cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Novel Synthesis and Processing Effects on the Figure of Merit for NbCoSn, NbFeSb, and ZrNiSn Based Half-Heusler Thermoelectrics

Abstract The n-type NbCoSn, ZrNiSn and p-type NbFeSb half-Heuslers are promising thermoelectric materials with high figures of merit (ZT) for applications between 575 and 1000 ​K. By eliminating hafnium and utilizing low cost scalable production methods, the widespread commercialization of high temperature thermoelectrics could be achieved. In this work, half-Heuslers containing refractory metals (Nb and Zr) were produced by high energy planetary ball milling and their thermoelectric performance compared to half-Heuslers prepared by the conventional arc-melting synthesis route. Starting materials, as-milled powders, and consolidated samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, and EDS. The thermoelectric performance parameters were characterized using simultaneous Seebeck and electrical resistivity measurements and laser flash analysis. The mechanically alloyed NbCoSn and NbFeSb achieved ZT of approximately 0.53 (873 ​K) and 0.72 (873 ​K), respectively, comparing well to literature and prepared arc-melted monoliths. The results demonstrate mechanical alloying as a viable synthesis technique for refractory metal containing half-Heusler thermoelectrics.
Understanding and Supporting Literacy Development Among English Learners: A Deep Dive Into the Role of Language Comprehension:

A distinguishing feature of English learners (ELs) centers on coming from homes in which a language other than or in addition to English is used, but bilingualism itself is not a risk factor for lo...
Simulated instream restoration structures offer smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) swimming and energetic advantages at high flow velocities

Restoration practices aimed at fish habitat enhancement often include installation of instream structures. However, mixed outcomes have been reported regarding structure effectiveness, while mechan...
Behavior-Analytic Approaches to the Management of Diabetes Mellitus: Current Status and Future Directions

Diabetes mellitus is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, requiring a series of complex behavior changes that must be sustained for a lifetime (e.g., counting carbohydrates, self-monitoring blood glucose, adjusting insulin). Although complex, all of these tasks involve behavior, making them amenable targets for behavior analysts. In this article, the authors describe interventions that have focused on antecedent, consequent, multicomponent, and alternate procedures for the management of diabetes, highlighting ways in which technology has been used to overcome common barriers to the use of these intensive, evidence-based interventions. Additional variables relevant to poorly managed diabetes (e.g., delay discounting) are also discussed. Future research and practice should focus on harnessing continued advances in information technology while also considering underexplored behavioral technologies for the effective treatment of diabetes, with a focus on identifying sustainable, long-term solutions for maintaining proper diabetes management. Practical implementation of these interventions will depend on having qualified behavior analysts working in integrated primary care settings where the interventions are most likely to be used, which will require interdisciplinary training and collaboration.
ADAMTSL2 gene variant in patients with features of autosomal dominant connective tissue disorders.

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) consists of a heterogeneous group of genetically inherited connective tissue disorders. A family with three affected members over two generations with features of Dermatosparaxic EDS (dEDS) autosomal dominant transmission was reported by Desai et al. and having a heterozygous nonsynonymous missense variant of ADAMTSL2 (c.1261G > A; p. Gly421Ser). Variation in this gene is also reported to cause autosomal recessive geleophysic dysplasia. We report five unrelated patients with the Gly421Ser variant identified from a large series of patients presenting with features of connective tissue disorders, each with a positive family history consistent with autosomal dominant transmission. Clinical features of a connective tissue disorder included generalized joint hypermobility and pain with fragility of internal and external tissues including of skin, dura, and arteries. Overall, our analyses including bioinformatics, protein modeling, and gene-protein interactions with the cases described would add evidence for the Gly421Ser variant in ADAMTSL2 as causative for variable expressivity of autosomal dominant connective tissue disorders.
Dynamic Instance-wise Joint Feature Selection and Classification

In this article, a dynamic instance-wise joint feature selection and classification framework during testing is presented. Specifically, the proposed framework sequentially selects features one at a time for each data instance, given previously selected features, and stops this process to classify the instance once it determines that including additional features will not improve the final classification decision. In contrast to most of the existing work that utilizes a set of features, common for all data instances, the proposed framework utilizes different features to classify each data instance. An optimization problem is defined for each data instance in terms of the number of selected features and the associated classification accuracy. The optimum solution is derived, and its structure is analyzed. Based on the optimum solution and its properties, two new algorithms are designed. The expected number of features needed to achieve a given classification accuracy is also analytically derived. Finally, the performance of the proposed algorithms is illustrated on 11 public datasets, thus demonstrating their effectiveness and scalability across a broad range of application domains. Impact Statement —In many domains, including but not limited to medicine and criminal justice, experts need to reach an accurate decision in a timely manner using limited resources (e.g., costly tests and time-consuming evidence collection). At the same time, it is desirable to tailor decisions to each individual case (e.g., patient and defendant). Most of the existing machine learning algorithms, however, ignore resource constraints and/or acquire a general solution for all cases, while not scaling in big data settings. The algorithms proposed in this article address such challenges enabling tailored and timely decision making. With a reduction of up to 66% in the average number of features, while maintaining similar accuracy levels, the proposed algorithms can be used for dynamic instance-wise joint feature selection and classification in scenarios involving over one million variables.
LGBTQ Clients and Adverse Laws: Mental Health Concerns and Advocacy Suggestions

LGBTQ communities have faced a history of legalized discrimination including discriminatory laws and lack of legal protections. This has had varied mental health implications including increases in...
Your Eyes Show What Your Eyes See (Y-EYES): Challenge-Response Anti-Spoofing Method for Mobile Security Using Corneal Specular Reflections

As the need for contactless biometric authentication becomes more significant during COVID-19, and beyond, the popular biometric authentication method for mobile devices, iris detection, and facial recognition confronts various usability, security, and privacy concerns, including mask-wearing and various Presentation Attacks (PA). Specifically, liveness detection against spoofed artifacts is one of the most challenging tasks as many existing methods cannot conclusively assess the user's physical presence in unsupervised environments. Even though several methods have been proposed for tackling PA with motion challenges and 3D mapping, most of them require expensive depth sensors and fail to detect sophisticated 3D reconstruction attacks. We present a software-based face PA Detection (PAD) method named "Your Eyes Show What Your Eyes See (Y-EYES)," which creates challenges and detects meaningful corneal specular reflection responses from human eyes. To detect human liveness, Y-EYES creates multiple screen image patterns as a challenge, then captures the response of corneal specular reflections using the front camera and analyzes the images using lightweight Machine Learning (ML) techniques. Y-EYES system components include challenge pattern generation, reflection image augmentation (e.g., super-resolution), and ML-based analyses. We have implemented Y-EYES as Android, iOS, and web apps. Our extensive experimental results show that Y-EYES achieves liveness detection with high accuracy at around 200 ms against various types of sophisticated PA. Y-EYES liveness detection can be applied for multiple contactless biometric authentications accurately and efficiently without any costly extra sensors.
Can all of the Fe2 experimental results be explained

Multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) and complete active space second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) calculations are performed on Fe2 and Fe− 2. Although it is not possible to definitively identify the ground states of Fe2 and Fe− 2, the calculations suggest that the ground state of Fe− 2 in 8Σ− u derived from 3d134σ2 g4σ2 u and that the states observed in photodetachment are the 9Σ− g and 7Σ− g states with a 3d134σ2 g4σ1 u occupation, but that the ground state of Fe2 is 7Δu(3d144σ2 g) and is not observed in the photo-detachment spectra.
Penicillin antibodies in children.

Skin and circulating antibodies against penicillin were determined in 73 children with a positive history of penicillin allergy and 99 children with a negative history of penicillin allergy. Eight percent with positive histories had positive skin tests to benzylpenicillin and a degradation product of penicillin (penicilloyl-polylysine), and/or positive hemagglutination tests for circulating penicillin antibodies. One individual had detectable skin antibodies without circulating penicillin antibodies; and conversely, one patient with circulating antibodies did not have any evidence of skin antibodies. The absence of penicillin antibodies in 85% of those children with a rash following the administration of penicillin confirms the suspicion that physicians are over diagnosing penicillin hypersensitivity in children. With the use of an inhibitor of penicilloyl-polylysine (penicilloyl epsilon-aminocaproate), data is presented which suggests that all positive skin tests to penicilloyl-polylysine may not be due to an antibody-antigen reaction. The authors recommend that any child who has suspected penicillin allergy should be tested for skin and circulating antibodies no less than 1 month and no more than 1 year following the untoward reaction. Observations suggest that a patient without penicillin antibodies may tolerate penicillin therapy with no adverse reaction. However, until further experience is obtained, penicillin should not be used indiscriminately in the absence of penicillin antibodies.
Development of an integrated optical analyzer for characterization of growth dynamics of bacterial colonies.

In order to understand the biophysics behind collective behavior of a bacterial colony, a confocal displacement meter was used to measure the profiles of the bacterial colonies, together with a custom built optical density circuits. The system delivered essential information related to the quantitative growth dynamics (height, diameter, aspect ratio, optical density) of the bacterial colony. For example, the aspect ratio of S. aureus was approximately two times higher than that of E. coli O157 : H7, while the OD of S. aureus was approximately 1/3 higher than that of E. coli O157 : H7. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Implicit choice set generation in discrete choice models: Application to household auto ownership decisions

Abstract Latent choice set models that account for probabilistic consideration of choice alternatives during decision making have long existed. The Manski model that assumes a two-stage representation of decision making has served as the standard workhorse model for discrete choice modeling with latent choice sets. However, estimation of the Manski model is not always feasible because evaluation of the likelihood function in the Manski model requires enumeration of all possible choice sets leading to explosion for moderate and large choice sets. In this study, we propose a new group of implicit choice set generation models that can approximate the Manski model while retaining linear complexity with respect to the choice set size. We examined the performance of the models proposed in this study using synthetic data. The simulation results indicate that the approximations proposed in this study perform considerably well in terms of replicating the Manski model parameters. We subsequently used these implicit choice set models to understand latent choice set considerations in household auto ownership decisions of resident population in the Southern California region. The empirical results confirm our hypothesis that certain segments of households may only consider a subset of auto ownership levels while making decisions regarding the number of cars to own. The results not only underscore the importance of using latent choice models for modeling household auto ownership decisions but also demonstrate the applicability of the approximations proposed in this study to estimate these latent choice set models.
Perceptions of Peer Sexual Harassment Among High School Students

Perceptions of peer social–sexual interactions were examined in a group of high school students (N=150). Participants were presented with six brief vignettes that described three types of sexual harassment between adolescent peers: physical, verbal/visual, and derogatory. Two vignettes were written for each type of behavior to reflect either a sexually explicit or implicit behavior. Participants responded to Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA), and then rated the sexually harassing nature of the behaviors. Sexual harassment ratings varied as a function of the type of behavior and the sexual explicitness with which it was displayed. Although consensus was reached regarding the sexually harassing nature of both the sexually implicit and explicit physical forms of behaviors, only when the verbal/visual behavior was explicitly displayed was it perceived as sexually harassing. Interactions among self-esteem, gender attitudes, and type of behavior were also noted. Irrespective of the explicitness with which it was displayed, rater characteristics were influential for both the verbal/visual and derogatory forms of harassment.
SU‐FF‐T‐152: Convolution/superposition Algorithm and High‐Z Dental Materials: Dosimetric Study in a Solid Water Slab Phantom

Purpose To address the accuracy of the dose calculated with convolution/superposition algorithm in the presence of high‐Z dental materials. Methods and Materials Three methods were utilized to access the dose: convolution/superposition algorithm, Fluence Map Monte Carlo (FMMC) method, and radiochromic film. We considered a solid water® slab phantom which had an embedded high‐Z material. For dose calculations and measurements we used a 6MV photon beam from a clinically commissioned linear accelerator.Results We observed a close agreement for the dose measured with radiochromic film and the dose calculated with FMMC algorithm. On the other hand, a large discrepancy was discovered for the dose calculated with the convolution/superposition algorithm compared to the dose obtained with measurement or FMMC algorithm. The greatest discrepancy was observed downstream from the high‐Z cerrobend inhomogeneity where the convolution/superposition algorithm calculated a dose which was higher than the dose measured with radiochromic film by 10–20% depending on the size of and the distance from the inhomogeneity. Clinically this finding shows that the delivered dose would be 10– 20% less than the prescribed dose which was calculated with convolution/superposition algorithm. In the region upstream from all the studied high‐Z inhomogeneities the convolution/superposition algorithm was underestimating the delivered dose. The convolution/superposition algorithm was unable to properly estimate the dose enhancement due to the increased backscatter near the inhomogeneity. Conclusions The convolution/superposition algorithm may significantly overestimate the actual dose in the site of the tumor located downstream from the high‐Z dental restorations or prostheses.
The repeated transfer RNA genes of animal cells in culture

Abstract Genes encoding transfer RNAs are highly repeated within monkey DNA. Monkey DNA sequences that hybridize with transfer RNAs constitute 0.07 % of that animal's gene content, and reflect approximately 700 copies of each tRNA gene per genome. Mouse and Escherichia coli DNAs do not hybridize effectively with monkey transfer RNA indicating that monkey tRNA genes have little, if any, sequence homology to the tRNA genes of these other species. Monkey amino acid activating enzymes differentially recognize and aminoacylate mouse, rat, and E. coli transfer RNAs. Therefore, even tRNA structures responsible for activating enzyme recognition have not been conserved stringently during evolution. Transfer RNAs are stable gene products that constitute a large group of genetic markers with a high degree of species specificity. These genes may be useful for studying animal cell genetic recombination resulting from somatic cell hybridization and virus-mediated transformation.
Prediction of improvement in left ventricular function after ventricular aneurysmectomy using Fourier phase and amplitude analysis of radionuclide cardiac blood pool scans.

Abstract Postoperative improvement in left ventricular (LV) function is a common objective of LV aneurysmectomy, but is difficult to predict. The first Fourier component of time-activity curves of pre- and postoperative gated radionuclide angiographic studies was evaluated for this purpose in 20 patients who had undergone aneurysmectomy. LV aneurysms had portions that characteristically exhibited marked phase delay with varying degrees of amplitude. Total aneurysmal amplitude was obtained preoperatively by summing the amplitude component of all pixels that exhibited phase delay, suggesting paradoxical motion. LV ejection fraction (EF) before and after aneurysmectomy and the absolute postoperative increase in LVEF were calculated. Nine of 20 patients had an absolute increase of EF less than 10% despite resection of large aneurysms. A strong correlation was found between the absolute increase in EF after aneurysmectomy and the total amplitude within paradoxically moving areas (r = 0.93, p
Amino acid deprivation and endoplasmic reticulum stress induce expression of multiple activating transcription factor-3 mRNA species that, when overexpressed in HepG2 cells, modulate transcription by the human asparagine synthetase promoter.

Abstract Transcription from the ASNS (asparagine synthetase) gene is increased in response to either amino acid (amino acid response) or glucose (endoplasmic reticulum stress response) deprivation. These two independent pathways converge on the same set of genomic cis-elements within the ASNS promoter, referred to as nutrient-sensing response element-1 and -2. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis provides the first in vivo evidence for activating transcription factor (ATF)-3 binding to the proximal ASNS promoter containing the nutrient-sensing response element-1 sequence. Overexpression of the full-length ATF3 protein caused a concentration-dependent biphasic response in ASNS promoter-driven transcription. Both amino acid limitation and activation of the endoplasmic reticulum stress response by glucose deprivation caused an increase in ATF3 mRNA content. However, reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis revealed that the increase in the ATF3 mRNA species detected by Northern analysis actually encoded both full-length ATF3 and two predicted truncated ATF3 isoforms (ATF3ΔZip2c and ATF3ΔZip3). Based on sequence analysis, one of the predicted truncated proteins (ATF3ΔZip3) is likely incapable of binding DNA; and yet, exogenous expression of the cDNA enhanced starvation-induced or ATF4-activated ASNS transcription, possibly by sequestering corepressor proteins. Collectively, the results provide evidence for a potential role of multiple predicted ATF3 isoforms in the transcriptional regulation of the ASNS gene in response to nutrient deprivation.
Stress, Cardiac Activity and Sleep

An overview is presented of the relationship between cardiovascular activity and sleep, emphasizing the interrelations between stage of sleep and cardiovascular dysfunction. Possible implications of the data are discussed, especially in relation to stress-related factors and possible treatment regimens.
Toward a General Theory of Wage and Price Rigidities and Economic Fluctuations

This paper begins with the hypothesis that large economic fluctuations, the marked changes in the unemployment that characterize market economies, are a consequence of problems of adjustment to disturbances, especially adjustments of wages and prices. Two strands of work have addressed these problems of adjustment. One focuses on rigidities: downward rigidities in wages are at the center of traditional Keynesian models. The other focuses on the consequences of rapid changes, particularly in asset prices, in the context of markets with incomplete contracting (imperfect indexing) and imperfect capital markets. While the second tradition traces its origins at least back to Irving Fisher’s debt-deflation theories, it has been revived in the newKeynesian work of Bruce Greenwald and Stiglitz (1988, 1989, 1990b, 1993, 1995) and others. The fact that wages and prices did fall dramatically in the Great Depression (by more than a third in the United States) provided some of the impetus to the latter theory. The major economic downturn this year in East Asia, with unemployment in Indonesia soaring from 4.7 percent to 14.3 percent and output falling by at least 16 percent, was accompanied by huge changes in prices: over the first year of the crisis, the current best estimate is that Indonesian real wages fell by 40–60 percent (World Bank, 1998 p. 105). This result, I would argue, is better interpreted through the second strand of thought.
Spatiotemporal variation in avian migration phenology: citizen science reveals effects of climate change.

A growing number of studies have documented shifts in avian migratory phenology in response to climate change, and yet there is a large amount of unexplained variation in the magnitude of those responses across species and geographic regions. We use a database of citizen science bird observations to explore spatiotemporal variation in mean arrival dates across an unprecedented geographic extent for 18 common species in North America over the past decade, relating arrival dates to mean minimum spring temperature. Across all species and geographic locations, species shifted arrival dates 0.8 days earlier for every °C of warming of spring temperature, but it was common for some species in some locations to shift as much as 3–6 days earlier per °C. Species that advanced arrival dates the earliest in response to warming were those that migrate more slowly, short distance migrants, and species with broader climatic niches. These three variables explained 63% of the interspecific variation in phenological response. We also identify a latitudinal gradient in the average strength of phenological response, with species shifting arrival earlier at southern latitudes than northern latitudes for the same degree of warming. This observation is consistent with the idea that species must be more phenologically sensitive in less seasonal environments to maintain the same degree of precision in phenological timing.
Incomplete Folding upon Binding Mediates Cdk4/Cyclin D Complex Activation by Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Inhibitor p27 Protein

p27Kip1 (p27), an intrinsically disordered protein, regulates the various Cdk/cyclin complexes that control cell cycle progression. The kinase inhibitory domain of p27 contains a cyclin-binding subdomain (D1), a Cdk-binding subdomain (D2), and a linker helix subdomain that connects D1 and D2. Here, we report that, despite extensive sequence conservation between Cdk4/cyclin D1 (hereafter Cdk4/cyclin D) and Cdk2/cyclin A, the thermodynamic details describing how the individual p27 subdomains contribute to equally high affinity binding to these two Cdk/cyclin complexes are strikingly different. Differences in enthalpy/entropy compensation revealed that the D2 subdomain of p27 folds incompletely when binding Cdk4/cyclin D versus Cdk2/cyclin A. Incomplete binding-induced folding exposes tyrosine 88 of p27 for phosphorylation by the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase Abl. Importantly, tyrosine phosphorylation (of p27) relieves Cdk inhibition by p27, enabling cell cycle entry. Furthermore, the interaction between a conserved hydrophobic patch on cyclin D and subdomain D1 is much weaker than that with cyclin A; consequently, a construct containing subdomains D1 and LH (p27-D1LH) does not inhibit substrate binding to Cdk4/cyclin D as it does to Cdk2/cyclin A. Our results provide a mechanism by which Cdk4 (within the p27/Cdk4/cyclin D complex) is poised to be activated by extrinsic mitogenic signals that impinge upon p27 at the earliest stage of cell division. More broadly, our results further illustrate the regulatory versatility of intrinsically disordered proteins.
Identifying Context-Specific Gene Profiles of Social, Reproductive, and Mate Preference Behavior in a Fish Species with Female Mate Choice

Sensory and social inputs interact with underlying gene suites to coordinate social behavior. Here we use a naturally complex system in sexual selection studies, the swordtail, to explore how genes associated with mate preference, receptivity, and social affiliation interact in the female brain under specific social conditions. We focused on 11 genes associated with mate preference in this species (neuroserpin, neuroligin-3, NMDA-receptor, tPA, stathmin-2,β-1 adrenergic receptor) or with female sociosexual behaviors in other taxa (vasotocin, isotocin, brain aromatase, α-1 adrenergic receptor, tyrosine hydroxylase). We exposed females to four social conditions, including pairings of differing mate choice complexity (large males, large/small males, small males), and a social control (two females). Female mate preference differed significantly by context. Multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) of behaviors revealed a primary axis (explaining 50.2% between-group variance) highlighting differences between groups eliciting high preference behaviors (LL, LS) versus other contexts, and a secondary axis capturing general measures distinguishing a non-favored group (SS) from other groups. Gene expression MDA revealed a major axis (68.4% between-group variance) that distinguished amongst differential male pairings and was driven by suites of ‘preference and receptivity genes’; whereas a second axis, distinguishing high affiliation groups (large males, females) from low (small males), was characterized by traditional affiliative-associated genes (isotocin, vasotocin). We found context-specific correlations between behavior and gene MDA, suggesting gene suites covary with behaviors in a socially relevant context. Distinct associations between ‘affiliative’ and ‘preference’ axes suggest mate preference may be mediated by distinct clusters from those of social affiliation. Our results highlight the need to incorporate natural complexity of mating systems into behavioral genomics.
Theories of behavior and the social control of alcoholism

This study examines the relationship of a wide range of etiological theories of alcoholism held by the public with the methods of treatment or control advocated. Two separate sources of data were used: 1. a community survey of attitudes and beliefs on alcoholism, and 2. a content analysis of articles written on alcoholism in popular middleclass magazines during the 20th century. Findings from both sets of data support the view that public attitudes and beliefs on alcoholism constitute a somewhat complete ideology with the treatment preferences dependent on theories of behavior held. However, the logical and empirical correspondence between etiological theories and control method is a loose one. Several methods of treatment or control may be logically compatible with the same theory of behavior. There is also evidence of a certain amount of logical inconsistency within the belief systems of the public. The current confusion in public policy with regard to alcoholism problems may be a reflection of: a) inconsistency within individual belief systems, b) divergency between individuals in theories of alcoholism held, and c) the rapidness of changes that have been occurring in public beliefs about alcoholism during the last few decades.
Outcomes of Patients With No Laboratory Assessment Before Anesthesia and a Surgical Procedure

Objective To estimate the frequency of perioperative morbidities in patients who underwent anesthesia and a surgical procedure with no preoperative laboratory testing. Material and Methods We conducted an electronic database search of medical records of 56,119 patients who underwent surgical or diagnostic procedures and anesthesia at Mayo Clinic Rochester in 1994 and found 5,120 who had no laboratory tests done within 90 days before the procedure. From this group, we randomly selected 1,044 patients (87 from each month) to document the absence of preoperative tests, the presence of preexisting disease (by organ system), the type of anesthetic agent, and the outcomes and tests intraoperatively and postoperatively. Results The 1,044 patients ranged in age from 0 to 95 years (median age, 21). No deaths or major perioperative morbidities occurred (0.0%; exact 95% confidence interval, 0.00 to 0.35 %). Although 10 patients underwent blood typing and screening for antibodies immediately preoperatively, no blood transfusions were necessary. Intraoperatively, 17 laboratory tests and 1 electrocardiogram were obtained, and 3 results were abnormal. Postoperatively, 42 blood tests and 2 electrocardiographic procedures were per- formed. Five of the 42 blood tests showed abnormal results (hemoglobin levels in 3, serum sodium in 1, and arterial blood gases in 1). One electrocardiogram showed normal findings, and the other revealed normal results except for premature ventricular contractions. No laboratory test done intraoperatively or postoperatively was found to change surgical or medical management substantially. One patient who had unanticipated blood loss during an outpatient procedure was admitted to the hospital for observation. Conclusion All 1,044 patients, 97% of whom were relatively healthy, with no recent laboratory testing safely underwent anesthesia and an operation. We conclude that patients who have been assessed by history and physical examination and determined to have no preoperative indication for laboratory tests can safely undergo anesthesia and operation with tests obtained only as indicated intraoperatively and postoperatively. Current anesthetic and medical practices rapidly identify perioperative indications for laboratory evaluation as they arise.
On the accuracy of Reissner–Mindlin plate model for stress boundary conditions

For a plate subject to stress boundary condition, the deformation determined by the Reissner–Mindlin plate bending model could be bending dominated, transverse shear dominated, or neither (intermediate), depending on the load. We show that the Reissner–Mindlin model has a wider range of applicability than the Kirchhoff–Love model, but it does not always converge to the elasticity theory. In the case of bending domination, both the two models are accurate. In the case of transverse shear domination, the Reissner–Mindlin model is accurate but the Kirchhoff–Love model totally fails. In the intermediate case, while the Kirchhoff–Love model fails, the Reissner–Mindlin solution also has a relative error comparing to the elasticity solution, which does not decrease when the plate thickness tends to zero. We also show that under the conventional definition of the resultant loading functional, the well known shear correction factor 5/6 in the Reissner–Mindlin model should be replaced by 1 . Otherwise, the range of applicability of the Reissner–Mindlin model is not wider than that of Kirchhoff–Love's.
Humoral immunity in stage I mycosis fungoides: an increased incidence of lymphocytotoxic antibodies.

SUMMARY Thirteen patients with stage I mycosis fungoides (MF) were studied for the presence of circulating autoantibodies including cold-reactive lymphocytotoxic antibodies (LCA), antinuc-lear antibodies and rheumatoid factor antibodies to common food antigens, bovine gamma globulin and casein; and immune complexes as measured by cryoglobulins and I125 Clq binding. A significantly increased incidence (11/13) of LCA was found in the MF patients, and this may be related to the alterations in subpopulations of T cells seen in these patients. No significant increase in any other test was noted. There was no evidence of a diffuse hyperactivity of the humoral immune system as seen in systemic lupus erythematosus, which has a similar imbalance of T cell subpopulations.
Myeloid translocation gene 16b is a dual A-kinase anchoring protein that interacts selectively with plexins in a phospho-regulated manner

The myeloid translocation gene (MTG) homologue Nervy associates with PlexinA on the plasma membrane, where it functions as an A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP) to modulate plexin-mediated semaphorin signaling in Drosophila. Mammalian MTG16b is an AKAP found in immune cells where plexin-mediated semaphorin signaling regulates immune responses. This study provides the first evidence that MTG16b is a dual AKAP capable of binding plexins. These interactions are selective (PlexinA1 and A3 bind MTG, while PlexinB1 does not) and can be regulated by PKA-phosphorylation. Collectively, these data suggest a possible mechanism for the targeting and integration of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) and semaphorin signaling in immune cells.
Cardiovascular disease in dialysis patients: do some antihypertensive drugs have specific antioxidant effects or is it just blood pressure reduction? Does antioxidant treatment reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease?

Purpose of reviewPatients with end-stage renal disease have an extremely high cardiovascular disease mortality. Oxidative stress is one of the ‘nontraditional’ risk factors for cardiovascular disease mortality in dialysis patients. This review discusses antioxidant activity of the commonly prescribe
Three modes of hierarchy presentation in systematic desensitization therapy

Abstract Behavioral and self-report measures of snake fear were obtained from three groups of male snake phobies (10 in each group) before and after systematic desensitization therapy. The stimulus hierarchy was presented to one group by using the standard imagination method; to another group by projecting the photographed scenes on a screen; and to the third group by enacting the same scenes in vivo before the group. Each group demonstrated substantial reduction in snake fear during treatment (t = 2.08-5.16, p = 0.05-0.0005), and there were no significant differences among the groups. A three week follow-up revealed further reductions in snake fear in some instances.
Thermal Regime of Catalyst Particles in Reactor for Production of Carbon Nanotubes

This study was motivated by an attempt to optimize the high-pressure carbon oxide process for the production of carbon nanotubes from gaseous carbon oxide. The goal is to achieve rapid and uniform heating of catalyst particles by an optimal arrangement of jets. A mixed Eulerian and Lagrangian approach is implemented to track the temperature of catalyst particles along their trajectories as a function of time. The poor performance of the original reactor configuration is explained in terms of features of particle trajectories. The trajectories most exposed to the hot jets appear to be the most problematic for heating because they either bend toward the cold-jet interior or rotate upwind of the mixing zone. To reduce undesirable slow and/or oscillatory heating of catalyst particles, a reactor configuration with three central jets is proposed, and the optimal location of the central and peripheral nozzles is determined.
A fast algorithm to raise the degree of spline curves

Abstract An algorithm to perform degree elevation on a linear combination of B-splines is presented that is linear in both the number of knots and the degree. Explicit pseudo-code is provided for both the non-periodic and periodic case.
Information Processing as an Integrating Concept in Organizational Design.

Concepts of uncertainty and information processing are used to integrate the diverse organization design/structure literatures. This approach more fully explicates the concept of congruence which lies at the heart of contingency ideas. The review suggests a contingency approach to design which develops a feasible set of structural alternatives from which the organization can choose.
The false linking of race and causality: lessons from standardized testing

Abstract Race is often viewed as a causal variable and “race effects” found from regression analyses are sometimes given causal interpretations. I argue that this is a mistaken way to proceed. Race is not a causal variable in a very important sense of the word, and yet it does have a significant role in causal studies. The key role that race plays is to help our understanding of the effects of causes or interventions through the statistical “interaction” of race with causal variables, rather than as “the main effect of race.” These ideas are briefly illustrated using data from a study of tests constructed to manipulate the distribution of scores of Black and White test takers.
Status of research reactor instrumentation in the USA

Abstract Significant upgrades are planned or are occurring in most of the existing major beam-research reactors in the United States. These range from the installation of new instruments to major additions such as cold neutron guide halls. In this paper the current status and planned upgrades are reviewed for four of the major US reactor facilities: the NBSR and Cold Neutron Research Facility at NIST, the HFIR at Oak Ridge, the HFBR at Brookhaven, and the MURR at the University of Missouri.
Prospective Relations Among Fearful Temperament, Protective Parenting, and Social Withdrawal: The Role of Maternal Accuracy in a Moderated Mediation Framework

Early social withdrawal and protective parenting predict a host of negative outcomes, warranting examination of their development. Mothers’ accurate anticipation of their toddlers’ fearfulness may facilitate transactional relations between toddler fearful temperament and protective parenting, leading to these outcomes. Currently, we followed 93 toddlers (42 female; on average 24.76 months) and their mothers (9% underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds) over 3 years. We gathered laboratory observation of fearful temperament, maternal protective behavior, and maternal accuracy during toddlerhood and a multi-method assessment of children’s social withdrawal and mothers’ self-reported protective behavior at kindergarten entry. When mothers displayed higher accuracy, toddler fearful temperament significantly related to concurrent maternal protective behavior and indirectly predicted kindergarten social withdrawal and maternal protective behavior. These results highlight the important role of maternal accuracy in linking fearful temperament and protective parenting, which predict further social withdrawal and protection, and point to toddlerhood for efforts of prevention of anxiety-spectrum outcomes.
Myogenic defect in muscular dystrophy of the chicken

Abstract Inherited muscular dystrophy of the chicken is thought to arise from abnormal development of trophic regulation of skeletal muscles by their innervating nerves. To determine whether expression of muscular dystrophy in the chicken is a property of the nerves or of the muscles, wing limb buds were transplanted between normal and dystrophic chick embryos at 3 1 2 days of incubation (stage 19–20). Muscles of donor limbs innervated by nerves of the hosts were compared to contralateral unoperated host limb muscles in chicks from 6 to 25 weeks after hatching. Expression of normal or dystrophic phenotype was determined by examination of five different properties which are altered in dystrophic chick muscle: electromyographic evidence of myotonia; fiber diameter; acetylcholinesterase activity, localization, and isozymes; lactic dehydrogenase activity; and succinic dehydrogenase activity. Genetically normal muscle innervated by nerves of normal or dystrophic hosts was phenotypically normal while genetically dystrophic muscle innervated by normal nerves was phenotypically dystrophic. The results suggest that inherited muscular dystrophy of the chicken arises from a defect of muscle rather than from a lesion in the nerves themselves.
Approximate Macroscale Constitutive Relations Using a Finite Element Based Constitutive Equations for Microscale Contact

Three dimensional elastic-plastic contact of two nominally flat rough surfaces is considered. Equations governing the shoulder-shoulder contact of asperities are derived based on the asperity-asperity constitutive relations from a finite element model of their elastic-plastic interaction. Shoulder-shoulder asperity contact yields a slanted contact force consisting of both tangential (parallel to mean plane) and normal components. Multiscale modeling of the elastic-plastic rough surface contact is presented in which asperity-level FE-based constitutive relations are statistically summed to obtain total force in the normal and tangential direction. The equations derived are in the form of integral functions and provide expectation of contact force components between two rough surfaces. An analytical fusion technique is developed to combine the piecewise asperity level constitutive relations. This is shown to yield upon statistical summation the cumulative effect resulting in the contact force between two rough surfaces with two components, one in the normal direction and a half-plane tangential component.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Quincy: fair scheduling for distributed computing clusters

This paper addresses the problem of scheduling concurrent jobs on clusters where application data is stored on the computing nodes. This setting, in which scheduling computations close to their data is crucial for performance, is increasingly common and arises in systems such as MapReduce, Hadoop, and Dryad as well as many grid-computing environments. We argue that data-intensive computation benefits from a fine-grain resource sharing model that differs from the coarser semi-static resource allocations implemented by most existing cluster computing architectures. The problem of scheduling with locality and fairness constraints has not previously been extensively studied under this resource-sharing model.We introduce a powerful and flexible new framework for scheduling concurrent distributed jobs with fine-grain resource sharing. The scheduling problem is mapped to a graph datastructure, where edge weights and capacities encode the competing demands of data locality, fairness, and starvation-freedom, and a standard solver computes the optimal online schedule according to a global cost model. We evaluate our implementation of this framework, which we call Quincy, on a cluster of a few hundred computers using a varied workload of data-and CPU-intensive jobs. We evaluate Quincy against an existing queue-based algorithm and implement several policies for each scheduler, with and without fairness constraints. Quincy gets better fairness when fairness is requested, while substantially improving data locality. The volume of data transferred across the cluster is reduced by up to a factor of 3.9 in our experiments, leading to a throughput increase of up to 40%.
MRI of intravenously injected bone marrow cells homing to the site of injured arteries

The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of using MRI to detect magnetically labeled, intravenously injected bone marrow (BM) cells homing to injured arteries. In the first phase, BM cells from LacZ-transgenic or green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transgenic mice were transplanted into eight recipient mice. The left femoral arteries of recipient mice were injured using a cuff-constriction or endothelium-damage approach, and the right femoral arteries were uninjured to serve as controls. The location and distribution of migrated LacZ-BM or GFP-BM cells were confirmed with histology. In the second phase, BM-derived cells from LacZ-transgenic mice were labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide (Feridex) and then transplanted into eight recipient mice with cuff-induced injuries in the left femoral arteries. Migrated Feridex/LacZ-BM cells were monitored in vivo using a 4.7 T MR scanner. Subsequently, high-resolution ex vivo MRI was performed on 9.4 T and 11.7 T. LacZ-positive or GFP-positive cells in the thickened adventitia of the injured arteries were evident on histology. Both in vivo and ex vivo MRI showed larger regions of hypointensity with Feridex-labeled cells at the sites of the injured arteries compared with control arteries (P < 0.01). This study provides initial evidence that may support the potential use of MRI to detect homing of intravenously injected BM cells to injured arteries. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Testing Quasi‐Independence in Stratified Triangular Contingency Tables

A special class of incomplete contingency tables has structural zeroes in one or more cells. Some of these tables have a triangular appearance in the sense that they are square and their cells are known a priori to contain zeroes above (or below) their main diagonals. We propose methods of analyzing log-linear models and testing quasi-independence in these triangular tables. We also offer a method for combining such tables that are stratified by a concomitant categorical variable. This strategy follows the same approach used in a Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test.
Voices from the Firing Line: Managers Discuss Punishment in the Workplace

The article focuses on a study concerning how managers think and feel after punishing workers under their jurisdiction. It states that 77 managers in different organizational settings were interviewed and asked questions related to punishment as well as asked to relate two specific punishment episodes, with one being effective and the second ineffective. It comments that the most prevalent theme was how concerned managers were with outcomes associated with the punishment. It mentions that the emotional costs associated with punishment episodes were mostly negative with managers feeling like it's a failure on their own part.
Synthesis of [β-4,5-3H]-cholestan-3-one, a trail following pheromone component of the Eastern tent caterpillar

Hydrogenation of 4-cholesten-3-one (1) with tritium gas over palladium black in pyridine afforded [β-4,5- 3 H]-cholestan-3-one (2a). Tritium NMR showed that there was a mixture of tritiated compounds formed, 2a-2c ; the latter two containing small amounts of protium substitution. Tritium NMR also indicated that none of the unwanted α-diastereomer was formed.