cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predicting Wheelchair Stability While Crossing a Curb Using RGB-Depth Vision

Handicapped individuals often rely heavily on various assistive technologies including wheelchairs and the purpose of these technologies is to enable greater levels of independence for the user. In the development of autonomous wheelchairs, it is imperative that the wheelchair maintains appropriate stability for the user in an outdoor urban environment. This paper proposes an RGB-Depth based perception algorithm for 3D mapping of the environment in addition to dynamic modeling of the wheelchair for stability analysis and prediction. We utilize RTAB Mapping in combination with Poisson Reconstruction that produced triangular mesh from which an accurate prediction of the stability of the wheelchair can be made based on the normals and the critical angle calculated from the dynamic model of the wheelchair.
Mapping Pathways by Which Genetic Risk Influences Adolescent Externalizing Behavior: The Interplay Between Externalizing Polygenic Risk Scores, Parental Knowledge, and Peer Substance Use.

Genetic predispositions and environmental influences both play an important role in adolescent externalizing behavior; however, they are not always independent. To elucidate gene–environment interplay, we examined the interrelationships between externalizing polygenic risk scores, parental knowledge, and peer substance use in impacting adolescent externalizing behavior across two time-points in a high-risk longitudinal sample of 1,200 adolescents (764 European and 436 African ancestry; Mage = 12.99) from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. Results from multivariate path analysis indicated that externalizing polygenic scores were directly associated with adolescent externalizing behavior but also indirectly via peer substance use, in the European ancestry sample. No significant polygenic association nor indirect effects of genetic risk were observed in the African ancestry group, likely due to more limited power. Our findings underscore the importance of gene–environment interplay and suggest peer substance use may be a mechanism through which genetic risk influences adolescent externalizing behavior.
Ruth Matarazzo (1926-2020).

Presents the obituary of Ruth Matarazzo (1926-2020). She was Professor Emeritus of Behavioral Neuroscience at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). Matarazzo went to Pembroke College for women at Brown University graduating in 1948 in psychology and stayed on for a year in graduate studies. There she met Joseph (Joe) Matarazzo, also in graduate psychology, and married him in 1949. She earned her Ph.D. from Washington University in 1955 and became the first woman admitted to the St. Louis Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center Clinical Psychology Internship Program. She later joined Harvard Medical School as a research fellow and staff psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. As an educator, Ruth taught and supervised psychology interns and residents in medical psychology, residents in psychiatry, mentored female medical students, and published widely. Some of her greatest achievements was her leadership in helping women in medicine and science. She arrived at the Portland Medical School eight months pregnant and worked until she gave birth to her first child. Her example helped to change policy for working women at the school, particularly nurses, allowing them to work longer during their pregnancies if they chose to do so. She also was a founding member of the Portland Opera. In 2007 she received the Presidential Award of the American Psychological Association for her lifetime of professional contributions and public service. In her spare time, she was active in civic affairs and clubs. She is survived by her husband Joe, son Harris, daughters Elizabeth and Sara, and five grandchildren. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Recreational water exposure and waterborne infections in a prospective salivary antibody study at a Lake Michigan beach.

In a prospective observational study, seroconversion to a specific pathogen can serve as a marker of an incident infection, whether or not that infection is symptomatic or clinically diagnosed. While self-reported symptoms can be affected by reporting bias, seroconversion is likely to be free of this bias as it is based on objective measurements of antibody response. Non-invasive salivary antibody tests can be used instead of serum tests to detect seroconversions in prospective studies. In the present study, individuals and families were recruited at a Lake Michigan beach in Wisconsin in August 2011. Data on recreational water exposure and baseline saliva samples (S1) were collected at recruitment. Follow-up data on gastrointestinal symptoms were collected via a telephone interview approximately 10 days post-recruitment. Follow-up saliva samples were self-collected approximately 2 weeks (S2) and 30–40 days post-recruitment (S3) and mailed to the study laboratory. Samples were analyzed for immunoglobulin (Ig) G responses to recombinant antigens of three noroviruses and Cryptosporidium, as well as protein purification tags as internal controls, using an in-house multiplex suspension immunoassay on the Luminex platform. Responses were defined as ratios of antibody reactivities with a target protein and its purification tag. Seroconversions were defined as at least four-fold and three-fold increases in responses in S2 and S3 samples compared to S1, respectively. In addition, an S2 response had to be above the upper 90% one-sided prediction limit of a corresponding spline function of age. Among 872 study participants, there were seven (0.8%) individuals with seroconversions, including six individuals with seroconversions to noroviruses and two to Cryptosporidium (one individual seroconverted to both pathogens). Among 176 (20%) individuals who reported swallowing lake water, there were six (3.4%) seroconversions compared to one (0.14%) seroconversion among the remaining 696 individuals: the crude and age-standardized risk differences per 1000 beachgoers were 32.7 (95% confidence limits 5.7; 59.6) and 94.8 (4.6; 276), respectively. The age-adjusted odds ratio of seroconversion in those who swallowed water vs. all others was 49.5 (4.5; 549), p = 0.001. Individuals with a norovirus seroconversion were more likely to experience vomiting symptoms within 4 days of the index beach visit than non-converters with an odds ratio of 34 (3.4, 350), p = 0.003. This study contributed further evidence that recreational water exposure is associated with symptomatic and asymptomatic waterborne infections, and that salivary antibody assays can be used in epidemiological surveys of norovirus and Cryptosporidium infections.
Democracy, Education, and Equality: Graz-Schumpeter Lectures

Many believe that equality of opportunity will be achieved when the prospects of children no longer depend upon the wealth and education of their parents. The institution through which the link between child and parental prospects may be weakened is public education. Many also believe that democracy is the political institution that will bring about justice. This study, first published in 2006, asks whether democracy, modeled as competition between political parties that represent different interests in the polity, will result in educational funding policies that will, at least eventually, produce citizens who have equal capacities (human capital), thus breaking the link between family background and child prospects. In other words, will democracy engender, through the educational finance policies it produces, a state of equal opportunity in the long run?
Assisting Extrasolar Planetary Detection through the Determination of Stellar Space Orientations

Various methods outlined for indirect planetary detection would greatly benefit (in some cases require) the determination of the planetary orbital plane, which is theoretically equivalent to the stellar equatorial plane. Determining the stellar space orientation, therefore, would greatly benefit extrasolar planetary detection.
Human eosinophil-derived neurotoxin and eosinophil protein X are likely the same protein.

The human eosinophil granule contains a series of cationic proteins. Two of these, eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) and eosinophil protein X (EPX), are reported to have similar m.w. and both possess neurotoxic and helminthotoxic activities. Therefore, the properties of these molecules were analyzed to determine whether they differ. EDN was purified from eosinophils of patients with the hypereosinophilic syndrome and EPX from the buffy coat cells of normal individuals. By SDS-PAGE, both proteins showed a major band at 18.7 kDa and a minor band at 21.4 kDa. By two-dimensional non-equilibrium gel electrophoresis the proteins migrated identically. With radiolabeled proteins in reverse phase HPLC, both proteins eluted at the same concentration of acetonitrile and showed identical tryptic maps. Both proteins possessed comparable ribonuclease activity and both were comparably neurotoxic in the rabbit. By immunodiffusion the two proteins showed a reaction of identity; by RIA, with both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, the proteins had very similar inhibitory activities. These results indicate that EDN and EPX have virtually identical properties and are probably the same protein.
The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib sensitizes human tumor cells to Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated apoptosis

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 740 Utilizing the NCI panel of 60 human tumor cell lines, we assessed the sensitivity of a wide variety of different human cancer cell lines to the combination of bortezomib and Apo2L/TRAIL. A significant number of the tumor cell lines (20-30%) were dramatically sensitized to Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated apoptosis by treatment with bortezomib (5-20nM). For the remainder of the tumor cell lines, no such sensitization occurred. There was no apparent correlation for bortezomib sensitization with the tissue of origin of the tumor cells, their p53 status or their sensitivity to Apo2L/TRAIL or bortezomib as single agents. Analysis of 7 human renal cancer cell lines demonstrated a clear increase in the sensitivity of 3 renal lines to Apo2L/TRAIL following bortezomib treatment. For a more detailed molecular analysis of bortezomib sensitization, 2 human renal carcinoma cell lines (ACHN and SN12C) were compared. ACHN cells were dramatically sensitized to Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated apoptosis by bortezomib treatment, whereas bortezomib had little effect on the sensitivity of SN12C. No major changes in levels of IAP-1, XIAP, Bcl-2 or Bax were observed in either cell line following bortezomib treatment. FACS analysis showed an increase in the Apo2L/TRAIL death receptors DR4 and DR5 following bortezomib treatment of ACHN, whereas cell surface levels of these receptors on SN12C cells did not change. Western blotting indicated that c-FLIP decreased in ACHN cells, but not in SN12C following bortezomib. Enzyme assays for caspase 8 clearly showed a major increase in caspase 8 activity after the addition of Apo2L/TRAIL to ACHN cells that had be pretreated with bortezomib. No such increase in caspase 8 activity was seen in SN12C cells. This suggests that bortezomib treatment can amplify the Apo2L/TRAIL apoptotic signal at a proximal level, increasing the enzymatic activity of the initiator caspase 8. Also, since overexpression of Bcl-2 in ACHN did not affect their sensitization to Apo2L/TRAIL by bortezomib, the intrinsic or mitochondrial apoptotic pathway may not be involved in the sensitization of these cells to Apo2L/TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. Funded in part by DHSS #NO1-CO-12400
Use of a selective inhibitor of liver carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I) allows quantification of its contribution to total CPT I activity in rat heart. Evidence that the dominant cardiac CPT I isoform is identical to the skeletal muscle enzyme.

It has recently been established that rat heart mitochondria contain two isoforms of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I), the minor 88-kDa variant being identical to liver CPT I (L-CPT I) and the dominant 82-kDa form resembling the skeletal muscle enzyme (M-CPT I) (Weis, B. C., Esser, V., Foster, D. W., and McGarry, J. D. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 18712-18715). To quantify the functional contribution of L-CPT I to overall CPT I activity in heart mitochondria a selective inhibitor of the former was needed. The dinitrophenol analog of 2[6-(4-chlorophenoxy)hexyl]oxirane-2-carboxylic acid (etomoxir) (DNP-Et) was found to have this property. When liver and skeletal muscle mitochondria were exposed to DNP-Et in the presence of ATP and CoASH, the DNP-Et-CoA formed completely inhibited liver CPT I while leaving the muscle enzyme unaffected. Similar treatment of heart mitochondria blocked only the L-CPT I component. This had the effect of shifting the apparent Km for carnitine from approximately 200 to approximately 500 microM and the I50 value for malonyl-CoA (the concentration needed to suppress enzyme activity by 50%) from approximately 0.18 to approximately 0.06 microM, i.e. the heart system now behaved exactly the same as that from skeletal muscle. Taking the Km for carnitine of L-CPT I and M-CPT I to be 30 and 500 microM, respectively, it could be calculated that the former contributes approximately 2% to the total CPT I in heart. When the 82-kDa CPT I isoforms of heart and skeletal muscle were labeled with [3H]etomoxir and then exposed to trypsin, the fragmentation patterns obtained were identical and quite distinct from that given by CPT I from liver. We conclude that (i) DNP-Et, unlike other agents of the oxirane carboxylic acid class, has remarkable inhibitory selectivity for L-CPT I over M-CPT I; (ii) the previously puzzling observation that rat heart CPT I displays kinetic characteristics intermediate between those of the enzymes from liver and skeletal muscle is entirely accounted for by the low level expression of L-CPT I in the cardiac myocyte; and (iii) the dominant 82-kDa CPT I isoform in heart is identical to the muscle enzyme. The data reaffirm that, in contrast to CPT II, CPT I exists in at least two isoforms and that both are present in rat heart.
Law, science, and humanity: The normative foundation of social science in law.

Opposition by the American Psychological Association and the American Psychology-Law Society to the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court would have been justified on normative grounds by the inconsistency of Bork's views with the values underlying the social science in law (SSL) movement. SSL and the Chicago school of law and economics share realist beliefs about the social and political foundations of judicial behavior and the desirability of systematic empirical study as a means of facilitating the administration of justice, but the normative assumptions of the two schools of thought differ. Whereas the Chicago school, with which Bork is identified, reveres wealth maximization. SSL is intended to promote the values fundamental to the Constitution (e.g., respect for human dignity) and reverence for the law as an institution that reifies our sense of community.
Defective Interfering Passages of Sindbis Virus: Nature of the Intracellular Defective Viral RNA

Abstract BHK cells infected with defective-interfering passages of Sindbis virus accumulate a species of RNA (20S) that is about half the molecular weight of the major viral mRNA (26S). We have performed competitive hybridization experiments with these species of RNA and have established that 20S RNA contains approximately 50% of the nucleotide sequences present in 26S RNA. Our further studies, however, demonstrate that 20S RNA is unable to carry out the messenger function of 26S RNA. We found very little of the defective RNA associated with polysomes in vivo. In addition, it was unable to stimulate protein synthesis in vitro under conditions in which 26S RNA was translated. We have also examined viral RNA synthesis in BHK cells infected with standard or defective-interfering passages of Sindbis virus. This comparison suggests that defective partioles do not synthesize a functional replicase.
Hepatic artery and biliary complications in liver transplant recipients undergoing pretransplant transarterial chemoembolization

Liver transplantation (LT) is the treatment of choice for patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) not amenable to resection. Locoregional therapies for HCC are often used to reduce tumor burden, bridge patients to LT, and down-stage HCC so that patients are eligible for LT. We hypothesized that prior endovascular antitumor therapy may increase the risk of hepatic artery (HA) and biliary complications after LT. The aim of this study was to compare HA and biliary complications in LT recipients with HCC who received transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) before LT with complications in LT recipients with HCC who did not receive TACE before LT. This was a retrospective cohort study of HCC patients at two transplant centers. The prevalence of HA complications (HA thrombosis, stenosis, or pseudoaneurysm) and biliary complications (nonanastomotic stricture, bile leak, and diffuse injury) were compared between patients treated with or without TACE. There were 456 HCC patients with a median age of 61 years (77% were male, and 63% had hepatitis C virus), and 328 (72%) received TACE before LT. The overall prevalence of HA complications was 4.7% in the no-TACE group and 7.9% in the TACE group (P = 0.22). All HA stenosis complications (n = 14) occurred in the TACE group (P = 0.018 versus the no-TACE group). An older donor age and a lower albumin level significantly increased the odds of HA complications. There was a nonstatistically significant increased odds of HA complications in the TACE group versus the no-TACE group according to an adjusted analysis (odds ratio = 2.02, 95% confidence interval = 0.79-5.16, P = 0.14). The overall prevalence of biliary complications was 16.4% in the no-TACE group and 19.8% in the TACE group (P = 0.40). In conclusion, a lower pre-LT albumin level and an older donor age were significantly associated with higher odds of HA complications after LT. TACE was not associated with higher odds of overall HA complications but was associated with a higher prevalence of HA stenosis. Further studies are warranted to confirm the HA stenosis findings and elucidate the pathogenesis.
Preventing Cardiovascular Disease in Native Communities: The Traditional Living Challenge.

Many of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) are preventable, which indicates that lifestyle is a key risk factor. Behavioral change interventions attempted with AI/ANs that focus on lifestyle have begun to incorporate Native cultural traditions, or cultural capital. This article discusses one such Native-based intervention conducted on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, which used cultural capital as the foundation for an intervention to address risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Called the Traditional Living Challenge, the specific purpose of the intervention was to revitalize community initiatives toward wellness through a cultural immersion experience, which replicated a former healthier lifestyle and diet. The long-term goal was for the cultural immersion intervention to foster personal and group motivation toward a commitment to wellness.To implement the project, the researchers developed collaborations among the tribal health d...
TQM implementation in LDCs: driving and restraining forces

Reveals that the available literature on TQM implementation emphasizes the experiences of firms in industrialized nations, and studies dealing with the challenges of implementing TQM in less developed countries (LDCs) are limited. Examines the factors that influence the successful implementation of TQM in LDCs with a particular focus on the countries of Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). Using force‐field analysis, identifies the primary environmental factors expected to drive or restrain TQM implementation in SSA and proposes some approaches for enhancing its success. Suggests that advance knowledge of the factors that are likely to promote or obstruct TQM implementation would enable managers in SSA countries to develop more effective strategies that will enhance the chances of implementation success. Asserts that adopting the TQM approach can help to improve the quality of goods and services in SSA countries, increase their export capabilities and facilitate the achievement of their development goals. Cautions that in SSA countries it is not enough that top managers in individual firms commit to the TQM process, noting that, in contrast to industrialized nations, SSA governments play a much more prominent role in economic activity, including direct ownership of major enterprises. Hence, argues that the unwavering support of African governments is crucial if TQM is to be successfully introduced and sustained in private and public organizations in SSA.
Listeria monocytogenes: a model pathogen to study antigen-specific memory CD8 T cell responses.

Memory CD8 T cells play a critical role in providing protection to immune hosts by orchestrating rapid elimination of pathogen-infected cells after re-infection. Systemic bacterial infection with Listeria monocytogenes has been a favored approach for researchers to characterize pathogen-specific CD8 T cell responses, and in-depth understanding of L. monocytogenes biology has provided invaluable experimental tools that have been used to increase our understanding of memory CD8 T cell differentiation. Here, we describe how the tools from this murine model system of infection have been utilized to characterize pathogen-specific CD8 T cells in inbred and genetically diverse outbred hosts as they undergo naive-to-memory CD8 T cell differentiation in vivo. We also discuss how studying L. monocytogenes-evoked CD8 T cell responses have provided insight on the degree of diminished T cell immunity in clinically relevant conditions such as sepsis and obesity. Overall, this review will highlight how infection with the intracellular pathogen L. monocytogenes has enabled analysis of systemic CD8 T cell responses and greatly contributed to what is known about memory CD8 T cell generation and differentiation.
SAPONIFICATION OF ETHYL ACETATE IN CURVED-TUBE REACTORS

The continuous, steady-state saponification of ethyl acetate in the viscous-flow regime was studied in curved-tube reactors of helical coil and figure-eight coil configurations, with chemical react...
Dependence of upper limit of metastability on supersaturation in nephrolithiasis

Dependence of upper limit of metastability on supersaturation in nephrolithiasis. Formation of renal stones requires supersaturation (SS) high enough to induce crystallization; such a SS is referred to as the upper limit of metastability (ULM). The ULM for calcium oxalate (CaOx) or calcium phosphate can be measured by adding oxalate or calcium to urine, respectively, and noting the point at which overt crystallization occurs as evidenced by clouding. In principle, the urine should be more prone to form stone crystals as its SS approaches the ULM, and the SS ULM distance has been used as an index of stone forming potential. In addition, one would expect the ULM and initial SS to be unrelated, as the starting urine SS has no apparent link to the amount of calcium or oxalate that urine can dissolve without leading to crystal formation. However, in rats, we have found a surprising correlation between ULM and SS, such that ULM appears to rise with initial SS, for CaOx, and, to a lesser extent, for brushite (Br), a typical calcium phosphate initial phase. In this study, we measured CaOx and Br ULM, and SS, in urine of 50 patients and 11 normal people, to determine if ULM and SS were correlated, as in rats, and to explore the relationship between SS and ULM. We found the same dependence of ULM on SS as in rats, for both CaOx and Br, and found no differences between patients and normal people with respect to this dependency. However, for Br, patients showed a lower ULM than normals, but the same initial SS, meaning that patients were closer to their crystal formation threshold than normals. Treatments for stones had no apparent effect on the SS-ULM dependency. We conclude that in humans, as in rats, ULM is related to initial SS, and that this relationship is the same in patients as in normals for CaOx, but shifted in a stone forming direction for Br among patients. The ULM-SS interaction is unaffected by contemporary conventional stone treatments, and is more marked for CaOx than Br. The mechanisms of the dependence are unknown. The smaller difference between ULM and initial SS for Br in patients than normal supports prior evidence suggesting a defect in stone patients that could lead to calcium phosphate crystallization, subsequent nucleation of CaOx, and stone disease.
Einstein's Relativity and Quantum Physics

There are reasons to reject the idea that a field in empty space is a real physical entity. The nonexistence of the electromagnetic field and the gravitational field as physical entities leads to far-reaching consequences. The basic equations sufficient to constructclassical electrodynamics (the Maxwell equations and the Lorentz force equation) are obtained by combining quantum considerations with two premises: (a) there exists a subatomic particle, theemon, each concrete emon having a specific electric property described by aspacelike four-vector; (b) every concrete charged particle possesses a specific electric property described by atimelike four-vector. Some other points of interest are also discussed, in particular, ones related to Einstein's gravitational field as well as the “action-at-a-distance” versus “local-action” issue. Einstein's second postulate of special relativity is also shown to need some revision of principle.
Immigrant Nonprofit Organizations in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

This article provides an overview of existing immigrant nonprofits formed and maintained by Asian-American or Hispanic-Latino community leaders in the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Although some of these organizations date back to the 1940s, the majority of them were formed in the last three decades in a more open and accommodating society. For both of these immigrant groups, organizing to form and maintain religious organizations started early and continued to significantly affect the respective community. While Asian-American communities tend to focus on maintaining their heritage by forming numerous cultural organizations, the larger Hispanic-Latino population started early to form service agencies—aided possibly by alternative means to maintain cultural identity. Immigrant religious organizations tend to be older and located in suburban middle-class communities with a diverse ethnic population. Immigrant secular organizations are generally younger, located in central city communitie...
“Ethical dimensions of informed consent”: A psychiatric perspective

I n "Ethical Dimensions of Informed Consent," the ACOG Committee on Ethics addresses the tensions between the extremes of traditional paternalistic coercion and modern psychological abandonment, between the lures of oversimplification and the paralyzing dangers of complexity. Questions of consent in obstetrics and gynecology are made especially poignant by the psychologically loaded implications of the procedures consented to or refused, and their closeness to powerful, universal, and mysterious human drives and values. Consent is also complicated by the inadequacy of information about the outcome of many of the interventions proposed. Nevertheless, as the Committee on Ethics explains so well, informed consent represents a legal, ethical, and clinical imperative. This commentary by a psychiatrist will deal with some of the psychosocial realities impinging on informed consent, and offer clinical suggestions. Under the guise of informed consent, emotional processes and decisions may masquerade as or be reduced to cognitive ones. Consulting psychiatrists frequently discover that a clear, but unexplored, psychological dilemma is at the root of what seems to be an ethical impasse. For example, the patient who is refusing a lifesaving procedure on grounds of "autonomy" is not aware of, or cannot acknowledge, an overwhelming terror arising from an unresolved past experience. The clinicians cannot grasp the psychological meaning of a religious proscription against a particular intervention (blood transfusion). Resolution of the psychological conflict solves the ethical conflict. Questions of informed consent in obstetrics and gynecology involve medical/surgical interventions performed on the reproductive organs of women. Discussion of informed consent in this context must take into account women's psychology, as it pertains both to their reproductive organs and capacities and to their management of medical information, women's traditional and evolving role in society, and the history of women's treatment in the medical setting. Women's reproductive organs tend to be experienced by them and by medical professionals as messy, dirty, troublesome--with the trouble ranging from inconvenient (menstruation) to life-threatening (ovarian malignancies). There has been a corresponding tendency in Western medicine to look © 1993 by The Jacobs Institute of Women's Health 1049-3867/93/$6.00
Bivariate Drought Recurrence Analysis Using Tree Ring Reconstructions

Droughts may be represented by two main characteristics—duration and severity. In this paper, a general methodology to evaluate the frequency and risk of the occurrence of droughts is presented using a bivariate drought characterization. The theory of runs is applied to model drought recurrence as an alternating renewal process, describing droughts simultaneously in terms of their durations and severities. Short historical records usually do not allow reliable bivariate analyses. However, tree ring reconstructions of droughts provide information about past events, allowing the analysis. An approach to adapt and include dendrochronology reconstructions combined with historical records to characterize droughts is presented. The proposed approach uses the stochastic structure of the residuals of paleo reconstructions to generate equally likely representations of past drought events. The procedure was applied to paleo and historical records in Texas Climatic Division 5 and compared with univariate analyses. T...
Clinical observations on a new denture adhesive

Abstract Clinical tests on 60 subjects were made comparing gum karaya (one of the more commonly used denture adhesives) with two experimental formulations of materials intended for use as a denture adhesive. The results of these tests indicate definite preferences of certain subjects among the denture adhesives studied. No adverse reaction of an allergic, toxic, or traumatic nature was noted following the use of any of the denture adhesives studied.
Wavelength Dependence of Optical Tweezer Trapping Forces on Resonant Particles

Optical tweezers are typically used with transparent dielectric particles. Particles with optical resonances should experience a larger trapping force near resonance. We present a numerical and experimental study of the trapping forces on such particles.
Speaking With Vampires: Rumor and History in Colonial Africa

Speaking With Vampires: Rumor and History in Colonial Africa. Luise White. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. ix. 352 pp., maps, notes, bibliography, index.
PROGNOS: Predictive situational awareness with probabilistic ontologies

Information in the battlefield comes from reports from diverse sources, in distinct syntax, and with different meanings. There are many kinds of uncertainty involved in this process, e.g., noise in sensors, incorrect, incomplete, or deceptive human intelligence, and others, which makes it essential to have a coherent, consistent, and principled means to represent such phenomena among the systems performing Predictive Situation Awareness (PSAW). PROGNOS is a PSAW system being developed to work within the operational context such as U.S. Navy's FORCENet. It employs probabilistic ontologies in a distributed system architecture as a means to provide semantic interoperability within an intrinsically complex and uncertain environment. This paper explores our current status in developing the system while addressing the major research challenges for making an effective PSAW system to support maritime operations.
A Review of the Formation, Environmental Fate, and Forensic Methods for PAHs from Aluminum Smelting Processes

Abstract This article provides a description of the processes used in modern aluminum reduction plants and explores the sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at pertinent steps in the industrial process. Chemical and physical characteristics of raw and processed source materials are described, and the effects of process modifications and alternative processes on generation of PAHs are explored. For example, the self-bake Soderberg method is contrasted with the prebake method of anode formation by describing the quantities of PAHs generated and characteristics of PAHs associated with each process. Available datasets for aluminum smelters are predominantly limited to analyses of selected parent PAHs (unsubstituted). Thus, many preferred forensic methods for characterizing PAHs cannot be applied to much of the existing data. However, typical parent PAH distributions and isomer ratios are explored using up to 17 selected unsubstituted PAHs in emissions from aluminum reduction plants and environme...
NO going back.

After exocytosis, synaptic vesicles must be retrieved and refilled with neurotransmitter to supply the needs of an active neuron. A new report finds that synaptic activity, through the retrograde action of nitric oxide (NO), regulates the rate of this synaptic vesicle recycling. These findings suggest that NOmight enhance the synaptic strength of coincidentally active neurons.
Human intracranially-recorded cortical responses evoked by painful electrical stimulation of the sural nerve.

Abstract Intracranial recordings were obtained from 5 epilepsy patients to help identify the generators of the scalp somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) components that appear to be involved in orienting attention towards a potentially threatening, painful sural nerve electrical stimulus. The intracranial recording data support, for the most part, the generators suggested by our scalp SEP studies. The generators of the central negativity at 70–110 ms post-stimulus and the contralateral temporal negativity at 100–180 ms are located in the somatosensory association areas in the medial wall of the parietal cortex and in the parietal operculum and insula, respectively. The negative potential at 130–200 ms recorded from over the fronto-central scalp appears to be generated in the medial prefrontal cortex and primary somatosensory cortex foot area. The intracranial recording data suggest that the positive scalp potential at 280–320 ms, which corresponds to the pain-related P2, has multiple generators, including the anterior cingulate cortex, inferior parietal cortex, and possibly the somatosensory association areas in the medial wall of the parietal cortex. Finally, the positive scalp potential at 320–400 ms has generators in brain areas that others have shown to generate the P3a, including the dorsolateral and medial prefrontal cortices, temporal parietal junction, and the posterior hippocampus, which supports our hypothesis that this potential is a pain-evoked P3a. The putative functional roles of the brain areas generating these components and the response properties of the intracranial peaks recorded from these brain areas are in most cases consistent with the attention- and pain-related properties of their corresponding scalp SEP components. The intracranial recordings also demonstrate that the source configuration underlying the SEP components are often more complex than was suggested from the scalp studies. This complexity implies that the dipole source localization analysis of these components will at best provide only a very crude estimate of source location and activity, and that caution must be used when interpreting a change in the scalp component amplitude.
Effect of nearest neighbor spin-singlet correlations in conventional graphene SNS Josephson junctions

Using the self-consistent tight-binding Bogoliubov-de Gennes formalism we have studied the effect of nearest neighbor spin-singlet bond (SB) correlations on Josephson coupling and proximity effect in graphene SNS Josephson junctions with conventional s-wave superconducting contacts. Despite the s-wave superconducting state in the contacts, the SB pairing state inside the junction has d-wave symmetry and clean, sharp interface junctions resemble a 'bulk-meets-bulk' situation with very little interaction between the two different superconducting states. In fact, due to a finite-size suppression of the superconducting state, a stronger SB coupling constant than in the bulk is needed in order to achieve SB pairing in a junction. For both short clean zigzag and armchair junctions a d-wave state that has a zero Josephson coupling to the s-wave state is chosen and therefore the Josephson current decreases when a SB pairing state develops in these junctions. In more realistic junctions, with smoother doping profiles and atomic scale disorder at the interfaces, it is possible to achieve some coupling between the contact s-wave state and the SB d-wave states. In addition, by breaking the appropriate lattice symmetry at the interface in order to induce another d-wave state, a non-zero Josephson coupling can be achieved which leads to a substantial increase in the Josephson current. We also report on the LDOS of the junctions and on a lack of zero energy states at interfaces despite the unconventional order parameters, which we attribute to the near degeneracy of the two d-wave solutions and their mixing at a general interface.
Ethics seminars: Consent and refusal in an urban American emergency department: two case studies.

. Patients in the emergency department frequently voice refusals of care or are unable or unwilling to consent to care. While general principles surrounding consent and refusal can be articulated in theory, it is often far more complicated in the real setting. Further, it is impossible to contemplate in advance every possible situation that might arise. In order to properly care for patients, the emergency physician has an obligation to understand ethical principles and the reasoning process one must go through to resolve an ethical dilemma. Emergency physicians face such complex decisions on a routine basis. Ethical reasoning skills are obviously a core competence in emergency medicine, even if easy answers are elusive. Two cases are presented that illustrate this complexity, and routes to resolution are discussed.
Finite element analysis of lithium insertion-induced expansion of a silicon thin film on a rigid substrate under potentiostatic operation

Abstract Diffusion-induced stress and volumetric expansion under potentiostatic operation are investigated with an axisymmetric finite element model taking account of plastic yielding, coupling effects between diffusion and stress, diffusion from the edge surface, and concentration dependence of material properties. Significant differences on stresses, displacements, and fracture energies between purely elastic and elastic–plastic materials are found. Plasticity based on von-Mises criterion has no effect on concentration variation. The critical regions for fracture are the edge surface, and the regions near the edges on both the top surface and the interface.
Occult laryngeal pathology in a community-based cohort

BACKGROUND: Little information is available regarding the prevalence of laryngeal pathology in adults.PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of occult laryngeal pathology in a community-based cohort of adults over 40 years of age.METHODS: One hundred consecutive volunteers over age 40 with no history of voice disorders were enrolled. All completed a self-administered laryngeal symptom questionnaire and underwent a comprehensive head and neck examination including transnasal fiberoptic laryngoscopy.RESULTS: The mean age of the cohort was 61 years. Vocal fold bowing (presbylaryngis) was present in 72% of the patients, and findings of laryngopharyngeal reflux were present in 64% of the cohort. In addition, other laryngeal pathology were identified in 21%. Only 12% had a completely normal laryngeal examination.CONCLUSIONS: Occult laryngeal pathology is very common in persons over 40. Findings suggestive of laryngopharyngeal reflux are present in 64%, and vocal fold bowing is present in 72% of persons over 40.
Late Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic Sediment Cores from the Arctic Ocean

Only two sediment cores taken from ice island T-3 in the Arctic Basin have material older than Pliocene age. One of these cores includes a Late Cretaceous silicoflagellatc assemblage contained in tuffaceous sediment; the other is of Paleocene to Eocene age, containing abundant phytoplankton in tuffaceous sediment. The two cores represent displaced Cretaceous and early Cenozoic masses within a Pliocene-Pleistocene sequence. Both cores were taken from the Alpha Cordillera. These cores provide the first firm evidence that the Arctic Ocean existed at least by Late Cretaceous time, a time during which it had no ice cover and was a much warmer ocean than it is now. Warm water conditions continued at least into Eocene time. No Oligocene or Miocene material has been identified, but, by Pliocene time, the Arctic was ice covered, and this condition has existed until the present.
Spatial-frequency specificity in visual masking

Visual masking between nonoverlapping gratings depends on the similarity of their spatial frequencies. In a metacontrast experiment, bar gratings of 6 and 12 cycles/deg were masked by flanking gratings of various spatial frequencies. For three observers, masking was greatest when the masking frequency was approximately equal to the masked frequency. The results are interpreted in terms of a theory of reciprocal inhibition among frequency-specific neural units.
Physically touching and tasting virtual objects enhances the realism of virtual experiences

Experiment 1 explored the impact of physically touching a virtual object on how realistic the virtual environment (VE) seemed to the user. Subjects in a `no touch' group picked up a 3D virtual image of a kitchen plate in a VE, using a traditional 3D wand. `See and touch' subjects physically picked up a virtual plate possessing solidity and weight, using a technique called `tactile augmentation'. Afterwards, subjects made predictions about the properties of other virtual objects they saw but did not interact with in the VE. `See and touch' subjects predicted these objects would be more solid, heavier, and more likely to obey gravity than the `no touch' group. In Experiment 2 (a pilot study), subjects `physically bit' a chocolate bar in one condition, and `imagined biting' a chocolate bar in another condition. Subjects rated the event more fun and realistic when allowed to physically bite the chocolate bar. Results of the two experiments converge with a growing literature showing the value of adding physical qualities to virtual objects. This study is the first to empirically demonstrate the effectiveness of tactile augmentation as a simple, safe, inexpensive technique with large freedom of motion for adding physical texture, force feedback cues, smell and taste to virtual objects. Examples of practical applications are discussed.
Continuous flumazenil infusion in the treatment of zolpidem (Ambien) and ethanol coingestion.

(1998). Continuous Flumazenil Infusion in the Treatment of Zolpidem (Ambien®) and Ethanol Coingestion. Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology: Vol. 36, No. 7, pp. 743-744.
All B cells are not the same: a story of CD40 activation

Comment on Gricks et al, page [4002][1] The Gricks et al article demonstrates the value of well-thought-out use of powerful microarray analysis to advance overall understanding of B-cell biology. T he specific interactions of CD40, a receptor expressed ubiquitously on B cells, and its ligand
A new mechanism for repairing oxidative damage to DNA: (A)BC excinuclease removes AP sites and thymine glycols from DNA

Escherichia coli (A)BC excinuclease is the major enzyme responsible for removing bulky adducts, such as pyrimidine dimers and 6-4 photoproducts, from DNA. Mutants deficient in this enzyme are extremely sensitive to UV and UV-mimetic agents, but not to oxidizing agents, or ionizing radiation which damages DNA in part by generating active oxygen species. DNA glycosylases and AP1 endonucleases play major roles in repairing oxidative DNA damage, and thus it has been assumed that nucleotide excision repair has no role in cellular defense against damage by ionizing radiation and oxidative damage. In this study we show that the E. coli nucleotide excision repair enzyme (A)BC excinuclease removes from DNA the two major products of oxidative damage, thymine glycol and the baseless sugar (AP site). We conclude that nucleotide excision repair is an important cellular defense mechanism against oxidizing agents.
Structure–Property–Functionality of Bimetal Interfaces

Interfaces, such as grain boundaries, phase boundaries, and surfaces, are important in materials of any microstructural size scale, whether the microstructure is coarse-grained, ultrafine-grained, or nano-grained. In nanostructured materials, however, they dominate material response and as we have seen many times over, can lead to extraordinary and unusual properties that far exceed those of their coarse-grained counterparts. In this article, we focus on bimetal interfaces. To best elucidate interface structure–property–functionality relationships, we focus our studies on simple layered composites composed of an alternating stack of two metals with bimetal interfaces spaced less than 100 nm. We fabricate these nanocomposites by either a bottom–up method (physical vapor deposition) or a top–down method (accumulative roll bonding) to produce two distinct interface types. Atomic-scale differences in interface structure are shown to result in profound effects on bulk-scale properties.
Incorporating network considerations into pavement management systems: A case for approximate dynamic programming

The objective of infrastructure management is to provide optimal maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement (MR&R) policies for a system of facilities over a planning horizon. While most approaches in the literature have studied the decision-making process as a finite resource allocation problem, the impact of construction activities on the road network is often not accounted for. The state-of-the-art Markov decision process (MDP)-based optimization approaches in infrastructure management, while optimal for solving budget allocation problems, become internally inconsistent upon introducing network constraints. In comparison, approximate dynamic programming (ADP) enables solving complex problem formulations by using simulation techniques and lower dimension value function approximations. In this paper, an ADP framework is proposed, wherein capacity losses due to construction activities are subjected to an agency-defined network capacity threshold. A parametric study is conducted on a stylized network configuration to infer the impact of network-based constraints on the decision-making process.