cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Age at First Birth and Fathers' Subsequent Health: Evidence From Sibling and Twin Models:

Using a sample of 540 siblings and twins from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, this study examines the relationship between the age at which men become biological fathers and their subsequent health. The analysis includes both between-family models that treat brothers as independent observations and within-family models that account for unobserved genetic and early-life environmental endowments shared by brothers within families. Findings indicate that age at first birth has a positive, linear effect on men's health, and this relationship is not explained by the confounding influences of unobserved early-life characteristics. However, the effect of age at first birth on fathers' health is explained by men's socioeconomic and family statuses. Whereas most research linking birth timing to specific diseases focuses narrowly on biological mechanisms among mothers, this study demonstrates the importance of reproductive decisions for men's health and well-being.
Adults with ADHD-without insomnia history have subclinical sleep disturbance but not circadian delay: an ADHD phenotype?

Objective: To explore the potential ADHD phenotype of ADHD-without reported insomnia in comparison with controls and their tolerance of stimulants in a cohort rigorously screened for comorbidities. Method: Adults meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR) criteria for ADHD-without insomnia and matched controls were administered a sleep/medication-timing questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results: Among 105 participants, ADHD participants scored in the mild insomnia range and showed reduced sleep quality compared with controls, F(3, 101) = 34.9, p < .05, but no delay in bedtime/mid-sleep-time circadian measures. Sleep quality was similar between stimulant, nonstimulant, and unmedicated groups, χ22 = 0.445, p = .80. However, later timing of stimulant dosing was correlated with later sleep times, p < .01. Conclusion: We isolated a potential phenotype of ADHD-without circadian delay in adults who demonstrated insomnia/sleep quality disturba...
Influence of the olfactory bulbs on blood leukocytes and behavioral responses to infection in Siberian hamsters.

Surgical removal of the olfactory bulb alters several aspects of immunological activity. This study investigated the role of the olfactory bulbs in the control of behavioral responses to simulated infection, and the environmental modulation of sickness behaviors by changes in day length. Adult male Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) were subjected to bilateral olfactory bulbectomy (OBx) or a sham surgical procedure, and were then exposed to long (15 h light/day; LD) or short (9 h light/day; SD) photoperiods for 8–12 weeks, after which circulating leukocytes and behavioral responses (anorexia, anhedonia, cachexia) to simulated gram-negative bacterial infections (i.p. lipopolysaccharide [LPS] treatment; 0.625 mg/kg) were quantified. OBx treatment altered the effects of photoperiod on immune function in a trait-specific manner. LPS-induced anorexia was exacerbated in SD-OBx hamsters; LPS-induced anhedonia was exacerbated in LD-OBx hamsters; and photoperiodic differences in circulating leukocytes and LPS-induced cachexia were eliminated by OBx. Plasma cortisol concentrations did not differ between LD and SD hamsters, irrespective of olfactory bulb integrity. The data indicate that photoperiod affects immune function via OB-dependent and -independent mechanisms, and that changes in cortisol production are not required for photoperiodic changes in sickness behaviors to manifest.
Feasibility of Using Active Video Gaming as a Means for Increasing Energy Expenditure in Three Nonambulatory Young Adults With Disabilities

Objective To examine the feasibility of adapting active video games (AVGs) for nonambulatory wheelchair users at functionally diverse levels and to examine these AVGs as a method for increasing energy expenditure (EE) for 3 young adults with severe (SEV), moderate (MOD), and no upper extremity limitation (NL). Design Case study. Setting Residential special education school for youth and young adults with physical disabilities. Participants Two young adults with spastic cerebral palsy (SEV, MOD) and one young adult with spina bifida (NL). All participants were nonambulatory wheelchair users. Methods Each participant performed Wii bowling and tennis and an adapted upper extremity version of a Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) game pad. Main Outcome Measurements EE was measured through indirect calorimetry (VO 2 ). Heart rate data were collected with the use of a Polar Heart Rate Monitor. Results SEV and MOD participants showed a higher percentage increase in EE for the Wii games (SEV, 25.6%; MOD, 30.8%) compared with DDR (SEV, 10.8%; MOD, 29.1%), whereas the participant with NL had a greater EE increase for the DDR (173.5%) compared with Wii (59.5%). Conclusions AVGs showed clinically significant increases in EE for all 3 participants and can be performed by nonambulatory wheelchair users ranging from those with NL to those with SEV upper extremity limitation with the appropriate adaptations.
Topological properties of generalized banyan-hypercube networks

Abstract This paper discusses the topological properties of a recently introduced family of networks, called the banyan-hypercubes (BH), and defines a family of generalized banyan-hypercubes. A banyan-hypercube, denoted BH (h, k, s), is constructed by taking the bottom h levels from the base of a rectangular banyan of spread s and sk nodes per level for s a power of 2, and interconnecting the nodes at each level in a hypercube. The banyan-hypercubes can be viewed as a scheme for interconnecting hypercubes while keeping most of the advantages of the latter. In this paper, the definition of BHs will be extended and generalized to (1) allow the interconnection of an unlimited number (h) of hypercubes and (2) allow any h successive levels of the banyan to interconnect hypercubes. This leads to better extendability and flexibility in partitioning. The diameter and average distance of the generalized BH are derived and shown to provide an improvement over the hypercube for a wide range of values for h, k, and s. Self-routing point to point and broadcasting algorithms are presented and efficient embeddings of various networks, on the BH, can be constructed.
Senator Sam Ervin and School Prayer: Faith, Politics, and the Constitution

Senator Sam Ervin was the quintessential southern constitu tionalist. Between 1954 and 1974, North Carolina's "ol' country law yer" served as the South's leading defense attorney in the Senate, finding constitutional reasons to oppose everything from civil rights to consumer protection. He was a true conservative who fought every threat, real or imagined, to the traditional southern way of life. So when Senator Everett Dirksen proposed a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's ban on school prayer in 1966, the conventional wisdom held that Ervin would rush to support it. After all, the senator represented the most Protestant state in the nation, his Bible-quoting was legendary, and he had frequently criticized the court for trying to take God out of the public schools.1 But Ervin hesitated. He was troubled by the implications of the amendment, especially its impact on the separation of church and state. For some time Ervin struggled in silence—reading, studying, and do ing his own research. But it was not long until events forced his hand. The senator's ultimate decision on school prayer, and his subsequent actions, offer a case study in one conservative's struggle to reconcile his faith, political philosophy, and dedication to the U.S. Constitution.
Children's Testimony and Their Perceptions of Stress in and out of the Courtroom.

Modifications of the courtroom environment have been proposed to reduce stress and enhance truth-telling of child witnesses. The present study examines the premise that courtroom environment affects the quality of children's evidence and children's perceptions of their own stress. Thirty-four 8- to 10-year-olds participated in an activity and 2 weeks later, their memory for the activity was tested. Half the children were questioned in a mock courtroom in the law school of a major university, and half at their school, both by the same interviewer. Children questioned at court showed impaired memory performance when compared with agemates questioned at school. They also rated certain court-related experiences as more stressful than peers interviewed at school. Furthermore, children's perceptions of courtroom stress were negatively correlated with completeness of accurate free recall, suggesting a relation between court-related stress and eyewitness memory worthy of further study.
Characteristics of a new creep regime in polycrystalline NiAl

Constant-load creep tests were conducted on fine-grained (≈23 µm) Ni-50.6 (at. pct) Al in the temperature range of 1000 to 1400 K. Power-law creep with a stress exponent,n ≈ 6.5, and an activation energy,Qc ≈ 290 kJ mol, was observed above 25 MPa, while a new mechanism withn~1 andQ c ≈ 100 kJ mol dominates when σ < 25 MPa, wherea is the applied stress. A comparison of the creep behavior of fine- and coarse-grained NiAl established that the mech-anism in then ≈ 2 region was dependent on grain size, and the magnitude of the grain-size exponent was estimated to be about 2. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of the deformed specimens revealed a mixture of dislocation tangles, dipoles, loops, and sub-boundary networks in the power-law creep regime. The deformation microstructures were in-homogeneous in then~ 2 creep regime, and many grains did not reveal any dislocation activity. However, bands of dislocation loops were observed in a few grains, where these loops appeared to have been emitted from the grain boundaries. The observed creep characteristics of the low-stress region suggest the dominance of an accommodated grain-boundary sliding (GBS) mech-anism, although the experimental creep rates were lower than those predicted by theoretical models by over seven orders of magnitude. The low value ofQ c in this region, which is ap-proximately one-third that for lattice self-diffusion, is attributed to the possible existence of interconnected vacancy flow channels, or “nanotubes,” at the grain boundaries.
On The Validity of an Isometric Biomechanical Model of Worker Strengths

Abstract Over the last 18 years the Center for Ergonomics at The University of Michigan has worked to develop a computerized, biomechanically based model to predict worker muscle strengths in various tasks. During the last few years new input strength data has been acquired from published works of others. Worker isometric strength testing also has been performed by the Center in various industries to determine gross lifting, pushing and pulling capabilities of a heterogeneous group of men and women. These data, acquired from 1577 men and women are compared to the strength predictions of the biomechanically based model. For prediction of mean strength capabilities of both men and women performing varied types of symmetric sagittal plane exertions, the model results were relatively unbiased and were well correlated with r 2 between 0.85 and 0.88 with the population data. The results were not as good for predicting the mean strengths of two-handed assymetric exertions (r 2 between 0.54 and 0.74), and for one...
Individual and practice differences among physicians who perform ERCP at varying frequency: a national survey

Background ERCP practice patterns in the United States are largely unknown. Objective To characterize the ERCP practice of U.S. gastroenterologists, stratified by their annual case volume: high volume (HV, >200), moderate volume (MV, 50-200), and low volume (LV, Design Anonymous electronic survey. Subjects American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy members who are practicing U.S. gastroenterologists. Results Among all responders (N = 1006), 63% were derived from community practices. Physicians who performed ERCPs and provided data on annual volume (n = 669) were classified as LV (n = 254), MV (n = 284), and HV (n = 131). During training, 77% of LV physicians did not complete 180 ERCPs compared with 58% of MV and 34% of HV physicians (P Limitations Survey completion rate of 18.5%. Conclusions Self-reported comfort and/or enjoyment with ERCP is lower among LV physicians. Wire-guided cannulation is used by the majority of all ERCP practitioners, but prophylactic PDS is less frequently used by LV physicians. Because many LV physicians perform ERCP for higher-grade indications and use advanced techniques (eg, needle-knife sphincterotomy), further LV physician ERCP outcomes data are needed.
PS2-4: Diabetes Screening and Detection in an Ambulatory Clinical Population

Background/AimsType 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in the U.S. It is unknown whether racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes prevalence are being adequately addressed in clinical practice with respect to screening. Our aim was to determine diabetes screening and detection rates by race/ethnicity and whether they vary depending on screening criteria used. Racial/ethnic minority groups are generally found to have higher prevalence of diabetes, but little is known about whether screening and detection rates vary by race/ethnicity.MethodsData from electronic health records (EHR) in a large ambulatory group practice were used to construct a cohort of persons aged 35 and older without prevalent diabetes (N = 116,355). They were followed for diabetes screening (average follow up 17 months in 2007–2011). We computed standardized screening and detection rates in each racial/ethnic group and examined predictors of screening. We compared positive detection rates for those who met the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) or American Diabetes Association (ADA) screening criteria and those who did not.ResultsMost patients (82%), including 75% of those meeting neither criteria, were screened during follow-up. Racial/ethnic minority groups had higher screening rates – Latino (82%), Asian subgroups (83% (Japanese) to 90% (Filipino)), non-Hispanic Black (92%) – than non-Hispanic White (80%) (P <0.001). Detection rates were also significantly higher for some minority groups (Latinos (2.1%), Asian Indians (2.4%), and Filipinos (3.8%)) than non-Hispanic White (1.3%) (P <0.05). Among screened, 1.6% had positive test results (number needed to screen (NNS) = 64). The NNS was 46 for those meeting ADA criteria, 36 for USPSTF criteria and 132 for those meeting neither.ConclusionsNearly all patients in our study population received screening, and racial/ethnic minority groups were not less likely to be screened. Current clinical practice screens a high proportion of individuals meeting neither ADA nor USPSTF guidelines. Given low screening costs that may be appropriate because many new cases were detected among those without risk factors. Given the substantial benefit of early detection of diabetes our study suggests that universal, preventive screening for diabetes for asymptomatic individuals may have utility.
Microsomal phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase: Some physical and kinetic properties

Some physical and kinetic properties of the microsomal enzyme(s) that convert phosphatidyl-ethanolamine to phosphatidylcholine in rat and guinea pig livers have been investigated. The pH optima, of the reactions were 9.8, 9.3 and 9.5 for the first, second and third methylation reactions, respectively. Incomplete heat denaturation of the protein catalyzing the first reaction contrasts with inactivation at 60 C of the enzymes catalyzing the second and third methylations. The maximal velocity of the first reaction of the guinea pig liver enzyme is 48 p mol/min/mg protein, substantially less than exhibited rate-limiting reaction of the three step methylation sequence in rat liver, 114 pmol/min/mg. The affinity of the microsomal enzyme for S-adenosylmethionine is greater in rat liver (Km=18.2 μM) than in guinea pig liver (Km=302 μM).
Functional salesforce turnover: An empirical investigation into the positive effects of turnover

Abstract Salesforce research has traditionally viewed turnover as intrinsically bad for the organization. However, recent research on turnover suggests that this approach is overly pessimistic in its treatment of the turnover problem. A conceptual framework (turnover functionality) is presented that considers both the positive as well as negative effects of salesforce turnover on the organization and then tested using a sample of 103 individuals from the salesforce of a national consumer goods manufacturer. The results suggest that the problem of turnover may have been overstated in previous salesforce research. The empirical findings indicate the antecedents of turnover frequency (the traditional measure) and turnover functionality may not be the same.
Northern hemisphere extratropical circulation anomalies and recent January land surface temperature trends

The authors follow up on a strong case made by Trenberth for the importance of low-frequency tropical and extratropical circulation variations being a major factor in determining decade scale temperature variations observed in the northern hemisphere. They use the rotated principal components analysis to model mid-tropospheric circulation variations, because this scheme is able to deal with major low-frequency modes. Their objective is to show how dynamics in the atmosphere are able to drive surface temperature changes. The objective is to try to explain why observations do not support general model conclusions that the increasing abundance of greenhouse gases should result in increasing surface temperatures. The conclusions support the importance of such circulations in determining surface temperatures, point out the need to include such circulational effects in global circulation models, and highlight how complex it is to simply measure or observe global climate changes based upon only one parameter change.
Impact of a pharmacotherapy alerting system on medication errors

Purpose An evaluation of a rules-based pharmacotherapy alerting system configured to identify improperly verified new medication orders in an inpatient setting is described. Methods A retrospective pre-post cohort study was conducted to assess order-verification alerts and pharmacy interventions at a 900-bed hospital before and after implementation of a commercial pharmacotherapy alerting system. In the preintervention phase of the study, the pharmacotherapy alerting system was used on a limited basis, with clinical pharmacists responding to all alerts and the resulting data used to refine the trigger rules; for the intervention phase, the pharmacotherapy alerting system was programmed to alert only on order-verification errors involving four medications (darbepoetin, filgrastim, fondaparinux, and warfarin). In the event of alerts, a pharmacy response team provided nearly real-time feedback to the order-verification pharmacist, mainly via e-mail or paging. Results From the preintervention period to the intervention period, there was a 36% decrease in the frequency of order-verification alerts (p = 0.035), and the average number of alerts per day declined from 1.0 to 0.6, suggesting that the pharmacotherapy alerting system and associated oversight mechanisms were effective in enabling pharmacy staff to prevent future errors at the order-verification step before such errors could result in patient harm. The review team spent an average of 10.2 minutes carrying out interventions in response to alerts during the intervention phase. Conclusion Incorporation of a real-time pharmacotherapy alerting system with an oversight response process reduced the number of pharmacotherapy alerts and facilitated interception and prevention of adverse drug events. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2013; 70:48-52
Quantification of thymosin β4 in human cerebrospinal fluid using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Abstract Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI–TOF–MS) has been applied to the analysis of a wide range of biomolecules. To date, there are two specific areas of application where MALDI–TOF–MS is viewed as impractical: analysis of low-mass analytes and relative quantitative applications. However, these limitations can be overcome and quantification can be routine. Increased levels of thymosin β 4 (TB4) have been recently found in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) patients. Our objective was to apply a label-free quantitative application of MALDI–TOF–MS to measure TB4 levels in human CSF by adding the oxidized form of TB4 as an internal standard. The relative peak area or peak height ratios of the native TB4 to the added oxidized form were evaluated. Considering the relative peak area ratios, healthy individuals showed a mean value of 40.8 ± 21.27 ng/ml, whereas CJD patients showed high values with a mean of 154 ± 59.07 ng/ml, in agreement with the previous observation found in CJD patients. Similar results were obtained considering peak height ratios. The proposed method may provide a simple and rapid screening method for quantification on CSF of TB4 levels suitable for diagnostic purposes.
Sarcoidosis: A Pediatric Perspective

Childhood sarcoidosis is a rare multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. The clinical presentation can vary greatly depending upon the organs involved. Two distinct forms of sarcoidosis exist in children. Older children usually present with a multisystem disease similar to the adult manifestation, with frequent hilar lymphadenopathy and pulmonary infiltration. Early-onset childhood sarcoidosis is a unique form of the disease characterized by the triad of rash, uveitis, and arthritis in patients presenting before age 4 years. The diagnosis of sarcoidosis is confirmed by demonstrating a typical noncaseating granuloma on a biopsy specimen. The current therapy of choice for childhood sarcoidosis with multisystem involvement is corticosteroids. Methotrexate given orally in low doses is effective and safe and has steroid-sparing properties.
Some aspects of the development of linear algebra in the last sixty years

Abstract This after-dinner talk is mainly a brief discussion of interactions between linear algebra and some other mathematical branches.
Mechanisms of Peroxynitrite Interactions with Heme Proteins

Oxygenated heme proteins are known to react rapidly with nitric oxide (NO) to produce peroxynitrite (PN) at the heme site. This process could lead either to attenuation of the effects of NO or to nitrosative protein damage. PN is a powerful nitrating and oxidizing agent that has been implicated in a variety of cell injuries. Accordingly, it is important to delineate the nature and variety of reaction mechanisms of PN interactions with heme proteins. In this Forum, we survey the range of reactions of PN with heme proteins, with particular attention to myoglobin and cytochrome c. While these two proteins are textbook paradigms for oxygen binding and electron transfer, respectively, both have recently been shown to have other important functions that involve NO and PN. We have recently described direct evidence that ferrylmyolgobin (ferrylMb) and nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) are both produced during the reaction of PN and metmyolgobin (metMb) (Su, J.; Groves, J. T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 12979-12988). Kinetic evidence indicates that these products evolve from the initial formation of a caged radical intermediate [Fe(IV) horizontal lineO.NO(2)]. This caged pair reacts mainly via internal return with a rate constant k(r) to form metMb and nitrate in an oxygen-rebound scenario. Detectable amounts of ferrylMb are observed by stopped-flow spectrophotometry, appearing at a rate consistent with the rate, k(obs), of heme-mediated PN decomposition. Freely diffusing NO(2), which is liberated concomitantly from the radical pair (k(e)), preferentially nitrates myoglobin Tyr103 and added fluorescein. For cytochrome c, Raman spectroscopy has revealed that a substantial fraction of cytochrome c converts to a beta-sheet structure, at the expense of turns and helices at low pH (Balakrishnan, G.; Hu, Y.; Oyerinde, O. F.; Su, J.; Groves, J. T.; Spiro, T. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 129, 504-505). It is proposed that a short beta-sheet segment, comprising residues 37-39 and 58-61, extends itself into the large 37-61 loop when the latter is destabilized by protonation of H26, which forms an anchoring hydrogen bond to loop residue P44. This conformation change ruptures the Met80-Fe bond, as revealed by changes in ligation-sensitive Raman bands. It also induces peroxidase activity with the same temperature profile. This process is suggested to model the apoptotic peroxidation of cardiolipin by cytochrome c.
Prediction of sediment-bound nutrient delivery from semi-arid California watersheds

[1] Soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) are lost from hillslopes in particulate forms through soil erosion. The fate of the eroded C (e.g., sequestration or oxidation) may affect the global C budget, and delivery of N and P to waterbodies can lead to eutrophication. Whereas the magnitude of particulate nutrient losses may be similar to or greater than dissolved losses, it is rarely estimated. We couple a sediment delivery model with measurements of C, N, and P in soil to account explicitly for hillslope sediment transport processes that yield sediment-bound nutrients to fluvial networks. The model is applied to a site in California dominated by coastal sage scrub and gopher-rich grasslands. Although the magnitude of sediment delivery predicted by the model has been tested with reservoir sedimentation records, no data exist to test the predicted rates of nutrient delivery. Nevertheless, the model results are provocative; it predicts that losses of particulate C from sage covered hillslopes (23 kg/ha/yr) are nearly double that from grassland hillslopes (13 kg/ha/yr), despite a lower annual sediment yield from the sage hillslopes. The model predicts similar average annual N and P losses for sage and grasslands but dramatic differences in the frequency and magnitude of delivery events. Nutrient delivery from grasslands is chronic whereas delivery from the coastal sage is highly episodic, with large pulses driven by fire frequency. These results suggest that changes in the vegetation community can alter the delivery regime of sediment-bound C, N, and P.
Recent studies on the control of the reptilian ovarian cycle

Abstract As a working hypothesis the following sequence of events may be considered in the control of the gonad in Sceloporus: (1) Under the influence of environmental cues, the secretion of gonadotropin(s) from the anterior lobe is elicited and follicular development and steroid secretion begin. (2) Estrogen secreted by the ovary acts (a) to stimulate the production of growth hormone, (b) in concert with growth hormone on the liver to induce vitellogenesis and the production of lipophosphoprotein which is accumulated by the ovary resulting in rapid ovarian growth, and (c) via the hypothalamus to depress ovulatory quantities of gonadotropin(s). (3) Rising levels of progesterone may facilitate ovulation by inhibiting gonadotropin and/or estrogen production followed by a gonadotropin surge. (4) Following ovulation, progesterone is produced in large quantities by the corpus luteum controlled by pituitary hormones and prevents further follicular development by acting directly on the hypothalamus and possibly at the peripheral level to antagonize vitellogenesis for the duration of gestation and for a period postpartum. (5) Prolactin may be involved in a feedback loop with progesterone, producing antivitellogenic effects similar to progesterone. (6) Following parturition, plasma levels of progesterone decrease slowly as the corpus luteum involutes. The following fall, in response to changing environmental conditions, the onset of gonadal growth begins again.
Dieldrin and p,p′—DDT effects on egg production and eggshell thickness of chickens

Sixty Leghorn hens were randomly divided into 5 groups of 12 and individually fed a control diet, or diets containing 10 and 20 ppm dieldrin, or diets containing 100 and 200 ppm p,p′-DDT for a 12-week period. Average egg production per bird, egg weight, dry shell weight, shell thickness (not including membranes), and shell calcium were not affected by feeding the insecticides. In addition, the length of the clutch or the number of clutches during the 12-week period were not affected. However, egg weight increased with time during the experiment, and eggshell thickness decreased with successive eggs within a clutch.
Opportunities in the hydrologic sciences: An open invitation for contributions

For more than a century the development of hydrology has been largely in the hands of civil and agricultural engineers working on the classic problems of water supply and the reduction of natural hazards. Their considerable success at these tasks is evidenced by the high standards of public health and safety enjoyed by the urban populations of the developed nations. Nevertheless, the pragmatic focus of the field has retarded the development of fundamental hydrologic science in comparison with the solid Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences. This has resulted in a scientific and educational base that is inadequate for the solution of many emerging problems and has left the hydrologic sciences without a platform within the federal science policy establishment from which to launch needed research and educational programs.
Collision-induced intramolecular vibration—vibration energy transfer in CO2: CO2(0001) + H2/D2

Abstract Intramolecular vibration—vibration energy transfer cross sections have been calculated for CO2(0001) + H2/D2 → CO2(1110) + H2/D2, → CO2(1000) + H2/D2, and → CO2(2000) + H2/D2 based on the mechanism that the energy mismatch is transferred to the translational motion. For CO2 + H2, the calculated cross section for CO2(0001) + H2 → CO2(1000) + H2 is in good agreement with experimental data. Cross sections for the processes (0001 → 111O) and (0001 → 2000) are found to be too small compared with experimental data. For CO2 + D2, (0001 → 1000) is also the most important process and appears to represent experimental data at room temperature. The sum of three cross sections of CO2 + H2 is always greater than that of CO2 + D2 over the temperature range of 100–2500 K.
Alcohol misuse and report of recent depressive symptoms among ED patients.

Abstract Objective This study examined the magnitude of association between alcohol misuse and recent depressive symptoms. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 412 randomly selected patients at least 18 years old and seeking emergency department (ED) care. Results Of the patients, 51.0% reported depressive symptoms. At-risk drinking was reported by 26.0%, and 28.2% scored positive on the Rapid Alcohol Problems Screen 4. Alcohol abuse and binge drinking were reported by 25.1% and 28%, respectively, of the patients. According to our results, at-risk drinking (odds ratio [OR] = 2.49, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.47-4.20, P ≤ .001), problem drinking (OR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.27-3.51, P ≤ .004), drinking abuse (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.51-4.40, P P Conclusions The findings of this study yield information that could be used by ED health care practitioners and health educators to educate ED patients at risk for alcohol misuse and depression.
Appetite control and energy balance regulation in the modern world: Reward-driven brain overrides repletion signals

Powerful biological mechanisms evolved to defend adequate nutrient supply and optimal levels of body weight/adiposity. Low levels of leptin indicating food deprivation and depleted fat stores have been identified as the strongest signals to induce adaptive biological actions such as increased energy intake and reduced energy expenditure. In concert with other signals from the gut and metabolically active tissues, low leptin levels trigger powerful activation of multiple peripheral and brain systems to restore energy balance. It is not just neurons in the arcuate nucleus, but many other brain systems involved in finding potential food sources, smelling and tasting food, and learning to maximize rewarding effects of foods, that are affected by low leptin. Food restriction and fat depletion thus lead to a 'hungry' brain, preoccupied with food. By contrast, because of less (adaptive thrifty fuel efficiency) or lost (lack of predators) evolutionary pressure, the upper limits of body weight/adiposity are not as strongly defended by high levels of leptin and other signals. The modern environment is characterized by the increased availability of large amounts of energy-dense foods and increased presence of powerful food cues, together with minimal physical procurement costs and a sedentary lifestyle. Much of these environmental influences affect cortico-limbic brain areas concerned with learning and memory, reward, mood and emotion. Common obesity results when individual predisposition to deal with a restrictive environment, as engraved by genetics, epigenetics and/or early life experience, is confronted with an environment of plenty. Therefore, increased adiposity in prone individuals should be seen as a normal physiological response to a changed environment, not in the pathology of the regulatory system. The first line of defense should ideally lie in modifications to the environment and lifestyle. However, as such modifications will be slow and incomplete, it is equally important to gain better insight into how the brain deals with environmental stimuli and to develop behavioral strategies to better cope with them. Clearly, alternative therapeutic strategies such as drugs and bariatric surgery should also be considered to prevent or treat this debilitating disease. It will be crucial to understand the functional crosstalk between neural systems responding to metabolic and environmental stimuli, i.e. crosstalk between hypothalamic and cortico-limbic circuitry.
Incidence, trends, risk factors, indications for, and complications associated with cesarean hysterectomy: a 17-year experience from a single institution

To review the incidence, trends, risk factors, indications for, and complications associated with cesarean hysterectomy (CH) in our institution. Retrospective study of 158 women who had CH at the Detroit Medical Center during a 17 period. During the study period, 158 of 202,356 deliveries were CH, giving an overall incidence of 0.78 per 1,000 deliveries. Of the 158 cases, 14 were elective while 144 were emergently performed due to complications encountered at cesarean section. Analysis of the eligible 144 cases showed that the commonest risk factors were previous cesarean delivery (76%) and placenta previa (35%). Abnormal placenta adherence was the indication for CH in 50.7%, followed by uterine atony in 34.7% and uterine rupture in 16.7% of the cases. Febrile morbidity (44.4%) and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (22.9%) were the most common postoperative complications. Most complications occurred in patients with parity greater than two. Compared to the last decade, CH performed more recently were less likely to be complicated by bowel injury or disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. Morbidly adherent placenta has replaced uterine atony as the leading indication for emergent CH in our institution. High parity remains a risk factor for complications; however, we recorded a reduction in bowel injury and disseminated intravascular coagulopathy in recent years.
Diet as a limiting factor in the transmissibility of caries activity between rats of different strains

Abstract Factors associated with the development and transmissibility of dental caries were studied using three strains of rats and two caries test-diets. Osborne-Mendel (OM) and NIH Black rats (BR) fed Diet 1506 developed carious lesions, almost exclusively in the sulci, and there was no evidence of transmission from the highly caries active OMs to the less active BRs. BRs on Diet 2000 developed low levels of caries and transmitted only slight increases in caries to the tetracycline (T) treated OMs and SDs (Sprague Dawley rats) with which they were caged. OMs and SDs fed Diet 2000 developed high levels of caries on the smooth surfaces and in the sulci and transmitted high levels of caries to the BRs with which they were caged. The BRs thus exposed transmitted high levels of caries to the T-treated OMs and SDs with which they were caged. The results of these studies show that the diet may be a limiting factor both in the development and transmissibility of dental caries, even in animals infected with an oral microflora which is potentially cariogenic.
A reexamination of medical marijuana policies in relation to suicide risk.

Objectives Previous research has suggested that medical marijuana policies lead to reductions in suicide rates. In this study, we further investigate the association between these policies and within-state changes in suicide risk.
REGULATORY COOPERATION, AID FOR TRADE AND THE GATS

. This paper discusses what could be done to expand services trade and investment through a multilateral agreement in the WTO. A distinction is made between market access liberalization and the regulatory preconditions for benefiting from market opening. We argue that prospects for multilateral services liberalization would be enhanced by making national treatment the objective of WTO services negotiations. Moreover, if complemented by assistance to strengthen regulatory capacity in developing countries, the WTO could become more relevant in promoting not just services liberalization but, more importantly, domestic reforms of services policies.
Effect upon the EEG of acute injury to the brain stem activating system

The effect upon the EEG in the unanesthetized "ecephale isole" of acute brain stem lesions in a position to involve the ascending reticular activating system has been studied. Elimination of the bulbar segment was without marked effect. Some synchronization followed elimination of the pons, but the most pronounced and prolonged changes occurred as a result of mesencephalic transection, or of discrete injury to the midbrain tegmentum or basal diencephalon, following which the EEG activation pattern of low voltage fast activity was reduced or abolished and the cortical record became dominated by recurring bursts or spindles of high voltage slow waves like those of normal sleep or barbiturate anesthesia. Bursts could be recorded from the intralaminar and other nuclei of the thalamus and these thalamic bursts were abolished by acute decortication. Conversely, cortical bursts were abolished by acute thalamic lesions. Possible interrelations of these regions in this activity is discussed. These results offer an explanation for the clinical observation of somnolence following basal injury to the brain, and suggest that a maintained influence of the ascending brain stem activating system underlies wakefulness, while absence of this influence precipitates sleep.
Spiritual Encounters: Interactions between Christianity and Native Religions in Colonial America

Encounters between religions and the resulting questions pertaining to belief and faith are among the most intriguing subjects with which scholars grapple. How do people adjust, accommodate, resist, reinterpret and harmonize different systems of belief? Do religious conversions often mask more worldly concerns such as political power, economic well being, and the ability to control one's destiny? Specifically adopting a cross-hemispheric approach, this volume draws on experiences of religious change principally in hispanophone America, but also in anglophone and francophone America, in order to transcend cultural frontiers, illuminate the circumstances and conditions which determined the form that spiritual encounters took across the hemisphere, and encourage a comparative approach.
The Population Genetics of Antibiotic Resistance II: Analytic Theory for Sustained Populations of Bacteria in a Community of Hosts

The phenomenon of antibiotic resistance is of practical importance and theoretical interest. As a foundation for further studies by simulation, experiment, and observation, we here develop a mathematical model for the dynamics of resistance among the bacteria resident in a population of hosts. The model incorporates the effects of natural selection within untreated hosts, colonization by bacteria from the environment, and the rapid increase of resistance in hosts who receive antibiotics. We derive explicit formulas for the distribution of resistance among hosts and for the rise or fall of resistance when the frequency of treatment is changed.
The Hoover Index of Population Concentration and the Demographic Components of Change An Article in Memory of Andy Isserman

The Hoover Index is the most widely used measure for assessing the concentration or deconcentration tendencies of a country’s evolving population distribution. In this article, the authors propose ...
The Influence of a Change in Practice Setting on Pediatrician Activity: A Case Study

A time-and-motion study was performed of a pediatrician's activities in his fee-for-service solo practice and again after he joined a prepaid group practice. A comparison was made between time spent with fee patients in solo practice and time spent with fee patients continuing to see him in group practice. Total time per patient visit was not changed significantly by the group setting. Activities within the visit were modified in the group setting. History-taking and physical examination were reduced; counseling and charting were increased. Time spent in well-child visits in the group setting was significantly longer with the increased time spent in counseling. For sick visits there was no change in total time per visit nor in activities within the visit.
FREEDM ERC precollege programs: Motivating careers in the electric power industry

Declining interest and enrollments in STEM related fields are an impetus to engage precollege students and teachers in science and engineering activities. Concerns about climate change and green energy sources provide platforms to connect today's students to tomorrow's careers in the electric power industry. Three facets of the NSF-supported FREEDM ERC precollege programs are described: (1) a Research Experience for Teachers, (2) a Young Scholars commuter program for high school students, and (3) summer science camps for middle school students. Assessment results for the fourth year of the effort at four different university campuses are presented.
Incorporating Motion in Mesh-Based Magnetic Equivalent Circuits

Recent research has compared the numerical efficiency of magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) models based upon Kirchhoff's voltage law (mesh equations) and Kirchhoff's current law (nodal equations). For stationary magnetic components, it was shown that mesh-based methods converge in significantly fewer iterations. Although the numerical advantages would seemingly apply to electric machines, two issues have limited the application of mesh-based MEC models to electric machines. With movement, the number of meshes (unlike the number of nodes) is position dependent. Additionally, the loss of an airgap element creates an infinite reluctance. In this paper, both issues are addressed. Specifically, it is first shown that a relatively straightforward algorithm can be used to dynamically update meshes with rotor position. In addition, it is shown that the mesh model remains stable for very large values of tube reluctance. Tube reluctance values that are large enough to cause numerical issues can be easily avoided by excluding a very narrow range of rotor positions. Based upon these results, a mesh-based MEC model of a wound-rotor synchronous machine is developed and is shown to provide a significant advantage over its nodal-based model equivalent.
Mantle source provinces beneath the Northwestern USA delimited by helium isotopes in young basalts

We report new He, Nd and Sr isotope results for basalts from the northwestern United States. The new 3 He/ 4 He results for olivine phenocrysts in basalts from the eastern Snake River Plain (SRP), the Owyhee Plateau (OP) and the Oregon High Lava Plains (HLP), together with published He isotope data for Yellowstone and the Cascades volcanic arc, delineate distinct mantle sources for each of these sub-provinces. All basalts from the eastern SRP (8 Quaternary localities plus 1 Miocene locality) have 3 He/ 4 He ratios higher than observed in normal mid-ocean ridge basalts, but overlapping with ranges observed in hotspot-related oceanic islands. For a lateral distance of some 400 km along the SRP, 3 He/ 4 He ranges from ∼11 R A in the west to >19 R A adjacent to Yellowstone. Such high ratios have not been observed elsewhere in the western U.S., and are consistent with the presence of a mantle plume. The lateral gradient in 3 He/ 4 He suggests that the proportion of plume-derived He decreases westward, but this interpretation is complicated by possible addition of crustal helium during open-system crystal fractionation in some SRP basaltic magmas. Although crustal contamination may modulate 3 He/ 4 He in basalts along the SRP, the effect is not strong and it does not obscure the elevated 3 He/ 4 He mantle source signature. In contrast, young basalts from the HLP and the OP have 3 He/ 4 He values of 8.8-9.3 R A , within the range for mid-ocean ridge basalts; these data reflect a shallow asthenospheric source with no discernible influence from the Yellowstone hotspot. Basalts from Newberry volcano have slightly lower 3 He/ 4 He (7.6―8.3 R A ), within the range for other Cascades arc lavas (7.0-8.4 R A ). Three alternative explanations are possible for the origin of the high 3 He/ 4 He signature along the SRP: (1) multi-component mixing of (a) magmas and/or CO 2 -rich fluids derived from plume mantle having high 3 He/ 4 He, (b) continental lithosphere having low 3 He/ 4 He, and (c) shallow asthenospheric mantle (MORB source); (2) a mantle plume beneath Yellowstone that has an unusual combination of He, Nd and Sr isotope characteristics; or (3) a continental lithospheric mantle that experienced ancient enrichment of 3 He relative to (U+Th). The isotope relations between He-Nd and He-Sr, along with other considerations, generally favor the first explanation, but the other possibilities cannot be ruled out at the present time.
Religion and the Shaping of East Asian Management Styles: A Conceptual Examination

ABSTRACT The West has been fascinated with East Asia for hundreds of years, but only over the past few decades has the region come under close cultural scrutiny as Western corporations made significant inroads into the region and realized the extent of East-West differences. This paper explores East Asia's cultural heritage and probes the religious roots that have influenced regional lifestyles for over 2000 years. Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist principles are examined and conceptual links established with East Asian lifestyles and management behaviors, many of which conflict with prevailing globalization trends towards societal efficiency and competitiveness. Some east-to-west transfers of managerial ideas demonstrate the potency of East Asian philosophies and suggest that East-West amalgams are contributing to optimal business solutions.