organicity, chronicity, and length of institutionalization. Ecological analysis suggests that a variety of antecedent conditions affect rates and topographies of SIB, e.g., ambient environmental conditions, background settings, situational demands, self-restraint, and type of daily routine activity. Implications were drawn for the organization of therapeutic environments, the study of covariation among collateral topographies, the dynamics of SIB responding, and sequential dependencies among SIB and related topographies.
Comparison of artificial neural network and regression models for estimating software development effort

Abstract Estimating the amount of effort required for developing an information system is an important project management concern. In recent years, a number of studies have used neural networks in various stages of software development. This study compares the prediction performance of multilayer perceptron and radial basis function neural networks to that of regression analysis. The results of the study indicate that when a combined third generation and fourth generation languages data set were used, the neural network produced improved performance over conventional regression analysis in terms of mean absolute percentage error.
Determination of serum kynurenine and hepatic tryptophan dioxygenase activity by high-performance liquid chromatography

The status of the oxidative metabolism of L-tryptophan is usually evaluated by the determination of tryptophan metabolites in serum or urine and/or the activities of various oxidative enzymes in tissues. I have developed assays for serum kynurenine and hepatic tryptophan dioxygenase (TDO) activity based on the determination of kynurenine (KYN) by isocratic, reverse phase HPLC with spectrophotometric detection at 365 nm. Sample pretreatment prior to HPLC requires little more than perchloric acid precipitation of serum or a TDO incubation mixture. The analytical recovery for the serum assay was 101 +/- 2%, while the run-to-run coefficient of variation at normal KYN levels was approximately 8%. Serum KYN levels in 40 apparently healthy fasting humans were normally distributed and ranged from 0.27 to 0.69 microgram/ml (mean +/- SD: 0.47 +/- 0.1). Serum KYN in predialysis specimens from a group of 20 patients with chronic renal failure demonstrated a highly significant increase (mean +/- SD: 0.83 +/- 0.35 microgram/ml; P less than 0.001) as compared to the reference population. It is possible that such an increase might contribute to the pathophysiology of the uremic state. The analytical recovery of KYN from TDO incubation mixtures was approximately 90%. There was no evidence for the onward metabolism of KYN during the assay of whole liver homogenates. The mean (+/- SD) TDO activity of rat liver homogenates preincubated with ascorbate and hematin was 2.3 +/- 0.8 mumol/h/g wet wt (30 degrees C). The sensitivity, specificity, and convenience of these two methods suggest that they are suitable for routine use in the investigation of the biology and pathology of oxidative tryptophan metabolism.
Automation in Manufacturing Operation of Crankshaft

This paper deals with multistage flow type manufacturing of crankshafts. The advanced methodologies in manufacturing systems, re-configurability and high speed manufacturing adopted in the paper will help reduce cost and improve productivity. The optimization of the multistage manufacturing is based on mathematical programming formulation and decomposition approach. The optimum process parameters such as speed, feed and depth of cut for individual operations are calculated using this technique. The effect of change in design data on manufacturing parameters and eventually the cost of the crankshaft at each operation are visualized. This is likely to help the manufacturing engineers to attempt to reduce cost at appropriate stage. The manufacturing automation of crankshaft is attempted on the methodology presented in the paper. The final configuration of the automated production system shows the specification of machine tools in the production system.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
On two-way FA with monotonic counters and quadratic Diophantine equations

We show an interesting connection between two-way deterministic finite automata with monotonic counters and quadratic Diophantine equations. The automaton M operates on inputs of the form a1i1...anin for some fixed n and distinct symbols a1,...,an, where i1,...,in are nonnegative integers. We consider the following reachability problem: given a machine M, a state q, and a Presburger relation E over counter values, is there (i1,...,in) such that M, when started in its initial state on the left end of the input a1i1...anin with all counters initially zero, reaches some configuration where the state is q and the counter values satisfy E? In particular, we look at the case when the relation E is an equality relation, i.e., a conjunction of relations of the form Ci = Cj. We show that this case and variations of it are equivalent to the solvability of some special classes of systems of quadratic Diophantine equations. We also study the nondeterministic version of two-way finite automata augmented with monotonic counters with respect to the reachability problem. Finally, we introduce a technique which uses decidability and undecidability results to show "separation" between language classes.
Radiation therapy for benign disease of the orbit

Benign diseases of the orbit can cause significant impairment of visual function through direct effects on the eye or supporting orbital tissues. Persistent moderate-to-severe inflammatory symptoms diplopia, and visual loss may prompt therapeutic intervention. Low doses of external-beam irradiation (20 Gy in 2-Gy fractions) have an efficacy equivalent to corticosteroid medications in the treatment of both Graves' ophthalmopathy and orbital pseudotumor, with response rates of 50% to 80%. Appropriate patient selection, coordination with other medical subspecialties, and careful treatment planning are important in maximizing benefit from rediation therapy. In the case of Graves' ophthalmopathy, quantitative assessment of orbital disease severity and thyroid status as well as attainment of crosssectional imaging should be performed before treatment. Patients whose thyroid disease is controlled but who have moderate-to-severe active orbital involvement can be offered orbital radiation therapy with a high likelihood of response. Stability of disease is generally obtained within 6 months; surgical correction of residual abnormalities may be required. For orbital pseudotumor, attainment of histological material before treatment is important in excluding benign or malignant systemic diseases, including malignant lymphoma. Genotypic abnormalities may exist in patients with reactive lymphoid hyperplasia, some of whom ultimately develop systemic lymphoma. Within the dose range recommended for treatment of Graves' ophthalmopathy and pseudotumor, late radiation effects on the retina or optic nerve should be nonexistent. Adequate lens shielding is required however, to prevent cataract formation. This may require individualized treatment planning with computed tomography at the time of simulation. Pterygia recurrence after bare sclera excision occurs in at least 30% of cases, usually within 6 months of surgery. Radiation of the surgical bed using a strontium-90 source, beginning within 24 hours postoperatively, reduces the risk of recurrence substantially. Late scleral complications have been associated with large single-fraction treatments. To achieve maximal efficacy with minimal complications, fractionated treatment should be given by radiation oncologists experienced with the technique using sources calibrated by the National Bureau of Standards.
Long and short range signals control the dynamic expression of an animal hemisphere-specific gene in Xenopus

Little is known of the control of gene expression in the animal hemisphere of the Xenopus embryo. Here we show that expression of FoxI1e, a gene essential for normal ectoderm formation, is expressed regionally within the animal hemisphere, in a highly dynamic fashion. In situ hybridization shows that FoxI1e is expressed in a wave-like fashion that is initiated on the dorsal side of the animal hemisphere, extends across to the ventral side by the mid-gastrula stage, and is then turned off in the dorsal ectoderm, the neural plate, at the neurula stage. It is confined to the inner layers of cells in the animal cap, and is expressed in a mosaic fashion throughout. We show that this dynamic pattern of expression is controlled by both short- and long-range signals. Notch signaling controls both the mosaic, and dorsal/ventral changes in expression, and is controlled, in turn, by Vg1 signaling from the vegetal mass. FoxI1e expression is also regulated by nodal signaling downstream of VegT. Canonical Wnt signaling contributes only to late changes in the FoxI1e expression pattern. These results provide new insights into the roles of vegetally localized mRNAs in controlling zygotic genes expressed in the animal hemisphere by long-range signaling. They also provide novel insights into the role of Notch signaling at the earliest stages of vertebrate development.
Tolerance and immunity in chickens after congenital and contact infection with an avian leukosis virus.

Abstract A study was made of the pattern of congenital transmission of RIF, a naturally occurring avian leukosis virus, in a flock of chickens selected for a high incidence of neoplasms. It was found that about 1 out of every 6 hens had a persistent RIF-viremia, and all such hens infected their embryos regularly. One out of every 7 non-viremic hens was also a congenital transmitter of RIF, but the transmission was somewhat more erratic than in the case of the viremic birds. There was no indication that roosters, viremic or otherwise, could transmit RIF to their progeny, and it was concluded that the congenital transmission of RIF was strictly maternal. Congenitally infected chickens produced relatively high concentrations of virus for the entire 7-month duration of the experiment. Since these birds had no detectable antibody to RIF it was concluded that they had developed immunological tolerance to the virus by virtue of congenital infection. Birds which had not been infected through the egg became infected after contact with congenitally infected birds. The contact-infected chickens exhibited transient low-level viremia. The viremia was followed by the formation of antibodies to RIF, which cleared the blood of detectable virus. The frequency of congenital transmission of RIF of commercial flocks was found to be only about one-tenth that of the selected flock. The virus must have spread efficiently in the commercial flocks, however, since almost all adult birds had antibodies. A flock of chickens reared in strict isolation and free of leukosis virus was found to have no antibodies to RIF. Tumors diagnosed as visceral lymphomatosis occurred about 6 times more frequently in congenitally infected birds than in those infected by contact. Osteopetrosis, another neoplasm of the leukosis complex, occurred only in congenitally infected birds. Cases diagnosed as neurolymphomatosis on gross postmortem examination occurred in both congenitally infected and contact-infected birds, but the discrepancy between results of gross and microscopic examinations of affected tissues leaves doubt about the class of bird most frequently affected by this manifestation of infection.
Impact of gender, partner status, and race on locoregional failure and overall survival in head and neck cancer patients in three radiation therapy oncology group trials.

Purpose We investigated the impact of race, in conjunction with gender and partner status, on locoregional control (LRC) and overall survival (OS) in three head and neck trials conducted by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). Methods and Materials Patients from RTOG studies 9003, 9111, and 9703 were included. Patients were stratified by treatment arms. Covariates of interest were partner status (partnered vs. non-partnered), race (white vs. non-white), and sex (female vs. male). Chi-square testing demonstrated homogeneity across treatment arms. Hazards ratio (HR) was used to estimate time to event outcome. Unadjusted and adjusted HRs were calculated for all covariates with associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and p values. Results A total of 1,736 patients were analyzed. Unpartnered males had inferior OS rates compared to partnered females (adjusted HR = 1.22, 95% CI, 1.09–1.36), partnered males (adjusted HR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.09–1.28), and unpartnered females (adjusted HR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.09–1.32). White females had superior OS compared with white males, non-white females, and non-white males. Non-white males had inferior OS compared to white males. Partnered whites had improved OS relative to partnered non-white, unpartnered white, and unpartnered non-white patients. Unpartnered males had inferior LRC compared to partnered males (adjusted HR = 1.26, 95% CI, 1.09–1.46) and unpartnered females (adjusted HR = 1.30, 95% CI, 1.05–1.62). White females had LRC superior to non-white males and females. White males had improved LRC compared to non-white males. Partnered whites had improved LRC compared to partnered and unpartnered non-white patients. Unpartnered whites had improved LRC compared to unpartnered non-whites. Conclusions Race, gender, and partner status had impacts on both OS and locoregional failure, both singly and in combination.
Promoting Generalization of Oral Reading Fluency: Providing Drill versus Practice Opportunities

Extensive evidence exists demonstrating the benefits of repeated readings (RR) interventions at increasing students’ fluency on intervention passages. Few studies however have examined the extent to which repeatedly reading one passage improves students’ reading fluency on similar passages. Using an alternating treatment design, we examined the extent to which two interventions resulted in improvements in students’ fluency on generalization passages. While both interventions incorporated RR, one intervention involved students reading one passage four times and the other involved students reading two similar passages each twice. Intervention effects were evaluated by having students read a generalization passage prior to and following intervention implementation. Results indicate that both interventions were effective in increasing students reading fluency on generalization passages. For 3 participants the RR intervention produced greater gains in fluency on the generalization passages, while data for the remaining 3 participants are inconclusive. Implications of these findings for practice and for better understanding application of the instructional hierarchy to the development of reading interventions are discussed.
Decorrelating Semantic Visual Attributes by Resisting the Urge to Share

Existing methods to learn visual attributes are prone to learning the wrong thing -- namely, properties that are correlated with the attribute of interest among training samples. Yet, many proposed applications of attributes rely on being able to learn the correct semantic concept corresponding to each attribute. We propose to resolve such confusions by jointly learning decorrelated, discriminative attribute models. Leveraging side information about semantic relatedness, we develop a multi-task learning approach that uses structured sparsity to encourage feature competition among unrelated attributes and feature sharing among related attributes. On three challenging datasets, we show that accounting for structure in the visual attribute space is key to learning attribute models that preserve semantics, yielding improved generalizability that helps in the recognition and discovery of unseen object categories.
Using health education theories to explain behavior change: a cross-country analysis.

Scholars within the fields of public health, health education, health promotion, and health communication look to specific theories to explain health behavior change. The purpose of this article is to critically compare four health theories and key variables within them with regard to behavior change in the area of reproductive health. Using cross-country analyses of Ghana, Nepal, and Nicaragua (data sets provided by the Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins University), the authors looked at the Health Belief Model, Theory of Reasoned Action, Extended Parallel Process Model, and Social Cognitive Theory for these two defined objectives. Results show that all four theories provide an excellent fit to the data, but that certain variables within them may have particular value for understanding specific aspects of behavior change. Recommendations for the selection of theories to use as guidelines in the design and evaluation of reproductive health programs are provided.
Theory in motion.

Modeling studies are now a significant part of mainstream research in motor control. Novel and classical modeling techniques used in recent work on small and large motor systems illustrate the different roles that models play in furthering our understanding of motor systems. The models presented reveal single neuron short-term memory, unexpected effects of reciprocal inhibition and methods for decoding activity in large populations of neurons.
Function of the Ligamentum Teres in Limiting Hip Rotation: A Cadaveric Study

Purpose The purpose of this cadaveric study was to evaluate the function of the ligamentum teres (LT) in limiting hip rotation in 18 distinct hip positions while preserving the capsular ligaments. Methods Twelve hips in 6 fresh-frozen pelvis-to-toes cadaveric specimens were skeletonized from the lumbar spine to the distal femur, preserving only the hip ligaments. Hip joints were arthroscopically accessed through a portal located between the pubofemoral and iliofemoral ligaments to confirm the integrity of the LT. Three independent measurements of hip internal and external rotation range of motion (ROM) were performed in 18 defined hip positions of combined extension-flexion and abduction-adduction. The LT was then arthroscopically sectioned and rotation ROM reassessed in the same positions. A paired sample t test was used to compare the average internal and external hip rotation ROM values in the intact LT versus resected conditions in each of the 18 positions. P Results A statistically significant influence of the LT on internal or external rotation was found in 8 of the 18 hip positions tested ( P Conclusions The major function of the LT is controlling hip rotation. The LT functions as an end-range stabilizer to hip rotation dominantly at 90° or greater of hip flexion, confirming its contribution to hip stability. Clinical Relevance Ruptures of the LT contribute to hip instability dominantly in flexed hip positions.
Intersections of Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics

I discuss the current state of low-energy nuclear theory and the scientific questions that will be addressed over the next ten years as we move to the description of increasingly unstable nuclei. Much of our understanding of unstable nuclei will directly benefit astrophysics, particularly in the areas of supernova-core deleptonization, neutrino interactions with nuclei in stellar environments, the nuclear equation of state at high temperatures and densities, and nucleosynthesis. I will discuss the current status of our understanding of one of these overlaps, namely electron capture on nuclei. I will then turn to a description of coupled-cluster theory, which is a technique of solving the nuclear many-body problem that may be useful for calculating selected nuclear properties relevant to astrophysics.
Post-afterdischarge depolarization does not stimulate prolonged neurohormone secretion but is required for activity-dependent stimulation of neurohormone biosynthesis from peptidergic neurons.

Membrane depolarization plays a critical role in stimulating secretion of neuropeptides and can also be important in regulating transcriptional and translational events that control peptide biosynthesis. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that persistent membrane depolarization after the end of an electrical afterdischarge plays an important role in stimulating both prolonged secretion of egg-laying hormone (ELH) and ELH synthesis from peptidergic bag cell neurons of Aplysia. Experimental preparations were treated with a low Na+ solution to rapidly repolarize membrane potential (Vm). Compared with control preparations, the low Na+ solution caused rapid membrane repolarization to resting levels, significant shortening of the duration of the afterdischarge, and significant decrease in the decay time constant of cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) concentrations, but no effect on peak [Ca2+]i, total [Ca2+]i above baseline, or duration of elevated [Ca2+]i. Contrary to both theoretical expectations and ...
Effect of laparoscopic antireflux surgery upon renal blood flow

Background: Hypercapnia and local pressure effects unique to CO 2 base minimally invasive surgery alter renal blood flow. We have demonstrated laparoscopic antireflux surgery to have an additional impact upon hemodynamics (decreased cardiac output), potentially extending known effects upon renal blood flow. Methods: We measured renal blood flow with radioactive microspheres during laparoscopic antireflux surgery in a porcine model. Six pigs were anesthetized, monitoring lines were placed, and microspheres injected five time points associated with a laparoscopic antireflux operation. After euthanasia kidneys were retrieved and fixed, and representative samples counted for radioactivity specific for each of the five time points. Results: The greatest reduction in renal blood flow was 36% below baseline (p0.05). Concurrently, cardiac output had a maximum reduction of 39%. Conclusions: Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication in this pig model is associated with a significant reduction in renal blood flow, probably related to reduction in cardiac output. Caution is warranted when considering laparoscopic antireflux surgery in patients with a compromised renal blood flow. © 2002 Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved.
Influence of cations on noncovalent interactions between 6-propionyl-2-dimethylaminonaphthalene (PRODAN) and dissolved fulvic and humic acids

Abstract The influence of cations (Na + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ ) on noncovalent interactions between 6-propionyl-2-dimethylaminonaphthalene (PRODAN) and dissolved fulvic acids (FAs) (Norman landfill leachate fulvic acid (NLFA) and Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA)) and dissolved humic acids (HAs) (Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA) and Leonardite humic acid (LHA)) was examined using steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy at pH 4, 7 and 10 as a function of cation concentration (up to 25–100 mM). Regardless of pH and cation concentration, PRODAN quenching by FA was unaffected by cations. However, interactions between PRODAN and HA decreased in the presence of cations at pH 7 and 10. Cation concentrations below the HA charge density resulted in the greatest decrease of PRODAN quenching, while very little additional decrease in PRODAN quenching occurred at cation concentrations above the HA charge density. This suggests that as the HA carboxylic acid functional groups form inner sphere complexes with divalent cations, intramolecular interactions result in a contraction of the HA molecular structure, thereby preventing PRODAN from associating with the condensed aromatic, electron accepting moieties inherent within HA molecules and responsible for PRODAN quenching. However, once the HA carboxylic acid functional groups are fully titrated with divalent cations, PRODAN quenching is no longer significantly influenced by the further addition of cations, even though these additional cations facilitate intermolecular interactions between the HA molecules to form supramolecular HA aggregates that can continue to increase in size. Regardless of FA and HA type, pH, cation type and concentration, the lack of blue-shifted fluorescence emission spectra indicated that micelle-like hydrophobic regions, amenable to PRODAN partitioning, were not formed by intra- and intermolecular interactions of FA and HA.
Contact regions in the dimer of Alzheimer β-amyloid domain [1–28] studied by mass spectrometry

Information is provided about the amino acid residues in the [1-28] domain of the Alzheimer b- amyloid protein, which participate in interstrand pairing and initiate fibillogenesis. The study was carried out using electrospray ionization on a four sector mass spectrometer, measuring kinetic energy release for a fragmentation process, and modeling the transition state with molecular dynamics calculations. The results eliminate the sequence [11-24] proposed earlier as the central core, and are consistent with, but do not distinguish between, residues [17-28] and [17-23] proposed by others based on biochemical studies.
Statistical Issues in Assessing Powered Toothbrushes

A symposium on powered toothbrushes was held at the 2000 IADR General Session. The author was asked to address statistical issues in conducting clinical studies. The objective was to cover important statistical topics that should be considered in scientific investigations, including designing the study, analyzing the results, and performing a critical scientific review. The American Dental Association (ADA) established guidelines during the 1990s. The author discusses these guidelines and addresses statistical issues they do not cover.
Frankfurt and Descartes: God and logical truth

Suppose, then, that God's omnipotence enables Him to do even what is logically impossible and that He actually creates a stone too heavy for Him to lift. The critic of the notion of divine omnipotence is quite mistaken if he thinks that this supposition plays into his h a n d s . . . But if God is supposed capable of performing one task whose description is self-contradictory--that of creating the problematic stone in the first place--why would He not be supposed capable of performing another--that of lifting the stone? After all, is there any greater trick in performing two logically impossible tasks than there is in performing one? 2
Oxazoles as masked activated carboxylates. Synthesis of (±)-di-O-methylcurvularin

Abstract The dimethyl ether of the mold metabolite, curvularin, was synthesized by intramolecular esterification of an activated carboxylate derived from the photooxidation of an oxazole precursor.
Peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) collection by large-volume leukapheresis from pediatric donors

Peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) collection by large-volume leukapheresis from pediatric donors
The bromodomain protein LEX-1 acts with TAM-1 to modulate gene expression in C. elegans

In many organisms, repetitive DNA serves as a trigger for gene silencing. However, some gene expression is observed from repetitive genomic regions such as heterochromatin, suggesting mechanisms exist to modulate the silencing effects. From a genetic screen in C. elegans, we have identified mutations in two genes important for expression of repetitive sequences: lex-1 and tam-1. Here we show that lex-1 encodes a protein containing an ATPase domain and a bromodomain. LEX-1 is similar to the yeast Yta7 protein, which maintains boundaries between silenced and active chromatin. tam-1 has previously been shown to encode a RING finger/B-box protein that modulates gene expression from repetitive DNA. We find that lex-1, like tam-1, acts as a class B synthetic multivulva (synMuv) gene. However, since lex-1 and tam-1 mutants have normal P granule localization, it suggests they act through a mechanism distinct from other class B synMuvs. We observe intragenic (interallelic) complementation with lex-1 and a genetic interaction between lex-1 and tam-1, data consistent with the idea that the gene products function in the same biological process, perhaps as part of a protein complex. We propose that LEX-1 and TAM-1 function together to influence chromatin structure and to promote expression from repetitive sequences.
Optimal iterative processes for root-finding

Letf 0(x) be a function of one variable with a simple zero atr 0. An iteration scheme is said to be locally convergent if, for some initial approximationsx 1, ...,x s nearr 0 and all functionsf which are sufficiently close (in a certain sense) tof 0, the scheme generates a sequence {x k} which lies nearr 0 and converges to a zeror off. The order of convergence of the scheme is the infimum of the order of convergence of {x k} for all such functionsf. We study iteration schemes which are locally convergent and use only evaluations off,f?, ...,f [d] atx 1, ...,x k?1 to determinex k, and we show that no such scheme has order greater thand+2. This bound is the best possible, for it is attained by certain schemes based on polynomial interpolation.
The Effect of Grade, Experience, and Listening Condition on the Melodic Error Detection of Fifth- and Sixth-Grade Woodwind Students

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of grade level and playing experience as well as listening condition on melodic error detection by young instrumental students. Participants (N = 31) were fifth- and sixth-grade students with either 1 or 2 years of experience playing their instrument. The participants were tested in two listening conditions, listening to recordings and listening to themselves while playing. Analysis of the data revealed no differences attributable to listening condition, grade level, or experience. Overall high scores indicate strong abilities in melodic error detection with familiar melodies by students with 1 or more years of experience, including listening to themselves during performance. Further research is called for with a larger sample size and with more musical elements.
Protracted effects of repeated doses of x-ray irradiation in rats.

Abstract This report is concerned with histopathologic observations of old Sprague-Dawley rats that survived repeated doses of partial- and total-body X-irradiation administered at regular intervals when they were young. Animals dying early were discarded. All animals were autopsied at death or sacrificed when they were 24–27 months of age. Carcinogenesis was prominent: there were 4.6 tumors per animal in irradiated rats versus 1.3 in controls. Repeated X-ray irradiation appeared to be highly carcinogenic with a selective effect upon the endocrine organs and the related governing systems. This predilection is of the greates interest in correlating the “mutagenic theory of cancer” and “hormonal imbalance” in radiation research. Renal and testicular tumors accompanied by nephrosclerosis and arteriosclerotic lesions were especially frequent. A pluriglandular syndrome consisting of multiple endocrine adenomas, intimately related to gastrointestinal and genitourinary disorders as in man, was encountered in several animals. The role of vascular impairment and disturbed genetic factors as responsible agents in engendering this syndrome was discussed.
Perception of the relative distances of nearby sound sources.

The pressure of a sound varies systematically with a listener’s distance from a sound source, providing a useful cue for perceiving changes in the distance between a listener and a sound-producing object, The pressure-discrimination hypothesis predicts that thresholds for discriminating changes in distance are constrained by the underlying ability to discriminate the resulting changes in sound pressure—specifically, that the smallest discriminable change in distance should be about 5% of the reference distance. Previous studies reported thresholds of about 5% for reference distances greater than a few meters but surprisingly worse thresholds for closer reference distances. In the present study, thresholds at two close distances, 1 and 2 m, were within the 5% range predicted from the pressure-discrimination hypothesis. Moreover, thresholds were significantly worse in a control condition in which the pressure cue was removed. Results of previous studies were adjusted to take into account the possibility of conservative response tendencies by the subjects. These adjusted findings agree well with the results of the present study and the pressure-discrimination hypothesis. It is concluded that variations in sound pressure are very useful for perceiving changes in listener-source distances, even at close distances.