cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Euler equation on a fast rotating sphere—Time-averages and zonal flows

Abstract Motivated by recent studies in geophysical and planetary sciences, we investigate the PDE-analytical aspects of time-averages for barotropic, inviscid flows on a fast rotating sphere S 2 . Of particular interest is the incompressible Euler equation. We prove that finite-time-averages of solutions stay close to a subspace of longitude-independent zonal flows. The initial data are unprepared and can be arbitrarily far away from this subspace. Our analytical study justifies the global Coriolis effect in the spherical geometry as the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon. We use Riemannian geometric tools including the Hodge theory in the proofs.
The Effects of a VR Intervention on Career Interest, Empathy, Communication Skills, and Learning with Second-Year Medical Students

Embodied Labs works at the intersection of virtual reality storytelling and healthcare workforce training to create experiences where trainees learn from embodying the perspective of the patient and members of the patient’s care team. Ninety-four second-year medical students were selected to pilot a virtual reality (VR) geriatric immersion prior to the start of their geriatrics coursework. Students individually used an Oculus Rift headset with Leap Motion VR technology to embody Alfred, a 74-year-old African-American man with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and high-frequency hearing loss. This VR experience begins with the learner embodying Alfred at his birthday party and experiencing challenges interacting with his family due to visual and hearing impairments. Then the learner, as Alfred, is seen at a doctor’s visit and has difficulty completing a cognitive test due to the AMD. Data from pre/post-test surveys and focus group transcripts showed that students who participated in the VR intervention showed increased interest in pursuing a gerontology specialty, improved perspective-taking ability, and a greater understanding of the skills needed to care for aging adults as well as a decrease in use of stereotypical words/phrases to describe aging adults. This pilot study shows that by embodying the patient and caregiver perspective in VR, medical students show positive change in their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about aging adults.
Validating patient prioritization in the 2018 Revised United Network for Organ Sharing Heart Allocation System: A single-center experience.

The 2018 Revised United Network for Organ Sharing Heart Allocation System (HAS) was proposed to reclassify status 1A candidates into groups of decreasing acuity; however, it does not take into account factors such as body mass index (BMI) and blood group which influence waitlist (WL) outcomes. We sought to validate patient prioritization in the new HAS at our center. We retrospectively evaluated patients listed for heart transplantation (n = 214) at Emory University Hospital from 2011 to 2017. Patients were reclassified into the 6-tier HAS. Multistate modeling and competing risk analysis were used to compare outcomes of transplantation and WL death/deterioration between new tiers. Additionally, a stratified sensitivity analysis by BMI and blood group was performed. Compared with tier 4 patients, there was progressively increasing hazard of WL death/deterioration in tier 3 (HR: 2.52, 95% CI: 1.37-4.63, P = .003) and tier 2 (HR: 5.03, 95% CI: 1.99-12.70, P < .001), without a difference in transplantation outcome. When stratified by BMI and blood group, this hierarchical association was not valid in patients with BMI ≥30 kg/m2 and non-O blood groups in our cohort. Therefore, the 2018 HAS accurately prioritizes the sickest patients in our cohort. Factors such as BMI and blood group influence this relationship and iterate that the system can be further refined.
The Benefits of Graph Databases for the Computation of Clinical Quality Measures

This paper presents an analysis of why graph databases are the preferred way to represent clinical data with the purpose of measuring clinical outcomes. Relational and graph databases are compared using an example of a typical clinical measure calculation in population health analysis.
Evidence for Dynamic Primitives in a Constrained Motion Task

Ten right-handed male subjects turned a crank (radius 10.29 cm) in two directions at three constant instructed speeds (fast, medium, very slow) with visual speed feedback. They completed 23 trials at each speed. With the hand constrained to move in a circle, non-zero forces against the constraint were measured. Assuming a plausible mathematical model of interactive dynamics, the peripheral neuromechanics could be ‘subtracted’, revealing an underlying motion that reflected neural control. We called this data-driven construct the zeroforce trajectory. The observed zero-force trajectory was approximately elliptical. Its major axis, estimated by the principal eigenvector of the covariance matrix, differed significantly for the two movement directions. As peripheral neuromuscular compliance (i.e. low mechanical impedance) mitigates the consequences of imperfect execution, the required precision of motion commands is reduced. An oscillatory zeroforce trajectory that leads hand motion suffices to produce circular hand motions. Due to non-isotropic peripheral dynamics, that lead differs between degrees of freedom, resulting in an elliptical zero-force trajectory. The ellipses’ orientations differ with direction of rotation, as observed in the experimental data. As elliptical motion is generated by two non-colinear sinusoids with non-zero phase difference, these results support the hypothesis that humans simplify this constrained-motion task by exploiting primitive dynamic actions, oscmations and impedance.
Carrier Velocity in Amorphous Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Transistors

A model for carrier velocity and velocity saturation in amorphous metal oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) is presented and discussed. The charge transport in such TFTs involves the interplay between the trapping and extended state transport when the mobility is large enough. The model considers multiple trapping and release and band transport between the trapping events. The dominant scattering mechanisms are polar optical phonon scattering and trapped carrier scattering. Our model predicts that the velocity will saturate due to emission of optical phonons at high electric fields (>105 V/cm) with a maximum value near 107 cm/s. Trapping reduces the velocity and also imparts an additional electric field dependence in which the velocity increases with field. The model is compared with the experimental data from several groups. Experimental data are strongly affected by contact resistance effects, which must be corrected for. Procedures to correct for the contact resistance are described. The corrected velocity-field characteristics of six amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) TFTs are presented.
Utilização dos aparelhos digitais em crianças com idade entre os 12 meses e os 5 anos

Objetivo: Caracterizar a utilizacao dos aparelhos digitais em idade pre-escolar e comparar com as recomendacoes da Academia Americana de Pediatria e OMS. Testar associacoes entre a utilizacao dos aparelhos digitais pelas criancas e determinadas caracteristicas dos pais e do seu uso. Tipo de estudo: Estudo transversal, descritivo e analitico. Local: Unidades de Saude Familiar (USF) da zona norte de Portugal. Populacao: Utentes, com idade entre os 12 meses e os cinco anos inclusive, de seis USF. Metodos: Questionario anonimo aplicado a uma amostra de pais que acompanharam a crianca a consulta. Incluiu variaveis demograficas e perguntas relacionadas com a utilizacao dos aparelhos digitais pela crianca e pais. Resultados : Obtiveram-se 342 questionarios. A televisao e o smartphone foram os aparelhos mais presentes nas casas e os mais frequentemente usados pelas criancas. O inicio do seu uso deu-se antes dos 18 meses em 74,7% para a televisao, 23,4% para o smartphone e 16,3% para o tablet . Em 65,9% e 24% houve uma utilizacao diaria para a televisao e smartphone , respetivamente. A utilizacao dos aparelhos aconteceu em 19% nos 60 minutos antes do sono e o «uso as refeicoes» foi o motivo mais reportado. Nas criancas com idade 24 meses 70-74% tinham um tempo de ecra > 1h/dia. Verificou-se associacao do tempo de ecra das criancas com o tempo de ecra dos pais, percecao dos pais relativamente ao TEE da crianca e numero de aparelhos digitais no quarto. Conclusoes: Regista-se um inicio muito precoce, antes dos 18 meses, para o uso destas tecnologias, que e abusivo, preocupante e fora das normas de orientacao atuais. E importante abordar este assunto desde cedo nas consultas, sensibilizando os pais para outros tipos de atividade e estimulo.
Asian Initiatives on Bayh-Dole, with Special Reference to India: How Do We Make It More "Asian?"

With many Asian countries pursuing legislation for managing publicly funded research inventions, the objective of this study is to analyze the adaptability of this type of legislation in several of these countries. Additionally, this study proposes safeguards that governments should build into this legislation in order to make these initiatives more fruitful as this legislation is also capable of causing certain irreversible damage to the public pool of inventions which many countries depend on to meet several public demands, especially relating to health care. This article analyzes the initiatives made by different Asian countries for the management ofpublicly funded intellectual property and compares them to the U.S. Bayh-Dole Act. The study especially emphasizes the Indian Protection and Utilization of Public Funded Intellectual Property Bill, 2008' and recommends necessary changes to all Asian legislation so as to make it more "Asian." Table of
Raborn V. Davis — Paycheck in Employee's Possession: A Limitation of the Current Wage Exemption in Texas

Extensions of credit generally help both the debtor and creditor. However, a result of our credit-based economy is that individuals are free to make poor economic decisions, and that they should suffer the consequences of these poor decisions. Although legal rules have had a role in ensuring that debtors are protected from overzealous creditors, commercial transactions can only exist if obligations of debtors are legally enforceable. The role of government, therefore, is to set parameters for procedures to enforce these obligations, while also setting a floor of protected or exempt assets so that debtors will not become wards of the state. Following a judgment for $22,761.35 in unpaid attorney’s fees, Burta Rhoads Raborn sought relief under the Texas turnover statute to satisfy the unpaid judgment. After an evidentiary hearing, the district court ordered the judgment debtor to relinquish to a court-appointed receiver any current or future income he received from his employer. The receiver was then to distribute a portion of the debtor’s income to the creditor and return enough to the debtor to cover his subsistence, and this turnover was to continue until the judgment was satisfied. Following appeal, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s judgment, holding that an order directing a judgment debtor to turn over his future paychecks does not violate the Texas constitutional garnishment prohibition. The court stated that a trial court therefore has the authority to order a judgment debtor to turnover future paychecks upon receipt by the debtor. However, this cursory opinion of the Texas Supreme Court fails to interpret properly the term “current wages” found in the Texas Constitution’s wage garnishment prohibition. For this reason, the development of the present interpretation of “current wages” requires critical analysis, following which a meaningful alternative to that interpretation can be suggested.
Co-Option and Erasure: Mizrahi Culture in Israel

Much of the rhetoric around racism and racialized discrimination in Israel centers on Israeli Jewish treatment of Palestinians. However, an examination of the experience of Mizrahi Jews can also be instructive as to the ways that racism and white supremacy function within Israel—through a privileging of Ashkenazi Jews, whose experiences are used to define the contemporary Israeli Jewish experience. For example, Israeli Jewish artist of Yemeni descent Leor Grady’s work addresses the marginalization, erasure, and exile of Yemeni Mizrahi Jews in Israel. In his video work Eye and Heart, Grady highlights how, in its absorption into Israeli folk dance, traditional Yemeni dance has been uprooted from its site of origination and "whitewashed." Through a discussion of this work and others alongside which it was shown in the exhibition Natural Worker, I argue that Grady’s articulation of the co-option of Yemeni culture by the dominant Ashkenazi (white) Israeli mainstream demonstrates how racialization plays out in the cultural realm of Israel. This method of privileging whiteness can be seen in the Israeli co-option of other Mizrahi and Palestinian cultural elements, such as couscous, hummus, and Arabic words such as "yalla." This examination of Grady’s work allows for an understanding of how this privileging of whiteness functions within the Jewish Israeli context.
Exclusive and dual menthol/non-menthol cigarette use with ENDS among adults, 2013–2019

Abstract This study examines patterns of use for menthol/non-menthol cigarettes and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) from 2013 to 2019 among U.S. adults. We calculated the weighted population prevalence of current exclusive and dual use for each product (i.e., menthol/non-menthol cigarettes and ENDS) stratified by age, sex, race/ethnicity, household income, and education in all surveys using data from three nationally representative surveys: the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study Waves 1–4 (W1-W4), 2013–2018; the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2015; and the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) 2014–2015 (T1) and 2018–2019 (T2). Exclusive non-menthol cigarette use (PATH: 9.0%W1, 9.4%W4; NHIS: 8.7%; TUS-CPS: 8.1%T1, 6.9%T2) and dual non-menthol cigarette/ENDS use (PATH: 2.4%W1, 1.5%W4; NHIS: 1.5%; TUS-CPS: 1.1%T1, 0.6%T2) were the most common single and dual tobacco use patterns, respectively, across all surveys. Both exclusive menthol cigarette use (3.9%T1-3.3%T2) and non-menthol cigarette use (8.1%T1-6.9%T2) declined in TUS-CPS from 2014/5–2018/9. Dual menthol cigarette/ENDS use also declined (PATH: 1.5%W1-1.1%W4; TUS-CPS: 0.5%T1-0.3%T2), as did dual non-menthol cigarette/ENDS use (PATH: 2.4%W1-1.5%W4; TUS-CPS 1.1%T1-0.6%T2). Across surveys, exclusive menthol cigarette use and dual menthol cigarette/ENDS use were more common among individuals aged 25–34 years old; non-Hispanic Blacks (NHBs); and low-income earners. Single and dual use patterns of menthol/non-menthol cigarettes and ENDS have declined over time. Nevertheless, certain vulnerable population groups, including NHBs and low-income earners, disproportionately use exclusive menthol cigarettes and dual menthol cigarette/ENDS, making menthol bans a potential policy target for reducing tobacco-related health disparities.
The Prepare Curriculum : Teaching Prosocial Competencies

This well-researched manual has been revised and expanded to include updated materials, procedures, and 93 supplementary exercises. The Prepare Curriculum presents a series of 10 course-length interventions grouped into three areas: reducing aggression, reducing stress, and reducing prejudice. It is designed for use with middle school and high school students and can also be adapted for use with younger students. The 93 supplementary exercises involve games, role plays, reading and writing, drawing, brainstorming, group discussion, relaxation, tape recordings, photography, and other hands-on activities. The book examines important issues such as behavior management, assessment, motivation, and transfer and maintenance of skills.
Large eddy simulation of turbulent flows with property variations, rotation and complex geometry

A comprossiblo finite voluinc fortuulalioii for largo eddy simulation IWLS been exleiuled to solve a variety of (lows by using dynamic subgrid-scale stress model and dynamic Prandtl number model. The basic features of this finite volume fornmlatioii include a dual time stepping approach with time derivative preconditioning, an implicit low-upper symtiietric Gauss-Seidel scheme, multiblock framework, and parallelization using message pa-ssing interface. riie impleiiUMitation of the dynamic motlel w;us validated by simulating a jjlane channel flow with constant heal flux. Good agreement between the present results and benchmark results in the literature wa.s achieved. Rotating channel flows with heat transfer were sequentially studietl by adding a rotation source term. The effects of .sjstem rotation on the turbulent heat transfer was investigated. Finally, a ril>-roughened channel flow wjus simulatetl without heat tran.sfer and with a heat flux on both walls. The influence of the rib on the How w:us studied. The large eddy formulation with a dynamic model generally provided excellent agreement with direct numerical simulation results and experimental results for turbulent flows with heat transfer (e.g. a plane channel flow, a rotating plane channel flow and a riI)-roughened channel flow). For the constant heat flux channel flows, high heating tends to rcnluce the velocity fluctuations, while high cooling tends to enhance the fluctuations. The mean and fluctuation velocity profiles collapse toward the incompressible results when normalizetl by local properties, as opposed to wall values. The spanwise system rotation was found to suppress turbulent velocity fluctuations and shear stress near the stable side of the channel, but enhance those fluctuations and shear stress near the unstable side. .Mso. turbulent temperature fluctuations and turbulent heat flux were decreased near the stable side of the channel, but increased near the unstable side of the channel. The existence of the rib creates a small recirculation
A systematic learning method for optimal jamming

Can an intelligent jammer learn and adapt to unknown environments in an electronic warfare-type scenario? In this paper, we answer this question in the positive, by developing a cognitive jammer that disrupts the communication between a victim transmitter-receiver pair. We formalize the problem using a novel multi-armed bandit framework where the jammer can choose various physical layer parameters such as signaling scheme, power level and the on-off/pulsing duration in an attempt to obtain power efficient jamming strategies. We first present novel online learning algorithms to maximize the jamming efficacy against static transmitter-receiver pairs i.e., the case when the victim does not change its communication technique despite the presence of interference. We prove that our learning algorithm converges to the optimal jamming strategy. Even more importantly, we prove that the rate of convergence to the optimal jamming strategy is sub-linear, i.e. the learning is fast, which is important in dynamically changing wireless environments. Also, we characterize the performance of the proposed bandit-based learning algorithm against adaptive transmitter-receiver pairs.
Structural Durability of Damaged Metallic Panel Repaired with Composite Patches

Structural durability/damage tolerance characteristics of an aluminum tension specimen possessing a short crack and repaired by applying a fiber composite surface patch is investigated via computational simulation. The composite patch is made of graphite/epoxy plies with various layups. An integrated computer code that accounts for all possible failure modes is utilized for the simulation of combined fiber-composite/aluminum structural degradation under loading. Damage initiation, growth, accumulation, and propagation to structural fracture are included in the simulation. Results show the structural degradation stages due to tensile loading and illustrate the use of computational simulation for the investigation of a composite patch repaired cracked metallic panel.
Hyperoxic-induced alterations in lung cell structure and function. Effects on cellular cyclic AMP content and comparison to alterations produced by exogenous cyclic AMP.

Abstract Hyperoxic exposure in vitro of two lung-derived cell types (the epithelial-derived L2 cells and WI-38 fibroblasts) inhibits cellular replication, produces striking morphologic changes and may result in cell death; these effects have been observed consistently in other cell types. Hyperoxic exposure of L2 cells is associated with an increase in cellular cyclic AMP content (cellular cyclic AMP content 454 ± 115 fmol/μg DNA in cells exposed to p O 2 677 Torr for 96 h compared to 136 ± 17 fmol/μg DNA in air-grown cells). Hyperoxic exposure of WI-38 fibroblasts is not associated with increased cyclic AMP content. Although cultivation of L2 cells in the presence of exogenous dibutyryl cyclic AMP does inhibit replication and produce morphologic alterations, similar effects are produced by sodium butyrate alone. Hyperoxic exposure alters cyclic AMP metabolism in some cell types, but the structural and functional alterations observed in L2 cells and WI-38 fibroblasts following hyperoxic exposure are not produced by changes in cellular cyclic AMP content.
Low-Frequency Cutoffs in Synchrotron Spectra and the Optical Spectrum of NP 0532

We point out the existence of a natural low-frequency cutoff in the spectrum of a synchrotron source. The turnover frequency is eB/mc , where ψ is the pitch angle for the electron motion. The spectrum below the turnover goes as v n , where n is the index in the electron energy distribution. For the Crab pulsar, a model with B ~ 106–107 G and ~ 10−3–10−2 provides a plausible explanation for the turnover observed in the infrared.
Superchron cycles driven by variable core heat flow

[1] A numerical dynamo with time variable core heat flow and inner core growth rate links the thermal state of the Earth's core to the long term trends in the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS). Increasing core heat flow over 100 Myr drives the numerical dynamo from a superchron state to reversing behavior, whereas a similar decrease in core heat flow produces a decrease in reversal frequency, driving the dynamo back into a superchron. The polarity sequence, including more than 400 reversals and two superchrons, compares favorably with the GPTS, as does the dynamo frequency spectrum. We find that core heat flow is positively correlated with polarity reversal frequency, dipole variability, and the relative strength of the non-dipole field. Our results imply that changes in geomagnetic reversal frequency can be attributed to long period fluctuations in core heat flow, and suggest heat flow minima during superchrons and a maximum near the present-day.
2‐(3‐Bromopropyl)‐2‐methyl‐1,3‐dioxolane

(1; X = Br, R,R = CH2CH2) [24400-75-7] C7H13BrO2 (MW 209.08) InChI = 1S/C7H13BrO2/c1-7(3-2-4-8)9-5-6-10-7/h2-6H2,1H3 InChIKey = VMAKIQSICJHVNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N (2; X = Cl, R,R = CH2CH2) [5978-08-5] C7H13ClO2 (MW 164.63) InChI = 1S/C7H13ClO2/c1-7(3-2-4-8)9-5-6-10-7/h2-6H2,1H3 InChIKey = OFERIRWCHSOJJT-UHFFFAOYSA-N (3; X = I, R,R = CH2CH2) [3695-28-1] C7H13IO2 (MW 256.08) InChI = 1S/C7H13IO2/c1-7(3-2-4-8)9-5-6-10-7/h2-6H2,1H3 InChIKey = QRDYHKLLQVGVNO-UHFFFAOYSA-N (4; X = I, R,R = Me,Me) [88794-75-6] C7H15IO2 (MW 258.10) InChI = 1S/C7H15IO2/c1-7(9-2,10-3)5-4-6-8/h4-6H2,1-3H3 InChIKey = ZOYOXEVHRXFNTB-UHFFFAOYSA-N (alkylating agents for attaching a 4-ketopentyl group to various nucleophiles; the derived organometallic reagents attach this group to electrophilic centers such as carbonyl groups; the major use has been for synthesis of monoprotected 1,5- and 1,6-diketones and related 1,n difunctional compounds) Alternate Name: 5-bromo-2-pentanone ethylene acetal. Physical Data: bp (1), 94–97 °C/10 mmHg; (2), 79–81 °C/8 mmHg; (3), 70–72 °C/2 mmHg; (4) 100 °C/11 mmHg. Preparative Methods: acetalization of the 5-halo-2-pentanone (made by opening 2-acetylbutyrolactone with HX).1 5-Chloro-2-pentanone is commercially available, and has been converted to 5-iodo-2-pentanone by treatment with sodium iodide/acetone.1g,2 Alternatively, (2) is treated with sodium bromide/ethyl bromide to give (1);3a (1) or (2) may be treated with sodium iodide to give (3).3b–d Purification: vacuum distillation from a trace of sodium bicarbonate. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: store at ≤0 °C; use in a fume hood.
Estimating front end throughput: where has all the data gone (PCB manufacture)

The authors have three objectives. The first is to explain a number of reasons for the unavailability of necessary data for high-fidelity performance modeling for manufacturing. The second objective is to illustrate the importance of matching model detail with data accuracy. The authors provide an example in which an analytical model is compared with simulation for a set of very coarse data and show that the incremental solution detail does not warrant the development effort associated with the simulation. The final objective is to describe a hierarchical approach to developing performance models for next-generation printed circuit card assembly lines that is motivated by the lack of available operating data. The approach provides a mechanism for developing models with more meaningful data. >
A Social Movement Generation Cohort and Period Trends in Protest Attendance and Petition Signing

This project explores cohort and period trends in political participation in the United States between 1973 and 2008. We examine the extent to which protest attendance and petition signing have dif...
Critical care management of the lung transplant recipient

Lung transplantation provides the prospect of improved survival and quality of life for patients with end stage lung and pulmonary vascular diseases. Given the severity of illness of such patients at the time of surgery, lung transplant recipients require particular attention in the immediate post-operative period to ensure optimal short-term and long-term outcomes. The management of such patients involves active involvement of a multidisciplinary team versed in common post-operative complications. This review provides an overview of such complications as they pertain to the practitioners caring for post-operative lung transplant recipients. Causes and treatment of conditions affecting early morbidity and mortality in lung transplant recipients will be detailed, including primary graft dysfunction, cardiovascular and surgical complications, and immunologic and infectious issues. Additionally, lung donor management issues and bridging the critically ill potential lung transplant recipient to transplantation will be discussed.
Triple-helical peptide analysis of collagenolytic protease activity.

The catabolism of collagen is the committed step in numerous biological processes. Normal tissue remodeling, embryonic development, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and cancer cell metastasis all involve collagen breakdown. For invertebrates, collagen hydrolysis is part of the digestive process. Thus, the mechanism of collagenolytic activity, which involves efficient binding to and hydrolysis of triple-helical structure, is of great interest. However, several collagen-degrading proteases do not share a common structure motif, and have different active site residues participating in catalysis. To better understand how these proteases hydrolyze collagen, triple-helical peptide (THP) models of collagen can be constructed and utilized as substrates. Chemically synthesized triple-helical substrates have been used previously to examine binding by discrete matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) domains [1–5] and for evaluating MMP kinetic parameters [4]. Those substrates incorporated sequences derived from type I collagen known to be cleaved by MMPs in the native protein. In the present study, we have examined methods for the synthesis of fluorogenic triple-helical substrates, and used these substrates for study of MMPs, thermolysin, and trypsin.
Age-associated Differences in Cardiovascular Inflammatory Gene Induction during Endotoxic Stress

Upon physiological stress, families of stress response genes are activated as natural defense mechanisms. Here, we show that induction of specific inflammatory genes is significantly dysregulated and altered in the heart of aged (24--26-month-old) versus young (4-month-old) mice experimentally challenged with a bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1.5 mg/kg of body mass). Whereas the LPS-mediated induction of cardiac mRNA for tumor necrosis factor alpha or inducible nitric-oxide synthase showed no age-associated differences, the induction of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 was modestly extended with aging, and the induction of IL-6 was significantly prolonged with aging. This age-associated phenomenon occurred gradually from 4 to 17 months of age and became more evident after 23 months of age. The age-associated augmentation of the cardiac IL-6 induction was also dramatic at the protein level. Immunohistochemically, the LPS-induced cardiac IL-6 was localized mainly in the microvascular walls. Aged but not young mice showed a high mortality rate during these experiments. These results demonstrate that endotoxin-mediated induction of specific inflammatory genes in cardiovascular tissues is altered with aging, which may be causally related to the increased susceptibility of aged animals to endotoxic stress.
Medial versus lateral parabrachial nucleus lesions in the rat: Effects on mercaptoacetate-induced feeding and conditioned taste aversion

Abstract The two experiments of the present study examined the influence of bilateral electrophysiologically-guided ibotenic acid lesions of the medial (gustatory) and lateral (viscerosensory) subdivisions of the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) on lipoprivic feeding and on the acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion. In Experiment 1, mercaptoacetate (0, 400, 600, or 800 μ mol/kg) failed to enhance food intake in normal rats maintained and tested on standard laboratory chow. In the same procedure, rats with lesions of the medial or lateral PBN consumed less food during baseline but nonetheless were sensitive to the orexigenic action of mercaptoacetate. In Experiment 2, both types of PBN lesions prevented acquisition of a conditioned taste aversion induced by the oral self administration of lithium chloride. The results suggest that PBN neurons essential for conditioned taste aversion are not involved in the mercaptoacetate-induced feeding of rats maintained and tested on standard laboratory chow.
Livestock, Production, and Social Mobility in High Altitude Tibet

1952 Tibetan skylines. New York, Farrar, Straus & Young. 1954 Mi sTong: the Tibetan custom of life indemnity. Sociologus 4:136-145. HEDIN, S. A. 1909 Trans-himalaya. London, Macmillan. RAWLING, C. G. 1905 The great plateau. London, Arnold. STEIN, R. A. 1956 L'epopee tibetaine de Gesar. Paris, Press universitaires de France. THARCHiN, G. 1956 Letter writers etc. (collection of Tibetan texts). Kalimoong, Tibet Mirror Press.
Electrical responses of Stomotoca atra induced by an extract of Aequorea aequorea

HYDROMEDUSAE swim by rhythmically contracting the circular swimming muscles located in the subumbrella. When species such as Stomotoca atra1, Sarsia tubulosa2,3, Proboscidactyla flavicirrata4 and Euphysa japonica2 are disturbed, either by electrical or mechanical stimulation of the exumbrellar surface, the tentacles contract, swimming stops and a tetanic contraction of the radial muscles causes an infolding of the bell margin (Fig. 1b). This protective response is called crumpling5 and is initiated by all-or-nothing potentials in the nerve-free, exumbrellar epithelium1–4. S. atra, a predacious hydromedusa, is atypical in that it crumples both when disturbed and when in the proximity of large numbers of hydromedusae of several other species. The latter response is initiated by a stimulating substance stored in the mesogloea of the other medusae6. The substance is found in crude extracts of Aequorea aequorea, Halistaura cellularia, Phialidium gregarium and S. tubulosa, but not in S. atra itself. The crumpling response induced by the extract has been suggested to be a feeding response, trapping prey in the infolded margin6. By recording the electrical activity during the crumpling response initiated by extracts of A. aequorea I have found that this response is coordinated differently from crumpling initiated by electrical or mechanical stimulation.
Effects of pH on proton transport by vacuolar pumps from maize roots

Protons pumps of the tonoplast may be involved in the regulation of cytosolic pH, but the effects of pH on the coupled activities of these transporters are poorly understood. The effects of pH on the activities of the H+-translocating pyrophosphatase (PPiase) and vacuolar-type H+-translocating adenosine triphosphatase (H+-ATPase) from maize (Zea mays L. cv. FRB 73) root membranes were assessed by model that simultaneously considers proton transport by the pump and those processes that reduce net transport. The addition of either pyrophosphate or ATP to either microsomal or tonoplast membranes generated a pH gradient. The pH gradient generated in the presence of both substrates was not the sum of the gradients produced by the two substrates added separately. When membranes were separated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation, pyrophosphate (PPi)-dependent proton transport was associated with light density membranes having tonoplast H+-ATPase activity. These results indicate that some portion of the PPiase was located on the same membrane system as the tonoplast ATPase; however, tonoplast vesicles may be heterogeneous, differing slightly in the ratio of ATP- to PPi-dependent transport. Proton transport by both the PPiase and ATPase had maximal activity at pH 7.0 to 8.0 Decreases in proton transport by the ATPase at pH above the optimum were associated with increases in the processes that reduce net transport. Such an association was not observed at pH values below the optimum. These results are discussed in terms of in situ regulation of cytoplasmic pH by the two pumps.
Overview of sonic boom noise

This paper provides an overview of sonic boom noise for nonspecialists. A brief description is provided and a source/path/receiver model is emphasized. Significant research has been undertaken in the last few years to develop commercial aircraft (sources) that have sonic booms that are less loud than previous designs, opening the possibility for overland supersonic flight. This work is continuing. However, there are several challenges remaining regarding the propagation (path) of sonic boom noise through the real atmosphere and in the human perception (receiver) of minimized sonic boom waveforms.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Nanostructured bladder tissue replacements.

The interaction between cells or tissues and natural or synthetic materials which mimic the natural biological environment has been a matter of great interest in tissue engineering. In particular, surface properties of biomaterials (regardless of whether they are natural or synthetic) have been optimized using nanotechnology to improve interactions with cells for regenerative medicine applications. Specifically, in vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated greater bladder tissue growth on polymeric surfaces with nanoscale to submicron surface features. Improved bladder cell responses on nanostructured polymers have been correlated to unique nanomaterial surface features leading to greater surface energy which influences initial protein interactions. Moreover, coupled with the observed greater in vitro and in vivo bladder cell adhesion as well as proliferation on nanostructured compared to conventional synthetic polymers, decreased calcium stone formation has also been measured. In this article, the importance of nanostructured biomaterial surface features for bladder tissue replacements are reviewed with thoughts on future directions for this emerging field. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2011 3 134–145 DOI: 10.1002/wnan.89 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website
Deconstructing Service‐Learning: A Framework for Interior Design

Service-learning has long been essential to university education. With the literature focusing on extolling its benefits to student learning, little direction is offered to educators interested in approaching a service-learning project. Applying this knowledge to a studio-based field like interior design requires additional adjustments, and questions still abound: What must be considered when integrating service-learning in an interior design curriculum? What are the challenges and opportunities that must be recognized? And, how best can the field take advantage of this teaching pedagogy? As universities are increasing the emphasis on service-learning in their missions, it is appropriate for interior design to start a dialogue around ways to strengthen its associations with service-learning. Drawing from a literature review and three case studies from the interior design program of the University of Minnesota, this paper responds to the above questions and posits that only by deconstructing service-learning projects can educators determine their suitability. The paper proposes a framework, a tool that can guide programs’ decision making of how and if to integrate a service-learning project in their curriculum. The framework consists of four criteria and sets of considerations relevant to each and sheds light on what service-learning projects entail. The authors conclude that educators cognizant of the multiple decisions embedded within each of the criteria (relate to course objectives, apply course knowledge, connect to the community, and reflect on learning) enhance their chances for successful service-learning experiences on all levels: the university, program, students, client, practitioners, and the community at large.
Controlling Bulk Optical Properties of Emissive Polymersomes through Intramembranous Polymer−Fluorophore Interactions

Interdisciplinary investigation at the interface of chemistry, engineering, and medicine has enabled the development of self-assembled nanomaterials with novel biochemical and electro-optical properties. We have recently shown that emissive polymersomes, polymer vesicles incorporating porphyrin-based fluorophores, feature large integrated-emission oscillator strengths and narrow emission bands; these nanoscale assemblies can be further engineered to fluoresce at discrete wavelengths throughout the visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectral domains. As such, emissive polymersomes effectively define an organic-based family of soft-matter quantum-dot analogs that possess not only impressive optical properties, but also tunable physical and biomaterial characteristics relative to inorganic fluorescent nanoparticles. Here, we expand upon our initial studies on poly(ethyleneoxide)-block-poly(butadiene)-based vesicles to examine fluorophore membrane-loading in other polymersome systems. Through modulation of fluor...
Atorvastatin Preserves Renal Function in Chronic Complete Unilateral Ureteral Obstruction

Purpose: The pleiotropic effects of hMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-metylglutaryl coenzyme A) reductase inhibitors may provide renal protection in chronic kidney disease. We examined whether atorvastatin administration preserved renal function in rats with chronic unilateral ureteral obstruction.Materials and Methods: Renal clearance experiments were performed in sham operated rats and rats subjected to 3 or 12-day unilateral ureteral obstruction. Hemodynamics parameters and urinary microalbumin levels from the obstructed kidney were also measured. The rats were maintained on a regular diet or the same diet but supplemented with atorvastatin (50 mg/kg daily).Results: Atorvastatin administration did not alter plasma total cholesterol but it significantly decreased triglyceride levels. In sham operated and 3-day unilateral ureteral obstruction rats atorvastatin treatment did not have effects on the glomerular filtration rate or effective renal plasma flow and it also did not affect urinary microalbumin levels. In rats...
The New Institutionalism and EC Governance: The Promise and Limits of Institutional Analysis

The “new” institutionalisms” in rational choice and historical analysis are being applied with increasing sophistication and accuracy to the study of European Community governance. The basic premise of such institutional approaches is that EC institutions, once created, “take on a life of their own,” acting as independent or intervening variables between the preferences and power of the member governments on the one hand, and the ultimate policy outputs of EC governance on the other. The challenge for institutionalist theory consists in constructing a precise analytical tool-box that will allow us to make specific predictions about the ways in which, and the conditions under which, EC institutions may exert such an independent causal influence. EC institutions matter, I suggest, insofar as they: lend stability to an existing institutional structure; shape any subsequent amendment of those institutions; allow individual member governments to be outvoted by qualified majority; cause member states to lose control of events through lock-ins; and subject member governments to the actions of supranational agents whose behavior they can control only imperfectly.
Social indifference curves with optimal second-best taxation

The existence of a well-behaved social welfare function defined over aggregate consumption levels allows welfare problems with heterogeneous individuals to be transformed, in effect, into problems with a single representative consumer. This valuable simplification has been used extensively in international trade models. Samuelson (1956) showed that there exists such a social welfare function over aggregate consumption (or endowments of resources) if the Bergson-Samuelson social welfare function (defined over individual utilities) satisfies standard properties and the government optimally redistributes resources using lump-sum transfers. Furthermore, this function is quasiconcave, so aggregate demand satisfies the same properties as individual demands. Varian (1984) extended this result by specifying a condition under which a quasiconcave welfare function exists when lump sum redistribution is not possible. Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify circumstances which satisfy his condition. In this paper, we consider the convexity of aggregate social indifference contours when informational asymmetries restrict the government in redistribution (as first specified by Mirrlees (1971)). Individuals differ in preferences or abilities, but the government does not know what preferences any particular individual has. To achieve its distributional goals, the government offers (nonlinear) tax schedules which induce individuals to self-select the consumption bundles the government prefers them to consume. Our main conclusion is that, in such circumstances, convexity of social indifference curves over aggregate commodities cannot be guaranteed. How commonly such nonconvexities occur remains an open question.
SU-E-I-88: Mammography Imaging: Does Positioning Matter?

Purpose: In mammography, compression is imperative for quality images and glandular radiation exposure dose. The thickness of the compressed breast directly determines mammography acquisition parameters. The compressed thickness varies due to variation in technologist practice, even for the same patient imaged at different time. This study is to investigate potential effect of the variation in breast positioning on radiation dose and image quality. Methods: Radiation dose at different thicknesses was measured with a BR-12 breast phantom for both conventional craniocaudal view and tomosynthesis in a Hologic Tomosynthesis mammography system. The CIRS stereotactic needle biopsy training phantom embedded dense masses and microcalcification in various sizes were imaged for image quality evaluation. Radiologists evaluated images. Clinical mammograms from the same patient but acquired at different time were retrospectively retrieved to evaluate potential effects of variation in positioning. Results: Acquisition parameters (kVp and mAs) increase with the increased phantom thickness. Radiation exposure increases following an exponential trend. The stereotactic phantom images showed loss of spatial and contrast resolution with inappropriate positioning. The compressed pressure may not be a good indicator for appropriate positioning. The inclusion of different amount of pectoralis muscle may lead to the same compressed pressure but different compressed thickness. The initial retrospective study of 3 patients showed that there were potential large variations in positioning the same patient at different examination time, resulting in large variations in patient radiation dose and image quality. Conclusion: Variations in patient positioning potentially influence patient radiation dose and image quality. The technologist has the critical responsibility to position patient to provide quality images in spite of different breast and body types. To reduce intra and inter practice variations in positioning patient, a training program among each breast imaging center may be a need.
Effect of a time-out session with working animal-assisted therapy dogs

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is the therapeutic involvement of specially trained animals in various clinical situations to assist people both physically and psychologically. Although there is some controversy in the research that supports the benefits received by people when they interact with AAT dogs, many studies have demonstrated positive effects of AAT. AAT dogs work with their handlers in busy hospital environments. Although these dogs are trained to work in therapeutic situations, they could experience stress in ever-changing environments. This research studied the effect of a “quiet-play” time-out session on AAT dogs during their work shifts. Salivary cortisol specimens were collected at 3-time intervals and survey data were collected from each handler after completion of the work shift. Cortisol levels from baseline to one hour into the work shift showed elevation (P = 0.025). Cortisol levels were not significant across the 3 samples (baseline, hour 1 [H1], and hour 2.5 [H2.5]) when comparing the dogs with a time-out session and without a time-out session. Survey data showed multiple trends including (1) younger dogs, aged <6 years, showed more behavioral signs of stress than older dogs (P = 0.017), and (2) experienced AAT dogs showed a trend of less behavioral signs of stress than less experienced AAT dogs (P = 0.08).
Effects of environmental calcium and replacement therapy on the killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus, after the surgical removal of the corpuscles of Stannius

The removal of Stannius corpuscles elicited hypercalcemia in male killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus, maintained in calcium rich sea water. Such a response was absent in fish adapted to calcium-poor fresh water or artificial calciumdeficient sea water. The presence of calcium in food also affected the degree of hypercalcemia. Transplants of the corpuscles or injections of a homogenate of the gland corrected the rise in serum calcium. (Endocrinology 93: 705, 1973)