cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alleviating I/O Inefficiencies to Enable Effective Model Training Over Voluminous, High-Dimensional Datasets

There has been an exponential growth in data volumes in several domains. Often these voluminous datasets encompass a large number of features. Fitting models to such high-dimensional, voluminous data allows us to understand phenomena and inform decision-making. The analytics process is naturally iterative as scientists explore the set of features, data fitting algorithms, portions of the dataspace, and the particular algorithm’s hyperparameters to guide their model-building process. It often takes several model-fitting attempts before one arrives at a satisfactory solution that may then be subjected to further refinements. Each of these model-building attempts is itself time-consuming and dominated by I/O and data movement costs. In this study, we present our methodology for significantly alleviating I/O-induced inefficiencies during model training. Rather than work with the raw data, we generate and work with sketches of the data. Our framework, Fennel, is independent of the libraries or analytical engines preferred by users. Our empirical benchmarks have been performed with datasets from diverse domains (weather, epidemiology, and music) and we profile several aspects of our methodology.
The Role of Parents' Nativity in Shaping Differential Risks of Food Insecurity Among US First Graders.

Objectives Food insecurity remains a problem in the US, especially for children in immigrant families. We developed a novel measure of parental nativity and incorporated school effects to advance knowledge from prior studies. Methods Using hierarchical logistic models and data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-2011 Kindergarten Cohort, we examined how parental nativity and race/ethnicity, and school characteristics influence household food insecurity among a nationally representative sample of US first-graders in 2012. Results After adjusting for potential confounders, children without any US-born parents had a higher likelihood of household food insecurity than children with two US-born parents or one foreign-born/one US-born parent. Attending a Title 1 school was associated with food insecurity independent of household socioeconomic status. Conclusions for Practice Results suggest that providers should take special care to screen for food insecurity among children with only immigrant parents and that Title 1 schools have a potentially important role to play in reducing food insecurity.
Potassium Ordering and Structural Phase Stability in Layered KxCoO2

The recent surge of interest in K-ion batteries necessitates a fundamental understanding of phase stability and K ordering tendencies in common electrode materials. We report on a first-principles study of phase stability in layered KxCoO2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) in the O1/P3/O3 family of host structures and identify K ordering preferences within each host. We find that the P3 host is stable at intermediate K concentrations and exhibits a multitude of hierarchical orderings characterized by well-ordered domains separated by antiphase boundaries. We also predict the stability of a new family of layered structures at high K concentrations that are highly distorted and host both octahedrally and prismatically coordinated K within each intercalation layer.
Gaussian approximations in filters and smoothers for data assimilation

We present mathematical arguments and experimental evidence that suggest that Gaussian approximations of posterior distributions are appropriate even if the physical system under consideration is n...
Power transitions, then and now: five new structural barriers that will constrain China’s rise

This article shows that China now faces a series of what are termed “structural barriers” that will make it harder for it to rise than was the case for all past rising powers. In the first section, I define the concept “structural barrier” so we can properly identify which ones now constrain China’s ascent. In the next three sections, I briefly review the essential features of three existing structural barriers that have already been identified in the literature: (1) the magnitude of the U.S. military advantage is much bigger than the gap between the number 1 power and the number 2 power in previous eras, (2) it is now far harder—and it takes much longer—to convert economic capacity into top-end military technology than in the past because so many of today’s advanced weapons systems are extraordinarily complex, and (3) as compared to all past rising powers, China is at a relatively much lower level technologically compared to the leading state. The next two sections then, respectively, delineate two additional structural barriers of great importance that must be factored in: (1) the globalization of production in weaponry and key dual-use technologies, and (2) the onset of global demographic aging, something that constrains all of the major powers but is especially acute in China. Overall, this article reveals that the world has changed too much for the power transitions of the past to provide useful guidance regarding the nature of China’s ascent; looking at them is ultimately deceiving, not illuminating, for understanding the possible speed of its rise on the global stage. A concluding section discusses some key implications of the analysis for the security policies of China and the United States.
How Should Clinicians Navigate Decision Making for Unrepresented Patients

Caring for patients who lack decision-making capacity is common in health care and presents numerous practical and ethical challenges. Unrepresented patients are vulnerable in part because they do not have anyone to help articulate their values and preferences
Individual differences in encoded neural representations within cortical speech production network

When two individuals view the same item, they do not necessarily perceive an item in the same way. If an individual is presented with a stimulus to be recalled later, the information that is encoded is dependent on the features of the stimulus to which one attends. Past studies have shown that, on the group level, verbal and visual information (e.g., words and pictures) are encoded in disparate regions of the brain. However, this account conflates external and internal representational formats, and it also neglects individual differences in attention. In this study, we examined neural and behavioral patterns associated with individual differences in attention to verbal representations-both external and internal. We found that the encoded neural representation of semantic content (meaningful words and pictures) varied as a function of individual differences in verbal attention, independent of the stimulus presentation format. Individuals who demonstrated an attentional bias toward words showed similar multivariate BOLD activity patterns within an a priori speech production network when encoding object names as when encoding pictures of objects. This result indicates that these individuals encode both words and pictures verbally. These effects were not found for non-semantic stimuli (pronounceable non-words and nonsense pictures). Importantly, as expected, no individual differences in neural representation were found in a separate network of regions known to process semantic content independent of format. These results highlight inter-individual divergence and convergence in internal representations of encoded semantic content. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This study shows how tendencies to attend to word representations is associated with individual differences in encoded neural representations. Individuals who selectively attend to words instead of pictures process semantically meaningful information in language regions of the brain, regardless of whether the information was originally presented as a word or a picture. Though all participants encoded words and pictures similarly in regions that are known to represent domain-general semantic information, only the individuals who were biased towards word representations additionally processed both words and pictures in modality-specific verbal regions. These results demonstrate both the convergence and divergence between individuals that occurs during encoding of meaningful information.
A Structural Understanding of Class B GPCR Selectivity and Activation Revealed.

Ma et al. (2020) and Liang et al. (2020) describe the cryo-EM structures of three class B G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in complex with native peptides and Gs. Their work establishes the structural basis of peptide specificity and a conserved mechanism of receptor activation and G protein coupling for class B GPCRs.
Detection of Trichomonas gallinae in Wild Birds Admitted to a Rehabilitation Center, Florida, USA

We screened raptors (n=188) and columbids (n=2) presenting to a Tampa, Florida, US rehabilitation center from June 2016 to April 2017 for Trichomonas gallinae. One juvenile Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) was culture- and PCR-positive and sequencing identified as genotype E1. A subset of culture-negative (10%, n=19) samples were negative via PCR.
The impact of long-term corticosteroid use on acute postoperative complications following lumbar decompression surgery.

Abstract Background Corticosteroids have a negative impact on the human immune system’s ability to function at an optimal level. Studies have shown that patients on long-term corticosteroids have higher infection rates. However, the rates of infection and other complications following lumbar decompression surgery remains under-investigated. The aim of our study was to determine the impact of preoperative long-term corticosteroid usage on acute, 30-day postoperative complications in a subset of patients undergoing lumbar spine decompression surgery, without fusion or instrumentation. We hypothesize that patients on long-term corticosteroids will have higher rates of infection and other postoperative complications after undergoing lumbar decompression surgery of the spine. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data collected from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database data from 2005 to 2016. Lumbar decompression surgeries, including discectomies, laminectomies, and others were identified using CPT codes. Chi-square analysis was used to evaluate differences among the corticosteroid and non-corticosteroid groups for demographics, preoperative comorbidities, and postoperative complications. Logistic regression analysis was done to determine if long-term corticosteroid use predicts incidence of postoperative infections following adjustment. Results 26,734 subjects met inclusion criteria. A total of 1044 patients (3.9%) were on long-term corticosteroids prior to surgical intervention, and 25,690 patients (96.1%) were not on long-term corticosteroids. Patients on long-term corticosteroids were more likely to be older (p Conclusion Long-term corticosteroid usage is associated with a significant increased risk of acute postoperative complication development, including urinary tract infection, sepsis and septic shock, thromboembolic complications, and extended length of hospital stay, but not with superficial or deep infection in patients undergoing lumbar decompression procedures. Spine surgeons should remain vigilant regarding postoperative complications in patients on long-term corticosteroids, especially as it relates to UTI and propensity to decompensate into sepsis or septic shock. Thromboembolic risk attenuation is also imperative in this patient group during the postoperative period and the surgeon should weigh the risks and benefits of more intensive anticoagulation measures.
Oxygen Delivery Methods in a Model of a Spontaneously Breathing Tracheostomized Child

Background: Heated tracheostomy collar (HTC) with different interfaces (direct connection or tracheostomy mask) is used to provide humidification of inspired air to spontaneously breathing tracheostomized children. At our hospital we use a HTC with a blender system (FIO2 0.21). If supplemental O2 is needed, low flow O2 (FIO2 1.0) is given through a tracheostomy ring (t-ring). This is done in the event the HTC circuit becomes disconnected. Sometimes, despite using a maximum flow, the desired O2 saturation is not achieved. We hypothesized increasing the FIO2from the blender, using a direct connection interface, and increasing t-ring flow would result in higher tracheal FIO2s. Methods: We used a model of a spontaneously breathing tracheostomized child consisting of a 4.0 pediatric tracheostomy tube with cuff inflated (Bivona TTS) inserted into a tracheal model connected in series to a t-piece with O2 analyzer (tracheal FIO2), a filter and a breathing simulator (RR 30, VT 140 mL, I-time 0.7 seconds). Oxygen was delivered through a t-ring attached to the tracheostomy (0-4 L/min), the HTC (15 L/min) at different FIO2s, or with both. We tested 2 different interfaces: a direct connection adapter and a tracheostomy mask. Tracheal FIO2was recorded after 5 minutes and each experiment was repeated 4 times. Interfaces were compared with T-test, and effect of flows and FIO2s were compared with ANOVA. A P Results: The direct connect provided higher tracheal FIO2s than trach mask in most occasions. Increasing t-ring O2 flow and increasing HTC FIO2 increased tracheal FIO2. Conclusions: The HTC used with blender FIO2alone achieved higher tracheal Fi02s than the t-ring in a model of spontaneously breathing tracheostomized child. Increasing t-ring flow increased tracheal FIO2 with HTC FIO2 of 1. The addition of the t-ring O2flow to blender FIO2provided only minimal increases in FIO2. When the blender was set to deliver 1.0 FIO2, the addition of t-ring flow had no impact. In general, there were no significant differences in FIO2between interfaces.
General H2O Outgassing Model Applicable to Silica-Filled Silicones

Moisture-induced aging and degradation are continuing concerns in long-term storage and use of silicone materials. The silica fillers frequently used to provide mechanical reinforcement in silicone...
Trends in Hospitalizations for Heart Failure and Ischemic Heart Disease Among US Adults With Diabetes.

This cohort study evaluates the association of heart failure and ischemic heart disease with diabetes complications.
Trends in Outcomes of Extended Criteria Donors for Heart Transplants

Purpose Recent studies have explored use of extended criteria donors (ECD) as a means of expanding the donor pool for heart transplantation. Here we examine the temporal trends in outcomes of ECDs in heart transplantation. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis on adult heart transplants using the UNOS Database from 2000 to 2019. EXPAND Trial criteria for ECD was used; ischemic time > 4 hours, ejection fraction 55 years, history of coronary artery disease. Transplants were divided into 4 groups by transplant year; 2000-2004, 2005 - 2009, 2010 - 2014, and 2014 - 2019. Where appropriate two-sample t-test, Kaplan Meier survival analysis, log-rank test, and analysis of variance, multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis, and Pearson's Correlation Coefficient were used to compare data between different Periods. Results 42,642 patients were included in our study. ECD utilization declined over the periods analyzed (31.9% to 29.6% to 26.8% to 23.9%). Transplants utilizing ECDs in Periods 1 and 2 had worse outcomes compared to Periods 3 and 4 (Figure 1). Pearson's Coefficient Correlation test demonstrated a significant trend of 7% decrease in mortality risk for ECDs with each year after 2000. Cox proportional hazards analysis demonstrated transplant year to be in an independent predictor of mortality (HR 0.97, P Conclusion There was an improvement in 1-year survival rate and postoperative function status for transplants utilizing ECDs. Additional research is needed to further improve outcomes as use of warm-perfusion devices may lead to significant increases in the donor pool.
Adult onset Still's disease in the elderly: a case-based literature review.

Adult onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare inflammatory disorder that classically presents with high spiking fevers, evanescent rash, and arthritis. The diagnosis is one of exclusion and can be further complicated by atypical presentations, particularly in elderly patients in whom AOSD is very rare. A case of AOSD in a 73-year-old woman with a non-classic presentation, leading to delayed diagnosis and management, is presented along with a review of the English literature for AOSD cases in elderly people over 70 years of age. Thirty nine case reports and series were identified and the current case was added, totaling 42 individual cases. Significant findings included a four-times higher prevalence in females, a higher prevalence of macrophage activation syndrome despite lower mortality, the presence of pruritic rash in almost one fifth of the cases, and high prevalence of delayed diagnosis. AOSD in the elderly may vary from the classic criteria described in the medical literature and may lead to delayed diagnosis and management. Further evaluation and better characterization of AOSD in the elderly remains an area of interest.
What Remains of the Person: Civil Death and Disappearance in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit

English-language commentary on the role of the French Revolution in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit tends to equate the so-called “fury of destruction” (Furie des Verschwindens) with the violent di...
Accounting for Employment Impact at Scale

Using new data on workforce composition and wages, we systematically measure the employment impact at U.S. firms from 2008 to 2020, including 2,518 unique firms and 20,764 firm year observations. We document significant variation across industries and firms within each industry suggesting significant heterogeneity of firm human capital strategies. Employment impact is associated with lower employee turnover, higher firm valuation, and higher risk-return parameters. Our results collectively demonstrate the feasibility and value of employment impact accounting.
The Benefits of Bullies: Sophists as Unknowing Teachers of Moderation in Plato’s Euthydemus

Though Plato’s Euthydemus is usually interpreted as an unambiguous attempt to discredit the sophists’ teaching methods, I argue that the dialogue defends the role sophists play in philosophic education. Read in its dramatic context, the dialogue reveals that sophists offer a low-stakes environment for the testing and development of an important political virtue: moderation. The sophist’s classroom facilitates the cultivation of moderation by simulating the agonistic conditions of the assembly or courtroom, where many encounter temptations to bully others verbally. By arousing one’s inner bully, the sophists expose the limits of one’s moderation. While not sufficient for developing moderation, such self-revelations constitute a necessary part of the process even for a philosopher like Socrates. Ironically, by bringing out the worst in their students, the sophists unknowingly supply a protreptic to philosophy.
Path-Length and the Misperception of Speech: Insights from Network Science and Psycholinguistics

Using the analytical methods of network science we examined what could be retrieved from the lexicon when a spoken word is misperceived. To simulate misperceptions in the laboratory, we used a variant of the semantic associates task—the phonological associate task—in which participants heard an English word and responded with the first word that came to mind that sounded like the word they heard, to examine what people actually do retrieve from the lexicon when a spoken word is misperceived. Most responses were 1 link away from the stimulus word in the lexical network. Distant neighbors (words >1 link) were provided more often as responses when the stimulus word had low rather than high degree. Finally, even very distant neighbors tended to be connected to the stimulus word by a path in the lexical network. These findings have implications for the processing of spoken words, and highlight the valuable insights that can be obtained by combining the analytic tools of network science with the experimental tasks of psycholinguistics.
A general scheme for automatic generation of search heuristics from specification dependencies

Abstract The paper presents and evaluates the power of a new scheme that generates search heuristics mechanically for problems expressed using a set of functions or relations over a finite set of variables. The heuristics are extracted from a parameterized approximation scheme called Mini-Bucket elimination that allows controlled trade-off between computation and accuracy. The heuristics are used to guide Branch-and-Bound and Best-First search. Their performance is compared on two optimization tasks: the Max-CSP task defined on deterministic databases and the Most Probable Explanation task defined on probabilistic databases. Benchmarks were random data sets as well as applications to coding and medical diagnosis problems. Our results demonstrate that the heuristics generated are effective for both search schemes, permitting controlled trade-off between preprocessing (for heuristic generation) and search.
TRADITIONAL SAFETY MEASURES AND ACCIDENTAL POISONING IN CHILDHOOD

Although few drugs, surgical technique, and public health measures are put into widespread use today without rigorous testing and evaluation, such assessment of efficacy is the exceplion rather than the rule with countermeasures against accidental injury. Many countermeasures now in use have never been evaluated; others continue in use long after they have been proved to be ineffective. Driver education, for example, is being widely adopted in the face of mounting evidence that it does nothing to prevent accidents. Programs of "home safety education" continue to be formulated despite considerable evidence that they do not produce the intended results. This unconcern for--if not downright resistance to--systematic research on effectiveness has several consequences: (1) It permits programs of questionable value to absorb funds and manpower that might better be used in developing effective programs. (2) It precludes the possibility of a cost-effectiveness approach, which promises to be at least as useful in injury control as it has been in other areas of social concern. (3) It develops and strengthens vested interests connected with established programs--and thus it increases the resistance against objective evaluation. (4) It lulls the lay public into a false sense of security, since the public is likely to assume that accident countermeasures have the same degree of validity as other public health measures. The signal contribution of the paper that follows lies in its challenge of a "safety measure" that has long been accepted and disseminated by professionals and laymen alike. Although the population studied is both small and in some respects atypical, the findings are strong enough to warrant further study of larger and different populations. The methodology employed is also worth emulating. Recognizing the bias inherent in medical records and the difficulty of obtaining valid and representative responses to mail questionnaires, the investigator resorted to both interviewing and observation, which, though unquestionably expensive, are probably the most effective methods of data collection available to the research worker studying accidental injury. Language: en
Cytomegalovirus Infection and Coronary Heart Disease

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article by Ridker et al1 reporting no positive association between baseline cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus serum antibodies and incidence of myocardial infarction or stroke in the Physician’s Health Study. We agree with the authors that prospective epidemiological data are scarce, and this study fills an important gap. However, we must point out that their citation of our previous study2 together with other “cross-sectional or retrospective studies” is misleading. Ridker et al state that in these previous studies, “evidence of exposure to these viruses was ascertained after rather than before the development of atherothrombosis.”1 In fact, in our study, antibodies were measured in serum that was collected 13 to 16 years before carotid atherosclerosis was measured, even though this was done “retrospectively.” Thus, the temporal …
Stem cell therapy for stroke

Cerebral stroke can cause permanent neurological damage, behavioral incapacity and is associated with a high personal and financial cost. Therapeutic options are severely limited. In the past 10 years there has been an explosion of research interest in how a variety of stem cell populations respond in animal models of stroke. Manipulation of endogenous and exogenously introduced stem cells has provided a preponderance of information on how stem cells may improve aspects of cellular and functional recovery following largely ischemic models of stroke. These in turn have led the way to the initiation of clinical trials.
Comparison of child-human and child-computer interactions based on manual annotations

Technological advancements in recent years have been accompanied by a notable increase in research related to conversational child-machine interfaces. The technology has many applications from entertainment to education. In order to integrate this technology successfully we, however, need to understand the key differences (if any exist) in how children interact with machines versus how they interact with humans. Such knowledge could inform the design of more child-appropriate interfaces as well as highlight any distinct characteristics of child-computer interactions that may be crucial for specific applications. In this paper, we analyze a subset of the Little CHIMP corpus, in which preschool aged children have a series of conversations with a human moderator and a Wizard-of-Oz controlled computer character. We first manually transcribed and annotated the data using an objective audio-visual behavior coding scheme. We next extracted features exemplifying language and social communication from these transcriptions and annotations and performed statistical hypothesis tests comparing the child-human and child-computer interactions. Finally, we discuss the differences between these two dyadic conversations.
A Paramagnetic Salt Temperature Scale, 0.9 to 18 K

A paramagnetic salt temperature scale Tx has been established for temperatures between 1 and 18 K which is based on the extrapolation of the NBS-1955 platinum resistance thermometer scale (T55) from 18 to 34 K for two salts, chromic methylammonium alum and manganous ammonium sulfate. This scale is retained in terms of the calibrations of germanium resistance thermometers. Deviations from this scale are given for the liquid helium vapor pressure scales (TVP), the NBS-Acoustic scale 2 - 20 K (TAC) and T55. The resulting precision (0.01%, 0.3 ≤ ΔT ≤ 1 mK) is much greater than the thermodynamic accuracy because of ambiguities in the realization of the thermodynamic scale in the calibration region. Internal inconsistencies were observed for T55 below 18 K and for IPTS-68 (T68) above 27 K. The data also were used to investigate the smoothness of the Acoustic scale from 2.3 to 19 K. The scale which results from a smoothing of an Acoustic calibration with the susceptibility data lies intermediate between those generated from T55 and T68, and suggests that the correct value of the boiling point of hydrogen lies 1 = 1 mK below that value assumed for IPTS-68. On this basis, the accepted boiling point of helium is 8.5 ± 1.5 mK too low, while it is 6.7 ± 0.5 mK too low for the T55-based scale, and 10 ± 0.5 mK too low for that based on T68.
Genetic variation in transferrin alleles of rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta

The rhesus macaque displays an extensive polymorphism at the transferrin locus. A principal components analysis describes the variance and covariance of alleles at the transferrin locus in eight widely dispersed sample populations. Using an eigenvectorial representation of the covariance matrix and systematically approximated geographical locations the distribution of populations and transferrin alleles is compared. Alleles with high variance prove to be the determining factor in the placement of populations in a "genetic map" and provide a means for interpreting the low congruence of genetics and geography found.
65k-neuron integrate-and-fire array transceiver with address-event reconfigurable synaptic routing

We present a mixed-signal VLSI event-driven neural array with 65k two-compartment integrate-and-fire neurons each with four time-multiplexed facilitating conductance-based synapses. The array implements general spike-based neural models with dynamically reconfigurable synaptic connectivity through address-event routing of synaptic events. Measurements of synaptic and neural transceiver characteristics are presented, showing variation in neuronal excitability and paired-pulse synaptic facilitation with analog control parameters. The chip measures 5mm × 5mm in 130nm CMOS and consumes 252μW from 1.5V at 5M event/s synaptic input rate resulting in 50pJ/spike power consumption.
Inhibition of nucleotide sugar transport in Trypanosoma brucei alters surface glycosylation.

Nucleotide sugar transporters (NSTs) are indispensible for the biosynthesis of glycoproteins by providing the nucleotide sugars needed for glycosylation in the lumen of the Golgi apparatus. Mutations in NST genes cause human and cattle diseases and impaired cell walls of yeast and fungi. Information regarding their function in the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei, a causative agent of African trypanosomiasis, is unknown. Here, we characterized the substrate specificities of four NSTs, TbNST1–4, which are expressed in both the insect procyclic form (PCF) and mammalian bloodstream form (BSF) stages. TbNST1/2 transports UDP-Gal/UDP-GlcNAc, TbNST3 transports GDP-Man, and TbNST4 transports UDP-GlcNAc, UDP-GalNAc, and GDP-Man. TbNST4 is the first NST shown to transport both pyrimidine and purine nucleotide sugars and is demonstrated here to be localized at the Golgi apparatus. RNAi-mediated silencing of TbNST4 in the procyclic form caused underglycosylated surface glycoprotein EP-procyclin. Similarly, defective glycosylation of the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG221) as well as the lysosomal membrane protein p67 was observed in Δtbnst4 BSF T. brucei. Relative infectivity analysis showed that defects in glycosylation of the surface coat resulting from tbnst4 deletion were insufficient to impact the ability of this parasite to infect mice. Notably, the fact that inactivation of a single NST gene results in measurable defects in surface glycoproteins in different life cycle stages of the parasite highlights the essential role of NST(s) in glycosylation of T. brucei. Thus, results presented in this study provide a framework for conducting functional analyses of other NSTs identified in T. brucei.
The detection of dimethylnitrosamine and diethylnitrosamine in municipal sewage sludge applied to agricultural soils

Abstract Sixteen municipal wastewater sludge samples were analysed for volatile nitrosamines, particularly dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) and diethylnitrosamine (DEN). Two-hundred gramme samples were extracted for 3 h with dichloromethane in Soxhlet extractors. Extracts were concentrated and resuspended in distilled water for gas-liquid chromatographic, thin-layer chromatographic and colorimetric analyses. Nitrosamines were detected colorimetrically in 11 of the samples. DMN was detected in six samples and DEN in three samples using both chromatographic procedures. DMN was detected in two additional samples with thin-layer chromatographic analysis. A mean DMN content of 0·272 μ/g wet weight of sludge was calculated for samples known to be applied to agricultural soils. Results of the study indicate that from 59·8 to 1365 μg nitrosamine may be incorporated into 1 m 2 of soil per year as a result of the direct application of sludge to soils. The mean application rate calculated was 530·4 μg nitrosamine per square metre per year.
Maternal Time Allocation in Two Cooperative Childrearing Societies

This paper examines maternal trade-offs between subsistence/economic activities and caregiving, and it explores the effect of allomaternal investment on maternal time allocation and child care. I examine how nonmaternal investment in two multiple caregiving populations may offset possible risk factors associated with reductions in maternal caregiving. Behavioral observations were conducted on 8- to 12-month-old infants and their caregivers among the Aka tropical forest foragers and Ngandu farmers of Central Africa. Analysis demonstrates that mothers face trade-offs between subsistence/economic activities and infant care. Infants receive less investment when their mothers engage in subsistence/economic activities, indicating a potential risk to those infants. However, results indicate that allomothers target their assistance during times when mothers are engaged in work activities, partially offsetting potential risks associated with the maternal trade-off. The effects of intercultural variability on maternal time allocation and allomaternal investment are also explored as a means of examining the potential impact of their behaviors on infant care.
Vaccinia virus directed RNA and protein synthesis in the presence of rifampicin

Abstract The effects of rifampicin, an inhibitor of bacterial DNA transcription, on the formation of infectious vaccinia virus and viral particles, RNA and proteins were studied under single step growth conditions. Although virion formation was inhibited by more than 99%, the synthesis of early and late viral directed RNA species, as characterized by their sedimentation properties, was unaffected. Rifampicin did not prevent the synthesis of early and late viral proteins identified by immunodiffusion, disc gel electrophoresis and disc gel immunoelectrophoresis. The drug also did not inhibit the in - vitro activity of the virion associated RNA polymerase.
Prognostic significance of Raynaud's phenomenon and other clinical characteristics of systemic scleroderma. A study of 271 cases.

Two hundred seventy-one patients with unequivocal systemic scleroderma for whom the diagnosis was first established at the Mayo Clinic between January 1, 1945, and December 31, 1952, have been studied. Follow-up information was obtained 5 to 13 years after the diagnosis at the clinic concerning 236 of these patients, 115 of whom were dead. The cases were analyzed in an effort to determine what factors had a bearing on prognosis. The following seemed to bear little relation to the ultimate prognosis: sex, mode of onset, Raynaud's phenomenon, involvement of lungs and periodontal membrane, calcinosis cutis, and trophic changes. The following were considered poor prognostic omens: cardiac or renal involvement, significant elevation of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and anemia. The prognosis in systemic scleroderma was found to be worse than previous reports had indicated. This study yielded no basis for the subdivision of systemic scleroderma into acrosclerosis and generalized progressive scleroderma.
Fertility and Family Planning among the Elderly in Taiwan, or Integrating the Demography of Aging into Population Studies

Demographic aging is occurring rather rapidly in industrialized countries posing a challenge for demographers to develop research strategies to conduct research on aging. Demographers can trace the effects of change onto population structure but research on aging should examine the social and economic consequences of significant precipitating events leading to a change in living and support arrangements. These events range from disability to widowhood. THe research should look at the occurrence and timing to transitions and their determinants and the relevant decision-making process. It should also include modeling their interrelationships. It should observe the consequences of potential providers of support. Data collection techniques for studying aging need to be changed. Household surveys should include inquiries into the characteristics and location of people not living in the household (e.g. children and siblings). Demographers need to also interview members of the respondents kin network. Surveys of older people can provide insight into past fertility and determine future patterns of support. Analyses of survey and census data from taiwan shows that children ever born estimates could reliably be used to develop new programs. Between 1973 and 1991 the percentage of the elderly expecting sons to support them fell from 51% to 18% Various characteristics of the older people who migrated to Taiwan from mainland China in 1949-50 greatly affected the size and breadth of their kin groups. For example older mainlander males were less likely to be married and had 50% fewer children considerably fewer grandchildren and more rarely a sibling living nearby than the Taiwanese males. In conclusion demographers are able to identify upcoming social changes and to interpret them. They can draw from their experience in family planning and fertility research.
Labor Market Experiment.

This experiment involves having students search in a hypothetical job market for jobs paying wages in a known range but an unknown wage distribution. Different trials change variables to allow for search costs, unemployment insurance, recessions, and investment in human capital.
Minimum-variance fixed-form compensation of linear systems

The problem of determining the linear time-invariant compensator of a specified dimension which minimizes the asymptotic expected value of a quadratic form in the state variables of a linear stochastic system of arbitrary order, is considered. It is shown that under appropriate assumptions, the solution of this problem can be interpreted as a minimum-order observer-based or dual observer-based compensator for an optimally aggregated model of the plant.
Psychological treatment versus nonspecific factors: A meta-analysis of conditions that engender comparable expectations for improvement

Abstract Meta-analysis was used to compare the effectiveness of psychological treatment to both nonspecific factors control (NSF) and no treatment control conditions in studies in which no significant differences were found in subjects' expectancies for improvement between treatment and NSF control conditions. Treatment was found to be more effective than well designed NSF control, and more effective than no treatment. Nonspecific factors conditions were also found to be more effective than no treatment. Psychological treatment was found to be approximately twice as effective as well-designed NSF conditions. Analyses of study characteristics showed that greater treatment effects (treatment versus no treatment comparisons) were found in studies that were conducted in non-university rather than university settings, that used non-students rather than college students as subjects, and that used a mixture of professionals and graduate students compared to graduate students as therapists.
Lateral posterior parietal activity during reality monitoring discriminations of memories of high and low perceptual vividness

Regions of the lateral posterior parietal cortex (PPC) tend to be more active during recognition of previously studied items compared to correct rejection of unstudied items. Previously, we demonstrated that this effect is source-specific. While items that were encoded through visual perception elicited robust successful retrieval activity in the lateral PPC during a subsequent source memory test, items that were visually imagined did not elicit this effect. Memories of perceived events typically contain more perceptually-based contextual details than memories of imagined events. Therefore, source-based differences in lateral parietal activity might be due to a difference in the perceptual vividness of memories of perceived and imagined events. The goal of the present study was to test this hypothesis. Participants perceived and imagined items in both high and low perceptual vividness conditions. Experiment 1 demonstrated that memories for items encoded in the high vividness conditions contained significantly greater visual detail than memories encoded in the low vividness conditions. In Experiment 2, participants were scanned while they made source memory judgments about items that were previously perceived and imagined in high and low vividness conditions. Consistent with previous findings, the left lateral PPC was more active during retrieval of perceived compared to imagined events. However, lateral PPC activity did not vary according to vividness, suggesting that source effects in this region cannot be explained by a difference in the perceptual vividness of memories encoded through perception versus imagination.
Does being paired give male and female convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) an advantage when competing against same-sex individuals?

Fight theory predicts that asymmetries between contestants can be used to predict the winners and losers in fights. Using the monogamous convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata), we examined whether being in a pair bond has an advantage in defeating a single same-sex individual. We hypothesize that the male and female members of a pair bond would defeat a same-sex single intruder because it is beneficial to form a pair bond prior to competing for mutual resources, such as a breeding site. To test our hypotheses, we allowed paired males to engage in contests with single males with and without the interaction of their mate. In addition, we allowed paired females to engage in contests with single females with and without the interaction of their mate. Our results indicate that the paired male gained no advantage in being paired; however, paired females seem to have an advantage over single females because they typically defeated them. To reduce the influence of the other pair member on the fight, we restrained one member and allowed the other pair member to confront the same-sex individual. The paired male was frequently defeated while the paired female typically won. These results suggest that forming a pair bond gives females, but not males an advantage in fights with same-sex competitors.
A Model of Sexually and Physically Victimized Women's Process of Attaining Effective Formal Help over Time: The Role of Social Location, Context, and Intervention

As empirical evidence has demonstrated the pervasiveness of sexual assault and intimate partner violence in the lives of women, and the links to poor mental health outcomes, attention has turned to examining how women seek and access formal help. We present a conceptual model that addresses prior limitations and makes three key contributions: It foregrounds the influence of social location and multiple contextual factors; emphasizes the importance of the attainment of effective formal help that meets women’s needs and leads to positive mental health outcomes; and highlights the role of interventions in facilitating help attainment. We conclude with research and practice implications.
Online repositioning during treatment of the prostate: A study of potential limits and gains

Abstract Purpose: With on-line portal imaging devices and image registration tools, the verification of radiation field position prior to each treatment becomes technically feasible. In this paper, we analyze the impact of pre-treatment verification and field position adjustment on target coverage and normal tissue sparing. Methods and Materials: Port films were compared with corresponding simulation films to determine the magnitude of setup variations in patients treated for prostate cancer. From these data, an analytic function was determined between geometric coverage of the target and field margin size. A paradigm for on-line patient repositioning was employed to generate a new relationship between margin and target coverage. Margins were selected for the situations of normal treatment and on-line repositioning to ensure target coverage. Dose-volume histograms were generated for a typical prostate treatment using these margins. Results: On-line repositioning, when setup errors exceed 1 cm, results in a 6 mm reduction in margin, suggesting that 10% of the volume of bladder and rectum may be spared of high dose. Conclusion: The use of on-line imaging and image registration to guide adjustment of patient setup may lead to a reduction in the volume of normal tissues irradiated, and possibly improve the probability of complication-free survival in future treatments.
Evidence for a role of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate in adipose tissue lipolysis.

Abstract The nature of the processes whereby the mobilization of free fatty acids (FFA) is regulated by the sympathetic nervous system was examined from the lipolytic responses of isolated fat cells from rat epididymal adipose tissue. The production of FFA and glycerol is increased by norepinephrine, which stimulates the synthesis of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic 3',5'-AMP), and by theophylline, which inhibits the metabolism of the nucleotide. Since the maximal response to norepinephrine is only about one third that of theophylline, it may be inferred that the effects of the catecholamine are limited by the capacity of adenyl cyclase and not by that of the lipasc system. Direct evidence shows that cyclic 3',5'-AMP can increase lipolysis in intact fat cells. Thus, the nucleotide itself produces little lipolysis but, together with small amounts of theophylline, causes effects similar to those elicited by maximally effective concentrations of theophylline. The optimum responses to ACTH and norepinephrine are almost the same, though on a molar basis ACTH is 100 times as active as norepinephrine. Since theophylline potentiates the substances to about the same degree, it may be inferred that the lipolytic effects of both hormones are mediated through cyclic 3',-5'-AMP.
Selective bilateral lesion to caudate nucleus modulates the acute and chronic methylphenidate effects.

Abstract The psychostimulant methylphenidate (MPD) is currently the most prescribed drug therapy for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is used by students as a cognitive enhancer. The caudate nucleus (CN) is a structure within the motive circuit where MPD exerts its effects, it is known to contain high levels of dopaminergic cells and directly influence motor activity. The objective of this study was to understand the role of CN in response to acute and chronic administration of MPD. Specific and non-specific bilateral ablations were created in the CN using electrolytic lesion and 6-Hydoxydopamine (6-OHDA). Four groups of rats were used: control (n = 4), sham (n = 4), CN electrolytic lesion group (n = 8) and CN 6-OHDA injected group (n = 8). On experimental day one (ED 1) all rats received a saline injection and baseline locomotive activity was recorded. On ED 2 and ED 3 CN sham, electrolytic lesion and/or 6-OHDA injected groups were made followed by four to five days recovery (ED 3–7), followed by six daily 2.5 mg/kg MPD injections (ED 9–14), three days of washout (ED 15–17) and an MPD re-challenge of drug proceeding the washout days (ED 18). Locomotor activity was obtained at ED 1, 8, 9, and 18 using an open field assay. The results show that the CN electrolytic lesion group responded to the acute and chronic MPD administration similar to the control and sham group, while the CN 6-OHDA injected group prevented the acute and the chronic effects of MPD administration. One possible interpretation why nonspecific electroyltic lesioning of the CN failed to prevent acute and chronic effects of MPD administration is due to destruction of both the direct and the indirect CN pathways which act as an inhibitory/excitatory balance, electroylticelectroyltic. The selective dopaminergic lesioning prevented the effects of MPD administration suggesting that dopaminergic pathways in CN play a significant role in the effects of MPD.