cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Linking podcasts with social media to promote community health and medical research: feasibility study

Background: Linking podcasts with social media is a strategy to promote and disseminate health and health research information to the community without constraints of time, weather, and geography. Objective: To describe the process of creating a podcast library and promoting it on social media as a strategy for disseminating health and biomedical research topics to the community. Methods: We used a community and patient engagement in research approach for developing a process to use podcasts for dissemination of health and health research information. We have reported the aspects of audience reach, impressions, and engagement on social media through the number of downloads, shares, and reactions posted on SoundCloud, Twitter, and Facebook, among others. Results: In collaboration with our local community partner, we produced 45 podcasts focused on topics selected from a community health needs assessment with input from health researchers. Episodes lasted about 22 minutes and presented health-related projects, community events, and community resources, with most featured guests from Olmsted County (24/45, 53%). Health research was the most frequently discussed topic. Between February 2016 and June 2017, episodes were played 1843 times on SoundCloud and reached 1702 users on our Facebook page. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the process and feasibility of creating a content library of podcasts for disseminating health- and research-related information. Further examination is needed to determine the best methods to develop a sustainable social media plan that will further enhance dissemination (audience reach), knowledge acquisition, and communication of health topics.
Drug Treatment Accessed through the Criminal Justice System: Participants' Perspectives and Uses.

The criminal justice system has become a major pathway to drug treatment across the USA. Millions of criminal justice dollars are spent on an array of treatment programs for justice-involved populations, from pre-sentence diversionary programs to outpatient services for those on community supervision. This study uses 235 qualitative, longitudinal interviews with 45 people convicted of drug offenses to describe participants’ perspectives on criminal justice-related drug treatment (programs within correctional facilities; court, probation, or parole-ordered mandates and referrals; and self-referrals made with the goal of reducing criminal justice involvement), beyond discourses about help with addiction. Interviews took place in New Haven, CT, between 2011 and 2014 every 6 months, for a maximum of five interviews with each participant. Many participants who were referred to drug treatment did not consider these programs appropriate for their needs, as many did not perceive themselves to have a drug problem, or did not consider substance use to be their primary problem. Frustrations regarding the ill-fitting nature of mandated programs were coupled with theories about non-health-related policy goals of criminal justice-mandated drug treatment, such as prison overflow management and increased profit for the state. Nonetheless, participants used drug treatment to advance their own goals of coping with life’s challenges, reducing their criminal justice system involvement, proving worthiness through rehabilitation, and accessing other resources. These participants’ perspectives offer a wide lens through which to view the system of criminal justice-related drug treatment, a view that can guide us in critically evaluating provision of drug treatment and developing more effective systems of appropriate rehabilitative services for people who are justice involved.
Using the Beta distribution in group-based trajectory models

We demonstrate an application of Group-Based Trajectory Modeling (GBTM) based on the beta distribution. It is offered as an alternative to the normal distribution for modeling continuous longitudinal data that are poorly fit by the normal distribution even with censoring. The primary advantage of the beta distribution is the flexibility of the shape of the density function. GBTM is a specialized application of finite mixture modeling designed to identify clusters of individuals who follow similar trajectories. Like all finite mixture models, GBTM requires that the distribution of the data composing the mixture be specified. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of the use of the beta distribution in GBTM. A case study of a beta-based GBTM analyzes data on the neurological activity of comatose cardiac arrest patients. The case study shows that the summary measure of neurological activity, the suppression ratio, is not well fit by the normal distribution but due to the flexibility of the shape of the beta density function, the distribution of the suppression ratio by trajectory appears to be well matched by the estimated beta distribution by group. The addition of the beta distribution to the already available distributional alternatives in software for estimating GBTM is a valuable augmentation to extant distributional alternatives.
Are Most Low-Luminosity AGN Really Obscured?

At low Eddington ratio (mdot), two effects make it harder to detect AGN given some selection criteria. First, even with fixed accretion physics, AGN are diluted/less luminous relative to their hosts; the magnitude of this depends on host properties and so on luminosity and redshift. Second, they may transition to a radiatively inefficient state, changing SED shape and dramatically decreasing in optical/IR luminosity. These effects lead to differences in observed AGN samples, even at fixed bolometric luminosity and after correction for obscuration. The true Eddington ratio distribution may depend strongly on luminosity, but this will be seen only in surveys robust to dilution and radiative inefficiency (X-ray or narrow-line samples); selection effects imply that AGN in optical samples will have uniformly high mdot. This also implies that different selection methods yield systems with different hosts: the clustering of faint optical/IR sources will be weaker than that of X-ray sources, and optical/IR Seyferts will reside in more disk-dominated galaxies while X-ray selected Seyferts will preferentially occupy early-type systems. If observed mdot distributions are correct, a large fraction of low-luminosity AGN currently classified as 'obscured' are in fact diluted and/or radiatively inefficient, not obscured by gas or dust. This is equally true if X-ray hardness is used as a proxy for obscuration, since radiatively inefficient SEDs near mdot~0.01 are X-ray hard. These effects can explain most of the claimed luminosity/redshift dependence in the 'obscured' AGN population, with the true obscured fraction as low as 20%.
SCOR: source code retrieval with semantics and order

Word embeddings produced by the word2vec algorithm provide us with a strong mechanism to discover relationships between the words based on the degree to which they are contextually related to one another. In and of itself, algorithms like word2vec do not give us a mechanism to impose ordering constraints on the embedded word representations. Our main goal in this paper is to exploit the semantic word vectors obtained from word2vec in such a way that allows for the ordering constraints to be invoked on them when comparing a sequence of words in a query with a sequence of words in a file for source code retrieval. These ordering constraints employ the logic of Markov Random Fields (MRF), a framework used previously to enhance the precision of the source-code retrieval engines based on the Bag-of-Words (BoW) assumption. The work we present here demonstrates that by combining word2vec with the power of MRF, it is possible to achieve improvements between 6% and 30% in retrieval accuracy over the best results that can be obtained with the more traditional applications of MRF to representations based on term and term-term frequencies. The performance improvement was 30% for the Java AspectJ repository using only the titles of the bug reports provided by iBUGS, and 6% for the case of the Eclipse repository using titles as well as descriptions of the bug reports provided by BUGLinks.
Using the preoperative psychological evaluation to determine psychosocial risk factors for CPAP nonadherence among bariatric surgery candidates.

Abstract Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is prevalent among bariatric surgery candidates and is associated with numerous adverse health conditions, both pre- and postoperatively. Continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP) is the first-line treatment for OSA, but it requires significant behavioral changes. As such, CPAP adherence is a significant problem in OSA treatment. Information from the preoperative psychological evaluation may be used to identify psychosocial risk factors associated with CPAP nonadherence and inform the implementation of more specific and appropriate interventions. Objectives Examine the utility of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) behavioral/externalizing dysfunction scale scores to determine personality and psychopathology associations with, and risk for, CPAP nonadherence. Setting Academic medical center. Methods Patients who underwent a preoperative psychological evaluation and were diagnosed with OSA (n = 358) were divided into 2 groups: CPAP adherent (n = 271) and CPAP nonadherent (n = 87). Independent samples t tests were computed to examine differences in average MMPI-2-RF scale scores between these groups. Relative risk ratios were computed using multiple MMPI-2-RF substantive scale score cut-offs to determine which MMPI-2-RF scales were associated with increased risk of CPAP nonadherence. Results Higher scores on scales measuring behavioral/externalizing dysfunction and family problems were associated with and indicative of risk for CPAP nonadherence. Conclusions CPAP nonadherence is related to and may be affected by generally higher levels of behavioral/externalizing dysfunction. Using a broadband measure of personality and psychopathology, like the MMPI-2-RF, during the preoperative evaluation can provide important information about co-morbid symptoms that may interfere with CPAP adherence. Considering this information during preoperative treatment planning could increase the likelihood of preoperative CPAP adherence and reduce the likelihood of adverse postoperative outcomes.
Sutureless Repair of Gastroschisis

This chapter describes the surgical procedure for sutureless repair of gastroschisis. The text includes an introduction that outlines the indications, risks, alternatives, essential steps, needed equipment, and variations in technique for the procedure in question. This is followed by a template operative dictation, which provides the reader with an operative report, such as is found in a patient chart or electronic medical record. A description is provided of the following critical concepts for this procedure: ensure adequate sedation and analgesia, decompress the colon to express meconium (or remove the silo, if this was a staged closure), reduce the abdominal contents (taking care to monitor for and avoid abdominal compartment syndrome), and loop a long segment of the intact umbilical cord over the defect and secure in place with a sterile dressing.
Multi-Sensor Mapping for Low Contrast, Quasi-Dynamic, Large Objects

This paper proposes a systems level solution for addressing the problem of mapping large moving targets with slow but complicated dynamics. Our approach utilizes the complementary nature of multiple sensing modalities. While this work is applicable to other domains we focus our efforts on mapping rotating and translating icebergs. Our solution involves a rigidly coupled combination of a line scan sensor - a subsurface multibeam sonar, with an area scan sensor - an optical camera. This allows the system to exploit the optical camera information to perform iceberg relative navigation which can directly be used by the multibeam sonar to map the iceberg underwater. This paper details the algorithm required to compute the scale of the navigation solution and corrections to find iceberg centric navigation and thus an accurate iceberg reconstruction. This approach is successfully demonstrated on real world iceberg data collected during the 2018 Sermilik campaign in Eastern Greenland. Due to the availability of iceberg mounted GPS observations during this research expedition we could also groundtruth our navigation and thus our systems level mapping efforts.
Acetazolamide increases locomotion, exploratory behavior, and weight loss following social stress: A treatment for emotional eating?

Abstract Sympathomimetics are effective, centrally acting drugs that induce weight loss through their potent anorexic and locomotor properties. We reported that sympathomimetics antagonize catecholamine-dependent, alpha-2 adrenergic receptor-dependent signal transduction mediated by chloride/bicarbonate transport. We posit that other drugs that target cellular chloride/bicarbonate antiport would similarly demonstrate anorectic properties, induce locomotion, and diminish weight gain. Male and female inbred mice were housed in groups or stressed by prolonged social isolation. Mice consumed either normal chow or a high fat, high fructose corn syrup, (i.e. “Western”) diet. To inhibit chloride/bicarbonate transport, acetazolamide (ACT, 3 mM) was added to the drinking water. Rodents underwent evaluations of exploratory locomotion and learning with the object recognition test. Mice consuming a “Western” diet gain more weight compared to mice given a normal diet. When placed on a “Western” diet, stressed mice gained weight more rapidly than unstressed. The body weight of mice fed a normal diet with ACT was significantly reduced compared to control mice not given ACT (weight, g ± SEM), 23.7 ± 0.8 v. 21.0 ± 0.5, p = 0.02. ACT did not reduce weight gain in animals chronically maintained on a “Western” diet. Compared to unstressed mice, living in social isolation reduced spontaneous exploratory locomotion time, an indicator of anxiety, in male mice (sec +SEM) from 22.8 ± 3.5 to 12.2 ± 2.1 (p
Super-Directive Antenna Arrays: Fundamentals and New Perspectives

Wireless power transfer between an array of antennas and a single-antenna terminal is governed by matrix circuit theory. A complex-valued, non-conjugate symmetric impedance matrix constitutes a complete quantitative description of the system. The real-part of the impedance matrix is non-negative definite. The efficiency with which power can be transferred-either down-link (from the antenna array to the single-antenna terminal) or up-link (from the terminal to the array) is equal to the ratio of received power to transmitted power. The maximization of power transfer efficiency with respect to the joint transmit/receive activities yields the fact that the optimized up-link efficiency is equal to the optimized down-link efficiency. The typical operation of antenna arrays seeks to minimize mutual coupling among the constituent antennas by spacing the antennas at least half of a wave-length apart, which yields an array gain proportional to the number of antennas. By utilizing closer spacing, and deliberately creating strong mutual coupling, in principle it is possible to realize considerably higher array gains for the same number of antennas, a phenomenon called super-directivity. Practical super-directivity would benefit not only wireless communications, but also wireless power transfer.
Further Reflections on Hypothesis Testing: A Rejoinder

In the end, the artificially high standards of hypothesis testing cannot be met by an advocate who tries to apply the paradigm. Moreover, the values claimed for hypothesis testing can be achieved i...
Galvanic Interaction Between Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Composites and Steel in Chloride Contaminated Concrete

Experiments were performed to determine the possible extent of galvanic corrosion when CFRP and steel are in contact in chloride contaminated concrete. Three concrete environments (water-to-cement (w/c) ratio of 0.41) at relative humidities (RH) of {approx}60%, {approx}80% and {approx}95%, and 14 kg/m{sup 3} chloride were investigated. The CFRP composite potential reached between {minus}180 and {minus}590 mV (vsCSE) when it was in contact with steel at these environments. Results showed significant galvanic action in the 80% RH chloride contaminated concrete (nominal steel current densities as high as 0.3 {micro}A/cm{sup 2}).
How Human Factors Can Help Preserve Democracy in the Age of Pandemics.

ObjectiveTo describe user-centered voting systems that would support the safe conduct of voting in a pandemic environment.BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has complicated our democratic processes. V...
Exposure to trauma, PTSD and persistent pain in older adults: A systematic review

Abstract The following study is a systematic review of the relationship between persistent pain and exposure to interpersonal trauma in older adults. The systematic literature review following PRISMA guidelines enabled us to identify only 3 studies published between 2000 and January 2020 that collected data on both interpersonal trauma and persistent pain in older adults. The examination of this relationship is sparse, yet the empirical support that does exist provides evidence that implies a bidirectional relationship is present between these variables; though, it may be complicated by other age-related factors such comorbid medical conditions (Alamdari & Lagana, 2015). For example, the prevalence of persistent pain conditions appears to increase as the incident exposure to traumatic events increases even after controlling for age as a variable (Atwoli et al., 2016) and it is recognized that cumulative exposure to trauma predicts more severe post-traumatic symptoms (Ogle, Rubin, & Siegler, 2013). Despite these initial findings, this review highlights the paucity of studies examining these factors and underscores the need for additional empirical work in this area. Future work should be designed to better streamline our understanding of how persistent pain is influenced by exposure to trauma and PTSD symptoms and what effect this comorbidity has on individuals later in life as well as how assessment and treatment protocols should be augmented to include these findings.
Codon Usage Bias Levels Predict Taxonomic Identity and Genetic Composition

Abstract In this study, we investigate how an organism’s codon usage bias levels can serve as a predictor and classifier of various genomic and evolutionary features across the three kingdoms of life (archaea, bacteria, eukarya). We perform secondary analysis of existing genetic datasets to build several artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models trained on over 13,000 organisms that show it is possible to accurately predict an organism’s DNA type (nuclear, mitochondrial, chloroplast) and taxonomic identity simply using its genetic code (64 codon usage frequencies). By leveraging advanced AI and machine learning methods to accurately identify evolutionary origins and genetic composition from codon usage patterns, our study suggests that the genetic code can be utilized to train accurate machine learning classifiers of taxonomic and phylogenetic features. Our dataset and analyses are made publicly available on Github and the UCI Machine Learning Repository (https://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/datasets/Codon+usage) to facilitate open-source reproducibility and community engagement.
Utilizing the National Basketball Association's COVID-19 restart "bubble" to uncover the impact of travel and circadian disruption on athletic performance.

On March 11th, 2020, the National Basketball Association (NBA) paused its season after ~ 64 games due to the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, only to resume ~ 5 months later with the top 22 teams isolated together (known as the “bubble”) in Orlando, Florida to play eight games each as an end to the regular season. This restart, with no new travel by teams, provided a natural experiment whereby the impact of travel and home-court advantage could be systematically examined. We show here that in the pre-COVID-19 regular season, traveling across time zones reduces winning percentage, team shooting accuracy, and turnover percentage, whereas traveling in general reduces offensive rebounding and increases the number of points the opposing (home) team scores. Moreover, we demonstrate that competition in a scenario where no teams travel (restart bubble) reduces the typical effects of travel and home-court advantage on winning percentage, shooting accuracy, and rebounding. Thus, home-court advantage in professional basketball appears to be linked with the away team’s impaired shooting accuracy (i.e., movement precision) and rebounding, which may be separately influenced by either circadian disruption or the general effect of travel, as these differences manifest differently when teams travel within or across multiple time zones.
Connected Audiences in Social Performance

Previous accounts of social performance have examined the difficulties associated with multiple audiences, but few describe situations in which a performer’s audiences are not only multiple but are...
Marine Particle Chemistry: Influence on Biogeochemical Cycles and Particle Export

Marine particles play a key role in the cycling of most elements in the ocean. Particles are typically operationally defined by their collection method and, therefore, span a wide size range, withi...
Abstract A22: Unconventional natural gas operations and childhood cancer development in a Pennsylvania birth cohort

Unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) has been rapidly expanding in Pennsylvania since the mid-2000s. The objective was to analyze associations between UNGD exposure during pregnancy and subsequent development of childhood cancer using Pennsylvania birth and cancer registry data. Birth records and childhood cancer registry records that were linked to birth records were obtained through an IRB-approved application process with the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The present analysis included infants born from 2007 to 2015, a period of rapid UNGD expansion in the state. We excluded mothers and their infants living in the most urban areas (i.e., Pittsburgh and Philadelphia), where exposure to many competing pollution sources may confound the analysis. For each mother, an inverse distance weighted (IDW) well count was calculated based on all active wells drilled within a 10-mile radius of the mother’s residence during the one-year period up to the date of birth. Person-years were accumulated for each child from the birth date until either the date of first childhood cancer diagnosis or, for noncases, the end of the study period (December 31, 2016). Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate associations between IDW well count and hazard ratio (HR) of cancer development among children. There were 812,143 infants born during the study period with complete outcome and covariate data. Of these, there were 859 and 259 children diagnosed with any type of cancer and the most common type, leukemia, respectively. Models were adjusted for infant sex, congenital anomalies, proximity to major roadways, and maternal factors. After adjustment, the hazard ratio of developing any cancer for children born to mothers living in the highest quartile of UNGD exposure was 1.3 (95% confidence interval: 1.0-1.8) compared to the lowest quartile. Childhood leukemia risk was also 1.3 times higher for children born to the most versus least exposed mothers, although the 95% confidence interval was wider (0.8-2.2). In conclusion, children born to mothers living close to UNGD may be at a slightly increased risk for childhood cancer, although the risk is smaller compared to other established risk factors like the presence of a birth defect or older maternal age. As most of the epidemiologic health studies to date have used well density as a surrogate for UNGD exposure, future studies should consider incorporating environmental sampling or personalized monitoring into their exposure assessments. Citation Format: Shaina L. Stacy, Jeanine M. Buchanich, James P. Fabisiak, Linda Robertson, Ravi K. Sharma, Evelyn O. Talbott, Jian-Min Yuan. Unconventional natural gas operations and childhood cancer development in a Pennsylvania birth cohort [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Environmental Carcinogenesis: Potential Pathway to Cancer Prevention; 2019 Jun 22-24; Charlotte, NC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2020;13(7 Suppl): Abstract nr A22.
Consumer background and composition on state medical boards: Who are these citizen members and do they adequately protect the public?:

The composition and background of members of state medical boards, including public or citizen members, can impact the functionality and public perception of medical boards in the United States. Th...
Vapor phase repellency and insecticidal activity of pyridinyl amides against anopheline mosquitoes

Abstract It is important to identify repellents that can provide reliable protection from arthropod biting and prevent arthropod-borne diseases, such as malaria. In the present study, the spatial repellent activity and toxicity of two novel pyridinyl amides (1 and 2) were evaluated against Anopheles albimanus, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, and Anopheles gambiae. In vapor repellency bioassays, compound 2 was generally more effective than DEET and 2-undecanone, while compound 1 was about as active as these standards. Overall, transfluthrin was the most active compound for inducing anopheline mosquito repellency, knockdown, and lethality. Although they were not the most active repellents, the two experimental amides produced the largest electroantennographic responses in female antennae. They also displayed modest toxicity to anopheline mosquitoes. Significant synergism of repellency was observed for the mixture of a pyrethroid-derived acid and the repellent 2-undecanone against anopheline mosquitoes, similar to that observed previously in Aedes aegypti. Overall, this study provides insight for further synthesis of alternative amide compounds for use as spatial treatments.
Pregnancy with bilateral ruptured benign cystic teratomas.

Abstract A case of intra-abdominal rupture of bilateral cystic teratomas in the first trimester of pregnancy is reported. Review of the literature revealed 22 cases of intraperitoneal rupture of benign cystic teratoma (1908 to 1971). In all of these cases, only one ovary was involved, and the period of gestation was after the first trimester.
Cytochrome P-450cam II. INTERCONVERSION WITH P-420

The b-type cytochrome P-450cam in the active ferric form, purified from camphor-grown Pseudomonas putida, has a Soret absorption band at 417 nm. Upon reduction to the ferrous form the Soret band shifts to 411 nm, and on addition of CO, to 446 nm. An enzymatically inactive cytochrome forms on treatment of P-450cam with mercurial compounds, acetone, sodium deoxycholate, or urea; all possess ferrous CO Soret absorption at 420 nm. All these biologically inactive forms are termed P-420. They are reconverted to the catalytically active P-450cam by treatment with sulfhydryl compounds such as cysteine, thioglycolic acid, β-mercaptoethanol, or dithioerythritol. Six sulfhydryl groups can be titrated with p-chloromercuribenzoate, corresponding to the total of 6 cysteine residues found by amino acid analysis.
Influence of transfusion technique on survival of autologous red blood cells in the dog.

Objective – To determine the effect of 3 differing transfusion techniques on survival of autologous canine RBCs. Design – Prospective, blinded study. Setting – University Teaching Hospital. Animals – Nine healthy dogs. Interventions – Three distinct preparations of RBCs, each representing ∼1% of red cell mass, were generated for each dog by biotinylation of RBCs at varying biotin densities. Labeled cells were transfused using 3 techniques (gravity, volumetric pump, syringe pump). Serial determinations of red cell survival were carried out by flow-cytometric analysis of RBCs collected at 7-day intervals for 49 days. In vitro analysis of the effect of transfusion methods on RBC integrity and osmotic fragility were carried out in 7/9 dogs. Measurements and Main Results – RBCs administered via volumetric and syringe pumps exhibited a marked decrease in short-term probability of survival compared with RBCs delivered by gravity flow. At 24 hours, only 4/8 and 1/7 dogs had surviving cell populations delivered by volumetric and syringe pump, respectively, compared with 8/8 dogs which had surviving cell populations delivered by gravity flow. Circulating half-life of cells surviving at 24 hours after delivery by volumetric pump was not significantly different to that delivered by gravity flow. No significant effect on in vitro RBC integrity or osmotic fragility was detected in relation to transfusion technique. Conclusions – Delivery of autologous canine RBCs via mechanical delivery systems was associated with a high risk for early loss of transfused cells.
An Engineering Learning Community To Promote Retention And Graduation Of At-Risk Engineering Students

Retention and graduation rates for engineering disciplines are significantly lower than desired, and research literature offers many possible causes. Engineering learning communities provide the opportunity to study relationships among specific causes and to develop and evaluate activities designed to lessen their impact. This paper details an engineering learning community created to combat three common threats to academic success of engineering students: financial difficulties, math deficiencies, and the lack of a supportive engineering culture. The project tracks participants in the learning community from first year through graduation to assess the effectiveness of its activities in improving retention and graduation rates. Scholarships were made available to address the financial difficulties; tutors, mentors, study groups, and a “freshman -to- sophomore bridge” summer program were provided to address math deficiencies; cohort engineering courses, active learning techniques, required group meetings, required group study sessions, dedicated study space, and dedicated faculty advisors were used to promote a sense of community. Quantitative retention and graduation rates for the cohort are compared to other engineering groups at the same institution. Qualitative results collected via student surveys and interviews, and lessons learned by project administrators are also presented. Retention and graduation rates of the cohort are better than those of comparable groups at the same institution. Graduation rates based upon freshman math placement are also higher than comparable groups.
An examination of forearm bone mobility in Alligator mississippiensis (Daudin, 1802) and Struthio camelus Linnaeus, 1758 reveals that Archaeopteryx and dromaeosaurs shared an adaptation for gliding and/or flapping

ABSTRACT In response to increased limb bone loads many tetrapod clades have converged upon similar adaptations to reinforce the elbow joint by reducing independent movements of the forearm bones. However prior studies have not examined how these changes occurred phylogenetically or functionally, such as during the transition from prehensile forelimbs in dinosaurs to gliding/flapping flight in bird wings. Here, a functional analysis of forearm bone mobility in extant archosaurs shows that crossing and uncrossing of the radius and ulna can be forced in alligators via a passive gliding mechanism recently described in lacertilians, while birds are adapted to inhibit this motion. A comparison of these findings with a sample of extinct quadrupedal archosaur forearms strongly suggests that, due to the highly conserved morphology of tetrapod forearms in general, the lacertilian mechanism broadly describes the plesiomorphic mechanism via which tetrapod forearm bones passively cross in response to locomotor-induced...
Charge-impact excitation of the highly excited hydrogen atoms in the dipole form of the semiclassical impact-parameter and Born approximations.

Expressions for the excitation cross section of the highly excited states of the hydrogenlike atoms by fast charged particles have been derived in the dipole approximation of the semiclassical impact parameter and the Born approximations, making use of a formula for the asymptotic expansion of the oscillator strength of the hydrogenlike atoms given by Menzel. When only the leading term in the asymptotic expansion is retained, the expression for the cross section becomes identical to the expression obtained by the method of the classical collision and correspondence principle given by Percival and Richards. Comparisons are made between the Bethe coefficients obtained here and the Bethe coefficients of the Born approximation for transitions where the Born calculation is available. Satisfactory agreement is obtained only for n yields n + 1 transitions, with n the principal quantum number of the excited state.
Observer rating of recreational use in wadeable streams of New York State, USA: implications for nutrient criteria development.

Abstract Like most other States and Tribes in the United States, New York State has been working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to develop numeric nutrient criteria. These criteria are to protect water use such as drinking water supply, aquatic life, and recreation. Although extensive research exists related to the effects of eutrophication on human health and aquatic life, limited information is available on perceived impairment of recreational opportunities in rivers and streams. We present an approach to assess impacts to recreation using information collected by New York State's (NYS) monitoring program. This approach involved a questionnaire adapted from lake management surveys in which field crews rated their perceptions of recreational ability at each site. The ratings were then used to assess the relationship between perceived impact to recreational use and water quality. We include in our analyses the primary nutrient criteria variables total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), suspended chlorophyll-a (SChl-a), and turbidity (Tb), as well as biological condition (benthic macroinvertebrate community assessment). We sampled 203 wadeable stream locations throughout NYS between July and September 2008–2012. Field crews ranked most locations as having “Minor aesthetic problems,” but still considered them excellent for both primary (34%) and secondary (37%) contact recreation. Field crew rankings of recreational ability coincided with a gradient of nutrients (TP and TN), SChl-a, and Tb concentration. Logistic regression models were developed that identified significant predictors affecting field crew decisions about recreation. These included water clarity, periphyton cover, and odor. Analysis of variance using NYS's multimetric assessment of biological condition and a nutrient specific community metric suggest significant differences in metric scores among recreational use categories. These results indicate correlation of impairment of recreational use with impairment of aquatic life use from nutrient enrichment. The results of this investigation will be used to help establish nutrient endpoints for the protection of recreation in NYS streams and rivers.
Comment on Gallagher's ‘proportionality, disproportionality and electoral systems’

Michael Gallagher, in a recent article published in this journal, argues against the notion that there is some single, obviously best standard of proportionality against which real-world PR methods can be judged. As he notes in his conclusion, all PR methods ‘set out to minimize disproportionality. They ditTer from each other not because some try harder than others, or because some are ‘fairer’ than others, but because they embody different ideas as to how disproportionality should be measured’ (p. 49). We certainly agree with this point; indeed, we have found it useful in structuring our own research agenda. But the conclusions we have drawn from it are somewhat different from those that Gallagher draws. Hence this note. Let us first recap the argument showing that there is no single notion of disproportionality against which real-world methods of PR can fairly be judged. The argument consists simply of pointing out two indisputable facts: first, that every method of PR currently in use minimizes some particular notion of disproportionality; second, that the notions of disproportionality inherent in the various PR methods differ. To illustrate the first point, one can do no better than recall the origin of the wellknown Sainte-Lagui? method of PR. Sainte-Laguti introduced his method in a French mathematical journal in 1910. If one reads his article (see Lijphart and Gibberd, 1977 for an English translation), one finds that Sainte-Lague proposes a mathematical index of disproportionality and that his method of PR is defined as the one that allocates seats in such a fashion as to minimize this index. In this regard, SainteLag& was not unusual. As he notes in his article, d’Hondt also had in mind a specific notion of disproportionality-which his method minimized. Even those PR methods whose inventors do not seem to have had the minimization of a measure of disproportionality explicitly in mind (for example, the largest remainders method invented by Alexander Hamilton) none the less all do minimize some such measure.
THE STRUCTURE AND STATUS OF PIDGINS AND CREOLES.Arthur K. Spears & Donald Winford (Eds.). Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1997. Pp. viii + 461. $90.00 cloth.

This book brings together some of the foremost scholars in pidgin and creole linguistics to address key issues confronting the field—most especially, the inability to provide generally agreed upon structural classifications of pidgin and creole languages, and in particular, less prototypical varieties like semi-creoles, post-pidgins, and post-creoles.
Knowledge sharing and the dynamics of social capital

Abstract Mutual aid often entails the sharing of knowledge. We investigate how, in turn, knowledge sharing affects the long-run dynamics of mutual aid. In our economy, agents with specific knowledge are “held up” by their principals. Inside communities, agents aid each other by sharing their specific knowledge. This process generates a new type of knowledge which exacerbates the specificity of the existing types and induces more agents to engage in mutual aid. However, since the knowledge generated is shared, it progressively renders agents inside communities more flexible and, thus, less dependent on mutual aid. We characterize conditions under which in the long-run mutual aid spreads or is abandoned.
TGF- β /Smad3 inhibit vascular smooth muscle cell apoptosis through an autocrine signaling mechanism involving VEGF-A

We have previously shown that in the presence of elevated Smad3, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) transforms from an inhibitor to a stimulant of vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation and intimal hyperplasia (IH). Here we identify a novel mechanism through which TGF-β/Smad3 also exacerbates IH by inhibiting SMC apoptosis. We found that TGF-β treatment led to inhibition of apoptosis in rat SMCs following viral expression of Smad3. Conditioned media from these cells when applied to naive SMCs recapitulated this effect, suggesting an autocrine pathway through a secreted factor. Gene array of TGF-β/Smad3-treated cells revealed enhanced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a known inhibitor of endothelial cell apoptosis. We then evaluated whether VEGF is the secreted mediator responsible for TGF-β/Smad3 inhibition of SMC apoptosis. In TGF-β/Smad3-treated cells, VEGF mRNA and protein as well as VEGF secretion were increased. Moreover, recombinant VEGF-A inhibited SMC apoptosis and a VEGF-A-neutralizing antibody reversed the inhibitory effect of conditioned media on SMC apoptosis. Stimulation of SMCs with TGF-β led to the formation of a complex of Smad3 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) that in turn activated the VEGF-A promoter and transcription. In rat carotid arteries following arterial injury, Smad3 and VEGF-A expression were upregulated. Moreover, Smad3 gene transfer further enhanced VEGF expression as well as inhibited SMC apoptosis. Finally, blocking either the VEGF receptor or Smad3 signaling in injured carotid arteries abrogated the inhibitory effect of Smad3 on vascular SMC apoptosis. Taken together, our study reveals that following angioplasty, elevation of both TGF-β and Smad3 leads to SMC secretion of VEGF-A that functions as an autocrine inhibitor of SMC apoptosis. This novel pathway provides further insights into the role of TGF-β in the development of IH.
Time-condensed analyses by mass spectrometry.

Research has focused on the development of a new set of mathematical algorithms, encoded in C++, when combined with a thermal desorption sample introduction system provides quantitative analysis of a wide mixture of organic compounds in under 10 min by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The overall goal is to condense the time of analysis, including both the times required for sample preparation and for chromatographic separation. In this paper, results are presented where compound identification has been made for polychlorinated biphenyls, chlorinated pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons present in the same solution and where gas chromatography separation times have been reduced from 40 to 5 min. For the latter, all compounds elute within 3.5 min, with structural isomers identified as the same compound. The 5-min analysis provides the foundation for rapid screening and on-line chemical measurements of multicomponent mixtures. Results are also presented where these same compounds are quanti...
Advances In Multi-Channel Bragg Cell Technology

Multi-channel Bragg cells can provide over one hundred independently addressable channels for spatial light modulator applications. This paper addresses some of the design considerations for design and fabrication of these devices. An acoustic diffraction model is used to analyze some prototype cases. Device characteristics for several Bragg cells produced are discussed.
Comments on “Large Peak Current Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Flashes during the Summer Months in the Contiguous United States”

The recent paper by Lyons et al. (1998) reports on large peak current lightning flashes recorded by the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) during 14 summer months in four years, 1991–95. Lyons et al. examine, arbitrarily, only flashes with peak currents higher than 75 kA. It is an important contribution. High peak current flashes of positive polarity, for example, have been shown to be associated with sprites and elves in the stratosphere and mesosphere. The purpose of this note, however, is to emphasize that ground truth for negative return stroke peak currents exists only up to 60 kA and this is for triggered lightning (Idone et al. 1993, Table 1). No ground truth exists for return stroke positive peak currents. Despite this problem, we are still justified in making peak current estimates as long as the limitations are recognized. I quote from Lyons et al. (1998, p. 2227) and add explanatory comments:
The photooxidation of CS2 at 2139Å

Abstract The photooxidation of CS 2 was studied at 2139Aand 25°C. The products of the reaction are CO, OCS, SO 2 , and S 2 O. Possibly SO 3 is also produced, though we have no positive evidence for it. CO 2 is not a product. As the reaction products accumulate in any run, the reaction is inhibited and the ratio Φ{OCS}/Φ{CO} is enhanced. Both effects are attributed to the terminating reaction: CS + S 2 O → OCS + S 2 This reaction would compete with the predominant reactions producing CO and OCS, i . e .: CS + O 2 → CO + SO → OCS + O The primary photochemical process produces excited CS 2 molecules which can decompose to CS + S( 3 P) or be quenched by O 2 and CS 2 . The sulfur atom reacts with either O 2 or CS 2 . Otherwise the mechanism is essentially the same as at 3130Ain the early stages of the photooxidation, except at high O 2 pressures and absorbed intensities. Under these conditions additional reactions are needed to produce OCS, one of which is: CS + SO → OCS + S
Body mass loss during adaptation to short winter-like days increases food foraging, but not food hoarding.

Abstract Siberian hamsters markedly reduce their body/lipid mass (∼ 20–45%) in short ‘winter-like’ days (SD). Decreases in body/lipid mass associated with food deprivation or lipectomy result in increases in foraging and food hoarding. When at their SD-induced body/lipid mass nadir, food hoarding is not increased despite their decreases in body/lipid mass, but hoarding was not tested during the dynamic period of body/lipid mass loss (first 5–6 weeks of SDs). Therefore, we tested for changes in foraging/hoarding during this initial period in Siberian hamsters housed in a simulated burrow with a wheel running-based foraging system and exposed to either long ‘summer-like’ days (LD) or SDs. Two foraging effort conditions were used: 10 Revolutions/Pellet (pellet delivered after running 10 revolutions) and a Free Wheel/Free Food condition (wheel available, food pellets non-contingently available). Regardless of the foraging condition, body mass was significantly reduced across 8 weeks of SDs (∼ 15%). Foraging increased after 7 weeks in SDs, but food hoarding did not increase compared to LDs. Instead food hoarding significantly decreased in SDs at Weeks 2–5 compared with Week 0 values, with the 10 Revolutions/Pellet foraging group returning to LD levels thereafter and the Free Wheel/Free Food group remaining reduced from Weeks 2–7. Collectively, we found that SDs decreased body mass, increased foraging after 7 weeks, and increased food hoarding, but only after an initial decrease and not above that seen in LDs. These data suggest that SD-induced body/lipid mass losses do not engender similar behavioral responses as seen with food deprivation or lipectomy.
The visual in documentary: Sergei Loznitsa and the importance of the image

ABSTRACTIn the late Soviet period, Russian documentary cinema rivaled feature film in popularity. It attracted attention for its ability to reveal the previously unspoken ‘truth’ about problems in the Soviet Union, both past and present. Domestic and international audiences learned not only what ‘really’ happened under Joseph Stalin, but also about contemporary problems facing Soviet citizens. Russian documentary auteur Sergei Loznitsa is making a name for himself not for following in the footsteps of the documentary film-makers who popularized the genre in the 1980s and early 1990s, such as Juris Podnieks, Marina Goldovskaia and Stanislav Govorukhin, but rather by taking a very different approach to film. Loznitsa's film-making style focuses on visual aesthetics and shifts the importance of the film to the image as the message. His documentaries, almost all of which are filmed on celluloid instead of digitally, are characterized by intense contrast, and a lack of narration and non-diegetic sound, allowin...