cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE ON DYNAMIC VISCOELASTIC PROPERTIES OF SOYBEANS

The soybean crushing industry utilizes conditioning in the temperature range of 60–90  C and moisture range of 9–12% to modify the viscoelastic properties of cracked soybeans in order to make them more deformable and to produce thin flakes for oil extraction. Viscoelastic properties of soybean cotyledons, namely G  and tan  in the temperature range of 30–120  C and moisture range or 9.5–12.8% were determined using DMTA. In this moisture range, G  decreased at a rapid rate by 2–4 times due to an increase in conditioning temperature from 30  C to 72.5–81  C. Thus, flake thickness could be substantially reduced by conditioning soybeans up to 72.5–81  C. The tan  curves showed a peak in the temperature range of 40–50  C, which shifted to a lower temperature by 2–4  C after a decrease in frequency from 1 Hz to 0.3 Hz. This indicates that the material underwent glass transition in this temperature range. In some experiments a second transition occurred at 95–105  C. However, data was insufficient to conclude that this was a glass transition. In general, G  values below 10% moisture content were about two times greater than at higher moisture contents, which confirmed that at room temperature below 10% moisture content soybeans existed in a glassy state. Due to low deformability of soybeans in the glassy state, flaking below 10% moisture content would require higher mechanical energy and result in thicker flakes.
Kinetic Study of the Reactions of Gas-Phase V(a4F3/2), Cr(a7S3), Co(a4F9/2), Ni(a3F4, a3D3) and Zn(4s2 1S0) Atoms with Nitrous Oxide

The reactivity of gas-phase V(a4F3/2), Cr(a7S3), Co(a4F9/2), Ni(a3F4, a3D3), and Zn(4s2 1S0) with N2O as a function of temperature and pressure is reported. The transition metal atoms were produced...
Effect of protein and electrolyte on the spectral stabilization of concentrated solutions of indocyanine green.

SummaryThe presence of protein and electrolyte in the concentrated indocyanine green solution was shown to slow the rate of optical stabilization following dilution of the concentrated solution in plasma. This finding explains some of the reported discrepancies in flow measurement with the dye. When the concentrated dye was prepared in distilled water the spectral stabilization after dilution was rapid (<2 sec) and should not be a source of error in flow measurement.The authors thank Professors F. Wold and A. Moscowitz of the Departments of Biochemistry and Chemistry for illuminating discussions of detergent micelle stabilization by proteins and Drs. W. J. Runge of the Pathology Department and J. L. Holtzman of the Pharmacology Department for technical assistance.
Carcinoembryonic antigen as a monitor of successful surgical resection in 130 patients with carcinoma of the lung.

In the patient with lung cancer, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has limited value in screening for the early lesion, modest value in presaging a successful resection, and considerable value in monitoring the course of disease following resection. CEA is a clinical tool that merits further investigation and has the potential of leading to the identification of a lung tumor-specific marker.
Gene-Environment Processes in Adolescent Family Relationships

Each developing adolescent’s thoughts, emotions and behaviors arise from a complex interplay of genetic and environmental influences. These work in combination to produce the individual differences in personality, psychopathology, and social cognitions that contribute to healthy or maladaptive development. In the current chapter, our goal was to examine and integrate research that has examined gene-environment (GE) interplay as it pertains to a particular aspect of adolescents’ social worlds: their family relationships, with emphasis on the parent–adolescent relationship, the adolescent sibling relationship, and the parents’ marital relationship. In each case, these social relationships are powerful contexts in which the role of genetic factors must be considered, in order to better understand the roles of both biology and environment in adolescent individuality.
Recalls of Foods and Cosmetics by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Recalls of foods and cosmetics from the marketplace are an expeditious and effective method of removing violative products, particularly those that present a danger to health. Recalls are undertaken through a cooperative effort by industry and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Foods and cosmetics recalled from the period 1 October 1991 through 30 September 1992 were reviewed to determine the kinds of products recalled and the reasons for recall. A total of 230 recalls, involving 569 foods and cosmetics, occurred during the study period. Twenty-eight percent of the recalls were designated class I, defined as a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences. The problems for which foods or cosmetics were most often recalled were misbranding and microbial contamination (37% and 25% of recalls, respectively). A recognized illness or injury was reported to have occurred in association with 32 food products and one cosmetic. This study indicates that recalls of foods and cosmetics are common and that various groups, including industry, consumers, state regulatory agencies, and the FDA, recognize problems leading to recall.
What Postoperative Outcome Measures Link Joint Stability to Patient Satisfaction

Total knee arthroplasty is a common, effective treatment for disabling arthritis of the knee. However, not all patients receiving total knee arthroplasty achieve what is considered an optimal outcome, and not all patients report high satisfaction with their results. Because the focus of attention increasingly turns to optimizing outcomes and utilization of healthcare resources, it is worthwhile to review the array of available tools and techniques for quantifying postoperative outcomes after knee arthroplasty and identify how these might be used to guide refinement of the treatment to achieve even better and more predictable outcomes. This review summarizes current methods for assessing postoperative outcomes on a biomechanical basis, organizes them into three complementary domains, and suggests how these domains must be linked to address the titular question.
Intensive Care Unit Admissions in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies: Outcomes and Prognostic Indicators.

With intensification in treatments of hematologic malignancies (HM), the number of life-threatening complications requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admissions has increased. In general, cancer patients requiring ICU care are considered to have a poor prognosis, but it is a common belief among intensivists that patients with HM have an exceptionally grave prognosis. The aim of the current study was to assess outcomes in patients with HM admitted to the ICU for life-threatening complications. In addition, this study intended to identify early prognostic indicators that would be helpful in determining outcomes of ICU stay in this patient population. We performed a retrospective chart review of 185 consecutive critically ill patients with HM admitted to the ICU at a tertiary university hospital during a 5.5-year period. We collected variables ar admission and during admission and identified predictors of in-hospital mortality by Cox proportional hazard analysis. 88.7% patients had active disease, and 36.2% were bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients. 24.3% were leukopenic (leukocyte count, 9 /L) at admission. Sepsis (30.3%), respiratory failure (17.3%), and post-surgical complications (16.2%) were the major reasons for ICU admissions. 22.2% required vasopressors at admission. 38.4% required mechanical ventilation (MV) and 9.2% needed hemodialysis during ICU stay. Crude ICU, in-hospital, and 6-month mortality rates were 19.5%, 8.1%, and 9.7%, respectively. MV (hazard ratio, 2.75), blood urea nitrogen (BUN)>22 (hazard ratio, 1.81), pre-existent COPD/Asthma (hazard ratio, 3.24), urine output (UOP)
Empirical Assessment of the Impact of Low-Cost Generic Programs on Adherence-Based Quality Measures

In the United States, federally-funded health plans are mandated to measure the quality of care. Adherence-based medication quality metrics depend on completeness of administrative claims data for accurate measurement. Low-cost generic programs (LCGPs) cause medications fills to be missing from claims data as medications are not adjudicated through a patient's insurance. This study sought to assess the magnitude of the impact of LCGPs on these quality measures. Data from the 2012-2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) were used. Medication fills for select medication classes were classified as LCGP fills and individuals were classified as never, sometimes, and always users of LCGPs. Individuals were classified based on insurance type (private, Medicare, Medicaid, dual-eligible). The proportion of days covered (PDC) was calculated for each medication class and the proportion of users with PDC ≥ 0.80 was reported as an observed metric for what would be calculated based on claims data and a true metric which included missing medication fills due to LCGPs. True measures of adherence were higher than the observed measures. The effect's magnitude was highest for private insurance and for medication classes utilized more often through LCGPs. Thus, medication-based quality measures may be underestimated due to LCGPs.
Neutrophils to the ROScue: Mechanisms of NADPH Oxidase Activation and Bacterial Resistance.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by NADPH oxidase play an important role in antimicrobial host defense and inflammation. Their deficiency in humans results in recurrent and severe bacterial infections, while their unregulated release leads to pathology from excessive inflammation. The release of high concentrations of ROS aids in clearance of invading bacteria. Localization of ROS release to phagosomes containing pathogens limits tissue damage. Host immune cells, like neutrophils, will release large amounts of ROS at the site of infection following the activation of surface receptors. The binding of ligands to G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), toll-like receptors, and cytokine receptors can prime PMNs for a more robust response if additional signals are encountered. Meanwhile, activation of Fc and integrin directly induces high levels of ROS production. Additionally, GPCRs that bind to the bacterial-peptide analog fMLP, a neutrophil chemoattractant can both prime cells and trigger low levels of ROS production. Engagement of these receptors initiates intracellular signaling pathways, resulting in activation of downstream effector proteins, assembly of the NADPH oxidase complex, and ultimately, the production of ROS by this complex. Within PMNs, ROS released by the NADPH oxidase complex can activate granular proteases and induce the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Additionally, ROS can cross the membranes of bacterial pathogens and damage their nucleic acids, proteins, and cell membranes. Consequently, in order to establish infections, bacterial pathogens employ various strategies to prevent restriction by PMN-derived ROS or downstream consequences of ROS production. Some pathogens are able to directly prevent the oxidative burst of phagocytes using secreted effector proteins or toxins that interfere with translocation of the NADPH oxidase complex or signaling pathways needed for its activation. Nonetheless, these pathogens often rely on repair and detoxifying proteins in addition to these secreted effectors and toxins in order to resist mammalian sources of ROS. This suggests that pathogens have both intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms to avoid restriction by PMN-derived ROS. Here, we review mechanisms of oxidative burst in PMNs in response to bacterial infections, as well as the mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens thwart restriction by ROS to survive under conditions of oxidative stress.
Quantification of manganese and mercury in toenail in vivo using portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF).

Background and objective: Toenail is an advantageous biomarker to assess exposure to metals such as manganese and mercury. Toenail Mn and Hg are in general analyzed by chemical methods such as indu...
Making DB2Products Self-Managing: Strategies and Experiences.

This paper evaluates the impact of the DB2 Autonomic Computing project at the IBM Toronto Software Lab, Almaden Research Center, and Watson Research Center. It describes the key ideas behind the many self-managing features added to the IBM R ©DB2 R ©for Linux R ©, UNIX R ©, and Windows R ©products, and evaluates the degree to which these features have been accepted by the DB2 user community. We offer lessons learned from this experience, our conclusions, and future directions for self-managing databases.
Stochastic Analysis of Observations

The basic steps of developing a mathematical model for any given observations (e.g., a model for the global atmospheric temperature increase) were described in Chap. 1. In particular, the goal was to find a relatively simple analytical function (for example a linear function possibly formulated in terms of redefined variables) that is capable of representing the trend of observations, and to adjust then the parameters of this function such that the model agrees as good as possible with the observed data. The adjustment of model parameters was performed in this way on a purely empirical basis. Consequently, there is the question of how it is possible to optimize the performance of models by finding model parameters that provide an optimal agreement between the model and observations. This question can be addressed, first, by introducing and minimizing a model error that accounts for differences between the model and data, or, second, by using assumptions about the sort of randomness involved in observations. The use of the second approach requires knowledge regarding the description and modeling of randomness. This approach will be described in Chap. 10 in conjunction with the introduction of probability concepts for several variables. The first approach for finding optimal model parameters will be described in this chapter. The discussions of probability concepts in the following chapters are prepared in this way by demonstrating the relevance and application of some basic tools for the description of random data like the mean, variance, and correlation coefficient.
The Functionality of Prostate Cancer Predisposition Risk Regions Is Revealed by AR Enhancers

Prostate Cancer (PCa) genetic risk has recently been defined in numerous genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which revealed more than 50 disease-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), known as tagSNPs, each at a different locus. More than 80% of these tagSNPs are located in noncoding regions of the genome for which functionality remains unknown. We and others hypothesize that at least some of these SNPs affect noncoding genomic regulatory signatures such as enhancers. Many research laboratories including ours have profiled the genomic distribution of androgen receptor (AR) and the dynamic state of the PCa genome for active chromatin regions (H3K9,14ac), open chromatin regions (DNaseI), enhancers (H3K4me1/2), and active/engaged enhancers (H3K27ac). In order to identify candidate functional SNPs, which may confer risk associated with PCa, we recently developed an open-source (R/Bioconductor) package, called FunciSNP (Functional Integration of SNPs), which systematically integrates SNPs from the 1000 genomes project with these biologically active chromatin features. Here we report several potential AR enhancers, defined by genome-wide data and from chromatin biofeatures, which may be functionally involved in PCa risk.
Quantifying ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr temporal stability and spatial heterogeneity for use in tracking fish movement

The specificity and accuracy of inferred fish origin and movement relies on describing spatial heterogeneity and temporal stability of environmental signatures. But the cost and logistics of sample...
Assessing Disparities in Asthma Among Children Across Neighborhoods of a Large Metropolitan Area

While poor and vulnerable populations often contribute significantly less to environmental problems, they are significantly more likely to suffer from adverse economic and health effects caused by environmental problems. Poor children, who are often children of color, are particularly vulnerable to environmental health disparities. From an ecological perspective, children’s development is not only influenced by their immediate environment, but also by their larger neighborhood and school environments. The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of the Childhood Opportunity Index as a tool to assess asthma disparities among children in a SW Florida metropolitan area and discuss its implications for strengthening public health policy. In this paper, I use the Child Opportunity Index (COI), generated by the diversitydatakids.org project and data on 2017 children’s asthma-related emergency room visits from the Florida Department of Health’s Environmental Public Health Tracking System to assess disparities across neighborhoods in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. Results based on application of this measure, in conjunction with data generated by a state-level public health tracking system, revealed that children who live within high child opportunity tracts generally experienced fewer asthma-related emergency room visits than did children who live within low child opportunity tracts. As the racial and ethnic composition of large metropolitan areas in the United States continues to increase, more research should focus on these dynamics and their influence on healthy development of children and others. The Child Opportunity Index is a useful tool in identifying communities that face educational, environmental and economic disadvantages. Further application and analysis based on this index may help to inform policies and promote more equitable health outcomes.
Creating resilient economies: Entrepreneurship, growth and development in uncertain times, edited by Nick Williams and Tim Vorley

Stories of resilient entrepreneurs, businesses, cities, and regions have always been audience favorites. However, it is only recently that academic interest in the construct of resilience and its a...
Role of Pb2+ Adsorbents on the Opto-Electronic Properties of a CsPbBr3 Nanocrystal: A DFT Study

Fully inorganic lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) are of interest for photovoltaic and light emitting devices due to optoelectronic properties. Understanding the surface chemistry of these materials is of importance as surface defects can introduce trap-states which reduce their functionality. Here we use Density Functional Theory (DFT) to model surface defects introduced by Pb2+ on a CsPbBr3 NC atomistic model. Two types of defects are studied: (i) an under-coordinated Pb2+ surface atom and (ii) Pb2+ atomic or molecular adsorbents to the NC surface. From the DFT calculations we compute the density of states (DOS) and absorption spectra of the defect models to the pristine fully-passivated NC model. We observe that for the low surface defect regime explored here that neither (i) or (ii) produce trap-states inside of the bandgap and exhibit bright optical absorption for the lowest energy transition. From the models studied, it was found that the Pb2+ atomic absorbent provides broadening of the conduction band edge, which implies chemisorption of Pb2+ to the NC surface. At higher defect densities it would be expected that Pb2+ atomic absorbents would introduce trap-states and degrade the opto-electronic properties of these materials.
Sustaining Social Justice Learning: What Teacher Educators Can Do

As public schools become more diverse in terms of student population, the US teaching force remains relatively stable. For this reason, teacher education programs need to provide and sustain social justice learning to ensure pre-service teachers enter classrooms prepared to teach all students. This article examines how pre-service teachers took up identities as social justice educators and sustained social justice learning during lapses in teacher education curricula. Analysis reveals that teacher educators can incorporate methods into course curriculum to ensure social justice learning is sustained in teacher education. Implications for teacher educators include strategies to provide social justice pedagogy scaffolding and offer plausible suggestions to incorporate and sustain social justice education for pre-service teachers when absent in future teacher education curricula.
Discipline-Specific Critical Thinking Curriculum with A Problem Solving Life Cycle Framework

Critical thinking is one of the core missions of higher education. It emphasizes self-reflection and critical examination. There are few proven methods to teach critical thinking effectively, and assessment of students’ thinking skills often fell short. Most universities do not teach critical thinking in a cohesive and systematic fashion after the students enter a specific discipline, such as management or engineering. This paper proposes to design a discipline specific critical thinking curriculum by adopting a Problem Solving Life Cycle framework. Critical thinking skills are reinforced in every phase throughout the Life Cycle with documented deliverables and assessment criteria.
R-WAVE DOUBLE COUNTING DUE TO DELAYED TRANSSEPTAL CONDUCTION SECONDARY TO ANTIARRHYTHMICS AND ABLATION

R wave double counting occurs due to oversensing of delayed intracardiac signal resulting in inappropriate therapies. 61-year-old man with a history of non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy and dual chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) was initiated on amiodarone for ventricular
Abstract IA09: The particulars of circulars: Novel RNAs from oncogenic herpesviruses

Circular RNAs (circRNA) are formed by backsplicing of linear RNA. Due to their covalently joined cyclized nature, circRNAs are resistant to exonucleases and therefore comparatively more stable than their linear counterparts. Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV8) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV/HHV4) have recently been found by RNA sequencing to generate circular RNAs (circRNAs) in infected tissues and cell lines. These molecules represent a novel class of viral RNA that may have a more sustained functional role than linear transcripts. Initial characterization shows that circRNAs are expressed in infection-associated diseases and can be regulated depending on virus life cycle—although the quantity, localization, cell type, and viral life cycle expression of individual circRNAs vary considerably. Some viral circRNAs are incorporated into viral particles for preformed delivery, suggesting a potential function in early infection. Citation Format: Yuan Chang. The particulars of circulars: Novel RNAs from oncogenic herpesviruses [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Microbiome, Viruses, and Cancer; 2020 Feb 21-24; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(8 Suppl):Abstract nr IA09.
Scalable mapping and monitoring of Mediterranean-climate oak landscapes with temporal mixture models

Abstract Mediterranean-climate oak woodlands are prized for their biodiversity, aesthetics, and ecosystem services. Conservation and maintenance of these landscapes requires accurate observations of both present and historic conditions capable of spanning millions of hectares. Decameter optical satellite image time series have the observational coverage to meet this need, with almost 40 years of intercalibrated global observations from the Landsat program alone. However, the optimal approach to leverage these observations for oak ecosystem monitoring remains elusive. Temporal mixture models (TMMs) may offer a solution. TMMs use a linear inverse model based on temporal endmembers (tEMs) chosen to optimize both parsimony and information content by 1) possessing clear biophysical meaning, and 2) accurately representing the variance structure of the observations in the temporal feature space (TFS) composed of low-order Principal Components. We apply this approach to oak woodlands of the California Sierra Nevada foothills. Low-order TFS structure across the ≈1200 km2 study area is consistently bounded by 4 tEM phenologies: annual grasses, evergreen perennials, deciduous perennials + shadow, and unvegetated areas. Satellite-based tEM phenologies correspond to ground-based PhenoCam time series (correlations 0.8 to 0.9). Systematic temporal decimation is conducted to simulate years with varying numbers of cloud free measurements. Fractional cover of temporal endmembers is observed to scale linearly using as few as 6 images per year and coarse feature space topology is retained with as few as 4 well-timed images per year. In comparing 10 m versus 30 m pixel resolution, linear scaling is observed with correlations of 0.78–0.95. Comparison of 10 m Sentinel-2 and LiDAR-derived tree cover estimates at San Joaquin Experimental Range shows a correlation of 0.74. Visual orthophoto validation shows accuracies of annual, deciduous, and evergreen cover fractions of 74–88% (n = 102). Multi-year analysis of August imagery at Sequoia National Park to investigate dynamics associated with the 2012–2016 drought reveals 5 tEMs corresponding to: steady growth, steady decline, early decline then regrowth, persistent vegetation, and no vegetation. Validation images are sparse, but where available show accuracies in the 88 to 91% range for decrease, growth, and persistently vegetated multiyear endmembers (n = 102). Decreases are observed in areas with oak mortality documented in a recent field-based study. Overall, our results suggest the TMM approach has promise as an accurate, explainable, and linearly scalable method for retrospective analysis and prospective monitoring of Mediterranean-climate oak landscapes.
Contractualism and risk preferences

I evaluate two contractualist approaches to the ethics of risk: mutual constraint and the probabilistic, ex ante approach. After explaining how these approaches address problems in earlier interpretations of contractualism, I object that they fail to respond to diverse risk preferences in populations. Some people could reasonably reject the risk thresholds associated with these approaches. A strategy for addressing this objection is considering individual risk preferences, similar to those Buchak discusses concerning expected-utility approaches to risk. I defend the risk-preferences-adjusted (RISPREAD) contractualist approach, which calculates a population’s average risk preference and permits risk thresholds below that preference, only.
Adenosine A2A receptor agonists as anti-inflammatory agents.

Stressed or injured tissues release endogenous adenosine, which blocks potentially destructive inflammatory cascades by binding to A2A adenosine receptors (ARs) and decreasing activation of platelets, leukocytes and endothelial cells. In these tissues, adenosine acts by reducing expression of adhesion molecules and release of pro-inflammatory mediators (e.g., reactive oxygen species, elastase and tumor necrosis factor-alpha). Synthetic A2A selective AR agonists are currently undergoing preclinical testing for the treatment of allergen-induced inflammation, ischemia-reperfusion injury, sepsis and autoimmune diseases. This review discusses potential disease targets for A2A AR agonist treatment, mechanisms of A2A AR agonist action and considerations for synthetic A2A AR agonist design.
Optimization of training sets for genomic prediction of early-stage single crosses in maize

Training population optimization algorithms are useful for efficiently training genomic prediction models for single-cross performance, especially if the population is extended beyond only realized crosses to all possible single crosses. Genomic prediction of single-cross performance could allow effective evaluation of all possible single crosses between all inbreds developed in a hybrid breeding program. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the effect of different levels of relatedness on genomic predictive ability of single crosses, evaluate the usefulness of deterministic formula to forecast prediction accuracy in advance, and determine the potential for TRS optimization based on prediction error variance (PEVmean) and coefficient of determination (CDmean) criteria. We used 481 single crosses made by crossing 89 random recombinant inbred lines (RILs) belonging to the Iowa stiff stalk synthetic group with 103 random RILs belonging to the non-stiff stalk synthetic heterotic group. As expected, predictive ability was enhanced by ensuring close relationships between TRSs and target sets, even when TRS sizes were smaller. We found that designing a TRS based on PEVmean or CDmean criteria is useful for increasing the efficiency of genomic prediction of maize single crosses. We went further and extended the sampling space from that of all observed single crosses to all possible single crosses, providing a much larger genetic space within which to design a training population. Using all possible single crosses increased the advantage of the PEVmean and CDmean methods based on expected prediction accuracy. This finding suggests that it may be worthwhile using an optimization algorithm to select a training population from all possible single crosses to maximize efficiency in training accurate models for hybrid genomic prediction.
Extrusion of shrimp shell-polylactic acid composites: Dataset for the impact of surfactants on their morphology and thermal properties.

Abstract Shrimp shell waste obtained from Louisiana Gulf shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus) was heat-treated at varying temperatures and ground into a powder by ball-milling. The powder was used with and without surface treatment with maleic anhydride or stearic acid to form shrimp shell - polylactic acid (PLA) composite granules by solution processing and mechanical grinding. These granules were used as feedstock for the extrusion of composite filaments. The dataset shows the thermal properties of the shrimp shells and the presence of covalent bonding for surface treatment with maleic anhydride. The thermal properties of the composite granules and the influence of the use of surfactants on the morphology, density, and die swell of the extruded filaments are also collected to assess their use as a manufacturing material.
Anxiety and a Mindfulness Exercise in Healthcare Simulation Prebriefing

Abstract As nursing education searches for ways to advance the simulation experience for students, improving methods of prebriefing are essential. Student anxiety is commonly reported in and around the simulated learning experience. The aim of this study was to determine if a brief mindfulness exercise could influence anxiety for students entering the simulation laboratory. In this mixed-methods study, a visual analog scale (VAS) was used for students to self-report anxiety. Data analysis revealed that a brief guided meditation in the simulation prebriefing decreased self-reports of anxiety in the simulated learning experience. Students reported lowered anxiety, reported a feeling of “being in the moment”, but were also distracted by what others thought about the exercise. As we work towards a theoretical framework for the prebriefing phase of simulation, incorporating mindfulness may be as important as some of the other established best practices.
Paleoethnobotany of the Nebo Hill Site

AbstractCarbonized botanical remains from Nebo Hill 23CL11), a Late Archaic site along the Missouri River, are investigated to gain information relevant to several lines of analysis. A considerable...
CADCAM technology — five years ahead

In this decade, we’re witnessing the swift integration of the computer into the engineering design cycle. In the area of computer-aided design and manufacturing, the intelligent graphics work-station is today’s premier tool. Within the next 5 years, work-stations will provide even more local processing power, improved imaging techniques and a wider variety of applications software. More significantly, the work-station will offer the CADCAM engineer a means of efficiently sharing data with related disciplines — closing the information loop between design, manufacturing and test phases.
Wide-angle X-ray Solution Scattering Studies of Slow Correlated Motions in Proteins

Slow correlated motions in the submicrosecond to second range are particularly important for protein function but remain challenging to study. Wide-angle x-ray solution scattering (WAXS) generates information about the length scale of intramolecular motions difficult to obtain by other methods; is highly sensitive to these motions, being able to detect changes due to single amino acid replacements, ligand binding or alterations in solution conditions; and is sufficiently fast as to make practical the screening of hundreds of conditions/ligands/mutations to identify those that impact protein motions. Direct comparison of the results of WAXS and molecular dynamics (MD) is accomplished through introduction of the sigma-r plot, a plot of the standard deviation of interatomic vector lengths as a function of that length - derivable from WAXS data and MD trajectories. MD simulations generate extraordinary detail about protein trajectories; WAXS provides experimental measures of length scale of protein motion und...
Multi-layer audit of access rights

In the context of regulatory compliance, the question is often whether an enterprise can guarantee that only certain people can access certain data or perform certain business functions on them. Examples are controls over financial data in Sarbanes-Oxley and access to personal information in privacy laws such as HIPAA and the California Senate Bill 1386. Such guarantees also have to be strictly audited. For individual access control systems, such questions are standard at least in theory. However, to the best of our knowledge such questions have never been addressed for entire system stacks containing multiple layers of data representation with potentially different access mechanisms. For instance, financial data may be accessed by using an access right to the official financial application, but also by using an administrator right to an underlying database or by logically or physically accessing an unencrypted backup tape with the data. We propose an overall model and algorithms to deal with this situation. We study both advance queries for validating a proposed system and a posteriori queries in audit, problem determination, or litigation.
Analysis of Surface Pressure Distributions on Two Elliptic Missile Bodies

The state-of-the-art methods for predicting missile aerodynamic characteristics do not accurately predict the loads on missile configurations with bodies of elliptic cross section. An investigation of this problem found significant nonlinear flow disturbance on the windward surface of a 3:1 elliptic body at Mach 2.50 in addition to the nonlinear vortical flows which develop on the leeside. A nonlinear full-potential flow method (NCOREL) was found to provide extremely accurate pressure estimates for attached-flow conditions and the vortex prediction method contained in a state-of-the-art method (NOSEVTX) was shown to calculate body vortices and leeside pressures.
Cellular immune responses in Huntington's disease (H.D.). Detection of H.D. and multiple sclerosis (M.S.) brain antigenicity by H.D. but not M.S. lymphocytes.

Abstract Lymphocytes from patients with Huntington's disease (H.D.) exhibit a cellular immune response which consists of two components: a minor component directed against antigen common to all human brains, and a major component directed against antigen found thus far only in H.D. and multiple sclerosis (M.S.) gray matter. M.S. lymphocytes exhibit a response to antigen common to all human brains, but fail to show any H.D. or M.S. brain-specific response.
Cross-linking between translationally equivalent sites on the two heads of myosin. Relationship to energy transfer results between the same pair of sites.

Abstract Mercenaria myosin and scallop pure hybrid myosin possessing Mercenaria regulatory light chains were reacted with various concentrations of 4-4'-dimaleimidylstilbene-2-2'-disulfonic acid (DMSDS). Regulatory light chain homodimers are formed with great efficiency (20-50%). Dimers incorporating essential light chains were not formed upon reaction of DMSDS with Mercenaria myosin but some (less than 5%) essential light chain homodimers were obtained in the case of scallop hybrid myosin, probably occurring through relatively specific intermolecular associations within small myosin aggregates. Results were invariant, irrespective of the presence or absence of calcium and/or ATP. No radioactivity is incorporated into regulatory light chain homodimers upon post-labeling DMSDS-reacted myosin with 14C-labeled N-ethylmaleimide, irrespective of the original labeling ratio of DMSDS to myosin heads. This indicates the absence of free sulfhydryl groups in the regulatory light chain homodimer and suggests, therefore, that DMSDS links the two light chains together between translationally equivalent residues (Cys-50 of the Mercenaria regulatory light chain). These results imply that translationally equivalent sites on the two heads of myosin can come within 18 A of each other, the span of reacted DMSDS. Because energy transfer results between identical pairs of translationally equivalent sites on hybrid myosins indicated a low efficiency of energy transfer between these sites (Chantler, P.D., and Tao, T. (1986) J. Mol. Biol. 192, 87-99), it would appear that even though the two cysteines can come within 18 A of each other, their mean separation is much greater than this distance (greater than 50 A), a result consistent with a considerable flexibility of the two myosin heads with respect to each other.
Effects of prostacyclin and albumin on platelet loss during in vitro simulation of extracorporeal circulation

Albumin decreases polymer surface affinity for platelets, and prostaglandin (PG) E1 prevents surface-induced platelet activation. PGI2, like PGE1, inhibits platelet function but is unstable in vitro. We evaluated the ability of surface-adsorbed albumin and circulating PGI2 to prevent platelet alterations during simulated extracorporeal circulation. Fresh heparinized human blood (500 ml) was recirculated at 37°C through a silicone rubber circuit containing an 0.8-sq m membrane oxygenator. When circuits were filled (primed) directly with blood, platelet counts decreased maximally to 18% of initial levels, plasma levels of low-affinity platelet-specific protein factor 4 (IA-PF4) rose from less than 0.5 µg/ml to 15 µg/ml (indicating extensive release of granule contents), and platelets quickly became unresponsive to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and epinephrine. In contrast, when circuits were primed with albumin (2.5%) prior to recirculation, the circulating platelet counts remained stable at 95% of initial levels, release of granule contents was prevented, platelet reactivity was preserved, and platelet subcellular architecture was maintained even after 6 hr of recirculation. Addition of PGI2 (3.5 nM) immediately prior to recirculation duplicated the effects of exposure of the circuit to albumin. The preservative actions of PGI2 persisted despite loss of detectable PGI2-induced inhibition in recirculated platelets. Temporary inhibition of platelet function and alteration of the proteins initially adsorbed to the biopolymer are equally effective means of preventing adverse platelet alterations during extracorporeal circulation. Furthermore, the efficacy of prostacyclin (PGI2) further demonstrates that prevention of initial platelet-surface interactions permits the subsequent appearance of polymer biocompatibility.
Confinement Characterization of a 2-Electron Quantum Dot

The time independent Schoedinger equation for two electrons confined in a parabolic external potential is solved. Developing this solution in terms of a dimensionless variable it is demonstrated that parameterization of the strength of the confining potential separate from the effective mass assumption greatly clarifies the functional dependence of the system energy on the system parameters. The determination of the strength of the external confinement and validation of the effective mass assumption in real devices is greatly improved by characterizing the strength of the confining potential separate from the effective mass.
Infection-Induced Myelopoiesis during Intracellular Bacterial Infection Is Critically Dependent upon IFN-γ Signaling

Although microbial infections can alter steady-state hematopoiesis, the mechanisms that drive such changes are not well understood. We addressed a role for IFN-γ signaling in infection-induced bone marrow suppression and anemia in a murine model of human monocytic ehrlichiosis, an emerging tick-borne disease. Within the bone marrow of Ehrlichia muris-infected C57BL/6 mice, we observed a reduction in myeloid progenitor cells, as defined both phenotypically and functionally. Infected mice exhibited a concomitant increase in developing myeloid cells within the bone marrow, an increase in the frequency of circulating monocytes, and an increase in splenic myeloid cells. The infection-induced changes in progenitor cell phenotype were critically dependent on IFN-γ, but not IFN-α, signaling. In mice deficient in the IFN-γ signaling pathway, we observed an increase in myeloid progenitor cells and CDllbloGr1lo promyelocytic cells within the bone marrow, as well as reduced frequencies of mature granulocytes and monocytes. Furthermore, E. muris-infected IFN-γR–deficient mice did not exhibit anemia or an increase in circulating monocytes, and they succumbed to infection. Gene transcription studies revealed that IFN-γR–deficient CDllbloGr1lo promyelocytes from E. muris-infected mice exhibited significantly reduced expression of irf-1 and irf-8, both key transcription factors that regulate the differentiation of granulocytes and monocytes. Finally, using mixed bone marrow chimeric mice, we show that IFN-γ–dependent infection-induced myelopoiesis occurs via the direct effect of the cytokine on developing myeloid cells. We propose that, in addition to its many other known roles, IFN-γ acts to control infection by directly promoting the differentiation of myeloid cells that contribute to host defense.
Cooling of a sunspot

The question of whether a perturbed photospheric area can grow into a region of reduced temperature resembling a sunspot is investigated by considering whether instabilities exist that can lead to a growing temperature change and corresponding magnetic-field concentration in some region of the photosphere. After showing that Alfven cooling can lead to these instabilities, the effect of a heat sink on the temperature development of a perturbed portion of the photosphere is studied. A simple form of Alfven-wave cooling is postulated, and computations are performed to determine whether growing modes exist for physically relevant boundary conditions. The results indicate that simple inhibition of convection does not give growing modes, but Alfven-wave production can result in cooling that leads to growing field concentration. It is concluded that since growing instabilities can occur with strong enough cooling, it is quite possible that energy loss through Alfven waves gives rise to a self-generating temperature change and sunspot formation.
De Witt Clinton and the American Political Economy: Sectionalism, Politics, and Republican Ideology, 1787-1828

This is the only modern political biography of De Witt Clinton (1769-1828) which spans his entire career. The study places his career within the context of sectional politics and the ideological debate over republicanism. In particular, De Witt Clinton and the American Political Economy demonstrates that a practical republicanism characterized Clinton's approach to politics. Refuting a traditional republican tenet, he believed commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture were equally important for the economic growth and prosperity of New York and the nation. Clinton's reinterpreted republicanism primarily developed from the special social and economic conditions of New York and was at variance with the country ideology of southern Republicans.
CT angiography of renal artery anatomy for evaluating embolic protection devices.

Purpose To determine which commercially available embolic protection devices are suitable for use in renal arteries. Material and Methods A retrospective study was conducted of 97 patients who underwent three-dimensional computed tomographic (CT) angiography with either 16– or 64–detector row helical CT of the renal arteries for the evaluation of renal artery stenosis. Nine anatomic measurements were obtained of the renal artery from each reformatted CT angiogram. These data were used to evaluate seven commercially available embolic protection devices (SpideRX, BSC FilterWire EZ, GuardWire, Angioguard, Accunet, Emboshield, TriActiv FX) to determine suitability for use in conjunction with renal artery stent placement. The authors evaluated the reference vessel diameter (diameter to which the stent would be expanded) and length of device. Results The mean length (±standard deviation) of the main renal artery on the left (39.9 mm ± 6.7) was significantly less than that on the right (44.9 mm ± 7.4, P P = .02). For a reference vessel diameter of 4–7 mm necessitating a 12-mm-long stent, only three of the seven devices tested (SpideRx, Angioguard, and Accunet) could be used. Conclusion Three of the seven devices tested could be used for reference vessel diameters of 4–7 mm necessitating a 12-mm-long stent.
Client Importance, Nonaudit Services, and Abnormal Accruals

The economic theory of auditor independence (DeAngelo 1981b) suggests that auditors' incentives to compromise their independence are related to client importance. Using ratios of client fees and of nonaudit fees divided by the audit firm's U.S. revenues or a surrogate for the audit‐practice‐office revenues as measures of client importance, we investigate their association with Jones‐model abnormal accruals. In a sample of 1,871 clients of Big 5 audit firms we do not find a statistically significant association between abnormal accruals and any of the client importance measures. Our theory development also suggests that auditor incentives to compromise independence should increase with the extent of client opportunities and incentives to manage earnings, and decrease with the strength of corporate governance and auditor expertise. We also do not find a statistically significant association between abnormal accruals and client importance in subsets of the samples partitioned by proxies for these factors.