cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Molten salt power towers operating at 600–650 °C: Salt selection and cost benefits

Abstract This analysis examines the potential benefit of adopting the supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) Brayton cycle at 600–650 °C compared to the current state-of-the-art power tower operating a steam-Rankine cycle with solar salt at approximately 574 °C. The analysis compares a molten-salt power tower configuration using direct storage of solar salt (60:40 wt% sodium nitrate: potassium nitrate) or single-component nitrate salts at 600 °C or alternative carbonate- or chloride-based salts at 650 °C. The increase in power cycle efficiency offered by the sCO2 Brayton cycle is expected to reduce the size and cost of the solar field required for a given thermal energy input. Power cycle capital cost is expected to decrease compared to the superheated steam-Rankine cycle, based on projections from sCO2 cycle developers. Maximizing the ΔT of the storage system is required for viable deployment of sensible-salt TES. In this regard, the partial-cooling sCO2 cycle is noted as a better option than the recompression sCO2 cycle. In the current analysis it is assumed that a ΔT = 180 K can be achieved with the partial-cooling cycle. Even with ΔT = 180 K, the potential benefits of the sCO2 Brayton cycle are partially or completely offset by increased thermal storage cost, albeit for reasons that differ for the different salts. An approximate 5% reduction in levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is achieved with either solar salt at 600 °C or ternary magnesium chloride salt at 650 °C. The potential of using pure sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate is considered because the cold tank temperature for the sCO2 power cycle is estimated at 420 °C, which would allow use of a salt with a higher melting point than solar salt. Sodium nitrate is the most cost effective, resulting in an overall LCOE reduction of 8.5%; however, sodium nitrate is known to have lower thermal stability than potassium nitrate. The strong influence of salt cost and hot-tank cost on overall economics led to the analysis of single-tank thermocline options. The thermocline design significantly reduces salt inventory (by 50% or more) and in many cases also reduces the tank size versus the hot salt tank of the 2-tank system. It is speculated that integration of encapsulated phase-change material (PCM) in the thermocline could further increase the thermal-storage energy density and reduce storage tank volume. The thermocline cases led to three scenarios with relative LCOE reductions of approximately 10%; however, this must be tempered by possible operational inefficiencies of the thermocline temperature profile.
Is failing the key to success? A randomized experiment investigating goal attainment effects on cognitions, emotions, and subsequent performance

Abstract Objective Achieving or failing to achieve a goal impacts our thinking, feeling, and behavior. Grounded in Carver and Scheier's (2003) model on the effect of goal failure on behavioral, affective, and cognitive responses, the present study aimed to uncover the effects of goal success and goal failure on cognitions, emotions, and subsequent performance using a golf putting task. Design and Method Participants (17 males, 24 females, Mage = 27.17, SDage = 8.91) completed a 24 putt-golf task without the provision of final ball location feedback. Participants were randomly allocated to a goal success or goal failure condition and received a manipulated feedback of their scores to induce goal achievement or goal failure. Self-efficacy was measured every 6 putts, while emotions and executive functions were assessed after the 24th putt. Participants then completed an additional 24 golf putts without any specific goal. Results Individuals in the goal success condition reported higher self-efficacy, more positive emotions, and less negative emotions than individuals in the goal failure condition. Despite some trends in cognitive and putting performances, non-significant differences were revealed on either of the cognitive tasks or golf putting performances between the goal success and goal failure conditions. Conclusions Achieving or failing to achieve a goal directly impacts emotions and self-efficacy beliefs, but has a limited effect on subsequent executive functioning and performance on a motor task. The relationship between goal attainment and subsequent performance involves a complex interaction of personal and situational variables.
Inspired to inspire: An attachment theory view of family enrichment and inspirational leadership

Inspirational leadership represents a foundational and vital set of leader behaviors for both scholars and practitioners. However, leaders often struggle to inspire their followers. And when they d...
Alcohol Consumption and Cardiovascular Risk Factors

This chapter reviews epidemiologic evidence relating alcohol consumption to the cardiovascular risk factors of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol and blood pressure. Alcohol consumption shows a linear dose-response relationship with HDL-cholesterol that is independent of other known determinants of HDL-cholesterol. The effect of alcohol on HDL-cholesterol appears to be reversible. The relationship of alcohol consumption to HDL-cholesterol subfractions and to the HDL apoproteins is not clear.
Three-Dimensional Dose Distribution Around Air and Bone in Tissue Measured by MRI-Based Polymer Gel Dosimeter

Heterogeneity correction in dose calculation is necessary for radiation therapy treatment plans. Dosimetric measurements of the effects are hampered if the detectors are large and their radiological characteristics are not equivalent to water. Gel dosimetry can solve these problems. Furthermore, it provides detailed three-dimensional (3D) dose distributions. We used a cylindrical phantom filled with BANG-3 polymer gel to measure 3D dose distributions in inhomogeneous media. The phantom has a cavity, in which water-equivalent or bone-equivalent solid blocks can be inserted. The irradiated phantom was scanned with an MRI scanner. Dose distributions were obtained by calibrating the gel for a relationship between the absorbed dose and the spin-spin relaxation rate. We observed 3D dosimetric structures around the heterogeneity. The dose distributions were unique to the photon energy (6MV or 18MV), the field size and the type of heterogeneity material (air or bone).
Analysis of Boltzmann Equations in Hilbert Space by Means of a Non-Linear Eigenvalue Property

By considering an appropriate realization in l2, this paper presents a study of the Tjon-Wu model for the Boltzmann equation: ∂ u ∂ t ( t , x ) + ( t , x ) = ∫ x ∞ d y y ∫ 0 y d z u ( t , y - z ) u ( t , z ) , u ( 0 , x ) = u 0 ( x ) . This realization is possible because of a nonlinear eigenvalue property which the integral operation on the right side of the above equation possesses. Existence and asymptotic results are presented and a two-parameter semigroup of bounded linear operators is given whose elements commute with the bilinear integral operator. This semigroup of commuting operators provides a method for generating new solutions from known
A Robust and Self-Adaptive Clocking Technique for SFQ Circuits

Living on the verge of the IoT era, the entire world is excited about the potential of mining the monumental amounts of data that would become available in the near future. However, this increasing abundance of data requires supercomputers faster and more powerful than were ever built without the need to build a nuclear plant next to each one! Single flux quantum (SFQ) technology has the potential to meet those booming demands for lower power consumption and higher operation speeds in the electronics industry and future exascale supercomputing systems. Nevertheless, the promised benefits of three orders of magnitude lower power at an order of magnitude higher performance have yet to be attained. In particular, variability and scalability have been long-term obstacles for the technology to advance, compete, and replace the well-founded Silicon CMOS. Notwithstanding that SFQ fabrication has quite improved over the past two decades, its level of variability has to be taken into design consideration. Moreover, the absence of an established tools flow hinders the scalability and the automatibility, which are among the trumps of CMOS technology in digital VLSI. Specifically, as a consequence, ultra-high-speed clocking of large-scale SFQ circuits in the presence of large levels of variability represents a tough obstacle for the technology to advance. In this paper, we propose an innovative self-adaptive clocking technique, which is designed to be resilient in such uncertain environments. Whereas the traditional balanced tree zero-skew clocking is not reliable for large-scale SFQ designs, our proposed hierarchical chains of homogeneous clover-leaves clocking inherits its robustness from spatially correlated cell delays and from the timing robustness of the SFQ traditional counter-flow clocking. Our simulations on ISCAS’85 benchmark circuits show that our robust clocking costs can be on average within 34% as fast as ideal zero-skew jitter-free clock trees with an average area overhead of 58%. Moreover, lower area overhead is also possible at the cost of performance, demonstrating the possible trade-off between performance and area. We assert that these overheads are acceptable given the benefits of more reliable functionality, as quantified by yield, as well as improved scalability. In particular, previous efforts reported that a similar, but more limited, clocking structure leads to up to 93% higher yield than zero-skew clock trees.
Collaborative Learning: Enhancing the Undergraduate Research Experience

Music has always united people through concerts, operas, and camp fires. For two universities, music brings together undergraduate students despite 615 miles of separation. Engineering students at Virginia Tech and the University of Hartford are working together on a music-inspired project that hopes to discover a new method for coating guitars. While this project connects the fields of engineering and the arts, it also yields benefits for students and faculty through collaborative learning efforts.
Non-Invasive Instrumentation and Measurement in Medical Diagnosis

Non-Invasive Instrumentation and Measurement in Medical Diagnosis, Second Edition discusses NIMD as a rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field. The contents within this second edition text is derived from Professor Robert B. Northrop’s experience teaching for over 35 years in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut. The text focusses on the instruments and procedures which are used for non-invasive medical diagnosis and therapy, highlighting why NIMD is the preferred procedure, whenever possible, to avoid the risks and expenses associated with surgically opening the body surface. This second edition also covers a wide spectrum of NIMD topics including: x-ray bone densitometry by the DEXA method; tissue fluorescence spectroscopy; optical interferometric measurement of nanometer tissue displacements; laser Doppler velocimetry; pulse oximetry; and applications of Raman spectroscopy in detecting cancer, to name a few. This book is intended for use in an introductory classroom course on Non-Invasive Medical Instrumentation and Measurements taken by juniors, seniors, and graduate students in Biomedical Engineering. It will also serve as a reference book for medical students and other health professionals intrigued by the topic. Practicing physicians, nurses, physicists, and biophysicists interested in learning state of the art techniques in this critical field will also find this text valuable. Non-Invasive Instrumentation and Measurement in Medical Diagnosis, Second Edition concludes with an expansive index, bibliography, as well as a comprehensive glossary for future reference and reading.
A Sustainable world with cartography

Abstract. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or also known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the new global paradigm and blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. To collectively achieve the SDGs, the global community agreed on 17 Goals as a baseline framework to measure and monitor its growth. How to measure and monitor development progress by countries has been a long-standing debate since the era of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the 2000s but with the establishment of Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), the SDGs have a clearer framework on how to monitor progress and the global community are grappling on how to effectively collect, analyse, visualise and report their successes. Within the United Nations, there is the desire to elaborate collectively principles and tools on how best to report the SDGs at country and local level as its success lies in the ownership and accountability at all levels. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is looking into how technologies can accelerate the SDGs and to facilitate the alignments with the values enshrined in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the norms and standards of International Laws. In this paradigm, what should be the role of cartographers and geospatial information management experts to ensure how maps and geospatial information can be effectively used by the global community to communicate their challenges and successes from planning to implementing, monitoring, analysing, visualising and reporting on sustainable development? This paper argues the importance of understanding the challenges, asking questions to the policy makers, sharing best practices and building a consensus on the issues surrounding the SDGs before demonstrating the diverse cartographic skills available to design and communicate the intended message better. Hence, the importance of context has never changed and provides the cartographic and geospatial information management community an opportunity to demonstrate the potential and to provide effective support through cartography for the accomplishment of the sustainable development agenda.
Breakdown of growth front at elevated drawing velocity during directional recrystallization

Cold-rolled, high-purity Ni was directionally annealed at a variety of drawing velocities to understand how columnar grains behave when the drawing velocity was increased during processing. It is s...
Probabilistic methods for risk assessment of airframe digital twin structures

Abstract Management of the airframe digital twin (DT) and its real equivalent for reliability, safety and economic considerations requires, as one component, a probabilistic treatment of the fracture critical components. The computation of the probability-of-failure, the remaining useful life, and the effects of inspections and repairs require accurate and efficient fracture mechanics lifing analyses, probabilistic descriptions of inputs, and probabilistic algorithms. The required computations, the current state-of-the-art in the risk assessment of DT modeling, and future challenges are described. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the computations.
Heightened Dependence of Left-Heart Filling Pressures on Right-Heart Failure in Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract Background Pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP) is often elevated in patients with right-sided congenital heart disease (CHD), raising the possibility of coexisting left-heart disease, but pressure-volume relationships in the left and right sides of the heart influence one another through interdependence, which may be amplified in patients with CHD. Methods We hypothesized that increases in PAWP in patients with CHD would be more strongly related to ventricular interdependence compared with patients who have isolated left-heart disease such as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Ventricular interdependence was assessed by the relationship between PAWP and right-atrial pressure (RAP), RAP/PAWP ratio, and the left-ventricular (LV) eccentricity index. Results PAWP was elevated (≥15 mm Hg) in 49% of patients with CHD (n = 449). There was a very strong correlation between RAP and PAWP in CHD (r = 0.81, P Conclusions Left-heart filling pressures are commonly elevated in right-sided CHD, but this is related predominantly to right-heart failure and enhanced ventricular interdependence rather than left-heart disease. These data provide new insight into the basis of abnormal left-heart hemodynamics in patients with CHD and reinforce the importance of therapeutic interventions targeted to the right heart.
Modeling Financial Eligibility for Medicaid Long-term Services and Supports

Medicaid plays a significant role in financing long-term services and supports (LTSS) for low-income elderly (65+) in the United States. We modeled the impact of changing income, home equity, and asset limitations on Medicaid eligibility across states. We found that one in five elderly adults (10 million individuals) meet all three tests and would be financially eligible for Medicaid LTSS. Imposing additional restrictions on income allowances and eligibility thresholds had greatest impact on financial eligibility for Medicaid LTSS. Few states have opted to restrict financial eligibility and are instead looking for ways to keep people living independently in the community.
Interferon gamma resistance in setting of LKB1 loss: Phenotypic characterization and investigation of mechanism.

e21015Background: NSCLC Patients with LKB1 loss respond poorly to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). Determining mechanisms of the underlying immune resistance and strategies to overcome it are ur...
Supporting Interests and Sharing Power: Insights from a Scottish Youth Program

Light Up Learning (LUL) is a youth program in Scotland that supports young people in pursuing their curiosities and exploring their interests in a school-based informal learning setting. This article draws on interview and participant observation data to examine the social organization of teaching and learning activity within LUL. As a school-based program focused on supporting youth in pursuing their interests through the cultivation of a caring adult–youth relationship, LUL offers an empirical case that brings together insights from youth development and interest-driven learning research. Examination into the verbal and material interactions that shape adult–youth interactions yields insight into how to challenge normatively hierarchical power dynamics between teachers and learners toward the instantiation of a more relational pedagogy. By employing the pedagogic moves of continually foregrounding youths’ interests, honoring youth expertise, and making space for youth’s ideas, LUL youth workers created an environment within a school setting where youth felt both free and supported to learn through deeply and widely pursuing their interests.
An evaluation of manual tidal volume and respiratory rate delivery during simulated resuscitation.

Abstract Introduction: Excessive minute ventilation during cardiac arrest may cause lung injury and decrease the effectiveness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). However, little is known about how clinicians deliver tidal volumes and respiratory rates during CPR. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, licensed practitioners attending an American Heart Association (AHA) Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course performed CPR and manual ventilation on a high-fidelity simulator during the megacode portion of the course. Delivered tidal volumes and respiratory rates were measured on a monitor. During the first scenario, results were not displayed to participants, but were displayed during the second scenario. Results: Fifty-two clinicians participated in this study. Average height was 169 (157,178) cm. Pre-monitor display tidal volumes delivered were larger in male participants compared to female participants (684.6 ± 134.4 vs 586.7 ± 167.6 ml, P = 0.05). Those using medium-sized gloves delivered smaller tidal volumes than those using small or large gloves. Twenty-two (42.3%) delivered tidal volume in the range of 5–8 ml/kg of predicted body weight for the simulation manikin, and 35 (67.3%) delivered tidal volumes with >20% variability among breaths. All participants met the target respiratory rate around 10 breaths/min. Conclusion: Tidal volume delivery varied greatly during manual ventilation and fewer than half participants delivered tidal volume at 5–8 ml/kg to the manikin. Sex and glove size appeared to impact tidal volume delivery when the participants were unaware of what they were delivering. Participants were able to meet the target respiratory rate around 10 without audio or visual feedback.
Validation of the Pandemic Emotional Impact Scale

Abstract Objective The COVID-19 pandemic represents the most universal shared stressor for the general United States (U.S) population in many decades. Due to the unprecedented circumstances of COVID-19, no existing questionnaires can comprehensively measure the multi-faceted psychological effects attributable to this health crisis. This study aimed to validate a measure for that purpose. Methods A 16-item questionnaire, the Pandemic Emotional Impact Scale (PEIS), was designed and subjected to initial validation in an internet survey completed by a nationally representative sample of 1500 adults living in the U.S. This survey was completed between May 18 and May 30, 2020, during the height of the pandemic’s impact on society. Results The PEIS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α ​= ​0.94) and Guttman split-half reliability (0.95). Exploratory factor analysis suggested two sub-scales -- emotional impact and pragmatic worries -- but these were highly correlated with the overall scale score suggesting that the total score can be used in most cases. The PEIS demonstrated good concurrent validity via robust positive correlations with anxiety, depression and stress, and negative correlations with quality of life and happiness. Criterion validity was supported by the finding that individuals who reported employment loss or loss of income due to the pandemic, had experienced COVID-19 infection in their household, or knew somebody personally who died from the pandemic, had elevated scores on the PEIS. Conclusions The PEIS questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument that addresses a significant unmet need for a research instrument that can comprehensively measure pandemic-related effects on the emotional wellbeing of individuals in the U.S population.
A Network Analysis of Twitter Interactions by Members of the U.S. Congress

Usage of Twitter by politicians has become more prevalent in recent years, with a goal of influencing the electorate and public perception. We collect, explore, and analyze over 12 years of public Twitter interactions of U.S. senators and representatives. Using community detection algorithms on these interaction networks, and without considering the content of the tweets, we are able to infer the political affiliation of each member of Congress with up to 98.8% accuracy in the House and 94.1% accuracy in the Senate. In addition, we define two metrics that can determine the political ideology of members of Congress achieving a very high Spearman’s rank correlation of 0.86 with the existing DW-NOMINATE score from the field of political science. Finally, we expand our structural analysis to intra-party factions and found evidence that some factions act on Twitter more cohesively than others, suggesting an increasing risk of an echo chamber effect when promoting their political agenda.
Identification of Traffic States From Onboard Vehicle Sensors

This paper describes an algorithm that identifies the state of traffic ahead of a moving vehicle using onboard sensors. This algorithm approximates the level of service as defined in the Highway Capacity Manual, which portrays a range of traffic conditions on a particular type of roadway facility. The traffic state forms an independent variable in an evaluation plan to assess the benefits and capability of an automotive rear-end crash avoidance system in a field operational test. The algorithm utilizes inputs from vehicle sensors, onboard radar, global positioning system, and digital map to classify the traffic ahead into light, medium, and heavy states. Basically, the algorithm segregates the roadway into four different categories based on the road type (freeway or non-freeway), posted speed limit, and traffic flow conditions. In addition, the algorithm computes two key parameters: (1) number of vehicles in the radar field of view that are moving in the same direction as the test vehicle, and (2) speed ratio between the vehicle travel speed and the posted speed limit. A logical process that ties these two parameters to each of the four roadway categories then determines the traffic state. The conditions of the logical process were optimized by minimizing the error between the calculated and observed traffic states using samples of video and numerical data collected from an instrumented vehicle on public roads.
Defining redox state of X-ray crystal structures by single-crystal ultraviolet-visible microspectrophotometry

The four-electron reduction of dioxygen to water is the most exothermic non-photochemical reaction available to biology. A detailed molecular description of this reaction is needed to understand oxygen-based redox processes. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is a haem-containing redox enzyme capable of catalysing the reduction of dioxygen to water. We developed instrumentation and experimental methodology to capture and characterise by X-ray crystallography transient reaction intermediates in this reaction.An instrument was designed (“the vapour stream system”) to facilitate reaction initiation, monitoring and intermediate trapping. In combination with single crystal microspectrophotometry, it was used to obtain conditions for capturing a reactive dioxygen complex in HRP. X-ray studies on oxidised intermediates can be difficult for various reasons. Electrons re-distributed in the sample through the photoelectric effect during X-ray exposure can react with high-valency intermediates. In order to control such side reactions during data collection, we developed a new method based on an angle-resolved spreading of the X-ray dose over many identical crystals. Composite data sets built up from small chunks of data represent crystal structures which received different X-ray doses. As the number of electrons liberated in the crystal is dose dependent, this method allows us to observe and drive redox reactions electron-by-electron in the crystal, using X-rays.The methods developed here were used to obtain a three-dimensional movie on the X-ray-driven reduction of dioxygen to water in HRP. Separate experiments established high resolution crystal structures for all intermediates, showing such structures with confirmed redox states for the first time.Activity of HRP is influenced by small molecule ligands, and we also determined the structures of HRP in complex with formate, acetate and carbon monoxide.Other studies established conditions for successfully trapping the M-intermediate in crystals of mutant bacteriorhodopsin, but the poor diffraction quality of these crystals prevented high-resolution structural studies.
COSIM: A Finite-Difference Computer Model to Predict Ternary Concentration Profiles Associated With Oxidation and Interdiffusion of Overlay-Coated Substrates

A finite-difference computer program (COSIM) has been written which models the one-dimensional, diffusional transport associated with high-temperature oxidation and interdiffusion of overlay-coated substrates. The program predicts concentration profiles for up to three elements in the coating and substrate after various oxidation exposures. Surface recession due to solute loss is also predicted. Ternary cross terms and concentration-dependent diffusion coefficients are taken into account. The program also incorporates a previously-developed oxide growth and spalling model to simulate either isothermal or cyclic oxidation exposures. In addition to predicting concentration profiles after various oxidation exposures, the program can also be used to predict coating life based on a concentration dependent failure criterion (e.g., surface solute content drops to 2%). The computer code is written in FORTRAN and employs numerous subroutines to make the program flexible and easily modifiable to other coating oxidation problems.
Understanding Psychopathy Using the Basic Elements of Personality

Psychopathy is a form of personality disorder characterized by arrogance, self-absorption, callousness, exploitation, and impulsivity that is also strongly associated with antisocial behavior. The present paper argues that psychopathy can and should be understood as a configuration of personality traits from a general model of personality functioning – the five-factor model (FFM). In this paper, we demonstrate that previous theoretical conceptualizations of psychopathy and current empirical ones converge on a general FFM profile characterized by very low scores on agreeableness and conscientiousness and mixed relations to aspects of neuroticism and extraversion. Further, we articulate the advantages to understanding psychopathy in this way. The FFM provides an assay of extant inventories, explains the factor structure of various inventories, accounts for the epidemiology of psychopathy, and makes sense of the litany of putative psychopathic deficits. Perhaps most importantly, the FFM provides a connection to basic research in personality.
Plasma estriol levels in normal and abnormal pregnancies: An index of fetal welfare

Abstract Serial plasma estriol determinations were conducted in the third trimester of human pregnancy on 22 normal, 25 diabetic, and 16 toxemic patients. In addition, 10 cases of suspected fetal death were evaluated. In normal pregnancy the levels rise in a generally regular fashion as pregnancy proceeds, increasing about fivefold in the last trimester. However, the individual curves vary considerably. The average plasma estriol level at term is about 27 μg per 100 ml. with a range between 10 and 55. The plasma estriol levels of the diabetic patients (Classes A, B, and C) in good control, were not statistically different from those of the normal patients. The toxemic patients could be classified into three groups according to their estriol levels. Those with severe symptoms and small fetuses had correspondingly low levels. The patients under good control had normal values while three patients with renal involvement superimposed on toxemia had surprisingly high levels. The values for patients with dead fetuses were extremely low. Although a larger number of cases involving fetal jeopardy must be studied before the contribution of plasma estriol determinations toward the improvement of fetal salvage rates can be assessed, the potential advantages of plasma assays over urine assays in this regard are discussed.
Long Lost Blues: Popular Blues in America, 1850–1920

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Peter C. Muir Year: 2010 Pages: 280 Publisher: University of Illinois Press ISBN: 978-0-252-03487-9 (hard cover). Prices: $85.00 USD(hard cover).
A randomized controlled trial of osteopathic manipulative treatment following knee or hip arthroplasty.

Context Preliminary study results suggest that osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) may reduce pain, improve ambulation, and increase rehabilitation efficiency in patients undergoing knee or hip arthroplasty. Objective To determine the efficacy of OMT in patients who recently underwent surgery for knee or hip osteoarthritis or for a hip fracture. Design Randomized controlled trial involving hospital and postdischarge phases. Setting Hospital-based acute rehabilitation unit. Patients A total of 42 women and 18 men who were hospitalized between October 1998 and August 1999. Intervention Patients were randomly assigned to groups that received either OMT or sham treatment in addition to standard care. Manipulation was individualized and performed according to study guidelines regarding frequency, duration, and technique. Main outcome measures Changes in Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores and in daily analgesic use during the rehabilitation unit stay; length of stay; rehabilitation efficiency--defined as the FIM total score change per rehabilitation unit day; and changes in Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 scores from rehabilitation unit admission to 4 weeks after discharge. Results Of 19 primary outcome measures, the only significant difference between groups was decreased rehabilitation efficiency with OMT (2.0 vs 2.6 FIM total score points per day; P = .01). Stratified analyses demonstrated that poorer OMT outcomes were confined to patients with osteoarthritis who underwent total knee arthroplasty (length of stay, 15.0 vs 8.3 days; P = .004; rehabilitation efficiency, 2.1 vs 3.4 FIM total score points per day; P Conclusion The OMT protocol used does not appear to be efficacious in this hospital rehabilitation population.
Green Bank Telescope - unique features and their effectiveness

The Green Bank Telescope (GBT) was commissioned in early 2001 and has resulted in a number of scientific publications during its 13 years' of operation. Pulsars, nature of dark energy, galaxy formation, black holes and Hubble Constant are some examples of research discoveries made with the GBT. The GBT is a fully steerable telescope with a double-offset reflector design. The main reflector is completely unblocked and has a projected aperture of 100 meters in diameter. The subreflector is a section of an ellipsoid 7.55×7.95 meters in size. The telescope operates at prime focus from 290 MHz to 1200 MHz and at secondary focus in the 1.15 GHz to >100 GHz range. The main reflector has about 2000 actuators that are used to compensate for deformations mainly due to gravity and in some cases due to thermal effects.
Geographically weighted regression analysis of the spatially varying relationship between farming viability and contributing factors in Ohio

Economic viability of farming operations determines long term success of US agriculture. This research examines the relationship between farming viability and its contributing factors at county level, using Ohio as an example. An ordinary least square regression (OLS) and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model are developed to examine the effects of mechanical and biochemical technologies, government payments, product diversity and farm size. The OLS model shows that all factors are globally significant contributors to farming viability. The GWR model further reveals that the input on biochemical and fuel and the product diversity exhibit significant spatial variation in their effects on farming viability. The spatial variation of local effects is analysed in relation to the different geographic conditions and farming practices across eco-regions. The research improves the understanding of the mixed effect of explanatory factors on Ohio farming viability. The results also demonstrate that GWR model is a promising tool to acquire localized understanding of interaction between human and natural systems.
Convex solubility parameters for polymers

Solubility parameters are certain measurable quantities that are observed to influence the ability of a solvent to fully dissolve a polymer. Current theory partitions the intermolecular forces between dispersion, polar, and hydrogen bonding interactions, thereby generating a three-dimensional solubility parameter space. The Hansen solubility parameters of a polymer are taken to be the center of a sphere obtained from the best fit of the coordinates of good solvents in the parameter space. Investigations of several polymers (lignin, polyethersulfone, and bitumen) show that the convex hull of all known good solvents in the three-dimensional parameter space also gives a meaningful interpretation of the solubility region. Several methods for computing the convex solubility parameters of a polymer from the convex solubility region are described. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015, 53, 1089–1097
GABA 'desensitization' of frog primary afferent fibers.

Abstract GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) depolarizes the terminals of primary afferent fibers of the in vitro hemisected frog spinal cord. During sustained or repetitive exposure to GABA or to muscimol, the amplitude of the depolarization is characterized by a rapid and exponential decline to a steady plateau level (desensitization). Desensitization to muscimol was eliminated by removal of Ca2+ and addition of Mn2+ to the superfusate — a finding consistent with the presence of ‘receptor’ (‘true’) desensitization (i.e., receptor inactivation). GABA desensitization was significantly reduced by exposure of the cord to either low Na+, low temperature, ouabain, dinitrophenol,(±)-nipecotic acid, orcis-1,3-aminocyclohexanecar☐ylic acid. These treatments also significantly decreased the high affinity uptake of GABA when the latter process was studied by incubating frog spinal slices in Ringer's solution containing a low concentration of [3H]GABA. These results suggest that cellular transport processes can influence the form of GABA responses and indicate that neuronal removal of GABA is responsible in part for GABA desensitization.
Public and private insurer designation of transplantation programs.

In an effort to assure quality and contain costs, several major private health insurers now restrict payment of transplantation procedures to designated programs, often referred to as centers of excellence. These insurers underwrite coverage for over 100 million people. Few transplantation programs meet the criteria set forth by insurers, thus raising concerns about patient access to care. The criteria being used by five private insurers and Medicare were obtained and reviewed. Insurers now designate kidney, heart, liver, heart-lung, pancreas, and bone marrow transplant programs based upon total annual transplant volume as well as one- and two-year patient and graft survival rates. Transplant center criteria vary according to procedure and type of recipient (i.e., pediatric vs. adult). Most insurers require hospitals to perform a minimum of at least 6, and up to 50 procedures annually. Expected one-year patient survival rates may exceed 90% and are often higher than 80%, although standards are usually lower for heart-lung and bone marrow transplantation. In addition, if centers meet the minimum volume and outcome criteria, insurers expect transplant centers to discount per procedure changes by as much as 25%. Patients are often offered incentives to use designated centers with insurers frequently paying travel costs and reducing or waiving copayment amounts. The designation of transplant programs by third-party payers has merit, although program volume requirements may have less validity than individual transplant surgeon and physician experience. Other problems are also apparent. For example, discount pricing is suspect, given the lack of data on actual transplant procedure costs. Also, some insurers intend to regionalize transplant programs, thus unnecessarily limiting patient access to care. Alternatively, the concentration of transplant activity at a smaller number of centers may enhance research opportunities. Nonetheless, transplant professionals, hospital administrators, and patient advocates remain wary of insurer objectives. There is concern that the designation of centers is simply another method by which insurers can avoid paying for transplants.
Molecularly imprinted polymers with specific recognition for macromolecules and proteins

Abstract The hierarchical system of recognition in nature is based on interaction between the smallest elements in a matrix such as molecules and the cumulative interactions of larger parts such as the helices and sheets of proteins. The active sites of enzymes are composed of several amino acids, which bind the ligand molecules in a very specific way. However, the activity of the site is dependent on the stabilization of the three-dimensional structure by the interactions of hundreds of other residues. Likewise, a biomimetic polymeric network can be prepared by designing interactions between the building blocks of a biocompatible network and the desired specific analyte and stabilizing these interactions by a three-dimensional structure. This structure is at the same time flexible enough to allow for diffusion of solvent and analytes into and out of the network. This paper reviews advances in molecular recognition systems, and outlines methods of making molecularly imprinted polymer systems that can recognize large molecular weight analytes.
Paleobiochemistry of molluscan shell proteins

Abstract The amino acid composition in calcified and uncalcified tissues of mollucs can be described by a limited number of independent factors which are related to both phylogeny and environment.
Storage of Erythrocytes in Artificial Media

The storage of red blood cells (RBC) for extended periods in artificial media without plasma has been studied. Blood was collected in either heparin or ACD solution; the plasma was removed; and one or two volumes of a solution containing 2 to 3 mM adenine, 5 to 60 mM Na2HPO4 55 mM glucose, and 120 to 140 mM NaCl was added to the packed RBC. Control samples were stored in ACD plasma containing an equivalent concentration of adenine (ACD-ad). Viability studies were done on three consecutive days in each of 22 subjects, using the subject's own blood stored in various preservatives for 41 to 57 days. After this period of storage, the mean viability of ACD-ad stored blood was 73.5 per cent and of erythrocytes stored in artificial media, 74.4 per cent. Cells stored for longer periods had diminished viability, but the viability of cells stored in artificial media was equivalent to or superior to that of controls. After 42 days' storage, 2,3 DPG levels of RBC stored in artificial media were higher than those of controls, and in some instances, the 2,3 DPG content was one-third to two-thirds that of fresh blood. Some of the potential advantages of this system for blood preservation are: 1. The suspending medium is discarded prior to infusion so that less potentially toxic substances are administered. 2. Plasma is removed at the beginning of storage so that labile factors are available for fractionation. 3. 2,3 DPG levels are higher, so that, theoretically, the oxygen-delivering capacity of the transfused cells is greater.
Pairing of inosine with adenosine in codon position two in the translation of polyinosinic acid.

Abstract Poly (I) codes for valine even more than for glycine. Since the ratio is constant over a wide range of Mg2+ concentrations the ambiguity appears to be inherent in the translation of I-I-I, rather than induced by the relatively high Mg2+ concentration (or the streptomycin) required with this messenger. These findings indicate that I in codon position 2 can pair readily not only with C (complementing glycine codon GG_ ¶ ) but also with A (complementing valine codon GU_). I in anticodon position 3 is also known to pair with A (as well as with U and C). Crick's model for this pair would require a large increase in interstrand distance, rather than simply “wobble”. This stretch would be avoided in an alternative model, suggested by Sakore & Sobell (1969) , in which A would rotate from the usual anti to the syn conformation. Since a large stretch would seem difficult to accommodate in the less flexible middle codon position the present findings suggest that the rotation model for I·A pairing merits further exploration.
Magnetic-Field-Induced Intensity Revivals in Harmonic Generation

We demonstrate control of high harmonic generation by a linearly polarized laser field using a uniform static magnetic field parallel to the laser polarization. We predict that particular values of the magnetic field can increase harmonic intensities by orders of magnitude. Classical orbit calculations show that these magnetic-field-induced intensity revivals occur when the return time for laser-driven motion of the electron back to the origin is a multiple of the cyclotron period for motion perpendicular to the laser polarization direction.
Studies on C-phycocyanin from Cyanidium caldarium, a eukaryote at the extremes of habitat.

Abstract C-Phycocyanin, a biliprotein, was purified from the red alga, Cyanidium caldarium. This alga grows at temperatures up to 57°C, a very high temperature for a eukaryote, and at pH values down to 0.05. Using the chromophores on C-phycocyanin as naturally occurring reporter groups, the effects of temperature on the stability of the protein were studied by circular dichroism and absorption spectroscopy. The protein was unchanged from 10 to 50°C, which indicates that higher temperatures are not required to cause the protein to be photosynthetically active. At 60 and 65°C, which are above the temperatures at which the alga can survive, the protein undergoes irreversible denaturation. Gel-filtration column chromatography demonstrated that the irreversibility is caused by the dissociation of the trimeric protein to its constitutive polypeptides. Upon cooling, the α and β polypeptides did not reassemble to the trimer. Unlike phycocyanins 645 and 612, the C-phycocyanin does not show a reversible conformational change at moderately high temperatures. At constant temperature, the C-phycocyanin was more stable than a mesophilic counterpart. It is designated a temperature-resistant protein.
Multiplexing of FBG sensors using modelocked wavelength-swept fibre laser

An erbium-doped fibre laser with a 900 m-long cavity has been tuned by a combination of a rotating mirror and a bulk optical grating. A stable modelocked pulse train is obtained over the 1522-1564 nm wavelength region. To monitor an FBG sensor array, wavelength-division multiplexing and time-division multiplexing are combined.
Specific gravity adjustment of urine analysis results

Analysis of urine samples for compounds such as lead, phenol, or 4,4′methylene bis (2-chloroaniline) (MBOCA) are often adjusted for specific gravity following a recommendation in a NIOSH Benzene Criteria Document.(1) The adjustment normalizes all results to a specific gravity of 1.024 by multiplying the analytical result in µg/liter by 24/G where G is the last 2 digits of the specific gravity of the urine sample. The adjustment calculation is based on a suggestion by Levine and Fahy,(2) who found that the urine solids content is roughly proportional to 24/G. We believe this adjustment to be inappropriate based on the following considerations.
Peripheral neuropathy in patients with colorectal cancer receiving oxaliplatin

Neuropathic side effects are commonly reported in patients receiving oxaliplatin, but little is known about the characteristics of peripheral neuropathy in this patient population. The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the prevalence of neuropathic symptoms in patients with colorectal cancer receiving oxaliplatin as well as to explore symptom severity, distress, frequency, and neuropathic interference with activities. Thirty-three patients receiving oxaliplatin at two outpatient facilities completed the Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Assessment Tool. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Cold sensitivity, tingling in the hands, and numbness in the hands were the most prevalent neuropathic symptoms, and cold sensitivity, nerve pain, and trouble with balance were the most severe symptoms. Trouble with balance, muscle or joint aches, and neuropathic pain were the most distressing symptoms, and numbness in the fingers and hands and in the toes and feet were the most frequent symptoms. Patients reported that neuropathic symptoms interfered with numerous activities. Oncology nurses can use this information to help educate patients and families about potential side effects of oxaliplatin and to coordinate the care of patients with peripheral neuropathy using a symptom-focused, multidisciplinary approach.