cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Health literacy of children and adolescents

Zdravotni gramotnost je schopnost clověka vyhledat relevantni zdroje týkajici se zdravi, tyto informace pochopit a adekvatně využit ke zlepseni chovani zaměřeneho na podporu sveho zdravi. Cilem tohoto přispěvku je analyzovat odborne publikace zaměřene na hodnoceni zdravotni gramotnosti u děti skolniho věku a adolescentů. Pro zpracovani předložene studie byla využita metoda obsahove analýzy dokumentů. Zdroje byly vyhledavany v databazich EBSCO, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science a Willey v obdobi dubna a května roku 2018. Na zakladě analýzy nalezených zdrojů je možno konstatovat, že převažna větsina nalezených výzkumných praci byla realizovana mimo Evropu. S výjimkou jedne kvalitativni a jedne kvalitativně-kvantitativni studie byly vsechny ostatni kvantitativni, kdy byly k hodnoceni zdravotni gramotnosti ve větsině připadů využity standardizovane hodnotici skaly, nejcastěji TOFHLA, REALM-Teens a NVS. Respondenti byli ve skolnim a adolescentnim věku. Některe studie byly zaměřene na obecnou populaci děti a adolescentů, jine směřovaly k dětem a adolescentům se specifickými zdravotnimi ci socialnimi problemy.
Verbal long-term memory is enhanced by retrieval practice but impaired by prefrontal direct current stimulation.

Abstract Retrieval practice involves repeatedly testing a student during the learning experience, reliably conferring learning advantages relative to repeated study. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) has also been shown to confer learning advantages for verbal memory, though research is equivocal. The present study examined the effects of retrieval versus study practice with or without left dlPFC tDCS on verbal episodic memory. Participants (N = 150) experienced either retrieval practice or study practice, and active anodal, active cathodal, or sham tDCS while encoding word lists, and then returned two days later for a final recall test. Three primary patterns emerged: first, during encoding, tDCS did not influence recall rates in the retrieval practice group. Second, during final recall, participants in the retrieval practice groups recalled more than those in the study practice groups. Finally, during final recall, anodal tDCS decreased recall relative to sham and cathodal stimulation, suggesting that it interfered with developing highly detailed memories that could be relied upon for subsequent recollection. Data support existing research demonstrating the effectiveness of retrieval practice as a learning strategy, but also suggest that anodal dlPFC stimulation can induce long-term negative impacts on verbal episodic memory retrieval.
Resistant energy analysis of self-pulling process during dropwise condensation on superhydrophobic surfaces

Recently the development of superhydrophobic surfaces with one-tier or hierarchical textures has drawn increasing attention because enhanced condensation heat transfer has been observed on such biomimetic surfaces in well-tailored supersaturation or subcooling conditions. However, the physical mechanisms underlying condensation enhancement are still less understood. Here we report an energy-based analysis on the formation and growth of condensate droplets on two-tier superhydrophobic surfaces, which are fabricated by decorating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto microscale fluorinated pillars. Thus-formed hierarchical surfaces with two tier micro/nanoscale roughness are proved to be superior to smooth surfaces in the spatial control of condensate droplets. In particular, we focus on the self-pulling process of condensates in the partially wetting morphology (PW) from surface cavities due to intrinsic Laplace pressure gradient. In this analysis, the self-pulling process of condensate tails is resisted by adhesion energy, viscous dissipation, contact line dissipation and line tension in a combined manner. This process can be facilitated by adjusting the configuration and length scale of the first-tier texture. The optimum design can not only lower the total resistant energy but also favor the out-of-plane motion of condensate droplets anchored in the first-tier cavity. It is also shown that engineered surface with hierarchical roughness is beneficial to remarkably mitigating contact line dissipation from the perspective of molecular kinetic theory (MKT). Our study suggests that scaling down surface roughness to submicron scale can facilitate the self-propelled removal of condensate droplets.
Linking landscapes and people—Projecting the future of the Great Plains

On the Ground • We developed a unique set of landscape projections for the Great Plains that use real land-management parcels to represent landscape patterns at high spatial and thematic resolution. • Both anthropogenic land use and natural vegetation respond in the model to projected changes in groundwater availability and climate change. • Thirty-three scenario combinations were modeled, facilitating landscape planning and mitigation efforts under a range of possible landscape futures. • Change in rangeland from 2014 to 2100 varied from an increase of 4.3% for the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) B2 scenario, to a decline of 23.6% for the SRES A1B scenario. • The spatially and thematically detailed projections are designed for the assessment of landscape interactions with water flow and water quality, species distribution and abundance modeling, greenhouse gas assessments, and other ecosystem services.
Clinical Outcomes of Hyperplantarflexion Variant Compared With Supination External Rotation Ankle Fractures: A Matched-Cohort Analysis.

Abstract Recent literature has reported an uncategorized hyperplantarflexion variant ankle fracture characterized by a posteromedial fragment separate from the posterior or medial malleolar fragments. The current study sought to determine whether the outcomes for surgically treated hyperplantarflexion variant fractures are similar to the more common supination external rotation (SER) IV fractures. A prospective registry of operatively treated ankle fractures was queried to create 2 age- and gender-matched cohorts: hyperplantarflexion variant and SER IV fractures. Each cohort had 23 patients (18 females), and matched pairs were within 2 years of age at the date of surgery. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and Foot and Ankle Outcomes Scores at minimum 12 months after the index surgery were compared. The cohorts were similar with respect to body mass index, the length of the clinical follow-up, medical comorbidities, dislocation rate, and postoperative articular incongruity (p > .05). Patient-reported outcomes demonstrated no statistically or clinically significant differences within any domain and were as follows: symptoms (70.8 versus 77.8, p = .11), pain (80.7 versus 85.0, p = .33), activities of daily living (83.7 versus 89.2, p = .23), sports (67.4 versus 73.4, p = .33), and quality of life (57.3 versus 63.9, p = .24) for the hyperplantarflexion and SER IV groups, respectively. No significant differences were found in the rang`e of motion for dorsiflexion (17.7° versus 18.1°, p = .52) or for plantarflexion (48.6° versus 47.1°, p = .71). Patients treated surgically for hyperplantarflexion variant ankle fractures have similar 1-year clinical outcomes when compared with the more common SER IV fracture patterns, provided that the injury is correctly identified preoperatively and treated appropriately.
A Single Antenna Full-Duplex Radio using a Non-Magnetic, CMOS Circulator with In-Built Isolation Tuning

Wireless systems which can simultaneously transmit and receive (STAR) are gaining significant academic and commercial interest due to their wide range of applications such as full-duplex (FD) wireless communication and FMCW radar. FD radios, where the transmitter (TX) and the receiver (RX) operate simultaneously at the same frequency, can potentially double the data rate at the physical layer and can provide many other advantages in the higher layers. The antenna interface of an FD radio is typically built using a multi-antenna system, or a single antenna through a bulky magnetic circulator or a lossy reciprocal hybrid. However, recent advances in CMOS-integrated circulators through spatio-temporal conductivity modulation have shown promise and potential to replace traditional bulky magnetic circulators. However, unlike magnetic circulators, CMOS-integrated non-magnetic circulators will introduce some nonlinear distortion and spurious tones arising from their clock circuitry. In this work, we present an FD radio using a highly linear CMOS integrable circulator, a frequency-flat RF canceler, and a USRP software-defined radio (SDR). At TX power level of &#x002B;15 dBm, the implemented FD radio achieves a self-interference cancellation (SIC) of &#x002B;55 dB from the circulator and RF canceler in the RF domain, and an overall SIC of &#x002B;95 dB together with SIC in the digital domain. To analyze the non-linear phenomena of the CMOS circulator, we calculated the link level data-rate gain in an FD system with imperfect SIC and then extended this calculation to count the effect of TX-RX non-linearity of the circulator. In addition, we provide a qualitative discussion on the spurious tone responses of the circulator due to the clocking imperfections and non-linearity.
Infection in xenotransplantation: opportunities and challenges.

Purpose of review Posttransplantation infections are common. It is anticipated that infection will be no less common in xenotransplantation recipients. Prolonged xenograft survivals have resulted from advances in immunosuppressive strategies and development of swine that decrease host immune responses via genetic manipulation, notably CRISPR/cas9 manipulation. As prospects for clinical trials improve, consideration of the unique infectious risks posed by xenotransplantation reemerge. Recent findings Organisms likely to cause infection in human recipients of porcine xenografts are unknown in advance of clinical trials. Microbiological screening of swine intended as xenograft donors can be more intensive than is currently feasible for human allograft donors. Monitoring infection in recipients will also be more intensive. Key opportunities in infectious diseases of xenotransplantation include major technological advances in evaluation of the microbiome by unbiased metagenomic sequencing, assessments of some risks posed by porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) including antiretroviral susceptibilities, availability of swine with deletion of genomic PERVs, and recognition of the rapidly changing epidemiology of infection in swine worldwide. Summary Unknown infectious risks in xenotransplantation requires application of advanced microbiological techniques to discern and prevent infection in graft recipients. Clinical trials will provide an opportunity to advance the safety of all of organ transplantation.
A randomized trial evaluating the integration of online questionnaires into follow-up (FU) care for early-stage breast cancer (ESBC).

9107 Background: Large numbers of cancer survivors have led to the need for FU care addressing lasting effects of BC and its treatment. We conducted a trial evaluating formats of FU care to determi...
Some Functional Characteristics of Reaction Centers from Rhodopseudomonas Viridis

Comparative biophysical chemistry, on evolutionary grounds, has taken us some way in understanding the fundamental principles of primary events, electron transport and energy coupling, but its light is dimming as our attention turns to more molecular appraisals of mechanism. The timing could scarcely be better, therefore, for the arrival of a new level of structural detail in the form of the X-ray crystallographic structure of the reaction center (RC) from Rhodopseudomonas viridis [1,2], and the promise of general applicability of the new methodologies to other membrane proteins.
Twin Classification in Resting-State Brain Connectivity

Twin study is one of the major parts of human brain research that reveals the importance of environmental and genetic influences on different aspects of brain behavior and disorders. Accurate characterization of identical and fraternal twins allows us to infer on the genetic influence in a population. In this paper, we propose a novel pair-wise classification pipeline to identify the zygosity of twin pairs using the resting state functional magnetic resonance images (rs-fMRI). The new feature representation is utilized to efficiently construct brain network for each subject. Specifically, we project the fMRI signal to a set of cosine series basis and use the projection coefficients as the compact and discriminative feature representation of noisy fMRI. The pair-wise relation is encoded by a set of twin-wise correlations between functional brain networks across brain regions. We further employ hill climbing variable selection to identify the most genetically affected brain regions. The proposed framework has been applied to 208 twin pairs in Human Connectome Project (HCP) and we achieved 92.23(±4.43)% classification accuracy.
Imagined and Actual Acupuncture Effects on Chronic Low Back Pain: A Preliminary Study.

Background. Research suggests that imagined experiences can produce brain responses similar to those produced by actual experiences. Shared brain responses that support both imagination and perception may underlie the functional nature of mental imagery. In a previous study, we combined acupuncture and imagery to develop a new treatment method, video-guided acupuncture imagery treatment (VGAIT). We found that VGAIT significantly increased pain thresholds in healthy subjects. The aim of this study is to extend our previous finding by investigating whether VGAIT can relieve symptoms in patients with chronic low back pain. Methods. We first performed a single-arm study in which we administered video-guided acupuncture imagery treatment (VGAIT) on patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP) (Study 1, , 12 females). We then compared our findings to those from a recently published study in which real or sham acupuncture treatment was applied on patients with cLBP (Study 2, , 31 females) using a similar protocol. All patients in Studies 1 and 2 received 6 treatments over 4 weeks. Results. All three treatments (VGAIT, real, and sham acupuncture) significantly reduced pain severity as measured by a low back pain bothersomeness score. VGAIT produced similar effects to real acupuncture ( ) and nonsignificantly greater pain bothersomeness relief compared to sham acupuncture ( ). Additional analysis showed that there was no significant difference on the sensations evoked by different treatment modalities. Conclusion. These findings support VGAIT as a promising method for pain management.
Stressors, resources, and mental health among Latino adolescents: The role of gratitude

Abstract The present study aimed to test the direct and moderating roles of gratitude on Latino adolescent mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms and life satisfaction). Further, informed by the stress process framework, the present study tested the direct associations between several social stressors and resources (i.e., perceived discrimination, positive parenting, and peer social support) and Latino adolescent mental health. The sample comprised of 260 9th grade students who took part in a school-based randomized control trial of a gratitude intervention (Mage = 14.40, SDage = 0.60, 48.8% female). The analyses were based on cross-sectional data from the baseline assessment. Gratitude, positive parenting, peer social support, and discrimination were independently associated with Latino youth mental health. There was some limited support for gratitude as a moderator between positive parenting and depressive symptoms. These results have implications for prevention and intervention efforts to improve Latino youth mental health.
“SEW” What Do We Know and Where Do We Go? A Review of Socioemotional Wealth and a Way Forward:

This analysis provides a review of family business literature concerning the application of socioemotional wealth (SEW) and its extension through the FIBER framework. Specifically, we answer Brigha...
Regional alopecia and dermatitis due to Lodderomyces elongisporus in a North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum).

BACKGROUND Lodderomyces elongisporus is a yeast with a worldwide distribution that has been reported as a cause of infection in immunocompromised humans and in a dog that had been quilled by a porcupine. OBJECTIVES The objective of this report is to describe the clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of dermatitis caused by L. elongisporus in a North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum). ANIMAL One wild adult male North American porcupine from New York state, USA. METHODS AND MATERIALS The porcupine was presented for alopecia and scaling dermatitis over the caudal dorsum. Diagnostic testing included cytological evaluation, trichogram, bacterial and fungal culture, and histopathological examination of skin biopsies. RESULTS Histopathological findings from skin specimens demonstrated mild eosinophilic perivascular-to-interstitial dermatitis with superficial dermal fibrosis, mild epidermal hyperplasia with moderate-to-marked intracorneal and intrafollicular yeast. Fungal culture with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization confirmed L. elongisporus as the cause of the dermatitis. The porcupine was treated with a six week course of oral itraconazole with clinical resolution. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Infection with L. elongisporus should be included as a differential diagnosis for North American porcupines exhibiting signs of dermatitis including scaling and alopecia. This case report may be relevant for the diagnosis and treatment of porcupines with dermatitis and for animals or humans that have been quilled by a porcupine.
Changes in circulating concentrations of testosterone and estrone sulfate after human chorionic gonadotropin administration and subsequent to castration of 2-year-old stallions.

Abstract Reproductive steroids testosterone (T) and estrone sulfate (E1S) are used as diagnostic markers for cryptorchidism in horses. The human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) stimulation test is used as a diagnostic aid because administration of this hormone results in greater incremental differences in circulating steroid concentrations. Thoughts regarding optimal sampling times following hCG administration, however, are inconsistent. Additionally, determination of half-life of these steroids is important in postsurgical samples to confirm complete removal of testicular tissue. Objectives of this study, therefore, were to determine optimal sampling periods for peak T and E1S after hCG administration and half-life of these steroids after castration. Eight pony stallions were randomly assigned to control or treatment groups (5000 IU hCG). Blood samples were collected following hCG administration. Subsequently, stallions were castrated and blood samples were collected post-castration. The T concentrations were greatest at 72 h after hCG and were greater (P
Combined and Secondary Forms of TOS

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) classically presents in neurologic, venous, or arterial forms. Although these are three separate entities, overlap can occur. In addition, treatment for one form of TOS can result in later, secondary TOS of another type. According to strict criteria, arterial TOS rarely coexists with either of the other two forms, but neurogenic and venous TOS can exist together in perhaps 10% of cases. Similarly, patients who have had rib resection for venous TOS can later present with neurologic symptoms, and vice-versa. These concepts are important as they will alter the goals of surgery and hence, in many cases, the surgical approach used for decompression.
Perdonar sin olvidar: El difícil proceso de paz en Colombia a través del documental

Este ensayo resena los siguientes documentales: Ciro y yo. Dir. Miguel Salazar. Prod. La Esperanza. Colombia, 2018, 117 min. Distribuido por Pragda (pragda.com). Fragmentos. Dir. Mayte Carrasco. Prod. Photoholic y Big Story Films. Colombia, Canada, Reino Unido, 2019, 23 min. Disponible a traves del Canal de YouTube del Museo Nacional de Colombia,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7rAb2O0JV8. Limbo. Dir. Alex Fattal. Prod. Break the Frame Films y Casatarantula. Colombia-EEUU, 2020. Distribuido por Cinema Guild (cinemaguild.com). El silencio de los fusiles. Dir. Natalia Orozco. Prod. NCN Television, Pulso Mundo y Arte Francia. Colombia, Francia, 2017, 120 min. DVD. Disponible enwww.silenciofusiles.com. El testigo: Cain y Abel. Dir. Kate Horne. Prod. Pacha Films, Horne Productions y Ronachan Films. Colombia, Reino Unido, 2018, 72 min. Disponible en Netflix.
Palliation of malignancies in HIV infection.

It is important to consider medication interactions and overlapping medication toxicities in persons living with HIV (PLWH) who are on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), in addition to disease-specific cancer therapy, medications to alleviate cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy, prophylaxis to prevent infection or medications for palliation. Protease inhibitors, integrase inhibitors, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and non-NRTIs are the major components of commonly used cART regimens, and are metabolised via the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) system of the liver. Many antineoplastic agents, and supportive therapies, including those medications required for management of opportunistic infections (anti-infective medications including antifungal agents and antibiotics), nausea/vomiting (antiemetics and steroids), cancer-related pain (opioid analgesics) and comorbid psychiatric disorders (selective-serotonin …
Efficacy and tolerability of a whey-based, medium-chain triglyceride-enhanced ketogenic formula in children with refractory epilepsy: A retrospective study.

PURPOSE Ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT) has demonstrated effectiveness in seizure reduction. However, patient compliance and adverse effects limit its use. Ready-to-feed (RTF) ketogenic formulas improve compliance and include components that mitigate adverse effects. This study is the first to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of an RTF, whey-based, medium-chain triglyceride-enhanced (WBME) ketogenic formula. METHODS Retrospective data from patients who received KMT between January 1, 2015, and February 28, 2018, were analyzed. Patients who received ≥75% of their total calories from the WBME formula and who were monitored for 3 months were included. Outcome measures were gastrointestinal issues, acidosis, serum blood glucose and beta-hydroxybutyrate levels, unintentional weight changes, diet response (≥50% reduction in seizures), seizure freedom, and change in formula or discontinuation of therapy. Patients with incomplete outcome data or who received <75% of total calories from the formula were excluded. RESULTS Twenty-six patients (13 males; mean [SD] age, 6.1 [5.8] years) met the inclusion criteria. Thirteen patients were established patients who received a standard ketogenic formula before changing to the WBME formula; 13 were patients new to KMT whose therapy was initiated using the WBME formula. This formula was well tolerated; no patient in either group discontinued therapy or required a change in formula. The combined diet response rate (95% CI) for established and new patients was 96% (80-100%). Seizure-freedom (95% CI) for both groups at 3 months posttreatment was 20% (7-41%). The most prevalent adverse effect was constipation (69% [95% CI, 48-86%]). CONCLUSION The WBME ketogenic formula appears to be effective and well tolerated by pediatric patients with refractory epilepsy.
Examination of physician characteristics in opioid prescribing in the emergency department.

Abstract Aim: We aimed to better understand variation in opioid prescribing practices by investigating physician factors at one academic suburban Emergency Department (ED). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of all patients given opioid prescriptions in the Stanford Health Care ED from 2009 to 2018. We described the variation in opioid prescriptions over time from 2009 to 2018, then dove deeper into a single year (July 1, 2017 to July 1, 2018). We described the number and type of opioid prescriptions at discharge and variation in attending physician opioid prescribing patterns using independent t-tests and a Fischer's exact test. Results: From 2009 to 2018, 657,037 patient visits occurred; 92,612 (14.1%) opioid prescriptions were written. Opioid prescriptions increased from 2009, peaked in 2015, then decreased. Individual providers wrote opioid prescriptions for 1 to 17% of their discharged patients. There was no significant difference in opioid prescribing based on provider gender (p = 0.456), fellow or attending status (p = 0.390), residency completed at Stanford Hospital (p = 0.593), residency completed within California (p = 0.493), or residency completed after 2010 (p = 0.589). Of the 371 providers who wrote opioid prescriptions from 2009 through 2018, 120 wrote prescriptions for patients who had already received at least three opioid prescriptions in the same year from the same department. Conclusion: This study could inform policymakers by describing patterns of variation in opioid prescribing over time and between providers. Although we did see significant differences in prescribing patterns from one provider to the next, those were not explained by the factors we examined. Further studies could investigate factors such as provider experience with pain and addiction, bias regarding particular pathologies, and concern around patient satisfaction scores.
The Contingent Effects of Sexism in Primary Elections

Although the landscape for female candidates in U.S. politics has improved, research continues to find that many voters possess sexist attitudes. We rely on a standard political communication frame...
Atmospheric Stability and Potential Temperature

The culmination of the implications of the Ideal Gas Law, hydrostatic balance, and humidity leads naturally to an ability to describe the path of a hypothetical blob of air—called an air parcel—as it is forced to rise in the atmosphere. This tendency to rise is a measure of atmospheric stability. Stability is assessed by comparing the temperature of the air parcel to that which occurs in its surrounding environment; the former is described by the unsaturated adiabatic lapse rate, or the saturated adiabatic lapse rate for saturated conditions. A stable atmosphere is one in which the parcel resists further upward motion once the lifting force is removed because the parcel is cooler than the surrounding environment at that level; this generally leads to fair skies but also stagnant conditions that can be associated with poor air quality. An unstable atmosphere is one in which the parcel continues to ascend even after the lifting force is removed, because the parcel is warmer than its surrounding environment at that level; this generally leads to enhanced vertical cloud growth. A neutral atmosphere is one in which the parcel shows neither a tendency to continue to rise nor to sink, after the lifting force is removed. Stability conditions may depend on whether the parcel is saturated, and stability is inherently related to the amount of turbulence in the near-surface atmosphere. Potential temperature is helpful in describing stability because a positive gradient of potential temperature with height (i.e., increasing potential temperature with increasing height) identifies a stable condition, and a negative gradient of potential temperature with height (i.e., decreasing potential temperature with increasing height) represents an unstable condition.
Oil concentration and fatty acid composition of achenes of Helianthus species (Asteraceae) from Canada

The cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is one of the four most important annual crops in the world grown for its edible oil. Species of the genusHelianthus served as the ancestral stock for the present cultivated sunflower. The wild relatives are a valuable genetic reservoir for improving the crop species. This study examined oil concentration and fatty acid composition in oil of two annualHelianthus species (31 populations) and four perennial species (32 populations) from the prairie provinces of Canada. The highest average oil concentration was observed in annualH. petiolaris with 31.3%. Among the perennials,H. maximiliani Schrad. had the highest average oil concentration with 31.1%.Helianthus tuberosus L. had the highest average palmitic (16:0) acid concentration with 8.0%, while the lowest value was observed inH. petiolaris with 4.0%. The highest average stearic (18:0) acid concentration was found inH. annuus with 2.9%, whileH. petiolaris had the lowest with 2.3%. The highest average oleic acid (18:1) was observed in H. petiolaris (18.4%), and the highest linoleic (18:2) was observed inH. maximiliani (77.4%). The variability within the wild species appears to be sufficient for altering oil and fatty acid characteristics in cultivated sunflower.
Sex and the State : abortion, divorce, and the family under Latin American dictatorships and democracies

Abortion, divorce, and the family: how did the state make policy decisions in these areas in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile during the last third of the twentieth century? As the three countries transitioned from democratic to authoritarian forms of government (and back), they confronted challenges posed by the rise of the feminist movement, social changes, and the power of the Catholic Church. The results were often surprising: women's rights were expanded under military dictatorships, divorce was legalized in authoritarian Brazil but not in democratic Chile, and no Latin American country changed its laws on abortion. Sex and the State explores these patterns of gender-related policy reform and shows how they mattered for the peoples of Latin America and for a broader understanding of the logic behind the state's role in shaping private lives and gender relations everywhere.
Political Psychology and International Conflict

Political psychology takes an individual level of analysis approach to the study of international conflict. This study has traditionally investigated the psychological foundations of decision making among elite leaders in the area of war and peace. Psychological models that have been applied to the examination of this area include those taken from cognitive psychology and evolutionary models. Such approaches include the application of prospect theory to cases of decision making under conditions of risk. Similar work in this area further explores the nature of psychological biases in decision making, particularly in the area of risk assessment. More recent work has explored the biological underpinnings of aggression, and their contribution to the emergence of violent behavior. Past work has tended to neglect the role of emotion, but more recent work has investigated these forces more fully. Future work that seeks to incorporate both biological and environmental forces in precipitating violence appears challenging but worthwhile. In addition, experimental methods drawn from psychology have been applied to the study of international conflict. The use of field experiments to explore the psychological forces that both motivate and sustain conflict appears promising. Keywords: political psychology; conflict; cognitive psychology; evolutionary psychology; prospect theory; risk; decision making
Microwave backscattering from an anisotropic soybean canopy

Electromagnetic backscattering from a soybean canopy is modeled in the L band region of the spectrum. Mature soybean plants are taken as an ensemble of leaves and stems which are represented by lossy dielectric disks and rods respectively. Field data indicated that leaves and stems are not distributed uniformly in the azimuth coordinate. The plant has a tendency to grow out into the area between the rows. The effects on backscattered radar waves was computed by the distorted Born approximation. Results for look directions along the rows and perpendicular to the rows show that only a modest difference occurs in the L band frequency range. The use of another nonuniform distribution, different from those observed experimentally, results in a significant effect due to vegetation asymmetry.
Chapter 20 The Economics of organ transplantation

Abstract In the U.S. and Europe, a ban on a market in human organs has been in place since 1984. The system of organ procurement, therefore, relies on altruistic donation from stranger to stranger. The principle intellectual and policy issues surrounding organ procurement concern the question of whether, in banning the market to further ethical objectives, efficiency must inevitably be sacrificed. In the 1970s, Titmuss questioned whether a market could supply high quality blood in sufficient quantity, and this issue attracted the attention of some of the best minds in economics, such as Arrow and Solow. Since then, a large-scale industry relying on human tissue as a basic resource has emerged. In 2000, nearly 50 000 organs were transplanted. Remarkably, all of them were procured without providing financial incentives to suppliers. Despite the large number of donations, many more are needed. Today, more than 95 000 people are waiting for kidneys alone, and it is estimated that, in 2001, over 6000 Americans died waiting for an organ. Many believe that a market in organs would yield a greater supply and they hold the policy of banning an organ market responsible for the current tragic shortages. This chapter reviews the economic theory and evidence regarding market bans and considers them in the context of organ procurement.
Inhibition of constitutively activated Src and STAT3 in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) results in growth inhibition.

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 5514 Activation of protein tyrosine kinases is prevalent in human cancers. Many studies have demonstrated that STAT3 signaling is a common downstream signaling protein for receptor as well as non-receptor tyrosine kinases. Unlike non-small cell lung cancer, the role of STAT3 signaling is unknown in SCLC. To elucidate this role we determined STAT3 expression and activation status (p-STAT3) in SCLC cell lines. The SCLC cell line H889 was grown in RPMI media with and without 10% FBS. Under serum-free conditions, significant constitutive activation of STAT3 (p-STAT3) was observed by western blotting. Known growth promoting ligands for SCLC, including hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and insulin growth factor (IGF) failed to increase STAT3 phosphorylation above its constitutive base line activation at all doses tested or at early and late time points after exposure.. Investigating non-receptor tyrosine kinases that might activate STAT3, we found constitutive activation of Src (p-Src) in H889 cells also. SU6656, a specific inhibitor of Src kinase,caused a simultaneous and proportional decrease in Src as well as STAT3 phosphorylation. The decrease in Src and STAT3 activation was SU6656 dose dependent with complete disappearance of p-Src and p-STAT3 at 3μM. This was associated with dose dependent growth inhibition of the H889 cell line with SU6656. At a SU6656 concentration of 0.3μM 50% growth inhibition was seen at 48 hours. Our study demonstrates that in SCLC, STAT3 is constitutively activated. Src activation is responsible for STAT3 activation, not receptor tyrosine kinases. Src inhibition has significant anti-proliferative effects.
Plasma physics of the Earth's magnetopause and its boundary layers

The exchange of ideas concerning the magnetopause and its boundary layers was the primary purpose of the informal workshop, “Plasma Physics of the Earth's Magnetopause and its Boundary Layers,” held at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N. Mex., October 2–4. The workshop was supported by LANL Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, and attendance was restricted to about 35 people in order to maintain a small, informal character for the workshop. Although no global consensus emerged at the workshop, discussions were lively and conclusions were reached in several areas. Some of these conclusions concerning where past research has brought us and where future research is likely to lead us are described below.
Some Earth Strain Measurements with Laser Interferometer

The use and limitations of laser strainmeters for geophysical strain measurements are discussed. Some observations with the Kern River Fault interferometer and the 1000 m interferometer at Stevens Pass, Washington, are presented.
The Three M's of Service Industry Productivity: Misunderstood, Miscalculated and Mismanaged:

Productivity in the hospitality industry is a major management concern. Productivity in hotels has not grown at all since 1979. In the restaurant industry, output has declined at an annual rate of 0.7 percent over the same period. While some productivity improvement techniques developed in manufacturing industries have ramifications for the hospitality industry, unique characteristics of the hotel and restaurant business mean that productivity improvement techniques borrowed from manufacturing have to be carefully selected and modified to be used in service industries. Since the work pace is largely determined by customer demand, and the service interaction is a crucial part of the total “product,” management must change its thinking about productivity before improvements are possible.
Superior Analyses of Iron Meteorites

New analyses have been made on 100 iron meteorites for the elements nickel, cobalt, phosphorus, carbon, sulfur, and copper. The meteorites were sampled using a new milling technique which provided chipped samples. Replicate analyses of high analytical precision were made on splits from these samples. On the basis of these new analyses graphical methods were used for the evaluation of earlier analyses of iron meteorites. The abundances of phosphorus, carbon and sulfur show variations depending upon the concentrations of non-metallic mineral phases taken in the sampling procedure. Cobalt and nickel show a positive correlation with each other. On the basis of this relationship approximately 35% of analyses done before 1907, as reported by Farrington, may be classified as ‘superior’ and suitable for use in calculations today. More recent analyses show a higher degree of superiority. Within selected gallium-germanium groups direct relationships between cobalt, nickel and phosphorus may also be predicted.
Effect of Type of Acid Used in Direct Acidification Procedures on Moisture, Firmness, and Calcium Levels of Cheese,

Abstract Blue cheese was made by direct acidification of milk, with phosphoric, hydrochloric, lactic, and citric acids prior to rennet coagulation. These acids except citric were used to make Pizza cheese. Calcium levels were significantly higher in both varieties of cheese made with phosphoric acid; Blue cheese made with citric acid had the lowest calcium level. Cheese made with phosphoric and hydrochloric acids had lower moisture contents and were firmer than cheese made with lactic or citric acids.
Magnetic shielding in a low-temperature torsion pendulum experiment.

A new type of ether drift experiment searches for anomalous torques on a permanent magnet. A torsion pendulum is used at liquid helium temperature, so that superconducting cylinders can be used to shield magnetic fields. Lead shields attenuate the earth's field, while Nb-Sn shields fastened to the pendulum contain the fields of the magnet. The paper describes the technique by which the earth's field can be reduced below 0.0001 G while simultaneously the moment of the magnet can be reduced by a factor 7 x 10 to the 4th.
A proposed mechanism of thermophily in facultative thermophiles.

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in crude extracts of Bacillus coagulans KU, a facultative thermophile, showed marked thermolability whether the cells were grown at mesophilic or thermophilic temperature. When extracts were brought to a given ionic strength by the addition of salt and then heat treated, it was possible to confer heat resistance well in excess of the thermophilic growth temperature. Disc electrophoresis is indicative that portions of the profiles are quite different between extracts of cells grown at 37° and 55°. Based on the data, a mechanism of thermophily is postulated that is different from any thus far proposed for thermophilic microorganisms.
Optimizing grid computing configuration and scheduling for geospatial analysis: An example with interpolating DEM

Many geographic analyses are very time-consuming and do not scale well when large datasets are involved. For example, the interpolation of DEMs (digital evaluation model) for large geographic areas could become a problem in practical application, especially for web applications such as terrain visualization, where a fast response is required and computational demands exceed the capacity of a traditional single processing unit conducting serial processing. Therefore, high performance and parallel computing approaches, such as grid computing, were investigated to speed up the geographic analysis algorithms, such as DEM interpolation. The key for grid computing is to configure an optimized grid computing platform for the geospatial analysis and optimally schedule the geospatial tasks within a grid platform. However, there is no research focused on this. Using DEM interoperation as an example, we report our systematic research on configuring and scheduling a high performance grid computing platform to improve the performance of geographic analyses through a systematic study on how the number of cores, processors, grid nodes, different network connections and concurrent request impact the speedup of geospatial analyses. Condor, a grid middleware, is used to schedule the DEM interpolation tasks for different grid configurations. A Kansas raster-based DEM is used for a case study and an inverse distance weighting (IDW) algorithm is used in interpolation experiments.
Laser Raman identification of an interaction site on DNA for arginine containing histones in chromatin.

Abstract Comparisons of the Raman spectra of DNA, chromatin, and complexes of DNA with poly-L-arginine and N-α-acetylarginine have been made. Both in native chromatin and in complexes of DNA with the arginine derivatives there is a marked decreased in the Raman intensity of the 1490±2 cm−1 band due to guanine. Considerable evidence is presented to show that a decrease in the intensity of the 1490 cm−1 Raman band of quanine in DNA is strong indication of a hydrogen bond being attached to the N-7 position of quanine. A specific model is presented for the interaction of the arginine residues with the guanine residues in the major groove of DNA. The Raman frequency of the histone Amide 1 band indicates that these protein molecules have a high α-helical content while the phosphate diester stretch frequency of the DNA shows the DNA to be in the B-family.
“At least Mom will be safe there”: the role of resident safety in nursing home quality

When family members admit a loved one to a nursing home, they expect that the facility will assure the physical safety of the residents. However, this does not always occur. Safety concerns persisting in at least some modern American nursing homes involve adverse drug events, injurious falls, pressure ulcers, problems with tube feeding, faulty communications or other breakdowns during transfer to or from hospital, and equipment breakdowns or mix-ups. The adversarial legal, economic, political, and media environment surrounding the US nursing home industry poses serious practical impediments to alleviating these safety concerns more effectively. However, resident safety comprises only one part of the larger quality improvement picture in the nursing home context. While the threat of negative legal repercussions may be necessary to address safety issues, a fuller concern about improving the quality of care and quality of life for nursing home residents will also involve the development and implementation of a combination of positive incentives for facilities to do better.
Generation of quasicrystals via a single cluster

We present a columnar cluster with 46 atoms per repeat distance which forces a quasicrystal when space is filled by interpenetrating copies of itself. The atomic positions in the resultant quasicrystal are remarkably similar to those in models for real decagonal quasicrystals. The axes of the pentagonal antiprism subclusters of this model reveal an even simpler tile decoration, with only three atoms, that forces a quasicrystal under certain constraints.
Antennas for Nonsinusoidal Waves: Part: III-Arrays

In the previous two papers, we discussed the Hertzian electric dipole and the large-current radiator, used either as radiators or sensors. Several radiators or sensors can be combined into an array. In the case of sinusoidal waves, such an array would yield more power and a directional pattern of the power called the antenna power pattern. For nonsinusoidal waves, one obtains additional patterns. In the particular case of a time variation of the electric and magnetic field strengths equal to that of a rectangular pulse, one obtains an antenna slope pattern caused by the change of the time variation of the field strengths as functions of azimuth and elevation angles. This change is often called a distortion, but in reality it provides us with additional information for the angular resolution. Sinusoidal waves cannot provide this information due to their lack of a bandwidth. This paper investigates both the regular sensor array using the sum of all sensor outputs, and the monopulse array that uses the difference between the sums of the sensor outputs of the right and the left halves of the array. Radiator and sensor arrays for nonsinusoidal waves have been built at least since 1975, but the circuits required for the utilization of the slope patterns are still at the frontier of our technology for pulse durations in the order of 1 to 0.1 ns, which are primarily of interest.
United States National Sewage Sludge Repository at Arizona State University—a new resource and research tool for environmental scientists, engineers, and epidemiologists

Processed municipal sewage sludges (MSS) are an abundant, unwanted by-product of wastewater treatment, increasingly applied to agriculture and forestry for inexpensive disposal and soil conditioning. Due to their high organic carbon and lipid contents, MSS not only is rich in carbon and nutrients but also represents a “sink” for recalcitrant, hydrophobic, and potentially bioaccumulative compounds. Indeed, many organics sequestered and concentrated in MSS meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of being persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT). In a strategic effort, our research team at the Biodesign Institute has created the National Sewage Sludge Repository (NSSR), a large repository of digested MSSs from 164 wastewater treatment plants from across the USA, as part of the Human Health Observatory (H2O) at Arizona State University (ASU). The NSSR likely represents the largest archive of digested MSS specimens in the USA. The present study summarizes key findings gleaned thus far from analysis of NSSR samples. For example, we evaluated the content of toxicants in MSS and computed estimates of nationwide inventories of mass produced chemicals that become sequestrated in sludge and later are released into the environment during sludge disposal on land. Ongoing efforts document co-occurrence of a variety of PBT compounds in both MSS and human samples, while also identifying a large number of potentially harmful MSS constituents for which human exposure data are still lacking. Finally, we summarize future opportunities and invite collaborative use of the NSSR by the research community. The H2O at ASU represents a new resource and research tool for environmental scientists and the larger research community. As illustrated in this work, this repository can serve to (i) identify and prioritize emerging contaminants, (ii) provide spatial and temporal trends of contaminants, (iii) inform and evaluate the effectiveness of environmental policy-making and regulations, and (iv) approximate, ongoing exposures and body burdens of mass-produced chemicals in human society.