cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Misspecification issues in risk adjustment and construction of outcome-based quality indicators

Hospital “report cards” reporting risk-adjusted health outcomes are increasingly used to benchmark quality of care. However, risk adjustment methods that do not fully account for the interrelationship between quality, risks and outcomes may lead to biased quality measures. This study aims to determine whether the current approach based on logistic regression and observed-to-expected outcome comparisons (O−E difference or O/E ratio) provides unbiased measures of quality. We first provided a conceptual framework to demonstrate that O−E difference or O/E ratio is inconsistently specified when estimates are based on logistic risk adjustment models. To examine the misspecification issue empirically, risk adjustment was performed based on coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery data from New York’s Cardiac Surgery Reporting System, and quality indicators (QI) of different specifications were calculated for hospital profiling. Computer simulations further explored the issue of misspecified QIs. Results showed that risk-adjusted mortality rates (RAMR) calculated from different QIs identified the same hospital outliers based on 95% confidence intervals, but generated different rank orders for hospitals in both high-quality and low-quality tails of the quality distributions. Simulation results further showed that, compared to O−E and O/E, logistically transformed QIs were superior regarding their abilities to identify hospitals of true extreme rankings, especially when the outcome was less prevalent or the number of patients per hospital was small. Based on our findings, we recommend that analysts consider the use of logistically transformed QI prior to publicly releasing quality rankings using measures based on O−E or O/E.
Distinct effects of intravascular and extravascular angiotensin II on cerebrovascular circulation of newborn pigs.

Angiotensin II (AngII) is important in regulation of vascular resistance and control of blood flow among organs and tissues. The effect of AngII on the cerebral microvasculature may be mediated or altered by endothelial-derived signals. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that blood AngII dilates neonatal pial arterioles via an endothelial-dependent mechanism but brain AngII can constrict pial arterioles by activating smooth muscle AT1 receptors. Studies used anesthetized newborn pigs with surgically implanted closed cranial windows. AngII was given either by infusion into the carotid artery ipsilateral to the cranial window or topically. Intracarotid infusion of AngII dilated pial arterioles. The dilation was blocked by systemic administration of the AT1-receptor antagonist, losartan, but unaffected by topical losartan. Topical AngII also caused dilation, but this dilation was converted to constriction by topical losartan. In piglets pretreated with the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, enalapril, topical AngII constricted, rather than dilated, pial arterioles. In enalapril treated piglets, light/dye endothelial injury blocked dilation to intracarotid AngII but did not affect constriction to topical AngII. Either indomethacin or L-NAME blocked the dilation to intraluminal AngII, but neither affected constriction to topical AngII. Chromium mesoporphyrin, that inhibits heme oxygenase, did not affect responses to either topical or intravascular AngII. These data are consistent with the hypotheses that: a) Circulating AngII dilates pial arterioles via endothelial AT1 receptor-derived relaxing factors, notably prostanoids and NO; b) Direct AT1 receptor activation on the brain side of the blood brain barrier (BBB) by AngII causes AT1 receptor mediated constriction that can mask underlying AT1 receptor-independent dilation when ACE is inhibited. Clinical manipulation of the renin-angiotensin system will have disparate actions on cerebral circulation depending upon the functional integrity of the intima and ACE.
Emotional and Cognitive Processing in Sexual Assault Survivors' Narratives

Sexual assault sequelae include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and substance use. Seminal treatment models have been developed based on emotional (Foa & Kozak, 1986) and cognitive (Resick & Schnicke, 1992) theories, and determined to be efficacious. Studies also have documented the utility of Pennebaker and Beall's (1986) narrative writing paradigm for trauma- related depressive and PTSD symptoms. Recently investigations have sought to explicate its benefit, focusing on mechanisms of action. This study aimed to examine the emotional activation and cognitive processing across narrative writing sessions with undergraduate sexual assault survivors. Results revealed statistically significant reductions in depressive symptoms and alcohol use, but not PTSD symptoms. Clinically meaningful and statistically significant emotional activation and habituation occurred within and across sessions. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Sudden Cardiac Death and Coronary Artery Disease —Pathophysiology and Risk Stratification

Management of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) is undergoing a radical change in direction. It is becoming increasingly appreciated that besides depressed left ventricular systolic function and the conventional risk stratification tools, new markers for plaque vulnerability, enhanced thrombogenesis, specific genetic alterations of the autonomic nervous system, cardiac sarcolemmal and contractile proteins, and familial clustering may better segregate patients with atherosclerotic coronary artery disease who are at high risk for SCD from those who may suffer from nonfatal ischemic events. Better understanding of pathophysiological processes, such as postmyocardial infarction remodeling, the transition from compensated hypertrophy to heart failure, and the increased cardiovascular risk of coronary artery disease in the presence of diabetes or even a prediabetic state will help to improve both risk stratification and management. The rapidly developing fields of microchips technology and proteomics may allow rapid and cost-effective mass screening of multiple risk factors for SCD. The ultimate goal is to identify novel methods for risk stratification, risk modification, and prevention of SCD that could be applied to the general public at large.
Interlayer coupling and the thermopower of cuprate superconductors.

A review of the extant literature on the thermopower (TEP) of the cuprate superconductors reveals a transition from polaronic to homogeneous itinerant electron behavior with increasing hole concentration in the ${\mathrm{CuO}}_{2}$ sheets. Superconductivity appears at the compositions of crossover from one regime to the other, and the normal state of the superconductors retains a heterogeneous electronic structure of mobile hole-rich and hole-poor domains, which introduces both a statistical and a transport component to the Seebeck coefficient. A primary manifestation of the transport component is an enhancement term \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\alpha}(T) having a maximum at a ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathrm{max}}$=100--140 K, which is characteristic of a strong coupling of the charge carriers to optical rather than acoustic phonons. Comparison of the TEP for ${\mathrm{La}}_{1.85}$${\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.15}$${\mathrm{CuO}}_{4}$ vs ${\mathrm{La}}_{0.85}$${\mathrm{Sr}}_{1.15}$${\mathrm{GaCuO}}_{5}$ and ${\mathrm{La}}_{1.8}$${\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.2}$${\mathrm{CaCu}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{6+\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ vs ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Sr}}_{2}$${\mathrm{CaCu}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{8+\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ indicates that an increase in the c-axis coupling between neighboring ${\mathrm{CuO}}_{2}$ sheets increases the size of the polaron or hole-rich domains in the underdoped compositions, thereby lowering the room-temperature value of the Seebeck coefficient \ensuremath{\alpha}(300 K) and increasing the magnitude of \ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\alpha}(T). These observations implicate a strong elastic component, enhanced by electron-lattice interactions, in the c-axis coupling as well as in the formation of larger nonadiabatic polarons and their interactions within the ${\mathrm{CuO}}_{2}$ planes. They also signal that caution must be exercised in any application of a ``universal plot'' of \ensuremath{\alpha}(300 K) versus hole concentration p per Cu atom in a ${\mathrm{CuO}}_{2}$ plane to obtain a value of p from TEP data. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Nucleation of carbon clusters via an accretion model.

The growth of carbon clusters by monomer addition, at a constant temperature, is examined via Langevin molecular dynamics simulations. For temperatures comparable to experimental growth conditions, we find for carbon clusters with fewer than \ensuremath{\sim}20 atoms that ``ringlike'' structures are the dominant species present. For larger clusters, we find ``spheroidal'' structures dominate. We find that carbon monomers form bonds only at the surface of the clusters during the growth process. No atom is found to be captured inside the hollow of the cluster during our simulations. A subunit of one pentagon surrounded by five hexagons is found to occur frequently for clusters larger than \ensuremath{\sim}40 atoms. This structure can be thought of as a precursor for the formation of the ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ fullerene.
Investigation of the Formation and the Applications of Ice Powder

Water ice powder constitutes a potentially important manufacturing tool. Availability and cleanliness of this powder constitute its major advantage. It was shown that the ice particles can be used as an abrasive in the course of waterjet machining. Although the erosion potential of ice particle is inferior to that of the conventional abrasives the environmental soundness of ice enables us to expend the use of the ice abrasive jets on food industry, medicine, precision machining, etc. The principal issue in the use of the ice abrasives is particles formation. Analysis of various technologies showed that the most effective avenue in particles production is integration of the water freezing and ice decomposition. As the results, the desired flow rate of ice particles at the desired temperature and size distribution can be generated. The objective of the presented paper was the experimental investigation of the production of ice particles. An experimental set up was constructed and used for particles fabrication at controlled conditions. The acquired information was applied for the analysis of the phenomena leading to the particles formation. As the result a hypothetical mechanism of the ice decomposition was suggested and validated. The experiments involving the decontamination of the electronic devices, semiconductors, fabric, leather, food products, polished metal, soft plastics, rusted auto parts, etc were carried out in order to demonstrate the potential application of the ice blasting.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
A note on a parametric extension of rank tests to the analysis of multifactor experiments within blocks

A general rank test procedure based on an underlying multinomial distribution is suggested for randomized block experiments with multifactor treatment combinations within each block. The Wald statistic for the multinomial is used to test hypotheses about the within–block rankings. This statistic is shown to be related to the one–sample Hotellingt's T2 statistic, suggesting a method for computing the test statistic using the standard statistical computer packages.
American Indian treaty diplomacy in the Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789

Abstract This paper uses treaty minutes and correspondence from the Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 to trace the development of a United States treaty protocol with American Indians from its origins in 1775 through the end of the pre-federal period. This examination draws on reports of treaty negotiations, speeches from council proceedings, reports, and letters from Indian Commissioners, agents, Indians, and the Continental Congress to portray the changing cultural context of treaties between the United States and the Iroquois, and by extension, American Indians.
Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome, type I.

We describe a patient with trichorhinophalangeal syndrome type I (TRPS-I) who had been previously diagnosed as having anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (Christ-Siemens-Touraine syndrome). The TRPS-I phenotype is characterized by fine, sparse, brittle hair in association with a bulbous pear-shaped nose, tented alae, a long extended philtrum, a thin upper lip, and a horizontal groove on the chin. There may be clinobrachydactyly with ulnar deviation and dystrophic nails. The radiographic findings include cone-shaped epiphyses of the middle phalanges with shortened metacarpals. Genetic findings include deletion of chromosome band 8q24.12. Patients with all variants of TRPS need prompt and accurate assessment because musculoskeletal dysplasia is a universal feature in this syndrome. We review TRPS and similar syndromes to assist the accurate diagnosis of these lifelong maladies. (J Am Acad Dermatol 1994;31:331-6.)
Sex differences in cardiovascular reactivity to physical appearance and performance challenges

We examined sex differences in cardiovascular reactivity to a novel body image speech task and to three performance-oriented challenges: serial subtraction, handgrip, and mirror tracing tasks. Forty-nine men and 64 women completed the four tasks while heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure were measured. The speech was perceived as requiring more emotionality and empathy for success, whereas the performance tasks were perceived as requiring greater competitiveness. As predicted, women showed greater heart rate reactivity to the body image speech, but men showed greater blood pressure reactivity to the subtraction, grip, and mirror tracing tasks. Results underscore the importance of contextual factors in influencing sex differences in stress responses; women may be more physiologically vulnerable to challenges in the domain of physical appearance, whereas men may react to competitive, performance-oriented challenges.
A Voice of the US Southwestern Border: The 2012 “We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future” Conference

In July 2012, a diverse group of US residents living near the US-Mexico border met in El Paso, Texas for a conference entitled, We the Border: Envisioning a Narrative for Our Future. This paper des...
Thermal stresses in laminated beams

Abstract A displacement variation which incorporates the effects of transverse shear and normal strain is used to formulate the equations of equilibrium for a laminated beam subjected to external loads and temperature fields. The interlaminar stress field obtained from the present method is compared to those obtained from the theory of elasticity and the elementary beam theory. The numerical results indicate a substantial difference in the stress fields obtained from the present and the elementary beam theory for the cases of transverse and sinusoidal temperature fields. However, for uniform temperature distributions, the stresses are in close agreement.
Mapping the topography of DNA wrapped around gyrase by nucleolytic and chemical probing of complexes of unique DNA sequences

Summary Complexes between DNA gyrase and DNA fragments of unique sequences were used to probe the topography of the DNA with nucleases and dimethyl sulfate. The results indicate that the flanking regions, each 50 bp in size, of a 145-155 bp DNA segment resistant to staphylococcal nuclease contain groups of pancreatic DNAase l-susceptible sites that are spaced 1 O-l 1 nucleotides apart. Pairs of adjacent DNAase l-sensitive sites on complementary strands are typically staggered by 2-4 bp. The binding of DNA to gyrase confers no protection against alkylation of the DNA by dimethyl sulfate. These properties of the gyrase-DNA complex are reminiscent of those of the nucleosome, and the common underlying structural feature appears to be the wrapping of the DNA around a protein core. The gyrase-DNA complex differs from the nucleosome, however, in that it must possess features necessary for the catalysis of DNA chain breakage and the modulation of the DNA-enzyme interaction by ATP. We present evidence that the breakage and rejoining of the DNA by gyrase occur within a central region of the staphylococcal nuclease-resistant DNA segment. The relation of this observation to the mechanism of DNA supercoiling by gyrase is discussed. Addition of ATP or its P,y-imido analog has essentially no effect on the patterns of susceptibilities to DNAase I, implying that the DNA-enzyme contacts mapped by the nuclease are little affected by ATP-induced conformational changes.
Intravenous lidocaine reduces ischemic pain in healthy volunteers.

Background and Objectives: Lidocaine, a local anesthetic and antiarrhythmic drug that alters depolarization in neurons by blocking the fast voltage-gated sodium (Na+) channels in the cell membrane, is used for regional anesthesia, as antiarrhythmic drug, and as analgesic for various painful conditions. It is unclear whether monotherapy with intravenous lidocaine has an analgesic effect in healthy individuals. To address this important question, we studied pain perception before, during, and after the administration of intravenous lidocaine in 16 human volunteers. Our hypothesis was that lidocaine, administered as a short intravenous infusion, does not have an analgesic effect in healthy volunteers. Methods: Sixteen healthy human volunteers received systemic lidocaine at plasma concentration 2 mg/mL using a computer-assisted infusion. Participants underwent a series of sensory tests-thermal, electrical, and ischemic pain and normal pinprick sensation-at baseline, during, and 30 mins after administration of a 20-min lidocaine infusion at a 2 mg/mL effect site concentration. Results: We found a sustained decrease in ischemic pain ratings and a limited analgesic effect for electrical pain, whereas thermal pain and normal sensation did not change. Conclusions: The observed sustained analgesic effect of systemic lidocaine in the ischemic pain model suggests that lidocaine may be used to treat acute pain.
The influence of size-distribution parameters on the evaporation of polydisperse dilute sprays

Abstract An analytical study has been performed of both diffusion-controlled and radiation-controlled (opaque droplets) evaporation of single-component polydisperse sprays. The overall evaporation characteristics of sprays of different initial size distributions were found to be correlated best by their initial Sauter mean diameter. In the case of diffusion-controlled evaporation, the representation of a polydisperse spray by a monodisperse spray of droplet size equal to the initial Sauter mean diameter of the polydisperse spray is a good assumption during the early stages of evaporation. When 40% of the volume of droplets has evaporated, the error of the monodisperse model reaches 20%. On the other hand, in the case of radiationcontrolled evaporation, the monodisperse spray model yields good results for most of the period of evaporation of the spray.
Measurement of Extracellular Ion Fluxes Using the Ion-selective Self-referencing Microelectrode Technique

Cells from animals, plants and single cells are enclosed by a barrier called the cell membrane that separates the cytoplasm from the outside. Cell layers such as epithelia also form a barrier that separates the inside from the outside or different compartments of multicellular organisms. A key feature of these barriers is the differential distribution of ions across cell membranes or cell layers. Two properties allow this distribution: 1) membranes and epithelia display selective permeability to specific ions; 2) ions are transported through pumps across cell membranes and cell layers. These properties play crucial roles in maintaining tissue physiology and act as signaling cues after damage, during repair, or under pathological condition. The ion-selective self-referencing microelectrode allows measurements of specific fluxes of ions such as calcium, potassium or sodium at single cell and tissue levels. The microelectrode contains an ionophore cocktail which is selectively permeable to a specific ion. The internal filling solution contains a set concentration of the ion of interest. The electric potential of the microelectrode is determined by the outside concentration of the ion. As the ion concentration varies, the potential of the microelectrode changes as a function of the log of the ion activity. When moved back and forth near a source or sink of the ion (i.e. in a concentration gradient due to ion flux) the microelectrode potential fluctuates at an amplitude proportional to the ion flux/gradient. The amplifier amplifies the microelectrode signal and the output is recorded on computer. The ion flux can then be calculated by Fick’s law of diffusion using the electrode potential fluctuation, the excursion of microelectrode, and other parameters such as the specific ion mobility. In this paper, we describe in detail the methodology to measure extracellular ion fluxes using the ion-selective self-referencing microelectrode and present some representative results.
Rhetoric and judgment in the constitutional ratification debate of 1787–1788: An exploration in the relationship between theory and critical practice

The relationship between the practice of public rhetoric and the nature of political judgment is complex. The essay analyzes a pivotal constitutive controversy, the public Constitutional ratification debate of 1787–1788, and uncovers conflicting objects and standards of judgment. The essay demonstrates that Federalists advocated a “formal” and “spectator‐oriented” model of judgment while Anti‐Federalists depicted a “substantive” and “actor‐oriented” model. The concluding section of the essay explores certain theoretical implications (rhetorical distance, interest time, and prudence) that emerge from the constitutive rhetoric of the ratification debate.
Teasing, rejection, and violence: Case studies of the school shootings.

Media commentators have suggested that recent school shootings were precipitated by social rejection, but no empirical research has examined this claim. Case studies were conducted of 15 school shootings between 1995 and 2001 to examine the possible role of social rejection in school violence. Acute or chronic rejection-in the form of ostracism, bullying, and/or romantic rejection-was present in all but two of the incidents. In addition, the shooters tended to be characterized by one or more of three other risk factors-an interest in firearms or bombs, a fascination with death or Satanism, or psychological problems involving depression, impulse control, or sadistic tendencies. Implications for understanding and preventing school violence are discussed.
Determination of 5,12, and 15-lipoxygenase products in keratomed biopsies of normal and psoriatic skin.

Keratomed epidermal tissue from normal individuals and from the lesional and non-lesional skin of psoriasis patients served as source materials for the extraction, separation, and quantitation of eicosanoids that may be important to cutaneous function and pathophysiology. The eicosanoids were extracted in ethanol and buffer, partially purified on SEP-PAKs, separated by reverse phase microbore high-performance liquid chromatography, and quantitated by radioimmunoassay or integration of absorbency peaks obtained by high performance liquid chromatography. The involved areas from psoriasis patients contained a statistically significant seven- to 11-fold increase in the levels of leukotriene B4, 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid-like compound, 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid compound and 12-hydroxyeicosatetracnoic acid in comparison to normal samples and a three- to sevenfold increase in comparison to uninvolved tissue. The uninvolved areas contained 40% to 100% increases in the levels of these compounds in comparison to normal tissue; these increases were statistically significant except for 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid-like compound. From a single keratome biopsy, multiple eicosanoids can be separated and quantitated; in addition, levels before, during, and after therapy for psoriasis may be compared.
Timing of Onset of Antidepressant Response With Fluoxetine Treatment

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the time until onset of antidepressant response with fluoxetine treatment. METHOD: The authors evaluated 182 outpatients with major depression who had a sustained acute response to fluoxetine treatment. The outpatients received 8 weeks of treatment with 20 mg/day of fluoxetine and were assessed biweekly with the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The onset of response was defined as a 30% decrease in score on the Hamilton depression scale that persisted and led to a 50% decrease by week 8. The Kaplan-Meier product limit and Cox regression analysis were used to model the relationship between relevant variables and time until onset of response. RESULTS: The authors found that at weeks 2, 4, and 6, the probabilities of having an onset of response (for responders) were 55.5%, 24.7%, and 9.3%, respectively. The cumulative probabilities of onset of response at each time point were 55.5%, 80.2%, and 89.5%. Neither demographics nor clinical characteristics...
Dispersion characteristics of a two-stream relativistic klystron amplifier

A two-stream relativistic klystron amplifier (RKA) is proposed in which the amplification of stimulated beam modulation is achieved via the unstable two-stream interaction rather than the use of passive cavities. After a calculation of the limiting current, the amplification and saturation of the stimulated beam modulation are analyzed using a cold-fluid model and particle-in-cell simulation. Good agreement is found between theory and simulation in the linear regime. Fully modulated intense relativistic electron beams are obtained at saturation. In the proposed scheme, substantial beam energy difference is required to achieve large instability growth.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A new polymorphic site in the G6PD gene.

A polymorphic restriction site has been found in intron 11 of the gene for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). This site is produced by a T→C substitution 13 bp upstream of exon 12, producing an NlaIII restriction site. In various populations there was a strong association between a T at nt 1311 of the G6PD cDNA and the presence of the NlaIII restriction site. Among African Americans, however, the presence of a C at nt 1311 was sometimes associated with the presence of a polymorphic NlaIII site.
Acute infections about the face and jaws.

Abstract We have discussed the dynamics of the infective process as applied to both the soft and hard tissues. The infection is an invasive process of the body host which responds by setting up an acute inflammatory reaction which is defensive and reparative in nature. Side by side with this mechanism are the systemic reactions of leucocytosis, elevation of temperature, and a large group of immunological reactions.
Repair of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns Containing Buckled and Fractured Reinforcement by Plastic Hinge Relocation

AbstractThis paper describes a new repair technique that involves the use of plastic hinge relocation to restore strength and deformation capacity of RC bridge columns. Summarized is the overall repair concept and experimental results that include the reversed cyclic testing of three large-scale bridge columns that were previously damaged, repaired using the proposed methodology, and then subsequently retested. To date, two different repair alternatives were executed using unidirectional carbon fiber sheets in the hoop and longitudinal directions, the latter anchored into the RC footing with 30-mm-diameter carbon fiber anchors. A method for predicting the force-displacement responses of columns repaired in this manner was also developed and found to give reasonable results. Also included in this paper are design considerations, which are carried out in the steps needed to design a repair system to relocate the plastic hinge in a column containing buckled longitudinal reinforcement. The responses show that...
Parameter estimation for a drying system in a porous medium

We introduce a stable numerical method for the recovery of the temperature and moisture distributions in a Liukov system with space dependent diffusion coefficients. In this problem, only Cauchy noisy data at the active boundary is given and no information about the amount and/or character of the noise in the data is assumed. The error analysis for the algorithm is discussed and a numerical example is presented.
Transient resonance Raman spectroscopy shows unrelaxed heme following CO photodissociation from cytochrome-c peroxidase.

Abstract The 7 ns 436 nm pulses of an H 2 -shifted YAG laser have been used to photolyze the CO adduct of cytochrome- c peroxidase and produce the resonance Raman spectrum of the photoproduct. A 3 cm −1 downshift, relative to the spectrum of reduced enzyme, was observed for the porphyrin C-N breathing mode, v 4 . The downshift diminishes with decreasing CO/protein ratio, implying, in conjunction with a recent study of CO binding, that the unrelaxed heme is associated with adduct having a tilted, H-bonded FeCO unit. The downshift is eliminated when the phosphate buffer concentration is increased from 0.01 to 0.1 M. It is proposed that the heme relaxation under study involves a transition between two conformations, B and A, differing in the disposition of the distal residues, and having different v 4 frequencies for unligated Fe(II) heme. Conformation B allows H-bonding to bound CO, and is favored at high CO and phosphate concentrations, while conformation A, which is unfavorable to CO H-bonding, is favored at low CO and phosphate concentrations. The recently reported absence of unrelaxed frequencies in the 7 ns photo-product of the CO adduct of horseradish peroxidase has been confimred, and is attributed to lower stability for conformation B and a smaller A – B v 4 difference.
Effective Partnerships: How School Nurses and Physical Education Teachers Can Combat Childhood Obesity

School systems face many challenges in attempting to address the childhood overweight and obesity epidemic. Given the accumulated nature of the required physical activity and the likelihood that only one meal will be delivered while on school grounds, the potential for impactful change in obese or overweight children through school policy is limited. From this vantage point, it is easy to see that physical education programs alone cannot ensure that children participate in 60 minutes of daily physical activity. The necessary multifaceted approach requires opportunities for physical activity to be obtained throughout the school day. The school nurse and physical education teachers are the school personnel most likely to be involved in efforts to curtail the childhood overweight and obesity epidemic at the school level. These individuals are in critical roles of assisting both parents and children when it comes to understanding the devastating effects of being overweight and obese and in helping children identify positive health behaviors that may help reverse this condition. The purpose of this article is to describe the ways in which the school nurse and physical education teacher can work collaboratively to better address the childhood overweight and obesity epidemic.
Dispositions as goals for teacher education

Abstract It is proposed that professional dispositions be added to professional knowledge and skills as goals for teacher education programs. Dispositions, which are defined as summaries of act frequencies or trends in behavior, are contrasted with habits, skills, attitudes, and traits. Professional dispositions are treated as “habits of mind” that give rise to the employment of skills and are ideally manifested by skillful behavior. Justifications for including dispositions in the goals of teacher education are also proposed.
Microencapsulation of Methylglyoxal and Two Derivatives

Microcapsules of methylglyoxal, methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone), and methylglyoxal-ascorbic acid condensation complex were prepared and release curves were determined. The effect of various concentrations of hydrochloric acid on the decomposition of the ascorbic acid complex was investigated.
Health-related Quality of Life in HIV Disease

The structure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in HIV disease is examined in 205 symptomatic HIV+ individuals receiving care at two West Coast public hospitals. A 64-item HRQOL battery, tapping aspects of HRQOL of particular relevance to individuals with HIV disease, was administered and found to yield reliable self-report data. Confirmatory factor analysis provides support for a two-factor model of HRQOL: (a) a physical health dimension defined by physical function, role function, freedom from pain, disability days, and quality of sex life, and (b) a mental health dimension defined by overall quality of life, emotional well-being, hopefulness, lack of loneliness, will to function, quality of family life, quality of friendships, and cognitive function/distress. Correlations of HRQOL measures with social support, access to care, coping, and symptom measures are reported and discussed.
Female-headed households and family welfare in rural Ecuador.

This paper examines the relationships between female headship status of households and family welfare in rural Ecuador. We first review theoretical arguments for why female headship may affect family welfare. Descriptive analysis indicates that female-headed households are worse off according to a variety of measures of welfare. We then focus on children's school enrollment as a specific measure of welfare and estimate a multivariate model to assess the effects of female headship on the probability of enrollment. We find that children in female-headed households are disadvantaged in this respect and that the effect of female headship varies across marital status categories of the female head.
Moist wound healing with occlusive dressings. A clinical review

BACKGROUNDOcclusive dressings have become increasingly popular in the management of wound care. Numerous types of occlusive dressings are presently available for the treatment of acute and chronic wounds. Occlusion enhances wound healing primarily by preventing wound dessication. As a result, epider
Estimating effect sizes in exploratory experimental studies when using a linear model

This article proposes a ubiquitous study effect size index and develops approximate confidence intervals that can be used in a meta-analysis of effect sizes for fixed effect ANOVA designs with more than two independent groups. For a two-group study with equal sample sizes, it reduces to Hedges's g effect size index. The procedure may be used with either omnibus F tests of significance or focused tests involving contrasts. Several designs are illustrated.
Orientation of surfactant molecules at a liquid-air interface measured by optical second-harmonic generation

. ' The average molecular orientation of a monolayer of sodium~dodecylnapthalene-sulfonate on a water-air interface has been determined by use of optical second-harmonic generation. The molecular orientation is shown to vary smoothly with increasing surface density of the molecules. Insoluble molecular monolayers at gas-liquid or li which is responsible for the SHG at an interface gen­ erally reflects the properties of the surface layer. If X 1'> arises mainly from a monolayer of molecular adsorbates, and takes the form (I)
The International Decade of East African Lakes (IDEAL) drilling initiative for the African Great Lakes

The Great Lakes of East Africa are one of the most exciting targets for obtaining long core records on Earth. Since their early exploration by 19 century naturalists their unique geological and biological attributes have been objects of curiosity for scientists from a wide range of disciplines. Since early in the 20 century it has also been evident that an extremely long and detailed history of regional paleoclimate and paleoenvironments could be gleaned from the study of their sediments. Beginning in the 1980s seismic reflection profiling of Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika revealed extremely thick packages (up to several km) of rift-related sediments lying on the bottoms of these lakes (Rosendahl et al., 1986), indicating histories extending back to the Miocene. The International Decade of the East African Lakes (IDEAL) was formed to promote investigation of these limnological and paleolimnological aspects of the African lakes. IDEAL is a multidisciplinary science initiative and is a component of the PAGES Core Project within IGBP. One of the central themes of IDEAL since its inception has been to advance our understanding of the history of the African Great Lakes through coordinated programs of paleolimnological and paleoclimate research (Johnson & Odada, 1996). Much of this work to date has involved the collection and interpretation of relatively short core records and seismic data on the various Great Lakes, to better define the most promising target areas for a program of scientific drilling. Our long-term goal is to obtain climate and paleoenvironmental records that cover the past several million years at stratigraphic resolutions comparable to ice cores, but in a part of the world that has been critical for ecosystem (and notably human) evolution. Obtaining such records is now within our grasp. The recent decision of the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund the purchase and testing of the GLAD 800 drilling system means that a community resource for deep lake drilling will be available within the next few years. Given this recent development and a background of considerable prior research in the Great Lakes region, the IDEAL Steering Committee sponsored a planning workshop for a drilling campaign on what are arguably the two most exciting targets of deep-time paleolimnological research on Earth, Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika.
Objective sleep, a novel risk factor for alterations in kidney function: the CARDIA study

Abstract Objective To determine the association between objectively measured sleep and 10-year changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Methods From 2003 to 2005, an ancillary sleep study was conducted at the Chicago site of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Community-based black and white adults (aged 32–51 years) wore a wrist actigraph for up to six nights to record sleep duration and fragmentation. Sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Participants without history of cardiovascular or chronic kidney diseases, proteinuria, or hypertension at the 2000–2001 CARDIA examination were followed over 10 years ( n = 463). eGFR was estimated from serum creatinine (eGFR Cr ) at the 2000–2001, 2005–2006, and 2010–2011 CARDIA examinations, whereas cystatin-C-estimated eGFR (eGFR Cys ) was measured at the 2000–2001 and 2005–2006 examinations. Generalized estimating equation regression and linear models estimated the associations of each sleep parameter with changes in eGFR Cr and eGFR Cys , controlling for cardiovascular and renal risk. Results Sleep parameters were not related to 5-year change in eGFR Cys . However, each 1 h decrease in sleep duration was significantly associated with a 1.5 mL/min/1.73 m 2 higher eGFR Cr [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.2–2.7], and each one-point increase in PSQI was significantly associated with a 0.5 mL/min/1.73 m 2 higher eGFR Cr (95% CI, 0.04–0.9) over 10 years. Conclusion In this community-based sample, shorter sleep and poorer sleep quality were related to higher kidney filtration rates over 10 years.
Police Officer Willingness to Use Stress Intervention Services: The Role of Perceived Organizational Support (POS), Confidentiality and Stigma

In spite of the overwhelm evidence of the negative consequences of untreated police stress, studies suggest that stress intervention services remain under-utilized by police officers. Using data collected from 673 Pennsylvania police officers, the present inquiry examines factors which influence officer willingness to use services, with a focus on perceived organizational support (POS). Findings indicate that officers who perceive support from the organization and view the organization as supportive of the use of services are more willing to use services. Conversely, officers who perceive issues of confidentiality and stigma related to services are less willing to use stress intervention services.
Compressive sensing method for improved reconstruction of gradient-sparse magnetic resonance images

We propose a compressive sensing method for reconstructing gradient-sparse magnetic resonance (MR) images based on the pre-filtering of the input signals in the k-space. A set of filtered versions of the image is reconstructed using the available k-space samples, and a final reconstruction stage generates the desired image from the filtered versions. Our experiments, conducted over real MR images and angiograms, show that the proposed method improves the reconstruction over the total-variation minimization, in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and computation time. The proposed method is particularly appropriate for computing MR angiograms, which are typically sparse under the finite-differences operation.
Observation of warm water transport and mixing in the Arctic basin with the ALTEX AUV

An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) designed for operation at high latitudes and under ice, completed its first Arctic field tests from the USCGC Healy in October 2001. The ALTEX (Atlantic Layer Tracking EXperiment) AUV's initial application was focused on tracking the warm Atlantic Layer inflow - the primary source of seawater to the Arctic Ocean. The primary payloads were twin pumped CTD systems. Oxygen and nitrate sensors provide the ability to use NO (dissolved oxygen corrected by nitrate to account for biological respiration) as a nearly conservative tracer. An ice profiling sonar allowed the AUV to estimate the ice thickness in real-time and was designed to generate high quality post-processed ice draft data comparable to that collected through the SCICEX program. Sections of water properties were obtained in the marginal ice zone and ice thickness measurements made in the ice pack. Marginal ice observations showed mixing of the warm Atlantic layer to the surface, causing melting of ice even as winter approached.
Packaging and performance of an IGBT-based hybrid electric vehicle

A highly integrated hybrid electric vehicle of the series architecture has been built and tested. The vehicle essentially matches the performance of the stock car on which it is based-including full interior space, range, and dynamic performance. It approaches Federal ULEV targets with the engine in operation, and provides sufficient zero-emission (electric only) range for typical commuting. This is achieved by means of an integrated battery package, an air-cooled traction package, and industrial IGBT drives. The arrangement and package designs are discussed, with an emphasis on the electrical architecture and the power electronic drive trains. Operating results are reported.
A Unique Role for ITK in Survival of Invariant NKT Cells Associated with the p53-Dependent Pathway in Mice

Invariant NKT (iNKT) cells play important roles in the immune response. ITK and TXK/RLK are Tec family kinases that are expressed in iNKT cells; the expression level of ITK is ∼7-fold higher than that of TXK. Itk(-/-) mice have reduced iNKT cell frequency and numbers, with defects in development and cytokine secretion that are exacerbated in Itk/Txk double-knockout mice. In contrast, there is no iNKT cell defect in Txk(-/-) mice. To determine whether ITK and TXK play distinct roles in iNKT cell development and function, we examined mice that overexpress TXK in T cells at levels similar to Itk. Overexpression of TXK rescues the maturation and cytokine secretion of Itk(-/-) iNKT cells, as well as altered expression of transcription factors T-bet, eomesodermin, and PLZF. In contrast, the increased apoptosis observed in Itk(-/-) splenic iNKT cells is not affected by TXK overexpression, likely due to the lack of effect on the elevated expression of p53 regulated proapoptotic pathways Fas, Bax, and Bad in those cells. Supporting this idea, p53(-/-) and Bax(-/-) mice have increased splenic iNKT cells. Our results suggest that TXK plays an overlapping role with ITK in iNKT cell development and function but that ITK also has a unique function in the survival of iNKT cells, likely via a p53-dependent pathway.
Recent advances in Ge/Si PIN and APD photodetectors

Photodetectors on a Si platform are important because of the opportunity to manufacture literally millions of photodetectors per wafer and because the use of a mature CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) process results in low cost and high uniformity. In this paper, we review recent results on Ge-Si-based PIN-type photodetectors and avalanche photodetectors (APD). We show several exciting advantages of SiGe photodetectors namely, the higher thermal conductivity of Si and Ge, resulting in higher power capability, and the lower k factor, resulting in higher gain bandwidth products in APDs (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Predictive dynamic load balancing of parallel hash-joins over heterogeneous processors in the presence of data skew

We present new algorithms to balance the computation of parallel hash joins over heterogeneous processors in the presence of data skew and external loads. Heterogeneity in our model consists of disparate computing elements, as well as general purpose computing ensembles that are subject to external loading. Data skew appears as significant nonuniformities in the distribution of attribute values of underlying relations that are involved in a join. We develop cost models and predictive dynamic load balancing protocols to detect imbalance during the computation of a single large join. Our algorithms can account for imbalance due to dates skew as well as heterogeneity in the computing environment. Significant performance gains are reported for a wide range of test cases on a prototype implementation of the system. >
The use of 15N to measure nitrogen uptake in eutrophic oceans; experimental considerations1,2

The use of 15N to measure the flux of nitrogen compounds has become increasingly popular as the techniques and instrumentation for stable isotope analysis have become more widely available. Questions concerning equations for calculating uptake, effect of isotope dilution (in the case of ammonium), duration of incubation, and relationship between disappearance of a nitrogen com- pound and the 15N uptake measurement have arisen, especially for the research conducted in oligotrophic regions. Fewer problems seem to have occurred in eutrophic areas. However, sufficient literature now exists to allow some generally accepted experimental procedures for 15N studies in eutrophic regions to be laid down. Incubation periods of 2-6 h appear to avoid problems related to isotope dilution and to overcome the bias introduced in some cases by initial high rate or surge uptake. During such incubation periods, assimilation is measured rather than uptake or transport into the cell. Incorporation of 15N into the particulate fraction is usually linear with time over the periods currently used. The 15N method provides a better estimate of incorporation into phytoplankton than 14N disappearance, but a small fraction appears to be lost. Although most workers suggest the loss to be a result of dissolved organic nitrogen production, direct evidence is lacking. If the considerations discussed here are applied with the lSN techniques currently available, reliable estimates of phytoplankton nitrogen flux in eutrophic areas can be obtained.
The tumor lysis syndrome.

The tumor lysis syndrome is the most common disease-related emergency in children and adults with hematologic cancers. This review summarizes current strategies for risk assessment, prophylaxis, and therapy.