cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanical characterization of the human pia-arachnoid complex

Abstract Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant problem in global health that affects a wide variety of patients. Mild forms of TBI, commonly referred to as concussion, are a result of rapid accelerations of the head from either direct or indirect impacts. Kinetic energy from the impact is transferred into deformation of the brain, leading to cellular disruption. This transfer of energy is in part mediated by the pia-arachnoid complex (PAC), a layer of anatomical structures that forms the physical connection between the brain and the skull. The importance of properly quantifying the mechanics of the PAC for use in computational models of TBI has been understood for some time, but data from human subjects has been unavailable. In this study, we quantify the normal traction modulus of the PAC in five post-mortem human subjects using hydrostatic fluid pressurization in combination with optical coherence tomography. Testing at multiple locations across each brain reveals that brain-skull stiffness is heterogeneously distributed. The material response to traction loading was linear, with a mean normal traction modulus of 12.6 ± 4.8 kPa. Modulus was 21% greater in superior regions of the brain compared to inferior regions. Comparisons with regional microstructural data suggests a potential relationship between the volume fraction of arachnoid trabeculae and modulus. Comparisons to coincident measurements of microstructural properties showed a positive correlation between arachnoid membrane thickness and normal traction modulus. This study is the first to characterize the mechanics of the human pia-arachnoid complex and quantify material properties in situ. These findings suggest implementing a heterogeneous model of the brain-skull interface in computational models of TBI may lead to more realistic injury prediction.
Mice are not automatons; subjective experience in premotor circuits guides behavior

Subjective experience is a powerful driver of decision-making and continuously accrues. However, most neurobiological studies constrain analyses to task-related variables and ignore how continuously and individually experienced internal, temporal, and contextual factors influence adaptive behavior during decision-making and the associated neural mechanisms. We show mice rely on learned information about recent and longer-term subjective experience of variables above and beyond prior actions and reward, including checking behavior and the passage of time, to guide self-initiated, self-paced, and self-generated actions. These experiential variables were represented in secondary motor cortex (M2) activity and its projections into dorsal medial striatum (DMS). M2 integrated this information to bias strategy-level decision-making, and DMS projections used specific aspects of this recent experience to plan upcoming actions. This suggests diverse aspects of experience drive decision-making and its neural representation, and shows premotor corticostriatal circuits are crucial for using selective aspects of experiential information to guide adaptive behavior.
Angelman Syndrome

In this review we summarize the clinical and genetic aspects of Angelman syndrome (AS), its molecular and cellular underpinnings, and current treatment strategies. AS is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe cognitive disability, motor dysfunction, speech impairment, hyperactivity, and frequent seizures. AS is caused by disruption of the maternally expressed and paternally imprinted UBE3A, which encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Four mechanisms that render the maternally inherited UBE3A nonfunctional are recognized, the most common of which is deletion of the maternal chromosomal region 15q11-q13. Remarkably, duplication of the same chromosomal region is one of the few characterized persistent genetic abnormalities associated with autistic spectrum disorder, occurring in >1–2 % of all cases of autism spectrum disorder. While the overall morphology of the brain and connectivity of neural projections appear largely normal in AS mouse models, major functional defects are detected at the level of context-dependent learning, as well as impaired maturation of hippocampal and neocortical circuits. While these findings demonstrate a crucial role for ubiquitin protein ligase E3A in synaptic development, the mechanisms by which deficiency of ubiquitin protein ligase E3A leads to AS pathophysiology in humans remain poorly understood. However, recent efforts have shown promise in restoring functions disrupted in AS mice, renewing hope that an effective treatment strategy can be found.
Postural asphyxia as a cause of death in sudden infant death syndrome.

Many investigators have considered the possible role of asphyxia in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Suggested mechanisms have included those which might mechanically compromise the airway, such as smothering, laryngospasm [1], and nasal obstruction from upper respiratory tract infection in the obligate nasal breathing infant [2]. Much current research focuses on the possibility of centrally mediated respiratory failure related to sleep apnea, functional abnormality of the ponto-medullary respiratory centers [3], chemically induced laryngeal apnea [4], and inappropriate operation of the oxygen-conserving reflex (“diving reflex”) [5].
The effects of body image perceptions and sociocommunicative orientations on self-esteem, depression, and identification and involvement in the gay community.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine how nonverbally communicated messages based on weight and physical appearance related to antifat attitudes, image fixation, and discrimination based on physical appearance and weight on bisexual, gay, and lesbian people. Using an Internet-based sample of 233 participants (88% Anglo/Saxon or Caucasian), the results indicated Richmond and Valencic's (2000) conceptualization of image fixation negatively related to an individual's self-esteem and positively related to reported levels of depression. Results also indicated people with highly assertive and responsive communicative behaviors were less likely to hold antifat attitudes and less likely to dislike fat people. Differences between gay/bisexual males and lesbian/bisexual females were also analyzed, and gay/bisexual males had significantly higher levels of image fixation, antifat attitudes, dislike of fat people, weight locus of control, perceptions of self physical/weight discrimination, and depression t...
THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF BEING STOPPED OR ARRESTED: AN EXPLORATION OF THE LABELING MECHANISMS THROUGH WHICH POLICE CONTACT LEADS TO SUBSEQUENT DELINQUENCY

Much debate has taken place regarding the merits of aggressive policing strategies such as “stop, question, and frisk.” Labeling theory suggests that police contact may actually increase delinquency because youth who are stopped or arrested are excluded from conventional opportunities, adopt a deviant identity, and spend time with delinquent peers. But, few studies have examined the mechanisms through which police contact potentially enhances offending. The current study uses four waves of longitudinal data collected from middle-school students (N = 2,127) in seven cities to examine the deviance amplification process. Outcomes are compared for youth with no police contact, those who were stopped by police, and those who were arrested. We use propensity score matching to control for preexisting differences among the three groups. Our findings indicate that compared with those with no contact, youth who are stopped or arrested report higher levels of future delinquency and that social bonds, deviant identity formation, and delinquent peers partially mediate the relationship between police contact and later offending. These findings suggest that programs targeted at reducing the negative consequences of police contact (i.e., poor academic achievement, deviant identity formation, and delinquent peer associations) might reduce the occurrence of secondary deviance.
Modified Bifurcating Neuron with leaky-integrate-and-fire model

The Modified Bifurcating Neuron (MBN) is a neuron model that is capable of amplitude-to-phase conversion and volume-holographic memory. Inputs are real valued and temporally spaced. This allows information to be coded in the temporal spacing of inputs and outputs as well as their values. At its core, the MBN incorporates a stateful leaky-integrate-and-fire neuron model. The MBN attempts to produce these properties by simulating mechanisms present in biological neural systems to a greater extent than is normally found in artificial neural networks. MBNs use an object model rather than the normal linear algebra approach. The MBN is conceptually based on the computational model presented in the "Bifurcating Neuron Network 2" by G. Lee and N. Farhat.
Recovery of Marginal Maximum Likelihood Estimates in the Two-Parameter Logistic Response Model: An Evaluation of MULTILOG

Marginal maximum likelihood (MML) estimation of the logistic response model assumes a structure for the distribution of ability (8). If this assump tion is incorrect, the statistical properties of MML estimates may not hold. Monte carlo methods were used to evaluate MML estimation of item param eters and maximum likelihood (ML) estimates of θ in the two-parameter logistic model for varying test lengths, sample sizes, and assumed θ dis tribution. 100 datasets were generated for each of the combinations of factors, allowing for item-level analyses based on means across replications. MML estimates of item difficulty were generally precise and stable in small samples, short tests, and under varying distributional assumptions of θ. When the true distribution of θ was normal, MML estimates of item discrimination were also gen erally precise and stable. ML estimates of θ were generally precise and stable, although the distribu tion of θ estimates was platykurtic and truncated at the high and low ends of the scor...
Analysis of temporal changes of mammographic features: computer-aided classification of malignant and benign breast masses.

A new classification scheme was developed to classify mammographic masses as malignant and benign by using interval change information. The masses on both the current and the prior mammograms were automatically segmented using an active contour method. From each mass, 20 run length statistics (RLS) texture features, 3 speculation features, and 12 morphological features were extracted. Additionally, 20 difference RLS features were obtained by subtracting the prior RLS features from the corresponding current RLS features. The feature space consisted of the current RLS features, the difference RLS features, the current and prior speculation features, and the current and prior mass sizes. Stepwise feature selection and linear discriminant analysis classification were used to select and merge the most useful features. A leave-one-case-out resampling scheme was used to train and test the classifier using 140 temporal image pairs (85 malignant, 55 benign) obtained from 57 biopsy-proven masses (33 malignant, 24 benign) in 56 patients. An average of 10 features were selected from the 56 training subsets: 4 difference RLS features, 4 RLS features, and 1 speculation feature from the current image, and 1 speculation feature from the prior, were most often chosen. The classifier achieved an average training A z of 0.92 and a test A z of 0.88. For comparison, a classifier was trained and tested using features extracted from the 120 current single images. This classifier achieved an average training A z of 0.90 and a test A z of 0.82. The information on the prior image significantly (p=0.015) improved the accuracy for classification of the masses.
Self-control: limited resources and extensive benefits

Successful self-control has many benefits for individuals and society as a whole. Self-regulation relies on a limited resource. After one act of self-control, this resource is reduced, thereby impairing future acts of self-control. Self-control resources can be managed and conserved for future tasks. Recent research on perceived self-control (in the self and others), self-control in interpersonal interactions, and the physiological basis of the limited resource model point to promising areas for future self-control research. WIREs Cogn Sci 2012, 3:419-423. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1173 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
A Multiconserving Discretization with Enthalpy as a Thermodynamic Prognostic Variable in Generalized Hybrid Vertical Coordinates for the NCEP Global Forecast System

AbstractA new vertical discretization used in the atmospheric dynamics of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Forecast System (GFS) is illustrated, with enthalpy as the thermodynamic prognostic variable to reduce computation in thermodynamic equations while concerning all gas tracers in the model. Mass, energy, entropy, and angular momentum conservations are utilized as constraints to discretize the vertical integration with a finite-difference scheme. A specific definition of a generalized hybrid vertical coordinate, including sigma, isobaric, and isentropic surfaces, is introduced to define pressure at the model levels. Vertical fluxes are obtained by the equation of local changes in variables defined for vertical coordinates at all model layers. The forward-weighting semi-implicit time scheme is utilized to eliminate computational noise for stable integration. Because of time splitting between the dynamic and physics processes, the vertical advection is required both in the ...
BLADDER WALL SUBSTITUTION WITH SYNTHETIC AND NON-INTESTINAL ORGANIC MATERIALS

AbstractPurpose: We evaluate and compare the characteristics and drawbacks of different synthetic and organic materials that have been used for bladder wall replacement.Materials and Methods: We extensively reviewed the contemporary literature for partial bladder wall replacement with synthetic or organic materials.Results: The concept of bladder wall replacement dates back to the early nineteenth century. Based on the unique regenerative capability of the bladder, many organic and synthetic allografts and xenografts were implanted in the bladder will with a wide range of outcomes. Recently, various biodegradable allografts have been developed and used successfully in animal models. Despite the favorable animal results, only a few of the materials have been used clinically for bladder wall replacement to date.Conclusions: Further improvements in the use of existing materials and development of new materials will hopefully result in clinically successful grafts for bladder wall replacement and for whole bl...
Standard-model extension with neutrino masses and an invisible axion.

We survey mechanisms which introduce lepton-number violation into the standard model. These mechanisms involve extensions in the fermion or scalar sectors. We present a minimal model with explicit lepton-number breaking and an invisible axion. Neutrino masses are generated at one loop. For a reasonable range of parameters the model provides a solution to the strong {ital CP} and solar-neutrino problems.
Assessment of tissue iron overload by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose The ability of stored intracellular iron to enhance magnetic susceptibility forms the basis by which tissue iron can be detected by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging. We used this technique to assess myocardial, spleen, and liver iron content in patients with known or suspected iron overload disorders. Patients and methods Spin echo NMR images were obtained in 30 patients; 20 had chronic anemias treated by multiple blood transfusions, five had idiopathic hemochromatosis, and five had non-hemochromatotic liver disease with elevated serum ferritin levels and no stainable iron on liver biopsy. The acquisition of oblique images through the short axis of the left ventricle permitted assessment of left ventricular function, while demonstrating the liver and spleen on the same image. Iron content was assessed using a signal intensity ratio of organ (spleen, liver, or myocardium) to skeletal muscle. Results In patients with multiple blood transfusions, iron content was highest in liver, followed by the spleen. Significant iron overload was detected in the myocardium of only one patient. Left ventricular systolic wall thickening was normal in patients receiving multiple blood transfusions. Two patients with treated idiopathic hemochromatosis had normal signal intensity ratios, and three untreated patients had evidence of significant deposits of iron in the liver and spleen as indicated by a reduction in signal intensity ratios (0.2 ± 0.01 and 0.9 ± 0.01, respectively). Five patients with non-hemochromatotic liver disease and high serum ferritin levels had normal signal intensity ratios by NMR imaging. Conclusion NMR imaging is a useful method of detecting tissue iron and distinguishing disease due to iron overload. Myocardial iron deposition is a late event, occurring after accumulation of iron in the spleen and liver.
Social class risk factors among children with Hodgkin's disease

We compared the social class characteristics of 66 families with children diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease (HD) from 1959 through 1977 in a defined population with that of 182 "control families" identified by a random process from the population base. The 14 youngest cases (less than 10 years at diagnosis) were from somewhat lower social-class backgrounds than their 37 controls as evidenced by the distribution of median income, single-unit housing, and poverty level of their census tract of residence, as well as by the occupational class of head-of-household. In contrast, the social class characteristics of the 52 older children with HD (10-14 years) were quite similar to that of their 145 controls. This apparent shift from lower to average social class between younger and older children with HD Hodgkin's disease may reflect a shift in their age of exposure to common infections. If true, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that HD may develop as a rare consequence of a common infection. However, these findings are based on small numbers of cases and on indirect measures of social class.
The effects of induced magnetic field on unsteady hydromagnetic flows in a rotating medium

Unsteady flows of a viscous incompressible electrically conducting fluid filling the semi-infinite space in contact with an infinite conducting plate in a rotating medium in the presence of a transverse induced magnetic field are investigated under an arbitrary time-dependent forcing effect on the motion of the plate where the plate and the fluid rotate uniformly as a rigid body. By using the Laplace transform technique, the Greens function of the problem is determined and certain asymptotic expansions of the exact solutions are analyzed. the steady-state oscillatory flow problem is solved, and structure of waves and displacement thickness of the boundary layers are discussed for different cases of some natural parameters in the problem. The results are compared with similar flows in the presence of a constant magnetic field.
Thermally-treated clay as a stationary phase in liquid chromatography.

Abstract Spray-dried, spherical synthetic hectorite particles have been thermally-treated at 500 °C for 16 h and used as adsorbent materials in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The retention of a 22 mono and disubstituted aromatic compounds was evaluated to study the retention mechanisms on the clay mineral. The retention of solutes on the thermally-treated clays was markedly different than that measured on octadecylsilica (ODS) columns under identical conditions, but remarkably similar to retention characteristics of the same solutes on porous graphitic carbon columns. The clay columns exhibit an enhanced selectivity over the ODS column in separation of nitroaromatic positional isomers. Under identical mobile phase compositions, a selectivity, α , of 7.15 between ortho - and para -dinitrobenzene isomers was measured on the clay column compared to a α of 1.04 on the ODS column.
Editorial: A global perspective on teaching innovation, entrepreneurship and engineering management

I truly believe that the art of teaching innovation and entrepreneurship in an engineering management setting has never been more essential to our future prosperity. It is well understood that advances in technology are essential for increasing productivity, thereby raising living standards for everyone in the general population. Advances in technology often originate from innovations in science and engineering, which are then delivered to society by entrepreneurs who create new products and services. So how does one teach skills like `innovation? or `entrepreneurship?? Are these skills innate to some individuals or can they be learned?
Characterizing and Comparing Fretting Fatigue and Pitting in Low-Amplitude Reciprocating Contact

Fretting fatigue has consistently been described as an “insidious” fracture process due to the difficulty in modeling and predicting fretting-induced crack initiation. Components can develop fretting fatigue cracks even when they are designed for minimal relative motion, as in the case of a turbine blade root. Vibrations that are typically small enough to be considered negligible in engineering analysis can cause cracks that will lead to component failure. The sliding distance for fretting to occur is loosely defined as tens to hundreds of micrometers. To date, there has not been a good delineation between the fretting motion and gross-sliding regimes. Likewise, it is not well understood when a given component will experience fretting fatigue or pitting (which is associated with gross sliding and is often seen in gear components). Preliminary data suggest that pitting-like cracks can initiate in a hemisphere-on-flat linear reciprocating configuration at a low number of cycles (104 ) and fretting-sized displacements (200–300μm). Because of the differences between the mechanisms for failure in fretting and pitting, new insight must be developed to determine parameters under which to expect either failure mode. This work seeks to characterize these two forms of failure and to determine the conditions under which fretting or pitting becomes dominant to develop a new tool for the prediction and prevention of moving components.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Sabotaging the deal: The way relational concerns undermine negotiators

Abstract We addressed the questions of how and to what end negotiators sacrifice their economic outcomes in exchange for hoped-for relationship gains with the other party. We predicted that negotiators' chronic belongingness needs–fundamental to human beings–would undercut the economic value of their deals. Moreover, we tested two mechanisms by which this occurs. Belongingness needs encouraged negotiators to reduce their economic ambitions ahead of time, and they interfered with negotiators' attention to the substantive issues on the table. Rather than finding that partners were able to exploit negotiators' belongingness needs for their own economic gains, we found that their partners were left worse off. If negotiators were making a calculation initially to trade economic gains for relationship gains, we did not find evidence that this paid off with a partner who especially wanted to work with the focal negotiator in the future. We conclude that belongingness needs lead negotiators to sabotage their economic outcomes without any clear benefits to the relationships these negotiators are keen to build.
Arsenic transport and transformation associated with MSMA application on a golf course green.

The impact of extensively used arsenic-containing herbicides on groundwater beneath golf courses has become a topic of interest. Although currently used organoarsenicals are less toxic, their application into the environment may produce the more toxic inorganic arsenicals. The objective of this work was to understand the behavior of arsenic species in percolate water from monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA) applied golf course greens, as well as to determine the influences of root-zone media for United State Golf Association (USGA) putting green construction on arsenic retention and species conversion. The field test was established at the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center (FLREC), University of Florida. Percolate water was collected after MSMA application for speciation and total arsenic analyses. The results showed that the substrate composition significantly influenced arsenic mobility and arsenic species transformation in the percolate water. In comparison to uncoated sands (S) and uncoated ...
Footprinting analysis of mammalian RNA polymerase II along its transcript: an alternative view of transcription elongation.

Abstract Ternary complexes of RNA polymerase II, bearing the nascent RNA transcript, are intermediates in the synthesis of all eukaryotic mRNAs and are implicated as regulatory targets of factors that control RNA chain elongation and termination. Information as to the structure of such complexes is essential in understanding the catalytic and regulatory properties of the RNA polymerase. We have prepared complexes of purified RNA polymerase II halted at defined positions along a DNA template and used RNase footprinting to map interactions of the polymerase with the nascent RNA. Unexpectedly, the transcript is sensitive to cleavage by RNases A and T1 at positions as close as 3 nucleotides from the 3'-terminal growing point. Ternary complexes in which the transcript has been cleaved to give a short fragment can retain that fragment and remain active and able to continue elongation. Since DNA.RNA hybrid structures are completely resistant to cleavage under our reaction conditions, the results suggest that any DNA.RNA hybrid intermediate can extend for no more than 3 base pairs, in dramatic contrast to recent models for transcription elongation. At lower RNase concentrations, the transcript is protected from cleavage out to about 24 nucleotides from the 3' terminus. We interpret this partial protection as due to the presence of an RNA binding site on the polymerase that binds the nascent transcript during elongation, a model proposed earlier by several workers in preference to the hybrid model. The properties of this RNA binding site are likely to play a central role in the process of transcription elongation and termination and in their regulation.
Abuse liability and the regulatory control of therapeutic drugs: untested assumptions.

The drug abuse crisis now apparent in the U.S. has raised questions about some of our oldest and most fundamental assumptions regarding the effects of our systems for controlling the availability of drugs of abuse. Indeed, we have been compelled to reconsider whether we might not be better off with out our venerable legal sanctions against these substances, especially when the clearest effects of these laws has been to make illegal commerce in these drugs so competitive as to imperil the safety of our streets and neighborhoods and so lucrative as to corrupt and destabilize the governments of whole nations. In the case of drugs with abuse liability that also have significant medical value, the issues of regulatory control, though less dramatic, may be even more difficult: Here the aim of societal controls is not only to restrict the availability of these substances for abuse, but to do so without restricting their appropriate medical use. However, we generally assume that the regulations by which we choose to safeguard society will have the intended effects; and we assume no less of the regulations we apply to therapeutic drugs. This assumption has by and large gone unexamined and untested. In fact, considering the history of these
Isotopic evidence for changes in the biogeochemical carbon cycle during the early-and mid-proterzoic eon: Implications for the biosphere and atmosphere

The Archean fossil record reveals a biosphere whose biota were remarkably sophisticated. For example, bacteria were capable of photosynthesis, and they withstood the ultraviolet radiation and periodic desiccation which accompanied the intertidal environment. However, we can infer relatively little about evolutionary change between 3 and 1.1 billion years (Ga) ago. What biological events occurred, and how did changes in the environment influence the nature and timing of these events? The carbon biogeochemical cycle played a key role, and isotopic measurements of sedimented carbon can reveal long-term changes in this cycle. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Altered fucolipid patterns in cultured human cancer cells.

STUDIES in this laboratory1 have shown that fucolipid metabolism is markedly altered in membranes of cells transformed by oncornaviruses. Transformed cells exhibit a sharp decrease in radioactive fucose incorporation into chromatographically less mobile, presumably more complex, fucolipids with a corresponding rise in radioactivity in more mobile fucolipids. Studies of fucolipid metabolism in normal rat kidney (NRK) cells transformed by a cold-sensitive transformation mutant of murine sarcoma virus (NRK (MSV-1b)) revealed a correlation between the appearance of the transformed phenotype and altered fucolipid synthesis2. The fucolipids of SV40 and herpes simplex virus-transformed cell lines have also been examined3; some of the transformed lines were oncogenic while others were not when injected into appropriate animals. The cell lines which were capable of producing tumours had a block in the synthesis of the complex fucolipids comparable with that observed in the oncornavirus-transformed cells. In contrast, the transformed cell lines that did not produce tumours showed only a minor block in the formation of the complex fucolipids.
Carbon sequestration in coal-beds with structural deformation effects

Abstract Carbon dioxide sequestration in a coal-bed is a profitable method to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and to recover byproduct methane from the coal seam. The important factor to be considered is the stability of the coal-bed with the increased carbon dioxide injection. It is crucial to avoid carbon dioxide escaping from the coal seam caused by structural deformation. Meanwhile, structural deformation also depends on such properties of the geological coal basin as fracture state and phase equilibrium, especially the porosity, permeability and saturation of the coal seam. In this study, a structural deformation effect was simulated with the purpose of predicting carbon dioxide storage in the environment of a typical unmineable coal seam. As an example, Appalachian Basin is considered in the deformation analysis of carbon dioxide sequestration based on the variable saturation model. Moreover, the comparison between simulations with and without the account of structural deformation is given. The results indicate that modeling of structural deformation in carbon sequestration is feasible by directly coupling structure terms to a variable saturated model. Moreover, introducing structural deformation effects into carbon sequestration modeling is important because it affects the fluid flow and leads to a faster drop of the resulting capillary pressure and relative permeability of the gas phase. This faster drop directly results in the diminished carbon dioxide storage capacity in a coal-bed basin. In addition, structural deformation modeling in carbon sequestration simulations can provide important insights into how to avoid carbon leakage and seepage by monitoring the effective stress and displacement of coal-bed basin during carbon dioxide injection.
Measuring resilience in health care provider organizations.

Health care providers offer an ideal setting to study the effectiveness of resilient behavior. The notion of a resilient organization is an emerging concept for understanding and coping with the modern‐day pace of change and associated work stress. Resilience is the ability of an individual or organization to expeditiously design and implement positive adaptive behaviors matched to the immediate situation, while enduring minimal stress. This paper reports on the development and testing of several scales designed to measure aspects of resilience in the health care provider industry. Six factors explaining over half the instrument variance were found, including: goal‐directed solution seeking; avoidance; critical understanding; role dependence; source reliance; and resource access. Results are discussed and future research is outlined.
Sodium citrate 4% versus heparin as a lock solution in hemodialysis patients with central venous catheters

Purpose The effects of heparin versus sodium citrate 4% as a lock solution on catheter-related infections (CRIs), catheter patency, and hospitalizations in long-term hemodialysis patients with central venous catheters (CVCs) were compared. Methods Data for patients receiving heparin lock solutions were collected from July 2008 to July 2009. Data on patients receiving sodium citrate 4% lock solution were collected from September 2009 through December 2010. Patients who were receiving the heparin lock solution who continued to have a CVC in September 2009 were transitioned from heparin to sodium citrate catheter 4% lock solution. New patients with CVCs placed after September 2009 received sodium citrate 4% without a period of using heparin lock solution. Pertinent information on patient medical history, bleeding or clotting events, infections, and hospitalization was collected. Data were collected retrospectively for the heparin group and prospectively for the sodium citrate group. Results Data were collected from 360 patient-months among 60 patients during the heparin treatment period and from 451 patient-months among 58 patients during the sodium citrate period. Thirty-three patients were common to both study groups. There were significantly more CRIs and CRIs per 1000 catheter-days in the heparin than the sodium citrate treatment group. Secondary outcomes of hospitalizations and catheter thrombosis were comparable. CRIs and thrombosis led to significantly more catheter exchanges or removals in the heparin group than the sodium citrate group. Conclusion In patients with long-term hemodialysis catheters, a lock solution of sodium citrate 4% was associated with fewer CRIs and similar effectiveness when compared with heparin 5000 units/mL. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2013; 70:131–6
Stereotactic radiosurgery of the rete mirabile in swine: a longitudinal study of histopathological changes.

OBJECTIVE: Stereotactic radiosurgery is an established, effective treatment for brain arteriovenous malformations. The mechanisms of vessel occlusion in arteriovenous malformations has not been extensively evaluated. To better understand these mechanisms, we report histopathological changes in the swine rete mirabile after stereotactic radiosurgery. METHODS: Thirty-five swine were used, 15 as nonradiated controls and 20 as radiated. Two in the control group and five in the radiated group were sacrificed before the study endpoint. Tissue was obtained from 13 nonradiated (4 at 3 mo, 5 at 6 mo, 4 at 9 mo) and 15 radiated swine (2 at 3 mo, 3 at 6 mo, 10 at 9 mo) for histological, immunohistochemical, and morphometric analysis. RESULTS: Radiated vessels showed increasing intimal hyperplasia over the follow-up period. Histometrical analysis confirmed this with evidence of progressive luminal narrowing over the follow-up period. Immunohistochemical analysis showed intimal cells to be proliferating smooth muscle cells with surrounding extracellular collagen Type IV. Adventitial fibrosis composed of collagen Type IV was also seen with smooth muscle cells interspersed within the collagen matrix. The nonradiated animals showed no intimal hyperplasia or change in the appearance or size of the vessels over the same follow-up period. Adventitial fibrosis was minimal in the nonradiated animals. CONCLUSION: The vessels show an intimal response to radiation with progressive occlusion caused by migrating, proliferating smooth muscle cells, a likely source of the extracellular collagen in the intima. Cytokine mediated pathways likely produce these morphological changes. Future studies will be directed toward elucidating these underlying molecular mechanisms.
EMERGING ROLE OF BOTULINUM TOXIN IN THE MANAGEMENT OF VOIDING DYSFUNCTION

ABSTRACTPurpose:: In recent years there has been tremendous excitement over the use of botulinum neurotoxin (BTX) to treat various urethral and bladder dysfunctions. BTX is the most potent, naturally occurring toxin known to mankind. Why, then, would a urologist want to use this agent to poison the bladder or urethral sphincter?Materials and Methods:: We reviewed the recent literature on the mechanisms underlying the effects of BTX treatment and discuss current use of this agent within the urological community, as well as provide perspective on future targets of BTX. The information was gathered from MEDLINE, abstracts from recent urological meetings and personal experience.Results:: Injection of BTX appears to have a positive therapeutic effect in multiple urological conditions, including detrusor hyperreflexia and detrusor external sphincter dyssynergia, and nonneurogenic conditions such as pelvic floor spasticity, refractory overactive bladder and, possibly, benign prostatic hyperplasia. Interstitial c...
Detection and transduction of daylength in birds

Daylength is an important environmental cue used by temperate zone avian species to time the onset of seasonal reproductive activity. Photic cues are detected by extra-retinal, extra-pineal central nervous system elements, and are rapidly transduced to an efferent signal. In this paper, we describe the brain locus of putative encephalic photoreceptors in birds, and explore the pathway of information transfer from photic input to the reproductive axis. To this end, we examine how photoreceptors might communicate with the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and how brain peptides vary seasonally. Recent studies indicate that brain photoreceptors lie in the lateral septum and in the tuberal hypothalamus, and co-express proteins characteristic of retinal photoreceptors, as well as vasoactive-intestinal polypeptide (VIP). At the light microscopic level, photoreceptor cells appear to communicate with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons, and vice versa. Expression of VIP-like immunoreactivity is highest in photorefractory animals while GnRH-like immunoreactivity is highest in photosensitive birds. Expression of these CNS peptides is correlated with changes in plasma prolactin and luteinizing hormone (LH), suggesting a mechanism mediating seasonal cyclicity.
Charge-transfer-enhanced prism-type local order in amorphous Mg65Cu25Y10: Short-to-medium-range structural evolution underlying liquid fragility and heat capacity

Abstract Using classical and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we have probed into the atomic and electronic structures of an amorphous Mg alloy, Mg 65 Cu 25 Y 10 , as a representative of Mg alloys that form bulk metallic glasses (MGs). Different from some MGs where the icosahedral motifs are the key coordination polyhedra, here the featured short-range order (SRO) is dominated by Cu-centered bicapped square antiprisms and tricapped trigonal prisms. Bond shortening is observed for Mg–Cu and Y–Cu bonds, due to appreciable charge transfer that imparts an ionic character to the bonding. This enhances their chemical affinity, accentuating Cu-centered motifs analogous to solute-centered prisms in metal–metalloid MGs in this all-metal system. The prism-type SRO is prevalent even at high temperatures in the (supercooled) liquids, as revealed from the inherent structures. A weak temperature dependence is observed for the degree of characteristic SRO with undercooling, as well as for the development of connections of the motifs in the medium range. Such a structural evolution is contrasted with the rapidly ascending icosahedral order in Cu 64 Zr 36 supercooled liquids, and explains the much more shallow specific heat curve as well as the low fragility of the Mg 65 Cu 25 Y 10 supercooled liquid.
Joint decision making for maintenance and production scheduling of production systems

Deteriorated equipment has a significant impact on the product quality and maintenance policies. In this paper, we present a decision-making architecture to determine maintenance and product dispatching policies based on condition-monitoring information and the relationship between machine degradation and associated product quality. We use a Markov decision process for the long-term decision making and integer programming for the short-term decision making with a multi-product, multi-station system. We demonstrate the advantage of the proposed approach by comparing the proposed policy with traditional decision-making approaches. Furthermore, we illustrate the improvement of the proposed policy over the current usage-based maintenance policy with a semiconductor manufacturing process application.
Change of middle ear transfer function in otitis media with effusion model of guinea pigs

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is an inflammatory disease of the middle ear that causes most cases of conductive hearing loss observed in the pediatric population. With the long term goal of evaluating middle ear function with OME, the aim of the current study was to create an animal model of OME in which middle ear transfer functions could be measured. In guinea pigs, OME was created by injecting lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into the middle ear. Evidence of OME was assessed by otoscopy, tympanometry, histology, and by measuring the volume of fluid in the middle ear. Vibrations of the umbo and round window membrane were measured with a laser Doppler vibrometer at frequency range of 200-40 kHz in three groups of 3, 7, and 14 days after injection of LPS. Changes in displacement of the umbo and round window membrane in response to 80 dB SPL sound in the ear canal were measured across the frequency range. Displacement of both the umbo and round window membrane was reduced at all time points following LPS injections. Further, the change of the displacement transmission ratio (DTR) from the tympanic membrane to the round window occurred mainly in chronic (e.g. 14 days post-LPS injection) OME ears. This study provides useful data for analyzing the change of middle ear transfer function in OME ears.
Spinosad resistance in the housefly, Musca domestica, is due to a recessive factor on autosome 1

Abstract Spinosad is a new and highly promising insecticide with efficacy against a wide range of insects, including houseflies. Selection of the field collected houseflies produced a highly spinosad resistant (>150-fold) strain of housefly following 10 generations of selection. Spinosad resistance was a recessive trait linked to autosome 1 which could not be overcome with the insecticide synergists piperonyl butoxide, S , S , S -tributylphosphorotrithioate nor diethyl maleate. Selection for resistance to spinosad did not result in cross-resistance to other insecticides. These results suggest spinosad resistance in the housefly is due to a unique resistance mechanism.
Transit Referenda and Funding Options: Bonds Versus Taxes

Transit is an integral part of a sustainable transportation system in any region. Proposals for transit initiatives that are brought to referenda include a funding vehicle, either tax based or bond based. A tax-funded proposal imposes the cost on the present generation of residents, whereas a bond-funded proposal delays the burden to future generations. The aim is to investigate whether the success of proposals in referenda is related to the use of taxes or bonds for funding. This question is investigated with the use of data from 111 transit referenda held in the United States from 1999 to 2007. It was found that proposals that use taxes for funding are less likely to pass than those that use bonds.
CXCR4 chemokine receptor antagonists: perspectives in SCLC.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a particularly aggressive form of lung cancer characterized by early and widespread metastases and the ability to rapidly develop resistance against chemotherapeuti...
Treatment Duration and Termination Status Among Clients in a University-Based Counseling Center

Researchers have long been interested in understanding for whom therapy works and why. This study sought to identify ways in which clients differ with regard to treatment outcomes such as treatment...
Temperature and Strain Rate Dependence of Deformation Microstructures of AZ31 Magnesium Alloy under Uniaxial Tension

The tensile deformation microstructures of an extruded AZ31 Mg alloy were examined at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 250°C over a strain rate range from 10-4 s-1 to 10-2 s-1. It is found that the strain rate has an enhanced effect on the tensile flow behavior of AZ31 Mg alloy with increasing temperature, which is closely related to the changes of deformation microstructures. The tensile deformation of AZ31 Mg alloy is mainly accommodated by twinning and slipping at room temperature and 100°C, and the amount of deformation twins reduces with increasing temperature and decreasing strain rate. However, discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DRX) occurs primarily at grain boundaries, and nearly no deformation twins form, as the temperature is as high as 250°C. With decreasing strain rate, more significant DRX takes place with an increasing DRX grain size. The tensile deformation of AZ31 Mg alloy at 250°C is thus primarily controlled by slipping and DRX.
Nonmarine aspects of the Cambrian Tonto Group of the Grand Canyon, USA, and broader implications

Abstract A re-examination of the classic time-transgressive model of the Cambrian Tonto Group of the Grand Canyon challenges some of the basic assumptions regarding strandline migration during the Sauk transgression, the applicability of sequence stratigraphy to epicratonic deposits, and the criteria by which siliciclastic deposits of the North American Cambrian system are categorized as marine. Indicators for high short-term depositional rates, coupled with the complex splay and coalescence of meter-scale parasequence architectures, detract from the shoreline migration and deepening seas model that has held sway for over 60 years. Ostensibly marine signatures, represented by sparse and fragmentary trilobite fossils and abundant bedding plane trace fossils, are closely associated with nonmarine signatures, represented by nonmarine palynoflora and clay mineral assemblages, and highly oxidized paleoweathering profiles. The vast extent of three-dimensional exposure of the Cambrian section in the Grand Canyon shows a paleogeography not of a single discrete shoreline translated laterally with rising and falling sea-level, but of a single mosaic setting of emergent shoals and rocky peaks, broad fluvial and tidal channels, and shallow pools and interchannel flats. Much detail concerning sediment dynamics and paleoenvironment is lost or overlooked when summary terms like “marginal marine” or “nearshore” are applied to such settings. It is suggested here that the Tonto Group, with its mixed marine and nonmarine attributes, and considering its historic role as a teaching model, be viewed not as an exceptional Cambrian deposit, but as an exemplar of epicratonic deposits on a pre-vegetated landscape.