cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Portable, non-invasive fall risk assessment in end stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis

Patients with end stage renal diseases (ESRD) on hemodialysis (HD) have high morbidity and mortality due to multiple causes, one of which is dramatically higher fall rates than the general population. The mobility mechanisms that contribute to falls in this population must be understood if adequate interventions for fall prevention are to be achieved. This study utilizes emerging non-invasive, portable gait, posture, strength, and stability assessment technologies to extract various mobility parameters that research has shown to be predictive of fall risk in the general population. As part of an ongoing human subjects study, mobility measures such as postural and locomotion profiles were obtained from five (5) ESRD patients undergoing HD treatments. To assess the effects of post-HD-fatigue on fall risk, both the pre- and post-HD measurements were obtained. Additionally, the effects of inter-HD periods (two days vs. three days) were investigated using the non-invasive, wireless, body-worn motion capture technology and novel signal processing algorithms. The results indicated that HD treatment influenced strength and mobility (i.e., weaker and slower after the dialysis, increasing the susceptibility to falls while returning home) and inter-dialysis period influenced pre-HD profiles (increasing the susceptibility to falls before they come in for a HD treatment). Methodology for early detection of increased fall risk -- before a fall event occurs -- using the portable mobility assessment technology for out-patient monitoring is further explored, including targeting interventions to identified individuals for fall prevention.
Peer experiences in diversity: students learning from students about diversity

Learning can be more relevant and interesting to students if they are actively involved in the process as opposed to learning solely through the traditional lecture method. For example, instructors in diversity related courses can utilize "student or peer experiences" to facilitate both the teaching and learning of diversity. This instructor began using peer experiences in a diversity management course several years ago. By using this method, students are able to discuss their personal experiences or the experiences of someone they know to raise awareness of various diversity issues and learn about how to deal with specific concerns in diversity management. This learning approach has made the class more relevant and interesting for students because it uses actual student or peer experiences, as opposed to discussing hypothetical situations or recycled case studies. While a student is talking about a personal experience on a given diversity issue, the rest of the class can learn not only about that specific problem and how the student dealt with it, but have the opportunity to visualize themselves in that situation, ask questions, make comments, and learn from the experience. At the same time, students who are presenting their experiences gain additional perspective by listening to feedback given by the class and having the opportunity to think in retrospect about how they dealt with the incident. This learning approach has had a win-win-win effect for my course from the standpoint of the students talking about their experiences, the students listening to those experiences and the instructor
Adaptor device for shortening guide catheters to access distal lesions in coronary angioplasty

One of the challenges in interventional cardiology is accessing distal stenoses in both native coronary arteries and bypass grafts. This article reports the fabrication and use of an adaptor device that can be connected to the proximal segment of a shortened guide catheter for easier and safer access to these distal lesions. © 1993 Wlley-Liss, Inc
The identification of unique serum proteins of HIV-1 latently infected long-term non-progressor patients.

The search for disease biomarkers within human peripheral fluids has become a favorable approach to preventative therapeutics throughout the past few years. The comparison of normal versus disease states can identify an overexpression or a suppression of critical proteins where illness has directly altered a patient's cellular homeostasis. In particular, the analysis of HIV-1 infected serum is an attractive medium with which to identify altered protein expression due to the ease and non-invasive methods of collecting samples as well as the corresponding insight into the in vivo interaction of the virus with infected cells/tissue. The utilization of proteomic techniques to globally identify differentially expressed serum proteins in response to HIV-1 infection is a significant undertaking that is complicated due to the innate protein profile of human serum. Here, the depletion of 12 of the most abundant serum proteins, followed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with identification of these proteins using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry, has allowed for the identification of differentially expressed, low abundant serum proteins. We have analyzed and compared serum samples from HIV-1 infected subjects who are being treated using highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to those who are latently infected but have not progressed to AIDS despite the absence of treatment, i.e. long term non-progressors (LTNPs). Here we have identified unique serum proteins that are differentially expressed in LTNP HIV-1 patients and may contribute to the ability of these patients to combat HIV-1 infection in the absence of HAART. We focused on the cdk4/6 cell cycle inhibitor p16INK4A and found that the treatment of HIV-1 latently infected cell lines with p16INK4A decreases viral production despite it not being expressed endogenously in these cells. Identification of these unique proteins may serve as an indication of altered viral states in response to infection as well as a natural phenotypic variability in response to HIV-1 infection in a given population.
Fluctuation Microscopy Studies of Medium-range Order Structures in Amorphous Tetrahedral Semiconductors

We applied fluctuation microscopy technique to study medium-range order in tetrahedral semiconductor materials, such as amorphous silicon, amorphous diamond-like carbon films. It is shown that this technique is very sensitive to local structure changes in the medium range order and promises solutions to open questions that cannot be answered by current techniques. For asdeposited amorphous germanium and silicon, we previously identified a fine-grain para-crystallite structure [1, 2], which will be relaxed into a lower-energy continuous random network structure after thermal annealing. With the same fluctuation microscopy technique, we however found that thermal annealing introduces medium-range order in amorphous diamond-like carbon films. Future studies will be focused on modeling and systematic exploration of annealing effects.
The Clean Water Land Grab

Recent Supreme Court decisions on the scope of federal power have significantly narrowed the reach of federal environmental regulation of privately owned wetlands that do not affect interstate waterways. Legislation now before Congress, the Clean Water Restoration Act, would extend wetlands regulation to areas never before embraced by federal law. However, the new law, if adopted, faces significant judicial uncertainties and vulnerabilities. This article argues that regulation of local wetlands should be left to the states.
Regression of binary interaction parameters for thermodynamic models using an inside-variance estimation method (IVEM)

An inside-variance estimation method (IVEM) for binary interaction parameter regression in thermodynamic models is proposed. This maximum likelihood method involves the re-computation of the variance for each iteration of the optimization procedure, automatically re-weighting the objective function. Most of the maximum likelihood approaches currently used to regress the parameters of thermodynamic models fix the variances, converting the problem into a traditional weighted least squares minimization. However, such approaches lead to residual variances (between measured and calculated values) that are inconsistent with the fixed variances and, thus, do not necessarily produce optimum parameters for prediction purposes. The new method (IVEM) substantially improves fluid phase equilibria predictions (as shown by the examples presented) by maintaining consistency between the residual variances and the variance used in the objective function. This results in better parameter estimation and to a direct measure of the uncertainty in the model prediction.
The Borders of Time, Place, and People in John Sayles's Lone Star

John Sayles's Lone Star (1996) is the embodiment of a “frontier” film; he himself has described it as “a story about borders” (West, “An Interview with John Sayles,” 14). The film's genre, its locale, its incorporation of history, ethnicity, generations, and sexual proscriptions, and even its use of pans to cut across time all cohere around this perspective. Nor, as I will indicate, is this concern with borders new to Sayles's art; Lone Star, which taps a number of motifs and conventions familiar to American culture, bringing together a multitude of meanings of boundaries and margins and frontiers, intensifies a theme that exists in every one of his films.
Model NOx storage systems: Storage capacity and thermal aging of BaO/θ-Al2O3/NiAl(100)

The NOx storage properties of a BaO/θ-Al2O3/NiAl(100) model system, with a BaO coverage of ∼2 monolayer equivalent (MLE), was studied. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) techniques were used to investigate NO2 adsorption and reaction on the BaO/θ-Al2O3/NiAl(100) surface. These results were compared with those of the θ-Al2O3/NiAl(100) support material, a thermally aged BaO/θ-Al2O3/NiAl(100) model system, and a realistic BaO (20 wt%)/γ -Al2O3 high-surface area counterpart. At T> 300 K, adsorbed NO2 is converted to nitrates on all of the surfaces studied. Nitrates residing on the alumina sites of the model catalyst surfaces are relatively weakly bound and typically desorb within 300–600 K, leading to NO(g) evolution; while nitrates associated with the baria sites are significantly more stable and desorb within 600–850 K, resulting in NO(g) or NO(g) + O2(g) evolution. NOx uptake by the baria sites of the BaO/θ-Al2O3/NiAl(100) model system was found to be as much as five-fold greater than that of the θ-Al2O3/NiAl(100) support material. Thermal aging of a BaO/θ Al2O3/NiAl(100) surface at 1100 K before NOx uptake experiments brings about a significant (>70%) reduction in the NOx storage capacity of the model catalyst surface. © 2006 Published by Elsevier Inc.
Neurosecretory material in the supraoptico‐hypophyseal tract of the bat throughout the hibernating and summer periods

Neurosecretory material in the supraoptico-hypophyseal tract of 151 hibernating and summer bats (Myotis lucifugus lucifugus) was studied in chromealum-hematoxylin-phloxine-stained serial sagittal sections. Seasonal variations of neurosecretory content throughout the hibernating period (mid-September through mid-May) and “active” summer period (June to mid-September) were observed and the staining density of the neurosecretory material in the supraoptic nucleus, infundibular stem and pars nervosa was “quantitated” visually. Cell counts and measurements also were made to determine if cell number and size changes accompanied seasonal changes in neurosecretory content. A significantly greater staining density of neurosecretory material in the supraoptico-hypophyseal tract of the hibernating bats, than in the “active” animals was observed. These differences were always greater in the infundibular stem than in the supraoptic nucleus and pars nervosa. Although there was no correlation between seasonal activity and the total number of neurosecretory cells in each brain, there was always a smaller number of dark-staining cells in the “active” bats than in those that were hibernating. Nucleocytoplasmic ratios of hibernating bats were below those of the active animals. These resulted from smaller nuclear and larger cytoplasmic sizes during hibernation than in the summer. Nucleolar sizes, however, were slightly greater in the hibernating bats than in the active animals. The significance of these results in terms of seasonal activity is discussed.
Racializing Criticality in Adult Education.

This article examines two attempts to racialize criticality in adult education from an African American perspective. The first framework is second-generation critical theory, in which African Ameri...
Review and summary of a silicon micromachined gas chromatography system

A miniature gas chromatography (GC) system has been designed and fabricated using silicon micromachining and integrated circuit (IC) processing techniques. The silicon micromachined gas chromatography system (SMGCS) is composed of a miniature sample injector that incorporates a 10 /spl mu/I sample loop; a 0.9-m long, rectangular-shaped (300 /spl mu/m width and 10 /spl mu/m height) capillary column coated with a 0,2-/spl mu/m thick copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) stationary-phase; and a dual-detector scheme based upon a CuPc-coated chemiresistor and a commercially available, 125-/spl mu/m diameter thermal conductivity detector (TCD) bead. Silicon micromachining was employed to fabricate the interface between the sample injector and the GC column, the column itself, and the dual-detector cavity. A novel IC thin-film processing technique was developed to sublime the CuPc stationary-phase coating on the column walls that were micromachined in the host silicon wafer substrate and Pyrex cover plate, which were then electrostatically bonded together. The SMGCS can separate binary gas mixtures composed of parts-per-million (ppm) concentrations of ammonia (NH/sub 3/) and nitrogen dioxide (NO/sub 2/) when isothermally operated (55-80/spl deg/C). With a helium carrier gas and nitrogen diluent, a 10 /spl mu/I sample volume containing ammonia and nitrogen dioxide injected at 40 psi (2.8 /spl times/105 Pa) ran be separated in less than 30 min.
Mass Parties and National Integration: The Case of the Ivory Coast

p UBLIC CONCERN WITH Africa and Asia in recent years has focused on the evolution of many countries from dependent to independent status through a series of constitutional steps taken by colonial rulers in response to pressures exerted by local leaders within the context of a secular trend toward self-determination. Decolonization is indeed intrinsically important from a historical point of view. Moreover, the appearance of a bevy of new actors has deeply altered the nature of the international political system. How will they act on the international stage? How can they be influenced to behave in a manner compatible with Western interests? Faced with unusual problems, political decision-makers in the West have often turned to students of politics to obtain some guidance. However relevant the study of these phenomena may be, it should not lead us to neglect other aspects of the politics of new nations. From the point of view of the analysis of political change in general, for example, the juridical birth of the new states is significant mainly because it provides the institutional cocoon in which the metamorphosis of traditional societies into modern nations has begun to occur. Although in order to understand the complexities of nationbuilding no aspect of culture and society should remain unexplored, the examination of the contributions of political parties and movements to this process is particularly relevant because it is related to one of the oldest problems of politics, namely man's ability to direct social change toward selected goals through volitional action. Scholarly observers of the African scene have often reported the positive contributions of political organizations to national integration. In West Africa, nationalist movements are usually ranked foremost among the many factors which transform agglomerates of tribes and ethnic groups into societies coextensive with arbitrarily defined
Characterization of Two-Layer Soil System Using a Lightweight Deflectometer with Radial Sensors:

Nondestructive tests to estimate stiffness modulus, such as the light-weight deflectometer (LWD), have experienced increased popularity, but very little research has been performed to evaluate the LWD with radial sensors. Results are presented from LWD testing with radial sensors that measured the deflection bowl on one- and two-layer field test beds consisting of unbound materials. LWD testing produced a measurable deflection bowl on medium-stiffness granular materials to a radial sensor spacing of 750 mm (30 in). When limited to a stiff over soft layered system, the LWD with radial sensors demonstrated the ability to backcalculate layered moduli accurately. Backcalculated moduli closely matched laboratory-determined moduli from triaxial testing at a similar stress state as in the field. The measurement depth for the LWD with radial sensors was found to be 1.8 times plate diameter versus the measurement depth of conventional LWD testing of 1.0 to 1.5 times plate diameter. The LWD with radial sensors was ...
Metalogue on Coping with Illness: Cases from Ecuador

The processes by which people cope with serious illness must be examined within family and sociocultural contexts. This article outlines a method for proceeding with such contextualized analysis. The method is illustrated with two case studies of family-based illness management in highland Ecuador. Both cases show the importance of culturally mediated, meaning-making responses in successful family adaptation to affliction and loss. Based on these field studies and on investigation of stress and coping in U.S. populations, two psychological mechanisms are proposed as central in constructive intrapsychic coping across cultures. These mechanisms are self-esteem and sense of participation in the outcome of the illness situation. Although this analysis concentrates on theory development by relating medical anthropology and health psychology, the case studies also have implications for health care delivery.
Timber as Renewable Building Material and its Use in Modern Architecture

Wood is one of the completely renewable natural materials. Thanks to its unique properties, many experts consider wood to be a building material of the 21st century. Characteristics of its qualities. The most commonly used wood based structural systems. Examples of realized wooden buildings.
Authors' reply to comments on "variable-structure PID control to prevent integrator windup"

For comments by R.J. Mantz and H. De Battisa see ibid. (vol. 51, p736-38, June 2004) . For original paper by A. S. Hodel and C. E. Hall see ibid.(vol.48, p442-51, April 2001).
Collaboration in technical communication: a qualitative content analysis of journal articles, 1990-1999

In this qualitative content analysis, I examined 55 articles with keywords relating to collaboration published in the 1990-1999 issues of five major technical communication journals. I considered the frequency, types of research, and themes in the 55-article collection. My analysis reveals differences in the authors' discussions of collaboration depending on whether the collaboration occurred in the classroom or the workplace. I also found that most of the 55 articles were more concerned with collaborative practice than with theoretical discussions of collaboration. Suggestions for future research include investigating how experienced workplace collaborators and experienced teachers of collaborative skills in technical communication courses solve the nonroutine problems that occur when practice becomes difficult. From these investigations, researchers might determine what constitutes expertise in collaboration.
Strain/Damage in Crystalline Materials Bombarded by MeV Ions: Recrystallization of GaAs by High-Dose Irradiation

MeV ion irradiation effects on semiconductor crystals, GaAs(100) and Si (111) and on an insulating crystal CaF_2(111) have been studied by the x-ray rocking curve technique using a double crystal x-ray diffractometer. The results on GaAs are particularly interesting. The strain developed by ion irradiation in the surface layers of GaAs (100) saturates to a certain level after a high dose irradiation (typically 10^(15)/cm^2), resulting in a uniform lattice spacing about 0.4% larger than the original spacing of the lattice planes parallel to the surface. The layer of uniform strain corresponds in depth to the region where electronic energy loss is dominant over nuclear collision energy loss. The saturated strain level is the same for both p-type and n-type GaAs. In the early stages of irradiation, the strain induced in the surface is shown to be proportional to the nuclear stopping power at the surface and is independent of electronic stopping power. The strain saturation phenomenon in GaAs is discussed in terms of point defect saturation in the surface layer. An isochronal (15 min.) annealing was done on the Cr-doped GaAs at temperatures between 200° C and 700° C. The intensity in the diffraction peak from the surface strained layer jumps at 200° C < T ≤ 300° C. The strain decreases gradually with temperature, approaching zero at T ≤ 500° C. The strain saturation phenomenon does not occur in the irradiated Si. The strain induced in Si is generally very low (less than 0.06%) and is interpreted to be mostly in the layers adjacent to the maximum nuclear stopping region, with zero strain in the surface layer. The data on CaF_2 have been analysed with a kinematical x-ray diffraction theory to get quantitative strain and damage depth profiles for several different doses.
A survey of the most massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds

Despite the large impact very massive stars (>30 M ⊙ ) have in astrophysics, their fundamental parameters remain uncertain. I present results of a survey aiming to characterize the most massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds. The survey targets the brightest, blue, eclipsing binaries discovered by the OGLE microlensing survey, for which masses and radii are measured to 5%. Such precise data are rare and provide constraints for theories of massive star formation and evolution at low metallicities.
Saccadic trajectories change with amplitude, not time

Abstract. Saccadic trajectories were examined in ten young normal subjects for amplitudes of 5,15,30, and 40 deg. Multiple saccades (m) and discrete decelerations (dd) were seen not in conjunction with any fatigue effect but rather as a function of amplitude, being much more frequent at larger amplitudes. The presence of m and dd in the large saccades of normals and in even small refixations of patients with myasthenia and Eaton-Lambert syndrome suggests that they are a normal consequence of high innervation levels.
Theory of relativistic electron beam bunching by the wakefield effects of a background plasma

The current profile of a relativistic electron beam is theoretically evaluated in terms of the propagation distance in a chamber containing a diffused plasma, which exerts wakefield effects on the beam. Neglecting the beam erosion and beam loss during the propagation, it is found that the beam current profile at a specified propagation distance is expressed only in terms of the time t/sub 0/, at which the beam enters the chamber. Particularly, the current profile has a cusped form at a certain time t/sub 0/. >
Protein Arylation Precedes Acetaminophen Toxicity in a Dynamic Organ Slice Culture of Mouse Kidney

Abstract Acetaminophen (APAP) is an analgesic and antipyretic agent which may cause hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity with overdose in man and laboratory animals.In vivostudies suggest thatin situactivation of APAP contributes to the development of nephrotoxicity. Associated with target organ toxicity is selective arylation of proteins, with a 58-kDa acetaminophen binding protein (58-ABP) being the most prominent cytosolic target. In this study a mouse kidney slice model was developed to further evaluate the contribution ofin situactivation of APAP to the development of nephrotoxicity and to determine the selectivity of protein arylation. Precision cut kidney slices from male CD-1 mice were incubated with selected concentrations of APAP (0–25 m M ) for 2 to 24 hr. APAP caused a dose- and time-dependent decrease in nonprotein sulfhydryls (NPSH), ATP content, and K+retention. Preceding toxicity was arylation of cytosolic proteins, the most prominent one being the 58-ABP. The association of 58-ABP arylation with APAP toxicity in this mouse kidney slice model is consistent with earlier,in vivoresults and demonstrates the importance ofin situactivation of APAP for the development of nephrotoxicity. Precision cut renal slices and dynamic organ culture are a good model for further mechanistic studies of APAP-induced renal toxicity..
T-Bet Dependent Removal of Sin3A-Histone Deacetylase Complexes at the Ifng Locus Drives Th1 Differentiation

Forming and removing epigenetic histone marks at gene loci are central processes in differentiation. Here, we explored mechanisms establishing long-range H4 acetylation marks at the Ifng locus during Th1 lineage commitment. In Th0 cells, histone deacetylase (HDAC)-Sin3A complexes recruited to the Ifng locus actively prevented accumulation of H4 acetylation marks. Th1 differentiation caused loss of HDAC-Sin3A complexes by T-bet-dependent mechanisms and accumulation of H4 acetylation marks. HDAC-Sin3A complexes were absent from the locus in NOD Th0 cells, obviating the need for Th1 differentiation signals to establish histone marks and Th1 differentiation. Thus, Ifng transcription is actively prevented in Th0 cells via epigenetic mechanisms and epigenetic defects allow unregulated Ifng transcription that may contribute to autoimmunity.
Tuberculosis vaccines: time to reset the paradigm?

Development of a more effective tuberculosis vaccine is a global public health priority. The first clinical efficacy trial of a new tuberculosis vaccine candidate in over 45 years recently reported its results. Unfortunately, the vaccine, MVA85A, showed no improved efficacy over BCG in preventing tuberculosis disease or infection in 2797 infants. This disappointing result has far-reaching ramifications because the majority of TB vaccine candidates in clinical trials broadly aim to induce the same type of immune responses as MVA85A. This compels close re-examination of the immunological paradigm underpinning the development of most new tuberculosis vaccines. Progress will require frank appraisal of the gaps in our understanding of protective immunity and appropriate use and interpretation of the available animal models. Identifying correlates of protection by dissecting immune responses induced by existing partially effective vaccines may be a good place to focus renewed efforts.
Signature of the Fragmentation of a Color Flux Tube

The production of quark-antiquark pairs along a color flux tube precedes the fragmentation of the tube. Because of local conservation laws, the production of a $q\text{\ensuremath{-}}\overline{q}$ pair will lead to correlations of adjacently produced mesons (mostly pions). Adjacently produced mesons however can be signalled by their rapidity difference $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}y$ falling within the window of $|\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}y|\ensuremath{\lesssim}1/(dN/dy)$, on account of the space-time-rapidity ordering of produced mesons in a flux-tube fragmentation. Therefore, the local conservation laws of momentum, charge, and flavor will lead to a suppression of the angular correlation function $dN/(d\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}\ensuremath{\phi}d\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}y)$ for two mesons with opposite charges or strangeness on the near side at $(\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}\ensuremath{\phi},\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}y)\ensuremath{\sim}0$, but an enhanced correlation on the back-to-back, away side at $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\sim}\ensuremath{\pi}$, within the window of $|\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}y|\ensuremath{\lesssim}1/(dN/dy)$. These properties can be used as signatures for the fragmentation of a color flux tube. The gross features of the signature of flux-tube fragmentation for two oppositely charged mesons are qualitatively consistent with the STAR and NA61/SHINE angular correlation data for two hadrons with opposite charges in the low-${p}_{T}$ region in high-energy $pp$ collisions.
Mesoscale Modeling of Summertime Refractive Conditions in the Southern California Bight

Abstract Large vertical gradients of temperature and moisture, often present at the top of the atmospheric boundary layer, can result in anomalous electromagnetic propagation. Layers in which the modified refractive index M decreases with height can act to trap microwave energy depending on the frequency and angle of incidence of the signal. Here the authors examine the ability of a mesoscale model to forecast the topography of such a trapping layer and to predict temporal trends in trapping-layer structure and depth. Data from the Variability of Coastal Atmospheric Refractivity (VOCAR) experiment are used to examine the fidelity of model forecasts. The intensive observing period of VOCAR occurred from 23 August to 3 September 1993 in the Southern California bight. The mesoscale numerical weather prediction model used has a sophisticated physics package that includes a second-order closure turbulence scheme, detailed radiative flux computations, and explicit cloud physics. The impact of several specific m...
Dicarbonylbis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium

[59487-85-3] C12H10O2Zr (MW 277.44) InChI = 1S/2C5H5.2CO.Zr/c2*1-2-4-5-3-1;2*1-2;/h2*1-5H;;; InChIKey = SNANGQMCDWBSMQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N (couples alkynes to form zirconacyclopentadienes3) Physical Data: subl 70 °C/10−2 mmHg.1a Solubility: sol hydrocarbons, THF. Analysis of Reagent Purity: IR, NMR.2 Preparative Method: reduction of Dichlorobis(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium with Magnesium Amalgam under CO atmosphere.2 Purification: hexane solution is filtered through alumina and cooled to −20 °C to induce crystallization; sublimation at 70 °C/10−2 mmHg.2 Handling, Storage, and Precautions: store and handle under an inert atmosphere. Use in a fume hood.
Fast procedural level population with playability constraints

We examine the use of constraint propagation for populating indoor game levels with enemies and other objects. We introduce a notion of path constraints, which bound some function over the possible paths a player might take, and show how to efficiently place objects while guaranteeing path constraints. This allows the system to guarantee that power-ups are balanced to the number of enemies occurring in the level, that they're placed early enough to be useful, that keys are not hidden behind the doors they are intended to unlock, and so on. We describe a constraint solver based on interval methods that allows natural processing of numeric constraints and show that it is efficient enough to be used even on very low-end platforms.
Teaching Transactional Skills in Partnership with the Bar

For several years, business and transactional lawyers have increased the pressure on law schools to produce more practice-ready graduates. This article explores the practical skills reform movement with two goals in mind. First, it seeks to articulate and reconcile some of the fundamental differences in the perspectives of the practicing bar and the legal academy. Second, it highlights the special challenges and opportunities involved in making legal education more effective for students who will practice business and transactional law. In addition to reviewing recent literature from the bar and the academy on the practical skills gap, the article also reports and analyzes the results of the author’s own national survey of law firm professional development departments concerning the specific practical skills that entry-level transactional lawyers need. The author concludes that, if reform is to be comprehensive and fully effective, the bar must take the leading role, and that society will benefit most when the bar and law schools seek out educational partnerships with one another.
Mammalian Cell Culture: Technology and Physiology

During the last decade phenomenal advances have taken place in large-scale mammalian cell culture both for microcarriers and suspension methods. The cost of serum and product quality require that such systems be examined in terms of both their physical and chemical parameters. Data are presented as to the method used to more than double the final harvest cell density of 100-liter batch culture reactors by simple temperature measurements and 12-liter reactors by increasing the oxygen potential of the liquid. The results are interpreted in terms of physical transport phenomena of momentum, heat and mass via the theoretical relationships of Navier-Stokes, Fourier and Fick respectively. In addition, data are presented of 3-, 12-, and 100 liter reactors that the spent cell growth media were analyzed for ten different chemistries. The Monod cell growth curve was used to interpret the results. The cost savings and product quality improvements can be enormous by approaching both the technology and physiology of mammalian cell culture from the vantage points of chemistry, thermodynamics and transport phenomena.
A randomized double blind phase I-II study to determine the tolerability/efficacy of two different doses of lenalidomide (L), CC- 5013, in biochemically relapsed (BR) prostate cancer (PC) patients (pts) (M0) after local treatment (LT)

5130 Background: BR following LT is common in PC with no defined standard treatment. Lenalidomide (L) is an immunomodulatory agent with anti-angiogenic and direct antitumor effects. Methods: This t...
Impedimetric Dengue Biosensor based on Functionalized Graphene Oxide Wrapped Silica Particles

Abstract A composite of 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) functionalized graphene oxide (APTES-GO) wrapped on SiO2 particles (SiO2@APTES-GO) was prepared via self-assembly. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ATR-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) confirmed wrapping of the SiO2 particles by the APTES-GO sheets. An impedimetric biosensor was constructed and used to sensitively detect dengue DNA and dengue RNA via primer hybridization using different oligonucleotide sequences. The results demonstrated that the SiO2@APTES-GO electrode material led to enhanced dengue RNA detection sensitivity with selectivity and detection limit (1 femto-Molar), compared to both APTES-GO and APTES-SiO2. The three-dimensional structure, higher contact area, electrical properties and the ability for rapid hybridization offered by the SiO2@APTES-GO led to the successful design of a dengue biosensor with the lowest detection limit reported to date.
Effects of systemic pH on calcium regulating hormones and bone.

Bone disease has long been recognized as a potential complication of chronic acidotic states1. By far the commonest of these is uremic acidosis, a situation in which deranged bone and mineral metabolism is invariably present. However, attempts to treat uremic bone disease by correction of an associated metabolic acidosis have been consistently unsuccessful2, suggesting that factors other than systemic pH dominate the pathophysiology of this disease.
Rectilinear Edge Selectivity Is Insufficient to Explain the Category Selectivity of the Parahippocampal Place Area

The parahippocampal place area (PPA) is one of several brain regions that respond more strongly to scenes than to non-scene items such as objects and faces. The mechanism underlying this scene-preferential response remains unclear. One possibility is that the PPA is tuned to low-level stimulus features that are found more often in scenes than in less-preferred stimuli. Supporting this view, Nasr et al. (2014) recently observed that some of the stimuli that are known to strongly activate the PPA contain a large number of rectilinear edges. They further demonstrated that PPA response is modulated by rectilinearity for a range of non-scene images. Motivated by these results, we tested whether rectilinearity suffices to explain PPA selectivity for scenes. In the first experiment, we replicated the previous finding of modulation by rectilinearity in the PPA for arrays of 2-d shapes. However, two further experiments failed to find a rectilinearity effect for faces or scenes: high-rectilinearity faces and scenes did not activate the PPA any more strongly than low-rectilinearity faces and scenes. Moreover, the categorical advantage for scenes vs. faces was maintained in the PPA and two other scene-selective regions-the retrosplenial complex (RSC) and occipital place area (OPA)-when rectilinearity was matched between stimulus sets. We conclude that selectivity for scenes in the PPA cannot be explained by a preference for low-level rectilinear edges.
Setting the Stage for Risk Management: Severe Weather Under a Changing Climate

The most recent evaluations of the state of changes occurring in the Earth’s climate through the 2013 Assessment Report 5 (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and through the 2014 U.S. National Climate Assessment clearly indicates that climate change is happening now, it is changing rapidly, and that the primary cause is human activities. These assessments draw upon the latest scientific understanding of climate and climate change, synthesizing recent advances in the understanding of the science of climate change, and providing a succinct overview of the past and projected effects of climate change on the United States and the world. Findings include new analyses of the observed trends and projected future climate changes. Along with increasing temperatures over most of our planet, the pattern of precipitation change in general is one of increases at higher northern latitudes and drying in the tropics and subtropics over land. One of the major findings is that there has been an increase in some key types of extreme weather events, especially in heat waves and large precipitation events, in the U.S. (and throughout the world) over the last 50 years. There has been an increase in the number of historically top 1 % of heavy precipitation events across all regions of the U.S.—this is not surprising, as the atmosphere warms it holds more moisture. The analyses also indicate the trend towards large precipitation events is likely to continue to increase throughout this century. The drying of the subtropics and wetter conditions at more northern latitudes means that both droughts and floods are likely to be increasing issues in various parts of the world. Scientific analyses indicate a strong link between changing trends in severe weather events and the changing climate. In addition, there are many concerns about potential impacts of the changing climate, e.g., the effects of sea level rise on coastal areas. The aim here is to summarize the findings from the new assessments, plus provide a discussion of the current understanding of severe weather in relation to the science of climate change, with a special emphasis on the issues and remaining uncertainties affecting our future.
Orbital emphysema and diplopia following thoracotomy.

Purpose. To describe the clinical and radiological findings in a patient with diplopia and orbital emphysema following thoracotomy. Methods. Reported is a 71-year-old woman who presented with diplopia several days following thoracotomy. Results. Physical examination revealed diffuse subcutaneous emphysema and a right hypertropia. Head computed tomography revealed facial and palpebral subcutaneous emphysema extending into the infratemporal fossa and orbits bilaterally. A chest tube was replaced and her diplopia resolved. Conclusions. Subcutaneous emphysema can lead to diplopia and orbital emphysema in the absence of orbital trauma. Contrary to previously suggested mechanisms of orbital emphysema associated with subcutaneous emphysema, computed tomography imaging suggested that air entry into the orbit in this case was through the inferior orbital fissure.
Bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of children with cancer: current status

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is a promising method of treatment for children with resistant malignancies. The discrepancies in the results of BMT from institution to institution are based on patient selection, timing of transplantation, and preparatory regimens that differ from place to place. Studies that address specific questions are needed: questions like Under what conditions is BMT superior to conventional chemotherapy? Which preparatory regimen is superior? What are the results based on the status of the patients' malignancies and quality of life? Multi-institutional studies are needed to answer these questions.
OCD Inside Out: The Forging of Disorder

People living with obsessive thoughts and engaging in compulsive behaviors (characteristics that henceforth I will call OCD) are well and often painfully acquainted with a wail that Jeff Bell eloquently describes in his memoir Rewind, Replay, Repeat. He writes: There’s a sound BART trains make as they wend their way through the myriad curved tunnels that comprise the Bay Area Rapid Transit grid. It’s a shrill, high-pitched screech … I know this ugly wail. It’s the same one that bellows in silence from some tortured place deep inside of me. (127–128) To Bell, the sound of OCD is shrill. It is acute and piercing. As we read his passage, we can hear the train squeal, metal on metal, until we want to cover our ears. What is worse, the sound can become eerily familiar. To me, another suggestive sensorial experience to convey the anxiety of OCD is visual, and it can be evoked by the famous painting The Scream, by Edvard Munch, with its agony-filled subject and its swirls of red and orange. This image tends to materialize spontaneously when I conjure up representations of the challenges of OCD, although there is no evidence that the artist himself used that as inspiration. For the accompanying written script, I would choose a stanza by Hughes Mearns that so perfectly embodies the duality of that which does not exist but still haunts us — the one that speaks of a man who, despite not being there, we want to wish away.1
Camelina growth and yield response to sowing depth and rate in the northern Corn Belt USA.

Abstract Camelina ( Camelina sativa L.) is gaining interest as a productive alternative oilseed crop for biofuels, bioproducts, and healthy food-use applications. Developing sound agronomic practices for its production is key to optimizing its seed oil yield potential. Plant stand establishment of camelina has been problematic in some environments, which may be related to its small seed size and current recommendation for shallow sowing. Shallow sowing can diminish seed to soil contact and expose seeds to large soil temperature and moisture fluctuations, which greatly affect germination and seedling emergence. A study was conducted in 2011 and 2012 on a Barnes loam soil in western Minnesota to examine the effects of sowing spring camelina at soil depths of 1, 2, and 4 cm at sowing rates of 2, 3, and 6 kg ha −1 . Seedling emergence increased with sowing rate, but averaged across depths it had no effect on seed yield. Seedling emergence between the 1 and 2 cm sowing depths did not differ in 2012, while stands were reduced by an average of 29% at the 2 cm depth in 2011, but seed yields did not differ between the two sowing depths in either year. However, averaged across sowing rates, sowing at 4 cm led to a 64% stand reduction and a significant 22% loss of yield compared with the 1 and 2 cm depths. Neither sowing depth nor rate affected seed oil content or harvest index. Results show that camelina has exceptional yield compensation capacity at low plant densities and can be sown deeper than commonly recommended (i.e., ≤1.0 cm) without compromising yield in the northern Corn Belt. Sowing to a depth of 2 cm may be beneficial for certain soils prone to large temperature and moisture fluctuations.
Breakage of fractal agglomerates

Abstract Breakage behavior of fractal agglomerates as a function of impact velocity and surface energy was investigated using discrete element method (DEM). Agglomerates with fractal dimensions ( D f ) ranging from about 2.0 to 2.8 were produced by letting primary particles having random initial velocities agglomerate under a centripetal force. The simulation results show that the damage ratio ( D m ), defined as the ratio of broken interparticle contacts to the initial total contacts, decreases with increasing fractal dimension in the range between 2.0 and 2.6, which can be explained by the increased mechanical strength with increasing fractal dimension. Previously introduced Weber number ( We ) based correlation for damage ratio is generalized by incorporating the fractal dimension: D m = B W e D f 2 α , where B and α depend exponentially and linearly on Weber number, respectively. Visualization of impact process illustrates the feature of ductile fracture of fractal agglomerates irrespective of fractal dimensions.
A steganographic approach for covert waveform design

A framework for designing covert sonar waveform and assessment of its steganographic security for sonar applications is presented, based on a model for the underwater ambient acoustic environment the waveform is intended to hide under. Adopting the lessons from the steganography literature, steganographic security is measured not by evaluating performance against potential intercept detectors, but by measuring the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the background model and the model of the background perturbed by the candidate waveform. A modeling method using symbolic time series analysis with phase space representation allows for capturing the time-evolving aspect of the ambient environment on the timescale of sonar applications of interest such as tracking.
Changes in soil nutrients after 10 years of cattle manure and swine effluent application

Abstract Application of cattle manure and swine effluent to cropland builds nutrient pools, affects soil quality, and increases crop productivity. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the rate of change in soil nutrient concentration and soil chemical properties due to cattle manure and swine effluent application. The study was conducted from 1999 to 2008 near Tribune, KS, with 10 treatments (three levels each of cattle manure and swine effluent [P, N, and 2N], three levels of N fertilizer, and a control). Soil NO 3 -N, P, K, micronutrients, pH, and EC were measured annually. Swine P treatment resulted in significantly greater NO 3 -N concentration in most years compared with all other treatments, followed by the Cattle 2N and Swine 2N treatments. The cattle treatments, in the order Cattle 2N > Cattle N > Cattle P, built the total N, soil P, and total C level significantly over the years compared with all other treatments. Soil pH did not change over time for most treatments except for the Swine P and Swine 2N treatments. Soil K, Cl, Fe, Zn, and Cu concentration increased significantly in cattle and swine treatments in 2008 compared with their initial level in 1999, and compared with check and inorganic fertilizer treatments. A significant build up in soil nutrients due to cattle and swine nutrient application suggests that they are good sources of many essential nutrients, in places where nutrients are limiting, but can cause excessive accumulation and increased environmental risk. A quick build up from Cattle 2N and Swine P applications calls for lower rates and periodic soil tests to determine need for further applications.