cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Energy Dependence of the Reaction Pb 208 ( O 16 , N 15 ) Bi 209

The elastic scattering and one-proton transfer reactions induced by 312.6-MeV $^{16}\mathrm{O}$ ions on $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$ are investigated and compared with data at lower incident energies. A conventional distorted-wave Born approximation analysis can account for the qualitative features of the energy spectra but overestimates the energy dependence of the observed absolute cross sections by almost an order of magnitude between 140 and 312.6 MeV.
The Interaction of Senses: The Effect of Vision versus Touch on the Elongation Bias

We highlight the role of interacting senses on consumer judgment. Specifically, we focus on the role of the visual and haptic (touch) senses on the elongation bias, which predicts that the taller of two equivolume objects will appear bigger. We show that sensory modality will affect the extent (and even direction) of the elongation biaswith visual cues alone and with bimodal visual and haptic cues (seeing and handling the objects), we obtain the elongation bias; however, with haptic cues alone (handling the objects blindfolded) and in bimodal judgments with visual load, we obtain a reversal of the elongation bias.
The First Law of Thermodynamics for Open Systems: Derivation and Sample Problem

The material presented in this lecture is adapted from Chapter 3 of T&M. First, we will derive the First Law of Thermodynamics for Open Systems. Second, we will use this law to solve Sample Problem 5–1, an illuminating problem where the gas in the ullage volume of a fuel storage tank is first pressurized by gas entering from an external gas storage tank until its pressure reaches a desired value. Subsequently, the pressurized gas is used to partially empty the fuel which flows into a missile to be launched for strategic purposes. Third, we will discuss the selection of the optimal model systems when modeling the pressurization and the emptying steps. Fourth, we will describe the pressurization step using the well-mixed gas model. Fifth, we will describe the fueling step using the two-layer (or stratified) gas model. Finally, we will show how to solve the First Law of Thermodynamics for an Open System during the pressurization and the fueling steps.
Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: A Tutorial of Nanda-Hamner Protocols.

Plants and animals use circadian and photoperiodic timekeeping mechanisms to respond to daily and seasonal changes in light:dark and appropriately coordinate their development. Although the mechani...
Embodiment and transmission: an interview with franco-cambodian cartoonist Tian Veasna

Conducted virtually during the Covid-19 lockdown in mid-2020, this interview of Franco-Cambodian cartoonist Tian Veasna illuminates the mechanisms at work in drawing his three-volume graphic narrat...
Telestroke Technology Decreases Time to Neurologist Evaluation for Emergent Stroke Treatment During After Hours (P2.3-020)

Objective: Evaluate emergent stroke time metrics at a comprehensive stroke center during after hours stroke codes before and after initiation of telestroke technology. Background: After hours stroke codes are associated with significant delays in patient evaluation. Key factors include stroke physician travel time to the hospital and decreased resources during after hours. Previous studies have shown that telestroke can be used to reduce door to treatment time in smaller rural hospitals without stroke expertise. Studies have not examined use of telestroke during after hours at a comprehensive stroke center. Design/Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all after hours (5pm–7am) stroke code activations from July 2016 to July 2017. During after hours, there is not typically a stroke specialist in the hospital. We initiated telestroke for after hours stroke codes starting January 2018 and all patients were included from initiation through March 2018. We collected the following time metrics for pre- and post-telestroke after hours cohorts: patient arrival, patient roomed, stroke code paged, neurologist call back, neurologist evaluation, CT interpretation, IV tPA, and recanalization. Baseline and telestroke timings were compared with Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Forty-five patients prior to telestroke initiation and twenty-one patients after telestroke initiation met inclusion criteria. Telestroke technology resulted in faster stroke code to neurologist at bedside (61 vs 18 minutes, p Conclusions: Telestroke significantly decreased time from stroke code activation to stroke specialist evaluation for after hours stroke codes. We did not find that faster patient evaluation resulted in faster tPA and thrombectomy times, but our study was likely underpowered to assess this endpoint. Further study is needed to determine whether telestroke improves time to treatment in this setting. Disclosure: Dr. Zhang has nothing to disclose. Dr. Alkuwaiti has nothing to disclose. Dr. Engkjer has nothing to disclose. Dr. Streib has nothing to disclose.
Durability of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses at 12-months post-infection

Background. Characterizing the longevity and quality of cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 is critical to understanding immunologic approaches to protection against COVID-19. Prior studies suggest SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells are present in peripheral blood 10 months after infection. Further analysis of the function, durability, and diversity of the cellular response long after natural infection, over a wider range of ages and disease phenotypes, is needed to further identify preventative and therapeutic interventions. Methods. We identified participants in our multi-site longitudinal, prospective cohort study 12-months post SARS-CoV-2 infection representing a range of disease severity. We investigated the function, phenotypes, and frequency of T cells specific for SARS-CoV-2 using intracellular cytokine staining and spectral flow cytometry. In parallel, the magnitude of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies was compared. Results. SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies and T cells were detected at 12-months post-infection. Severity of acute illness was associated with higher frequencies of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4 T cells and antibodies at 12-months. In contrast, polyfunctional and cytotoxic T cells responsive to SARS-CoV-2 were identified in participants over a wide spectrum of disease severity. Conclusions. Our data show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces polyfunctional memory T cells detectable at 12-months post-infection, with higher frequency noted in those who originally experienced severe disease.
Tidal Volume Compensation on a Portable Ventilator

Background: The Philips Trilogy 202 ventilator is often used as a home ventilator for ventilator dependent patients. In preparation for its discontinuation, we evaluated the Trilogy EV300 (EV300) as its manufacturer replacement. The EV300 is equipped with permanent tubing compliance (TC) which results in higher volumes delivered than the 202 and restricts use to larger pediatric patients. We aimed to determine if the humification feature on the EV300 had an effect on volumes delivered in consistent and reproduceable way that could expand use in patients who require tidal volumes below the minimum 50 mL setting. Methods: A Philips EV300 equipped with a F&P 114 circuit and MR850 heater with a Philips Respironics whisper swivel valve which was interfaced with a Philips NM3 (pediatric adapter) and connected to a Michigan Test Lung (TL). TL compliance (CL) was set at 0.005 & 0.002 L/cm H2O in two models to simulate CL of a normal infant and decreased CL. The EV300 settings included: pediatric category, adult circuit (20-22 mm), AC/VC, RR 15, Ti 0.6 s, PEEP 5. At each CL, 6 trials were performed with 3 VTs (50 mL, 100 mL, 150 mL) with the humidification feature either ON or OFF. After stabilization, pressure and volumes were recorded as displayed from the EV300 and NM3 3 times, 1-min apart and then reported as averages. Results: With the humidification feature OFF volumes delivered by the EV300 were decreased by an average of 10% from set VT (Figure 1 and Table 1). This phenomenon is enhanced (up to 18% difference) in the decreased CL model. Differences in volume loss with the humidification feature ON and OFF is not consistent between models and is dependent on a variety of other factors such as: set volume, ΔP, and patient lung compliance and resistance. Conclusions: Volume reduction from the humidification feature ON/OFF on the EV300 are present but not independently predicable. The changes in functionality between the 202 and EV300 impact the use and flexibility within pediatrics. Further studies must be performed to access outcomes in pediatrics related to transitions from critical care ventilator to EV300. Data with other CL and/or resistance models would be beneficial to reveal possible patterned correlations.
Progesterone-induced withdrawal bleeding as a simple physiologic test for pregnancy.

Abstract In patients with previously regular menstrual cycles, the use of progesterone-induced withdrawal bleeding, as a simple physiologic but nonspecific test for pregnancy or secondary amenorrhea, is highly accurate. In this series its accuracy was 100 per cent. The oral or vaginal mode of administration is recommended over the intramuscular route, since by the oral and vaginal routes in 85 per cent of the patients the onset of the bleeding occurred between the third and the seventh days. No alteration in the course of a gestation was noted with either standard dosage or excessively large dosage. No abortion can be attributed to the use of the progesterone. In the cases of secondary amenorrhea the progesterone test was not only accurately diagnostic but therapeutic, since in 72 per cent of the nonpregnant patients the menstrual cycles were restored to normal regularity.
Understanding graded a-SiGe solar cells using bifacial photocurrent collection

The authors have characterized p-i-n solar cell devices with front loaded or ungraded a-SiGe i-layers. The cells have transparent front and back contacts which allow bifacial photocurrent measurements to probe electron or hole limited collection using strongly absorbed blue light through the p or n-layer, respectively. Fill factor and quantum efficiency(V) data indicate that the primary effect of grading the i-layer in the front loaded device is to improve hole collection rather than electron collection. However, electron collection degrades more than hole collection after 200 hours light soaking. The authors conclude that device results do not agree with photoconductivity stability studies on a-SiGe films since stability studies of films show that the electron /spl muspl tau/ is unaffected by light soaking while device results suggest that electron collection degrades significantly. >
Bayesian spatial classifiers based on tree approximations to Markov random fields

Describes a family of approximations, denoted "Bethe tree approximations", for the computation of the marginal probability mass functions (pmfs) of a Markov random field (MRF). This is a key computation in spatial pattern classification when applied to the a posteriori MRF. The approximation modifies the graph on which the MRF is defined: the original lattice is modified into a tree. Then the marginal pmfs on the tree can be computed exactly by fast recursive algorithms. A key issue is how to terminate the tree at its leaves and 4 solutions are explored of which 3 result in the solution of nonlinear multivariable fixed-point equations for which some existence, uniqueness, and convergence-of-algorithm results can be proven. The algorithm has given excellent performance on a variety of segmentation problems (1994) and a 9-class agricultural remote-sensing example is described. >
Older Adults Share Opinions: Senior Health Fairs

Abstract This article reports the results of a survey regarding the attitudes of older adults about senior health fair planning and their perceptions of what areas of interest such a fair should focus on. Findings indicate that the most successful senior health fair would be one that would be held in the afternoon during the early part of the week, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, preferably with no cost to the attendees and with transportation provided. Health screening for blood pressure, glaucoma, diabetes, and cholesterol as well as information on recreation and exercise in maintaining good health, including massage, were recommended.
Bhakti Rhetoric in the Hagiography of ‘Untouchable’ Saints: Discerning Bhakti’s Ambivalence on Caste and Brahminhood

Bhakti has often been praised as a form of religion based on loving devotion that transcends social class, caste, and gender. Since at least the early twentieth century, the history of bhakti has generally been told in terms of "the bhakti movement," a single coherent "wave" of devotional sentiment and egalitarian social reform that spread across the entire Indian subcontinent. According to the commonly accepted narrative, this "movement" began in the Tamil South between the sixth and ninth centuries CE with the Saiva Nayanars and Vaisnava AJvars. These poet-saints, according to one scholarly rendition of the trope, "produced a transformatory avalanche in terms of devotion and social reform that is now known as the Bhakti Movement" (Nandakumar 2003: 794; emphasis added). The concept of a single, coherent and socially progressive "bhakti movement" grew in large part out of the context of early twentieth century Indian nationalist agendas which sought to create a sense of national identity by propagating the notion of a shared pan-Indian bhakti religious heritage. Early and mid-twentieth century North Indian nationalist scholars such as Ramcandra Sukla and Hazariprasad Dvivedi sought to construct a nationalist history of India through the medium of bhakti and thus spoke of a pan-Indian bhakti "movement," or andolan (in Hindi), sweeping across and uniting the subcontinent in shared values of love, progress, and social egalitarianism that reached deep into the past.1 In his series of 1966 radio addresses to the Indian public, V. Raghavan gave a classic example of this rhetoric, referring to bhakti as the "democratic doctrine which consolidates all people without distinction of caste, community, nationality, or sex" (1966: 32). This conception of bhakti as being socially progressive continues still today. In 2003, Gail Omvedt wrote about the "radical bhakti (devotional) movement that had swept over northern and western India, bringing together women and men of low caste to proclaim equality and reject Brahmanic ritualism and caste hierarchy" (2003: 277). Rohini Mokashi-Punekar, in an essay published in 2005, described bhakti as a "deeply spiritual and democratizing movement" which is characteristically "revolutionary in spirit" and centered on "a questioning of the orthodox and repressive Brahminical understanding of Hinduism, [which] as such made it possible for the lower castes and women to give a form to their religious
Boundary-discontinuous fourier analysis of doubly-curved panels using classical shallow shell theories

Abstract A hitherto unavailable analytical solution to the boundary-value problem of deformation of a doubly-curved panel of rectangular planform is presented. Four classical shallow shell theories (namely, Donnell, Sanders, Reissner and presently developed modified Sanders) are used in the formulation, which generates a system of one fourth-order and two second-order partial differential equations (in terms of the transverse displacement) with constant coefficients. A recently developed boundary-discontinuous double Fourier series approach is used to solve this system of three partial differential equations with the SS2-type simply supported boundary conditions prescribed at all four edges. The accuracy of the solutions is ascertained by studying the convergence characteristics of the central deflection and moment, and also by comparison with the available finite element solutions. Also presented are comparisons of numerical results predicted by the four classical shallow shell theories considered for isotropic panels over a wide range of geometric and material parameters. Other important numerical results presented include variation of the central deflection and moment, with the shell geometric parameters, such as length-to-thickness and radius-to-length ratios. Effect of boundary condition over the entire range of length-to-thickness and radius-to-length ratios is investigated by comparing the present SS2 results with their SS3 counterparts. Also presented are variations of displacement and moment along the center line of a spherical panel.
Regulation of Cardiovascular Development by Adenosine and Adenosine-Mediated Embryo Protection

Few signaling molecules have as much potential to influence the developing mammal as the nucleoside adenosine. Adenosine levels increase rapidly with tissue hypoxia and inflammation. Adenosine antagonists include the methylxanthines caffeine and theophylline. The receptors that transduce adenosine action are the A1, A2a, A2b, and A3 adenosine receptors (A1AR, A2aAR, A2bAR, and A3AR). We examined how adenosine acts via A1ARs to influence embryo development. Transgenic mice were studied along with embryo cultures. Embryos lacking A1ARs were markedly growth retarded following intrauterine hypoxia exposure. Studies of mice selectively lacking A1AR in the heart identify the heart as a key site of adenosine's embryo-protective effects. Studies of isolated embryos showed that adenosine plays a key role in modulating embryo cardiac function, especially in the setting of hypoxia. When pregnant mice were treated during embryogenesis with the adenosine antagonist caffeine, adult mice had abnormal heart function. Adenosine acts via A1ARs to play an essential role in protecting the embryo against intrauterine stress, and adenosine antagonists, including caffeine, may be an unwelcome exposure for the embryo.
Short- and long-term outcome for living pancreas donors

The advantages of living donor pancreas transplants for the recipient include good HLA matching, lower immunologic risk, less immunosuppression, lower risk of infection and of posttransplant malignancies, and shorter pancreas graft preservation time. In 2008, a total of 155 segmental pancreas transplants using living donors were reported to the International Pancreas Transplant Registry from six countries. Pancreas living donors need to undergo a thorough pretransplant endocrinologic workup in order to minimize the risk of metabolic complications. The pretransplant workup has evolved over time, after initial reports showed that up to 25% of living donors had elevated hemoglobin A1c levels after donation. Avoiding obesity after donation diminishes the risk of long-term metabolic complications. The risk of surgical complications for the donor (such as pancreatitis, pancreatic leak or fistula, pancreatic abscess, and pancreatic pseudocyst) is less than 5%. If both the donor and recipient operations are technically successful, the long-term graft survival rate is significantly higher for living (versus deceased) donor pancreas transplant recipients. Future long-term studies of metabolic function in living donors are warranted to determine whether living donor pancreas transplants can safely be applied more widely and whether living donors can be used for islet transplants.
Electrohydrodynamic Velocity and Pumping Measurements in Water and Alcohols.

Bubble and particle velocities in water and alcohols, under the influence of an electric field, were investigated in this work. Air bubbles were injected into the liquids through an electrified metal capillary insulated by glass with its tip left exposed. The end of the capillary from which the bubbles were released was conical in shape. Due to an electric field formed between the noninsulated capillary tip and a ground electrode immersed in the solvent, small bubbles were formed and used as tracers for the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow field. The pressure inside the capillary was measured for all liquids used in this study. For water, ethanol, and n-propanol, it was found that, at relatively low applied voltage, the pressure increases with voltage, reaches a maximum (pressure breakpoint), and then sharply decreases. This behavior is a result of the competition between the electric force appearing at the interface and the force due to the EHD flow near the capillary tip. The electric force tends to increase the pressure inside the capillary, while the EHD flow tends to decrease this pressure. For isopropanol and butanol, the pressure breakpoint was not observed in the range of voltage applied in the experiments. The EHD flow velocity was measured by using microbubbles and particles as flow tracers. An adaptive phase-Doppler velocimeter was employed to measure the velocity of bubbles, while the velocity of particles was measured by trajectory visualization of fluorescent particles. A discrepancy was observed between the two methods because of the location at which the measurements were made. It was found that average velocities of both bubbles and particles increase linearly with applied voltage. Experiments were also conducted to investigate pumping of water, which is a result of the EHD velocity near the capillary tip. The pumping flow rate was linearly related to the applied voltage and agreed well with EHD velocity measurements obtained from particle trajectories.
Hyperoxia increases H2O2 release by lung mitochondria and microsomes

Hyperoxia increased H2O2 release by lung mitochondria. A 10-fold increase in the rate of H2O2 production was observed when oxygen concentration increased from 21 to 100%. The rate of H2O2 release increased linearly from 0 to 60% oxygen. Above 60% oxygen, the rate of H2O2 release increased dramatically up to 0.19 ± 0.03 nmol · min−1 · mg protein−1 at 100% oxygen. The same effect was observed when mitochondria were supplemented with malate + malonate + glutamanate in the presence of rotenone or when endogenous substrates were oxidized by rotenone-supplemented particles. The three antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase) were present in the mitochondrial fraction obtained from porcine lungs. The effect of oxygen concentration on extramitochondrial H2O2 release may be the consequence of a sufficient increase in the rate of intramitochondrial H2O2 production to overwhelm H2O2 scavenging by intramitochondrial peroxidases. Hydrogen peroxide formation by lung microsomes supplemented with NADPH increased linearly with oxygen concentration from 0.91 ± 0.16 at 21% to 1.6 ± 0.3 nmol · min−1 · mg protein−1 at 100% oxygen. When supplemented with NADH, microsomes produced H2O2 at rates that were about half of those with NADPH, at all oxygen concentrations. From these results, it was estimated that mitochondria can produce 2.9 nmol H2O2/g tissue while microsomes produce 19.7 nmol H2O2/g tissue, when exposed to 100% oxygen. This suggests that the enhanced release of H2O2 by hyperoxic mitochondria and microsomes may be responsible, in part, for the cellular damage observed in lungs of animals breathing oxygen concentrations of 60% or greater.
Downregulation of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptor Axis During HIV-1 and Cocaine-Mediated Pulmonary Smooth Muscle Hyperplasia Implications for HIV-Related Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Objective— Our previous findings support an additive effect of cocaine to HIV infection in the development of pulmonary arteriopathy through enhanced proliferation of human pulmonary smooth muscle cells. We now examined the role of antiproliferative bone morphogenetic protein receptor (BMPR) axis in HIV protein and cocaine-mediated pulmonary smooth muscle hyperplasia. Approach and Results— Stimulation of BMPR axis resulted in attenuation of synergistic increase in the proliferation of human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells in response to cocaine and HIV protein, transactivator of transcription (Tat). Interestingly, an increase in mRNA but decrease in protein levels of BMPR with correlated decrease in the activation of Sma- and MAD-related family protein 1/5/8 and Id1 gene expression was observed on combined treatment with cocaine and Tat when compared with the untreated cells at all time points tested. Although longer exposure to either cocaine or Tat alone also resulted in a significant decrease in the BMPR protein expression, the abrogation on combined treatment was still significantly more when compared with that of the monotreatments. Significant increase in mRNA but downmodulation of BMPR protein expression was also observed in the lung extracts from HIV-infected intravenous drug users (HIV+IVDU) when compared with that from HIV-infected non-IVDUs (HIV) or uninfected IVDUs (IVDU). Furthermore, significant decrease in BMPR protein expression was also observed in HIV or IVDUs when compared with normal controls that correlated with in vitro findings on chronic exposure to cocaine or HIV protein alone. Conclusions— Simultaneous exposure of pulmonary smooth muscle cells to viral protein(s) and cocaine exacerbates downregulation of BMPR axis that may result in enhanced pulmonary vasculature aberrations in HIV+IVDUs.
Zentrale Hyperakusis mit Phonophobie bei Multipler Sklerose

Auditory disturbances are a well known symptom in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Uni- or bilateral hypacusis or deafness in patients with normal auditory testing is considered to be a result of lesions in the central auditory pathway. Only rarely described is a central phonophobia whereby acoustic stimuli induce unpleasant and painful perceptions, with consecutive avoidance of these factors. Our first patient described acute shooting pain in the right cheek, triggered only through the ringing of a telephone. The second patient had uncomfortable perception of nonverbal noise. For example the wrinkling of paper bags was unbearable for him. The third patient had difficulties localizing the source of sound and disturbing echos while listening to speech or music. Clinically, in all patients symptoms of a brainstem syndrome were found, whereas auditory testing including inspection, audiometry, and stapedius reflex was normal. We found pathological acoustic evoked potentials (AEP) in all three patients with a prolonged latency III-V and T2 lesions in the ipsilateral pons and central auditory pathway. In case one, we suppose a lateral spread between the lateral lemniscus and the central trigeminal pathway. In the other cases, a dysfunction of the central sensory modulation which controls the regulation of sensitivity of incoming acoustic stimuli seems to be the cause of hyperacusis. All our patients developed clinically confirmed MS in the further course after suffering from phonophobia as their first symptom.
Degrees and signatures of broken PT symmetry in nonuniform lattices

We investigate the robustness of the parity- and time-reversal ($\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$) symmetric phase in an $N$-site lattice with a position-dependent, parity-symmetric hopping function and a pair of imaginary, $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetric impurities. We find that the ``fragile'' $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetric phase in these lattices is stronger than its counterpart in a lattice with constant hopping. With an open system in mind, we explore the degrees of broken $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$ symmetry and their signatures in single-particle wave-packet evolution. We predict that, when the $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetric impurities are closest to each other, the time evolution of a wave packet in an even-$N$ lattice is remarkably different from that in an odd-$N$ lattice. Our results suggest that $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$ symmetry breaking in such lattices is accompanied by rich, hitherto unanticipated, phenomena.
Radical scavenging and reducing ability of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) protein hydrolysates.

Enzymatically hydrolyzed fish protein hydrolysates could be used as a source of antioxidative nutraceuticals. In our current work, we have investigated alkali-solubilized tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) protein hydrolysates for their ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) and for their reducing power. Tilapia protein isolate was prepared by an alkaline solubilization technique and used as a substrate for enzyme hydrolysis. Cryotin, protease A ‘Amano′ 2, protease N ‘Amano′, Neutrase and Flavourzyme, were used separately to determine their effectiveness in hydrolyzing tilapia protein isolate. ROS scavenging ability was quantified using an isoluminol enhanced chemiluminescent assay in the presence of a) hydrogen peroxide or b) mononuclear cells isolated from human blood. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) of the hydrolysates using 2, 2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) or 2,2′-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (...
Relationship of 30-Year Changes in Obesity to Sleep-Disordered Breathing in the Western Collaborative Group Study

Objective: Obesity is an important etiologic factor in sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), but the extent to which changes in obesity across adult life contribute independently to SDB in old age has not been studied. In this study, we examined the association between changes in obesity from midlife to late adulthood and overnight recording of respiration during sleep. Research Methods and Procedures: Subjects in this study are from the Western Collaborative Group Study, a longitudinal cardiovascular epidemiological study that began in 1960 through 1961. Overnight sleep recordings were obtained from 281 male participants in the 1995 through 1996 follow-up of the Western Collaborative Group Study. Subjects were 75 to 91 years old when assessed for SDB as indexed by the respiratory disturbance index and an oxygen desaturation index (O2DI). Long-term changes in anthropometrics were evaluated and examined in relation to SDB severity. Results: Over the 30 years of follow-up, body mass index and waist circumference increased significantly for this sample and were associated with SDB severity as indexed by respiratory disturbance index and O2DI. Waist circumference at baseline and gain in waist circumference over the 30 years of follow-up (both p = 0.01) were significantly and independently associated with SDB severity as assessed by O2DI. However, percentage of variance as accounted for by waist circumference was modest. Discussion: This study supports the hypothesis that gain in waist circumference over adult life is significantly associated with SDB severity in older men.
Synthesis and Optical Properties of ``Branched'' Gold Nanocrystals

We report the synthesis of new “branched” gold nanocrystals in high yield (over 90%) via a wet-chemical route. The branched nanocrystals exhibit a shape-dependent plasmon resonance that is red-shifted by 130−180 nm from the spherical particle wavelength. Discrete dipole approximation (DDA) calculations qualitatively replicate the observed optical extinction spectra of the nanocrystals, indicating that the surface plasmon resonance is mainly determined by in-plane dipole excitation associated with the sharp tips.
A New Genus and Species of Stylopidae (Strepsiptera) from Liberia, West Africa

The Stylopinae and Xeninae, to which Luna de Carvalho (1961 Garcia de Orta [Lisbon] 9: 691-8) accorded full family status, are here regarded as subfamilies of Stylopidae. There are 5 known genera in the Xeninae. The 3 genera of Styiopinae, namely, Parastylops Meijere, Stylops Kirby, and a new genus Afrostylops (type, A. lunai , new species), are keyed. Stylops ruthenicus Schkaff, 1925, is transferred to Afrostylops .
BMP ligands act redundantly to pattern the dorsal telencephalic midline.

The embryonic telencephalon is patterned into several areas that give rise to functionally distinct structures in the adult forebrain. Previous studies have shown that BMP4 and BMP2 can induce features characteristic of the telencephalic midline in cultured explants, suggesting that the normal role of BMP4 in the forebrain is to pattern the medial lateral axis of the telencephalon by promoting midline cell fates. To test this hypothesis directly in vivo, the Bmp4 gene was efficiently disrupted in the telencephalon using a CRE/loxP approach. Analysis of Bmp4-deficient telencephalons fails to reveal a defect in patterning, cell proliferation, differentiation, or apoptosis. The absence of a phenotype in the Bmp4-deficient telencephalon along with recent genetic studies establishing a role for a BMP4 receptor, BMPRIA, in telencephalic midline development, demonstrate that loss of Bmp4 function in the telencephalon can be compensated for by at least one other Bmp gene, the identity of which has not yet been determined.
Positive-negative epitope-tagging of β amyloid precursor protein to identify inhibitors of Aβ processing

Abstract In this report, a novel positive–negative epitope tagging approach was developed to study the cellular processing of β amyloid precursor protein (βAPP). Amino acids centered around the α-secretase cleavage site within the Aβ sequence were replaced with residues comprising an epitope for which high-affinity monoclonal antibodies are commercially available. The resulting mutant βAPP cDNAs were expressed in human embryonic kidney cells (HEK 293). Cleavage of labeled βAPP by β- and γ-secretase(s) results in the release of an epitope-tagged Aβ peptide, whereas cleavage by α-secretase results in destruction of the epitope. Highly sensitive and specific immunoassays were developed to study processing of this labeled βAPP via the amyloidogenic pathway. Secretion of epitope-tagged Aβ was prevented by MDL 28170, a previously described γ-secretase inhibitor. Confocal microscopic studies revealed that processing and cellular trafficking of epitope-tagged βAPP was not different from wild-type βAPP. These results suggest that positive–negative epitope-tagged βAPP is normally processed within the cell and may be used to identify secretase inhibitors as therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease.
Laser-induced plasma micro-machining (LIPMM) for enhanced productivity and flexibility in laser-based micro-machining processes

Abstract This paper presents a new micro-machining process, laser-induced plasma micro-machining (LIPMM), in which plasma induced in a liquid at the focal point of the laser beam is used to perform micro-machining. It is shown that LIPMM can machine a variety of materials including metal alloys, polymers and ceramics. A process variant, line-LIPMM (L-LIPMM), based on optical manipulation of the laser beam to create line- instead of spot-plasma, is developed. Additionally, a second variant, magnetically-controlled LIPMM (MC-LIPMM), in which an external magnetic field is used to manipulate the shape of the plasma, is developed to further increase process throughput and flexibility.
L p ESTIMATES AND ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOR FOR FINITE ENERGY SOLUTIONS OF EXTREMALS TO HARDY-SOBOLEV INEQUALITIES

Motivated by the equation satisfied by the extremals of certain Hardy-Sobolev type inequalities, we show sharp L q regularity for finite energy solutions of p-Laplace equations involving critical exponents and possible singularity on a sub-space of ℝ n , which imply asymptotic behavior of the solutions at infinity. In addition, we find the best constant and extremals in the case of the considered L 2 Hardy-Sobolev inequality.
Fracture stress obtained from the elastic crack tip enclave model

The fracture stress of an elastic-plastic solid is calculated by making an approximate analysis of the crack model in which a small enclave that is surrounded by a plastic region is considered to exist at the crack tip. An attempt is made to improve Thomson's earlier analysis of this crack model by ensuring that displacements as well as traction stresses are continuous across elastic-plastic boundaries and by ensuring that the correct fracture equation is obtained for the limiting case of a perfectly elastic and a perfectly plastic solid. The fracture stress is found to increase if either or both the yield stress of the material is lowered or the rate of plastic work-hardening is reduced. It is found that the fracture stress, in contrast to Thomson's result, it is always proportional to the square root of the true surface energy of the solid.
Identification of an endogenous peptide-ligand for the benzodiazepine receptor

Abstract An inhibitor of 3H-diazepam binding with characteristics that distinguish it from the other endogenous ligands reported for the benzodiazepine receptor was obtained from bovine brain. After isolation by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography, the inhibitory factor was found to be a weakly charged molecule of approximately 3000 daltons. Although heat stable, the activity of the factor can be destroyed by treatment with papain. This factor, presumably peptide in nature, inhibited 3H-diazepam binding competitively and in a concentration dependent fashion.
A manufacturing process information model for design and process planning integration

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Design and Process Planning Integration (DPPI) project is developing an open, neutral manufacturing process object model to enable software interoperability among preliminary product design, process planning, and manufacturing execution. This object model has been used as the basis for developing the ISO 16100 standard: Industrial automation systems & integration—Manufacturing software capability profiling, Part 2: Information models for interoperability. This paper describes an object-oriented manufacturing process information model in the Unified Modeling Language. The model comprises classes on the necessary manufacturing information, such as artifact, manufacturing activities, workpiece, manufacturing equipment, estimated cost and time, and manufacturing process sequences. Major manufacturing activities include setup, workpiece handling, loading/unloading, and processing. This model is capable of describing the hierarchical structure of the information representing manufacturing processes of an artifact by means of recursive definition. Also, the model includes the representation of concurrent activities, alternative activities, and parallel activities. Furthermore, this model provides software developers with the information foundation for developing new process planning systems such that software development time can be significantly reduced.
A Computational Study of Chair–Twist Energy Differences and the Chair–Chair Conformational Interconversion in Tetrahydro-2H-thiopyran (Thiacyclohexane, Thiane)

Ab initio molecular orbital theory with the LANL2DZ, 3-21G, 6-31G(d), 6-31+G(d), 6-31+G(d,p), 6-311+G(d,p),6-31G(2d), 6-31G(3d), and 6-311G(d,p) basis sets and density functional theory (B3P86, B3LYP, B3PW91) have been used to calculate the structures, relative energies, enthalpies, entropies, and free energies of the chair, 1,4-twist, and 2,5-twist conformers of tetrahydro-2H-thiopyran (tetrahydrothiopyran, thiacyclohexane, thiane, pentamethylene sulfide). All levels of theory calculated similar energy values and the effect of basis sets on the calculated energies was small. The chair conformer of tetrahydro-2H-thiopyran was 5.27 kcal/mol more stable than the 1,4-twist conformer, which was slightly more stable (0.81 kcal/mol) than the 2,5-twist conformer. The chair–1,4-twist and chair–2,5-twist free energy differences (Δ G°c − t) were 5.44 and 5.71 kcal/mol, respectively. Intrinsic reaction coordinate [IRC, minimum-energy path (MEP)] calculations connected the transition state between the chair and the 2,5-twist conformers. This transition state is 9.73 kcal/mol higher in energy than the chair conformer and the energy differences between the chair and the 1,4-boat and 2,5-boat transition states were 8.07 and 6.38 kcal/mol, respectively. Stereoelectronic hyperconjugative interactions were observed in the chair, 1,4-twist, and 2,5-twist conformers of tetrahydro-2H-thiopyran. The stereoelectronic hyperconjugative effects in the chair conformer of tetrahydro-2H-thiopyran have been compared to those in the respective chair conformers of tetrahydro-2H-pyran, tetrahydro-2H-selenane, and tetrahydro-2H-tellurane.
An in vitro assessment by means of laser Doppler velocimetry of the medtronic advantage bileaflet mechanical heart valve hinge flow.

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the hinge flow field characteristics of the Medtronic Advantage bileaflet valve and compare them with the flow fields of the St Jude Medical standard valve. The present study provides laser Doppler velocimetry results for the Advantage and St Jude Medical valves to make a direct comparison of the flow fields of the 2 valve designs. This study aids in determining the preclinical efficacy of Medtronic's new bileaflet valve hinge design. Methods Two-dimensional laser Doppler velocimetry was used to measure the velocities in the hinge regions of size 29 Medtronic Advantage and St Jude Medical standard bileaflet valve designs. Exact dimensional models of the bileaflet valves, including the hinge regions, were cast from transparent plastic materials to conduct these measurements under simulated physiologic conditions. Laser Doppler velocimetry measurements were conducted under physiologic conditions, with the valves placed in the mitral position of a pulsatile flow loop. Measurements were taken at several elevation levels in the hinge region. Multiple measurement locations obtained in each plane provided a grid work by which the flow fields could be detailed. Results Velocity measurements obtained for each valve design in the hinge recess were used to reconstruct the flow fields. For the Advantage valve, the peak velocities during leakage flow in the hinge at zero depth, one-third depth, and two-thirds depth levels into the hinge recess were 0.9, 1.6, and 1.8 m/s, respectively. Corresponding values for the St Jude Medical valve were 1.3, 1.6, and 2.1 m/s, respectively. From the reconstructed flow fields, the flow patterns seen within the 2 hinge designs exhibited similar features, with more dynamic flow patterns observed in the Advantage hinge during the forward flow phase. Conclusions The present study demonstrated that the hinge flow dynamics of the Advantage bileaflet design were similar to those of the St Jude Medical hinge design. The velocities within the hinge were slightly higher for the St Jude Medical valve but not significantly different. There appears to be more dynamic flow through the hinge of the Advantage valve during the forward flow phase.
A pilot study utilizing whole body 18 F-FDG-PET/CT as a comprehensive screening strategy for occult malignancy in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism.

Background Approximately 7-10% of patients with unprovoked VTE will be diagnosed with cancer within 12 months. Although cancer screening has been proposed in these patients, the optimal strategy remains unclear. In a pilot study, we prospectively investigated the use of FDG-PET/CT to screen for occult malignancy in 40 patients with unprovoked VTE.
Evaluating Parent Training

Programmes that help parents become better teachers of their developmentally disabled children are now quite popular. Parent training reflects the Zeitgeist of parent involvement, and evaluations have been encouraging. Yet many questions remain. This paper notes 11 ways to address the basic question: Does parent training work? It also suggests that outcomes should be evaluated against a cost-effectiveness standard. The author argues that, even though service oriented programmes may not have the resources to carry out extensive research, they can nevertheless make important contributions by carrying out simple programme evaluations. They can monitor how many and which parents join the programme, complete it, and implement programmes at home. They can assess gains in child skills and parents’ knowledge of teaching principles. They can also assess the social validity of the programmes, asking parents about what they want and their satisfaction with what they got. The paper illustrates evaluation approaches a...
Does an Activity-Based Learning Strategy Improve Preschool Children's Memory for Narrative Passages?.

Abstract Contemporary embodiment theory's indexical hypothesis predicts that engaging in text-relevant activity while listening to a story will: (1) enhance memory for enacted story content; and, (2) result in relatively greater memory enhancement for enacted atypical events than for typical ones ( Glenberg and Robertson, 1999 , Glenberg and Robertson, 2000 ). To date, indexical hypothesis predictions and applications have been examined only with adults and elementary school-aged children. The present study extended previous research by comparing an activity-based listening strategy to a listening-only strategy with 56 preschool children. The first hypothesis was supported in that children in the activity-based condition recalled more story actions than children in the listening-only condition. At the same time, this effect was relatively greater for children who were initially better at remembering story content than for initially poorer story rememberers. Consistent with previous research findings, no statistical differences between conditions were observed on memory for nonaction story content. The second hypothesis – that children in the activity-based strategy would exhibit comparatively greater memory enhancement for atypical story events relative to typical ones – was not supported. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
A causal link between lymphopenia and autoimmunity

It is well recognized that the composition of the mature T cell population is subject to strict homeostatic control. The TCR repertoire and relative proportions of various T cell subsets are established in the thymus, and continue to be shaped and regulated in the periphery. As the thymic function declines, peripheral homeostatic mechanisms assume increasing importance. Indeed, loss of thymic function does not lead to progressive decline of T cell numbers because peripheral mechanisms ensure that the size of the T cell population is maintained due to proliferation of residual cells. However, our current understanding of the basic mechanisms of 'homeostatic' or lymphopenia-induced proliferation suggests that this drive to maintain population size may be accompanied by loss of TCR diversity and emergence of auto-reactive effector T cells. This prediction is supported by experimental and clinical evidence. This consideration is important because lymphopenia is seen commonly in clinical practice as a consequence of viral infections, or medical treatment of cancer, autoimmunity, and graft rejection. Lymphopenia may be a simple link between viral infections and autoimmunity, and may be one reason for common failure of very potent, but non-specific, immunosuppressive drugs in current clinical use.
Predicting speech recognition confidence using deep learning with word identity and score features

Confidence classifiers for automatic speech recognition (ASR) provide a quantitative representation for the reliability of ASR decoding. In this paper, we improve the ASR confidence measure performance for an utterance using two distinct approaches: (1) to define and incorporate additional predictors in the confidence classifier including those based on the word identity and on the aggregated words, and (2) to train the confidence classifier built on deep learning architectures including the deep neural network (DNN) and the kernel deep convex network (K-DCN). Our experiments show that adding the new predictors to our multi-layer perceptron (MLP)-based baseline classifier provides 38.6% relative reduction in the correct-reject rate as our measure of the classifier performance. Further, replacing the MLP with the DNN and K-DCN provides an additional 14.5% and 47.5% in the relative performance gain, respectively.