cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multiple Dimensions of Wellness: Development and Psychometric Properties of the Anschutz Wellness Evaluation 360 (AWE 360)

Wellness is a construct that is commonly employed in the social and health science lexicon and has gained increased popular acceptance through the advent of wellness centers and programs. Though it is agreed that wellness is multidimensional, previous conceptualizations and assessments of wellness vary in both number and type of dimensions as well as in the psychometric adequacy of the assessments. This study’s purpose was to improve the current state of the wellness research by demonstrating the reliability and validity of the newly developed Anschutz Wellness Evaluation 360 (AWE 360), a comprehensive assessment of wellness that includes seven dimensions: perceived wellness, stress, financial stress, occupational wellness, sleep quality, diet quality, and physical activity. Three samples (Sample 1: N = 427; Sample 2: N = 100; Sample 3: N = 1711) completed the AWE 360 scales as well as commonly used measures of relevant constructs. Analyses included exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, reliability analyses, and assessment of convergent and discriminant validity. After exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the final measure included eight scales. Reliability analyses indicated that the scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency. Correlational analyses provided early evidence for construct validity of the AWE 360. Results suggest the AWE 360 is an empirically supported measure with initial evidence for both reliability and validity. Future research should continue to explore the criterion validity and other psychometric properties of the AWE 360 as well as its practical ecological validity in applied and clinical settings.
Leveraging the age friendly healthcare system initiative to achieve comprehensive, hearing healthcare across the spectrum of healthcare settings: an interprofessional perspective.

Hearing loss is associated with multiple physical, cognitive, and psychosocial co-morbidities. Achievement of safe healthcare in the context of these complex co-morbidities necessitates accurate he...
Gerontodietology

Gerontodietology, one of the most important parts of dietetics, is the study of nutritional problems of elderly and old people, as well as of persons with a high risk of early and pathological aging, and the development of the foundations of rational preventive and therapeutic nutrition and methods of its organization. The functional structure of modern gerontodietology is presented, as well as its scientific and methodological foundations and peculiarities of terminology. The content and features of a healthy diet for older adults are set out in detail; materials are presented for optimization and individualization. We present an idea of geriatric alimentotherapy, and its fundamental difference from other clinical nutrition for patients of different ages. The larger section is devoted to modern problems of preventive gerontodietology intended, not so much for the elderly as for people with a high risk of premature aging. The article presents theoretical and methodological foundations and the content of preventive gerontodietology, and gives practical advice on the use of dietary means of preventing the rapid development of involutional processes and organic pathologies in the body.
Interpretations and Uses of Data for Equity in Computing Education

Computing education’s booming enrollment exacerbates inclusion challenges ranging from tools that do not support diverse learners to instructors not being aware of unique challenges that students of minoritized groups face. While data often perpetuates inequities in many contexts, it could also serve to support equity-related goals if properly contextualized. To understand how data could support equitable learning, I explore how affording information and agency supports students’ self-directed learning of Python programming, how contextualizing psychometric data on test bias with curriculum designers’ domain expertise could support equitable curriculum improvements, and how contextualizing student feedback with demographic information and peer perspectives could help instructors become aware of challenges that students from minoritized groups face while preserving student privacy and well-being. By studying how students, curriculum designers, and teachers interpreted and used data relating to experiences learning computing, I contribute techniques that contextualize equity-oriented interpretations and uses of data with stakeholders’ domain expertise.
Applying transfer learning with convolutional neural networks to identify novel electrolytes for metal air batteries

Abstract The formation of dendrites on the anode surface of metal air batteries, such as the Li-air battery, causes significant decreases in performance over the lifetime of the battery and poses safety concerns due to short circuiting. Predictive computational methods are used to investigate novel electrolyte materials which will reduce dendrite growth, in particular liquid crystal materials for Li-air electrolytes. The literature on liquid crystal electrolytes was surveyed for materials data and used to develop a training set of liquid crystal compounds. These compounds were then used as a knowledge base to develop property structure relations for the clearing and melting temperature for liquid crystals, which are a critical design parameter for the design of novel electrolytes. This was accomplished using standard artificial neural networks trained on molecular fingerprints and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) trained on compound images. Transfer learning was also demonstrated to boost predictive performance through pre-training neural networks on larger pre-existing compound datasets. The results show that CNNs achieve comparable accuracy compared to molecular fingerprints, and that both multilayer perceptrons and CNNs can benefit from transfer learning. This study is the first where transfer learning in CNNs aids in the prediction of one experimental property in a small data regime, using data of another experimental property.
When Image Meets Magic: Learning to See in Raymond Rajaonarivelo's Quand les étoiles rencontrent la mer

This article analyzes Quand les etoiles rencontrent la mer (1996), a Malagasy film by Raymond Rajaonarivelo. Using anthropological studies of spiritual beliefs in Madagascar, film theory, and information from field work and interviews, I examine how Rajaonarivelo interweaves ideas of magic and image in this film to create an esthetically sophisticated and socially engaged text that challenges the Malagasy practice of killing children born on “evil” days. I argue that the protagonist, Kapila, undergoes an initiation that teaches him how to see the magical forces affecting him and that he ultimately learns to escape the gods’ control over his life. This article further asserts that the battle between free will and destiny in Quand les etoiles rencontrent la mer becomes a battle against filmic representation. As Rajaonarivelo inserts himself into his own deixis, Kapila’s battle becomes a fight over his cinematic image, against the writer-director who, like the gods, manipulates the direction and meaning of his life.
Die Sprache B

Im Kapitel A haben wir eine einfache symbolische Sprache A entwickelt. Im Kapitel C werden wir eine erweiterte Sprache C konstruieren, die alle Zeichen von A enthalt (ausgenommen die Satzvariablen), aber daruber hinaus noch viele weitere Ausdrucksmittel.
El caballero del Verde Gabán: algunas consideraciones desde el epicureísmo y el estoicismo

The purpose of this paper is to study the figure of the “Caballero del Verde Gaban” from the perspectives of the stoic and Epicurean philosophic traditions given that these traditions deeply influenced the literatures and thought of the Golden Age. To do so, we search and analyze several greco-roman sources that lead us to determine that although both philosophic traditions converge in the figure of the “Caballero del Verde Gaban” a clear preeminence of the epicurean tradition is evident. In contrast, a clear stoic tradition is clear in the figure of “Don Quijote”. We attempt to show how Cervantes presents the reader with two ways of life at odds with each other at the beginning of a new century; one full of realism and pragmatism in the figure of the “Caballero del Verde Gaban”, the other, “the quijotesco” showing its anachronistic idealism.
The Banach Category Theorem

In a topological space that has a countable base, it is obvious that the union of any family of open sets of first category is of first category. One need only take the union of those members of the base that are contained in at least one member of the given family. The same reasoning shows that the union of any family of open sets of measure zero has measure zero (for any measure defined for all open sets). It is remarkable that the first statement remains valid whether the space has a countable base or not. The second statement, however, needs to be qualified.
How to Think about Fallibilism

Almost every contemporary theory of knowledge is a version of fallibilism, yet an adequate statement of fallibilism has not yet been provided. Standard definitions cannot account for fallibilistic knowledge of necessary truths. I consider and reject several attempts to resolve this difficulty before arguing that a belief is an instance of fallibilistic knowledge when it could have failed to be knowledge. This is a fully general account of fallibilism that applies to knowledge of necessary truths. Moreover, it reveals, not only the connection between fallibility and error, but the connection between fallibility and accidental truth as well.
Comment [on “Unknowns about climate variability render treaty targets premature”]

In a recent Forum piece that discusses climate variability (Eos, December 16, 1997), S. F. Singer claims that “a higher CO2 level may be less dangerous to the climate system than a lower one.” The basis for this reasoning is the observation that during the last Ice Age, CO2 levels (∼200 ppmV) were lower than pre-Industrial Revolution Holocene levels (∼280 ppmV), yet the climate system was apparently more unstable than during the Holocene. Singer neglects to add that, in addition to CO2, other Ice Age global boundary conditions were very different from today's, notably larger continental ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere, higher levels of aerosols, and colder sea-surface temperatures. Climatic variations associated with these boundary conditions are not completely understood, but clearly singling out CO2 grossly oversimplifies the complexity of the climate system and the underlying causes of climate variability.
Cylindrical Near-Field Directing Shell

In this paper, the design of a near-field shell is presented. A near-field shell is a single layer impedance sheet enclosing a radiating source that re-shapes the electromagnetic field pattern at a pre-determined image distance outside of the shell. The general design process for a cylindrical near-field shell, along with an example of a near-field shell using printed circuit board impedances to produce an arbitrary azimuthal blocking sector, is presented. Simulation results of the example show that complete azimuthal amplitude control can be achieved and that the average electric field amplitude reduction is 26.21 dB between the passing and blocking sectors of the near-field shell.
Identification of IP Control Units by State Encoding

Synchronous finite state machines (FSMs) are the backbone of an embedded controller design. Partially due to the reuse of design in System on Chip (SOC), there has been the growing need for protecting hardware design intellectual property (IP). We propose non-destructive embedding method for protecting the design IPs of an embedded controller modeled as a synchronous FSM. Unlike many other embedding schemes which require adding non-functional states and/or state transitions, the proposed method does not require such additions. The central idea is based on embedding a designer's watermark at a FSM-level, as opposed to a state level. The embedding process is done by a hierarchical state encoding method. The proposed method is favorably evaluated in most of the criteria used in the field of hardware IP protection.
Noncoherent detection of orthogonal modulation combined with Alamouti space-time coding

In this paper, we investigate the error probability performance of noncoherently detected orthogonal modulation combined with Alamouti space-time block coding. We find that there are two types of pairwise error probabilities that characterize the performance. We employ methods that allow a direct evaluation of exact, closed-form expressions for these error probabilities. Theoretical as well as numerical results show that noncoherent orthogonal modulation combined with space-time block coding (STBC) achieves full spatial diversity. We derive an expression for approximate average bit error probability for M-ary orthogonal signaling that allows one to show the tradeoff between increased rate and performance degradation.
Effects of amino acid intake on anabolic processes

Au repos, les proteines musculaires se degradent plus qu'elles ne se reconstituent, de telle sorte que le bilan est negatif. Les exercices de force ameliorent le bilan net en stimulant la synthese des proteines musculaires, mais un apport de nutriments est necessaire pour que le bilan bascule du cote de l'anabolisme. L'exercice physique et les acides amines exogenes ont un effet additif sur la synthese de proteines musculaires ; le cours de la synthese est une fonction de la modification constante de la concentration des acides amines. La concentration d'un ou de quelques acides amines essentiels (EAAs) semble donner le signal de la synthese des proteines musculaires. En outre, la rapidite et le sens des modifications des concentrations extracellulaires (plutot que les concentrations per se) sont probablement d'autres facteurs importants. Il n'est pas indispensable de consommer des acides amines non essentiels pour stimuler la synthese des proteines musculaires. Les hydrates de carbone produisent, tout au plus, un effet limite sur l'incorporation des acides amines consommes apres l'exercice physique. Finalement, un melange de EEAs et de CHO stimule plus la synthese des proteines musculaires quand il est pris avant plutot qu'apres l'exercice physique.
Feature extraction method based on the ideal observer

We discuss the design of feature-extraction methods based on the strategy of the ideal observer. We restrict our discussion to a binary hypothesis-testing task where the observer has to decide whether a signal is added onto a nonuniform background.
Making the Case for Social Network Questions in Jewish Population Surveys

Charles Kadushin observes that social network questions are "almost never used in Jewish studies." This paper examines four of the rare examples where social network questions have been used in Jewish studies. These four examples demonstrate that the inclusion of social network questions in Jewish social research have important practical application for planning and policy in the Jewish community.
DISTILLATION CASCADES BASED ON DIFFERENTIAL VAPORIZATION AND DIFFERENTIAL CONDENSATION STAGES. I. TWO-STAGE DCDV CASCADES

Distillation cascades based on differential condensation (DC) and differential vaporization (DV) stages are considered as an alternative to ordinary (equilibrium stage) distillation for the separation of binary mixtures. In the differential condensation–differential vaporization (DCDV) cascades, stage separation factors can be much higher than for cascades based on equilibrium stages, and as a result, significantly fewer stages and, possibly, lower recycle ratios may be required compared with conventional distillation. This paper presents the theory behind the DV and DC stages and explores the use of the two-stage cascade design (a DV reboiler and DC condenser), to recover oxygen for use in hypersonic flight. Part II will consider N-stage cascades that could possibly be used to separate most systems now separated by ordinary distillation.
Further benchmarks of a composite, convergent, statistically calibrated coupled-cluster-based approach for thermochemical and spectroscopic studies

A flexible, high-level, composite approach based on coupled cluster theory has been used to predict the atomization energies and equilibrium structures of 13 small, first-row compounds. Each of the major components in this approach can be systematically improved, thereby providing a practical measure of the inherent uncertainty (or degree of convergence) in the final results. Comparison with Active Thermochemical Table data, which relies on a network of experimental and theoretical data, showed excellent agreement for the atomization energies. With the addition of the latest molecular systems to the Computational Results Database, the composite approach was found to yield a mean absolute deviation of 0.19 kcal mol−1 and a root-mean-square deviation of 0.31 kcal mol−1 across 142 comparisons. If the analysis is limited to experimental data with estimated uncertainties of 0.2 kcal mol−1 or less, the error metrics are cut in half. Similar good agreement is found with experimental structures, but the relative ...
Anisotropy of Local Dynamics of Polyethylene

The anisotropy of the local dynamics of polyethylene in dilute biphenyl solution at 401 K has been studied by coupled spin relaxation methods. Three second-rank correlation times, including those for vectors parallel (τ zz ) and perpendicular (τ⊥) to the local chord axis, are determined. τ zz is proportionately larger than those measured in previous studies of polymers in solution, and ratios of correlation times involving τ zz are larger as well. Since only polyethylene of the polymers studied by this method prefers trans conformers at every torsion, it is suggested that the large anisotropy observed in the dynamics is associated with this conformational preference. The ratio of τ zz to τ⊥ is 7.5, which is within the range of values calculated in recent simulations of polyethylene melts.
Materials/environment interactions in the tokamak fusion test reactor (TFTR)☆

Abstract The effects of the thermal and stress environments on the TFTR liners and limiters are evaluat, ed. Material thermal responses, thermal gradients, thermal stress/strain distributions, and fatigue life predictions are given for several power densities over the range of cycles required to reach equilibrium. Results of parametric limiter blade cooling studies are presented, including the effects of active and radiation cooling on the resultant temperature levels. The response of graphite liners to neutral-beam strikes of various intensities and pulse lengths was investigat, ed. The analysis included the response of continuous vs tiled configurations, and single vs double wall concepts.
Intensity and line width measurements in the ν4 fundamental band of 13CH4

Intensities and collision-broadened line widths have been measured in the nu(u) fundamental band of (C-13)H4 at 295 K, employing the Doppler-limited spectral resolution of a tunable diode laser spectrometer and a (C-13)-enriched sample of CH4, H2, He, Ar, N2, O2, and air were chosen as the broadening gases in order to provide the data needed in atamospheric and planetary atamospheric applications.
From Smart Sensors to Smarter Solutions with Physical Analytics

While in the past most information on the internet was generated by humans or computers, with the emergence of the Internet of Things, vast amount of data is now being created by sensors from devices, machines etc, which are placed in the physical world. Here we present a series of example applications enabled by such sensor data and what we call "Physical Analytics", which provides the underlying intelligence using a combination of physical and statistical models. The smarter solutions, which are being presented in this talk, range from active energy management and optimization, environmental sensing and controls, precision agriculture to renewable energy forecasting. All these different applications have been built using a single platform, which is comprised of a set of "configurable" technologies components including ultra-low power sensing and communication, big data management technologies, numerical modeling for physical systems, machine learning based physical model blending, and physical analytics based automation and control.
Playscript for use cases

The concept of use case has become popular in developing requirements for software systems. It is even recommended as an inherent part of the Unified Modeling Language (UML). An early predecessor of the use case for systems and procedures practice in the 1960's was the Playscript procedure. This article describes how Playscript can contribute to better use cases.
A monte carlo comparison of bayesian estimators and trimmed means

We indicate the usefulness of a Bayesian method of estimating a mean in the face of mean shift contamination (symmetric and asymmetric). We provide simple approximate Bayesian confidence interval formulas, and make appropriate comparisons, via Monte Carlo study, with procedures based on trimmed means, Tiku’s MML estimates, and the sample mean. We also indicate the global power of test procedures based on these estimators.
Pollen in the lower Mississippi River

In this paper we report on a 7-month study (February to August, 1987) of pollen transported by the Mississippi River. Results are presented for samples collected at Pointe a la Hache, Louisiana. Pollen concentrations range from 657 grains 1−1 in August to 8479 grains 1−1 in April and are positively correlated to suspended sediment concentrations (r = 0.81). Using this relationship it is calculated that c. 1 × 1019 grains of pollen and spores are discharged annually into the Gulf of Mexico, a significant source of pollen to marine sediments there. The pollen assemblage appears to reflect pollen transported from sources throughout the Mississippi River drainage system, but some exclusively northern taxa are present at very low concentrations. The relative abundance of most components varies temporally in relation to factors of pollen production, runoff in the drainage area and characteristics of river flow. High concentrations of indeterminable grains, corresponding to river flood stages, are assumed to be due to resuspension of river deposits and may be used as an indicator of fluvial transport.
Abstract 1244: The requirement of autophagy pathway for drug-induced senescence in human melanoma cells by AZD1152

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL Oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) is a well-documented phenomenon both in vitro and in vivo as a tumor-suppression mechanism. It functions as a barrier to tumor initiation and progression. However, tumor cells quickly develop a sophisticated yet not well-understood mechanism to overcome and subsequently repress cellular senescence to facilitate its progression. Here we have focused on the drug-induced senescence in human melanoma cells by inhibition of Aurora B kinase (AURKB) through either small molecule AZD1152 or shAURKB. By implementing a systems biology approach, we have uncovered the necessity of mTOR, and autophagy/lysosome pathways for the drug-induced senescence in human melanoma cells. Particularly, the mTOR inhibitor Rapamycin suppresses the senescence phenotype by converting senescence to quiescence, whereas the autophagy inhibitor Bafilomycin A1 or Hydroxychloroquine can induce cell death in senescent melanoma cells induced by AZD1152, suggesting that autophagy is an important survival mechanism for senescent melanoma cells. Thus our study can potentially lead to a framework of utilizing the pro-senescence therapy followed by inhibition of autophagy as a novel clinic approach toward melanoma prevention and cure. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1244. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1244
A simple model for refractive indices in mixed crystals and glasses

Abstract The “simple model” for the refractive indices of mixtures of silicate crystalline phases or glasses is based on the use of the “excess volume” formulation for a “simple mixture” (in the sense defined by Guggenheim), together with the Lorentz-Lorenz formulation of molar refractivity. The resulting application to refractive index and/or volume data yields a parameter, ψ, the pressure derivative of the so-called mismatch energy of the mixture. This model explains precisely the indices for the thallium halides for which a preliminary attempt at such a model was made by Barth in 1930, and works rather well for a number of silicate systems and for at least one glass mixture. A free parameter, the Lorentz-Lorenz “overlap field” term, is fixed at the Lorentz-Lorenz value of 4πr 3 in the molal refractivity expression but could actually be a variable for different types of silicate mixtures. I also solve the old, old problem posed by Bowen and Schairer (1935): The linearity of refractive index vs. composition plots on a wt% basis and its later use to eliminate “kinks” in plots with complicated endmembers.
PReS-FINAL-2282: Amaurosis as a presenting sign of antiphospholipid syndrome secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus - case report

Antiphosphospholipid syndrome (APS) secundary to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can be recognised in children with arterial or venous thrombosis. Amaurosis due to thrombosis of central retinal vene is rarely presenting manifestation of SLE with secondary APS.
Radiotherapy After Prostatectomy: Is the Evidence for Dose Escalation out There?

Purpose: To study the effective doses of radiotherapy (RT) after prostatectomy in search for evidence of a dose-response. Methods and Materials: Original and available data from published studies of adjuvant and salvage RT after prostatectomy were analyzed in the context of biochemical tumor control probability (TCP) dose-response curves. Comparisons were made with dose-escalation studies of radical RT for localized disease. Arguments based on a microscopic vs. macroscopic disease dose-response relationships were used to interpret the clinical data. Results: The tumor control rates after salvage RT were consistent with the TCP dose-response curve of radical RT, suggesting the presence of macroscopic-equivalent disease among salvage patients. For radical RT, the dose to achieve 50% biochemical tumor control was 65.9 Gy (95% confidence interval [CI], 64.8-66.8) and the Slope{sub 50} was 2.6%/Gy (95% CI, 2.3-3.0). For salvage RT, the corresponding values were 66.8 Gy (95% CI, 65.1-68.4) and 3.8%/Gy (95% CI, 2.5-7.6). For a comparable TCP, the dose for adjuvant RT was {approx}6 Gy lower, consistent with one-tenth the burden of local disease. The present doses for adjuvant or salvage RT in the range of 60-70 Gy appear to be still on the steep part of the TCP dose-response curve. Conclusions: The effectivemore » doses and dose-response relation observed with RT after prostatectomy are consistent with the presence of macroscopic-equivalent disease for salvage patients and about a tenth of the residual disease for adjuvant patients. Greater doses would potentially achieve significantly greater disease-free control rates. A randomized trial with 250 patients comparing 64 vs. 70 Gy for salvage RT or 60 vs. 66 Gy for adjuvant RT would be capable of addressing this issue.« less
Effects of skewness and kurtosis on normal-theory based maximum likelihood test statistic in multilevel structural equation modeling

A simulation study investigated the effects of skewness and kurtosis on level-specific maximum likelihood (ML) test statistics based on normal theory in multilevel structural equation models. The levels of skewness and kurtosis at each level were manipulated in multilevel data, and the effects of skewness and kurtosis on level-specific ML test statistics were examined. When the assumption of multivariate normality was violated, the level-specific ML test statistics were inflated, resulting in Type I error rates that were higher than the nominal level for the correctly specified model. Q-Q plots of the test statistics against a theoretical chi-square distribution showed that skewness led to a thicker upper tail and kurtosis led to a longer upper tail of the observed distribution of the level-specific ML test statistic for the correctly specified model.
Overlapping isospin-dependent interactions in high-energy pion-deuteron scattering

Abstract The complications introduced into Glauber theory by overlapping isospin-dependent interactions are discussed in the context of high-energy pion-deuteron scattering. The commonly used ordered form of the Glauber theory is exact only when the isospin-dependent potentials have zero overlap, or in the limit in which they are weak. A pair of coupled integrals equations is derived which should be useful for numerical calculations when the ordered form is inadequate. An exactly soluble one-dimensional overlapping slab model is also discussed; it gives some idea of the nature of the approximation made when the ordered form is used. Finally, an overlap expansion is developed for another one-dimensional model in which the potentials have more realistic exponential tails. Such expansions could be useful for estimating the magnitudes of the errors introduced through the use of the ordered form.
Reassurance therapy: what to say to symptomatic patients with benign or non-existent medical disease.

Reassurance is one of the most important therapies that primary care physicians give; however, little has been written about it in the literature. This article suggests six steps needed for effective reassurance in patients with benign disease or symptoms not explained by disease. These include: 1) question and examine the patient, 2) assure the patient that serious illness is not present, 3) suggest the symptom will resolve, 4) tell the patient to return to normal activity, 5) consider non-specific treatment, and 6) follow the patient. Only if these systematic steps are followed will reassurance consistently work. Since examination of the patient is a critical component of reassurance therapy, it can most effectively be administered by individuals who include a physical assessment as a part of the clinical evaluation.
A functional prodynorphin promoter polymorphism and opioid dependence.

OBJECTIVES The prodynorphin gene (PDYN) promoter has a repeat polymorphism that is functionally important in association with substance abuse. We examined this polymorphism for association in our sample of 168 opioid-dependent patients and 122 ethnically and geographically matched controls. METHODS Patients were selected from university-affiliated residential and non-residential addiction treatment programs in the Philadelphia area. A sample of blood was drawn from consenting individuals and genomic DNA was isolated. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of the PDYN promoter was performed and various genotypes were determined on the basis of differing sizes of the polymerase chain reaction products. The genotype and allele data were analyzed by Fisher's exact test. RESULT A significant difference in genotype (P<0.0006) and allele (P<10) frequencies was found between the African American and European American populations. We did not detect any significant difference in genotype or allele frequencies between the patients and controls within the European American ethnic group. However, we detected a weak association (P=0.013) when we compared allele frequencies of patients and controls in the African American population. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that the PDYN repeat polymorphism should be studied in additional opioid-dependent populations.
Interlaced video coding with field-based multiresolution representation

Abstract This paper presents the video coding technique proposed by Columbia University for the second phase of ISO's MPEG standardization effort (MPEG-2) for coding at bit-rates up to 10 Mbit/s. The technique is a direct extension of the coding algorithm used for MPEG-1, suitable for interlaced video by allowing macroblock-by-macroblock adaptive field-based or frame-based coding. Separate coding of the odd and even fields is allowed as an option, so that fields of one parity use information from the already coded fields of the opposite parity. This option has near-optimum performance, and also conveniently provides scalability (in the sense of multiresolution representation), useful for achieving graceful degradation in the presence of transmission errors. It also permits easy modification for compatibility with MPEG-1. Another feature includes escape to a non-DCT coding technique for blocks containing sharp edges. Based on both subjective and objective evaluations, extensive computer simulations have been conducted to optimize the criteria of using various modes.
China's hotel industry: Assessment and prospects

The hotel sector in China contributes signifi cantly to the international tourism industry. This paper reviews current hotel development in China by examining and analysing hotel geographic distributions, ownership structures operation revenues and financial performance. The operation performance by star-rated hotels and non star-rated hotels is examined and compared. It discusses China's current development focus on destination resort and identifies the need for midscale and budget hotel development for domestic tourists. Market changes are analysed and potential business opportunities are identified for future hotel development.
Crystal Structure of the Calcium-stabilized Human Factor IX Gla Domain Bound to a Conformation-specific Anti-factor IX Antibody

The binding of Factor IX to membranes during blood coagulation is mediated by the N-terminal gamma-carboxyglutamic acid-rich (Gla) domain, a membrane-anchoring domain found on vitamin K-dependent blood coagulation and regulatory proteins. Conformation-specific anti-Factor IX antibodies are directed at the calcium-stabilized Gla domain and interfere with Factor IX-membrane interaction. One such antibody, 10C12, recognizes the calcium-stabilized form of the Gla domain of Factor IX. We prepared the fully carboxylated Gla domain of Factor IX by solid phase peptide synthesis and crystallized Factor IX-(1-47) in complex with Fab fragments of the 10C12 antibody. The overall structure of the Gla domain in the Factor IX-(1-47)-antibody complex at 2.2 A is similar to the structure of the Factor IX Gla domain in the presence of calcium ions as determined by NMR spectroscopy (Freedman, S. J., Furie, B. C., Furie, B., and Baleja, J. D. (1995) Biochemistry 34, 12126-12137) and by x-ray crystallography (Shikamoto, Y., Morita, T., Fujimoto, Z., and Mizuno, H. (2003) J. Biol. Chem. 278, 24090-24094). The complex structure shows that the complementarity determining region loops of the 10C12 antibody form a hydrophobic pocket to accommodate the hydrophobic patch of the Gla domain consisting of Leu-6, Phe-9, and Val-10. Polar interactions also play an important role in the antibody-antigen recognition. Furthermore, the calcium coordination network of the Factor IX Gla domain is different than in Gla domain structures of other vitamin K-dependent proteins. We conclude that this antibody is directed at the membrane binding site in the omega loop of Factor IX and blocks Factor IX function by inhibiting its interaction with membranes.
High bandwidth energy storage devices for HEV/EV energy storage system

In a HEV or EV, analysis of the energy storage system (ESS) is often based on standard drive cycles sampled at a 1 Hz rate. The switching harmonics caused by the motor drive are well-known source of high-frequency harmonics on the ESS since perfect de-coupling using the capacitors native to the motor drive is not possible, but additional current harmonics flow between the 0.5 Hz (Nyquist frequency of sampling frequency) and the switching frequency because of the transient nature of load in automotive applications. This digest quantifies these harmonic currents, sizes high-bandwidth energy storage devices (ESDs) for ESS, and compares power loss reduction using measured RMS currents.
Characterization of disk media

It has been shown that the scalar properties of recording media can be characterized by a moving model that includes reversible and irreversible magnetizing processes. A test of this model for various media is reported in this paper. It is found that the model is capable of calculating accurate major and minor loops.
Expert system-guided scene segmentation

The complexity of histopathologic imagery presents substantial difficulties for scene segmentation preceding diagnostic information extraction. An expert-system-guided segmentation strategy founded on model-based reasoning allows a locally adaptive selection of segmentation procedures and performance control. This introduces increased stability and reliability to the process. >
Managing weeds and nematodes with combinations of methyl bromide alternatives in tomato

Abstract Two field studies were conducted to determine the effect of diverse soil fumigant and herbicide combinations on Meloidogyne root galling, Cyperus populations, and tomato growth and yields. Treatments consisted of combinations of the herbicides napropamide plus trifluralin, the soil fumigants 1,3-dichloropropene plus chloropicrin (1,3-D+Pic), Pic, and metam sodium (MNa), and doses of the nematicide fosthiazate. A non-treated control was also included. The fumigation programs that included the herbicides napropamide+trifluralin in pre-emergence and post-directed trifloxysulfuron in combination with either Pic and fosthiazate or 1,3-D+Pic and MNa proved to be effective means to suppress root galling and Cyperus interference while maintaining high tomato marketable yields.
Radiopharmaceuticals, Drug Development and Pharmaceutical Regulations in Europe

Radiopharmaceuticals have a long tradition of clinical and research applications. Current legislation of developed Countries includes these compounds in the regulatory environment of medicinal products. Products used under a marketing authorisation license and investigational radiopharmaceuticals are then part of the clinical practice and scientific programs. Positron Emission Tomography has induced a strong increase in the number of potentially available radiopharmaceuticals and, beside being a breakthrough in diagnostic nuclear medicine, has demostrated its value as research tool. Drug Development Research is searching new tools for reducing attrition and increasing efficiency in the identification and development of new medicines. Molecular Imaging, PET in particular seems to have important answers to this demand. The regulatory environment in Europe is hence revised in the perspective of utilisation of nuclear molecular imaging as a supporting tool for DDR. Relevant documents from European regulatory Agency (EMEA) as well as their essential impact on radiopharmaceuticals have been summarised and discussed.
Factors affecting Business Process Reengineering in China

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) has played an important role in such developing fields as information systems, electronic business, and enterprise resource planning systems over the past decade. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the factors affecting BPR in China as more Chinese companies realise the pervasiveness of BPR in pursuit of global competitiveness. In this paper we find, via statistical analysis based on a survey of Chinese companies, that senior management support, cross-functional communications, cross-unit project team, and training and employee education are top four critical success factors, along with five major obstacles.
Preference and performance on two tasks of varying ambiguity as a function of ambiguity tolerance

Forty undergraduates were assigned into two groups of 20 subjects on the basis of their scores on Budner's Scale of Tolerance-Intolerance of Ambiguity (at least one standard deviation above and below the mean). All subjects performed, in counterbalanced order, two 15-minute tasks which varied in degree of ambiguity. The less ambiguous task involved decoding messages; the more ambiguous task, a modification of one of Torrance's Tests of Creative Thinking, involved thinking of different uses for common objects. Subjects then rated each of the tasks on 7-point scales describing their enjoyment, perceived performance, and perceived difficulty of the tasks. Results indicated that tolerant subjects performed better than intolerant subjects on both levels of task ambiguity. In addition, all subjects rated the more ambiguous task as easier and more enjoyable, and fell they performed better on it than the less ambiguous task.
Comparison of human lung and intestinal mast cells

Since much of the data on heterogeneity in the rodent systems are based on differential effects of drugs, we compared responses of human lung mast cell and intestinal mucosal mast cell populations to agents that have revealed mast cell heterogeneity in rat models, as well as to other agents that are effective in both rat peritoneal and intestinal mast cell preparations. Disodium cromoglycate and theophylline inhibit histamine release (HR) from rat peritoneal, but not intestinal, mast cells. We found disodium cromoglycate (10(-4) to 10(-8) mol/L) to be ineffective in both human lung and human intestinal mast cell preparations, whereas theophylline (10(-3) to 10(-6) mol/L) inhibited both lung and intestinal mast cell HR. Quercetin (10(-4) to 10(-8) mol/L) and doxantrazole (3 X 10(-4) to 10(-7) mol/L), which inhibit both rat mast cell types, also inhibit HR in both human mast cell preparations. We also examined the actions of indomethacin and exogenous arachidonic acid and found that neither the lung nor the intestinal mast cells demonstrated the enhancement of HR stimulated by these agents in the basophil. In summary, we have found no pharmacologic differences between the human lung and intestinal mucosal mast cell such as exist in the rodent models. This underscores the limitations of applying the data from animal mast cells to the human mast cells, and at the same time demonstrates that human basophils and mast cells are different.
Automated analysis of remyelination therapy for spinal cord injury

Demyelination- the loss of myelin sheath that insulates axons, is a prominent feature in many neurological disorders resulting in spinal cord injury (SCI). The lost myelin sheath can be replaced by remyelination, used in SCI treatment. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for efficient automated analysis of remyelination therapy. We use a robust, shape-independent algorithm based on iso-contour analysis of the image at progressively increasing intensity levels for detecting cell boundaries. The detected boundaries of spatially clustered cells are then separated using Delaunay triangulation based contour separation method. The therapeutically important oligodendrocyte-remyelinated axons (OR-axons) are identified and a density map is generated for efficacy analysis of the therapy. Our efficient automated remyelination analysis significantly reduces error due to human subjectivity. We corroborate the accuracy of our results by extensive cross-verification by the domain experts.
Nineteenth-Century Idealism and Twentieth-Century Textualism

In the last century there were philosophers who argued that nothing ex ists but ideas. In our century there are people who write as if there were nothing but texts. These people, whom I shall call "textualists," include for example, the so-called Yale school of literary criticism centering around Harold Bloom, Geoffrey Hartmann, and Paul De Man, "post-structuralist" French thinkers like Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, historians like Hayden White, and social scientists like Paul Rabinow. Some of these people take their point of departure from Heidegger, but usually the influence of philosophers is relatively remote. The center of gravity of the intellectual movement in which these people figure is not philosophy, but literary criticism. In this paper I want to discuss some similarities and differences between this movement and nineteenth-century idealism. The first similarity is that both movements adopt an antagonistic posi tion to natural science. Both suggest that the natural scientist should not be the dominant cultural figure, that scientific knowledge is not what really mat ters. Both insist that there is a point of view other than, and somehow higher than, that of science. They warn us against the idea that human thought culminates in the application of "scientific method." Both offer to what C. P. Snow called "the literary culture" a self-image, and a set of rhetorical devices. The second similarity is that both insist that we can never compare human thought or language with bare, unmediated, reality. The idealists started off from Berkeley's claim that nothing can be like an idea except another idea. The textualists start off from the claim that all problems, topics, and distinctions are language-relative?the results of our having chosen to use a certain vocabulary, to play a certain language-game. Both use this point to put natural science in its place. The concepts of natural science, idealists pointed out, were shown by Kant to be merely instruments which the mind uses to synthesize sense-impressions; science, therefore, can know only a phenomenal world. In textualist terms, this becomes the claim that the vocabulary of science is merely one among others?merely the vocabulary which happens to be handy in predicting and controlling nature. It is not as physicalism would have us think, Nature's Own Vocabulary. Both use the
Lepromatous leprosy reversal reaction.

A 41-year-old Dominican-born man presented in 2001 with lesions on his nose and ears, and numbness in both legs; all had developed over 2 years. He also described nasal congestion for several months. On examination, there were painless nodular lesions on the dorsum of his nose and ear lobes. There was mildly diminished lighttouch sensation of the distal lower extremities. Skin biopsy showed acid-fast bacilli and no granulomas, consistent with lepromatous leprosy. He was started on treatment of dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazamine. The patient developed eruptions of subcutaneous nodules on both forearms (figure, A) and swelling of isolated fingers, 6 months to 1 year after beginning therapy. After 2 years of therapy, he presented with multiple painless subcutaneous lesions on the forearms. Over the ensuing months he intermittently developed swelling of bilateral hands and dorsal foot (figure, B— diffuse generalised oedema of the right foot in comparision with the left foot). Radiography showed soft-tissue swelling without erosion or deformity. Uric acid concentration was 5·2 mg/dL, with an ESR of 47 mm/h. A punch biopsy of one of the lesions showed superficial and deep lymphocytic perivasculitis, and no acid-fast bacilli or granulomas, consistent with reversal reaction. Reversal reaction is characterised by an abrupt increase in inflammation within previously quiescent skin lesions, resulting from effective treatment. New lesions usually appear, sometimes with associated neuritis or fever. If the reversal reaction is not treated promptly, irreversible nerve damage can result. The reaction is associated with a shift toward the tuberculoid end of the leprosy spectrum, with a Th1 cytokine profile (ie, interferon-γ, tumour necrosis factorα, and interleukin-2). Rheumatological manifestations are not uncommon (although more frequently described in association with erythema nodosum leprosum), and may include frank arthritis, subcutaneous nodules, or swollen hands or feet, as in our patient’s case. The patient’s dose of clofazamine was increased to 100 mg daily, and a short prednisone taper was prescribed with good response. He remains on dapsone monotherapy after years of multidrug therapy. Intermittent reactions have been successfully managed with prednisone tapers. Lepromatous leprosy reversal reaction