cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of pyrolysis and hydrolysis processes for furfural production from sugar beet pulp: A case study in southern Idaho, USA

Abstract Furfural is an organic compound that is widely used in the chemical industry for manufacturing various products, such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and solvents. Furfural production from biomass feedstocks can be achieved through various conversion pathways (e.g., pyrolysis or hydrolysis), however, it requires further investigation to reduce the total cost and meet the market needs. This study proposes a multi-objective decision making framework to compare techno-economic and environmental aspects of pyrolysis and hydrolysis technologies for furfural production from sugar beet pulp. Life cycle assessment method is applied for investigating the environmental impacts of converting organic materials to intermediate bioproducts (e.g., bio-oil) on-site, near collection area, using a portable refinery unit. The techno-economic assessment employs an optimization model for minimizing the upstream and midstream costs (e.g., collection, transportation, and production). Sustainability assessments are conducted on a real case study in southern Idaho, USA, to evaluate and verify the methodology and demonstrate the application of this study. The results show that the total cost for furfural production, using pyrolysis and hydrolysis, are approximately $846 and $980 per metric ton, and total emission is 267 and 1095 kg CO2 eq. per metric ton, respectively. Therefore, the pyrolysis pathway results in lower emissions and costs due to the high-water demand and low energy-density feedstock transportation associated with the hydrolysis pathway. It is concluded that portable operations near collection sites can reduce the total costs and emissions, and consequently stimulate sustainable furfural production by addressing upstream and midstream challenges.
Multi-scale Adaptive Differential Abundance Analysis in Microbial Compositional Data

Differential abundance analysis is an essential and commonly used tool to characterize the difference between microbial communities. However, identifying differentially abundant microbes remains a challenging problem because the observed microbiome data is inherently compositional, excessive sparse, and distorted by experimental bias. Besides these major challenges, the results of differential abundance analysis also depend largely on the choice of analysis unit, adding another practical complexity to this already complicated problem. In this work, we introduce a new differential abundance test called the MsRDB test, which embeds the sequences into a metric space and integrates a multi-scale adaptive strategy for utilizing spatial structure to identify differentially abundant microbes. Compared with existing methods, the MsRDB test can detect differentially abundant microbes at the finest resolution offered by data and provide adequate detection power while being robust to zero counts, compositional effect, and experimental bias in the microbial compositional data set. Applications to both simulated and real microbial compositional data sets demonstrate the usefulness of the MsRDB test.
Central Amino Acid Neurotransmitters, Ventilatory Output and Metabolism During Acute Hypdxia in Anesthetized Rats

Acute hypoxia decreases VO2in small mammals.1The magnitude of the fall in V02is related to the age of the animal, the level of hypoxia and the degree of development at birth.1In addition to the fall in Vo2with exposure to acute hypoxia, ventilation changes by first increasing from peripheral chemoreceptor stimulation and then decreasing in a time-dependent manner. The mechanism of such “roll-off”, or hypoxic ventilatory decline (HVD), is not fully understood.2 Although the carotid bodies are required for the increase in ventilation during the hypoxic ventilatory response, they are not necessary for the decrease in metabolism that occurs with hypoxia.1We propose calling this the hypoxic metabolic response (HMR), by analogy to the hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR).
Photons, Rotons and Fractionally-Charged Vortices in the Quantum Hall Effect

The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) is a remarkable many-body phenomenon occurring in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at low temperatures in a high magnetic field. As we learned in the lecture by Robert Laughlin at this conference, the experimental manifestations of the effect follow from the existence of an excitation gap and are quite similar to those of the integer case, but the gap arises for rather different reasons: The FQHE is intrinsically a many-body phenomenon associated with Coulomb correlations, while the integer effect is primarily a one-body effect associated with localization. The goal of this lecture is to explore further the FQHE with emphasis on the nature of the collective excitation modes and the origin of the gap. It turns out that a remarkable amount of progress can be made on this problem by drawing on analogies with superfluidity in 4He films.
Purification and characterization of a calcium-dependent ATPase from Paramecium tetraurelia.

Abstract We report the purification of a CaATPase of high specific activity from Paramecium tetraurelia. The enzyme is preferentially released into solution upon deciliation of cells by a Ca2+ shock procedure. Purification by ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography yields major peptides of 68 and 53 kDa and a minor peptide of 58 kDa, as determined by electrophoresis on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels. These three peptides yield similar proteolytic peptide maps. Rabbit antisera to the purified enzyme inhibit enzyme activity and specifically label 68- and 53-kDa bands on nitrocellulose blots of the deciliation supernatant from which the enzyme is isolated. Concanavalin A-Sepharose precipitates about 60% of ATPase activity; only the 53-kDa band binds concanavalin A on nitrocellulose blots. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of 620 +/- 70 mumol/min/mg with ATP as substrate in the presence of Ca2+, which is required for enzyme activity. As substrates, ATP and GTP are strongly preferred to UTP and CTP. The Km for ATP in the presence of 3 mM Ca2+ is approximately 20 microM. Enzyme activity is strongly inhibited by the calmodulin antagonists trifluoperazine, fluphenazine, W7, and calmidazolium. However, calmodulin is not associated with the purified enzyme, based on the enzyme's inability to bind anti-calmodulin antibodies or to stimulate brain phosphodiesterase. The intracellular origin of this ATPase, its possible function, and its relationship to several other ATPases of Paramecium are discussed.
A Survey of State Copyright Laws

State and federal legislatures have enacted numerous anti-piracy copyright statutes protecting sound recordings. This paper provides an overview of the four types of anti-piracy statutes, the recording industry interests needing protection, and the preemption arguments used by defendants. Part I of the paper introduces the murky waters of state and federal sound recording legislation. Part II discusses protectionism and the sound recording industry. Part III reviews the leading Supreme Court decisions on Copyright Clause preemption and Commerce Clause Preemption. Part IV argues that the four types of anti-piracy laws – anti-bootlegging, true name and address, optical disc identification, and unauthorized duplication – are constitutional under the appropriate Copyright Clause preemption and Commerce Clause preemption.
TORC1 Signaling in the Budding Yeast Endomembrane System and Control of Cell–Cell Adhesion in Pathogenic Fungi

I. Abstract The rapamycin-sensitive TORC1 protein kinase is the central component of a conserved signal transduction cascade controlling cell growth in response to nutrients and growth factors. Groundbreaking studies are uncovering novel roles for the endomembrane vesicular trafficking system as a platform for TORC1 signaling. TORC1 components, regulators, and major effectors have been localized to late endosomes and the vacuolar periphery in yeast. Mutations in the class C Vps, Ego/Gse, and PAS protein complexes, involved in vesicular trafficking and protein sorting, in combination with mutation of the nonessential Tor1 kinase severely compromise or abolish cell growth. Class C Vps complex function sustains amino acid homeostasis for efficient TORC1 signaling. The Ego/Gse complex (EGOC) GTPase activity responds to amino acids to regulate permease sorting and activate TORC1 signaling. The emerging view is that amino acids are sensed in intimate association with the endomembrane system, which facilitates molecular interactions to enable TORC1 activation and signaling. Novel roles for TORC1 are also surfacing throughout the fungal kingdom. TORC1 regulates filamentous growth in fungi. In the human pathogen Candida albicans , TORC1 controls transcriptional programs including those involved in ribosome biogenesis and nutritional control. Remarkably, in C. albicans TORC1 governs expression of adhesins, which promote tissue adherence, biofilm formation, and virulence. These studies reveal TORC1 pathway wiring plasticity as pathogenic yeasts adapted to their host niche environments. A preeminent role for TORC1 signaling in fungal virulence has attracted interest in the use of rapamycin and its analogs in antifungal therapy.
A service management architecture component model

In this paper, we are proposing a four-layer enterprise architecture model for service management. The aim of the proposed architecture is to provide a framework for the automated, centralized, real-time enterprise service management solution. We developed a component model to address the functional requirements for different integrated service management functions.
Autonomy: A Realistic Goal for the Practice of Hospital Nursing?

La autonomia puede ser sinonimo de independencia o libertad. Cuando se utiliza para referirse al trabajo individual, se entiende como la habilidad para tomar decisiones sin injerencia de terceros. El proposito del presente articulo consiste en realizar una critica a dos modelos de autonomia, uno desarrollado desde la disciplina de la salud ocupacional y el otro desde la disciplina de la enfermeria. Estos modelos potencialmente suscitan una reflexion sobre el trabajo de la enfermeria hospitalaria. Adicionalmente, en este documento se explorara la posibilidad de aplicar estos modelos tradicionales occidentales en culturas distintas a las de Estados Unidos, Europa y Australia. La pregunta acerca de si una enfermera hospitalaria puede ser autonoma es compleja debido a la estructura social en la que se desarrolla su trabajo y a las barreras que esas estructuras le imponen. Para que las enfermeras, y las mujeres, puedan ejercer su autonomia en los ambientes de trabajo, los miembros mas poderosos de la sociedad deben reconocer la realidad del subvalorado estatus de la mujer y de su trabajo, y asi considerar un mayor ejercicio de su discrecionalidad.
ADK: An Agent Development Kit Based on a Formal Design Model for Multi-Agent Systems

The advent of multi-agent systems has brought us opportunities for the development of complex software that will serve as the infrastructure for advanced distributed applications. During the past decade, there have been many agent architectures proposed for implementing agent-based systems, and also a few efforts to formally specify agent behaviors. However, research on narrowing the gap between agent formal models and agent implementation is rare. In this paper, we propose a model-based approach to designing and implementing intelligent agents for multi-agent systems (MAS). Instead of using formal methods for the purpose of specifying agent behavior, we bring formal methods into the design phase of the agent development life cycle. Specifically, we use the formalism called agent-oriented G-net model, which is based on the G-net formalism (a type of high-level Petri net), to serve as the high-level design for intelligent agents. Based on the high-level design, we further derived the agent architecture and the detailed design for agent implementation. To demonstrate the feasibility of our approach, we developed the toolkit called ADK (Agent Development Kit) that supports rapid development of intelligent agents for multi-agent systems and we discuss the role of inheritance in agent-oriented development. As a potential solution for automated software development, we summarize the procedure to generate a model-based design of application-specific agents. Finally, to illustrate an application built on ADK, we present an air-ticket trading example.
Two mutants of Dictyostelium discoideum that lack a sulfated carbohydrate antigenic determinant synthesize a truncated lipid-linked precursor of N-linked oligosaccharides.

Abstract Dictyostelium discoideum glycoproteins contain mannose-6-SO4 in highly immunogenic N-linked oligosaccharides. To more precisely define the structural requirements of the antigenic determinant, we have analyzed the oligosaccharides synthesized by two mutant strains (HL241 and HL243) that lack it. Both mutant strains synthesize N-linked oligosaccharides which are very similar to each other but are smaller and less charged than those derived from the wild-type. Both mutants contain substantial amounts of Man-6-SO4, and only a single residue of Man-6-P-OCH3 per chain, in contrast to the wild-type which may have 1 or 2 such residues. Neutral species are similar to the wild-type in that they can still be modified by the addition of residues of fucose and N-acetylglucosamine. Both mutant strains synthesize a truncated lipid-linked oligosaccharide, Man6GlcNAc2, with the most probable structure being: (sequence; see text) based on Jack bean alpha-mannosidase, alpha-1,2-specific mannosidase digestions and methylation analysis. The presence of this small oligosaccharide appears to result from the loss of the mannosyltransferase(s) needed to synthesize structures larger than Man6GlcNAc2 and not from the absence of dolichol phosphate or dolichol-P-mannose synthetase. These data along with the analysis of another mutant strain suggest that the expression of the antigenic determinant requires a specific arrangement of Man-6-SO4 on the alpha-1,6 branch of the oligosaccharide linked to the beta-mannose.
Heat production during anesthetic-induced malignant hyperthermia.

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a pharmacogenetic disease which predisposes to the trigger of a life-threatening, hypermetabolic syndrome by potent inhaled anesthetics and by depolarizing skeletal muscle relaxants. Heat production in the anesthetized MH can be profound with 5-fold increases in oxygen consumption. The trigger anesthetics cause an abnormal, sustained rise in myoplasmic calcium levels. Possible mechanisms by which continuous release of calcium from skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum stores can produce the profound hyperthermia are discussed. Mutations in the gene coding the ryanodine receptor calcium release channel have been found in MH families and these mutant channels may be the functionsl basis for MH.
Institutional experience with lateral neck dissections for thyroid cancer.

Introduction Compartment-oriented neck dissection is recommended for patients with evidence of thyroid cancer metastases to lateral compartment lymph nodes. This study reviews the outcomes of patients who underwent lateral neck dissections (LND) at a high-volume institution. Methods This is a retrospective review of patients who underwent LND for metastatic thyroid cancer from January 2009 to June 2014. Preoperative evaluation, operative findings, and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. Results Ninety-six patients underwent 127 LNDs. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) confirmed metastases in 82 lateral necks (65%). The remaining 45 LNDs (35%) were performed based on clinical suspicion of metastases; 29 (64%) had metastases on final pathology. Twenty patients had 26 complications, which included chyle leak (7 [6%]), spinal accessory nerve dysfunction (7 [6%]), neck seroma requiring drainage (2 [2%]), and surgical site infection (10 [8%]). Conclusion LND is associated with a risk of early postoperative morbidity, but long-term complications are uncommon in the hands of experienced surgeons. In patients with thyroid cancer, a comprehensive preoperative evaluation of the lateral neck with physical examination, ultrasonography, and possible FNA should be performed. For those with suspicion of metastases, LND can be an important therapeutic option, but discussion with the patient regarding potential risks and benefits is essential.
Biomedicine and Alternative Healing Systems in America: Issues of Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

Biomedicine and Alternative Healing Systems in America: Issues of Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender. Hans A. Baer. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001. xii. 222 pp.
Problems of diagnosis and treatment: communication between pediatrician and psychiatrist: retrospect and prospect.

We Have Come a long way from the thirties when Brenneman was writing about "The Menace of Psychiatry"1 and Crothers described the confusion of " The Pediatrician in Search of Mental Hygiene."2 On the surface at least we seem to have come to the opposite pole. A pediatrician sits on the Child Psychiatry Committee of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Most teaching services in pediatrics have at least a consultant in child psychiatry, and many hospitals and medical have divisions and departments of child psychiatry closely allied to pediatrics. In the late fifties Dr. Janeway3 as a member of a panel with Anna Freud, said that whereas 25 years ago the presence of a professor of pediatrics on such a platform lent respectability to psychoanalysis, "it now lends respectability to the pediatrician." When, however, one looks below the surface where child psychiatrists and pediatricians function together, mutual dissatisfaction is not infrequent. Probably the pediatricians have more complaints about the psychiatrists than the other way. A frank and critical look at these complaints reveals that they are consistently related to problems in orientation and in understanding each other. On analysis, their differences usually fall into the following relatively few patterns. TYPES OF DISAGREEMENT AND COMMUNICATION DIFFICULTIES A common complaint concerns the communication system, or better, the lack of communication between psychiatrist and pediatrician. Starting sometimes with the differences of professional language, this often goes on to involve the psychiatrist9s confidently stated basic assumptions which the pediatrician may refuse to take for granted, or may flatly disbelieve.
Surgical treatment of the spontaneous spinal epidural abscess

Seven cases of spontaneous epidural abscess are reviewed. Three patients had posterior abscesses and no evidence of vertebral body osteomyelitis. These patients had excellent outcomes with laminectomies and antibiotics. Because of significant vertebral destruction, two patients with vertebral osteomyelitis required posterior fixation after laminectomy. Two other patients with vertebral osteomyelitis had complete destruction of the vertebral body and required anterior decompression and fusion in addition to posterior fixation. In the four patients with vertebral osteomyelitis, morbidity was high, reflecting their age and significant medical problems. This review supports the contention that medically stable patients with posterior epidural abscesses can be treated with laminectomy and antibiotics with little risk of progressive instability. The proper surgical treatment of anterior epidural abscesses secondary to osteomyelitis requires knowledge about the amount of destruction of the supporting columns, the amount of neural compression secondary to the purulence, and the patient's general medical condition.
Endogenous digitalis-like activity in the plasma of the toad Bufo marinus.

CARDIAC GLYCOSIDES derived from plants have a major role in the pharmacotherapy of cardiac disease, and, because they bind to and inhibit (Na+ + K+)ATPase, are important in studies of ion transport mechanisms. In the animal kingdom, structurally related compounds with cardiotonic activity have been shown to exist in the poison glands of bufonid toads1, but this area has received little attention. Recently we developed a sensitive radioreceptor assay for the detection of endogenous ‘digitalis-like’ agonists in animals2. This assay depends on the ability of a substance to compete with 3H-ouabain for binding to (Na+ + K+)ATPase on human red cells. Using this assay, together with assays for inhibition of K transport and (Na+ + K+)ATPase activity, we found high concentrations of ‘digitalis-like’ activity in the skin of several species of Amphibia2. Although this activity is presumably present in skin s aa protective toxin, it is possible that it might, under some circumstances, also function as an endogenous inhibitor of (Na+ + K+)ATPase. We now demonstrate, using both receptor and immunoassays, that high concentrations of digitalis-like activity are present in the plasma of the toad, Bufo marinus. As cellular (Na+ + K+)ATPase would presumably be exposed to this endogenous digitalis-like activity, it may have an important, but as yet undetermined, function in this species.
SU-E-J-13: Dosimetric Discrepancy Investigation with Cone-Beam CT for Adaptive RT of Head-and-Neck Cancer

Purpose: To investigate the discrepancy between planned and delivereddoses due to tumor regression and anatomic changes using weekly Cone‐ Beam CT(CBCT) for patients with head and neck cancertreated with intensity modulated radiation therapy(IMRT). Methods: Nine patients each with eight weekly CBCTimages who received IMRT for head and neck cancer were analyzed. For each patient, weekly CBCTimage was converted into “CT of the week” using deformable image registration and fused with the planning CT. The weekly dose was calculated on the fused CBCTimages, and the calculated weekly doses were registered back into planning CT space using deformable image registration. The accumulated dose was then calculated in planning CT space. For the gross tumor volume (GTV) and lymph nodes, the minimum dose and dose range were compared with the treatment plan; for the parotids, the mean dose was evaluated. Results: The minimum dosedelivered to the GTV and nodes was reduced from the treatment plan with a mean discrepancy of 1.0Gy (1.6%) and 2.5Gy (5.3%), respectively. The range of dosesdelivered increased by 2.1Gy (39.3%) for the GTV and 4.0Gy (16.2%) for the lymph nodes compared to the planned dose. For the parotid, the mean dosedelivered increased by 2.0Gy (4.5%) from the treatment plan. Conclusions: Dosimetric discrepancy from treatment plans of patients with head and neck cancer resulted from tumor regression and anatomic changes during IMRT. Such discrepancy can be monitored and investigated with on‐board CBCTimaging. Further studies are needed to determine how best to intervene to provide more accurate radiation therapy.
Hydraulic permeability of polydispersed cake layers: an analytic approach

An analytic method is introduced to calculate hydraulic permeability of porous media composed of polydispersed spheres with log-normal and normal (Gaussian) distributions of particle sizes. From the comparison of the permeability for the two particle-size distributions, it was observed that a medium with normally distributed particle sizes consistently has a lower permeability than a medium with log-normally distributed particle sizes. This phenomenon is due to the larger number of smaller particles in the normal distribution, which results in greater cake resistance. The specific resistance of the cake layer is computed by taking the inverse of the permeability.
Stability analysis of chemical reaction and free convection in porous media

Abstract Stability analysis of an isothermal first order and nonisothermal zero order reaction in the presence of free convection is performed. Critical values of the Rayleigh number for both cases are analytically calculated. The calculated values compare favorably with the numerical simulation of the full governing equations.
A 1-dimensional elastic model with time translation gauge invariance

Abstract Elastic models with spatial translation gauge invariance are now recognized to provide useful alternative descriptions of the dynamics of materials with defects. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications and usefulness of elastic models with time translation gauge invariance. The analysis is confined to 1-dimensional models in order to simplify and illustrate the basic ideas. This gauge theory leads to explicit systems of constitutive relations for the effective stress and effective linear momentum that differ markedly from previous theories. The gauge degree of freedom provides an additional state variable that has some features in common with theories with internal variables. Explicit field equations are obtained for the gauge fields and the matter fields. They are second order, nonlinear partial differential equations. The sources for the gauge field equation evaluate in terms of the components of an effective momentum-energy complex. This shows that the time derivative of the gauge field is a potential function for the effective energy density and energy flux. Alternative forms of the field equations are also obtained. These are used to analyze a class of traveling wave solutions.
Adoption of Library 2.0 Functionalities by Academic Libraries and Users: A Knowledge Management Perspective

Abstract This study investigates the adoption of Library 2.0 functionalities by academic libraries and users through a knowledge management perspective. Based on randomly selected 230 academic library Web sites and 184 users, the authors found RSS and blogs are widely adopted by academic libraries while users widely utilized the bookmark function.
Preferred right to the sick role and illness behavior

Abstract Illness frequency and physician utilization were examined in relationship to preferred support from a significant other (one's spouse) in the illness role. Illness data were collected from a sample of 290 husbands and wives quarterly over a period of 1 year. Preferred sick role legitimacy was significantly related to “illness frequency”, but not to the pattern of physician utilization. This, along with the findings of other investigators, suggests that presenting one's complaints to a nonprofessional relevant other and to a member of the medical profession may be qualitatively different illness phenomenon. The former being more responsive to social-psychological processes and the latter to situational variables as income or family size.
Regeneration of ATP in kidney slices after warm ischemia and hypothermic preservation

The current shortage of cadaveric kidneys may be alleviated to some degree by increasing our capabilities to use less than ideal donor-kidneys, such as those from non-heart-beating donors. These kidneys are often exposed to no flow (ischemia) for varying lengths of time. Full utilization of these kidneys may require better methods of organ preservation that could reverse existing ischemic injury. This may conceivably require that, during preservation, energy stores (ATP) lost during warm ischemia be recharged. This would require continuous perfusion. Using a kidney slice model, we investigated the effects of simulated hypothermic machine perfusion with the UW gluconate perfusate on the capability of rabbit kidneys exposed to warm ischemia to regenerate ATP. After 30 min of warm ischemia, ATP content was low (0.2 μmol/g wet weight) but increased to 0.7–0.9 μmol/g wet weight after 24 h of simulated machine perfusion at 4°C. After an additional 2 h of rewarming (37°C in oxygenated Krebs Henseleit buffer), the slice ATP content increased to about 1.0 μmol/g wet weight (similar to kidneys not exposed to warm ischemia) when the antioxidants desferrioxamine and N-2-(mercaptopropionyl) glycine were included in the preservation media. Significantly less ATP was present without the antioxidants. After 60 min of warm ischemia, less ATP was regenerated after 24 h of simulated machine perfusion (about 0.4 μmol/g wet weight) than after 30 min of warm ischemia. However, more ATP was regenerated when antioxidants were included in the perfusate (0.4 vs 0.8 μmol/g wet weight). This study shows that ATP can be regenerated in kidneys exposed to warm ischemia by continuous perfusion in the UW gluconate solution. Furthermore, oxygen free radicals appear to cause suppression of ATP regeneration since an iron and a hydroxyl radical scavenger improved ATP formation. The ATP content of kidneys exposed to 60 min of WI was less than after 30 min of warm ischemia, suggesting that better methods of preservation may be needed to improve our capability to utilize kidneys damaged by extensive warm ischemia (> 60 min). This may require the development of new methods and/or perfusates for kidney preservation.
Environmental Beliefs and Educational Ability

(1973). Environmental Beliefs and Educational Ability. The Journal of Environmental Education: Vol. 5, Awareness/Attitudes/Action, pp. 9-12.
Predicting long-term maintenance of physical activity in older adults.

Abstract Background Considerable research has established that self-efficacy is a consistent correlate of physical activity. Additional factors, such as exercise-induced affect, social support, and value judgments, have also been identified as having the potential to influence adherence to activity. This study examined the utility of such variables in predicting the long-term exercise behavior of older adults. Method In the context of a 6-month randomized controlled trial with an 18-month follow-up, we tested the extent to which adherence during the trial, affective responses to exercise, exercise value, and social support from the exercise group had either a direct or indirect effect through the mediation of exercise self-efficacy on physical activity levels at 6- and 18-month follow-up in a sample ( N = 174) of older adults (M age, 66 years). Structural equation modeling tested several models of exercise prediction. Results The best fitting model indicated significant paths from social support, affect, and exercise frequency to efficacy at the end of the program. Efficacy, in turn, was related to physical activity at 6- and 18-month follow-up. The model accounted for 40% of the variance in 18-month activity levels. Conclusion This prospective study provides support for the inclusion of social cognitive variables in models of exercise adherence and highlights the pivotal role of self-efficacy in long-term exercise behavior. Subsequent trials are called for to replicate and extend these findings.
Fate of Amoxicillin In Two Water Reclamation Systems

The overall objective of this research was to determine the fate of amoxicillin in two wastewater reclamation systems containing biological and physical/chemical treatment processes. The results of this study indicate that amoxicillin is easily removed in a biological wastewater treatment system (<0.15 and 0.10 mg/L). Further evaluation of the physical/chemical treatment process, which included reverse osmosis, ion exchange, and UV oxidation and disinfection, indicated that amoxicillin will be removed (<0.10 mg/L) should it breakthrough the biological system. The concern of amoxicillin is not its presence in high concentrations in the effluent of a water reclamation system, but low antibiotic concentrations, which are known to encourage antibiotic resistance development.
Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings

In the last decade, school shootings have decimated communities and terrified parents, teachers, and children in even the most "family friendly" American towns and suburbs. These tragedies appear to be the spontaneous acts of disconnected teens, but this important book argues that the roots of violence are deeply entwined in the communities themselves. Rampage challenges the "loner theory" of school violence and shows why so many adults and students miss the warning signs that could prevent it.
Simultaneous Variable Solutions of the Incompressible Steady Navier-Stokes Equations in General Curvilinear Coordinate Systems

A simultaneous variable solution technique for the incompressible, steady, two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in primitive formulation and general curvilinear orthogonal and nonorthogonal co-ordinate systems has been developed. The governing equations are discretised using finite difference approximations. The formulation is fully second order accurate and the well-known staggered grid of Welch and Harlow is used. The solution algorithm is based on an iterative marching technique in which the algebraic equations are linearised by evaluating the coefficients at the previous iteration level. The resulting system of linear equations is solved in a marching fashion by employing a block tridiagonal solution algorithm to obtain the solution along lines transverse to the main flow direction. The strong pressure-velocity coupling inherent in the present formulation results in high convergence rates. Flows in channels of different geometries have been computed and the results have been compared to available data in the literature. In all cases the method has demonstrated to be accurate, robust and computationally efficient.
An efficient design approach for flexible mechanisms

Abstract In this paper, an efficient approach to design flexible mechanisms is presented. Instead of using only cross-sectional area as design variable, input speed, link length, and material property, can also be simultaneously taken into consideration, and an overall optimal solution can be obtained. A computer program was developed to demonstrate the idea.
Failure of reproductive assurance in the chasmogamous flowers of Polygala lewtonii (polygalaceae), an endangered sandhill herb

Hypothetically, a species with both cleistogamous (CL) flowers and delayed selfing chasmogamous (CH) flowers should display high levels of reproductive assurance because, over time, obligate selfing by CL flowers should reduce inbreeding depression and delayed selfing in CH flowers should compensate for the absence of outcross pollen. We used pollinator-exclusion experiments to investigate reproductive assurance in the CH flowers of Polygala lewtonii, an herb with a mixed mating system. We followed CH flowers from bud-break to flower/fruit abscission to quantify fruit initiation and maturation and rates of floral development. We also evaluated the efficacy of the selfing mechanism, conducted pollinator watches to assess the likelihood of pollinator limitation, and performed regression analysis to determine the effect of flower position on fruit production. Pollinator exclusion significantly reduced fruit initiation and maturation. Investigation of floral development demonstrated that the selfing mechanism is largely dysfunctional in CH flowers, indicating the failure of reproductive assurance. Low observed rates of insect visitation appear to contradict high rates of CH fruit production in open-pollinated plants, particularly given the rarity of delayed selfing. In both treatments, flower position significantly affected fruit initiation, suggesting a role for resource limitation in both pollinator-excluded and open-pollinated flowers.
Immunogenicity of peptides having pre-determined alpha-helical and alpha-alpha fold topologies.

Abstract A panel of three synthetic peptides based on the 310–327 region of mouse LDH-C4 was used to examine the effect of peptide conformation on immunogenicity. The peptides, without prior conjugation to carrier molecules, were injected into outbred mice and the antisera were assayed for peptide- and LDH-C4-reactive antibodies by ELISA. An 18-residue random coil peptide (αN) and an 18-residue amphipathic alpha-helix peptide (α1) were weakly immunogenic. A conformationally stable 40-residue alpha-alpha fold peptide (α3) was highly immunogenic. The antibodies elicited by α3 reacted strongly with the native molecule by ELISA. Solution-phase binding assays were used to further characterize the specificity of the sera from two mice immunized with α3 Antibodies from one of the mice appeared to recognize the helical portion of the peptides, while antibodies from the other mouse reacted only with the immunogen and may be specific for the non-natural β bend residues or possibly a topographic determinant peculiar to the anti-parallel helices. Serum from neither mouse was able to recognize the native molecule in solution. Peptides intended to mimic topographic determinants for the purpose of synthetic vaccine development may have to be more complex than those used in this study in order to induce high-affinity antibodies capable of exerting a significant biological effect.
Abdominal Fat of Broilers as Influenced by Dietary Level of Animal Fat

Abstract In an attempt to determine the effect of dietary energy source on the quantity of abdominal fat in broilers, three levels of dietary animal fat (4, 7, and 10%) in isocaloric and iso-nitrogenous diets were fed in place of a carbohydrate energy source. Three trials were conducted. As dietary animal fat increased, the amount of abdominal fat in broilers increased under both a moderate- and a high-temperature rearing regimen. However, as dietary animal fat increased, the body weight gain in broilers tended to increase. It is possible that the benefits of increased growth outweigh the disadvantages of increased abdominal fat when dietary fat is added. Data are presented to provide the industry with figures to help in this decision.
Classification and the relations of meaning

This paper intends to demonstrate the parallels between a qualitative methodology, component analysis, which is predominantly used in cognitive anthropology and linguistics, and the quantitative explorative method-cluster analysis. Social identities and their related structural categories serve as examples of the method. In the methodology and logic involved in the categorization of meaning, abstraction is the key difference between connotative and structural meaning. Abstraction and the identification of higher order categories in cluster analysis are compatible with the extraction of structural meaning from the semantic differential ratings of the affective meanings of identities. The dichotomy of exclusion and inclusion is the most relevant relation for the qualitative analysis of meaning and can be mathematically operationalized by Euclidean squared distance in k-means cluster analysis.
GVU-PROCAMS: enabling novel projected interfaces

Front projection allows large displays to be deployed relatively easily. However, it is sometimes difficult to find a location to place a projector, especially for ad-hoc installations. Additionally, front projection suffers from shadows and occlusions, making it ill-suited for interactive displays. The GVU-PROCAMS system allows programmers to deploy projectors and displays easily in arbitrary locations by enabling enhanced keystone correction via warping on 3D hardware. In addition, it handles the calibration of multiple projectors using computer vision to produce a redundantly illuminated surface. Redundant illumination offers robustness in the face of occlusions, providing a user with the experience of a rear-projected surface. This paper presents a stand-alone application (WinPVRP) and a programming system (GVU-PROCAMS) that easily allows others to create projected displays with enhanced warping and redundant illumination.
Integrating stakeholder perspectives in outcome measurement

Outcome measurement is important in documenting the quality and effectiveness of rehabilitation services. Developers of rehabilitation outcome measures must be attuned to the needs of multiple stakeholders in the rehabilitation process as well as trends in healthcare delivery and measurement science. This paper provides a review of challenging issues that confront outcome measurement developers and solutions for integrating multiple stakeholder perspectives. The development process of the Community Participation Indicators (CPI) measure is presented as a case study to illustrate key stages in the instrument development process.
Improving adaptive feedback cancellation in digital hearing aids through offending frequency suppression

Adaptive filters are commonly used to cancel acoustic feedback in hearing aids. The sound quality of hearing aids deteriorates as the hearing aid gain is increased. This paper presents a method that increases gain possible in hearing aids by automatically identifying and suppressing residual acoustical feedback components that have the potential to drive the system to instability. The increase in the hearing aid gain over traditional methods and the output sound quality were evaluated using subjective tests. The results indicate that the method of this paper provides 6 to 8 dB more hearing aid gain and less perceptual distortion in the output sound quality than several competing algorithms to improve the performance of adaptive feedback cancellers.
Predictors of exercise behaviors among fibromyalgia patients.

Abstract Background. Exercise improves the physical and psychological well being of patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). However, exercise interventions for patients with FMS have suffered from poor adherence. The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of exercise for people with FMS. Methods. Participants were 444 patients with FMS who were part of a larger study. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted examining exercise behavior at multiple time points. Discriminant analyses were also used to identify predictor variables. Results. Engaging in regular exercise and having higher exercise self-efficacy significantly predicted continued engagement in exercise behavior in people with FMS. Age, employment status, depression, education level, self-efficacy for managing FMS, and the size of one's social network also demonstrated predictive qualities. Conclusion. Exercise self-efficacy and continued participation in regular exercise most strongly predicted present and future exercise behavior in patients with FMS. Interventions designed to train FMS patients in initiating exercise programs while addressing exercise self-efficacy, depression, and social support are warranted.
What Do People Think of Male Steroid Users?: An Experimental Investigation1

Anabolic steroids are an attractive and apparently effective class of drugs which builds muscle mass, strength, aggressiveness, and confidence. Given cultural norms for male physical attractiveness, psychosocial effects have been deemed important in understanding steroid use. As a result, the present study focused on the perceptions that others have of anabolic steroid users. A written description was given to subjects to read. After reading the person description, subjects rated the story protagonist on an 18-item questionnaire. Differences among person descriptions on each item were examined. Analyses indicate that: a) subjects view the bodybuilding steroid-user significantly more negatively than the diet conscious bodybuilder or an athletically active individual, and b) subjects view a cocaine-using bodybuilder and a steroid-using bodybuilder similarly. Implications of these findings are discussed.
FDTD simulation of metallic gratings for enhancement of electromagnetic field by surface plasmon resonance

Enhancement of electromagnetic field by two dimensional arrays of rectangular and cylindrical nanopillars of both gold and silver metals arranged in either square or triangular lattices was investigated. We simulated these gratings by 3D Finite Difference Time Domain (3D-FDTD) method in visible and near infrared (NIR) wavelengths regime and investigated field enhancement by exciting surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) as a function of geometrical parameters of grating. It was found that the geometrical grating parameters such as period, shape, thickness and size can be tuned for excitation of SPPs at particular frequency of interest. The tuned grating would lead to an electric field intensity enhancement by greater than 100× near the grating surface due to excitation of SPPs. Cylindrical gratings tuned for 750 nm at zero degree incident angle showed that the thickness of grating is the most sensitive geometrical parameter of resonance. Furthermore, triangular lattice gratings have wider bandwidth of resonance than square lattice gratings. Meanwhile, wavelength versus incident angle diagram showed that the enhancement was highly sensitive with angle of incidence.
Survey of ESBL Producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and MRSA in a Tertiary Care Facility in United Arab Emirates

Introduction: There are no reports to date on prevalence of extended-spectrum ˇ-lactamase (ESBL) producing strains in the UAE. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of extended-spectrum ˇ-lactamase producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae and MRSA in UAE. Methods: Retrospective analysis of microbiology laboratory data between January 2005 and 30 November 2006 was carried out. ESBL production was confirmed by double disk diffusion approximation test or by the combined disk method. Isolates from the same patient in one month and the same site of isolation with the same antimicrobial susceptibility were considered as duplicates and eliminated. The values for the year 2005 and 2006 were compared. Statistical analysis was carried out by SPSS software. Results: In 2005, 7.3% (64/883) of total E.coli isolates and 7.3% (21/286) of K. pneumoniae isolates were ESBL producers. In 2006 this value significantly increased for E. coli to 11.2% (96/854), while K. pneumoniae remained unchanged at 7.3% (20/276). Inpatient isolates were significantly higher than in outpatients. ESBL production in E.coli for outpatients increased from 4.15%(27/650) in 2005 to 6.91%(42/608) in 2006 (P = 0.043). There was a trend towards increasing ESBL production among inpatients for K. pneumoniae (9.8 to 14.2%) and for E. coli (15.9 to 22%). The MRSA rates for the years 2005 and 2006 were 6.7% (41/616) and 7.0% (34/484) respectively. There was no significant change in MRSA prevalence in inpatients (9 Vs. 10.7%) or outpatients (4.4 Vs. 4.5%). Conclusions: This study shows that there is a relatively high prevalence of ESBL E. coli and K. pneumoniae in our institution which is comparable to that reported from other countries in this region. This is likely driven by the unrestricted use of antimicrobials particularly 3rd generation cephalosporins. Antimicrobial stewardship programs and good infection control practices are required to stem the increasing resistance.
Formatting APA Pages in WordPerfect 5.1

Many students struggle to format papers in APA style. One of the more frustrating experiences is learning the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 1983), only to be unable to "make" the computer format pages in APA style. This article presents a guide for WordPerfect® 5.1 to format pages in correct APA style.
Local government, democratization and state reconstruction in Africa: toward integration of lessons from contrasting eras

This article argues for an historical synthesis of the 1970s lessons of the effort to achieve sustainable grassroots development with the explorations of the 1980s and 1990s in quest of sustainable political and economic liberalization that have centered primarily on the national level. To do so, the article contends that it is equally necessary to disaggregate, but then integrate, interdependent processes of state reconstruction and democratization. These enterprises require a harvesting of the insights of theory and the lessons of practice for each other. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.