cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identifying and Addressing Confounding Bias in Violence Prevention Research.

Violence prevention research has enhanced our understanding of individual and community risk and protective factors for aggression and violence. However, our knowledge of risk and protective factors for violence is highly dependent on observational studies, since there are few randomized trials of risk and protective factors for violence. Observational studies are susceptible to systematic errors, specifically confounding, and may lack internal validity. Many violence prevention studies utilize methods that do not correctly identify the set of covariates needed for statistical adjustment. This results in unwarranted matching and restriction leading to further confounding or selection bias. Covariate adjustment based on purely statistical criteria generates inconsistent results and uncertain conclusions. Conventional methods used to identify confounding in violence prevention research are often inadequate. Causal diagrams have the potential to improve the understanding and identification of potential confounding biases in observational violence prevention studies, and methods like sensitivity analysis using quantitative bias analysis can help to address unmeasured confounding. Violence research studies should make more use of these methods.
Research in Neuroscience

It seems that every day there is an explosion of new information in neuroscience and an associated enhancement of technological advancements. More than ever neuroscientists are generating substantive collective knowledge regarding the interconnections within the brain, its connectivity, and function. This chapter discusses the progress on anesthesia-induced unconsciousness, anesthesia and neurodevelopmental and behavioral-cognitive function, and a recent update on the clinical topics, particularly in the stroke research. The mechanism of anesthesia-induced consciousness is still largely under active investigation in neuroscience research. The anesthetic-induced unconsciousness mechanism was proposed to work via two opposite pathways: bottom-up and top-down mechanisms. A disruption of the integration and sensory processing leads to unconsciousness. A true unconscious state in which patients transit from sedation to unawareness still does not manifest a consistent EEG signature across anesthetic agents. Developing reliable brain measures to track the transition to loss of consciousness is still hindered by individual variability and susceptibility to anesthetics. There is ongoing debate in neurocognition and neurobehavioral effects of anesthesia in children. However, the current evidence in humans shows optimism suggesting no association between early short exposure of anesthesia and neurotoxicity in children. Similarly, there is no conclusive evidence of anesthesia and surgery causing neurocognitive decline and the development of dementia or Alzheimer disease in elderly patients. Anesthesia choice between conscious sedation versus general anesthesia during intraarterial treatment for stroke patients shows conflicting results between large retrospective data and recent prospective randomized studies. In conclusion, research in neuroscience has progressed substantially over the past several years. Recent advances in technology enhance our understanding of the mechanism of neuronal functions, protection, and injury. Many more advances are expected in the near future.
School Connectedness, Self-Esteem, and Adolescent Life Satisfaction

We collected data from 652 students enrolled in grades 5-12 in a rural southern school district to identify whether a pair of self-appraised social constructs could significantly predict adolescent...
Forging a New Path to Early Discovery: Parterning Childcare Centers with Telemedicine for Developmental Screening:

This project's aim was to assess feasibility of implementing typical pediatric neurodevelopmental screening procedures within a community child care setting via telemedicine. We also sought to identify children at an early age who are at increased risk for neurodevelopmental difficulties and refer them for early childhood services. The project was born out of need to ease accessibility, increase early discovery, and reach out to areas with limited to no developmental and behavioral resources. A recent survey taken in Mississippi revealed that 40% …
What magnetospheric and ionospheric researchers should know about the solar wind

Abstract Multiple properties of the solar wind that affect the earth are summarized in this overview. 13 specific solar-wind parameters that influence geomagnetic activity, the plasma sheet, the ionosphere, and the electron radiation belt are catalogued: these include the wind speed, number density, magnetic-field strength, field orientation, Mach number, Alfven speed, electron-strahl intensity, and magnetic-field fluctuation amplitude. The solar wind at Earth is categorized into four types of plasma emanating from different morphological features on the solar surface and the systematic differences between the four plasma types is assessed. The solar-cycle behavior of the solar wind is examined in terms of the changing occurrence rates of the four plasma types emanating from the changing Sun. A 27-day periodicity in the properties of the solar wind and in the reaction of the Earth are investigated: the periodicity is owed to features on the rotating Sun. The strong intercorrelations between solar-wind variables are considered and the origins of the intercorrelations are explained. Large-scale structures in the solar wind are reviewed and the different types of geomagnetic storms that they drive are summarized. The mesoscale magnetic structure of the solar wind is examined, the impact on Earth of its current sheets and cellular structure is explored, and a non-randomness in variations of the magnetic-field direction changes at Earth is demonstrated. Sudden strong velocity shears in the solar wind are discussed and their impact on the magnetosphere is shown via a global MHD simulation. The magnetic structure moving outward from the Sun faster than the plasma outflow is discussed, and it is pointed out that the velocity of the magnetic structure should be used when calculating the motional electric field of the Sun. Finally, drawbacks to monitoring the solar wind from L1 are identified.
“Who said it, and Why?” Provenance for Natural Language Claims

In an era where generating content and publishing it is so easy, we are bombarded with information and are exposed to all kinds of claims, some of which do not always rank high on the truth scale. This paper suggests that the key to a longer-term, holistic, and systematic approach to navigating this information pollution is capturing the provenance of claims. To do that, we develop a formal definition of provenance graph for a given natural language claim, aiming to understand where the claim may come from and how it has evolved. To construct the graph, we model provenance inference, formulated mainly as an information extraction task and addressed via a textual entailment model. We evaluate our approach using two benchmark datasets, showing initial success in capturing the notion of provenance and its effectiveness on the application of claim verification.
A 1.5-D Array for Acoustic Radiation Force (ARF)-Induced Peak Displacement-Based Tissue Anisotropy Assessment With a Row-Column Excitation Method

Many biological tissues, including muscle or kidney, are mechanically anisotropic, and the degree of anisotropy (DoA) in mechanical properties is diagnostically relevant. DoA can be assessed either using the ratio of shear wave velocities (SWVs) or acoustic radio forced impulse (ARFI)-induced peak displacements (PD) measured longitudinal over transverse orientations. Whether using SWV or PD as a basis, DoA expressed as the ratio of values requires 90° transducer rotation when a linear array is employed. This large rotation angle is prone to misalignment errors. One solution is the use of a fully sampled matrix array for electronic rotation of point spread function (PSF). However, the challenges of matrix array are its high fabrication cost and complicated fabrication procedures. The cheaper and simpler alternative of matrix array is the use of a row–column array. A $3\times64$ elements 1.5-D array with a row–column excitation mode is proposed to assess DoA in mechanical properties using the PD ratio. Different numbers of elements in elevational and lateral directions were selected to have orthogonal ARFI excitation beams without rotating the transducer. A custom-designed flex circuit was used to fabricate the array with a simpler electrode connection than a fully sampled matrix array. The performance of the array was evaluated in Field II simulation and experiment. The output pressure was 0.57-MPa output under a 40- ${V}_{\text {pp}}$ excitation with a −6-dB point spread dimension of $14\times4$ mm2 in orthogonal directions. The PD was measured to be $1.4~\mu \text{m}$ in an isotropic elastic phantom with Young’s modulus of 5.4 kPa. These results suggest that the array is capable of assessing DoA using PD ratio without physical rotation of the transducer. The array has the potential to reduce the misalignment errors for DoA assessment.
Electron Beam Patterning of Metal–Organic Frameworks

Development in patterning technique of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) will facilitate their integration in microelectronics, but controlling the structure of MOFs at the nanoscale remains a major ...
Incomplete hippocampal inversion in schizophrenia: prevalence, severity, and impact on hippocampal structure.

Incomplete hippocampal inversion (IHI) is an anatomical variant of the human brain resulting from an arrest in brain development, especially prevalent in the left hemisphere. We hypothesized that IHI is more common in schizophrenia and contributes to the well-known hippocampal structural differences. We studied 199 schizophrenia patients and 161 healthy control participants with 3 T MRI to establish IHI prevalence and the relationship of IHI with hippocampal volume and asymmetry. IHI was more prevalent (left hemisphere: 15% of healthy control participants, 27% of schizophrenia patients; right hemisphere: 4% of healthy control participants, 10% of schizophrenia patients) and more severe in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy control participants. Severe IHI cases were associated with a higher rate of automated segmentation failure. IHI contributed to smaller hippocampal volume and increased R > L volume asymmetry in schizophrenia. The increased prevalence and severity of IHI supports the neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. The impact of this developmental variant deserves further exploration in studies of the hippocampus in schizophrenia.
Analyzing the Unique Needs of International Palliative Care Learners Attending a United States-Based Palliative Care Education and Practice Course

Background: Many seriously ill patients in need of palliative care (PC) globally never receive it, partly due to a lack of well-trained providers. Objectives: We analyzed feedback from internationa...
Large Scale Infrared-Based Remote Sensing of Turbulence Metrics in Surface Waters: Going Beyond Mean Flow

In recent years field-scale applications of image-based velocimetry methods, often referred to as large scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV), have been increasingly deployed. These velocimetry measurements have several advantages—they allow high resolution, non-contact measurement of surface velocity over a large two dimensional area, from which the bulk flow can be inferred. However, visiblelight LSPIV methods can have significant limitations. The water surface often lacks natural features that can be tracked in the visible and generally requires seeding with tracer particles, which creates concerns regarding the fidelity with which tracer particles track the flow, and introduces challenges in achieving sufficient and uniform seeding density, in particular in regions with appreciable velocity accelerations such as turbulence. In LSPIV, image collection is generally limited to daylight hours, and can suffer from non-uniformity of illumination across the camera’s field of view. Due to these issues LSPIV often requires spatio-temporal averaging, and as a result is generally able to extracting the mean, but not the instantaneous, velocity field, and hence is often not a suitable tool for calculating turbulence metrics of the flow.
Synthesis of (±)-Setigerumine I: Biosynthetic Origins of the Elusive Racemic Papaveraceae Isoxazolidine Alkaloids**

The biosynthetic origins of the structurally related racemic isoxazolidine Papaveraceae alkaloids Setigerumine I, Dactylicapnosinine and Dactylicapnosine have remained elusive since their original isolation over two decades ago. Herein we report the first biosynthetic hypothesis for their formation and, inspired by it, the first synthesis of (±)-Setigerumine I with accompanying computational rationale. Based on the results, these isoxazolidine alkaloids arise from racemizing oxidative rearrangements of prominent isoquinoline alkaloids Noscapine and Hydrastine. The key steps featured in this synthesis are a room temperature Cope elimination and a domino oxidation/inverse-electron demand 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of an axially chiral, yet configurationally unstable, intermediate. The work opens this previously inaccessible family of natural products for biological studies.
A Closer Look at the Yardstick: A New Discount Rate Measure with Precision and Range

In intertemporal choice research, choice tasks (i.e., choosing between $80 today and $100 in a year) are often used to elicit a discount rate. The discount rate derived from a choice task, however, is largely restricted by the granularities and ranges of the questions asked. We examined this restriction in three popular discount rate measurements using simulations and experiments, and we propose an alternative procedure (Three-option Adaptive Discount rate measure (ToAD)), which is capable of measuring a wide range of discount rates (from approximately .035% to 350 000% annual percentage rate) with high precision using 10 questions, in under a minute. ToAD can be easily implemented in online surveys (i.e., Qualtrics). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Complications of Insulin Therapy

Insulin allergic reactions were seen in the first insulin preparations used for therapy of diabetes mellitus. The use of highly purified animal insulins, semisynthetic, and recombinant DNA human insulins has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the immunological complications of insulin therapy. However, subcutaneous human insulin administration with biosynthetic insulins has been shown to incite antibody responses in nondiabetic individuals as well as in diabetic individuals via subcutaneous, respiratory, and peritoneal routes. Further, anti-insulin antibodies commonly precede the appearance of type 1 diabetes, especially in children. Hypertrophy of subcutaneous fat at sites of repeated insulin injections continues to be a common nonimmunological complication of therapy. In addition, hypertrophy of omental fat has been reported to be a cause of catheter occlusion during the course of intraperitoneal delivery of concentrated insulin by implantable insulin pumps. Edema associated with insulin therapy is an unusual and usually self-limited disorder. Hypoglycemia secondary to insulin therapy is the expected outcome of a mismatch between nutrients, insulin levels, insulin action, and glucose counterregulatory mechanisms. This chapter reviews insulin immunology and the immunological and nonimmunological complications of insulin therapy. Keywords: complications; insulin therapy; allergy; immunology; lipohypertrophy; edema; hypoglycemia
Animal models for food allergy.

Animal models have been used to provide insight into the complex immunological and pathophysiological mechanisms of human type I allergic diseases. Therapeutic studies include allergen modifications, route of exposure, tolerance development with bacterial agents and/or herbal medicines, and cytokine skewing. Allergenic potential of novel proteins has received substantial interest in recent years, aimed at predicting allergenicity for genetically modified foods based upon known allergens, rare allergens, and nonallergens in different animal models. This chapter takes information from these sources and others to provide the reader with the author’s perspective on animal models and food allergy that could extrapolate to human type I allergic disease. An ideal food allergy animal model should include the following features. This chapter highlights the IgE-mediated gastrointestinal food hypersensitivity disorders (gastrointestinal anaphylaxis; oral allergy syndrome). The normal immune response in animals to dietary proteins is oral tolerance; however, abrogation of active immune suppression can result in adverse reactions, such as IgE-mediated food allergy. The chapter concludes that the most difficult task from one or more of these promising animal studies should be to extrapolate successfully to human disease.
The prostanoid content in peritoneal fluid and plasma of women with endometriosis

Abstract Peritoneal fluid and plasma collected at laparoscopy in women with and without endometriosis were evaluated for prostanoid content. 6-Keto-prostaglandin F 1α (6-keto-F 1α ), thromboxane B 2 (TxB 2 ), 15-keto-13,14-dihydroprostaglandin F 2α (PGFM), prostaglandin F (PGF), and prostaglandin E (PGE) were assayed in peritoneal fluid, with 6-keto-F 1α , TxB 2 , and PGFM being studied in plasma. The concentrations of these prostanoids in women with endometriosis were not significantly different from the concentrations in the disease-free group, nor was a significant difference seen in any of the prostanoids studied in relationship to the severity of the endometriosis. The results suggest that routine study of prostanoid levels in patients with endometriosis may not be of a diagnostic or prognostic value.
Personality and Attitude Correlates of Political Candidate Preference

(1968). Personality and Attitude Correlates of Political Candidate Preference. The Journal of Social Psychology: Vol. 76, No. 2, pp. 219-226.
Changes in testicular testosterone and acid and alkaline phosphatase activity in testis and accessory sex organs after induction of varicocele in Noble rats.

Abstract The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of surgically induced varicocele on testicular androgen production, seminiferous tubular diameter, and acid and alkaline phosphatase activities in testis and accessory sex organs in adult Noble rats. Testosterone concentrations in plasma and in both left and right testis were estimated in both sham-operated and varicocele-induced rats. The activities of acid and alkaline phosphatase were measured in both left and right testis, seminal vesicle, and ventral prostate gland in varicocele-induced and sham-operated rats. The levels of testosterone in plasma in rats with varicocele were lower than those in the sham-operated rats. The concentration of testosterone in the left testis was lower than that in the right testis in varicocele-induced rats while no such differences were observed in sham-operated rats. The seminiferous tubular diameter in the left testis is reduced in varicocele-induced rats from that in the right testis. In the sham animals, testicular acid phosphatase activity was higher in the left testis than the right, while in varicocele-induced animals, no differences in acid phosphatase activity between left and right testis were observed. In varicocele-created rats, the activity of alkaline phosphatase was higher in the left testis than in the right while no differences in alkaline phosphatase activity between left and right testis in sham-operated rats were observed. Acid phosphatase activity was decreased in both seminal vesicle and ventral prostate gland of varicocele-induced animals while alkaline phosphatase activity in seminal vesicle and ventral prostate of varicocele-induced rats were not significantly different from those of sham-operated rats. The results of our experiment suggest that unilateral varicocele produces a unilateral change in testicular testosterone production and acid and alkaline phosphatase activity, and that these changes are associated with alteration in acid phosphatase activity in accessory sex organs.
Spotting words in handwritten Arabic documents

The design and performance of a system for spotting handwritten Arabic words in scanned document images is presented. Three main components of the system are a word segmenter, a shape based matcher for words and a search interface. The user types in a query in English within a search window, the system finds the equivalent Arabic word, e.g., by dictionary look-up, locates word images in an indexed (segmented) set of documents. A two-step approach is employed in performing the search: (1) prototype selection: the query is used to obtain a set of handwritten samples of that word from a known set of writers (these are the prototypes), and (2) word matching: the prototypes are used to spot each occurrence of those words in the indexed document database. A ranking is performed on the entire set of test word images-- where the ranking criterion is a similarity score between each prototype word and the candidate words based on global word shape features. A database of 20,000 word images contained in 100 scanned handwritten Arabic documents written by 10 different writers was used to study retrieval performance. Using five writers for providing prototypes and the other five for testing, using manually segmented documents, 55% precision is obtained at 50% recall. Performance increases as more writers are used for training.
Exact and approximate D-optimal designs in polynomial regression

If the sample sizen is large enough, then the exact polynomial regression designs obtained by rounding the weights of the approximate D-optimal design to integral multiples of 1/n are D-optimal. This was shown by Salaevskii (1966) and Gaffke (1987). In this note, an efficient algorithm to determine the minimum sample sizend for a polynomial model of degreed is derived from a condition given by Huang (1987). Under an additional assumption we show that the conditions of Gaffke and Huang are equivalent; we verify the additional assumption for polynomial degreed≤40.
Multi-Stage Point and Interval Estimation of the Largest Mean of K Normal Populations and the Associated Second-Order Properties.

We havek independent normal populations with unknown meansμ1, …,μk and a common unknown varianceσ2. Both point and interval estimation procedures for the largest mean are proposed by means of sequential and three-stage procedures. For the point estimation problem, we require that the maximal risk be at mostW, a preassigned positive number. For the other problem, we wish to construct a fixed-width confidence interval having the confidence coefficient at least 1-α, a preassigned number between zero and one. Asymptotic second order expansions are provided for various characteristics, such as average sample size, associated risks etc., for the suggested multi-stage estimation procedures.
Assessment of Childhood Depression.

BACKGROUND Depression as a disorder in childhood began to be increasingly recognised in the 1970s. Epidemiologic community and clinic-based studies have characterised the prevalence, clinical course, and complications of this illness throughout childhood and adolescence into adulthood. This paper reviews two instruments for assessing depression in prepubertal children - the Dominic Interactive and The Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment. Both instruments are useful in screening for psychiatric disorders and reliably identifying the presence of depressive symptoms in young children.
The spectra of composition operators from linear fractional maps acting upon the Dirichlet space

Abstract Let φ : D → D be a non-constant linear fractional transformation (necessarily of the form φ ( z ) = az + b cz + d ). Let D denote the Dirichlet space of analytic functions. We determine the spectrum of the composition operator C ϕ : D → D defined by C ϕ ( f ) = f ∘ φ . Eigenfunctions for the operator C ϕ : H 2 → H 2 frequently do not belong to the space D . However, spectral results for the operator C ϕ : D → D , much like those that have already been demonstrated for the operator C ϕ : H 2 → H 2 , are presented in this paper.
Combustible Mixtures of Lunar Regolith with Metals: Thermodynamic Analysis and Combustion Experiments

Construction materials could be produced in situ on the surface of the moon or Mars by combustion of regolith mixed with metals such as aluminum and magnesium. In the present paper, the adiabatic flame temperature and combustion products were calculated for the mixtures of JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant with aluminum and magnesium, aswell aswith a titanium/boron pair. It was shown that at the additive concentrations of 20–30wt%, the reaction between titanium and boron provides a lower adiabatic flame temperature of themixture as compared with the thermite-type reaction between regolith and aluminum or magnesium. Also, magnesium exhibits higher temperatures as compared with aluminum. Themaximum temperatures for aluminum andmagnesium are reached at 23 and 26wt%, respectively. Combustion ofmagnesium/JSC-1Amixture pellets was studied experimentally in an argon environment. To facilitate ignition and achieve stable combustion, the original JSC-1A powder was ground in aballmill. It was shown that, with increasing themilling time of JSC-1A, the combustion front velocity ofMg/JSC-1A mixture increases. A decrease in argon pressure from 90 to 10 kPa does not influence the front velocity.
Abstract 4038: Investigating the effect of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) inhibition in pancreatic cancer chemoresistance.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States with a 5-year survival rate of 6%. Current therapeutic regimens have done little to halt the progression of this disease. This demonstrates an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies which address the mechanisms underlying the tumor cells’ ability to develop resistance to drug treatment. Increased expression of GRP78, a member of the Hsp70 protein family, is associated with poor prognosis in a number of human cancers. This prompted us to explore the role of GRP78 expression in pancreatic tumorigenesis. Our data show that while no GRP78 expression was observed in the ducts of wild-type pancreata, GRP78 expression is significantly increased in the ductal cells of PDACs in our murine models. Moreover, this upregulated GRP78 expression, especially its membrane-associated form, corresponded to P-AKT activation. Our previous results showed that increased P-AKT signaling is significantly associated with distinct pancreatic cancer patient subgroups with more aggressive disease progression. Taken together, these data raised the question of whether GRP78 is essential for pancreatic chemoresistance. GRP78 expression was inhibited in several gemcitabine resistant PDAC cell lines using siRNA. GRP78 knockdown produced no measurable levels of cell death in any cell lines tested. Likewise, treatment with gemcitabine alone produced very little cell death. However, gemcitabine treatment in cells with GRP78 knockdown showed significantly increased cell death. Examination of cells treated with GRP78 siRNA showed decreased P-AKT activation. These data suggest GRP78 could serve as a potential therapeutic target for chemoresistant pancreatic cancers which show PI3K/AKT pathway activation. Citation Format: Katherine Richards, Ellen Gunn, Reginald Hill. Investigating the effect of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) inhibition in pancreatic cancer chemoresistance. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4038. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4038
Update from the SENIC project. Hospital infection control: Recent progress and opportunities under prospective payment

From a survey of all U.S. hospitals in 1976 and of a random sample in 1983, we found that the intensity of infection surveillance and control activities greatly increased, and the percentage of hospitals with an infection control nurse per 250 beds increased from 22% to 57%. The percentage with a physician trained in infection control remained low (15%), and there was a drop in the percentages of hospitals doing surgical wound infection surveillance (from 90% down to 79%) and reporting surgeon-specific rates to surgeons (from 19% down to 13%). There was an increase in the percentage of hospitals with programs shown to be effective in preventing urinary tract infections, bacteremias, and pneumonias, but not surgical wound infections. The percentage of nosocomial infections being prevented nationwide appears to have increased from 6% to only 9%, whereas 32% could be preveneted if all hospitals adopted the most effective programs.
Ready-signal effects as a function of experimental design in simple reaction time.

In the between-S design, 20 Ss had a visual ready signal presented on each trial; for another 20 Ss, the ready signal was always absent. The within-S design consisted of 40 Ss that experienced both ready-signal conditions in semirandom order. Two intensities of a 1,000-Hz tone were used as the response signals Ready-signal manipulation had pronounced effects under the within-S but not the between-S design irrespective of response-signal intensity
Testing Methodology for Resilient Modulus of Base Materials

Resilient moduli of base and subgrade materials are important parameters in the new pavement design method adopted by AASHTO and many state agencies. Several testing protocols for determining the resilient moduli of subgrade soils have been proposed and evaluated in the technical literature. Unfortunately, less effort has been focused on developing protocols appropriate for base materials. The main objective was to describe a resilient modulus testing procedure that has been developed for the Texas Department of Transportation. The proposed procedure contains the main steps of the AASHTO T294-92 procedure, with several exceptions. Namely, the loading sequence of the T294-92 procedure was modified to avoid subjecting the specimens to high deviatoric stresses at low confining pressures. The conditioning cycles were replaced by a procedure in which the specimen was grouted to the platens to minimize disturbance to the specimen during stage testing. The effects of end restraint on the vertical strains were mi...
Protein quality and calcium availability from extruded and autoclaved turkey hatchery residue

Abstract The protein quality of an extruded mixture of hatchery by-product meal and soybean meal (EHSM) and the calcium availability of autoclaved hatchery by-product meal (AHBM) were determined. In Experiments 1 and 2, EHSM or soybean meal (SBM) were the only protein sources in diets formulated to contain 16, 20, or 24% CP. In both experiments, there were five or six replicate pens randomly allotted to each level of dietary protein and each pen contained five poults. In Experiment 1, there was a significant increase in the Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER; P
HRLSim: A High Performance Spiking Neural Network Simulator for GPGPU Clusters

Modeling of large-scale spiking neural models is an important tool in the quest to understand brain function and subsequently create real-world applications. This paper describes a spiking neural network simulator environment called HRL Spiking Simulator (HRLSim). This simulator is suitable for implementation on a cluster of general purpose graphical processing units (GPGPUs). Novel aspects of HRLSim are described and an analysis of its performance is provided for various configurations of the cluster. With the advent of inexpensive GPGPU cards and compute power, HRLSim offers an affordable and scalable tool for design, real-time simulation, and analysis of large-scale spiking neural networks.
Comparative demography of skates: life-history correlates of productivity and implications for management.

Age-structured demographic models were constructed based on empirical estimates of longevity and maturity for five deepwater Bering Sea skates to investigate how observed differences in life history parameters affect population growth rates. Monte Carlo simulations were used to incorporate parameter uncertainty. Estimated population growth rates ranged from 1.045 to 1.129 yr−1 and were lower than those reported for other Alaskan skates and most chondrichthyans. Population growth rates of these and other high-latitude skates increased with relative reproductive lifespan, but displayed no significant relationship with body size or depth distribution, suggesting that assemblage shifts may be difficult to predict for data-poor taxa. Elasticity analyses indicated that juvenile and adult survival had greater per-unit effects on population growth rates than did egg-case survival or fecundity. Population growth rate was affected more by uncertainty in age at maturity than maximum age. The results of this study indicate that if skates are deemed to be a management concern, gear modifications or depth-specific effort controls may be effective.
Risk management strategies in physical therapy: documentation to avoid malpractice.

Purpose – This article aims to highlight the importance of a complete and accurate medical record as it pertains to potential risk exposure in the outpatient physical therapy profession.Design/methodology/approach – Basic charting rules, correction and alteration recommendations, documentation of telephone conversations, informed consent, exculpatory release forms and incident reports are discussed. Basic risk management strategies are reviewed that may reduce outpatient physical therapy practitioners' malpractice exposure.Findings – The authors contend that quality and thorough documentation is as important as the quality of the care that is delivered to patients, since medical records are legal documents and serve as valuable evidence as to what transpired between patients and the healthcare providers.Originality/value – Practical documentation strategies are described in a manner that will inform physical therapists of their legal obligations relating to patient care.
Genetic containment of forest plantations

Dispersal of pollen, seeds, or vegetative propagules from intensively bred, exotic, or recombinant DNA modified forest plantations may cause detrimental or beneficial ecological impacts on wild or managed ecosystems. Insertion of genes designed to prevent or substantially reduce dispersal could reduce the risk and extent of undesired impacts. Containment measures may also be required by law or marketplace constraints, regardless of risks or benefits. We discuss: (1) the context for when genetic containment or mitigation systems may be needed; (2) technology approaches and mechanisms; (3) the state of knowledge on genes/genomics of sexual reproduction in forest trees; (4) stability of transgene expression during vegetative growth; (5) simulation studies to define the level of containment needed; and (6) needed research to deliver effective containment technologies. We illustrate progress with several examples from our research on recombinant DNA modified poplars. Our simulations show that even partial sterility can provide very substantial reductions in gene flow into wild trees. We conclude that it is impossible to define the most effective containment approaches, nor their reliability, based on current genomic knowledge and technological tools. Additional genomic and technological studies of a wide variety of options are needed. Studies in field environments are essential to provide data relevant to ecological analysis and regulatory decisions and need to be carried out in phylogenetically diverse representatives of the economically most important taxa of forest trees.
Crystal structure of 4,5-bis-(3,4,5-tri-meth-oxy-phen-yl)-2H-1,2,3-triazole methanol monosolvate.

The title compound, C20H23N3O6·CH3OH, was synthesized by [3 + 2] cyclo­addition of (Z)-2,3-bis­(3,4,5-tri­meth­oxy­phen­yl)acrylo­nitrile with sodium azide and ammonium chloride in DMF/water. The central nitro­gen of the triazole ring is protonated. The dihedral angles between the triazole ring and the 3,4,5-tri­meth­oxy­phenyl ring planes are 34.31 (4) and 45.03 (5)°, while that between the 3,4,5-tri­meth­oxy­phenyl rings is 51.87 (5)°. In the crystal, the mol­ecules, along with two methanol solvent mol­ecules are linked into an R44(10) centrosymmetric dimer by N—H⋯O and O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds.
Methods for Real-Time, In Situ Measurement of Aerosol Light Absorption

Light extinction by aerosols is due to scattering and absorption. The anthropogenic contribution is generally dominated by light scattering by sulfate particles and light absorption by elemental carbon. While real-time, in situ instrumentation for the measurement of ambient light scattering exists and is widely used (i.e., nephelometers), no such instrumentation is currently in use for the sensitive measurement of ambient light absorption by aerosols. Instrumentation for this purpose has been developed in the past, mostly for the measurement of gaseous light absorption, but it has also been applied to the measurement of aerosol light absorption. This instrumentation is based on measuring the absorbed energy, as opposed to measuring light extinction, which is complicated by the scattering component and is also less sensitive. For aerosols, the absorbed energy heats the gas, leading to its thermal expansion. The two most sensitive techniques to detect this expansion are photoacoustic detection, in which the light source is modulated and the periodic expansion of the gas results in a sound wave at the modulation frequency, which may be detected with a microphone; and optical homodyne interferometry, in which the changed gas density is detected with a Mach-Zehnder type interferometer via the directly related change in refractive index. This article reviews the current state of both photoacoustic and interferometric detection methods. In addition, new ideas are discussed that are currently implemented by our group and should lead to substantial improvements. Size and reliability are being improved by utilizing modern, compact solid state lasers. New designs both for the photoacoustic cell and the interferometer promise to be less susceptible to acoustic background noise. In the case of the photoacoustic cell, the new design also virtually eliminates the previously dominant noise source, coherent window noise. Furthermore, an acoustic amplifier, based on the thermoacoustic effect, is being integrated into the photoacoustic cell to further improve its sensitivity.
The economic consequences of community support for tourism: A case study of a heritage fish hatchery

Abstract Although tourist attractions are the drivers of tourism to many communities, and local citizens’ support of these attractions is vital to their viability, the economic outcomes of such support have never been assessed. To help fill this information void, the authors examined the unusual case of a historical attraction that was closed in 1983 by the federal government agency operating it but resurrected the following year by local citizens who considered it indispensable to their town’s identity, cultural heritage, and tourist appeal. Since the attraction would not exist but for this intervention, the current value of the community’s resuscitation of it in 1984 was inferred from the economic impacts it currently generated. In 2007 these were estimated to be about US$1.6 million in direct attraction-related expenditures in the town, US$2.1 million in business revenues, US$629,000 in personal income, US$141,000 in local and state taxes and fees, and 27 new jobs.
Loricrin expression is coordinated with other epidermal proteins and the appearance of lipid lamellar granules in development.

In mouse, epidermal development proceeds from a single basal cell layer covered by a specialized single cell layer called the periderm at E14 to a fully differentiated stratified squamous epithelium at E18. To determine when loricrin, a major cell envelope component, is expressed during development, we examined fetal skin from mice of gestational ages E13 through E19 and compared the temporal pattern of loricrin expression with that of other differentiation markers. We found that loricrin mRNA and protein were expressed by E16, following the expression of keratins K1 and K10 and preceding the expression of profilaggrin. Interestingly, both loricrin and profilaggrin were initially expressed focally in areas corresponding to more advanced morphologic stages of maturation. Because the cornified envelope is a composite structure consisting of both protein and lipid components, we also monitored the appearance of lipid lamellar granules during epidermal development. These granules were first evident at E16 and the extrusion of lipids from the granules into the intercellular space occurred at E17 prior to the cross linking of loricrin into the cell envelopes. Our results document that loricrin is expressed and accumulates at the cell periphery subsequent to the extrusion of lipids, but prior to processing of profilaggrin. We suggest that the sequential regulation of these events is critical for formation of epidermal barrier function during development.
Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)--Active and Post Cryotherapy in Human Infants: Spatial Expression of Retinal Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) mRNA † 296

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)--Active and Post Cryotherapy in Human Infants: Spatial Expression of Retinal Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) mRNA † 296
A COPROPHAGY-PREVENTING METABOLISM CAGE FOR MICE OR HAMSTERS.

SummaryA metabolism cage for mice or hamsters is described which affords a separation of urine ancl feces, and nhich prevents coprophagy.
Impact of ACE inhibitors on mortality and morbidity in patients with AMI: Does tissue selectivity matter?

Abstract Objective To examine the impact of tissue selectivity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors on mortality and morbidity in patients following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods A retrospective cohort study using a Medicaid claims database was conducted. Patients hospitalized for an AMI and subsequently filling a prescription for an ACE inhibitor were followed longitudinally for the occurrence of cardiovascular-related hospitalizations and all-cause mortality. A subanalysis was also conducted to account for switching/discontinuation of ACE inhibitor therapy. Stepwise (forward conditional) Cox-proportional hazards models were used to analyze the effect of tissue selectivity on study outcomes. Results The final study sample consisted of 689 AMI and the results indicated that tissue-selective ACE inhibitors had a protective effect against hospitalization due to stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.265; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.101–0.698). A similar lower rate in hospitalizations due to heart failure was observed in the group using tissue-selective ACE inhibitors; however, the results were not statistically significant (HR = 0.681; 95% CI = 0.436–1.063). A protective effect was also observed on the combined outcome of hospitalization due to any cardiovascular condition (HR = 0.712; 95% CI = 0.536–0.945). Hospitalizations due to recurrent AMI, need for coronary revascularization procedures, and mortality were not significantly different between patients using tissue-selective and non-tissue-selective ACE inhibitors. The completer subanalysis provided similar findings regarding the impact of tissue selectivity on study outcomes. Conclusion Tissue-selective ACE inhibitors may have a protective effect against hospitalization due to stroke/TIA or heart failure when compared to non-tissue-selective ACE inhibitors for patients following AMI.
CS+(B2Σ+ → A 2Πi) fluorescence from penning excitation of CS

Abstract The energy transfer reation of He(23S) + CS was studied spectroscopically in a flowing afterglow apparatus. The CS+(B2Σ+ → A 2Πi) transition is identified via three members of the Δν = 0 sequence (406–415 nm). The spin-orbit splitting of the (0, 0) band of CS+(A 2Πi) is 301 ± 5 cm−1. A weak emitting system (280–340 nm) is tentatively identified as CS+(B2Σ+→ X2Σ+).
An experimental investigation on cyclic plastic deformation and substructures of polycrystalline copper

Abstract Cyclic deformation under proportional and nonproportional loading of a textured copper was experimentally studied, and the results were compared with those of texture-free copper with the same grain size. The texture had a great influence on the equivalent cyclic stress–strain (CSS) curves under proportional loading but insignificant influence on the CSS curves under nonproportional loading. By comparing the slip patterns on the specimen surface and dislocation substructures under proportional and nonproportional loading, the mechanism of nonproportional hardening was discussed. The slip multiplicity inherited from originally multiple-slip oriented grains plays a minor role. Nonproportional hardening is the result of enhanced activated slip systems and more uniform activation of slip systems due to the rotation of maximum shear stress under nonproportional loading. At high strain amplitudes, cells were the primary substructures for both proportional and nonproportional loading but the diameters of the cells under nonproportional loading were smaller for similar strain magnitude. A linear relationship existed between the saturation equivalent stress magnitude and the reciprocal of the diameter of the dislocation cells. Such a relationship was independent of the loading modes and texture. The saturation stress magnitude was related to the bowing stress of screw dislocations in the interior area of dislocation cells. The mechanical response was practically recoverable either when the loading magnitude was changed from a higher value to a lower value or when the loading was changed from a nonproportional loading path to a proportional loading path. However, the dislocation substructures cannot be completely recovered.
Specific Recognition of Substrate Analogs by the DNA Mismatch Repair Enzyme MutY

The DNA repair enzyme MutY plays an important role in the prevention of DNA mutations caused by the oxidatively damaged lesion 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2‘-deoxyguanosine (OG) by removal of misincorporated adenine residues in OG:A mismatched base pairs using N-glycosylase activity. MutY also has glycosylase activity toward adenine in the mismatched base-pairs G:A and C:A. We have investigated the interaction of MutY with DNA duplexes containing the 2‘-deoxyadenosine (A) analogs 2‘-deoxytubercidin (7-deaza-2‘-deoxyadenosine, Z) and 2‘-deoxyformycin A (F). Both F and Z should effectively mimic the recognition properties of A but be resistant to the glycosylase activity of MutY, owing to their structural properties. Thus, these derivatives will provide a method for forming a stable MutY−substrate analog complex amenable to structural and biochemical investigation. We find that oligonucleotide duplexes containing OG/G:F and OG/G:Z base-pairs are not substrates for MutY as expected. Using a gel retardation method to m...
Low-resistivity Au/Ni Ohmic contacts to Sb-doped p-type Zno

Au∕Ni contacts were fabricated on Sb-doped p-type ZnO film, which was grown on n-type Si (100) substrate with a thin undoped ZnO buffer layer by molecular beam epitaxy. As-deposited contacts were rectifying while Ohmic behavior was achieved after thermally annealing the contacts in nitrogen environment. Contact resistance was determined by linear transmission line method and it decreased with the increase of annealing temperature. Low specific contact resistivity of 3.0×10−4Ωcm2 was obtained for sample annealed at 800°C for 60s. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy was used to analyze elemental profiles of the contacts before and after annealing. Zn vacancies created by outdiffusion of Zn are believed to couple with activated Sb atoms to increase the surface hole concentration enabling Ohmic contact formation.