cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
I feel that I am being discriminated against because of a past illness and am tempted not to declare it on the health questionnaire next time I apply for a job. Can I do this

Got a career or related related problem that needs answering? Can9t find the right person to point you in the right direction? Log on to the Advice Zone (www.bmjcareers.com/advicezone) for reliable medical careers advice. You can post a question or see if one of our 300 advisers has already answered a similar question. Here is a selection of questions and answers posted on the site:
“It’s Largely a Rigged System”: Voter Confidence and the Winner Effect in 2016:

The 2016 presidential election provided a unique opportunity to revisit two competing hypotheses for how voters establish their perceptions of electoral integrity. First, mass public opinion is bel...
Laser ablation of stainless steel from 1 J/cm 2 to 10 KJ/cm 2

A requirement to robustly dissipate unwanted faser energy from Hundreds to thousands of joules per square centimeter within the confines of vacuum spatial filters for the National Ignition Facility led to the investigation of metal as the intercepting surface.
Bisphosphosphonate-calcium phosphate cement composite and its properties

Calcium phosphate cement (CPC) has been studied extensively due to its bioactivity and biodegradability. CPC is typically made by a combination of multiple calcium phosphates that form a paste that sets and hardens in the body after being combined with either water or an aqueous solution. It is highly moldable and easily manipulated, and CPCs possess osteoconductive properties. Due to these characteristics, CPCs offer great promise in bone grafting applications. CPC combined with drugs has a great potential as drug delivery system and has been studied extensively. In this review we have focused on Bisphosphonate-CPC drug delivery system. In addition, we introduce and discuss the potential of studying other bisphosphonates.
Packing to Reduce Electrostatic Discharge Damage and Related Testing

The protection of electronic components from electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a prime concern at RCA. To establish and support an effective antistatic packing program, various materials were tested and testing methods evaluated. This paper presents the data compiled over two years of application of the static decay and triboelectric testing methods. The data demonstrates that a topically coated PVC tube, in a foil-lined sleeve, is a cost-effective, state-of-the-art method of packing semiconductor devices.
Differential Impact of Co-expressed SP-A1/SP-A2 Protein on AM miRNome; Sex Differences.

ABSTRACT In humans there are two surfactant protein A (SP-A) functional genes SFTPA1 and SFTPA2 encoding innate immune molecules, SP-A1 and SP-A2, respectively, with numerous genetic variants each. SP-A interacts and regulates many of the functions of alveolar macrophages (AM). It is shown that SP-A variants differ in their ability to regulate the AM miRNome in response to oxidative stress (OxS). Because humans have both SP-A gene products, we were interested to determine the combined effect of co-expressed SP-A1/SP-A2 (co-ex) in response to ozone (O3) induced OxS on AM miRNome. Human transgenic (hTG) mice, carrying both SP-A1/SP-A2 (6A2/1A0, co-ex) and SP-A- KO were utilized. The hTG and KO mice were exposed to filtered air (FA) or O3 and miRNA levels were measured after AM isolation with or without normalization to KO. We found: (i) The AM miRNome of co-ex males and females in response to OxS to be largely downregulated after normalization to KO, but after Bonferroni multiple comparison analysis only in females the AM miRNome remained significantly different compared to control (FA); (ii) The targets of the significantly changed miRNAs were downregulated in females and upregulated in males; (iii) Several of the validated mRNA targets were involved in pro-inflammatory response, anti-apoptosis, cell cycle, cellular growth and proliferation; (iv) The AM of SP-A2 male, shown, previously to have major effect on the male AM miRNome in response to OxS, shared similarities with the co-ex, namely in pathways involved in the pro-inflammatory response and anti-apoptosis but also exhibited differences with the cell-cycle, growth, and proliferation pathway being involved in co-ex and ROS homeostasis in SP-A2 male. We speculate that the presence of both gene products versus single gene products differentially impact the AM responses in males and females in response to OxS.
Language Rights in the Treaty of Lisbon

This chapter studies the Treaty of Lisbon which contains legal language defining the linguistic obligations of the European Union and the language rights of its citizens. The Treaty fails to address the rights of minority language speakers in the European Union, including, most perilously, the rights of minorities who are seeking to secede from their own countries (e.g., Catalonia and Scotland) and minorities who have used violence in their quest for political rights (e.g., the Basque Country and Corsica). It calls for a more pluralistic approach to language legislation and for de jure language rights for speakers of minority languages in the European Union, especially for speakers of official minority languages, such as Catalan, Basque, and Galician in Spain, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh in the UK, and others. Future revisions of the Treaty of Lisbon may need to pay heed to earlier pronouncements and bodies created by the European Union to support minority languages, such as the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages and the European Charter for Regional and Minority languages.
Estimating network changes from lifespan measurements using a parsimonious gene network model of cellular aging

Cellular aging is best studied in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. As an example of a pleiotropic trait, yeast lifespan is influenced by hundreds of interconnected genes. However, no quantitative methods are currently available to infer system-level changes in gene networks during cellular aging. We propose a parsimonious mathematical model of cellular aging based on stochastic gene interaction networks. This network model is made of only non-aging components: the strength of gene interactions declines with a constant mortality rate. Death of a cell occurs in the model when an essential node loses all of its interactions with other nodes, and is equivalent to the deletion of an essential gene. Stochasticity of gene interactions is modeled using a binomial distribution. We show that the exponential increase of mortality rate over time can emerge from this gene network model during the early stages of aging.We developed a maximal likelihood approach to estimate three lifespan-influencing network parameters from experimental lifespans: t0, the initial virtual age of the network system; n, the average lifespan-influencing interactions per essential node; and R, the initial mortality rate. We applied this model to yeast mutants with known effects on replicative lifespans. We found that deletion of SIR2, FOB1, and HXK2 considerably altered the initial virtual age but not the average lifespan-influencing interactions per essential node, suggesting that these mutations mainly influence the reliability of gene interactions but not the overall configurations of gene networks.We applied this model to investigate replicative lifespans of yeast natural isolates. We estimated that the average number of lifespan-influencing interactions per essential node is 7.0 (6.1–8) and the average estimated initial virtual age is 45.4 (30.6–74) cell divisions in these isolates. We also found that t0 could potentially mediate the observed Strehler-Mildvan correlation in yeast natural isolates. Our theoretical model provides a parsimonious interpretation of experimental lifespan data from the perspective of gene networks. We hope that our work will stimulate more interest in developing network models to study aging as a pleiotropic trait.
Association of abiraterone and higher odds of cardiac complications compared to enzalutamide.

70Background: The standard of care for advanced prostate cancer is androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The novel second generation agents abiraterone and enzalutamide were initially approved in cas...
A Preliminary Study of Cu Exposure Effects upon Alzheimer’s Amyloid Pathology

A large body of evidence indicates that dysregulation of cerebral biometals (Fe, Cu, Zn) and their interactions with amyloid precursor protein (APP) and Aβ amyloid may contribute to the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) Aβ amyloid pathology. However, the molecular underpinnings associated with the interactions are still not fully understood. Herein we have further validated the exacerbation of Aβ oligomerization by Cu and H2O2 in vitro. We have also reported that Cu enhanced APP translations via its 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR) of mRNA in SH-SY5Y cells, and increased Aβ amyloidosis and expression of associated pro-inflammatory cytokines such as MCP-5 in Alzheimer’s APP/PS1 doubly transgenic mice. This preliminary study may further unravel the pathogenic role of Cu in Alzheimer’s Aβ amyloid pathogenesis, warranting further investigation.
Analysis of malaria epidemic situation and control measures in Xiangyang City during 2007-2010

Objective To find out high-risk population,areas of malaria and the problems in control work through analyzing malaria epidemic situation in Xiangyang City from 2007 to 2010,so as to provide reference for making scientific malaria control strategy. Methods Malaria epidemic report data and the information of malaria control measures of Xiangyang City from 2007 to 2010 were collected. Descriptive analysis was adopted to analyze the malaria epidemic situation, including the prevalent areas, seasons, population distribution and control measures. Results In Xiangyang City,2 101 cases ( including 1 imported falciparum malaria case) were reported from 2007 to 2010 (average incidence rate 9.63/100 000). Zaoyang,Laohekou and Xiangzhou were the main areas accounted for 94.20% of the total cases of the whole city. The time that the cases mainly occurred was from May to September,especially July,which had the most cases among 12 months. The group aged from 40 to 60 had the highest incidence rate. The incidence rate of male population was higher than that of female. Peasants and students were the main malaria groups,accounted for 73.22% and 11.18% of the total cases respectively. The positive rate of blood examination was 0.21% and the numbers of examined positive patients took up to 14.89% of the reported malaria cases. The treatment rate of present malaria patients and its regular treatment rate were both 100%. The numbers of treated patients during resting stage were 45 316 ,the treatment rate and regular treatment rate were 95.13% and 94.75% respectively. The people taking medicine for malaria prevention accounted for 92.17% of the total high-risk population. Conclusions The characteristic of the malaria morbidity was highly dispersed while relatively concentrated. Some townships in Zaoyang, Laohekou and Xiangzhou were highrisk areas of malaria. The peasants, especially middle-aged and old populations,were key crowd of malaria treatment and prevention. Malaria control measures for treating infectious source were well implemented. Key words: Malaria; Epidemic situation; Malaria control measure
Feasibility of a single-transducer harmonic motion imaging using frequency-based simultaneous multiple harmonic oscillation excitation pulses

Single-transducer harmonic motion imaging (ST-HMI) uses a single transducer to generate the harmonic motion at a particular frequency by modulating excitation pulse duration and then, estimate the motion by collecting tracking pulses in-between the excitation pulses, unlike the conventional HMI which uses focused ultrasound and an imaging transducer. Instead of oscillating at a single frequency, the objective is to use ST-HMI for simultaneously exciting the tissue at multiple frequencies. Six excitation pulses per period were selected by sampling a continuous signal which was generated by summing sinusoids with fundamental and harmonics of 100 Hz and 200–1000 Hz, respectively. A mean peak to peak displacement (MP2PD) image was generated by a weighted average of P2PD at each frequency with a weighting factor derived from the Fourier transform. The new method is evaluated by imaging four inclusions (INC, Young's modulus: 6, 9, 32, and 75 kPa) embedded in 18 kPa background (BKD) and HIFU ablated excised canine liver. The MP2PD image successfully differentiated all four inclusions with R2 = 0.99 of the linear regression between the MP2PD ratio of BKD to INC versus Young's modulus ratio of INC to BKD. The MP2PD image detected the ablated region with the MP2PD ratio of non-ablated versus ablated regions of 1.64. These results demonstrate the feasibility of simultaneously exciting the tissue at multiple frequencies. Ongoing studies entail the translation of this new elasticity imaging method of detecting breast masses in humans.
Uncovering stories of resilience among successful African American women in STEM

The need to increase the number of African American women who obtain STEM degrees has been well documented in the literature by researchers, scientists, and policymakers. Increasing the participation of this group of women and other underrepresented groups in STEM is both an issue of social justice and economic advancement on a national scale. Despite decades of efforts to address this need through research and funding, the participation of African American women in STEM is still low. In part, this may be due to the limited number of studies that include the voices of African American women. Drawing upon the theories of cultural border crossing and resiliency, this paper highlights the stories of eight successful African American women who earned a terminal degree in a STEM field. The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the key factors that these women said aided in their persistence and resilience during two key periods: before postsecondary education and during postsecondary education. We use a case study approach to interpret their stories about the obstacles they faced and the strategies they employed to overcome them. Our findings suggest that experiences outside of school are more important than experiences inside school. The paper concludes with a discussion of the finding’s implications and recommendations for African American women’s recruitment and retention in STEM.
Environmental enrichment influences novelty reactivity, novelty preference, and anxiety via distinct genetic mechanisms in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice

Environmental factors such as stress drive the development of drug addiction in genetically vulnerable individuals; the genes underlying this vulnerability are unknown. One strategy for uncovering these genes is to study the impact of environmental manipulation on high-throughput phenotypes that predict drug use and addiction-like behaviors. In the present study, we assessed the viability of this approach by evaluating the relative effects of environmental enrichment and isolation housing on three high-throughput phenotypes known to predict variation on distinct aspects of intravenous drug self-administration. Prior to behavioral testing, male and female C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice (BXD founders) were housed in enrichment or isolation for ten weeks beginning at weaning. Enrichment significantly reduced novelty reactivity; this effect was significantly more robust in C57BL/6J mice relative to DBA/2J mice. Enrichment significantly reduced novelty preference; this effect was significantly dependent on novel environment characteristics and was significantly more robust in DBA/2J mice relative to C57BL/6J mice. Enrichment significantly increased anxiety; this effect was not strain-dependent. Collectively, these data indicate that (1) environmental enrichment influences novelty reactivity, novelty preference, and anxiety via distinct genetic mechanisms in mice, and (2) the BXD panel can be used to discover the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.
Total Spinal Anesthesia: A Rare Complication of Intrathoracic Intercostal Nerve Block

Total spinal anesthesia following intrathoracic intercostal nerve blocks with bupivacaine performed for postoperative pain relief during thoracotomy is described. Possible mechanisms for this complication include: (1) inadvertent placement of the needle through an intervertebral foramen, (2) puncture of a long dural cuff, and (3) intraneural injection with central spread. Recognition of this potential complication is important, and facilities for proper support must be available.
Quantifying watershed sensitivity to spatially variable N loading and the relative importance of watershed N retention mechanisms

[1] The link between watershed nitrogen (N) loading and watershed nitrate (NO3−) export is poorly understood yet critical to addressing the growing global problem of watershed N enrichment. We introduce the Big Sky nutrient export model (BiSN) which incorporates spatial stream water chemistry, data from instream tracer additions and geologic weathering experiments, and terrain and land use analysis to quantify the spatial variability of watershed sensitivity to N loading and the relative importance of upland, riparian, and instream N retention (storage, removal, or transformation) across land use/land cover (LULC) and landscape positions. Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods were used for model specification and were helpful in assessing model and parameter uncertainty and advancing understanding of the primary processes governing watershed NO3− export. Modeling results revealed that small amounts of wastewater loading occurring in watershed areas with short travel times to the stream had disproportionately large impacts on watershed nitrate (NO3−) export compared to spatially distributed N loading or localized N loading in watershed areas with longer travel times. In contrast, spatially distributed N inputs of greater magnitude (terrestrial storage release and septic systems) had little influence on NO3− export. During summer base flow conditions, 98%–99% of watershed N retention occurred in the uplands, most likely from biological assimilation or lack of hydrologic transport. The relative role of instream N retention increased with N loading downstream through the stream network. This work demonstrates the importance of characterizing the spatial variability of watershed N loading, export and retention mechanisms, and considering landscape position of N sources to effectively manage watershed N.
Refugee Burden-Sharing: A Modest Proposal, Fifteen Years Later

This chapter of an edited book reviews a 1997 article in the Yale Journal of International Law in which I proposed a system for distributing refugee protection burdens on a regional basis through a system of tradable refugee protection quotas. The chapter describes how this proposal was received and some analogous developments in refugee protection policies in other parts of the world.
A Welfare Analysis of Local Franchise and Other Types of Regulation: Evidence from the Cable TV Industry

By examining both price and the level of quality, this paper empirically determines the welfare implications of local franchise and other types of regulation that existed in the cable TV industry prior to federal deregulation (1987). Contrary to the popular belief that price regulation was effective but also lowered the quality of service, I find that prices were lower and the levels of service (measured by the number of imported distant channels and cable networks) were higher than the monopolistic ones. The paper also reveals some significant differences in the welfare improvements under the alternative regulatory regimes.
Audit Committee Characteristics and Auditor Reporting

We examine the relationship between the independence of the audit committee (from management) and auditor reporting behavior. More specifically, we consider the relationship between the percentage of audit committee members who are either insiders or ?grey? directors and the likelihood that the auditor issues a going- concern-modified report to firms experiencing financial distress. An insider is an officer, employee, or an officer of an affiliate company. A grey director includes: former officers or employees, relatives of management, professional advisers to the firm (e.g., consultants, bank officers, legal counsel), officers of significant suppliers or customers of the firm, and interlocking directors. This paper represents the first study to consider the relation between audit committee characteristics and going-concern reporting. We find evidence that the composition of the audit committee is associated with the type of audit report issued to companies experiencing financial distress. There is a significant negative relationship between the percentage of audit committee members who are either insiders or grey directors and the likelihood of receiving a going-concern-modified report. Additional analysis indicates that these results are driven by the composition of the audit committee not by the composition of the entire board of directors.
Reconsidering gender roles on MTV: Depictions in the most popular music videos of the early 1990s

Gender portrayals in MTVs “Top 100 of the ‘90s, So Far. . .”; music video compilation were analyzed in order to determine whether content regulations and musical format changes implemented near the close of the 1980s had a significant impact on the ways in which women and men were presented in the most popular videos shown on the network in the early 1990s. The analysis revealed that even though MTV executives might have become more aware of gender issues as the new decade began, the popular music videos they presented continued to underrepresent women and portray them in a manner that emphasized physical appearance rather than musical ability.
Progress on a Smith-Purcell radiation bunch length

A Smith-Purcell radiation diagnostic to measure the microbunch length of a 20 MeV, 17 GHz electron bunch train is being implemented at MIT. The bunch length can be determined by measuring the frequency and angular distribution of the emitted radiation. The beam is produced by a 17 GHz, 50 MeV/m traveling wave accelerator built by Haimson Research Corporation (HRC). The high operating frequency of this accelerator allows for the production of ultrashort bunches of about 180 femtoseconds. At this time we are assembling the experiment and we will present an update on the progress.
The epigenetic landscape of addiction.

Drug-induced alterations in gene expression throughout the reward circuitry of the brain are likely components of the persistence of the drug-addicted state. Recent studies examining the molecular mechanisms controlling drug-induced transcriptional, behavioral and synaptic plasticity have indicated a direct role for chromatin remodeling in the regulation and stability of drug-mediated neuronal gene programs, and the subsequent promulgation of addictive behaviors. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of chromatin phenomena—that is, epigenetics, by one definition—that contribute to drug addiction, with the hope that such mechanistic insights may aid in the development of novel therapeutics for future treatments of addiction.
Hyperactivation of STAT3 Is Involved in Abnormal Differentiation of Dendritic Cells in Cancer

Abnormal differentiation of myeloid cells is one of the hallmarks of cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms of this process remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the effect of tumor-derived factors on Janus kinase (Jak)/STAT signaling in myeloid cells during their differentiation into dendritic cells. Tumor cell conditioned medium induced activation of Jak2 and STAT3, which was associated with an accumulation of immature myeloid cells. Jak2/STAT3 activity was localized primarily in these myeloid cells, which prevented the differentiation of immature myeloid cells into mature dendritic cells. This differentiation was restored after removal of tumor-derived factors. Inhibition of STAT3 abrogated the negative effects of these factors on myeloid cell differentiation, and overexpression of STAT3 reproduced the effects of tumor-derived factors. Thus, this is a first demonstration that tumor-derived factors may affect myeloid cell differentiation in cancer via constitutive activation of Jak2/STAT3.
Chemical trends for native defects in III-V-compound semiconductors.

We present energy levels calculated for both vacancies and antisite defects in nine different III-V compounds. It is shown that the chemical trends for the neutral, unrelaxed vacancy levels as obtained with more sophisticated linear combination of atomic orbital models can be reproduced and extrapolated by use of a simple, rescaled defect-molecule model. The only input parameters needed are the hybrid orbital energies of the nearest-neighbor atoms and the photothreshold energies of the host materials. We also use this model to calculate trends for the antisite-induced energy levels which are consistent with experiments on ${\mathrm{P}}_{\mathrm{Ga}}$ and ${\mathrm{As}}_{\mathrm{Ga}}$. Cation antisite defects are predicted to produce deep levels within the main energy gap for most of the compounds investigated. Furthermore, the trends for cation antisite defect levels are in striking quantitative agreement with the observed, characteristic Fermi-level pinning energies at Schottky barriers on both n- and p-type materials. Therefore, our calculations support the native-defect model proposed by Spicer et al., but with a single defect in different charge states mainly responsible for the observed pinning energies.
Recent developments in error estimates for scattered-data interpolation via radial basis functions

Error estimates for scattered data interpolation by “shifts” of a positive definite function for target functions in the associated reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) have been known for a long time. However, apart from special cases where data is gridded, these interpolation estimates do not apply when the target functions generating the data are outside of the associated RKHS, and in fact until very recently no estimates were known in such situations. In this paper, we review these estimates in cases where the underlying space is Rn and the positive definite functions are radial basis functions (RBFs).
Group theory approach to scattering. II. The euclidean connection

We show that the calculation of the S-matrix associated with a class of solvable potentials with SU(1, 1) dynamic symmetry can be formulated in purely algebraic terms. This formulation makes use of the Euclidean group in two dimensions, E(2), and is amenable to generalization to a larger number of dimensions.
Sulfur-Tolerant Mn-Ce-Ti Sorbents for Elemental Mercury Removal from Flue Gas: Mechanistic Investigation by XPS

The influence of structural interaction between Mn, Ce, and Ti on the elemental mercury adsorption properties of Mn-Ce-Ti sorbents has been investigated. For this purpose, Mn-Ce-Ti sorbents have been synthesized by coprecipitation, codeposition-precipitation, coimpregnation, sequential impregnation, and deposition-impregnation to get different structural properties. All the sorbents were evaluated for elemental mercury capture in the absence and presence of SO2. Among the sorbents tested, the Mn-Ce-Ti sorbent synthesized by coimpregnation exhibits better sulfur resistance. X-ray diffraction measurements show that the samples prepared using impregnation methods exhibit intense reflections due to the cubic fluorite structure of cerium. Temperature-programmed desorption measurements reveal that the type and strength of acid sites depend on the synthesis method. Temperature-programmed reduction measurements suggest that precipitating Mn and Ce together over the surface of titania promotes surface ceria and ma...
Intermolecular potentials and vapor-liquid phase equilibria of perfluorinated alkanes

Abstract We propose 2 sets of intermolecular potentials for a united atom model of linear perfluorinated alkanes in their fluid states. Configurational-bias Monte Carlo simulations in the Gibbs ensemble have been carried out to determine the vapor–liquid phase equilibria for C n F 2 n +2 with n =5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 16. Both sets of parameters yield critical temperatures which are in excellent agreement with experiment data. However, the critical densities are slightly too high for one model and slightly too low for the other. The saturated liquid densities agree with experiment to better than 5%. Variations of the critical properties with chain length show the correct scaling for both models.
Topology and Dimensional Synthesis of Linkage Mechanism Based on the Constrained Superposition Method

Gradient search methods for linkage synthesis have difficulty on the design convergence due to the non-convexity and non-uniqueness characteristics on linkage design. Although evolutionary optimization approach can solve non-convex problems and produce multiple optimal solutions, it cannot be applied to linkage synthesis easily because a general and efficient method for mechanism analysis is not available. In order to automate the linkage synthesis process, a novel linkage analysis method, called the Constrained Superposition Method (CSM), is presented in this paper. The CSM is based on the concept of Finite Element Analysis. The CSM can analyze any linkage mechanism with Single-Input-Single-Output (SISO). To further improve the efficiency of evolutionary optimization process, two feasibility checks are introduced to ensure the connectivity and mobility. Finally, four linkage synthesis examples are presented and discussed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Headache as the sole presentation of acute myocardial infarction in two elderly patients.

Myocardial infarction presenting solely as an acute, severe headache is underdiagnosed in elderly patients. In patients over 80 years of age, myocardial infarction presents more commonly with atypical symptoms than with chest pain. The authors describe two patients who presented with headache as the only sympton of an acute myocardial infarction. The authors recommend that acute myocardial infarction be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute, severe headache in elderly patients.
The case for dynamic exercise systems in language learning

Most existing web-based language learning exercises may be termed ‘static’ in that their content is fixed; the sentences exist in the form in which the developer wrote them, and the scope of the exercise and the variety of interactions can only be expanded by manually adding to the existing stock. One solution to this problem is an application which generates its content in response to user specifications. We believe that a dynamic application is suitable for situations where long-term, large scale development of CALL materials is foreseen, as the flexibility and usability of the product far exceed what is available with conventional web-based exercises. In this paper, we will outline the reasons language instructors might consider a dynamic or semi-dynamic system as a sound technological investment of time and money, discuss the advantages of designing a dynamic system, and illustrate some of the pitfalls to avoid in beginning that process.
Experimental comparison of likelihood ratio and CFAR detectors for multifrequency radar data fusion

In a series of papers Thomopoulos and Okello have designed and evaluate a robust CFAR detector (code-named RobCFAR) for multi-frequency radar data. Validation of the detector/fuser was done using experimental data from the Rome Lab Predetection Fusion Program. In this paper the optimal centralized ad distributed detectors for the same multi- frequency radar data are developed and their performance is compared with that of the RobCFAR detectors. Several problems occur due to the necessity of on-line evaluation of data statistics. These problems are addressed and a comparison is made between the optimal and CFAR data fusion techniques using the experimental data from the Rome Lab Predetection Fusion Program.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Callophycoic Acids and Callophycols from the Fijian Red Alga Callophycus serratus

Callophycoic acids A−H (1−8) and callophycols A and B (9 and 10) were isolated from extracts of the Fijian red alga Callophycus serratus, and identified by NMR, X-ray, and mass spectral analyses. These natural products represent four novel carbon skeletons, providing the first examples of diterpene−benzoic acids and diterpene−phenols in macroalgae. Compounds 1−10 exhibited antibacterial, antimalarial, and anticancer activity, although they are less bioactive than diterpene-benzoate macrolides previously isolated from this red alga.
Opposing effects of phorbol esters on transmitter release and calcium currents at frog motor nerve endings.

1 Phorbol esters activate protein kinase C (PKC) and also increase the secretion of neuro-transmitter substances by an unknown mechanism. To evaluate whether the stimulatory effects of such agents on acetylcholine (ACh) secretion occur as a consequence of stimulation of Ca2+ entry, we made electrophysiological measurements of ACh secretion (i.e. endplate potentials, EPPs) and the component of the prejunctional perineural voltage change associated with nerve terminal calcium currents (perineural calcium current) at frog neuro-muscular junctions. 2 In the first series of experiments, modest concentrations of K+ channel blockers were employed so that simultaneous measurements of EPP amplitudes and perineural calcium currents could be made. In these experiments, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA; 162 nm) and phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu; 100-200 nm) each increased ACh release but simultaneously decreased the calcium component of the prejunctional perineural current. TPA and PDBu also inhibited perineural calcium currents in the presence of higher concentrations of K+ channel blockers. 3 Blockade of Ca2+ channels by Cd2+ prevented the action of PKC stimulators on perineural waveforms. 4 The inactive compound 4-α-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (150 nm) did not affect EPP amplitudes or perineural currents. 5 The extracellular [Ca2+]-ACh release relationship was increased in maximum by PDBu without any change in the potency of Ca2+ to support evoked ACh release. 6 The results demonstrate that phorbol esters increase neurotransmitter secretion whilst simultaneously decreasing the nerve ending calcium currents that promote evoked release. The results, which suggest that the optimal control point for secretion might not be the calcium channel but rather a component of the secretory apparatus, are discussed in conjunction with the possible target sites for phorbol esters in the nerve ending.
Failure of anti-T cell monoclonal antibodies to prevent acute tumor allograft rejection is associated with their inability to deplete or inactivate T cells at the site of rejection.

The ability of anti-T cell mAb therapy to prevent acute rejection of a tumor allograft was studied. Injection of both anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 rat Ig2b mAbs 1 day before intraperitoneal implantation of P815 tumor cells into AB6F1 mice prevented tumor rejection in most of the mice. However, injection of the same mAbs on day 8 of tumor growth, i.e., 2 days before the onset of tumor rejection, failed to prevent rapid elimination of P815 cells from the peritoneal cavity. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that whereas splenic T cells remained depleted in these mice for up to 6 days after mAb injection, peritoneal T cells returned to control levels in 4-6 days. Moreover, a significant number of rat IgG+ cells were found in the peritoneal cavity 2 days after mAb administration, thus demonstrating that T cells were not depleted but coated with the mAbs at that time. The antitumor activity of the mAb-coated T cells was not impaired, in that CD8+ peritoneal cells from mice rejecting allogeneic P815 tumor on day 10, and rat IgG+ peritoneal cells taken from mice 2 days after giving them anti-CD8 mAb on day 8, were similarly highly cytotoxic against P815 cells in vitro. Taken together, the results demonstrate that the failure of anti-T cell mAb therapy to prevent the acute rejection of allogeneic P815 tumor was associated with resistance of T cells at the site of rejection to the action of anti-T cell mAbs in vivo.
Vector analyzing power and cross section for 40Ca(d, p)41Ca from 5 to 11 Mev

Abstract Measurements of the vector analyzing power and cross section for the 40 Ca(d, p) 41 Ca reaction leading to strongly populated states in 41 Ca ( E x = 0.0, 1.95, 2.47 and 3.95 MeV) have been made for deuteron energies of 5, 9 and 11 MeV. The vector analyzing power shows a pronounced j -dependence at all energies. The results were compared with DWBA calculations. The proton and deuteron optical model potentials were obtained from analyses of elastic cross sections and polarizations. The predicted vector analyzing power and cross-section angular distributions are in qualitative agreement with the measurements. Spectroscopic factors are compared with theoretical predictions.
Business models for academic medical center cyclotron operations.

A cyclotron facility may provide a significant strategic advantage for an academic medical center that desires to build a strong research program in nuclear medicine. Such a facility may provide an advantage in obtaining support from the National Institutes of Health. A nuclear medicine research program often requires the production of short-lived radioisotopes for clinical patients. Combining the research program with a commercial production and distribution program can increase the synergies and efficiencies of an organization. This article describes various business models that combine research, clinical, and commercial operations to align an academic medical center’s cyclotron program operation to its goals and resources. By coordinating these three functions, an academic medical center may be able to support extensive research capabilities that would otherwise be unattainable.
Bioremediation of an Experimental Oil Spill on the Shoreline of Delaware Bay

In the summer of 1994, a field study was undertaken in Delaware in which light crude oil was intentionally released onto plots to evaluate bioremediation. The objectives were to obtain credible statistical evidence to determine if bioremediation with inorganic mineral nutrients and/or microbial inoculation enhanced the removal of crude oil contaminating a sandy beach and to compute intrinsic and enhanced biodegradation rates. Biodegradation was tracked by GC/MS analysis of selected components, and the measured concentrations were corrected for abiotic removal by hopane normalization. A randomized block design was used to assess treatment effects. Three treatments were evaluated: a no-nutrient addition control, addition of water-soluble nutrients, and addition of water-soluble nutrients supplemented with a natural microbial inoculum from the site. Although substantial hydrocarbon biodegradation occurred in the untreated plots, statistically significant differences between treated and untreated plots were ...
Novel perovskites M2IILnIIIRuVO6 as emission control catalysts

Abstract New perovskites, M2IILnIIIRuVO6, where MII = Ba and Sr, LnIII = rare earths, Y and Bi, were prepared. The Ba series exhibits cubic cells for LnIII = La to Dy and hexagonal cells for LnIII = Yb and Y. The Sr series exhibits superlattices for Ln = La through Nd and orthorhombic distortions for Ln = Sm through Yb. Ba2LaRuO6 showed catalytic activity and thermal stability for the reactions: 2NO + 2CO → N2 + 2CO2 and 2CO + O2 → 2CO2. The combination of three basic cations per Ru and the perovskite structure stabilizes Ru in these catalysts.
Early Childhood Professionals' Recommendations for Spanking Young Children

The current study describes what professionals involved in the care of young children recommend with regard to spanking and other disciplinary techniques. Relationships between corporal punishment and multiple negative child outcomes are detailed, with emphasis on physical child abuse. Ninety-eight participants, including medical professionals, residents, mental health professionals, child development specialists, and early childhood service coordinators, were asked to report how often they recommended spanking within the past year. Twenty percent of pediatricians and approximately one third of mental health professionals and early childhood professionals recommended spanking at least once in the past year to parents of children age 5 years or younger. Implications for further research about the context of such recommendations as well as improved education for professionals are discussed.
Pleistocene Speciation in Birds living in the High Andes

THE South American Andes were brought to their present height by the final uplift phases of the late Pliocene and the Pleistocene1–6 and an alpine-like vegetation (locally called paramo or puna7–14) developed in the terrain thus produced. It follows that the evolution of the associated paramo-puna fauna by multiple speciation in situ should have taken place mostly or entirely during the Quaternary, so that the occurrence of speciation within this fauna should be a convenient guide to the possible rate of speciation in the Pleistocene.
A comparison of 4f vs 5f metal-metal bonds in (CpSiMe3)3M-ECp* (M = Nd, U; E = Al, Ga; Cp* = C5Me5): synthesis, thermodynamics, magnetism, and electronic structure.

Reaction of (CpSiMe3)3U or (CpSiMe3)3Nd with (Cp*Al)4 or Cp*Ga (Cp* = C5Me5) afforded the isostructural complexes (CpSiMe3)3M−ECp* (M = U, E = Al (1); M = U, E = Ga (2); M = Nd, E = Al (3); M = Nd, E = Ga (4)). In the case of 1 and 2 the complexes were isolated in 39 and 90% yields, respectively, as crystalline solids and were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, variable-temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility, and UV−visible−NIR spectroscopy. In the case of 3 and 4, the complexes were observed by variable-temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy but were not isolated as pure materials. Comparison of the equilibrium constants and thermodynamic parameters ΔH and ΔS obtained by 1H NMR titration methods revealed a much stronger U−Ga interaction in 2 than the Nd−Ga interaction in 4. Competition reactions between (CpSiMe3)3U and (CpSiMe3)3Nd indicate that Cp*Ga selectively binds U over Nd in a 93:7 ratio at 19 °C and 96:4 at −33 °C. For 1 and 3, c...
STUDIES ON REVERSE OSMOSIS FOR CONCENTRATION OF FRUIT JUICES

Data are presented for the osmotic pressures of commercially available lime, lemon, prune, carrot and salted and unsalted tomato juices and their concentrates. Similar data are presented for sucrose-water and glucose-sucrose (mole ratio 10:1)-water solutions in the temperature range 7.5–25°C. The effects of the temperature on parameters of process design show that by operation at a lower temperature it is possible to obtain a higher recovery of aroma compounds in the concentrate in the second stage reverse osmosis treatment of fruit juice water obtained from the first stage treatment. This possibility is confirmed by the experimental results at 7.5°C and 25°C.
Parallel asynchronous variational integrators

This paper presents a scalable parallel variational time integration algorithm for nonlinear elastodynamics with the distinguishing feature of allowing each element in the mesh to have a possibly different time step. Furthermore, the algorithm is obtained from a discrete variational principle, and hence it is termed parallel asynchronous variational integrator (PAVI). The underlying variational structure grants it outstanding conservation properties. Based on a domain decomposition strategy, PAVI combines a careful scheduling of computations with fully asynchronous communications to provide a very efficient methodology for finite element models with even mild distributions of time step sizes. Numerical tests are shown to illustrate PAVI's performance on both slow and fast networks, showing scalability properties similar to the best parallel explicit synchronous algorithms, with lower execution time. Finally, a numerical example in which PAVI needs ≈100 times less computing than an explicit synchronous algorithm is shown. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Metaperspective for Counseling Practice: A Response to the Challenge of Contextualism

Abstract This article discusses the challenge of contextualism to developmental theory as articulated by Lewis (1997), as well as the challenge of current changes in life contexts for developmentally oriented counseling practice. Counseling practice refers to activities of psychologists and counselors in relation to theory, research, and intervention, and in relation to both career and psychotherapy domains of practice. It is hoped that a consideration of both career and psychotherapy practice will contribute to dialogue and integration across these domains. In the second part of the paper, a metaperspective for counseling practice, conceived as a response to this challenge, is presented. It consists of a conception of life contexts inclusive of work and relationships across both public and private domains of life and posits a generic developmental process goal of effective functioning as relevant to both career and psychotherapy domains of counseling practice.
OPLS ALL-ATOM FORCE FIELD FOR CARBOHYDRATES

The OPLS all-atom (AA) force field for organic and biomolecular systems has been expanded to include carbohydrates. Starting with reported nonbonded parameters of alcohols, ethers, and diols, torsional parameters were fit to reproduce results from ab initio calculations on the hexopyranoses, α,β-d-glucopyranose, α,β-d-mannopyranose, α,β-d-galactopyranose, methyl α,β-d-glucopyranoside, and methyl α,β-d-mannopyranoside. In all, geometry optimizations were carried out for 144 conformers at the restricted Hartree–Fock (RHF)/6–31G* level. For the conformers with a relative energy within 3 kcal/mol of the global minima, the effects of electron correlation and basis-set extension were considered by performing single-point calculations with density functional theory at the B3LYP/6–311+G** level. The torsional parameters for the OPLS-AA force field were parameterized to reproduce the energies and structures of these 44 conformers. The resultant force field reproduces the ab initio calculated energies with an average unsigned error of 0.41 kcal/mol. The α/β ratios as well as the relative energies between the isomeric hexopyranoses are in good accord with the ab initio results. The predictive abilities of the force field were also tested against RHF/6–31G* results for d-allopyranose with excellent success; a surprising discovery is that the lowest energy conformer of d-allopyranose is a β anomer. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem18: 1955–1970, 1997
On the question of a tensor interaction in [pi][r arrow][ital e][nu][sub [ital e]][gamma] decay

Data from a recent experiment on [pi][r arrow][ital e][nu][sub [ital e]][gamma] appear to be in disagreement with the standard model description of this decay. The discrepancy has been interpreted as a possible indication of the presence of a tensor quark-lepton interaction. We discuss the available empirical constraints on tensor interactions, and investigate the tensor interactions arising from the exchange of spin-zero leptoquarks. We find that while the above interpretation of the discrepancy in [pi][r arrow][ital e][nu][sub [ital e]][gamma] runs into difficulties, it cannot be regarded yet as ruled out.