cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Regression Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Columns

Multiple linear regression analysis is applied to predict ultimate strength of eccentrically loaded reinforced concrete columns, and all the related statistics are determined. Failure functions for different modes of failure are empirically derived, and their distribution functions are calculated. These are found to be in close agreement with the ASCE-ACI. The method used is free from theoretical assumptions about the failure mechanism and, hence, may explain the failure of experimental results. A general regression surface is constructed, and all the required statistics for the residuals are determined. Error and normal probability graphs are plotted to verify the assumptions of normality and constant variance.
Autoimmune Movement Disorders

Neurologic movement disorders caused by an autoimmune system response phenomenologically span all categories of abnormal movements, but consist mostly of hyperkinetic movement conditions such as chorea, stiffening syndromes, myoclonus, tics, and ataxias. A growing subset of immune-mediated movement disorders is the post-streptococcal neuropsychiatric disorders, some of which remain controversial and many of which remain to be more clearly defined. Paraneoplastic disorders, including anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, have been covered in another chapter and will only be briefly discussed in this review.
The evolution of the mitotic spindle.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the evolution of the mitotic spindle. The recounting of the evolutionary past of the mitotic processes of chromosome movement would entail tracing a gradual shift from membranes to micros as the primary producer of forces for chromosome movement. In addition, it was suggested, microtubules themselves might in the course of evolution have acquired the capacity for force production as an adjunct to preexisting static properties. That at least remnants of some of the intermediate stages in such transitions probably survive in unusual forms of nuclear division should be apparent from the foregoing account. Thus it is find among these not only organisms such as C. cohnii in which membrane phenomena may exert the sole direct force for chromosome movement, but also forms such as hypermastigote flagellates in which membranes and microtubules may both take a direct role in chromosome movement. There are certainly indications that microtubules can assume roles in nuclear division quite unrelated to force production, as in C . cohnii in which a cytoskeletal role for the exclusively extranuclear microtubules seems most likely, and in Syndinium sp . in which chromosomal microtubules effect a permanent connection of kinetochores and poles but seem not to function actively in chromosome movement. Such signs that possible intermediates in the evolution of the mitotic apparatus still exist among living organisms, rather than having been casualties of the selective process, gives idea that some of the unusual patterns of nuclear division of other lower organisms such as euglenoids, trypanosomes, ciliates, fungi, and sporozoa are of evolutionary significance.
Behavioral Objectives: Where Have They Taken Us?

(1976). Behavioral Objectives: Where Have They Taken Us? The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas: Vol. 49, No. 5, pp. 201-202.
Temperature effects on the interactions of sugar beet with Fusarium yellows caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. betae

AbstractFusarium yellows, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. betae, causes significant yield and storage losses in sugar beet. The pathogen can be highly variable and sugar beet cultivars can have differing responses to fungal infection. Environmental factors may be contributing to this variability in disease response and these interactions have not been fully described. We describe how air temperature may influence interactions of F. oxysporum f. sp. betae with sugar beet. Fusarium yellows was assessed at different temperatures in five sugar beet cultivars to determine how increasing temperatures affect disease development. Generally, temperatures of 24°C or higher led to more disease symptoms, while temperatures of 16°C and lower led to fewer symptoms. Additionally, during resistant interactions, Fusarium yellows development did not increase as temperatures increased, indicating that resistance remained effective at higher temperatures. However, some F. oxysporum f. sp. betae isolates had varying abili...
Identification of a cysteine-rich receptor for fibroblast growth factors.

Abstract The fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family consists of seven members whose activities are thought to be mediated by multiple receptors. Here we describe the cDNA cloning, expression, and characterization of a cysteine-rich FGF receptor (CFR) that is distinct from previously identified FGF receptors. The deduced amino acid sequence for CFR suggests that it is an integral membrane protein containing a large extracellular domain comprising 16 cysteine-rich repeated units and an intracellular domain of 13 amino acids. No reported sequences exhibit significant homologies to either the repeated extracellular motif or to the entire CFR amino acid sequence. Several CFR transcripts are present in embryonic chick tissue, suggesting that CFR undergoes alternate mRNA splicing or that related genes are present. Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with the CFR cDNA express a 150-kDa polypeptide that binds FGF-1, FGF-2, and FGF-4 but does not bind several non-FGF family members. The high degree of evolutionary conservation among vertebrate CFRs and its ability to bind three different FGFs with high affinity suggest that this unique receptor plays an important role in FGF biology.
Costimulation with anti-cluster of differentiation 3 and anti-cluster of differentiation 28 reduces the activity of mucin 1-stimulated human mononuclear cells

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activation and extension of the cell life span is necessary in order to enable immunotherapy to perform effectively against cancer. In the present study, mucin 1 (MUC1)-stimulated human mononuclear cells (M1SHMCs) were costimulated with bead-attached monoclonal antibodies specific for cluster of differentiation (CD)3 and CD28 receptors. The study was undertaken to determine whether costimulation was capable of enhancing the killing of cancer cells in vitro and of protecting non-obese diabetic severe combined immunodeficient mice from tumor development. Lysis of MCF-7 tumor cells by M1SHMCs was reduced following costimulation with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28. Furthermore, costimulation with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 eliminated the protective effects of M1SHMCs on MCF-7 breast cancer cell growth in the non-obese diabetic severe combined immunodeficient mice. The present study suggested that costimulation with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 is not advisable following antigen activation of lymphocytes under the conditions used here. Using a lower anti-CD3/CD28 bead to T-cell ratio may prevent immune suppression, however, further studies are required to support this hypothesis.
Invited Commentary on “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Report to Congress: Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Epidemiology and Rehabilitation”

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant health problem, afflicting millions of people worldwide. Despite increasing awareness of its burden on patients, families, and society, much remains unknown regarding TBI incidence, how best to assess outcomes post-injury, and the most effective means of providing rehabilitation services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published recommendations to Congress that address these critical knowledge gaps. The report is the end product of work completed by a notable panel of experts and stakeholders that makes overarching recommendations aimed at addressing knowledge gaps in TBI, with the ultimate goal of decreasing injury occurrence and improving outcomes. It is a succinct and powerful report that should serve as a call to action to fund innovative research and reverse a trend in health care that restricts access to rehabilitation services.
Reading: The Conferences

The theme of this issue of Reading Horizons is exemplary practice, and as I recall several of the sessions from the annual conference of the International Reading Association it becomes clear how central the concept of teacher as professional is to exemplary practice. One session in particular — Teacher Preparation and Staff Development: Lessons from New Zealand — presented by Debra Elliot and colleagues provided some food for thought in considering the teacher as professional. In discussing current models of student teaching, which is of course a critical component to the development of the teacher as professional, Stephanie Steffey from San Jose State University prompted our thinking through a series of questions about our own teacher preparation experience. Questions included the following: 1) Did we begin to view the teacher as risk-taker, decision-maker, facilitator and observer, or were we trained as technicians? 2) Did we have the chance in our preparation programs to see ourselves as readers and writers, as mathematicians, as social scientists? 3) Were our classes student-centered or teacher-directed? 4) Was there a focus on teacher autonomy or did we as students participate in a shared, negotiated curriculum? 5) Did we engage in the development of a theory about how children learn? 6) Did we experience congruence between teacher education and what is happening outside the university in K-12 education? 6) Did we begin to develop the concept in ourselves of teacher as researcher?
Distance-preserving mapping of patterns to 3-space

The triangulation method is extended to a tetrahedron method for the distance-preserving mapping of high dimensional data points to 3-space. Each point is mapped so that its distances to three already mapped points are preserved. The choices of these points give a set of ways to display both local and global information. Example applications in pattern analysis are discussed.
Sintering behavior of uniform-sized α-Al2O3 powder

Abstract Sintering experiments were conducted on colloid-pressed compacts consisting of either centrifugally classified uniform-sized α-Al 2 O 3 powder or the wide-size-distribution α-Al 2 O 3 powder from which the classified powder was derived. Both powders had an average particle size of 0.35 μm. The densification kinetics and microstructure evolution of green bodies with identical green densities made from both powders were compared. Compacts made from classified uniform-sized powder sintered more rapidly and to near-theoretical density at lower temperatures than did compacts made from unclassifed powder. The sintering kinetics depended critically on the particle packing and porosity uniformity.
Formation of High Temperature Superconducting Balls

High- ${T}_{c}$ superconducting particles of $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ size in a strong electric field bind themselves together to form macroscopic balls in milliseconds. Each ball holds over ${10}^{6}$ particles and bounces between the electrodes without losing any. The ball formation is a result of superconductivity. As the $c$-axis coherence length is shorter than the Thomas-Fermi screening length, the electric field produced by the charged surface layer turns off the coupling between the interlayers. This loss of Josephson energy becomes a positive surface energy induced by the charged surface layer, the minimization of which leads to the balls.
Single-track effects and new directions in GCR risk assessment.

Light flashes in the eye as recorded by astronauts on missions outside the geomagnetosphere are presumably caused by single particle traversals of galactic cosmic rays traversing the retina. Although these flashes are not considered to have deleterious short- or long-term effects on vision, they are testimony that the body can detect single particle traversals. The frequencies of the flashes implicate ions in the charge range of 6 to 8 (i.e., carbon and/or oxygen ions). Other particles with higher charge and causing more ionization are present at lower frequencies. The possibility of the importance of such single-track effects in radiation carcinogenesis and other late effects suggest that a risk assessment system based on particle fluence rather than absorbed dose might be useful for assessing risk on long-term space missions. Such a system based on the concept of a risk cross section is described. Human cancer risk cross sections obtained from recently compiled A-bomb survival data are presented, and problems involving the determination of the LET-dependence of such cross sections are discussed.
Autler-Townes spectroscopy of the 5 S 1 / 2 − 5 P 3 / 2 − 44 D cascade of cold 85 Rb atoms

We study nonlinear optical effects in the laser excitation of Rydberg states. ${5S}_{1/2}$ and ${5P}_{3/2}$ levels of ${}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$ are coupled by a strong laser field and probed by a weak laser tuned to the ${5P}_{3/2}\ensuremath{-}44D$ Rydberg resonance. We observe high contrast Autler-Townes spectra which are dependent on the pump polarization, intensity, and detuning. The observed behavior agrees with calculations, which include the effect of optical pumping.
Does pain mediate the pain interference with sleep problem in chronic pain? Findings from studies for management of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain with duloxetine.

Although sleep problems are common in patients with chronic pain, it is unclear whether pain mediates (causes) impaired sleep. The relationship between pain and sleep has been difficult to investigate because of the potential confounds of depression and somnolence. This report used clinical trials data for duloxetine in the management of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP) to investigate the direction of this association. Data were pooled from three double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, 12-week trials of patients with DPNP without mood disorder (n = 1,139). DPNP patients reporting somnolence and those who were receiving sedating concomitant medications were removed from the analyses (n = 93). Efficacy measures included weekly mean scores for average daily pain severity, night pain severity, and pain interference with sleep. Duloxetine at 60 and 120 mg per day separated from placebo for average pain and night pain improvement as early as one week after treatment began, whereas sleep interference improvement separated from placebo at the three visits it was assessed (Weeks 4, 8, and 12). Change in sleep interference was moderately to strongly correlated (P < 0.001) with changes in average pain (r = 0.46) and nighttime pain severity (r = 0.53). These results confirm the association between the improvement in daily pain and nighttime pain, and improvement in sleep interference for a large population without depression or somnolence. Although this association cannot establish causality, these results provide some evidence for the possibility that pain may mediate the sleep problem associated with DPNP and perhaps chronic pain in general.
Prioritized grammar enumeration: symbolic regression by dynamic programming

We introduce Prioritized Grammar Enumeration (PGE), a deterministic Symbolic Regression (SR) algorithm using dynamic programming techniques. PGE maintains the tree-based representation and Pareto non-dominated sorting from Genetic Programming (GP), but replaces genetic operators and random number use with grammar production rules and systematic choices. PGE uses non-linear regression and abstract parameters to fit the coefficients of an equation, effectively separating the exploration for form, from the optimization of a form. Memoization enables PGE to evaluate each point of the search space only once, and a Pareto Priority Queue provides direction to the search. Sorting and simplification algorithms are used to transform candidate expressions into a canonical form, reducing the size of the search space. Our results show that PGE performs well on 22 benchmarks from the SR literature, returning exact formulas in many cases. As a deterministic algorithm, PGE offers reliability and reproducibility of results, a key aspect to any system used by scientists at large. We believe PGE is a capable SR implementation, following an alternative perspective we hope leads the community to new ideas.
Micelles of Different Morphologies—Advantages of Worm-like Filomicelles of PEO-PCL in Paclitaxel Delivery

Purpose Worm-like and spherical micelles are both prepared here from the same amphiphilic diblock copolymer, poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly (e-caprolactone) (PEO [5 kDa]–PCL [6.5 kDa]) in order to compare loading and delivery of hydrophobic drugs.
On the core of a traveling salesman cost allocation game

Let G = (V, E) be a connected undirected graph with positive edge lengths. Let V = {0} @? N, where N = {1,...,n}. Each node in N is identified as a customer, and 0 is the home location of a traveling salesman or repairman who serves the customers in N. Each subset of customers S can hire the repairman to serve its members only. In that case the cost incurred by S, c(S), is the minimum length of a tour traversed by the repairman who starts at node 0, visits each node in S at least once and returns to 0. We consider the core of the cooperative cost allocation game (N; c) defined by the cost function c(S), S @? N. We show that the core can be empty even if G is series parallel by presenting the unique minimal counter example for such graphs. We then use a recent result of Fonlupt and Naddef, and prove that the core is nonempty for a class of graphs that properly contains the subclass of cycle tress, i.e. graphs which have no edge included in more than one simple cycle.
Ultrasound assisted combustion synthesis of TiC in Al-Ti-C system.

Abstract This research investigated the effects of high-intensity ultrasound on the combustion synthesis of TiC particles in Al–Ti–C system. The process involved that high-intensity ultrasound was applied on the surface of a compacted Al–Ti–C pellet directly through a Nb probe during the thermal explosion reaction. By comparing with the sample without ultrasonic treatment, it was found that the thermal explosion reaction for synthesizing TiC phase could take place thoroughly in the ultrasonically treated sample. During the process of synthesizing TiC phase, the dissolution of solid graphite particles into the Al–Ti melt, as well as the nucleation and growth of TiC particles could be promoted effectively due to the effects of ultrasound, leading to an enhancement of the formation of TiC particles. Ultrasound assisted combustion synthesis as a simple and effective approach was proposed for synthesizing materials in this research.
Poverty: Insurance Theory and the Medically Uninsured

The federal/state Medicaid program is designed to provide health insurance for the nation's poorest, yet between 15 and 20 percent of the population continue to have no health insurance. Classic utility-based insurance theory is examined to see if it well explains why some do and some do not purchase health insurance at the state level or if a host of other non-economic factors are needed. This pooled, cross-sectional time-series analysis shows that the state characteristics most strongly associated with the prevalence of a lack of health insurance is the percent of persons whose income falls below the poverty line, the percent of the state's population that is female and the percent of the population with only a high school education. This analysis suggests that the starting point for policies aimed at limiting the number of insured should be limiting poverty and perhaps recognizing the gender/education influence in designing state eligibility requirements.
The Host Protein Calprotectin Modulates the Helicobacter pylori cag Type IV Secretion System via Zinc Sequestration

Transition metals are necessary for all forms of life including microorganisms, evidenced by the fact that 30% of all proteins are predicted to interact with a metal cofactor. Through a process termed nutritional immunity, the host actively sequesters essential nutrient metals away from invading pathogenic bacteria. Neutrophils participate in this process by producing several metal chelating proteins, including lactoferrin and calprotectin (CP). As neutrophils are an important component of the inflammatory response directed against the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, a major risk factor for gastric cancer, it was hypothesized that CP plays a role in the host response to H. pylori. Utilizing a murine model of H. pylori infection and gastric epithelial cell co-cultures, the role CP plays in modifying H. pylori -host interactions and the function of the cag Type IV Secretion System (cag T4SS) was investigated. This study indicates elevated gastric levels of CP are associated with the infiltration of neutrophils to the H. pylori-infected tissue. When infected with an H. pylori strain harboring a functional cag T4SS, calprotectin-deficient mice exhibited decreased bacterial burdens and a trend toward increased cag T4SS -dependent inflammation compared to wild-type mice. In vitro data demonstrate that culturing H. pylori with sub-inhibitory doses of CP reduces the activity of the cag T4SS and the biogenesis of cag T4SS-associated pili in a zinc-dependent fashion. Taken together, these data indicate that zinc homeostasis plays a role in regulating the proinflammatory activity of the cag T4SS.
Structure of the ATP synthase catalytic complex (F 1 ) from Escherichia coli in an autoinhibited conformation

ATP synthase is a membrane-bound rotary motor enzyme that is critical for cellular energy metabolism in all kingdoms of life. Despite conservation of its basic structure and function, autoinhibition by one of its rotary stalk subunits occurs in bacteria and chloroplasts but not in mitochondria. The crystal structure of the ATP synthase catalytic complex (F(1)) from Escherichia coli described here reveals the structural basis for this inhibition. The C-terminal domain of subunit ɛ adopts a heretofore unknown, highly extended conformation that inserts deeply into the central cavity of the enzyme and engages both rotor and stator subunits in extensive contacts that are incompatible with functional rotation. As a result, the three catalytic subunits are stabilized in a set of conformations and rotational positions distinct from previous F(1) structures.
First-order correction to Glauber approximation for electron-hydrogen and positron-hydrogen scattering

The first realistic systematic correction to the Glauber approximation for scattering of charged particles by atoms is made, and it leads to substantial improvements for electron-hydrogen (e/sup -/-H) elastic scattering at all energies equal to or greater than 30 eV and angles (10--140/sup 0/) for which data exist. At the lower energies and larger angles disagreement with the data persists because of limitations in the approximation. The calculation also yield e/sup +/-H and e/sup -/-H cross sections which differ from each other even when exchange is neglected.
Observations of Core Fallback during Coronal Mass Ejections

White-light observations made with the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) during the present solar maximum have revealed a multitude of faint, inward-moving features at heliocentric distances of r ~ 2-6 R☉. Most of these structures appear to originate above r ~ 3 R☉ and may be signatures of the closing-down of magnetic flux at the boundaries of coronal holes or in the aftermath of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Here, we present observations of a different type of inflow, in which material within the bright core of a CME collapses back toward the Sun after rising to heights of r ~ 2.5-6 R☉. We have identified roughly 20 such fallback events during 1998-2001. The core structures, which have the form of loops or concave-outward flux ropes, ascend into the coronagraph field of view beyond 2 R☉ with speeds of ~100-400 km s-1 but return with speeds of only ~50-200 km s-1. The initial deceleration rates of ~20-100 m s-2 are comparable to the local gravitational deceleration GM☉/r2 but continually decrease with time. The associated CMEs tend to be impulsive but relatively slow, with the leading front moving outward at ~250-450 km s-1 and often showing some deceleration. It is thus not surprising that some fraction of the core material fails to reach escape speeds, remaining bound to the Sun by gravitational and magnetic tension forces. We suggest that the dynamical behavior of the core may be determined in part by momentum exchanges with the background medium, which consists of ongoing outflows of CME material, ambient solar wind, and inflow streams. In particular, we attribute the asymmetry of the up-down trajectories to the action of such drag forces, whose direction changes from inward to outward as the core decelerates.
Purification of pituitary gonadotropin from urine of postmenopausal women.

Human pituitary gonadotropin (HPG) from the urine of postmenopausal women was purified in three stages. After preliminary filtration of the urine with celite, HPG was adsorbed by kaolin, eluted with ammonia and precipitated by 66 per cent acetone. HPG was extracted from the precipitate by 70 per cent ethanol containing 10 per cent ammonium acetate and was prepared in a dry form by precipitation with 90 per cent ethanol. Further impurities were removed by adsorption onto diethylaminoethyl cellulose in 0.05M phosphate buffer. The mean purification achieved was 35-fold, with retention of 56 per cent of the original activity. No alteration in the proportions of follicle-stimulating and luteinizing activity of the purified product, as compared with the crude concentrate, was detected. The purified product was 86 times stronger than the unofficial standard HMG-20A, also prepared from postmenopausal urine.
For Better or worse: Organizational turnaround in New York City schools

AbstractThe performance of public organizations has become a more salient issue as the popularity of accountability policies has grown. Though organizations are often defined as underperforming, little is known about the effectiveness of various strategies commonly recommended for agency turnaround. This study provides a large-N test of three common categories of turnaround mechanisms – retrenchment, repositioning, and reorganization – in nearly 300 failing New York City schools between 2008 and 2011. Models show that none of the three turnaround strategies appear to be significantly associated with improvements in core organizational performance from an administrative perspective, although repositioning appears to improve client satisfaction.
Gold‐Decorated Carbon Composite Electrodes for Enzymatic Oxygen Reduction

Functional composites of carbon and gold nanoparticles create a hierarchical architecture that facilitates high enzyme loading. Subsequent immobilization of the multicopper oxidase, Trametes versciolor laccase, was optimal with dithiobis- (succinimidyl propionate), due to the formation of thiol bonds between the protein molecules and gold. The immobilized laccase catalyzed oxygen reduction, with an onset potential of ∼0.6 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), indicated effective orientation of the enzyme redox center to enable direct electron transport between enzyme and the composite electrode. Current densities in half-cell configurations provide scalable outputs of 50–80 µA/cm2 with the optimized electrode design. The methodology herein describes a rapid, facile preparation of gold-decorated carbon composite materials for use as electrode scaffolds that can be integrated into a range of bioelectronic devices.
A new HTLV-III/LAV protein encoded by a gene found in cytopathic retroviruses

The DNA of the HTLV-III/LAV group of retroviruses contains certain additional open reading frames that are not found in typical avian or mammalian retroviruses. The role of these sequences in encoding for gene products that may be related to pathogenesis remains to be resolved. An open reading frame whose 5' end overlaps with the pol gene, but is unrelated to the env gene, has been observed in HTLV-III/LAV and visna virus, both cytopathic mammalian retroviruses. Evidence presented here shows that this open reading frame is a bona fide coding sequence of HTLV-III/LAV and that its product, a protein with a molecular weight of 23,000, induces antibody production in the natural course of infection.
TU-D-ValA-05: Self-Correction of DMLC Delivery Errors Based On Feedback From On Flight Intensity Calculations

Purpose: To deliver DMLC intensity modulated therapy accurately in the presence of errors related to unaccounted target motion, improperly executed motions of leaves and imprecise control of beam intensity rate during delivery.Method and Materials: The intensity delivered to each target point is calculated on‐the‐fly under the assumption of unidirectional leaf motion in the target frame of reference. The delivered intensity is then compared to the intended intensity. If a discrepancy arises, the leading leaf's trajectory is left unchanged and the following leaf's trajectory is modified to correct the error. Using the derived formulas, the following leaf is sped up or slowed down so that it efficiently corrects the error without unnecessarily compromising the delivered intensity to other points of the target. The formulas only consider the discrepancy between the delivered and intended intensity. They are not directly dependent on the actual and intended leaf positions as a function of time. This means that the leaves will not, in general, return to their originally planned trajectories. After correction is complete however, the correct intensity will be delivered to the rest of the target. Results: Two representative examples of self‐correction are shown. The first uses a static target, and shows how an intensity error due to an unintended leaf velocity can be corrected. The second shows a similar error, but instead uses a rigid moving target. Conclusions: An algorithm is developed to modify the following leaf trajectory when a discrepancy between the delivered and intended intensity arises. The results show that it is feasible to correct some errors in DMLC delivery without interrupting delivery. The tolerance for errors can therefore be set much higher than current control algorithms. This should lead to considerably decreased number of beam interruptions at delivery.
Anticipatory grief and postdeath adjustment

Abstract College students (N = 224) described their adjustment to the death of a signaficant other and identified whether they had anticipated the death for I week or longer (anticipation group) or less than I week (unanticipated comparison group). The anticipation group reported better postdeath adjustment than the comparison group in terms of occurrence and frequency of grief-related symptoms, acceptance of the death, and perceived helpfulness and harmfulness of anticipation. Within the anticipation group, length of anticipation appeared to have little relationship to postdeath adjustment. While reported social support was unrelated to the apparent benefit of anticipation, the age ofthe person who had died was significantly associated with both anticipation and postdeath adjustment.
Personality traits affecting vocational rehabilitation success in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Item analysis of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory responses of 147 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease produced 48 items associated with three levels of post-hospital vocational adjustment, and with death. A subgroup of vocational rehabilitation candidates provided insights to the psychological processes underlying successful outcome. Those who worked more than six months following hospitalization were more gregarious and used more denial than other patients. Those who did not work at all were more anxious and had lower self-confidence. Patients who died within a year had shown a charitable philosophical orientation'.
Toward Understanding Amino Acid Adsorption at Metallic Interfaces: A Density Functional Theory Study

In examining adsorption of a few selected single amino acids on Au and Pd cluster models by density functional theory calculations, we have shown that specific side-chain binding affinity to the surface may occur because of a combination of effects, including charge transfer. Larger binding was calculated at the Pd interface. In addition, the interplay between amino acid solvation and adsorption at the interface was considered from first principles. This analysis serves as the first step toward gaining a more accurate understanding of specific interactions at the interface of biological−metal nanostructures than has been attempted in the past.
Density stratification effects on wake vortex decay

Etude experimentale dans un domaine de stratification frequemment rencontre dans l'atmosphere
Improving the accuracy of history-based branch prediction

In this paper, we present mechanisms that improve the accuracy and performance of history-based branch prediction. By studying the characteristics of the decision structures present in high-level languages, two mechanisms are proposed that reduce the number of wrong predictions made by a branch target buffer (BTB). Execution-driven modeling is used to evaluate the improvement in branch prediction accuracy, as well as the reduction in overall program execution.
The utility of frozen section evaluation for follicular thyroid lesions.

Background Because fine-needle aspiration cannot reliably discriminate between benign and malignant follicular thyroid lesions, some surgeons use intraoperative frozen section (FS) to guide operative management. To determine the utility of FS for these lesions, we reviewed our institutional experience.
A fast genetic algorithm to fully characterize transparent-film-absorbing-substrate systems using ellipsometry

We show that only one measurement of the ellipsometric function ρ at one angle of incidence and one wavelength is totally sufficient to determine the optical constant of the film N 1 , its thickness d , and the substrate optical constant N 2 . Obviously, it's also sufficient to only characterize the film; determine N 1 and d , and to only characterize the substrate; determine N 2 and d . A genetic algorithm (GA) is presented that is based on a physical condition of the film-substrate system. This GA is used to characterize the system in those three separate cases. We show that by removing the film thickness from the fitness function of the GA, the computational effort to characterize the film is reduced from 20 000 to 69 calculations. And that to characterize an absorbing layer is reduced from 80 000 to 180. An error analysis is presented that shows the GA is resilient to random experimental errors.
Erythroid DAMPs drive inflammation in SCD.

In this issue of Blood , Chen et al show that heme is released during erythrocyte hemolysis in sickle cell disease, activating the innate immune response and triggering the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to promote lung injury.[1][1] ![Figure][2] Hemolysis releases
Gating of auditory P50 in schizophrenics: unique effects of clozapine.

Schizophrenic patients have a deficit in the ability to filter sensory stimuli, which can be demonstrated in several psychophysiological paradigms. For example, most unmedicated schizophrenic subjects fail to decrement the P50 auditory evoked response to the second of paired stimuli, when the interstimulus interval is 500 msec. This sensory gating deficit persists in schizophrenics treated with typical antipsychotics, even if they show significant clinical improvement. When the interstimulus interval is 100 msec, most schizophrenics exhibit impaired gating while acutely ill, but normalize with treatment. Clozapine, the prototypic atypical antipsychotic medication, is clinically more effective than conventional neuroleptics in a significant proportion of schizophrenics refractory to other drug treatment. Nine schizophrenic subjects who were refractory to conventional neuroleptic treatment were studied while being treated with typical neuroleptics and then restudied after 1 month's treatment with clozapine. In the six clozapine responders, there was significant improvement of P50 gating at the 500 msec interval. At the 100 msec interval there was an inverse relationship between sensory gating of P50 and clozapine dose, independent of clinical response. Thus, although this can only be considered preliminary data because of the small numbers of subjects, it appears that clozapine, compared to typical neuroleptics, has distinct effects on P50 gating.
Application of Life Cycle Thinking in Multidisciplinary Multistakeholder Contexts for Cross-Sectoral Planning and Implementation of Sustainable Development Projects

Abstract Development planning and implementation is a multifaceted and multiscale task mainly because of the involvement of multiple stakeholders across sectors and disciplines. Even though top-down sectoral planning is commonly practiced, bottom-up cross-sectoral planning involving all relevant stakeholders in a transdisciplinary learning environment has been recognized as a better option, especially if the goal is to drive development projects toward sustainable implementation (Rowe and Fudge 2003; Muller et al. 2005; Global Development Research Center 2008). Even though many planning approaches have this goal, there are limited decision frameworks that are suitable for achieving consensus among stakeholders from multiple disciplines with sectoral objectives and priorities. In most instances, the upstream and downstream effects of development decisions are not thoroughly investigated or communicated with the relevant stakeholders, strongly affecting cross-sectoral integration in the real world (Wiek, Br...
A jump-start to classes: Using self-assessments

Learning principles have long identified the need to stimulate and engage students as an integral process of successful teaching (http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/ principles/learning.html; http://www.promiseofplace.org/ research_attachments/GAPTL.pdf), but not all of us are prepared or comfortable with the increasing expectations of academic edutainment. In addition, our audiences continue to change, and the expectations of being a “good teacher” seem to grow exponentially! I remember a time when having a good one-liner or an editorial cartoon (on an overhead transparency) was enough to bring in rave reviews...but no longer. Today, we are faced with integrating humor, animated PowerPoints, and YouTube videos just to convince our audience that we are current, capable, relevant, and worthy or their time and attention (I gave up on being seen as hip and cool several years ago!). But thank goodness for sleepless nights and a slew of Internet search engines, a veritable gold mine for educators is just waiting to be excavated. The use of topicor concept-specific self-assessments or trait/character/interest/and so forth assessments have proven to be a strategy that often peaks student interest and helps introduce a variety of course topics. Yes, I am talking about those inventories and mini tests that describe some personal attribute or peculiarity...like what your lipstick color reveals about your advocacy or what your choice of fruit uncovers about your work ethic. The use of these exploratory tests is meant to arouse interest and capture the imagination and not to be used for any formal learning assessment or evaluation. These are simply for fun and to heighten awareness and attention.
Characteristics of the Dark-Stable Multiline EPR Signal of Ca2+-Depleted Photosystem II

Photosystem II (PSII), which produces molecular oxygen using energy from light absorption, requires Ca2+ and Cl- ions as inorganic cofactors. PSII shows two electron paramagnetic resonance signals that have been associated with the depletion or disruption of Ca2+ at the catalytic Mn4Ca cluster: a dark-stable multiline signal from an S2 state that decays very slowly, and a broad metalloradical signal from an S2YZ state that is unable to proceed to higher oxidation states. The conditions for their formation were explored to help clarify how they are correlated. The dark-stable multiline signal was found to form in PSII prepared at pH 5.5 using itaconic acid buffer, a relative of citrate. The signal was very similar to the previously reported signal that is observed after EDTA treatment of PSII lacking the PsbP and PsbQ subunits. Both of these treatments, which employ Ca2+ chelators, also resulted in formation of the S2YZ signal when PSII was illuminated in the presence of an electron acceptor. Treatment of intact PSII with fluoride, which is a competitor of Cl- activation, resulted in formation of the S2YZ signal, but not the dark-stable multiline signal. Fluoride may also interfere with Ca2+ function as a result of the high stability of the CaF2 complex. These findings are examined in relation to the requirements of PSII for Ca2+ and Cl-. (Supported by UNCG Office of Research).
Topologic proofs of some combinatorial theorems

Abstract During the last 50 years several combinatorial theorems have been proved which have provided elegant proofs of a number of fundamental results in topology. These include Sperner's Lemma, Tucker's Lemma, and Kuhn's Cubical Sperner Lemma, which have been applied to the Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem, as well as a number of results involving antipodal properties of continuous mappings. In this paper the reverse process is used to find topologic proofs of several combinatorial results. In response to several questions raised by Kuhn, a proof of Sperner's Lemma from the Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem is given, as is a proof of Tucker's Lemma from a topologic non-existence theorem for certain continuous mappings of an n -ball to its boundary. In the final section, a new labeling theorem for the n -cube, which is equivalent to Tucker's Lemma, is presented, and is proved by using topologic methods.
A peridynamic formulation of pressure driven convective fluid transport in porous media

A general state-based peridynamic formulation is presented for convective single-phase flow of a liquid of small and constant compressibility in heterogeneous porous media. In addition to local fluid transport, possible anomalous diffusion due to non-local fluid transport is considered and simulated. The governing integral equations of the peridynamic formulation are computationally easier to solve in domains with discontinuities than the traditional conservation models containing spatial derivatives. A bond-based peridynamic formulation is also developed and demonstrated to be a special case of the state-based formulation. The non-local model does not assume continuity in the field variables, satisfies mass conservation over an arbitrary bounded body and approaches the corresponding local model as the non-local region goes to zero. The exact solution of the local model closely matches the non-local model for a classical two-dimensional flow problem with fluid sources and sinks and for both Neumann and Dirichlet boundary conditions. The model is shown to capture arbitrary flow discontinuities/heterogeneities without any fundamental changes to the model and with small incremental computational costs.
IL-10 attenuates IFN-α-activated STAT1 in the liver: involvement of SOCS2 and SOCS3

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) has been used in the treatment of viral hepatitis in interferon-α (IFN-α) non-responders while patients who have high levels of IL-10 are poorly responsive to IFN-α. The mechanism underlying such controversial functions of IL-10 remains unknown. Here we demonstrated that injection of IL-10 into mice attenuated IFN-α-induced signal transducer and activator transcription factor (STAT)1 tyrosine phosphorylation in the liver. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay demonstrated that mouse liver expressed high levels of IL-10 receptor 2 (IL-10R2) but low levels of IL-10R1. Injection of IL-10 into mice activated STAT3 but not STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation and induced suppressor of cytokine signal 2 (SOCS2), SOCS3, and cytokine-inducible SH2 protein (CIS) mRNA expression in the liver. Furthermore, overexpression of SOCS2 or SOCS3 inhibited IFN-α-induced reporter activity in hepatic cells. These findings suggest that IL-10 inhibits IFN-α-activated STAT1 in the liver, at least in part, by inducing SOCS2, SOCS3, and CIS expression, which may be responsible for the resistance of IFN-α therapy in patients who have high levels of IL-10 and recommends that IL-10 treatment for viral hepatitis should be cautious.
Psychophysical scales of the odor oiliness of homologous alcohols

In determining the relative oiliness of an alcohol, a category, a ratio estimation, and three magnitude scales were constructed from the observations of 12 Os who judged the oiliness of a C2-C10 series of homologous alcohols. Oiliness was found to be monotonicly increasing on [C2, C8], after which it declines, octanol being the oiliest. Ratio scales were stable and resemble power functions with exponents of 0.624 to 0.784 on this interval. The oiliness attribute has a short subjective range of 2.5/1, which is consistent with the tendency toward short ranges of olfactory attributes, generally. Oiliness across the series shows only slight evidence of being prothetic.
Chinese Herbal Therapy for the Treatment of Food Allergy

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used in China to treat various diseases for thousands of years. Given its reputed effectiveness, low cost, and favorable safety profile, TCM is attracting great interest in Western societies as a source of therapy for an array of illnesses, including allergies and asthma. Although food allergy has not been described in the TCM literature, a novel treatment for food allergy, named the food allergy herbal formula-2 (FAHF-2), was developed using TCM principles. Using a well-characterized murine model of peanut allergy, FAHF-2 has been shown to be highly effective in providing long-term protection against peanut-induced anaphylaxis, with a high safety margin. Phase 1 human trials have demonstrated the safety of FAHF-2 in food allergic individuals. Currently, a phase 2 trial examining efficacy of FAHF-2 is on-going. Other TCMs also show a potential for treating food allergies in preclinical studies.
The Cognitive Consumer Education Knowledge of Prospective Teachers: A National Assessment

A nationwide assessment of the cognitive consumer education knowledge of prospective teachers being trained for all academic disciplines included 84 institutions of higher education and provided usable data on 4,309 respondents. The sample scored less than sixty percent correct on the Test of Consumer Competencies. Prospective teachers were most knowledgeable in the areas of Recreation, Clothing, and The Individual in the Marketplace; they scored lowest in the areas of Taxes, Food, and Savings and Investment. Those majoring in Social Studies, History or Geography, Science, and Home Economics scored highest on the average while those majoring in Physical Education, Art and Music, and Special Education scored lowest. The prospective teachers who had completed a consumer education related course, approximately twelve percent of the total, scored higher than those who had not.
On M-methods in growth curve analysis with asymmetric errors

Abstract For the multivariate linear model, the joint asymptotic distribution of scale and coordinatewise M-estimators are obtained under rather general conditions. The main objective of this paper is to obtain these results without assuming any symmetry-like conditions on the error distribution. By centering the design matrix, a simple closed form expression is obtained for the covariance matrix of the estimators of regression and scale parameters. This simple form is useful for understanding the behaviour of these estimators. Test of linear hypotheses about slope parameters is also discussed.