cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Functional Movement Screen and a Novel Basketball Mobility Test as an Injury Prediction Tool for Collegiate Basketball Players.

Bond, CW, Dorman, JC, Odney, TO, Roggenbuck, SJ, Young, SW, and Munce, TA. Evaluation of the functional movement screen and a novel basketball mobility test as an injury prediction tool for collegiate basketball players. J Strength Cond Res 33(6): 1590-1601, 2019-Identifying injury risk and implementing preventive measures can assist in reducing injury occurrence and may ultimately improve athletic performance. Improper movement patterns often contribute to musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries. The validity of the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) as an injury prediction tool for athletes remains unclear. We designed the Basketball-Specific Mobility Test (BMT) to represent the neuromuscular demands of basketball and identify deficiencies that may be indicative of greater MSK injury risk while playing this sport. The aim of this study was to examine the association of FMS and BMT scores with injury occurrence in collegiate basketball players. We hypothesized that the BMT would be a better predictor of injury risk than the FMS, and that scores from both tests would have a higher association with severe MSK injuries than minor, non-MSK injuries. One-hundred nineteen male and female collegiate basketball players from 4 Upper Midwest universities were assessed preseason (PRE) and postseason (POST) using the FMS and BMT. In-season injury records were collected from the schools' athletic trainers and were classified by type and severity. During the season, 56 of 119 players were injured, resulting in 96 total injuries. Injured athletes' PRE FMS scores demonstrated negligible effects compared with uninjured athletes' PRE scores (d 0.20). Although specificity of the FMS and BMT to predict injury was relatively high (FMS 85.7-87.6; BMT 42.0-88.0), sensitivity (FMS 14.2-22.7; BMT 11.6-39.1), odds ratios (FMS 1.00-2.08; BMT 0.47-1.06), and injury prediction capacities (area under the curve; FMS 0.43-0.49; BMT 0.49-0.59) of the tests were low. Although the FMS and BMT may be suitable for identifying MSK deficiencies, they do not accurately determine injury risk in collegiate basketball players. Injury risk assessments may be improved by targeting specific injury mechanisms and the conditions in which they occur.
Identifying and Separating Pandora Moth Outbreaks and Climate from A 1500-Year Ponderosa Pine Chronology from Central Oregon

Abstract We reconstruct pandora moth (Coloradia pandora Blake) outbreaks and climate from a 1572-year (435–2006 CE) ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) chronology from a lava flow in central Oregon. We took samples from 128 living trees and remnant logs and crossdated the samples using skeleton plots and COFECHA for quality control. After cutting out and removing those time periods from the chronology during which insects become the main limiting factor to growth, we examine the response of tree rings to climate. Evidence of species longevity (up to 877 years), presence of periodic pandora moth defoliations (13 total), and a significant relationship with the Palmer Drought Severity Index were observed (R2 = 0.34, p < 0.001). Suppressions related to pandora moth outbreaks were recorded back to 618 CE, with a mean return interval of 104 years. Previous-fall to current-spring PDSI was reconstructed over 1376 years (630–2006 CE), where the most prolonged drought periods were 1136–1166 CE and the ...
MEASUREMENT OF TRANSIENT CRACK TIP FIELDS USING THE COHERENT GRADIENT SENSOR

A shearing interferometric method (CGS) is used to study dynamic crack-tip fields in both transparent and opaque media. CGS is a full-field optical technique that provides real-time fringes representing crack-tip deformation or stress state. The results of the experiments are interpreted on the basis of a newly developed transient higher-order asymptotic analysis. The good agreement between the experimental results and the transient higher-order asymptotic analysis clearly indicates that the contribution of the non-singular terms to the total stress and deformation fields is significant.
CXR/CT IV

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) continues to be a devastating acute lung process with high short-term mortality and potential for significant long-term consequences. Ventilator strategies are keystone in the treatment of this disease, along with other supportive therapies as adjuncts. The ability to quickly diagnose this syndrome with clinical data, including chest X-ray and computed tomography, is crucial for prompt initiation of appropriate treatments that could positively affect outcome. In this chapter, we review the current evidence base for such therapies, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological. We emphasize lung protective ventilation, the concept of low plateau pressures and low tidal volumes, and the benefit of positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP).
Metabolic inhibitors elimiante the expansion of autoimmune follicular helper T cells but not that induced by T-dependent-immunization in lupus mice

The expansion of follicular helper CD4 T (Tfh) cells is tightly associated with disease severity in lupus patients, following multiple studies in various mouse models showing that they are necessary for the production of class-switched high-affinity pathogenic autoAbs. We have recently shown that both glycolysis and mitochondrial oxidative metabolism are elevated in CD4 T cells from lupus prone B6. Sle1.Sle2.Sle3 (TC) mice as compared to B6 controls, and that a treatment combining 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), which inhibits glucose metabolism, and metformin, which inhibits oxygen consumption, normalized lupus T cell functions in vitro and reverted disease. We have expanded these results to B6. lpr , BXSB. Yaa and NZB/WF1 models of lupus. Remarkably, the number and the frequency of Tfh cells was normalized in these 4 models of lupus treated with a combination of 2DG and metformin, corresponding to a drastic reduction of autoantibodies. Treatment of normal or lupus-prone mice with the same inhibitors had however little effect on the production of TD antibodies or the expansion of Tfh cells following immunization with a nominal antigen. This suggests that Tfh cells supporting the production of autoAbs are quantitatively or qualitatively different from Tfh cells providing protective humoral immunity against pathogens. Moreover, it suggests that autoimmune Tfh cells have higher metabolic requirements than the metabolically quiescent Tfh cells that have been recently described in TD-responses. Studies to characterize the specific metabolic requirements of autoimmune Tfh cells are ongoing. Overall, our results predict that targeting Tfh cellular metabolism provides an effective and safe therapeutic approach for systemic autoimmunity.
Sex, Lies, and Ultrasound

State-mandated falsehoods are rampant in the context of abortion regulation. State legislatures have required doctors, before performing abortions, to provide scientifically unsupported information to women, such as that having an abortion increases the risk of breast cancer, or that it has negative mental health effects. Given the lack of evidence to sustain these sorts of claims, it seems reasonable to refer to such statements as government-mandated lies. However, this article argues that government mandated lies in the abortion context are unique in several ways that make them unlikely to be found unconstitutional, despite the fact that they obviously hinder patients’ interest in access to information and to a constitutionally-protected procedure. Ultimately, this article concludes that the primary harm from governmental lies in the abortion context is a form of expressive injury. Analogizing to the harm caused by violations of the Establishment Clause or by racist speech, I argue that under the revised framework established by the Supreme Court in the 2016 case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, such expressive harms can and should be recognized as imposing an unconstitutional undue burden on the abortion right.
The Imperfect Solid—Transport Properties

Any discussion of imperfect solids must necessarily define both what is meant by a perfect solid and the various types of imperfections that are commonly encountered. A complete discussion of chemical and structural defects in solids has already been given in Chapter 5 of Volume 1. However, since transport properties are so dependent on imperfections and since we wish to discuss amorphous solids in detail, a brief outline of order and disorder is presented here.
Optimal BCG treatment of superficial bladder cancer as defined by American trials.

Immunotherapy provides an effective alternative approach to chemotherapy in the management of superficial bladder cancer. The first widely used immunotherapy, bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), eradicates residual tumour bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), eradicates residual tumour in one half of patients with carcinoma in situ. Unlike chemotherapy, induction of immunity against transitional cell carcinoma has the potential of protecting patients from tumours which have not yet developed. Controlled trials suggest that BCG immunotherapy reduces disease progression, decreases the need for cystectomy and prolongs survival. While the optimal BCG treatment schedule remains unknown and may in fact vary from one patient to another, data clearly suggest that a single 6-week induction course is suboptimal. In 150 randomized patients with CIS treated with 120 mg Connaught BCG, Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) investigators found that just 3 additional weekly treatments at week 12 increased complete response from 70 to 82% (p less than 0.05). Intravesical BCG is clearly superior to oral BCG, and controlled studies have demonstrated that percutaneous administration is not necessary. While evidence suggests that BCG is the best available treatment for superficial bladder cancer and 95% of patients have no significant toxicity, serious and even fatal toxicity can occur. Sepsis can occur with intravenous absorption and often appears to result from hypersensitivity. Limited clinical and animal model experience suggests that cycloserine improves survival over treatment with isoniazid and rifampicin, but optimal treatment of BCG sepsis is isoniazid 300 mg, rifampicin 600 mg, and prednisolone 40 mg daily.
Biomathematical modeling of pulsatile hormone secretion: a historical perspective.

Shortly after the recognition of the profound physiological significance of the pulsatile nature of hormone secretion, computer-based modeling techniques were introduced for the identification and characterization of such pulses. Whereas these earlier approaches defined perturbations in hormone concentration-time series, deconvolution procedures were subsequently employed to separate such pulses into their secretion event and clearance components. Stochastic differential equation modeling was also used to define basal and pulsatile hormone secretion. To assess the regulation of individual components within a hormone network, a method that quantitated approximate entropy within hormone concentration-times series was described. To define relationships within coupled hormone systems, methods including cross-correlation and cross-approximate entropy were utilized. To address some of the inherent limitations of these methods, modeling techniques with which to appraise the strength of feedback signaling between and among hormone-secreting components of a network have been developed. Techniques such as dynamic modeling have been utilized to reconstruct dose–response interactions between hormones within coupled systems. A logical extension of these advances will require the development of mathematical methods with which to approximate endocrine networks exhibiting multiple feedback interactions and subsequently reconstruct their parameters based on experimental data for the purpose of testing regulatory hypotheses and estimating alterations in hormone release control mechanisms.
Silicon Microphotonics: The Next Killer Technology

Silicon has become the most studied material in the history of civilization. As one of the most abundant elements on the earth’s crust, and as the basis of a $250B semiconductor industry, silicon has become more pervasive than steel in its affect on quality of life. Silicon integrated circuits have provided the computation capacity that created the Information Age. The technology underlying these circuits has progressed with the help of a Roadmap[1] that coordinates materials, processing and design for successive generations. The Roadmap has defined the technological limits to progress as process yield and as feature size shrink for the past two decades, respectively. For the next decade interconnection is likely to be the major challenge. Silicon microphotonics is a potential solution to the resistance and capacitance limitations of metal conductor interconnection. This paper discusses the advantages and barriers to implementation of an integrated optical interconnection technology from the chip to the network levels of the communications interconnection hierarchy.
Information Processing: Contrast Sensitivity

The retina adapts to mean intensity so that ganglion cells respond primarily to contrast or percent deviations from the mean. The ganglion cell receptive field represents a filter that determines the sensitivity to different spatiotemporal patterns of contrast. Human contrast sensitivity is explained by the combined sensitivities of multiple ganglion cell types (of ∼20 types in total); the sensitivity to certain temporal and spatial frequencies may be explained primarily by a small number of cell types. The contrast sensitivity of a ganglion cell is limited by the statistical properties of photon arrival and by physiological processes such as neurotransmitter release rates and synaptic convergence.
Effects of Education and Health Literacy on Postoperative Hospital Visits in Bariatric Surgery.

Abstract Background: Hospital readmissions following bariatric surgery are high and it is necessary to identify modifiable risk factors to minimize this postoperative cost. We hypothesize that lowe...
ON GRAPH CONVOLUTION FOR GRAPH CNNS

The graph convolutional layer is core in the architecture of graph convolutional neural networks (CNNs). In the literature, both spectrum domain based and vertex domain based graph convolutional layers have been proposed. This paper analyzes these two types of graph convolutional layers and demonstrates that the spectrum domain based graph convo-lutional layer suffers from output inconsistencies when the graph shift matrix has repeated eigenvalues. In contrast, the vertex domain based graph convolutional layer is output consistent and inherits the local feature extraction property of classical CNNs with low computational complexity. Experimental results on different data sets also demonstrate that vertex domain based graph CNNs exhibit better performance than existing methods for classification problems.
Partially Obstructed Longitudinal Vaginal Septum Presenting in Adulthood With Complaint of Urinary Incontinence.

Abstract A longitudinal vaginal septum can be obstructive or nonobstructive. We report on an adult woman who presented with involuntary fluid loss per vagina and had a partially obstructive longitudinal vaginal septum. A 36-year-old nulliparous female presented with malodorous, clear, leakage per vagina that she described as “urinary incontinence.” Examination revealed a fluid-filled fluctuant anterior vaginal wall with a draining sinus. Imaging revealed a solitary right kidney with duplicated ectopic fluid-filled ureters inserting into a partially obstructed left hemivagina with a longitudinal vaginal septum. A longitudinal vaginal septum may present in adulthood with the complaint of urinary incontinence.
Evaluation of a mindfulness-based stress management and nutrition education program for mothers

Background: Maternal stress is implicated in obesity and obesity-related chronic disease. This can have consequences for their children’s weight status and disease development. Interventions are ne...
An Illustrated Case for Unemployment Insurance Reform

We present a graphic case for unemployment insurance (UI) program reform. Through a series of illustrations summarizing historical trends, we show how the UI system has diverged from its intended purposes. Our figures show the decline of the program in addressing its essential aims of paying adequate unemployment compensation during involuntary unemployment and providing reemployment services. We illustrate the big differences in UI programs that have emerged because of the broad discretion afforded states to determine benefit generosity. We also illustrate declines in the financial means for providing benefits and reemployment services and a widening divergence among states in the quality of UI programs. Our concluding section presents a list of reforms that would restore UI as a pillar of social insurance and the labor market.
Testing the associations between climbers’ characteristics and motivations with various levels of self-determination

This study examined the association between rock climbers’ differences and SDT motivations. Past studies have investigated how the skills, experiences, and genders of individuals participating in a...
A Lattice Litany for Transition Metal Oxides

In this tribute to K Alex Muller, I describe how his early insights have influenced future decades of research on perovskite ferroelectrics and more broadly transition metal oxides (TMOs) and related quantum materials. I use his influence on my own research journey to discuss impacts in three areas: structural phase transitions, precursor structure, and quantum paraelectricity. I emphasize materials functionality in ground, metastable, and excited states arising from competitions among lattice, charge, and spin degrees of freedom, which results in highly tunable landscapes and complex networks of multiscale configurations controlling macroscopic functions. I discuss competitions between short- and long-range forces as particularly important in TMOs (and related materials classes) because of their localized and directional metal orbitals and the polarizable oxygen ions. I emphasize crucial consequences of elasticity and metal–oxygen charge transfer.
Abstract A33: Untapped biospecimens and novel mass spectrometry scanning techniques for DNA adductomics

A major impediment in the biomonitoring of DNA adducts is the lack of fresh-frozen biopsy samples available for biomarker research. However, archived formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues with a clinical diagnosis of disease are often accessible. We have established a method to fully unravel DNA crosslinks in FFPE specimens under mild conditions that preserve the structural integrity of DNA adducts. Our targeted, quantitative mass spectrometry measurements employing ion trap or high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry require less than ten micrograms of DNA with limits of quantification at three adducts per 109 nucleotides. We have successfully screened FFPE tissues of rodents exposed to tobacco and dietary carcinogens and reported adduct levels comparable to those of matching fresh-frozen tissues. Our technology has been employed to identify a DNA adduct of aristolochic acid, a potent urothelial carcinogen present in Chinese herbal medicines, in human FFPE kidney blocks stored at ambient temperature for up to nine years. The method also detected DNA adducts of the bladder carcinogen 4-aminobiphenyl in human FFPE bladder, and a DNA adduct of 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine, a heterocyclic aromatic amine formed in cooked meats and a potential prostate carcinogen, in FFPE prostate specimens of prostate cancer patients. Thus, the technology is versatile and can be employed to screen for DNA adducts formed with a wide range of environmental and dietary carcinogens. The ability to retrospectively analyze FFPE tissues for DNA adducts for which there is a clinical diagnosis of disease opens a previously untapped source of biospecimens for molecular epidemiology studies seeking the causal role of environmental chemicals in cancer etiology. With the recent improvements in the sensitivity and scanning rates of high-resolution MS instruments, such as quadrupole time-of-flight and Orbitrap MS detectors, it is now possible to screen for a wide array of DNA damage in the human genome using DNA adductomics approaches. We have adapted data-dependent and data-independent scanning techniques originated from proteomics and metabolomics to screen for DNA adducts of the genome. DNA adductomics is a new and developing technology for human exposure assessment. As the analytic technology matures and bioinformatics tools become available for analysis of the mass spectral data, DNA adductomics can advance our understanding of the role chemical exposures play in DNA damage and disease risk. Citation Format: Byeong Hwa Yun, Jingshu Guo, Scott Walmsley, Paari Murugan, Christopher J. Weight, Peter W. Villalta, Robert J. Turesky. Untapped biospecimens and novel mass spectrometry scanning techniques for DNA adductomics [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Environmental Carcinogenesis: Potential Pathway to Cancer Prevention; 2019 Jun 22-24; Charlotte, NC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2020;13(7 Suppl): Abstract nr A33.
The follow-up of the robotic-assisted Soave procedure for Hirschsprung's disease in children.

Robotic surgery offers three-dimensional visualization and precision of movement that could be of great value to gastrointestinal surgeons. There were many previous reports on robotic technology in performing Soave colonic resection and pull-through for Hirschsprung’s disease in children. This study described the follow-up of the Robotic-assisted Soave procedure for Hirschsprung’s disease in children. Robotic-assisted endorectal pull-through was performed using three robotic arms and an additional 5-mm trocar. The ganglionic and aganglionic segments were initially identified by seromuscular biopsies. The rest of the procedure was carried out according to the Soave procedure. We left a short rectal seromuscular sleeve of 1.5–2 cm above the dentate line. From December 2014 to December 2017, 55 pediatric patients were operated on. Age ranged from 6 months to 10 years old (median = 24.5 months). The aganglionic segment was located in the rectum (n = 38), the sigmoid colon (n = 13), and the left colon (n = 4). The mean total operative time was 93.2 ± 35 min (ranging from 80 to 180 min). Minimal blood was lost during the surgery. During the follow-up period, 41 patients (74.6%) had 1–2 defecations per day, 12 patients (21.8%) had 3–4 defecations per day, and 2 patients (3.6%) had more than 4 defecations per day. Fecal incontinence, enterocolitis, and mild soiling occurred in three (5.4%), four (7.3%), and two pediatric patients, respectively. Robotic-assisted Soave procedure for Hirschsprung’s disease in children is a safe and effective technique. However, a skilled robotic surgical team and procedural modifications are needed.
‘You should tell somebody’: An evaluation of a survivor stories blog project to motivate sexual assault victims:

Objective:Sexual assault victims often do not disclose their assaults or seek positive health outcomes. The RAINN Survivor Stories project shares testimonials in the form of online blogs from sexua...
Fundamentals of Biomechanics and Qualitative Movement Diagnosis

In ► Chaps. 1 and 2, we found that biomechanics provides tools that are needed to understand the causes of human motion and use that knowledge to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury. In order to facilitate the use of these biomechanical tools, this text will emphasize the qualitative understanding of mechanical Laws, concepts, and principles. Many chapters, however, will include several quantitative examples using the algebraic definitions of the mechanical variables being discussed. Mathematical formulas are the precise language of science (like biomechanics) needed to show the importance, interactions, and relationships between biomechanical variables. While more rigorous calculus forms of these equations provide the most accurate answers commonly used by scientists in biomechanics (Beer et al. 2018; Hamill Knutzen, and Derrick 2014; Ozkaya et al. 2017; Zatsiorsky 1998, 2002), the majority of kinesiology majors will benefit most from a qualitative understanding of these mechanical concepts. This chapter begins with key mechanical variables and terminology essential for introducing other biomechanical concepts. This chapter will emphasize the conceptual understanding of these mechanical variables and leave more detailed development and some quantitative examples for later in the text. Next, nine general principles of biomechanics are introduced that will be developed throughout the rest of the text. These principles use less technical language and are the theoretical tools for applying biomechanical knowledge in the qualitative diagnosis of human movement. The chapter concludes by summarizing a model of qualitative diagnosis (Knudson 2013) that illustrated application chapters of the book.
Suboptimal Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 Messenger RNA Vaccines in Patients With Hematologic Malignancies: A Need for Vigilance in the Postmasking Era

We measured severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 immunoglobulin G responses in 67 patients with hematological malignancies after 2 messenger RNA vaccine doses. Forty-six percent were nonresponders; patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia were at highest risk (77% nonresponders). Patients with hematological malignancies should continue wearing masks and socially distancing. Studies of revaccination, boosters, and humoral immune correlates of protection are needed.
Use of a computer model and care coaches to increase advance care planning conversations for patients with metastatic cancer.

8Background: Patients with metastatic cancer benefit from advance care planning (ACP) conversations. Despite initiatives which train providers to have ACP conversations using the serious illness ca...
Niche breadth, environmental landscape, and physical barriers: their importance as determinants of species distributions

Species distributions and their patterns in geographical space have been studied for several decades and explained by theories such as Janzen's, with respect to the nature of dispersal barriers in the Tropics, and Rapoport's, with respect to range size. However, the roles of specific environmental and geographical factors (e.g. ecological niche breadth, geographical barriers, etc.) in shaping species ranges and distributional patterns remain largely unexplored. The present study analyzed predictions from these two theories via analysis of virtual species with respect to biogeographical patterns: virtual species were created across South America, covering all major environments on the continent, and were used to compare effects of niche breadth, environmental availability, connectivity, seasonality, and the presence of known biogeographical barriers (rivers) in shaping species distributions and biodiversity patterns. Geographical ranges varied from narrow to broad, depending on the location of the seed point when comparing species produced with the same niche breadth. Analysis without consideration of seasonality and barriers produced species with broader distributions in the Tropics and narrower distributions in montane and temperate regions of the continent. When seasonality was included, however, broader ranges were concentrated in temperate regions, thus supporting Janzen's idea. Rapoport's rule of broader geographical ranges at higher latitudes was supported only when seasonality and physical barriers were included but not in species with very narrow or very broad niches, suggesting that this ‘rule’ results from interactions among niche breadth, dispersal capabilities, and dispersal barriers. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 108, 241–250.
Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics: From Fundamental Concepts to Governing Equations, by Ellad B. Tadmor, Ronald E. Miller and Ryan S. Elliott: Scope: textbook. Level: postgraduate, advanced undergraduate, early career researcher, teacher, scientist, engineers

Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics: From Fundamental Concepts to Governing Equations, by Ellad B. Tadmor, Ronald E. Miller and Ryan S. Elliott, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2012, 372 p...
Differentiability and regularity of Lipschitzian mappings

We introduce new differentiability properties of functions between Banach spaces and establish their relationships with graphical regularity of Lipschitzian single-valued and set-valued mappings. The proofs are based on advanced tools of nonsmooth variational analysis including new results on coderivative scalarization and normal cone calculus.
Improving embedded systems education: laboratory enhancements using programmable systems on chip

Programmable systems on chip provide powerful capabilities to designers, including reconfigurable logic as well as embedded processors. Such devices can enhance computer engineering education by exposing students to advanced technologies while streamlining the costs and time for laboratory preparation, maintenance, and pedagogy.
The assignment of call option rights between partners in international joint ventures

We examine call option rights as a contractual clause in international joint ventures (IJVs) and propose that the assignment of the call option right in an IJV is determined by certain ex ante asymmetries between the partners. Results show that between the two partners in an IJV, the firm with greater complementarity with the venture and greater prior IJV experience is more likely to hold the call option right; in addition, the firm's contractual choice on the call option right and its ownership choice on a greater initial equity stake are substitutive. Our focus on explicit call options advances the real options theory of collaborative agreements, and our results also highlight that option rights be considered an important part of alliance design. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Toward a more accurate regionalized life cycle inventory

Abstract Regionalization can improve the accuracy of life cycle assessment (LCA) results and make it more relevant for decision makers. There has been a growing body of regionalized LCA research, and in particular many regionalized life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) models have been developed. However, insufficient attention has been paid to regionalized life cycle inventory (LCI), the study of the geographic location and quantity of environmental emissions that occur throughout the life cycle of a product. Previous studies have often used a simplistic approach based on regional output percentages (ROP) to regionalize an LCI, but with little justification for the use of the approach or discussion of its limitations. This paper first reviews the ROP approach, analyzes its strengths and weaknesses, and in so doing demonstrates the importance of interregional commodity flows in compiling regionalized LCIs. Next, this paper discusses ways in which LCIs can be more accurately regionalized. Incorporating the multiregional Input–Output (MRIO) models that are widely used in the Input–Output Analysis (IOA) literature, even when there are limited data on interregional commodity flows, can improve the accuracy of regionalized LCI results as derived by the ROP approach. Also discussed are circumstances in which the ROP approach can be used to compile a relatively accurate regionalized LCI. One important implication of this paper is for selecting a proper spatial scale for both regionalized LCI and LCIA analyses.
The effect of geometric isomerism on the carbon-13 chemical shift of diiodoethylene and related compounds☆

Abstract The origin of the large difference between the 13C chemical shifts of cis and trans diiodoethylene and related compounds was investigated. The involvement of significant medium effects was ruled out by results with dilute solutions of 13C-enriched materials. Experiments with the analogous diethyl maleate and fumarate in a variety of solvents including hydrogen-bonding acids and data on some other symmetrical disubstituted ethylenes cast doubt on an earlier interpretation based on the steric inhibition of resonance in cis isomers. An application of the Pople-Karplus formalism in the manner previously used for unsymmetrical ethylenes does not lead to a satisfactory interpretation if the mean ΔE is assumed to be independent of geometrical isomerism.
Education, Employment and Empowerment: The Case of a Young Woman in Northwestern China.

As a marginalized region of the world, the rural Gansu Province of northwestern China provides an informative canvas on which to examine and understand the ways in which education contributes to the lives of local Muslim women and supports their goals for work. Specifically, this article highlights the role education plays in the life of one young woman as a guest house worker from the Dongxiang ethnic group in the southernmost region of the province. Findings indicate that two types of education, formal and informal, contribute to and help maintain a successful career in the service industry. Introduction: economics, marginalization and women in the People's Republic of China The exceptional economic growth and subsequent development in the People's Republic of China (PRC) over the past three decades have been noteworthy. Surpassing experts' expectations, China's GDP grew at an average of almost 10 percent a year between 1978 and 1999, and at an average of 6-8 percent since. The international community acknowledges this progress and its relationship to the status of women. The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, country report for China (CEDAW, 1997) notes that during the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991-1995), China's labour and employment structure underwent marked changes as a result of rapid economic growth. These improvements were most evident in the ever-increasing proportion of women in the work force. By the end of 1994, China had 270 million women employed, accounting for 44.8 percent of the total labour force and representing a slight increase over the 1990 figure of 44.6 percent. Economic growth is not consistent throughout the PRC, however. Young women residing in rural areas where jobs are scarce experience marginalization not only in terms of their residence in geographic regions which offer fewer jobs, but also in terms of membership in the strata of unemployed persons in the community. As a result of both geographic and employment marginalization, many young women have migrated from the countryside to towns and cities over the last decade. For example, according to the CEDAW China report, whereas 'women accounted for 41.2 percent of the rural labour force in agriculture and rural enterprises in 1997, they made up 40 percent of the employees in rural and township enterprises as of 2000' (CEDAW, 1997). Women from ethnic minorities comprise a portion of this population. Sun Yatsen provided China with a categorization system for its ethnic groups - the Han, the Manchu (Man), the Mongolian (Meng), Tibetan (Zang), and the Hui (Hui). The Muslim Hui are one
TimberWolf3.2: A New Standard Cell Placement and Global Routing Package

TimberWolf3.2 is a new standard cell placement and global routing package. The placement and global routing proceed over 3 distinct stages. The general combinatorial optimization technique known as simulated annealing is used during the first two stages of the placement. In the first stage, TimberWolf3.2 places the cells such that the total estimated interconnect cost is minimized. During the second stage, TimberWolf3.2 inserts feed through cells as required and the minimization of the total estimated interconnect cost proceeds again in the manner of simulated annealing. The second stage comes to a close following a global routing step, in which the number of wiring tracks needed is accurately estimated. During the third and final stage, local changes are made to the placement whenever such changes result in a reduction in the number of wiring tracks required. TimberWolf3.2 has achieved area savings ranging from 15 to 75% in experiments on numerous industrial circuits.
Two-phase crack propagation approach to fatigue life prediction of preloaded notched members

Abstract Experiments with preloaded notched members of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy have shown that preloads in a wide range, even including those which create overall yielding, increase the fatigue lives of the members. Evidence suggests that the extended fatigue life is primarily due to the residual compressive stress generated at the notch root which retards the propagation of small cracks. The finite-element method (FEM) was employed to evaluate the residual compressive stress at preloaded notches. Prediction of fatigue lives of preloaded notch specimens was based on the crack propagation with two phases: small-crack propagation within the notch stress field resulting from the preloads and crack propagation outside the notch field. The effective stress-intensity-factor range for small cracks was calculated using the local stress at the notch field obtained by FEM. The theoretical values based on this model are in good agreement with experimental data.
The Role of Partisanship in Aggregate Opinion

Despite the centrality of party identification in U.S. politics, the effects of partisanship on public opinion remain elusive. In this article, we use monthly economic opinion data disaggregated by partisanship to evaluate the role of party identification on economic perceptions. Using both static and time-varying error correction models, we find strong evidence of partisan bias in the public’s assessment of the state of the economy, and importantly, this bias changes over time. This evidence of the changing influence of partisanship helps reconcile some of the different findings of individual and aggregate level opinion studies. We also examine how the time-varying influence of partisanship affects aggregate public opinion. Specifically, we show that the increased influence of partisanship has led aggregate economic perceptions to respond more slowly to objective economic information.
A correlation method for handling infrequent data in keystroke biometric systems

Many applications need methods for handling missing or insufficient data. This paper applies a correlation technique to improve the fallback methods previously used to handle the paucity of keystroke data from the infrequently used keys in a keystroke biometric system. The proposed statistical fallback model uses a correlation based fallback table based on the linear correlation between pairs of keys. Two large long-text keystroke databases are used in the study — one to construct the model and the other to evaluate system performance as a function of sample length.
Prevention of methylmercury-induced mitochondrial depolarization, glutathione depletion and cell death by 15-deoxy-delta-12,14-prostaglandin J2

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an environmental toxin that causes severe neurological complications in humans and experimental animals. In addition to neurons, glia in the central nervous system are very susceptible to MeHg toxicity. Pretreatment of glia with the prostaglandin derivative, 15-deoxy-delta-12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2), caused a significant protection against MeHg cytotoxicity. Results with the C6 glioma cells demonstrated that the protection was dependent on the duration of pretreatment, suggesting that time was required for the up-regulation of cellular defenses. Subsequent experiments indicated that 15d-PGJ2 prevented MeHg induced mitochondrial depolarization. Similar protection against MeHg cytotoxicity was observed in primary cultures of mouse glia. Analysis of cellular glutathione (GSH) levels indicated that 15d-PGJ2 caused an up-regulation of GSH and prevented MeHg-induced GSH depletion. Buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), a GSH synthesis inhibitor, completely inhibited the GSH induction by 15d-PGJ2. However, BSO did not prevent the stabilization of mitochondrial potential and only partially prevented the protection caused by 15d-PGJ2. While induction of heme oxygenase-1 was implicated in the cytoprotection by 15d-PGJ2 under some experimental conditions, additional experiments indicated that this enzyme was not involved in the cytoprotection observed in this system. Together, these results suggested that while up-regulation of GSH by 15d-PGJ2 might help cells to defend against MeHg toxicity, there may be other yet unidentified mechanism(s) initiated by 15d-PGJ2 treatment that contributed to its protection against MeHg cytotoxicity.
The cinder cones of Michoacán—Guanajuato, central Mexico: their age, volume and distribution, and magma discharge rate

The Michoacan—Guanajuato Volcanic Field (MGVF) in central Mexico contains over 1000 late Quaternary volcanic centers, of which approximately 90% are cinder cones. This area is distinct from other parts of the Mexican Volcanic Belt (MVB), where composite volcanoes predominate. Other volcanic forms in this field include lava cones, lava domes, maars, tuff rings, small shield volcanoes, and coneless lava flows. Most of the shield volcanoes are eroded and predate the currently observable cinder cones. Within the MGVF, cinder cones are situated between 200 km and 440 km from the Middle America Trench. Nearly 75% of the volcanoes are distributed between 200 km and 300 km from the trench, and cone density is highest at 250 km. Overall cone density is 2.5 cones/100 km2, and median separation distance is 2 km. The median cinder cone has a height of 90 m, a basal diameter of 800 m, a crater diameter of 230 m, and a volume of 0.021 km3. The cinder cones typically erupted olivine-basalt or basaltic andesite; these rock types are less silicic than those of composite volcanoes in the MVB. In general, samples from the MGVF show higher MgO, Cr, and Ni and lower K2O, P2O5, and Zr than those farther from the trench. Cinder cones show various stages of degradation, from which relative ages can be estimated; radiocarbon dates of seven cinder cones were obtained for calibration. Of several morphological indices of age, gully density and surface morphology of associated lava flows are the most sensitive. The morphological classification, based on gully density and lava flow surface features, revealed that 78 volcanoes are younger than 40,000 years. All of them are situated in the south, and some have a rough NE alignment, parallel to the relative motion vector between the Cocos and North America plates. Such NE alignments are also found locally for older cones, although in general cones are randomly spaced. Local cinder cone alignments are E—W in the northern part of the volcanic field, where E—W normal faults also occur. Despite the large number of scattered cinder cones and other small volcanoes in the MGVF, total erupted volume suggests a low magma supply rate. The estimated total volume of lava flows, ash, and cones erupted during the last 40,000 years for an area of 15,000 km2 is 31 km3. The calculated magma eruption rate of 0.8 km3/1000 years is small in comparison to a single composite volcano in the MVB.
Development of a laser speckle imaging system for measuring relative blood flow velocity

Determining the viability of damaged or surgically reconstructed tissue is critical in most plastic and reconstructive surgery procedures. Information about tissue blood flow in the region in question can make this determination much easier. Laser speckle imaging (LSI) is one technique that could potentially aid in making this determination. LSI is a non-contact full-field imaging technique with simultaneous high spatial and temporal resolution. Tissue is illuminated with diffuse red laser light and the spatial and/or temporal statistics of the resulting speckle pattern can be used to calculate relative flow velocities. We have developed a LSI system that produces relative velocity blood flow images. Bench tests of the system indicate that it may be used to distinguish between normal, decreased, and increased blood flow states of a human finger. The system has also been used to take some initial laboratory measurements using an animal model - an epigastric free flap on a rat. Preliminary results indicate that the method may be used to distinguish states of venous or arterial occlusion from unoccluded states of the skin flap. While further experimentation is necessary, these initial results indicate that LSI could be a useful aid to the plastic surgeon for assessing tissue viability.
Permissive translation of nucleic acid: a mechanism for antibody synthesis.

Abstract A mechanism is described whereby, without varying the sequence of nucleotide bases in DNA or RNA, a large number of antibodies with different primary structures may be synthesized. The model assumes that the amino acids which determine the specificity of the binding site of antibodies are represented in the messenger by permissive codons. Permissive codons are triribonucleotide sequences that can be translated as a variety of amino acids depending on which inducible tRNA-amino acid complexes are available during protein synthesis. It is assumed that a cell contains information for the synthesis of a variety of types of tRNA but that repression of synthesis of all but one, for each permissive triplet, allows a given cell to synthesize one type of antibody. The model is discussed in relation to the number of antibodies which an animal can synthesize, to the electrophoretic classes of antibody and to experiments which can verify or refute this theory. It is pointed out that this model suggests a new concept; that differentiation of tissue (as exemplified by specific antibody formation) may result from specific alterations in the decoding mechanism.
Recent insights into the pathogenesis of type III hyperlipoproteinemia

Type III hyperlipoproteinemia is a genetic disorder of lipoprotein metabolism characterized by high plasma cholesterol and triglycerides, the presence of a characteristic lipoprotein termed β-very low density lipoprotein (gb-VLDL), xanthomatosis, and premature atherosclerosis. Defects in the gene for apolipoprotein (apo) E represent the molecular cause of this disorder. ApoE serves as a ligand for the receptor-mediated clearance of the triglyceride-rich lipoproteins from the circulation. All defects in apoE cause impaired lipoprotein clearance through the same mechanism, that is, the disruption, either direct or indirect, of the receptor-binding region of the apoE molecule. However, the receptor-binding defect alone does not fully explain the pathogenesis of β-VLDL formation, the development of type III hyperlipoproteinemia, and its mode of inheritance, which can be either recessive or dominant, depending on the apoE mutation. Recent studies suggest that other functional properties of apoE might play a role in the formation of β-VLDL. Modulation of the receptor-binding defect, association with VLDL, heparin-binding affinity, and interaction with lipolytic enzymes could all contribute to the expression of the disease phenotype and determine its mode of inheritance.
The Protocenter Concept:: A Method for Teaching Stereochemistry

The protocenter, defined as an atom carrying two different attached groups in a nonlinear arrangement, is proposed as a concept useful for the introduction of chirality and geometric isomerism in introductory organic chemistry classes. Two protocenters are the minimum requirement for stereoisomers of a compound to exist. Protocenters may be coaxial or noncoaxial; for coaxial protocenters, depending on the location (coincident or noncoincident) and orientation (coplanar or noncoplanar), the outcome may be enantiomers, geometric isomers, or an achiral compound. The use of the concept in determining the kind of possible stereoisomerism for compounds is illustrated using examples representing a range of differing structural types.