cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Library Supported Open Access Funds: Criteria, Impact, and Viability

Abstract Objective – This study analyzes scholarly publications supported by library open access funds, including author demographics, journal trends, and article impact. It also identifies and summarizes open access fund criteria and viability. The goal is to better understand the sustainability of open access funds, as well as identify potential best practices for institutions with open access funds. Methods – Publication data was solicited from universities with open access (OA) funds, and supplemented with publication and author metrics, including Journal Impact Factor, Altmetric Attention Score, and author h-index. Additionally, data was collected from OA fund websites, including fund criteria and guidelines. Results – Library OA funds tend to support faculty in science and medical fields. Impact varied widely, especially between disciplines, but a limited measurement indicated an overall smaller relative impact of publications funded by library OA funds. Many open access funds operate using similar criteria related to author and publication eligibility, which seem to be largely successful at avoiding the funding of articles published in predatory journals. Conclusions – Libraries have successfully funded many publications using criteria that could constitute best practices in this area. However, institutions with OA funds may need to identify opportunities to increase support for high-impact publications, as well as consider the financial stability of these funds. Alternative models for OA support are discussed in the context of an ever-changing open access landscape.
SaIL: saliency-driven injection of ARIA landmarks

Navigating webpages with screen readers is a challenge even with recent improvements in screen reader technologies and the increased adoption of web standards for accessibility, namely ARIA. ARIA landmarks, an important aspect of ARIA, lets screen reader users access different sections of the webpage quickly, by enabling them to skip over blocks of irrelevant or redundant content. However, these landmarks are sporadically and inconsistently used by web developers, and in many cases, even absent in numerous web pages. Therefore, we propose SaIL, a scalable approach that automatically detects the important sections of a web page, and then injects ARIA landmarks into the corresponding HTML markup to facilitate quick access to these sections. The central concept underlying SaIL is visual saliency, which is determined using a state-of-the-art deep learning model that was trained on gaze-tracking data collected from sighted users in the context of web browsing. We present the findings of a pilot study that demonstrated the potential of SaIL in reducing both the time and effort spent in navigating webpages with screen readers.
Inherited biotin-responsive disorders

Abstract There are three inherited biotin-responsive inherited disorders, holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency, biotinidase deficiency, and biotin–thiamine-responsive basal ganglia disease. Most importantly, the symptoms of each disorder can be improved or prevented by early detection and treatment with pharmacological doses of biotin (more than 1 mg of biotin/day). Untreated, symptomatic individuals usually develop a variety of neurological symptoms, some of which are caused by secondary biotin deficiency or the accumulation of abnormal organic acids associated with multiple carboxylase deficiency. In one of these disorders, although biotin is beneficial, its actual function is still speculative. In addition, there are two single case reports of individuals with biotin-responsive disorders due to biotin-transport defects. This chapter will discuss these biotin-responsive disorders.
Case Brief :: European Court of Human Rights Rules Against Forcing Greek Muslim Minority to Follow Islamic Law

Student Editor Marzieh Tofighi Darian (SJD Candidate, Harvard Law School) summarizes the landmark case Molla Sali v. Greece (ECHR 2018).
The Sudden Switch to Online Teaching of an Upper-Level Experimental Physical Chemistry Course: Challenges and Solutions

This communication reports the curriculum changes and how they worked when an upper-level experimental physical chemistry course had to switch from face-to-face to online teaching within a matter o...
Stochastic gradient Langevin dynamics with adaptive drifts

We propose a class of adaptive stochastic gradient Markov chain Monte Carlo (SGMCMC) algorithms, where the drift function is adaptively adjusted according to the gradient of past samples to acceler...
Cirq robotic arm-assisted transpedicular instrumentation with intraoperative navigation: technical note and case series with 714 thoracolumbar screws

The Cirq is a surgeon-controlled robotic arm that provides a new technique for accurately placing transpedicular screws. This report aims to present a technical report and our experience with this new robotic arm combined with intraoperative navigation. Technique and workflow using the Cirq robotic arm with intraoperative navigation is described. A retrospective review was conducted of all patients undergoing elective open thoracic/lumbar fusion surgery by a single surgeon in the first year of using the novel Cirq robotic arm. Descriptive analysis of patient and operative variables was performed. A total of 84 patients underwent placement of a total 714 transpedicular screws using the Cirq robotic arm. Most (69.1%) underwent 3–6 level fusion procedures. Mean operative time was 198 min total and 28 min when adjusted per screw. There was a learning curve with operative time per screw decreasing from 32 to 25 min from the first to second half of cases (p = 0.057). There were no intraoperative screw revisions and 2.4% (2/84) required instrumentation revision and return to the operating room. The Cirq robotic arm is seamlessly incorporated into the workflow of a transpedicular fusion. Our experience with over 700 pedicle screw placements using the Cirq robot demonstrates efficacy and safety although further comparative studies are needed.
Mitral valve gradient after valve repair of degenerative regurgitation with restrictive annuloplasty

Abstract Backgrounds Outcomes of mitral valve repair have been well described for patients with degenerative regurgitation. The hemodynamic effects of repair have not been as well studied, however. We report hemodynamic outcomes in these patients. Methods We reviewed 1147 patients who underwent isolated mitral valve repair for degenerative mitral valve regurgitation between January 2004 and December 2013. Baseline characteristics included mean age 58.6 ± 13.4 years, male sex in 792 patients (69.1%), mean ejection fraction of 0.64 ± 0.07, and New York Heart Association class III/IV dyspnea in 215 patients (18.8%). Results Mitral valve repair involved the posterior leaflet in 764 patients (66.6%), anterior leaflet in 57 patients (5.0%), both leaflets in 260 patients (22.7%), and annuloplasty alone in 66 patients (5.8%). Among the patients who underwent posterior leaflet repair, 713 (93.3%) were treated with our standard technique of triangular leaflet resection/plication and repair with partial posterior band annuloplasty using an unmeasured 63-mm flexible band. Follow-up echocardiography data were obtained in 1138 survivors (99.4%) at 600 ± 880 days. Mild or less valve regurgitation was present at last follow-up in 1030 patients (90.5%). The mean mitral valve gradient was 3.1 ± 1.4 mm Hg in the operating room and 3.5 ± 1.6 mm Hg at the last follow-up (P Conclusions Mitral valve repair for degenerative regurgitation results in a small mitral valve gradient that appears to decrease with time after discharge.
Modest advances in survival for patients with colorectal-associated peritoneal carcinomatosis in the era of modern chemotherapy

Background The treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) has evolved rapidly over the last decade, with combination chemotherapy and targeted biologic agents leading to significant improvements in survival. Despite these advances, little is known about their effectiveness in CRC-associated peritoneal carcinomatosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes in patients with CRC-associated PC treated in the era of modern chemotherapy. Methods We retrospectively reviewed an institutional tumor database from 1996 to 2008. Survival data were evaluated for patients treated with PC before and after 2003. No patients before 2003 were treated with combination chemotherapy or biologic therapy. The modern chemotherapy group consisted of patients treated after 2003. Survival curves were estimated. Results Overall, 173 patients were identified. Median follow-up was 8.6 months. Median survival in the historic group (n = 91) was 8.9 months and 16.3 months in the modern chemotherapy group (n = 82) (P < 0.004). Age was the only significant covariate. The survival difference between the modern chemotherapy cohort and control cohort persisted after adjustment for age. In a subset of patients in the modern chemotherapy era group, for which treatment regimen could be definitively identified, survival was even greater—23.8 months. Conclusions Patients with CRC-associated PC treated with modern combination chemotherapy and biologic therapy have a significantly longer median survival compared to our historical cohort. Despite these improvements, outcomes still remain poor. Therapeutic adjuncts such as surgical cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in appropriately selected patients remain promising options to improve outcomes for patients with peritoneal-based disease. J. Surg. Oncol. 2013;107:307–311. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Tax Deductions and the Marginal Welfare Cost of Taxation

Recent work emphasizes the efficiency costs of tax deductions that distort the pattern of household spending. Using evidence on the sensitivity of taxable income to tax rates, this work suggests that the marginal welfare cost (MWC) of income taxes in the United States could be dramatically higher because of tax deductions, and might exceed unity. This paper develops an alternative approach for assessing the MWC using evidence on underlying parameters (e.g., labor supply elasticities, the demand elasticity for tax-favored goods). A MWC of around 0.3 to 0.5 seems more consistent with these parameter values, though this estimate is still significantly higher because of tax deductions.
Labeling of the beta gamma subunit complex of transducin with an environmentally sensitive cysteine reagent. Use of fluorescence spectroscopy to monitor transducin subunit interactions.

In this study, we have examined the interactions of the beta gamma subunit complex of the retinal GTP-binding protein transducin (beta gamma T) with its alpha subunit (alpha T) using fluorescence spectroscopic approaches. The beta gamma T subunit complex was covalently labeled with 2-(4'-maleimidylanilino)napthalene-6-sulfonic acid (MIANS), an environmentally sensitive fluorescent cysteine reagent. The formation of the MIANS beta gamma T complexes (two to five MIANS adducts per beta gamma T) resulted in 2-3-fold enhancements in the MIANS fluorescence, and 20-25-nm blue shifts in the fluorescence emission maxima, relative to the emission for identical concentrations of MIANS-labeled MIANS complexes. The addition of alpha T.GDP to these MIANS beta gamma T complexes resulted in an additional enhancement in the MIANS fluorescence (typically ranging from 20 to 40%) and a 5-10-nm blue shift in the wavelength for maximum emission. These fluorescence changes were specifically elicited by the GDP-bound form of alpha T and were not observed upon the addition of purified alpha T.guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S) complexes to the MIANS beta gamma T species. Conditions which resulted in the activation of the alpha T.GDP subunit (i.e. the addition of AlF4- or the addition of rhodopsin-containing vesicles and GTP gamma S) resulted in a reversal of the alpha T.GDP-induced enhancement of the MIANS beta gamma T fluorescence. Thus the MIANS beta gamma T fluorescence provided a spectroscopic monitor for transducin-subunit association and transducin-activation. Based on the results from studies using this spectroscopic read-out, it appears that the association of the alpha T.GDP species with the beta gamma T subunit complex to form the holotransducin molecule is rapid and does not limit the rate of the rhodopsin-stimulated activation of holotransducin. However, either the dissociation of the activated alpha T subunit from the beta gamma T complex, or a conformational change in beta gamma T which occurs as a result of the subunit dissociation event, appears to be slow relative to the G protein-subunit association event.
Kinematic redundancy resolution for two cooperating underwater vehicles with on-board manipulators

This paper studies the inverse kinematics problem for two underwater vehicles with on-board manipulators cooperating to carry a common rigid object. The coordinate frames are assigned to the system formed by the two underwater vehicle-manipulator mechanisms and the rigid load and a set of generalized coordinates are selected to describe the system configuration. The kinematic position and velocity relations are obtained. A kinematic model is formulated for the system to be used for solving the inverse kinematics problem. The pseudovelocities are introduced in order to incorporate the kinematic constraint equations into the kinematic velocity relations. A task-priority redundancy resolution technique is presented in which the kinematic redundancy is used to accomplish secondary tasks of the design choice.
LU decomposition on cell broadband engine: an empirical study to exploit heterogeneous chip multiprocessors

To meet the needs of high performance computing, the Cell Broadband Engine owns many features that differ from traditional processors, such as the large number of synergistic processor elements, large register files, the ability to hide main-storage latency with concurrent computation and DMA transfers. The exploitation of those features requires the programmer to carefully tailor programs and simutaneously deal with various performance factors, including locality, load balance, communication overhead, and multi-level parallelism. These factors, unfortunately, are dependent on each other; an optimization that enhances one factor may degrade another. This paper presents our experience on optimizing LU decomposition, one of the commonly used algebra kernels in scientific computing, on Cell Broadband Engine. The optimizations exploit task-level, data-level, and communication-level parallelism. We study the effects of different task distribution strategies, prefetch, and software cache, and explore the tradeoff among different performance factors, stressing the interactions between different optimizations. This work offers some insights in the optimizations on heterogenous multi-core processors, including the selection of programming models, considerations in task distribution, and the holistic perspective required in optimizations.
Information Politics in Dictatorships

Political science has made great progress in the study of nondemocratic regime survival in the past 15 years. Democratization is only one threat that such regimes face—indeed, most nondemocratic regimes are replaced by other dictators. How do regimes learn about the threats facing them? Cutting-edge research has pointed to elite institutions, such as legislatures and politburos, easing information problems among regime insiders. However, the ways that nondemocratic regimes gather information about local agent performance and society remain underexplored. Keywords: democratization; cutting-edge research; CCP regime; nondemocratic regime
On not throwing out the baby: planning the future of legal information

Legal information is undergoing a radical transformation. New information systems and formats appear regularly, and multinational conglomerates are becoming key players in the marketplace. In the midst of these developments, individuals and interest groups advocate fundamental changes to the way legal information is currently distributed and cited. One proposal, predicated on the notion that the law is a public good, is that the government should compile and distribute legal information to the public at low cost. According to this rationale, the government should replace private publishers as the primary distributor of legal information. Other commentators suggest modifying the citation system currently used to identify cases. At present, many courts require citation to a particular set of printed cases. Critics argue that this system gives official reporters and the West Publishing Company an unfair advantage over competitors. In response, some commentators propose a system of citation that does not refer to the products of specific vendors. This Essay argues that radical reformation is premature and would interfere with the normal operation of the market for legal information. The author suggests that, despite its limitations, the market rewards innovation, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness. As a result, the current system enables low-tech users to find information cheaply and quickly. The author suggests that attempts to prematurely dismantle the existing infrastructure should not be taken lightly; the public has a strong interest in reliable and accessible legal information. The Essay
Relation of borderline personality features to preincarceration HIV risk behaviors of jail inmates: Evidence for gender differences?

The present study explored the relationship between Borderline Personality (BPD) features and pre-incarceration HIV risk behaviors in a sample of 499 (70% male) jail inmates, as well as gender differences in these associations. Elevated levels of BPD symptomatology were present among male and female participants, though there was considerable variance observed in participants’ BPD symptoms and HIV risk behaviors. In the full sample, BPD features were positively associated with a variety of HIV risk behaviors, including injection drug use and frequency of unprotected sex with high risk partners and under high risk circumstances. Gender moderated only two relationships between BPD features and HIV risk behaviors, with a stronger association between BPD features and number of sexual partners, and BPD features and frequency of unprotected sex while under the influence of alcohol or drugs for women, relative to men. Taken together, these findings suggest that programs targeting HIV risk within correctional populations may benefit from considering the role of BPD features, particularly emotion regulation difficulties and impulsivity, in influencing HIV risk behaviors among both women and men.
Pneumatosis intestinalis and portal-venous gas: an unusual presentation of acute appendicitis.

SUMMARY Pneumatosis Intestinalis in association with portal venous gas is a very rare finding in children and young adults. When present, it is typically associated with bowel infarction and carries a poor prognosis. We present an extremely unusual case where imaging revealed extensive pneumatosis intestinalis and portal venous gas in a patient with acute appendicitis.
Orientation of Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) to Plant-Host Volatiles in a Novel Diffusion-Cage Olfactometer

A novel diffusion-cage olfactometer tested the responses of Anopheles gambiae Giles to plant volatiles. Green-leaf volatiles are often released from cut or injured plant tissue and may alter the headspace of plants used in olfactometer assays. The diffusion-cage olfactometer is designed for use with whole, intact plants, hence giving a more realistic behavioral assay. Its simple plastic construction, ease of assembly, and accommodation to whole plants makes it a useful tool for measuring mosquito orientation to plant volatiles within large enclosures. We compared its performance to that of the more commonly used T-tube wind-tunnel olfactometer, by testing the orientation of mosquitoes to volatiles of a few prevalent plants of eastern Africa reportedly utilized by An. gambiae for sugar: Parthenium hysterophorus (Asteraceae), Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae), Lantana camara (Verbenaceae), and Senna occidentalis (Fabaceae). Results indicate that the diffusion-cage olfactometer is an effective alternative to conventional wind-tunnel olfactometers, to test mosquito orientation to plant volatiles under seminatural conditions.
The Viscosity of Nine Binary and Two Ternary Mixtures of Gases at Low Density

In order to provide experimental material for a future test of the extended law of corresponding states formulated by Kestin, Ro, and Wakeham, we report here measurements of the viscosity of several binary and ternary mixtures of polyatomic gases with monatomic and polyatomic gases. All measurements were performed at atmospheric pressure from 25°C to 200, 600, or 700°C, as the case may be. Measurements were performed with the aid of an oscillating disk instrument, and the accuracy ranged from ±0.1% at 25°C to ±0.3% at 700°C. The systems covered, included CO2 with He, Ne, Ar, N2 CH4 with He, Ne, Ar, N2, CO2, and N2 Ar CO2 as well as CH4 N2 CO2. Um fur eine spatere Prufung des erweiterten Gesetzes der ubereinstimmenden Zustande in der Formulierung von Kestin, Ro und Wakeham experimentelles Material zu liefern, berichten wir hier uber Viskositatsmessungen an einigen binaren und ternaren Gemischen mehratomiger Gase mit ein- und mehratomigen Gasen. Alle Messungen wurden bei Atmospharendruck und im Temperaturbereich von 25°C bis 200 bzw. 600 oder 700°C durchgefuhrt. Zur Messung wurde die Methode der schwingenden Scheibe verwendet; die Mesgenauigkeit betrug zwischen ±0,1% bei 25 °C und ±0, 3% bei 700 °C. Zu den betrachteten Systemen gehoren die binaren Gemische von CO2 mit He, Ne, Ar, N2 und von CH4 mit He, Ne, Ar, N2, CO2 sowie die Systeme N2ArCO2 und CH4N2CO2.
The Precision of QSAR Methods For Estimating Intermedia Transfer Factors in Exposure Assessments

Abstract Dose assessments based on multimedia exposure models require intermedia-transfer factors (ITFs) as input. These factors relate contaminant concentrations in an environmental medium (the source medium such as air. water, or soil for which measurements are available) to the exposure medium (personal air, tap water, and food products) with which humans have contact. In this paper, I use QSAR as applied to partition coefficients between soil and plants, air and plants, and between animal diet and lipid tissues as case studies for characterizing the precision of ITF estimations. These partition coefficients form the basis of total dose models required for realistic exposure/risk assessments. The quantitative relationship between ITFs and chemical properties are developed along with the estimation errors associated with these relationships. Many of these correlations have large estimation errors that limit their reliability as applied in risk assessment. I examine factors that contribute to these estim...
“Because I Was Sick”: Seriously Ill Veterans' Perspectives on Reason for 30-Day Readmissions

Objectives To determine the perspectives of seriously ill individuals on reasons for 30-day hospital readmission. Design A prospective qualitative study was conducted employing individual interviews conducted at bedside. Setting Department of Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Participants Seriously ill individuals with heart failure or cancer receiving inpatient palliative care and readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of hospital discharge were recruited to participate. Nine were interviewed. Measurements A semistructured interview protocol was used to elicit participant perspectives on readmission causes. Results All participants were male and had a mean age of 70.1 ± 9.5. Participants were ethnically diverse (three African Americans, three Caucasians, three Hispanic or mixed ethnic background). Six lived alone, and four did not have caregiver support. Qualitative analysis of transcripts revealed three themes relating to reasons for hospital readmission: lack of caregiver support and motivation to provide self-care, acceptance of condition and desire for aggressive care, and access to care and poor quality of care. Conclusion Participants identified potentially avoidable reasons for hospital readmission as well as causes that require rethinking regarding how community support is targeted and delivered. Participant preference for aggressive care, inability to provide self-care, and lack of caregiver support suggest the need for new and innovative mechanisms to support seriously ill community-dwelling individuals.
Nutrient Contents of Raw and Cooked Cowpea Leaves

SEEDS OF COWPEA (Vigna unguicullata) cultivar MM4 obtained from Kenya were grown for their leaves as a vegetable. The mean crude protein contents of the leaves from the 1981 and 1982 seasons were 32.8 and 34.3% of total solids, respectively, and leaves were a particularly good source of minerals, including iron, calcium, phosphorus and zinc. Levels of vitamin C, total carotene, and free and total folacin were 410 mg, 57 mg, 334 meg and 2012 meg, respectively, per 100g of solids. Freshly harvested leaves cooked by a traditional Kenyan technique retained 88% of their crude protein and substantial quantities of minerals. Losses in vitamin C and free and total folacin were 87%, 49% and 66% while their recoveries in the cooking water were 5.6%, 20% and 12%, respectively. Carotene in the cooked leaf solids increased slightly. Comparisons with other leafy vegetables indicate good potential for processing.
Expression of plasminogen activator enzymes in psoriatic epidermis.

The plasminogen activators, tissue type and urokinase type (tPA and uPA, respectively) have been identified in human skin under normal conditions and in various inflammatory dermatoses, including psoriasis. By Northern blot analyses, mRNA for uPA, but not for tPA, has been previously identified in epidermal extracts from normal skin, whereas in psoriasis, mRNA for tPA is readily detected. To further characterize uPA and tPA expression in psoriasis, the localization of uPA and tPA mRNAs was evaluated by in situ hybridization. Studies were conducted using lesional and nonlesional skin of patients with psoriasis as well as normal skin. Additionally, in situ zymography using casein gel overlays was utilized to assess enzymatic activity. In psoriatic Iesional skin, both uPA and tPA mRNAs were demonstrated by in situ hybridization. Message for tPA was observed throughout the epidermis with areas of accentuation in the superficial stratum spinosum. Message for uPA was more focal and was localized primarily in the basal layer. Zymography showed tPA activity was coordinately increased in psoriatic lesions. Uninvolved skin of psoriatic patients was similar to that of normal skin with respect to expression of plasminogen activators. In normal epidermis, neither tPA nor uPA mRNA could be detected by in situ hybridization. Activity for uPA, but not tPA, was observed by zymography. These studies suggest that alterations in plasminogen activators expression may contribute to the pathogenesis of psoriasis.
Hypertrophy and hyperplasia of adult chicken anterior latissimus dorsi muscles following stretch with and without denervation.

Abstract In the anterior latissimus dorsi muscle of the chicken hypertrophy was obtained by stretching, whether the muscle was innervated or not. The teres minor muscle, which was stretched at the same time, also hypertrophied; the posterior latissimus dorsi muscle, consisting of red and white fibers, did not change significantly in weight, but its position in the body is such that it was not stretched adequately. The rate of certain histological changes which accompany hypertrophy keeps pace with the rate of the hypertrophy. These changes include enlargement of nuclei, nuclear proliferation, and invasion with subsequent splitting of the units producing fibers of varying diameters. ATPase differentiation of fibers weakens when hypertrophy exceeds 35–40%, producing muscle fibers exhibiting, in general, a homochromatic, light ATPase response. The amount of hypertrophy and hyperplasia is proportional to the degree of stretch. Excluding an increase caused by fibers splitting, fiber counts of complete cross sections of anterior latissimus dorsi muscles taken at intervals after the onset of stretch showed a steady increase in the total number of fibers. This began promptly under extensive stretch, much later under mild stretch. The presence of new fibers appeared to be a function of both time and the amount of hypertrophy; the degree of hypertrophy had to be at least 70%. The increase in total fibers lagged behind the number of small fibers interpreted as “new.” The fate of many of the new fibers is not known but a sufficient number matured in the 8 wk of the experiment to produce the increase in total number.
Structural Characterization of Amyloids Comprised of Anchorless Prion Proteins

Prion diseases are fatal, neurodegenerative diseases that afflict sheep, cows, and humans. The key event in prion diseases is the conversion of the α-helical, cellular isoform of the prion protein (PrPC) to an insoluble, β-sheet-rich, infectious isoform (PrPSc). Host-encoded PrPC is anchored to the cell membrane by a glycosylphosphatidyl inositol (GPI) anchor and converts to GPI-anchored PrPSc during prion infection. Here we describe prion infection in transgenic mice (Tg8015) that lack the signal sequence for attachment of the GPI anchor and therefore express non-anchored, free-floating, PrPC (ΔGPI-PrP). The lack of the GPI anchor leads to incomplete modification of PrP, resulting in an unglycosylated molecule. Therefore, Tg8015 mice produce unglycosylated ΔGPI-PrPSc upon infection with the Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML) prion strain. These mice did not show clinical signs of disease until >300 days post-infection (dpi), but their brains harbored ΔGPI-PrPSc and macroscopic amyloid deposits. In contrast, RML infection of wild-type (wt) mice resulted in clinical signs of disease within 120 dpi but no macroscopic amyloid formation. ΔGPI-PrPSc and wt PrPSc in the brains of Tg8015 and wt mice, respectively, were purified by two different protocols, both involving N-terminal truncation by proteinase K. The resulting, highly concentrated ΔGPI-PrP 27-30 and wt PrP 27-30 preparations were analyzed and compared by negative-stain electron microscopy to characterize possible differences in fibril morphology. Additional analyses were performed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray fiber diffraction to compare the structures of ΔGPI-PrP 27-30 amyloid and wt PrP 27-30 amyloid preparations. Additionally, we tested whether ΔGPI-PrPSc could self-propagate in vitro by evaluating its seeding capacity in a prion-specific amyloid seeding assay and examined its biological activity in vivo using mouse-based bioassays.
Fluorine-19 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of Atrazine in Humic and Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Micelles Swollen by Polar and Nonpolar Solvents

Though sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and humic micellar solutions both solubilize atrazine, the behavior of atrazine in humic micellar solutions differs markedly from SDS micellar solutions, in both...
Quark masses and mixing in a supersymmetric left-right model with singlet quark

Recently, del Aguila, Kane and Quiro´s (dAKQ) have proposed an ansatz for the structure of the quark mass matrices. They assume that the quark mass eigenstates coincide with the weak-interaction eigenstates in the absence of mixing of the down-type quarks with a new vector-like singlet quark. In this paper we present a supersymmetric model which provides a natural realization of this ansatz. The model, based on a left-right gauge group, does not require any horizontal symmetry and leads to quark mass matrices more restrictive than the dAKQ ansatz. The resulting phenomenology is also discussed. We obtain upper limits on the masses of the top quark and the singlet quark D: m top m D
Glassy State in Bacterial Spores Predicted by Polymer Glass-Transition Theory

Polymer glass-transition theory was used to gain information about a possible general mechanism to explain the high heat resistance of bacterial spores. In a glassy state the configuration of vital macrom-olecules and supramolecular assemblies in the spore protoplast would change extremely slowly when heated. The temperature dependence for heat inactivation rates above the glass-transition temperature was shown to be free-volume dependent and described by the kinetics commonly observed for glassy polymers. Glass-transition temperatures for various spores, predicted by nonlinear regression analysis of their heat inactivation rates at different temperatures, increased with increasing heat resistance as expected.
A three-year longitudinal assessment of changes in office activities following the introduction of microcomputers into a multinational bank.

Abstract A longitudinal assessment of the introduction of new office technologies into a multinational bank was conducted using both task diaries and semi-structured interviews. Task diaries were administered prior to the introduction of microcomputers, several months after the introduction and several years later. Semi-structured interviews were completed after the second task diary. The assessment provides evidence of how offices adapt to changing electronic tookits. The asssessment provides ergonomists with a usable list of taks activities and the effects on task variability of the adoption of microcomputers into the work routine. It shows that when support staff are asked to use a new computer they must choose what other tasks to cut back on, which has consequences for the overall work process. Overtime increased 170% after the introduction of the computer. In a culture where professional staff have high expectations of support staff this has consequences for working relationships in terms of perceptions of the computer's utility. Support staff and professional staff differ in perceptions of control, time-saving and ability to make corrections. The assessment demonstrates the importance of multiple measurement instruments in tracking the effects of technological change on the work process. In conclusion, it is noted that the introduction of new technologies into the office must be considered in the broader office context to avoid the unintended consequences often reported in other case studies.
Slope measurements using multiplexed diffraction gratings as shearing components in interferometry

Utilisation des reseaux de diffraction a exposition multiple, en particulier les reseaux de phase utilises en interferometrie a cisaillement a speckle
Frequency of coronary artery disease in patients undergoing peripheral artery disease surgery

The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) varies widely in published reports. This is likely due at least in part to significant differences in how PAD and CAD were both defined and diagnosed. In this report, the investigators describe 78 patients with PAD who underwent preoperative coronary angiography before elective peripheral revascularization and provide a review of published case series. Among the patients included, the number with concomitant CAD varied from 55% in those with lower-extremity stenoses to as high as 80% in those with carotid artery disease. The number of coronary arteries narrowed by ≥50% was 1 in 28%, 2 in 24%, and 3 in 19%; 28% did not have any angiographic evidence of CAD. The review of published research resulted in the identification of 19 case series in which a total of 3,969 patients underwent preoperative coronary angiography before elective PAD surgery; in the 2,687 who were described according to the location of the PAD, 55% had ≥1 epicardial coronary artery with ≥70% diameter narrowing. The highest prevalence of concomitant CAD was in patients with severe carotid artery disease (64%). In conclusion, despite sharing similar risk factors, the prevalence of obstructive CAD in patients with PAD ranges widely and appears to differ across PAD locations. Thus, the decision to perform coronary angiography should be based on indications independent of the planned PAD surgery.
Influence of Temperature, Relative Humidity, Ascospore Concentration, and Length of Drying of Colonized Dry Bean Flowers on White Mold Development

ABSTRACT Growth chamber studies were conducted using rehydrated dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) flowers (RDBF) to assess the influence of temperature (18 and 22°C), relative humidity (RH; 25 and 90%), and ascospore concentrations (102, 103, and 104 ascospores/ml) on white mold incidence in dry bean. Additional studies were carried out to determine the influence of inoculum type (ascospore and mycelium) and to estimate the effect of duration of drying of colonized RDBF on viability of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and white mold incidence. There was a linear increase in white mold incidence with increase in ascospore concentration but neither temperature nor RH levels significantly affected disease development. In the inoculum type study, both temperature and RH levels significantly affected white mold incidence; however, neither ascospore nor mycelial inocula had a significant effect on white mold incidence. Drying colonized RDBF for up to 96 h did not affect S. sclerotiorum viability; but the amount of white mo...
Psychological services: From the school staff's point of view

Gradually public school programs have tended to broaden their scope of responsibility to include, in addition to academic growth, a deeper concern for the individual's personal and emotional development (Wrenn, 1962). Reflecting this trend, in 1957 the Lucas County Board of Education (Ohio) with the financial assistance of the Ohio School Foundation Program, employed its first school psychologist and initiated a program of psychological services in the county school district. The Ohio training and celtification requirements for school psychologists have, for the most part, formed the general framework in which this service has developed. A psychologist was seen as one who conducts individual diagnostic evaluations, studies the results obtained, and then assists appropriate school personnel and parents in the formulation of educational and environmental plans to aid the child. During its seven years of operation, the orientation of psychological services has remained relatively unchanged, although the amount of service to the districts has increased. The staff has reported to the school on request and has maintained no administrative authority. The school psychologist has worked on a consultative basis, to provide information to the teacher to strengthen the role she plays in the education of the children. The ultimate responsibility for carrying out therapeutic plans within the school setting, however, rested with the pupil's teacher, principal, and counselor. With an assignment of .this type, the school psychologist's effectiveness depended upon his ability, not only to facilitate the adjustment and growth of the individual child through the use of psycho-diagnostic techniques, but also upon his skill in impressing the school staff with the import of this knowledge and judgment in relation to understanding children and their management. If so much depends on the voluntary cooperation of the school staff in carrying out the recommendations of the psychologist, their attitude toward the service can, in effect, predetermine the effectiveness of that aspect of the program. The views of Combs and Snygg (1959) are reflectedhere, i n that the teacher's opinion of the service is, for all intents and purposes, what that teacher feels is real--not necessarily what others might identify as being the actual situation. Evaluations of the effectiveness of psychological services, if limited to a review by central staff members or by self-
Tetraethylammonium potentiates the activity of muscarinic potassium channels in guinea-pig atrial myocytes

The modulation of native muscarinic potassium channels (KACh) by tetraethylammonium (TEA) was studied at 35 degrees C in cell-free patches from acutely dissociated guinea-pig atrial myocytes. The channels were identified unambiguously by their conductance, inward rectification, rapid gating kinetics and pharmacological responses to muscarinic agonists and GTPgammaS. Addition of 5 mM TEA to the cytoplasmic side of the patches almost doubled the open probability of KACh channels that had been activated maximally by GTPgammaS. In contrast even 30 mM TEA did not significantly potentiate the response to carbachol in whole-cell recordings. Unlike GTPgammaS, TEA alone did not activate KACh channels de novo, but in patches that showed spontaneous KACh activity, 5 mM TEA increased channel open probability fourfold in the absence of added sodium, ATP or guanine nucleotides. Furthermore, the effect of TEA was not blocked by 10 uM atropine or by 1 mM GDPbetaS, and subsequent addition of 0.1 mM GTPgammaS did not stimulate channel activity further in the presence of TEA. Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) also stimulates KACh channels under these conditions, but the kinetics of gating differ from channels stimulated by either TEA or GTP, which are very similar to one another. The effects of TEA were not mimicked by tetramethyl- or tetrapentylammonium or by sodium or spermine, and TEA did not potentiate the activity of other inwardly rectifying potassium (KATP) channels in patches from cardiac myocytes. We consider the possibility that TEA is mimicking the effect of an unidentified cellular factor, not sodium or PIP2, which normally occupies the TEA site on KACh channel proteins but which diffuses away when the patch is excised.
On asymptotic non-normal null distributions for locally most powerful rank test statistics

For probability densities not necessarily possessing finite Fisher information, an extended class of locally most powerful rank tests ‘LMPRT’ is considered. This class of LMPRT is partitioned into three disjoint subsets, characterized respectively by ‘i’ being asymptotically most powerful for «Pitman-type sequences of’ local ‘contiguous’ alternatives «AMPLA» and having asymptotically a normal null distribution ‘ANND» of the test statistic, ‘ii’ not necessarily being AMPLA, but having the ANND property, and ‘iii’ not necessarily being AMPLA and having asymptotically a non-normal null distribution of the test statistic. The current study focuses on the existence of the asymptotic null distributions of all these LMPRT statistics. In addition, an alternative distribution is suggested for inferences based on the LMPRT statistics of case ‘iii’
Designing a Robust Activity Recognition Framework for Health and Exergaming Using Wearable Sensors

Detecting human activity independent of intensity is essential in many applications, primarily in calculating metabolic equivalent rates and extracting human context awareness. Many classifiers that train on an activity at a subset of intensity levels fail to recognize the same activity at other intensity levels. This demonstrates weakness in the underlying classification method. Training a classifier for an activity at every intensity level is also not practical. In this paper, we tackle a novel intensity-independent activity recognition problem where the class labels exhibit large variability, the data are of high dimensionality, and clustering algorithms are necessary. We propose a new robust stochastic approximation framework for enhanced classification of such data. Experiments are reported using two clustering techniques, K-Means and Gaussian Mixture Models. The stochastic approximation algorithm consistently outperforms other well-known classification schemes which validate the use of our proposed clustered data representation. We verify the motivation of our framework in two applications that benefit from intensity-independent activity recognition. The first application shows how our framework can be used to enhance energy expenditure calculations. The second application is a novel exergaming environment aimed at using games to reward physical activity performed throughout the day, to encourage a healthy lifestyle.
Women's surnames and titles: Men's and women's views

This study extended research on women's surname choices and terms of address. Account of unmarried women and men were examined to identify factors and dialectical tensions in their reasoning about married women's surnames. Preferences for and meanings of women's titles, surname preferences for children, and perceptions concerning commitment and love were ascertained. Sex differences were found in the rationales for surname choice. Men and women preferred women and children to adopt male surnames and preferred married women use the title of Mrs. Men and women associated differing meanings with titles of Mrs. and Ms. Finally, men were more likely than women to associate a woman's surname choice with her love for, and commitment to, her partner.
A Longitudinal Study of Childhood Depression and Anxiety in Relation to Weight Gain

Adult mood disturbances are highly correlated with obesity, although little is known about the developmental relationship between mood disorders and weight. This study investigated the relationship between childhood psychopathology and weight over the course of 3 years. Body Mass Index (BMI) percentiles and demographic data of children (ages 8-18) with depression (n = 143) or anxiety (n = 43) were compared to healthy controls (n = 99). Both childhood depression (chi(2) = 4.6, p = 0.03) and anxiety (chi(2) = 6.0, p = 0.01) were associated with increased BMI percentiles. Compared to controls, BMI percentiles of depressed females over the course of the study differed profoundly (chi(2) = 7.0, p = 0.01) and BMI percentiles of anxious females approached significance (chi(2) = 3.7, p = 0.06). Males with anxiety showed a greater trend towards overweight (chi(2) = 3.3, p = 0.07) in comparison to controls. The major finding that depression and anxiety are associated with increased BMI percentiles in a non-obese sample suggests that childhood psychopathology is an important factor that should be carefully monitored.
A Multi-Attribute Utility Theory-Based Approach to Product Line Consolidation and Selection

Concept selection, an important step in the product design process, can also be used when redesigning or consolidating an existing product line for the purpose of effectively selecting a set of products that satisfies customer demands while increasing profits. If product line consolidation is not done properly, it can lead to unsuccessful platforms and ineffective family architectures that yield products that fail to satisfy customer demands. Accordingly, this paper presents a method that facilitates the consolidation of an existing product line using multi-attribute utility theory. The method helps select the subset of products to manufacture based on criteria at the (1) product level (e.g., costs and profits) and (2) product family-level (e.g., component reuse, variety, commonality, market coverage). The application of the proposed method is demonstrated using an existing line of staplers. The resulting decision, namely, the subset of products recommended by the proposed method, would substantially increase profits while minimizing product proliferation and still maintain good market coverage if the decision were implemented.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Incorporating metacognition into learning

Metacognition refers to one's knowledge about one's cognitive processes, and is often associated with intelligence. Students who have good metacognition skills typically perform better in their cognitive tasks. For the Fall and Winter semesters in 2011-12, we incorporated metacognition into our computer science courses (both undergraduate and graduate level courses), so that the student becomes more aware of his/her own understanding of the various topics of the course. In this paper, we describe how we incorporated metacognition into our courses, and present results from our analysis of the data that we have gathered over the various courses.