cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chapter 6 – Lead Sorption, Chemically Enhanced Desorption, and Equilibrium Modeling in an Iron-Oxide-Coated Sand and Synthetic Groundwater System

Oxides of iron are ubiquitous subsurface mineral constituents and control the mobility of metal ions in soils and groundwater by adsorptive retardation. In this laboratory study, iron-oxide-coated sand (IOCS) is used to model lead chemical behavior in soil using batch and column reactor experiments. Several parameters are varied in order to ascertain their effects: pH, ionic strength, complexation by organic ligands, competing cations, and reaction time. In equilibrium experiments, pH was the major factor that controlled the adsorption process, and increasing ionic strength somewhat decreased Pb adsorption below pH = 5 but had no influence at higher pH values. Using a surface complexation, triple-layer model (TLM), an inner-sphere surface reaction was successful in describing the effect of pH on Pb adsorption on IOCS over a range of Pb concentrations at constant ionic strength. EDTA greatly decreased Pb adsorption at equimolar and greater concentrations, with its effect increasing with pH above 6.0, but with a enhanced adsorption at acidic pHs below about 4.5. Soil column studies of Pb adsorption on IOCS are consistent with expectations from batch studies. Results of this study provide guidance in determining conditions that chemically enhance mobilization or immobilization of Pb in soil and groundwater.
ź as social support

Many social media facilitate paralinguistic digital affordances (PDAs): one-click tools for phatic communication to which senders and receivers alike ascribe meaning. This research explores the nature of social support perceived from the receipt of PDAs within social media, seeking to understand how individuals ascribe supportive meaning to PDAs based on (1) their goal in the post to which the PDA was used as a reply, (2) relational closeness with the PDA provider, and (3) the perceived automaticity of the PDA received. A national survey (Nź=ź325) explored the receipt of PDAs across five social media, and facilitated cross-platform analysis. Analyses reveal both main and interaction effects among the three proposed antecedents, so that intentional PDAs from relationally close providers to messages seeking social support were perceived as most supportive. Findings reveal individuals heuristically make idiosyncratic sense of the same cue from different senders in different situations. Explores how social support is derived from one-click affordances in social media.Paralinguistic digital affordances (PDAs) include Likes, Favorites, and Upvotes.Users interpret individual PDAs idiosyncratically and heuristically.Main and interaction effects identified for three antecedents of social support.Introduces the Daphnis effect, whereby automatic PDAs from close friends mitigate social support perceived.
Surgical revision of the failed obliterated frontal sinus.

BackgroundSurgical revision of failed frontal sinus obliteration, traditionally, has been limited to repeat obliteration. However, endoscopic techniques may be successful in selected cases. We revi...
Design, simulation, and characterization of THz metamaterial absorber

In recent years a great amount of research has been focused on metamaterials, initially for fabrication of left-handed materials (LHM) for use in devices such as superlenses, or electromagnetic cloaking device. [1, 2]. Such devices have been developed and demonstrated in regimes from radio frequency all the way up to infrared and near optical frequencies [3–5]. Metamaterials can be characterized by electric permittivity, e(ω), and magnetic permeability, μ(ω). By manipulating these properties, metamaterials can be engineered to exhibit un-natural phenomena such as negative index of refraction (n eff = Z 0 ), the reflection at some resonance frequency, ω 0 , can be minimized.
Two Versions of Robinson Crusoe

This chapter begins the analysis of the rule-following problem by the use of disposition-languages, languages with terms that apply exactly the way subjects are disposed to apply them. It’s shown that if empirical circumstances (and the dispositions of the subjects) are felicitous enough, isolated subjects can engage in successful rule-following. That is, they can successfully evaluate the languages they speak as better and worse, and they can use these languages to successfully navigate their worlds. Two examples of rule-following isolated individuals are given, Crusoe 1 and Crusoe 2. Their dispositions are somewhat artificial. Later examples, in later chapters, of isolated rule-following individuals will be much more natural, that is, they will be much more like us.
Quantitative diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging assessment of chemotherapy treatment response of pediatric osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma malignant bone tumors.

Abstract Objective Assessment of tumor response to chemotherapy is essential in managing malignant pediatric bone tumors prior to resection. Subjects and methods Pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma cases (n = 18) were analyzed with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values measured by two readers. Results Treated tumors demonstrated significantly greater ADC values compared to untreated tumors ( p Conclusions Our study suggests that ADC values may be useful for evaluating chemotherapeutic response of malignant pediatric bone tumors.
Organization and Reorganization in the Central Nervous System: Evolving Concepts of Brain Plasticity

“Plasticity” is a concept which is necessary to any theory of brain function. The most complex products of the brain, the ongoing “cognitive” behaviors of the individual, are remarkable for their flexibility, their capacity for reorganization in the face of changing circumstances. Since behavior is characterized by its adaptability, it follows that the neural machinery which creates it must possess analogous features. But what in neurobiological terms is the property of the brain which allows it this plasticity? Suggested answers to this question have come from all the branches of the neurosciences. The idea most commonly advanced is that changes in the effectiveness of synaptic transmission are responsible for phenomena such as learning and memory. Physiological research, much of it quite recent, has shown that lasting changes can be created in monosynaptic systems by very brief trains of repetitive stimulation (Bliss and Lomo, 1973). Neurochemical studies have indicated that some of the subcellular systems related to the transmitter and its actions are modifiable, and this certainly provides a means through which modification in the operation of neural circuits could be achieved. The present chapter deals with still another type of mechanism by which the brain might gain its flexibility, specifically, that it is capable of modifying its very structure. This idea, which is quite old, has become the subject of intense interest in recent years as newer methods (and the more routine use of some more traditional procedures) have allowed anatomists to develop a clearer picture of the fine structure of neural tissue. Studies done in the last decade indicate that the microanatomy of the neuron, its dendritic ramifications and axonal arborization, can be greatly modified and that under some circumstances the brain is capable of generating entirely new circuitry.
1557 The development of sleep and safety decision making among less experienced/’young’ truck drivers: a qualitative descriptive study

American truck drivers are at risk for sleep deprivation and subsequent increased risk for sleep – related motor vehicle crash. In spite of their significant risks, little is known about how truck drivers make sleep and safety decisions. The purpose of this study was to describe influences on sleep and safety-related decision-making among a group of long-haul truck drivers. The qualitative descriptive study focused on a purposive sample (n=10) recruited from truckstops, by word of mouth, and flyers posted at locations commonly visited by truck drivers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim prior to analysis. A cyclic approach to coding was used to develop and revise the code book. The process was repeated until themes were generated. Trustworthiness and credibility were enhanced by using reflexivity, an audit trail, and interpretive convergence. Four general themes emerged from driver descriptions of influences of health-related decision making: individual driver characteristics key events, relationships with others, and company–level factors. From analysis of the interviews, it was clear that individual driver characteristics, key events, personal and professional relationships, and company-level factors all influenced health and safety decision-making of this sample of long-haul truck drivers. An important finding was that drivers new to the profession (‘young drivers’) evolved over time as they gained experience to self-advocate for their sleep and safety – related health needs; and thus, made different sleep decisions. Factors influencing health and safety decision-making must be considered when providing care and teaching to truck drivers. Involving family members and important others to assist in motivating truck drivers may be an effective strategy to positively influence health and safety decision-making. It will be especially important to target interventions to the less experienced (‘younger’) drivers. Findings from this study may be used to inform the development of educational materials and other interventions to positively influence truck driver health and safety decision-making, which could lead to a healthier transportation workforce and safer highways for the public.
Towards Understanding Text Factors in Oral Reading

Using a case study, we show that variation in oral reading rate across passages for professional narrators is consistent across readers and much of it can be explained using features of the texts being read. While text complexity is a poor predictor of the reading rate, a substantial share of variability can be explained by timing and story-based factors with performance reaching r=0.75 for unseen passages and narrator.
Development of Intelligence: Current Research and Theories.

This special issue presents research and review articles that investigate some of the many factors affecting the development of intelligence. The articles explore the development of intelligence from different perspectives, each of which is relevant for researchers and practitioners interested in children’s school performance. Thus, the goal of this issue is to provide information from basic research to better inform prevention and intervention efforts for improving children’s school grades and behaviors. One major focus of research on infant intelligence has been to identify testable traits that represent the same underlying aspects of intelligence that tests in later childhood tap. For instance, infant attention and responses to novelty appear to be fundamental to the concept of intelligence across all ages (Berg & Sternberg, 1985), and a number of researchers have explored the prediction of later IQ scores from novelty and attention scores in infancy (Bornstein & Sigman, 1986; Colombo, Mitchell, Dodd, Coldren, & Horowitz, 1989; DiLalla et al., 1990; Dougherty & Haith, 1997; Fagan, Singer, Montie, & Shepherd, 1986; O’Connor, Cohen, & Parmelee, 1984; Rose, Feldman, & Wallace, 1988). Speed of processing and memory capacity directly impact such behaviors as fixation duration (how quickly a visual stimulus is encoded), reaction time, novelty preference (i.e., showing preferential looking for a novel stimulus), and retention, all of which, in turn, have been shown to relate to later cognitive ability (Colombo, 1995). Speed of processing also has been noted to be central to general cognitive development in older children (Kail & Salthouse, 1994). Much current research now is focusing on factors that increase or decrease later IQ. A large body of research has shown that IQ is about 50% heritable (Bouchard & McGue, 1981; Plomin, DeFries, McClearn, & Rutter, 1997). This means that about half of the IQ variance among people is a result of genetic influences, but also about half of that variance is a result of environmental influences. This leaves us with two important questions: How does genotype influence the development of intelligence across age, and how do genes and environment interact to affect a child’s intellectual development? These are complicated questions that behavior geneticists are just beginning to explore systematically.
Nanoelectromechanical Resonators Enabled by Si-Doped Semiconducting β-Ga 2 O 3 Nanobelts

We report on demonstration of ultrawide bandgap $\beta-\mathbf{Ga}_{2}\mathbf{O}_{3}$ nanoelectromechanical resonators vibrating in the high and very high frequency (HF & VHF) bands. The resonators are fabricated by synthesis of Si-doped $\beta-\mathbf{Ga}_{2}\mathbf{O}_{3}$ nanostructures using low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), followed by dry transfer of the nanomaterials onto prefabricated substrate with microtrenches. Using an ultrasensitive laser interferometry system, we observe multimode thermomechanical resonances in the HF & VHF bands from these $\beta-\mathbf{Ga}_{2}\mathbf{O}_{3}$ resonators. Further, additional anchoring and contacting electrodes are explored by using stencil-mask patterning and metallization, for enhancing the clamping and electrical contact of $\beta-\mathbf{Ga}_{2}\mathbf{O}_{3}$ crystal.
Opinion summarization on spontaneous conversations

HighlightsInvestigated opinion summarization in conversations.Annotated Switchboard conversations with sentiment, summary, and pronoun info.Compared graph-based and supervised summarization methods for opinion summarization.Evaluated summarization performance using both human transcripts and ASR output.Exploited pronoun coreference information for summarization of conversations. In this study we explore opinion summarization on spontaneous conversations using unsupervised and supervised approaches. We annotate a phone conversation corpus with reference extractive and abstractive summaries for a speaker's opinion on a given topic. We investigate two methods: the first is an unsupervised graph-based method, which incorporates topic and sentiment information, as well as sentence-to-sentence relations extracted based on dialogue structure; the second is a supervised method that casts the summarization problem as a classification problem. Furthermore, we investigate the use of pronoun resolution in this summarization task. We develop various features based on pronoun coreference and incorporate them in the supervised opinion summarization system. Our experimental results show that both the graph-based method and the supervised method outperform the baseline approach, and the pronoun related features can help to generate better summaries.
Chimaeridris, a new genus of hook-mandibled myrmicine ants from tropical asia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

A description is given of the new genusChimaeridris, comprising the new speciesC. boltoni of Sulawesi andC. burckhardti of Sabah. The worker is outwardly similar to that of a minor worker or minor-major intermediate ofPheidole, except that its mandibles are hook shaped, displaying a form unique within the subfamily Myrmicinae and superficially similar to that of ecitonine army ants in the genusCheliomyrmex and some African driver ants of the genusDorylus. The possibility is raised thatChimaeridris is either a slavemaker (presumably, ofPheidole) or a specialized predator.
A qualitative analysis and eleven-factor typology of hypothesized factors encouraging or discouraging the development of problem solving courts in various countries

Whereas the USA has numerous problem solving courts (e.g., drug courts, mental health courts), other countries do not have such courts, have altered versions of these courts, or have problem solving courts for other social issues. This qualitative research develops hypotheses regarding the reasons for such diversity. After a description of the history and types of courts in various countries, the article situates interviews, observations, and document reviews in the existing literature in order to create a qualitative typology of factors that hypothesize why a society has (or has not) developed problem solving courts. Examples from over a dozen countries support the typology. Hypothesized factors that seem to encourage development of problem solving courts include practical reasons (e.g., community demand); changes in legal or social structure; advances in medicine, social science, and technology; and recognition of a social issue (with or without a specific event or movement) as a problem worthy of legal attention. Factors that seem to discourage development include lack of resources or demand; fear of negative outcomes; prohibitions on providing special courts for only some offenders; legal requirement for all courts to provide rehabilitation; perceptions that it is not the courts’ role to help; and the presence of broader social issues demanding the country’s attention. Some of these hypothesized factors are practical (e.g., money, public demand), while others are social (e.g., social movements) or psychological (e.g., community attitudes). Future research should investigate a broader variety of countries and quantitatively test the hypotheses contained in the typology developed here.
The microbiology, pH, and oxidation reduction potential of larval masses in decomposing carcasses on Oahu, Hawaii

Abstract Previous studies have begun to characterize the microbial community dynamics of the skin, soil, gut, and oral cavities of decomposing remains. One area that has yet to be explored in great detail is the microbiome of the fly larval mass, the community of immature flies that plays a significant role in decomposition. The current study aimed to characterize the microbiology and chemistry of larval masses established on pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) carcasses and to determine if these characteristics have potential as temporal evidence. Carcasses (n = 3) were decomposed on the soil surface of a tropical habitat on Oahu, Hawaii, USA and sampled over three days at 74 h, 80 h, 98 h, 104 h, 122 h, and 128 h (∼85–142 Accumulated Degree Days) postmortem. Larval masses were analyzed via high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing and in situ chemical measurements (pH, temperature, oxidation-reduction potential). A trend was observed that resulted in three distinct microbial communities (pre-98 h, 98 h, and post-98 h). The oxidation-reduction potential (Eh) of larval masses apparently regulated microbial community structure with the most negative Eh being associated with the least rich and diverse microbial communities. Overall, a significant interaction between time and taxa was observed, particularly with bacterial phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. The current results provide new insight into the microbial community and chemical parameters of larval masses and indicate a temporal shift that could be further studied as a PMI estimator.
Is accounting students’ writing ability related to their academic performance?

Many accounting departments in the United States list good writing ability as a learning goal for accreditation purposes. However, the question of how writing ability relates to accounting academic...
Strategy and Paradoxes of Borda Count in Formula 1 Racing

Winning a championship is the highest achievement in Formula 1, and multiple titles can earn one a place in the pantheon of the sport. In this article I explore whether the scoring method for selecting a champion can be considered defi nitive, and how unstable results might be when the method’s parameters are slightly changed. I have employed case studies of paradoxes and historical recreations of seasons using alternative scoring systems. Finally, I argue that the Borda count is desirable system for scoring in Formula 1, and that building strategies by teams around particular scoring systems is a legitimate aspect of the sport.
Non-invasive membrane potential measurements using endogenous markers

Measurements and imaging of the electric and magnetic fields inside living cells are important for understanding many biophysical interactions. In particular, membrane potential plays a critical role in cellular communication processes, regulation of active transport and generation of action potential. While most of the active research is focused on developing fluorescent labels for detecting and quantifying membrane potential, the use of endogenous markers for the electric field potential measurements would allow extended measurements of the electric field potential, which could be important both for fundamental research and clinical studies. In this report, the vibrational Stark spectroscopy is evaluated. It is demonstrated that it has sufficient sensitivity to assess physiologically significant variations of the membrane potential.
The Validity and Reliability of Professional Self-Concept in Nursing in Accelerated Bachelor's and Master's Nursing Students.

Background and purpose Accelerated bachelor's and master's nursing students supported through the New Careers in Nursing program were surveyed (n = 3,506) using subscales from Arthur's Professional Self-Concept in Nursing Instrument (PSCNI). Reliability and validity of the instrument were assessed. Methods Factor analysis using a random split-half design were conducted and differences investigated based on characteristics. Results Four factors were revealed: leadership ( = .85), skill ( = .89), career positivity ( = .72), and career negativity ( = .72), with acceptable confirmatory fit. Gender and race/ethnicity differences were found in self-perceived leadership and skill and in career positivity by race/ethnicity. Accelerated bachelor's and master's students were different on skill and career positivity. Conclusions Self-perceived leadership, skill, career positivity, and career negativity are distinct PSCNI concepts.
Towards a validated patient-specific computational modeling framework to identify failure regions in traditional growing rods in patients with early onset scoliosis

Abstract Background While growing rods are an important contribution to early-onset scoliosis treatment, rod fractures are a common complication that require reoperations. A recent retrieval analysis study performed on failed traditional growing rods revealed that there are commonalities among patient characteristics based on the location of rod fracture. However, it remains unknown if these locations correspond to high stress regions in the implanted construct. Methods A patient-specific finite element scoliotic model was developed to match the pre-operative (pre-op) scoliotic curve of a patient as described in previously published articles, and by using the patient registry information along with biplanar radiographs. A dual stainless-steel traditional growing rod construct was implanted into this scoliotic model and the surgical procedure was simulated to match the post-operative (post-op) scoliotic curve parameters. Muscle stabilization and gravity was simulated through follower load application. Rod distraction magnitudes were chosen based on pre-op to post-op cobb angle correction, and flexion bending load was simulated to identify the high stress regions on the rods. Results The patient-specific finite element model identified two high stress regions on the posterior surface of the rods, one at mid construct and the other adjacent to the distal anchors. This correlated well with the data obtained from the retrieval analysis performed by researchers at U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which showed the posterior surface of the rod as the fracture initiation site, and the three locations of failure as mid-construct, adjacent to distal anchors, and adjacent to tandem connector. Conclusions The result of this study confirms that the high stress regions on the growing rods, as identified by the FEA, match the fracture prone sites identified in the retrieval analysis performed at the FDA. This proof-of-concept patient-specific approach can be used to predict sites prone to fracture in growing rods.
Learning the Grain Boundary Manifold: Tools for Visualizing and Fitting Grain Boundary Properties

Representation of materials data is an important challenge in property prediction. Current representations of grain boundary structure-property relationships are limited to high symmetry paths through the 5-D space of experimentally measurable crystallographic parameters. We develop a method to visualize and fit grain boundary properties along arbitrary paths in 5-space that leverages the recently developed octonion metric to interpolate between grain boundaries along shortest paths. First, we consider the purely geometric problem of grain boundary dimensionality reduction: how can we optimally visualize the high dimensional connectivity of grain boundary space in 3-D? We show that a reduced representation of grain boundary space based on the octonion metric and standard dimensionality reduction techniques recovers and extends common knowledge about grain boundary geometry. Second, we show that an octonion-based kernel regression method with one fitting parameter can predict grain boundary energy in the canonical Olmsted dataset to within 1% RMSE and mobility to within 10% RMSE. Open source tutorials for grain boundary dimensionality reduction and regression are made available online.
Approximate dynamic programming for network recovery problems with stochastic demand

Abstract Immediately after a disruption, in order to minimize the negative impact inflicted on the society, its imperative to re-establish the interdicted critical services enabled by the infrastructure networks. In this paper, we study the stochastic network recovery problem that tackles the planning of restoration activities (considering limited resources) on interdicted infrastructure network links so that the pre-disruption critical service flows can be re-established as quickly as possible. As an illustrative case study, we consider a disaster scenario on a road infrastructure network that obstructs the flow of relief-aid commodities and search-and-rescue teams between critical service providing facilities and locations in need of these critical services. As in the case of many realistic applications, we consider the amount of demand for critical services as stochastic. First, we present a Markov decision process (MDP) formulation for the stochastic road network recovery problem (SRNRP), then we propose an approximate dynamic programming (ADP) approach to heuristically solve SRNRP. We develop basis functions to capture the important complex network interactions that can be used to approximate cost-to-go values for the MDP states. We conduct computational experiments on a set of small-scale randomly generated instances and demonstrate that the ADP approach provides near-optimal results regardless of the demand distribution and network topology. In order to develop a practical approach suitable for solving real world sized instances, we propose a framework where we first develop an ADP model and derive a policy on a spatially aggregated network of large scale instance. Next, we show the performance of this policy through computational testing on the large scale disaggregated network. Moreover, we provide managerial insights by assessing the importance of each basis function in the ADP model contributing to the recovery policies. We test this approach on a case study based on the Boston road infrastructure network. We observe that, as the urgency of re-establishing services increases or the resources become more scarce, the information gained from the network characteristics and short-term decisions should be the main driving factors to derive recovery policies. The results of all experiments strongly evidence the significance of utilizing the inherent network interactions and attributes to generate basis function sets for ADP models that yield high-quality recovery policies.
The Role of Diet and Nutrition in Ulcerative Colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) represents a chronic inflammatory disease of intestines of unknown etiology and of raising incidence. It is hypothesized that environmental factors may trigger disease in genetically susceptible person. This chapter will discuss the current evidence of diet as risk factor for the development of IBD and as well as the role of various dietary and nutritional approaches in the management of the inflammatory bowel disease.
Document Informatics for Scientific Learning and Accelerated Discovery

Abstract This chapter presents a concept paper that describes methods to accelerate new materials discovery and optimization, by enabling faster recognition and use of important theoretical, computational, and experimental information aggregated from peer-reviewed and published materials-related scientific documents online. To obtain insights for the discovery of new materials and to study about existing materials, research and development scientists and engineers rely heavily on an ever-growing number of materials research publications, mostly available online, and that date back many decades. So, the major thrust of this concept paper is the use of technology to (i) extract “deep” meaning from a large corpus of relevant materials science documents; (ii) navigate, cluster, and present documents in a meaningful way; and (iii) evaluate and revise the materials-related query responses until the researchers are guided to their information destination. While the proposed methodology targets the interdisciplinary field of materials research, the tools to be developed can be generalized to enhance scientific discoveries and learning across a broad swathe of disciplines. The research will advance the machine-learning area of developing hierarchical, dynamic topic models to investigate trends in materials discovery over user-specified time periods. Also, the field of image-based document analysis will benefit tremendously from machine learning tools such as the use of deep belief networks for classification and text separation from document images. Developing an interactive visualization tool that can display modeling results from a large materials network perspective as well as a time-based perspective is an advancement in visualization studies.
Gun Violence Among Youth and the Pediatrician's Role in Primary Prevention

Adolescence is a developmental stage characterized by high rates of violent behavior. Increasingly, violent injury is involving preadolescent children. Evidence suggests that the availability of guns increases the lethality of violent acts. Because guns are ubiquitous in the United States and integral to the current epidemic of youth violence, pediatricians should participate in primary prevention of firearm injuries. Efforts should begin long before children reach adolescence. Pediatricians should: (1) Encourage parents to remove guns from the home, or at a minimum to keep guns unloaded and locked up; (2) Advise parents to limit viewing of gun violence in the media, and playing with toy guns and video games that involve shooting; (3) Be alert for early indicators of aggressive behavior; and (4) Become outspoken advocates for laws that restrict gun availability.
Adaptive peer selection

In a peer-to-peer file-sharing system, a client desiring a particular file must choose a source from which to download. The problem of selecting a good data source is difficult because some peers may not be encountered more than once, and many peers are on low-bandwidth connections. Despite these facts, information obtained about peers just prior to the download can help guide peer selection. A client can gain additional time savings by aborting bad download attempts until an acceptable peer is discovered. We denote as peer selection the entire process of switching among peers and finally settling on one. Our main contribution is to use the methodology of machine learning for the construction of good peer selection strategies from past experience. Decision tree learning is used for rating peers based on low-cost information, and Markov decision processes are used for deriving a policy for switching among peers. Preliminary results with the Gnutella network demonstrate the promise of this approach.
Helical meander line antenna and its spatial power combining for circular polarization

The objectives of designing meander line antennas are miniaturization of antenna and application of spatial power combining to make circular polarization. A linearly polarized planar antenna is proposed. Helical meander line is printed on both sides of the antenna substrate. It is appropriate to reduce the size of low resonant frequency antennas. The meander line antennas with opposite polarization directions can spatially combine differential outputs of a power amplifier without combiner. Circular polarization antenna is built by orthogonally placing and combining the linear polarization of the antennas. This concept can be applied to design a power amplifier, which is combined with the output of power limited CMOS amplifiers.
FAT‐Free p300 Is Good for Scar‐Free Tissue Repair

Fibrosis, the deadly pathological manifestation of an abnormal tissue remodeling in any organ due to excessive collagen deposition, is associated with a wide variety of organ failure-related human diseases. Chronic stress or repeated injury in a particular organ induces abnormal molecular signals that lead to super-activation of matrix protein producing fibroblasts, excessive matrix proteins accumulation, loss of physiological tissue architecture or elasticity, and ultimately leading to organ failure. There is no effective therapy for fibrosis. Factor acetyltransferase p300 (FATp300), a major epigenetic regulator that acetylates specific lysines in histones and transcription factors, is essential for elevated collagen synthesis and the levels of FATp300 are significantly elevated in different fibrotic tissues. Pharmacological inhibition of FAT activity of p300 is associated with decreased collagen synthesis by fibroblasts in tissues and amelioration of organ fibrosis. Therefore, FAT-free p300 is superior for physiological tissue repair and must be exploited as a viable therapeutic target against multi-organ fibrosis.
Electron attachment and ionic recombination in a kinestatic charge detector for digital radiography

Electron attachment and ionic recombination of the ions in the kinestatic cage detector (KCD) leads to a loss in useful signal from the detector, and a consequent reduction in the detective quantum efficiency because the pulse height distribution is broadened. The addition of a polyatomic gas such as carbon dioxide or methane has been found to reduce the electron attachment to a considerable extent via the Ramsauer effect. The consequent reduction in the signal loss due to recombination results in a considerable improvement in the signal obtained from the KCD. >
Ascorbic acid deficiency and hepatic UDP-glucuronyl transferase. Qualitative and quantitative differences.

Abstract The effect of dietary ascorbate on hepatic UDP glucuronyltransferase (UDPGT) appears to be selective in that only certain isozymes of UDPGT are jeopardized. In this study, ascorbic acid deficiency produced a 68% reduction in the specific activity of hepatic UDPGT towards p -nitrophenol. Earlier studies showed a reduction in UDPGT activity towards p -aminophenol in ascorbate-deficient guinea pigs, whereas bilirubin and acetaminophen glucuronidation were unaffected. Kinetic studies suggest that p -aminophenol and p-nitrophenol are metabolized by a single isozyme in tnat p -nitrophenol was found to be a competitive inhibitor of p -aminophenol glucuronidation. Both qualitative and quantitative studies on partially purified UDPGT from ascorbate-deficient and ascorbate-supplemented guinea pigs were carried out to investigate the biochemical role of the vitamin. Qualitative differences were observed in UDPGT from ascorbate-deficient animals and included an increased lability to: thermal inactivation; storage at 4°; and purification with UDP-glucuronic acid agarose column chromatography. Furthermore, an analysis of the microsomal membrane showed a 14% increase in membrane fluidity in ascorbate deficiency. Ascorbic acid added in vitro could not reverse the increase in fluidity observed in ascorbate-deficient microsomal membranes; however, ascorbylpalmitate, a more lipophilic form of the vitamin, was effective. Palmitic acid had no effect on membrane fluidity in microsomes from either the ascorbate-supplemented or ascorbate-deficient animals. This increase in membrane fluidity could not be explained by differences in cholesterol, total phospholipid, or phosphatidylcholine content of hepatic microsomes. Furthermore, a quantitative reduction in UDPGT partially purified from ascorbate-deficient guinea pigs was indicated by a marked reduction in protein banding at 55,000 daltons when compared to UDPGT partially purified from ascorbate-supplemented animals.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR ASPECTS OF THE ANTIDIURETIC ACTION OF VASOPRESSINS AND RELATED PEPTIDES.

Publisher Summary The vasopressins have a subtle role in the regulation of smooth muscle tone especially in the arterioles and, thereby, in sustaining blood pressure after hemorrhage and shock, although the pressor effects for which they were named require dosages that are in the pharmacological range. Vasopressin suppresses drinking by a direct action on the central nervous system in addition to the indirect effect on thirst that result from its antidiuretic activity. In addition to antidiuretic-pressor effects and a possible direct effect on the regulation of drinking, the vasopressin molecules have some degree of intrinsic oxytocic activity and some inherent influence on adenohypophyseal function as exemplified by their corticotropin-releasing activity. The biological activities by which the vasopressins, oxytocin, and their congeners are identified include elevation of blood pressure in the rat and spinal cat, antidiuresis in the rat and dog, contraction of mammalian uterine muscle in vivo or in vitro, reduction of blood pressure in birds, and contraction of the ducts of the lactating mammary gland. The vasopressin-oxytocin analog series now presents the most extensive material available for study of the structure-function relationship of biologically active peptides.
Chapter 6 Advances in Vasopressin Receptor Agonists and Antagonists

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the recent advances in the development of non-peptidic vasopressin receptor ligands, focusing on new series, structure–activity relationship (SAR), and preclinical data. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a 9–amino-acid cyclic peptide that exerts its effect through the V1a, V1b, V2, and oxytocin (OT) family of G-protein- coupled receptors (GPCRs). There is growing evidence that AVP, through its action at V1a and V1b receptors, is involved in the modulation of several higher brain functions such as response to stress, mood, memory formation, aggressivity, and sociality. The chapter examines V2 receptor antagonists and agonists for the modulation of renal function and cardiovascular conditions. V1a receptor antagonists are being actively investigated for indications such as dysmenorrhea, given the unmet medical need and the large patient population. On the contrary, the involvement of the V1a and V1b receptors in depression, anxiety and stress disorders has been clearly demonstrated in preclinical models. However, the discovery of an orally bioavailable, well-tolerated, and central nervous system (CNS)-penetrant antagonist of these receptors is still a challenge.
Advection-Dominated Accretion Onto Weakly-Magnetized White Dwarfs

The boundary layers of weakly-magnetized white dwarfs (WDs) accreting at rates <=10^16 g/s are radially extended, hot, optically-thin, and they advect some of their internally-dissipated energy (Narayan & Popham 1993). Motivated by this, I construct here idealized spectral models of an Advection-Dominated Accretion Flow (ADAF) around a WD, for application to quiescent Dwarf Novae (DN). The Bremsstrahlung cooling of the gas in the ADAF, with temperatures ranging from a few keV to a few tens of keV, can account for the X-ray emission properties of quiescent DN. If the energy advected by the flow is thermalized in the WD atmosphere, the resulting emission from the entire stellar surface (blackbody of temperature T_eff ~ 5 eV) outshines the X-ray luminosity substantially. This extreme-UV component provides a flux in the 0.055-0.28 keV band which is sufficient to power the strong HeII lambda4686 emission lines of quiescent DN by photoionization of the disk material. Reprocessing of the ADAF X-ray emission by a cold outer thin disk could also lead to an observable iron Kalpha fluorescence emission line, which can be used to probe the geometry of the accretion flow. Existing observational data indicate that the presence of ADAFs in quiescent DN is not ubiquitous, while future observations, in particular with the X-ray satellites Chandra and XMM-Newton, have the potential to detect signatures of the hot flow in promising candidates.
The Adult Hip. 2nd ed.

John J. Callaghan, Aaron G. Rosenberg, and Harry E. Rubash, editors. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2007. 1,569 pages. $379.00. ISBN: 978-0-7817-5092-9. The publication of this second edition of The Adult Hip is timely, as the management of hip disease continues to evolve rapidly. Dr. Callaghan, Dr. Rosenberg, and Dr. Rubash have effectively updated the 1998 first edition, and the resulting two-volume textbook is an exceptional accomplishment. Dr. Morrey's excellent review ( JBJS Am., September 1998) of the first edition of this book captures the important aspects of …
Metrifonate Decreases sI AHP in CA1 Pyramidal Neurons In Vitro

Metrifonate, a cholinesterase inhibitor, has been shown to enhance learning in aging rabbits and rats, and to alleviate the cognitive deficits observed in Alzheimer's disease patients. We have prev...
Evolution of multi-gene segments in the mutS-rpoS intergenic region of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2.

The nucleotide sequence of the 12·6 kb region between the mutS and rpoS genes of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2 (S. typhimurium) was compared to other enteric bacterial mutS–rpoS intergenic regions. The mutS–rpoS region is composed of three distinct segments, designated HK, O and S, as defined by sequence similarities to contiguous ORFs in other bacteria. Inverted chromosomal orientations of each of these segments are found between the mutS and rpoS genes in related Enterobacteriaceae. The HK segment is distantly related to a cluster of seven ORFs found in Haemophilus influenzae and a cluster of five ORFs found between the mutS and rpoS genes in Escherichia coli K-12. The O segment is related to the mutS–rpoS intergenic region found in E. coli O157:H7 and Shigella dysenteriae type 1. The third segment, S, is common to diverse Salmonella species, but is absent from E. coli. Despite the extensive collinearity and conservation of the overall genetic maps of S. typhimurium and E. coli K-12, the insertions, deletions and inversions in the mutS–rpoS region provide evidence that this region of the chromosome is an active site for horizontal gene transfer and rearrangement.
Reforming Executive Compensation: Focusing and Committing to the Long-Term

Executive compensation reform should lead to policies that are simple, transparent, and focused on creating and sustaining long-term shareholder value. We suggest that executive incentive compensation plans should consist only of restricted stock and restricted stock options, restricted in the sense that the shares cannot be sold or the option cannot be exercised for a period of at least two to four years after the executive’s resignation or last day in office. This will provide superior incentives for executives to manage corporations in investors’ longer-term interest, and diminish their incentives to make public statements, manage earnings, or accept undue levels of risk, for the sake of short-term price appreciation.
Sites of leakage in three models of acute lung injury

Fluid leaking from arterial and venous extra-alveolar vessels (EAV's) may account for up to 60% of the total transvascular fluid flux when edema occurs in the setting of normal vascular permeability. We determined if the permeability and relative contribution of EAV's was altered after inducing acute lung injury in rabbits by administering oleic acid (0.1 ml/kg) into the pulmonary artery, HCl (5 ml/kg of 0.1 N) into the trachea, or air emboli (0.03 ml.kg-1.min-1) into the right atrium for 90 min. Subsequently, the lungs were excised and continuously weighed while they were maintained in a warmed, humidified chamber with alveolar and pulmonary vascular pressures controlled and the lungs either ventilated or distended with 5% CO2 in air. The vascular system was filled with autologous blood and saline (1:1) to which papaverine (0.1 mg/ml) was added to inhibit vasospasm. Vascular pressures were referenced to the lung base. After a transient hydrostatic stress to maximize recruitment, vascular pressures were set at 5 cmH2O, and lungs were allowed to become isogravimetric (30-60 min). A fluid filtration coefficient (Kf) was determined by the use of a modification of the method of Drake and colleagues [Am. J. Physiol. 234 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 3): H266-H274, 1978]. EAV's were isolated by zoning techniques. In control preparations arterial and venous EAV's accounted for 26% (n = 9) and 38% (n = 11) of the total leakage, respectively. In all three models Kf increased two- to fourfold when the lungs were in zone 3 (alveolar vessels and arterial and venous EAV's contributing to the leakage).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Online sex-seeking behaviors of men who have sex with men in New York City.

The ongoing HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in New York City and the increased use of Internet sexual social networking websites by MSM fosters a need to understand the character...
Large-Scale Production and Properties of Immunoaffinity-Purified Human Activated Protein C Concentrate

Activated protein C (APC) is a highly specific serine proteinase which functions as an important naturally occurring antithrombotic enzyme. APC also has anti-inflammatory properties. We have developed a large-scale process for the production of APC for therapeutic use starting with cryoprecipitate-poor human plasma. This report describes the process, its performance at the pilot plant scale, and the characteristics of immunoaffinity-purified human APC concentrate referred to as APC (human). The process consists of three chromatographic steps, an enzymatic conversion step, and incorporates a solvent/detergent treatment step for the inactivation of lipid-enveloped viruses. Solvent/detergent was shown to rapidly inactivate spiked HIV-1, as well as three marker viruses to nondetectable levels under process conditions. The immunoaffinity-purified protein C (PC) intermediate was enriched 13,600-fold over plasma and had a specific activity of 231 U/mg. The overall yield of the process following enzymatic conversion of the PC intermediate to APC and its processing by anion exchange chromatography was 36%. APC (human) was shown to be highly purified, functional and stable.