cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of body mass index with health care expenditures in the United States by age and sex.

Background Estimates of health care costs associated with excess weight are needed to inform the development of cost-effective obesity prevention efforts. However, commonly used cost estimates are not sensitive to changes in weight across the entire body mass index (BMI) distribution as they are often based on discrete BMI categories. Methods We estimated continuous BMI-related health care expenditures using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) 2011-2016 for 175,726 respondents. We adjusted BMI for self-report bias using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2016, and controlled for potential confounding between BMI and medical expenditures using a two-part model. Costs are reported in $US 2019. Results We found a J-shaped curve of medical expenditures by BMI, with higher costs for females and the lowest expenditures occurring at a BMI of 20.5 for adult females and 23.5 for adult males. Over 30 units of BMI, each one-unit BMI increase was associated with an additional cost of $253 (95% CI $167-$347) per person. Among adults, obesity was associated with $1,861 (95% CI $1,656-$2,053) excess annual medical costs per person, accounting for $172.74 billion (95% CI $153.70-$190.61) of annual expenditures. Severe obesity was associated with excess costs of $3,097 (95% CI $2,777-$3,413) per adult. Among children, obesity was associated with $116 (95% CI $14-$201) excess costs per person and $1.32 billion (95% CI $0.16-$2.29) of medical spending, with severe obesity associated with $310 (95% CI $124-$474) excess costs per child. Conclusions Higher health care costs are associated with excess body weight across a broad range of ages and BMI levels, and are especially high for people with severe obesity. These findings highlight the importance of promoting a healthy weight for the entire population while also targeting efforts to prevent extreme weight gain over the life course.
Transposable elements in natural populations of Drosophila.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses transposable elements in natural populations of Drosophila. It presents a models and data relating to the problem of the maintenance of transposable elements in randomly mating host populations. The data on the distribution of copy numbers among individuals are largely concordant with expectation. The role of the regulation of the rates of transposition and of various modes of natural selection in maintaining an equilibrium in copy numbers in the face of transpositional increase in copy number are discussed in the chapter. It also discusses the tests for the role of selection against insertional mutations and against chromosome rearrangements induced by exchange among homologous elements located at nonhomologous chromosome locations , together with theory and data on the probability distribution of element frequencies at individual chromosomal sites. It is concluded that the available population data are consistent with the notion that element abundances are largely controlled by the interaction of transpositional increase in copy number with opposing forces, although the nature of these forces is not yet clear.
A National Survey of Laboratory Questioned Document Reexaminations—Are They Being Done?

In order to better understand why this survey was conducted, a brief review of some of the current thoughts on the subject of reexamination of questioned document cases may be helpful.
Geriatric Content in Medical School Curricula: Results of a National Survey

Despite recent gains in establishing academic sections, divisions, and departments of geriatrics in medical schools, much remains to be done to meet the medical needs of an aging population. To better understand how medical schools are educating students in geriatric-related topics, all U.S. allopathic and osteopathic medical schools were surveyed in two waves, in 1999 and 2000, using a questionnaire based on recommendations from the Education Committee of the American Geriatrics Society. Responding schools were more likely to address diseases and conditions of aging, psychosocial issues, and ethical issues and less likely to cover anatomic changes, nutrition, knowledge of healthcare financing, outcome measurement, and cultural aspects of aging. Although limited, the results indicate that medical schools have increased coverage of aging-related material, although further expansion of geriatric content will be necessary to meet the needs of an aging society.
Improvisation and Teaching

When performers are skilled improvisers, the creators who prepare musical scores can proceed differently— they do not have to be as prescriptive and can leave many elements of the performance unwritten, allowing the creativity of the performer to fill in the blanks. The great majority of school-educated classical musicians today are unable to improvise; instead, their training prepares them to read a score accurately and quickly, and to execute the music as written. 1 As a result, musical scores are highly prescriptive, further reinforcing a musical culture that does not hold a place for improvisation. In spite of the fact that the most widely performed and listened to musics are rooted in fundamentally improvised genres, formal music education is focused on teaching instrumentalists to accurately read sheet music and does not teach them to improvise. The popular music of today has its roots in jazz, blues, folk, and hip hop, all of which originated as improvised genres and each of which retains its improvisational aesthetic today. Most of the world’s musics are deeply improvised as well. If formal music education focuses on reading and executing sheet music alone, it will only prepare students for a narrow experience of music— an experience of a historically and culturally unique musical culture, rare in its neglect of improvisation. In this essay, I make a radical claim: I argue improvisation should be at the core of the music curriculum. Improvisation should come first and should remain at the core of music education throughout the later years of increasing expertise. The ability to read sheet music and to perform a written score flawlessly should come rather late in one’s musical education. Certainly, this should be the case for all students who are not intending to pursue careers as professional instrumentalists. But even for those students who may one day choose to continue music as a career in the conservatory, having a solid grounding in improvisational practice would provide them with a better foundation.
Recent Advances in Management Development

Discusses how economic change affects organizational structures, pointing out that in such a changing environment, management development should be continuous rather than sporadic, and should be available to all managers instead of the chosen few. Lists the various requirements of managerial development programmes before discussing the role and structure of “smart software”, and what it has to offer.
Cortical Bone Fracture

The fracture of bone is a major health concern, particularly among the elderly. It is therefore of importance to understand the mechanics and mechanisms of how bone fails. There have been numerous in vitro studies that have evaluated the relevant fracture properties of human cortical bone, but a complete understanding of the actual fracture mechanisms, and more specifically what processes play a role in “toughening” bone, is still lacking. This chapter seeks to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the fracture of cortical bone, and to address this issue, when possible, in the context of the relevant microstructural features of bone from a perspective of providing a mechanistic interpretation of how cortical bone fractures. As will be discussed, much of the early work on cortical bone fracture has used fracture mechanics to determine how factors such as age, orientation, location, species, morphology, loading mode, and crack velocity affect the measured single-value toughness (e.g., Kc or Gc), determined from the peak load at overload failure. More recently, it has been shown that, akin to many composites or toughened ceramics, the toughness of bone is best described in terms of rising resistance-curve (R-curve) behavior, where the evaluated toughness increases with crack extension. Through the use of the R-curve, the intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting the toughness are separately addressed from a mechanistic viewpoint, where extrinsic toughening mechanisms are those that act primarily in the wake of a crack, causing rising toughness with crack extension. Furthermore, what little is known about how R-curve behavior and the associated mechanisms of bone toughening are affected by such factors as age, species, orientation, and location is also presented. Finally, the issue of fatigue failure in cortical bone is addressed in from a mechanistic perspective. Keywords: bone; fracture; tomography; toughening; bridging; microcracking
The psychology and biology of emotion

Preface, Introduction. 1. The Study of Emotions 2. Major Historical Traditions in the Study of Emotions 4. Theories of Emotions 5. The Measurement of Emotions 6. Facial Expressions and Emotions 7. Neurophysiology and Theories of Facial Expressions 8. Emotional Development 9. Emotions and Evolution 10. Emotional Communication in Animals 11. Emotions and the Brain 12. Theories of Brain Function in Emotion 13. Love and Sadness in Everyday Life 14. Understanding Emotional Disorders. Epilogue: The Future of Emotions
Safeguarding Web Surfing with URL Blacklisting

The growth of Information Technology and Communication has led the world to a dramatic change. People stay connected to each other and are able to access almost every service globally. But cyberspace also opened a new platform for criminal activities because people have to provide the most private information such as user name, password, credit card information, social security number. There are a lot of malware in the web which are designed to conduct various cyber crimes, such as gaining control of the victim system, stealing private information, launching denial-of-service attacks and spamming. Even though there are some good firewalls, anyone can be the victim of cyber attack. In this paper we surveyed on various methods of cyber attacks, attempts to mitigate them, their strength and weakness. We also discuss on generic architecture of URL blacklisting that are being used by various malware detection system.
A Confirmatory Study of Rasch-Based Optimal Categorization of a Rating Scale.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the characteristics of the optimal categorization identified by the Rasch analysis in a previous study can be maintained when the revised scale is applied to the same population. Based on the results of the previous Rasch analysis, a 23-item exercise barrier scale was modified from its original five-category structure ("Very often" = 1, "Often" = 2, "Sometimes" = 3, "Rarely" = 4, and "Never" = 5) to a three-category structure ("Very Often" = 1, "Sometimes" = 2, and "Never" = 3). The modified scale was then mailed to the original sample (N = 381), of which 206 returned the survey; a return rate 57.5%. The data was again analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale model. Overall, the Rasch model fit data well and similar change patterns were observed in two category statistics provided by the Rasch analysis. The order of item severity was also well kept and the correlation of item severities generated from two studies was very high, with r = .98. In addition, similar results were also found in respondents' ability estimations, and the correlation between the two studies was moderately high, with r = .68. These results verified that the characteristics of the optimal categorization identified by the Rasch post-hoc analysis can be maintained after the original scale was modified based on such an analysis.
Dietary fat saturation and endurance exercise alter lipolytic sensitivity of adipocytes isolated from Yucatan miniature swine

This study examined the effects of dietary fat saturation and endurance exercise on lipolytic sensitivity of adipocytes isolated from Yucatan miniature swine. Twenty-four female swine had free access to a high fat diet with a polyunsaturated to saturated fat ratio (P:S) of 0.3 or 1.0, and were treadmill-exercised or remained sedentary. After 3 months, biopsies were taken, adipocytes were isolated and lipolytic activity was determined. Adipocytes were incubated with adenosine deaminase followed by epinephrine, isoproterenol, or epinephrine plus phenylisopropyladenosine, and glycerol release was measured. Backfat thickness was measured by ultrasonography. Our findings revealed that 1) adipocytes from 1.0 P:S diet-fed swine released 30% more glycerol than adipocytes from 0.3 P:S diet-fed swine when stimulated by 1 micromol/L isoproterenol; 2) adipocytes from exercised swine released 45% more glycerol than adipocytes from sedentary swine when stimulated by 1 micromol/L epinephrine; 3) body weight of exercised swine was significantly lower than sedentary swine; and 4) backfat thickness was less in exercised swine than in sedentary swine (2.39 vs. 2.95 cm, P = 0.002). We conclude that ad libitum consumption of diet with a P:S of 1.0, combined with endurance exercise, increases lipolytic sensitivity, lowers body weight gain, and reduces fat accumulation in female Yucatan miniature swine.
The Environmental Planning Handbook for Sustainable Communities and Regions, by Tom Daniels

Planners’ professional code of ethics specifies that they strive to improve the quality of life for all persons, paying particular attention to protecting the integrity of the natural environment, ...
Altered inactivation of commensal LPS due to acyloxyacyl hydrolase deficiency in colonic dendritic cells impairs mucosal Th17 immunity (MUC4P.825)

Interleukin 17 (IL-17)-secreting CD4+ helper T (Th17) cells are essential for host defense at mucosal surfaces, and dysregulation can result in autoimmunity. Exposure to microbial products such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can affect the ability of dendritic cells (DC) to polarize Th17 cells. Acyloxyacyl hydrolase (AOAH) is a mammalian enzyme expressed by antigen (Ag)-presenting cells that inactivates LPS in host tissues. We hypothesized that inactivation of intestinal-derived LPS by AOAH influences the ability of DC to prime Th17 cells. We found that LPS-containing microbiota augmented the polarization of Ag-specific Th17 cells, and identified CD103+CD11b+ colonic DC with the unique capacity to express AOAH and bias Th17 cells. Compared to wild-type, these Aoah-/- colonic DC produced less IL-6, which resulted in diminished Ag-specific Th17 polarization and increased regulatory T cell induction in vitro. Oral administration of LPS led to reduced IL-6 production from CD103+CD11b+ colonic DC in Aoah-/- mice in comparison to Aoah+/+ mice, resulting in an abrogated Ag-specific Th17 response in the gut after mucosal immunization that could be rescued by systemic delivery of recombinant IL-6. These data identify the ability of AOAH to modulate microbiota signals that drive mucosal Th17 polarization, and suggest that host pathways to handle microbiota-derived products may be targeted to modulate Th17 responses in the context of inflammatory disorders or infection at mucosal surfaces.
Energetics of Magnetic Storms Driven by Corotating Interaction Regions: A Study of Geoeffectiveness

We investigate the energetics of magnetic storms associated with corotating interaction regions (CIRs). We analyze 24 storms driven by CIRs and compare to 18 driven by ejecta-related events to determine how they differ in overall properties and in particular in their distribution of energy. To compare these different types of events, we look at events with comparable input parameters such as the epsilon parameter and note the properties of the resulting storms. We estimate the energy output by looking at the ring current energy along with ionospheric Joule heating derived from the PC and Dst indices. We also include the energy of auroral precipitation, estimated from NOAA/TIROS and DMSP observations. In general, ejecta-driven storms produce more intense events, as parameterized by Dst*, but they are usually not as long lasting, and in most cases deposit less energy. This is observed even for events that have similar input quantities, such as epsilon. This may be related to the high speed of the solar wind, in that an increased magnetosonic Mach number may influence the reconnection rate and therefore the coupling. Additionally, we find the efficiency of the coupling varies greatly from CIR-driven to ejecta-driven storms, with the CIR-driven storms coupling substantially more efficiently, particularly in the recovery phase. The efficiency of coupling (output energy divided by input energy) for CIR-driven storms in recovery phase was double that of ejecta-driven storms.
Use of an arbitrarily primed PCR product in the development of a Campylobacter jejuni-specific PCR

Development of a PCR assay for Campylobacter jejuni is based on the isolation of species-specific DNA. An arbitrarily primed PCR incorporating 10-mer primers was used to generate fingerprints of C. jejuni M129 genomic DNA. Fingerprint products were then screened individually for their species specificity in dot blot hybridizations with 6 C. jejuni isolates, 4 Campylobacter species other than C. jejuni, and 27 enteric bacterial species other than Campylobacter spp. A 486-bp fingerprint product hybridized specifically to C. jejuni DNA under stringent conditions; no binding to Campylobacter DNA other than that of C. jejuni or to DNA from enteric bacteria was detected. The 486-bp fingerprint product was sequenced, and primers corresponding to three overlapping regions of the DNA probe were synthesized. Evaluation of the three primer pairs for specificity to C. jejuni DNA identified an oligonucleotide primer pair which amplified a 265-bp product from six C. jejuni isolates only. In sensitivity studies using a crude M129 lysate as the template, the C. jejuni-specific PCR amplified the 265-bp product in a lysate with as few as 100 bacteria.
Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of malignant tumors which stem from muscles, vessels, lymphatic tissue, connective tissue, synovial tissue, or primitive mesenchymal cells.
Manganese N-confused porphyrin reactivity: CH bond activation and meso carbon reduction.

Manganese N-confused porphyrins activate C–C and C–H bonds upon heating or air oxidation; the dimer complex [Mn(NCTPP)]2 is reduced at two meso positions, and the pyridine coordinated monomer breaks the internal C–H bond upon heating or exposure to oxygen.
Evidence for Distinct Kynureninase and Hydroxykynureninase Activities in Neurospora crassa

Previous studies have indicated that a single enzyme, “kynureninase,” catalyzes the reactions of l-kynurenine to anthranilate and l-3-hydroxykynurenine to 3-hydroxyanthranilate in Neurospora crassa and in other organisms. The present report describes separate enzymes which catalyze these reactions in N. crassa . The first, a kynureninase , preferentially catalyzes kynurenine to anthranilate and is induced over 400-fold by tryptophan or a catabolite of tryptophan. The second, a hydroxykynureninase , is constitutive or noninducible by tryptophan and preferentially catalyzes l-3-hydroxykynurenine to 3-hydroxyanthranilate. The physiological significance of these enzymes may be inferred from the facts that (i) the noninducible enzyme hydroxykynureninase appears to be the main enzyme present in uninduced cells that is capable of catalyzing l-3-hydroxykynurenine to 3-hydroxyanthranilate for the indispensible synthesis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and (ii) the inducible enzyme kynureninase is induced by tryptophan to a concentration far in excess of that needed to meet the requirements of the cells for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, resulting in the excretion of anthranilate into the medium.
Evidence for adenosine A2 receptor involvement in the hypomobility effects of adenosine analogues in mice.

The hypomobility induced by a series of adenosine analogues was investigated using a holeboard test and their behavioral potencies correlated to their reported adenosine A1 and A2 receptor affinities. All of the adenosine analogues dose dependently inhibited both exploratory behavior (head dipping) and locomotor activity. The rank order of potency 5′-ethylcarboxamido adenosine (NECA) > 5′-methylcarboxamido adenosine (MECA) > N6-[(R)-1-methyl-2- phenylethyl]adenosine (R-PIA) > N6-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA) = N6-cyclopentyladenosine (CPA) > N6-[(S)-1- methyl-2-phenylethylladenosine (S-PIA) > N6-(2-hydroxyethyl)adenosine (2-OH-ethyl) was observed for inhibiting both activities. The behavioral potency of these adenosine analogues correlates extremely well with their reported A2 receptor affinity (r2 = 0.93, P 0.50 for both activities). These results suggest that adenosine A2 receptors, but not A1 receptors, may be involved in the hypomobility induced by adenosine analogues.
Propagation of fire fronts in forests

Abstract A moving boundary value problem is considered to investigate the one-dimensional propagation of fire fronts in forests. The problem is solved by the finite difference method with real physical parameters of forests. The theoretical and experimental results are compared to determine the sensitivity of the model for forecasting and control of forest fires.
Generalization of the modeling and design considerations of concentric and spiral Si drift detectors

Abstract The one-dimensional design consideration for the spiral (cylindrical geometry) Si drift detector (SDD) described in literature [1,2] has been modified and generalized also for small drift distance ( R ) compatible to the detector thickness ( d ), i.e. for R ∼ d , and for non-uniform backside biasing situations. With smaller R , an array of SDD with small pixel size down to a few hundreds of microns will be possible. Also, by applying a non-uniform biasing voltage with a gradient similar (proportional) to the front side, one can increase the reach-through voltage, resulting in a large drift field for carriers. This can be important for large R (>3 mm), or for high resistivity Si substrates (>8 kΩ cm). In the modeling, the one-dimensional solution to solve the electric potential and drift field, as well as the spiral design have been modified and generalized for all cases. The previous solution in the literature is an approximation of this work for R ⪢ d .
Successful treatment of early detected trilateral retinoblastoma using standard infant brain tumor therapy

Trilateral retinoblastoma is characterized by the presence of retinoblastoma with an intracranial tumor. The incidence is low and prognosis poor. Due to the paucity of information regarding successful treatment, we report the case of a 6 month old female referred for leukocoria and found to have an associated suprasellar tumor and pineal enhancement. The patient, treated with standard infant brain tumor therapy, remains alive without signs of active disease 35 months after diagnosis; no surgery or irradiation was used. Early diagnosis of trilateral retinoblastoma may facilitate the use of less intensive therapeutic approaches and result in excellent outcomes in these patients.
Development of self-administered versions of modified baseline and transition dyspnea indexes in COPD.

In this study we developed self‐administered versions of modified baseline and transition dyspnea indexes and compared the scores obtained by this method with the mean value obtained by two trained...
Creative Activity, Personality, Mental Illness, and Short-Term Mating Success

It has been argued that creativity evolved, at least in part, through sexual selection to attract mates. Recent research lends support to this view and has also demonstrated a link between certain dimensions of schizotypy, creativity, and short-term mating. The current study delves deeper into these relationships by focusing on engagement in creative activity and employing an expansive set of personality and mental health measures (Five Factor Model, schizotypy, anxiety, and depression). A general tendency to engage in everyday forms of creative activity was related to number of sexual partners within the past year in males only. Furthermore, schizotypy, anxiety, and Neuroticism were all indirectly related to short-term mating success, again for males only. The study provides additional support for predictions made by sexual selection theory that men have a higher drive for creative display, and that creativity is linked with higher short-term mating success. The study also provides support for the contention that certain forms of mental illness may still exist in the gene pool because particular personality traits associated with milder forms of mental illness (i.e., Neuroticism & schizotypy) are also associated directly with creativity and indirectly with short-term mating success.
Epithelioid sarcoma is associated with a high percentage of SMARCB1 deletions

SMARCB1 gene alterations were first described in highly malignant rhabdoid tumors of the kidney, brain (atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor) and soft tissue. An increasing number of tumors have now shown loss of SMARCB1 protein expression by immunohistochemistry, including the majority of epithelioid sarcomas. However, investigations of SMARCB1 gene alterations in epithelioid sarcoma have produced conflicting results. The aim of this study was to evaluate SMARCB1 status using Sanger sequencing of the coding region and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification, a rapid and sensitive method for detecting intragenic deletions and duplications, which has not been used in previous studies. Twenty-one epithelioid sarcomas of both classical and proximal type were selected for SMARCB1 gene testing and SMARCB1 immunohistochemistry. Nineteen of 21 (90%) epithelioid sarcomas were SMARCB1 negative by immunohistochemistry. Twelve of the 19 (63%) had adequate DNA recovery for evaluation. Ten of 12 (83%) tumors showed homozygous deletions of the gene. Two cases showed heterozygous deletions and polymorphisms, but no sequence mutations. These results confirm the high frequency of SMARCB1 deletions in epithelioid sarcoma and show that multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification is a reliable method for detection of deletions in these cases, which can be performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue. Given the high percentage of SMARCB1 alterations in epithelioid sarcoma, these findings argue against using SMARCB1 gene deletion as a tool in distinguishing them from malignant rhabdoid tumors.
Noncommutative supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in ten dimensions with higher-derivative terms

We present an action for noncommutative supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in ten dimensions, and confirm its invariance under supersymmetry. We next add higher-order derivative terms to such a noncommutative supersymmetric action. These terms contain fields as high as the quartic order. The resulting action can be regarded as a supersymmetric generalization of the noncommutative non-Abelian Dirac-Born-Infeld action. Some ambiguities related to field redefinitions are also clarified.
New vitamin D analogs

New vitamin D analogs. Background 1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 (calcitriol) controls parathyroid gland growth and suppresses the synthesis and secretion of parathyroid hormone. Because of this, 1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 has been used successfully for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism, which almost always accompanies renal failure. However, the potent effect of 1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 on intestinal calcium and phosphorus absorption and bone mineral mobilization often leads to the development of hypercalcemia and hyperphosphatemia precluding 1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 therapy. Methods This has led to the development of vitamin D analogs that retain the suppressive action on PTH and parathyroid gland growth, but that have less calcemic and phosphatemic activity. Currently, two analogs, 19-nor-1,25-(OH) 2 D 2 and 1,α(OH)D 2 , are being used for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in the United States, and two are being used in Japan, 22-oxa-calcitriol and 1,25-(OH) 2 -26,27F6 D 3 . Results All four analogs suppressed PTH, but had less calcemic and phosphatemic activity than 1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 . In rats, 19-nor-1,25-(OH) 2 D 2 has been shown to be less calcemic and phosphatemic compared to 1,α(OH)D 2 . Conclusion Therapeutic doses of 19-nor-1,25-(OH) 2 D 2 could produce a lower Ca x P product compared to 1,α(OH)D 2 , which could be an important consideration in patient treatment. Further studies are necessary to define these differences and to understand the mechanisms behind the differential actions of vitamin D analogs.
A new approach to the analysis of electrode kinetics with specifically adsorbed reactants

Summary Aprocedure for analyzing the kinetics of electrode processes involving adsorbed reactants is described and the necessary equations derived. Methods for determining or estimating the various contributions to the potential dependences of the standard free energy of activation, the activity coefficient of the activated complex, and the surface activity of the adsorbed reactant are discussed. The procedures for analysis of kinetic data suggested here are contrasted with previous treatments and the differences and relative advantages of the present treatment are pointed out.
Effect of shear on plastic denting of cylinders

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of “inplane shear” on the damage experienced by an unstiffened circular cylindrical shell subjected to static knife loading at the middle of its length. The ends of the cylinder are assumed to be fully fixed. The material constitutive model is rigid-plastic. Only “local” behavior is analyzed and global effects are neglected. The methodology can be applied to earlier models as proposed by Wierzbicki and Suh and by Moussouros. Like the earlier two rigid-plastic models this analysis only obtains global quantities and can result in large nondimensional dent values prior to reaching its limits of applicability. However, it is shown that the nondimensional load increases with the geometrical characteristic ratio of radius to thickness ( a/h ). This functional form has been obtained here for the first time and represents a novel result. The paper also shows that the present model compares well with experimental results.
Composite failure under combined compression and shear

The effect of a superimposed shear stress on the axial compressive strength of aligned fiber composites is investigated through a combination of experiments and analysis. Experiments were conducted on flat coupons using a custom biaxial testing facility. Shear and compression were found to interact strongly. The interaction failure envelope follows approximately a linear trend along the line joining the critical stress at zero shear on one axis and the shear strength on the other. The 2-D and 3-D micromechanical models used previously to predict the compressive strength are modified to include the shear. In the models the composite has a sinusoidal imperfection which is uniform across the microsection width. The imperfection characteristics are chosen so that the calculated critical stress at zero shear corresponds to the measured strength. The models are shown to capture well the interaction between shear and compression. Calculated failure envelopes are in good agreement with the experimental results. For all combinations of shear and compression considered, deformation localizes into a narrow band of highly bent fibers after the critical state. The band initially is normal to the axial load but broadens and rotates as the solution is followed deeper into the postfailure regime as it did for pure compression. Important aspects of proper testing and modeling are discussed, and recommendations are given for design including a critical review of a simpler model in which the fibers do not deform.
Physiological and biochemical defects in functional interactions of mitochondrial DNA polymerase and DNA-binding mutants of single-stranded DNA-binding protein.

Functional interactions between mitochondrial DNA polymerase (pol γ) and mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein (mtSSB) from Drosophila embryos greatly enhance the overall activity of pol γ by increasing primer recognition and binding and stimulating the rate of initiation of DNA strands (Farr, C. L., Wang, Y., and Kaguni, L. S. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 14779–14785). We show here that DNA-binding mutants of mtSSB are defective in stimulation of DNA synthesis by pol γ. RNAi knock-down of mtSSB reduces expression to
Hazards of Collaboration: Local State Co-optation of a New Protected-Area Model in Southwest China

Collaborative and market-oriented conservation interventions aim to achieve conservation and livelihood improvement outcomes by bringing people together over win–win solutions. Based on intensive interviews and document analysis, this study examines an effort to establish a new protected area in Yunnan Province, China, as an attempt at collaboration to establish a market-based conservation intervention that would include and benefit protected area residents. The result, Pudacuo National Park, is a tourism attraction that creates large revenues for the local government, has ambiguous conservation impact, and sidelines residents. While different collaborators provided resources that enabled the project to proceed, the project was ultimately co-opted by an alliance of state and tourism industry actors. Explicitly addressing power and inequality may assist conservation promoters who wish to facilitate collaborative conservation projects.
Regional changes in the concentrations of glutamate, glycine, taurine, and GABA in the vitamin B-6 deficient developing rat brain: association with neonatal seizures.

It is well known that a dietary restriction of vitamin B-6 during gestation and lactation produces spontaneous seizures in neonatal animals. Since pyridoxal phosphate, one of the biologically active forms of vitamin B-6, is the cofactor for GAD the neonatal seizures have been attributed to low levels of brain GABA as a result of cofactor depletion. Although GABA levels are significantly lower in B-6 restricted neonatal rats with spontaneous seizures, seizure activity is not present in B-6 deficient adult rats or 28 day old rats in the present study, despite significantly low levels of brain GABA. These facts suggest that depletion of GABA is not the only biochemical alteration essential for the emergence of seizures. In the present study, the effect of vitamin B-6 undernutrition on the concentrations of the neuroactive amino acids, Glu, Gly, Tau, and GABA was determined in selected regions of the developing rat brain. The results show that the concentrations of Glu, Tau, and GABA were significantly lower and GLY significantly higher in selected brain regions of the B-6 restricted 14 day old rat compared to control tissue. Most of these changes were unique to 14 days of age, the time when spontaneous seizures are observed, and not present at 28 or 56 days of age when seizures are absent. This pattern of amino acid changes in the brain and the magnitude of the changes was consistent with those measured in a variety of chemically-induced animal models of epilepsy and in human epileptic foci. The regional distribution of amino acid changes was associated with brain regions which have been suggested to be responsible for the initiation and propagation of seizure activity. Two unique findings were also made in this study. First, there was a regional brain heterogeneity in the age-associated loss of brain Tau concentrations with the pons/medulla and substantia nigra appearing to be highly vulnerable and the hippocampus quite resistant to the loss of Tau. A second finding was the normalization of the neonatal GABA deficit in most brain regions by 56 days of age. The normalization of brain GABA was present in the face of continued dietary vitamin B-6 restriction. In summary, this study shows that the neuroactive amino acids Glu, Gly, Tau, and GABA are markedly altered in the seizure-prone vitamin B-6 restricted neonatal rat brain. The alterations in the brain concentration of Glu, Gly, and Tau may play an equally important role as GABA in the underlying mechanism of seizures associated with this condition.
Exploring Kindergarten Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Mathematics

The purpose of this study was to assess 81 kindergarten teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of mathematics on six subcategory areas such as number sense, pattern, ordering, shapes, spatial sense, and comparison. The data showed participants possessed a higher level of pedagogical content knowledge of “number sense” (M = 89.12) compared to other mathematics pedagogical content areas. The second highest scores among six subcategories of pedagogical content knowledge of mathematics was for the pedagogical content area of “pattern” (M = 82.33). The lowest scores among those six subcategories of kindergarten teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge were obtained from the subcategory of “spatial sense” (M = 44.23), which involved the means to introduce children to spatial relationships. The second lowest score was obtained for the subcategory of “comparison” (M = 50.40) which involved the means to introduce the concept of graphing and the use of a balance scale for measurement.
Central nervous system infections due to vancomycin-resistant enterococci: case series and review of the literature

Summary Objectives To evaluate reported cases of central nervous system (CNS) infections due to vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and describe the data necessary to better understand clinical characteristics of this rare disease process. Methods We report two cases of VRE CNS infection and review 36 cases reported in the literature. Results Eighty-two percent (31/38) of cases were due to Enterococcus faecium . The median length of stay prior to diagnosis was 14 days (interquartile range 9–33). Fifty-eight percent (22/38) of cases had significant underlying non-malignant CNS disease processes and 63% (24/38) had CNS devices in situ. Forty percent (15/38) of patients had other positive culture sites. Ninety-two percent (35/38) of patients experienced microbiological cure and 74% (28/38) experienced clinical and microbiological cure following a variety of antimicrobial therapies. Seventy-four percent (14/19) of patients who experienced clinical/microbiological cure with CNS devices had them either removed or replaced. Eighteen percent (7/38) died from VRE CNS infections. Conclusions VRE CNS infections are uncommon nosocomial infections that most commonly affect patients with underlying CNS disease processes. The vast majority of cases are due to E. faecium , and many cases involve multiple positive culture sites. Optimal antimicrobial therapy remains undefined, but should be coupled with removal or replacement of indwelling CNS devices.
Mechanics of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Under Uniaxial Compression

We report shell buckling instabilities observed experimentally in multi-walled carbon nanotubes subjected to uniaxial compression and interpret the results using insights from elasticity theory and molecular dynamics simulations. Uniform hexagonal arrays of vertically-oriented, freestanding multi-walled carbon nanotubes were grown in a self-assembled, highly-ordered nanoporous alumina matrix and then placed under uniaxial compression using a nanoindenter. Both flat and spherical nanoindenter tips were used to compress many nanotubes at once, and individual nanotube behavior could be deduced from the bulk force-vs.-displacement data by using the uniformity of the nanotube arrays and the geometry of the tips. Buckling instabilities are evident in the measured force-vs.-displacement behavior. A consideration of thin shell elasticity theory and molecular dynamics models provides guidelines for interpreting the experimental results. Excellent agreement is found between the experimentally measured critical buckling loads and those predicted by theory.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Cross-cultural and cognitive issues in the implementation of new technology: focus on group support systems and Bulgaria

Abstract Over 40 per cent of technology implementation attempts in the United States (US) fail. These failures often are the result of human (rather than technological) problems. The consequences of implementers installing in one country equipment designed in another should be even more problematic and ubiquitous, as technology designers continue to move into international markets. A cognitive model of cross-cultural implementation is tested, using a US-designed group support system (GSS) and groups of Bulgarian and US university students. Bulgarians were expected to be less critical of the technology due to cultural responses to power and authority (i.e., less likely to challenge authority) and therefore less successful in adapting to the technology. However, results suggest that the Bulgarian students may in fact be more likely to challenge authority than their US counterparts. As hypothesized, Power Distance mediates some of the effects between culture and satisfaction with the GSS.
Evidence for Association between Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and TCF7L2 and Glucose Intolerance in Women with PCOS and TCF7L2

Context and Objective: Of the recently identified type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) susceptibility loci, transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) confers the greatest relative risk for T2D and significantly predicts conversion to T2D in persons with impaired glucose tolerance. TCF7L2 is, therefore, also a strong candidate gene for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common endocrine disorder characterized by androgen excess and menstrual irregularities and associated with insulin resistance and a 7-fold increased risk for T2D. Research Design and Methods: We tested for association between 58 single nucleotide polymorphisms mapping to TCF7L2 and PCOS in 624 index (PCOS) cases and 553 control women of European ancestry. Furthermore, in the women with PCOS, we tested for association with seven reproductive and metabolic quantitative traits. Results: Although we did not detect evidence for association between the previously described TCF7L2 T2D locus, the proinsulin:insulin molar ratio, a marker of pancreatic β-ce...
Saliva Calcium and Potassium Concentrations in the Detection of Digitalis Toxicity

Stimulated whole saliva was collected from 118 subjects: 36 were not receiving digitalis; 40 received digitalis but were nontoxic; 14 were digitalis-toxic; 24 had impaired renal function; and four subjects were followed during the administration of digitalis. Saliva calcium and potassium products in the digitalis-toxic group were significantly higher than in the nontoxic group. Subjects with impaired renal function had a significantly higher saliva calcium and potassium product than those with normal renal function. The subjects followed during the administration of digoxin showed an apparent correlation between electrocardiogram changes and an elevated saliva calcium and potassium product. This study has demonstrated that a whole-saliva calcium and potassium product over 300 in subjects on digoxin with normal renal function correlates with a diagnosis of digitalis toxicity.
Reconfigurable asynchronous logic automata: (RALA)

Computer science has served to insulate programs and programmers from knowledge of the underlying mechanisms used to manipulate information, however this fiction is increasingly hard to maintain as computing devices decrease in size and systems increase in complexity. Manifestations of these limits appearing in computers include scaling issues in interconnect, dissipation, and coding. Reconfigurable Asynchronous Logic Automata (RALA) is an alternative formulation of computation that seeks to align logical and physical descriptions by exposing rather than hiding this underlying reality. Instead of physical units being represented in computer programs only as abstract symbols, RALA is based on a lattice of cells that asynchronously pass state tokens corresponding to physical resources. We introduce the design of RALA, review its relationships to its many progenitors, and discuss its benefits, implementation, programming, and extensions
Seeking Redemptive Diversity in Christian Institutions of Higher Education: Challenges and Hopes from Within

Diversity and cross-cultural engagements should be among the leading forces and objectives in Christian institutions of higher education. The increasing influence and penetration of globalization and the melting pot of contemporary societies necessitate that Christian colleges and universities revisit their heritage, mission statements, and perspectives on diversity in terms of their Christian identity and their interactions with the world that exists outside their physical, religious, racial, ethnic, and cultural boundaries. The first part of the paper explores the biblical foundations and teaching of redemptive diversity, which emphasize diversity in God's creation, redemption, and eternal diversity in the kingdom of God. However, like other projects of human interactions with different norms, convictions, traditions, expectations, languages, economic and social structures, diversity comes with tensions and challenges. The second part provides an institutional analysis of the major challenges and tensio...
Full-frame entropy coding for radiological image compression

The discrete cosine transform (DCT) type algorithm is a leading technique in irreversible image compression. The full-frame bit-allocation (FFBA) technique based on DCT has been proven to be an outstanding compression method for radiological image. A new version of this technique, which discards the bit-table and uses entropy coding instead of bit-packing, FFEC, has recently been developed. The results showed that the new method improves compression ratio by a factor of two (e.g., 24:1 vs. 13:1) with a controlled mean-square-error. With the same compression ratio, the FFEC produces about 50 less error than does FFBA. The FFEC has been tested and results are demonstrated in this paper along with FFBA and the splitting and remapping method. This new method is characterized as a simple, error controllable, and highly efficient compression technique.