cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Imaging Living CHO-SC1 Cells by Soft X-Ray Contact Microscopy

Soft x-ray contact microscopy (SXCM) is a form of x-ray lithography in which the biological cell is imaged, in place of a microcircuit mask, using x-rays within the “water window” (277–525 eV). Contrast arises from the absorption lengths of carbon and nitrogen, which are ~ 10× shorter than that of oxygen in the water window, so that DNA and protein absorb water window x-rays more strongly than water. Images of critical point dried 9L glialsarcoma cells and living CHO-SC1 cells were obtained; the latter are believed to be the first sub 0.1 µm resolution SXCM images of living mammalian cells.
Proton Simulation of Irradiation-Induced Creep

An apparatus was developed that utilizes light ions to simulate the effect of a fusion reactor first wall environment on the creep properties of metals and alloys. The creep apparatus includes a wi...
Feasibility and Acceptability of a Dignity Therapy/Life Plan Intervention for Patients With Advanced Cancer.

Purpose/objectives To determine the feasibility and acceptability of a dignity therapy/life plan intervention in the outpatient oncology setting. . Research approach Pilot descriptive study. . Setting Outpatient clinic in a tertiary oncology center. . Participants 18 patients within 12 months after diagnosis undergoing treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer or non-small cell lung cancer. . Methodologic approach Patients received dignity therapy, consisting of a focused life review/values clarification interview session and two subsequent sessions to produce a generativity document, which they can use later as they wish. Participants also wrote a life plan, in which they listed future hopes and dreams. Intervention feasibility and acceptability for patients and oncology clinician satisfaction were assessed. . Findings Among the 18 patients completing the intervention, almost all felt it was worthwhile, would do it again, had their expectations met or exceeded, would recommend it to others, and said the timing was just right. . Interpretation This psychosocial intervention was found to be feasible and acceptable to patients with cancer undergoing active treatment. . Implications for nursing Nurses may be in an ideal position to offer a dignity therapy/life plan intervention to patients with advanced cancer during treatment.
Frequency Selective Surface Effects on a Coplanar Waveguide Feedline in Fabry–Perot Cavity Antenna Systems

Planar array designs and three-dimensional (3-D) high-density integration can degrade antenna performance due to feedline interference and coupling. To minimize this effect, a single source element with feedline is combined with a frequency selective surface (FSS) to form a Fabry–Perot Cavity antenna (FPCA) system. The FSS focusing of the antenna radiation also focuses the feedline energy, which can degrade the overall FPCA system radiation pattern. This letter presents a technique to reduce undesired feedline radiation enhanced by an FSS. Orientation-sensitive FSS designs are studied to minimize feedline electric field concentration above the FSS. Feedline radiation focusing above the FSS can be minimized from 4.95 to −2.4 dBi in the far field.
Development of an estrus synchronization protocol for beef cattle with short-term feeding of melengestrol acetate: 7-11 synch.

An estrus synchronization protocol (7-11 Synch) was developed to synchronize the first follicular wave and timing of ovulation in postpartum beef cows. In Exp. 1, follicular development and timing of ovulation in response to the following protocol were evaluated. Beef heifers (n = 12) and cows (n = 6), at random stages of the estrous cycle, were fed melengestrol acetate (MGA; .5 mg x animal(-1) x d(-1)) for 7 d and injected with PGF2alpha (PG; 25 mg) on the last day of MGA. A second injection of PG was administered 11 d after cessation of MGA. After the second injection of PG, estrus was synchronized in 6/12 heifers and 3/6 cows. The interval to estrus in heifers and cows was 54 and 64 h, respectively (P > .10). All animals exhibiting estrus ovulated first-wave follicles. Animals that failed to respond to the second injection of PG were in estrus later than 6 d after cessation of MGA and had corpora lutea that were unresponsive to the injection of PG. Based on the variation in interval to estrus following the first PG injection on the last day of MGA feeding in Exp. 1, an injection of GnRH (100 microg) was added to the protocol 4 d after the cessation of MGA to ensure ovulation or luteinization of dominant follicles and synchronization of first-wave follicular development. This revised protocol was termed "7-11 Synch." In Exp. 2, two estrus synchronization protocols were compared. Multiparous beef cows were stratified by breed and postpartum interval and randomly assigned to the 7-11 Synch (n = 44) or Select Synch protocols (GnRH injection followed by PG injection 7 d later; n = 45). Timing of estrus after the last PG injection (0 h) ranged from 42 to 102 h in the 7-11 Synch group and -30 to 114 h in the Select Synch group. Eight cows (18%) in the Select Synch group exhibited estrus 30 h before to 18 h after PG. Synchronized estrus peaked between 42 and 66 h after the last PG injection, and a maximum number of cows were in estrus at 54 h for both treatment groups. Synchrony of estrus from 42 to 66 h was greater (P < .05) in 7-11 Synch (91%: 41/44) than in Select Synch cows (69%: 31/45). Artificial insemination pregnancy rate from 42 to 66 h was greater (P < .05) in the 7-11 Synch group (66%: 29/44) than in the Select Synch group (40%: 18/45). In summary, the 7-11 Synch protocol improved synchrony of estrus without reducing fertility. This protocol has potential future application for fixed-time AI in beef cattle production systems.
Psychotherapy: Legal Issues (United States)

The law in many countries affects providers of mental health services (hereinafter, mental health professionals or MHPs) in all stages of their careers and in all aspects of their practices. MHPs need to know the law in these countries because it can provide them and their clients with benefits, if the MHP is aware of this law, makes their clients aware of it when appropriate, and if the client petitions for the legal benefit. MHPs also need to be aware of this law because it directly controls their practices. Knowledge of this part of the law will help MHPs reduce their potential legal risks and increase their ability to conform to legal requirements. This article is limited to the latter set of issues. It reviews the laws affecting MHP business matters and responsibilities, and the provision of psychotherapy services. Specifically, the law may require certain MHP services for individuals with special needs. The legal system (e.g., juvenile court, correctional agencies) may also court some MHPs to aid in the administration of these systems (e.g., through evaluations of litigants and providing psychotherapy to court-referred juveniles and adults). Finally, many MHPs also may find that the law affects their practice because their clients may become involved in legal entanglements that involve mental status issues which require MHP involvement (e.g., divorce or termination of parental rights proceedings).
Technological Fixes I, Origins, Philosophy and Criticisms

“Technological fix,” like “magic bullet,” is a key term in many critiques of agricultural biotechnology. And, like the magic bullet, the idea of a technological fix is a central element in the narrative of progress. Despite being a largely derisive label, the technological fix strategy continues to guide research in agricultural biotechnology. The objective of this chapter is to identify and clarify criticisms of the technological fix strategy. Carefully examining the technological fix strategy provides insights on how to move beyond the narrative crisis created by the conflict between technological optimism and technological pessimism. I argue that neither sweeping endorsements nor sweeping rejections of genetic or technological fixes in agriculture are justified. Rather, we need pragmatic critiques that identify defects and limitations inherent in of this strategy. Similar to the inherent defects of the reductive magic bullet strategy, the technological fix strategy needs to be corrected by placing innovations within a larger, more comprehensive context. Lessons from this chapter will be applied to evaluate examples of genetically engineered crops and production animals in Chap. 6.
Religion and right-wing populism in Italy: using ‘Judeo-Christian roots’ to kill the European Union

This contribution offers new directions to explore how implicitly religious customs and norms may influence voting for right-wing populist parties. It also suggests an indirect influence of governm...
Theoretical framework and protocol for the evaluation of Strong Through Every Mile (STEM), a structured running program for survivors of intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence can have a devastating impact on victims’ psychological and physical health and ability to maintain and preserve interpersonal relationships. The aim of the current study is to empirically test the effectiveness of Strong Through Every Mile (STEM), a 10-week structured running (exercise) program designed to increase psychological, social, and physical well-being among survivors of intimate partner violence. To the authors’ knowledge, STEM is the only community-based structured running program designed to improve the quality of life of survivors of intimate partner violence. This paper will describe the STEM program and present the theoretical basis of the program and the program evaluation design. The current study will utilize an interdisciplinary lens to evaluate a community-based intervention aimed at decreasing the negative effects of intimate partner violence on women’s lives. The study will use a mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative), including a pre- and post-test evaluation of the STEM running program. Primary data will be collected using paper and pencil surveys which assess women’s psychological, social, and physical well-being prior to participation in the program and following the completion of the program. Qualitative data from focus groups will also be collected and allow for a more rich understanding of the changes that women experience over the course of the program and specific mechanisms underlying these changes. The current study will employ an interdisciplinary lens to examine the extent to which a structured exercise program, specifically running, impacts the psychological, social and physical well-being of women survivors of intimate partner violence. Findings of this study can influence the development and implementation of similar programs for survivors of intimate partner violence and other types of trauma by identifying mechanisms central in achieving positive outcomes for participants.
Mechanisms underlying the efficacy of exercise as an intervention for cocaine relapse: a focus on mGlu5 in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex.

Exercise shows promise as a treatment option for addiction; but in order to prevent relapse, it may need to be introduced early in the course of treatment. We propose that exercise, by upregulating dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC)-nucleus accumbens (NAc) transmission, offsets deficits in pathways targeting glutamate, BDNF, and dopamine during early abstinence, and in doing so, normalizes neuroadaptations that underlie relapse. We compared the effects of exercise (wheel running, 2-h/day) during early (days 1–7), late (days 8–14), and throughout abstinence (days 1–14) to sedentary conditions on cocaine-seeking and gene expression in the dmPFC and NAc core of male rats tested following 24-h/day extended-access cocaine (up to 96 infusions/day) or saline self-administration and protracted abstinence (15 days). Based on these data, we then used site-specific manipulation to determine whether dmPFC metabotropic glutamate receptor5 (mGlu5) underlies the efficacy of exercise. Exercise initiated during early, but not late abstinence, reduced cocaine-seeking; this effect was strongly associated with dmPFC Grm5 expression (gene encoding mGlu5), and modestly associated with dmPFC Grin1 and Bdnf-IV expression. Activation of mGlu5 in the dmPFC during early abstinence mimicked the efficacy of early-initiated exercise; however, inhibition of these receptors prior to the exercise sessions did not block its efficacy indicating that there may be redundancy in the mechanisms through which exercise reduces cocaine-seeking. These findings indicate that addiction treatments, including exercise, should be tailored for early versus late phases of abstinence since their effectiveness will vary over abstinence due to the dynamic nature of the underlying neuroadaptations.
Parks for the Community: The City State’s Modernist Planning Model

The modernist attitude of planning and designing the land from the aerial viewpoint is reflected in the extensive urban renewal program of new towns and the overarching island-wide greening beautification program – the model of ‘open plan’, with parks conceived as emblems of collective interest and social welfare. However, a postmodern critique was engaged by planners, who begun to fragment the green belt into a myriad of smaller town parks and neighbourhood parks, which they scattered in the new towns. The park system represents the nation by integrating tourism marketing products, and by portraying a globalized aesthetics of ‘tropicality’.
Outcomes following robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: Pentafecta and Trifecta achievements.

BACKGROUND Functional and oncologic outcomes following radical prostatectomy play a major role in patient satisfaction after treatment. This study was designed to assess the functional and oncologic outcome after robotic assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) in a single surgeon series of patients. METHODS A prospectively maintained database of patients undergoing robotic radical prostatectomy in a referral academic center was queried for functional and oncologic outcome. Patients undergoing RARP between 2010 and 2013 were included. Analysis was performed with SPSS and SAS, χ2, Mann-Whitney and t-test were used when appropriate. RESULTS Overall, 566 patients were included in the analysis. The Trifecta and Pentafecta was 73.9% and 64.1%, respectively. Patients achieving Pentafecta were younger (P<0.001), had lower PSA level (P=0.04), lower Biopsy Gleason (P<0.01), lower risk prostate cancer (P<0.01) and fewer comorbidities (P=0.03). The patients were followed up for a median of 27.4 months in Trifecta and 20.6 months in Pentafecta group. At 12-month follow-up the continence and potency rate was 90.6% and 84.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Although preoperative counseling for RARP surgery using Pentafecta criteria offers more precise information and reasonable expectations than using the Trifecta, further research is required to prepare a standard reporting outline.
Metabolites Associated with Walking Ability Among the Oldest Old from the CHS All Stars Study.

BACKGROUND Low walking ability is highly prevalent with advancing age and predicts major health outcomes. Metabolomics may help to better characterize differences in walking ability among older adults, providing insight into potentially altered molecular processes underlying age-related decline in functioning. We sought to identify metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with high versus low walking ability among 120 participants ages 79-95 from the CHS All Stars study. METHODS Using a nested case-control design, 60 randomly selected participants with low walking ability were matched one-to-one on age, gender, race, and fasting time with 60 participants with high walking ability. High versus low walking ability was defined as being in the best versus worst tertiles for both gait speed (≥0.9 vs <0.7 m/s) and the Walking Ability Index (7-9 vs 0-1). Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, 569 metabolites were identified in overnight-fasting plasma. RESULTS Ninety-six metabolites were associated with walking ability, where 24% were triacylglycerols. Triacylglycerols that were higher among those with high walking ability consisted mostly of polyunsaturated fatty acids, whereas triacylglycerols that were lower among those with high walking ability consisted mostly of saturated or monounsaturated fatty acids. Body composition partly explained associations between some metabolites and walking ability. Proline and arginine metabolism was a top pathway associated with walking ability. CONCLUSION These results may partly reflect pathways of modifiable risk factors, including excess dietary lipids and lack of physical activity, contributing to obesity and further alterations in metabolic pathways that lead to age-related decline in walking ability in this older adult cohort.
The Impact of No Next of Kin Decision Makers on End-of-Life Care

For critically ill burn patients without a next of kin, the medical team is tasked with becoming the surrogate decision maker. This poses ethical and legal challenges for burn providers. Despite this frequent problem, there has been no investigation of how the presence of a next of kin affects treatment in burn patients. To evaluate this relationship, a retrospective chart review was performed on a cohort of patients who died during the acute phase of their burn care. Variables collected included age, gender, length of stay, total body surface area, course of treatment, and presence of a next of kin. In total, 67 patients met the inclusion criteria. Of these patients, 14 (21%) did not have a next of kin involved in medical decisions. Patients without a next of kin were significantly younger (P = .02), more likely to be homeless (P < .01), had higher total body surface area burns (P = .008), had shorter length of stay (P < .001), and were five times less likely to receive comfort care (P = .01). Differences in gender and ethnicity were not statistically significant. We report that patients without a next of kin present to participate in medical decisions are transitioned to comfort care less often despite having a higher burden of injury. This disparity in standard of care demonstrates a need for a cultural shift in burn care to prevent the suffering of these marginalized patients. Burn providers should be empowered to reduce suffering when no decision maker is present.
The relative insignificance of advanced materials in enhancing the energy efficiency of desalination technologies

As the threat of global water scarcity continues to grow, a myriad of scientific effort is directed towards advancing water desalination technologies. Reverse osmosis (RO), solar thermal desalination (STD), and capacitive deionization (CDI), have dominated recent pressure-, thermal-, and electro-driven desalination research efforts, respectively. Despite being based on distinctive driving forces and separation mechanisms, research of these three processes has primarily shared the same fundamental goal and approach: the minimization of energy consumption for desalination through the development of novel materials. A variety of materials have been studied and proposed to enhance RO membrane permeability, STD solar absorptivity, and CDI electrode capacitance. Here, we critically discuss the advanced materials investigated and assess their efficacy in augmenting the energy efficiency of desalination. Through our systematic analysis, we show that materials have relatively insignificant impact on further increasing energy efficiency, regardless of the process applied. We provide insights into the inherent limitations of advanced materials for improving the energy efficiency of each of the evaluated technologies and propose more effective materials-based research directions. We conclude by highlighting the opportunity for considerable improvement in energy efficiency via system design, reinforcing the critical need for a paradigm shift in desalination research.
The Final Girl(s): Queerness, Normativity and Survival in Scream Queens

This chapter investigates the role of evolving contemporary LGBTQ politics in modern slasher media. Focusing on Ryan Murphy’s 2015 horror meta-comedy Scream Queens, Marra argues that while in canonical slashers of the 1970s and 1980s, survivors were often marked as queer—expressed as non-normative gender and/or sexuality—contemporary survivors represent a more nuanced collection of identities. It also contends that while gay and lesbian identities have historically been associated with traits conducive to queer survival, contemporary slasher media provide a place to reconsider what it means to be politically queer, dislocating gayness from queerness and recognizing the presence of assimilationist and normative gay identities that do not survive the killer.
Field applications of dual frequency comb spectroscopy

The output of a laser frequency comb is composed of 100,000+ perfectly spaced, discrete wavelength elements or comb teeth, that act as a massively parallel set of single frequency (CW) lasers with highly stable, well-known frequencies. In dual-comb spectroscopy, two such frequency combs are interfered on a single detector yielding absorption information for each individual comb tooth. This approach combines the strengths of both cw laser spectroscopy and broadband spectroscopy providing high spectral resolution and broad optical bandwidths, all with a single-mode, high-brightness laser beam and a simple, single photodetector, detection scheme. Here I will touch on the application of this system for open-path measurements of atmospheric trace gases (CH4, CO2, CO, NH3, water, ethane, and N2O) and volatile organic compounds (acetone, isopropanol, propane) with field applications targeting industrial oil and gas monitoring and agriculture.
Enhanced radiative and thermal properties from surface encapsulation of InAs nanowires

In this work, photoluminescence (PL), quantum efficiency and carrier dynamics are investigated in indium arsenide (InAs) nanowires (NWs) with various surface treatments, including a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown semiconductor shell passivation, sulfur-passivation, alumina (Al2O3) coating by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) spin-coating. The ALD-dielectric layer-coated InAs core-shell NWs show a maximum 13-fold increase in PL intensity. In contrast to the previous reports, this enhancement is found to be due to increased radiative rate from an enhanced Purcell factor, better thermal conductance and higher carrier injection within the NWs instead of improved surface quality. Numeric simulations confirm the experimentally observed increased radiative rate. Further improvements are suggested with even thicker capped InAs NWs. Carrier lifetime in surface-treated NWs is extended and shows long-term stability, critical for practical devices.
Security Analyses of Misbehavior Tracking in Bitcoin Network

Because Bitcoin P2P networking is permissionless by the application requirement, it is vulnerable against networking threats based on identity/credential manipulations such as Sybil and spoofing attacks. The current Bitcoin implementation keeps track of its peer’s networking misbehaviors through ban score. In this paper, we investigate the security problems of the ban-score mechanism and discover that the ban score is not only ineffective against the Bitcoin Message-based DoS attacks but also vulnerable to a Defamation attack. In the Defamation attack, the network adversary can exploit the ban-score mechanism to defame innocent peers.
Field effectiveness of general motors advanced driver assistance and headlighting systems.

Abstract This study examined the field effectiveness of General Motors advanced driver assistance and headlighting systems. A total of 8,311,707 Model Year 2013–2019 vehicles were matched to police-reported crashes from 12 states. The quasi-induced exposure method was used to compare system-relevant and system-irrelevant (control) crash counts for equipped and unequipped vehicles. Logistic regression was used to adjust for ten covariates. Results indicated fusion/radar Automatic Emergency Braking, camera Automatic Emergency Braking, and Forward Collision Alert systems reduced rear-end striking crashes by 45%, 38%, and 20%, respectively. When restricting data to crashes in which someone in the General Motors striking vehicle was injured, these reductions were elevated to 59%, 54%, and 31%, respectively, providing evidence of additional crash mitigation benefits. Similarly, the Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning and Lane Departure Warning (alone) systems provided 12% and 10% reductions in lane departure crashes, respectively, with corresponding benefits in the injury analysis increasing to 19% and 18%, respectively. The Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert system reduced lane change crashes by 16%. Reverse Automatic Braking, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Rear Park Assist, and Rear Vision Camera (where each of these systems generally included all of the preceding systems) produced, respectively, an 82%, 55%, 36%, and 24% reduction in backing crashes. For Front Pedestrian Braking, a non-significant 14% reduction was observed for the limited set of available pedestrian crash cases. Intellibeam (auto high beam headlighting), High-Intensity Discharge headlights, and the combination of these two systems provided 26%, 11%, and 32% reductions (relative to halogen headlights) in a combined set of (unlighted) nighttime animal, pedestrian, and bicyclist crashes, respectively. These results provide widespread evidence of the substantial crash avoidance and injury reduction opportunities afforded by the production systems evaluated, as well as identify untapped system opportunities for moving toward a zero crashes vision.
T helper 2 (Th2) cell differentiation, type 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) development and regulation of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-13 production.

Interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5 and IL-13, the signature cytokines that are produced during type 2 immune responses, are critical for protective immunity against infections of extracellular parasites and are responsible for asthma and many other allergic inflammatory diseases. Although many immune cell types within the myeloid lineage compartment including basophils, eosinophils and mast cells are capable of producing at least one of these cytokines, the production of these "type 2 immune response-related" cytokines by lymphoid lineages, CD4 T helper 2 (Th2) cells and type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) in particular, are the central events during type 2 immune responses. In this review, I will focus on the signaling pathways and key molecules that determine the differentiation of naive CD4 T cells into Th2 cells, and how the expression of Th2 cytokines, especially IL-4 and IL-13, is regulated in Th2 cells. The similarities and differences in the differentiation of Th2 cells, IL-4-producing T follicular helper (Tfh) cells and ILC2s as well as their relationships will also be discussed.
A Semiotic Perspective on Innovative Behavior

Since most "new" products are of a "me-too" nature, differing primarily in minimal changes in color, style or packaging, the adoption of such products must be more than just a manner of satisfying needs for certain physical product characteristics. This study appears to provide support for the hypothesis that innovative behavior is an avenue for expression of an individual's need for uniqueness. This suggests that innovative behavior, at least in part, may be prompted by the product uniqueness provided by the symbolism, or connotative meanings, conveyed by new products.
The occurrence of teacher-initiated playful LREs in a Spanish L2 classroom

Abstract Studies on language play in second language classrooms have largely been qualitative in nature and, as noted by Forman (2011), focused primarily on the learner. These two focuses have resulted in a literature that largely ignores the instructor's role in language play and has yet to show how often language play occurs in the classroom. The current study presents findings from 20 h of teacher-fronted classroom interaction in an intermediate Spanish as a foreign language course. Our analysis focused on language play events and playful focus on form. Overall we found 209 examples of language play; however, only 27 of those were language-related episodes (LRE). Additionally, we categorized the playful LREs and found that vocabulary was the most frequently targeted linguistic feature while grammar and pronunciation playful LREs were found to a much smaller degree.
Epithelial Sodium Channel (ENAC)/Degenerin (DEG) Superfamily of Ion Channels

This article has no abstract. Keywords: epithelial sodium channel (ENAC)/degenerin (DEG) superfamily of ion channels
Effects of Torsional Coupling on Earthquake Forces in Buildings

The elastic response of torsionally coupled one-story buildings to earthquake ground motion, characterized by idealized shapes for the response spectrum, is studied. Influence of the basic system parameters on the response is investigated. The relationship between the forces — base shears and torque — in a torsionally coupled system and the base shear in a corresponding torsionally uncoupled system is established, and the effects of torsional coupling on earthquake forces are identified. Useful upper and lower bounds are presented for the base shears and torque due to simultaneous action of two horizontal components of ground motion of equal intensity.
Retropharyngeal and Prevertebral Spaces: Anatomic Imaging and Diagnosis

Cross-sectional imaging plays an important role in the evaluation of the retropharyngeal space (RPS) and the prevertebral space (PVS). Because of their deep location within the neck, lesions arising within these spaces are difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate on clinical examination. This article details the cross-sectional anatomy and imaging appearances of primary and secondary diseases involving the RPS and PVS, including metastasis and spread from adjacent spaces. The role of image-guided biopsy is also discussed.
European Union EMC Directive: the new world of product family standards

Generic EMC standards have been the primary reference for compliance to the European Union EMC Directive. Product family standards are now being introduced that will replace the generic standards for many types of products. This paper describes how it is important to understand when compliance to these new standards apply to new products as well as to previously introduced products.
A Death Involving Asphyxiation from Propane Inhalation

A death involving asphyxiation by propane inhalation is reported. The presence of propane was determined in blood, brain, kidney, liver, and lung by gas chromatography. Autopsy samples were heated in hot water, and headspace samples from various specimens were injected into the gas chromatograph. The identity of propane was established on the basis of the retention times. The brain of the deceased showed the highest level of propane, whereas the kidney exhibited the lowest level.
Poor memory confidence mediates the association between inattention symptoms and hoarding severity and impairment

Abstract Hoarding disorder (HD) is characterized by excessive saving and difficulty discarding possessions, which results in severe clutter and functional impairment. HD shows patterns of elevated comorbidity with the inattentive subtype of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD-I). ADHD-I symptoms are associated with more severe HD pathology ( Tolin, Villavicencio, Umbach, & Kurtz, 2011 ), but the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. The present study used serial mediation analyses in a sample of individuals with HD (n=32) and healthy controls (n=26) to test one potential pathway: ADHD-I symptoms lead to poor memory confidence, which leads to excessive saving of possessions to facilitate remembering, which in turn leads to clutter and corresponding functional impairment. The model provided a strong fit for the data, accounting for over 90% of the variance in functional impairment. Alternate models that did not include ADHD-I symptoms and poor memory confidence provided a weaker fit. These findings support and extend leading cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of HD (e.g., Frost & Hartl, 1996 ) and point to inattention symptoms and memory confidence as potential targets for HD prevention and intervention research.
Excitation of the Transverse Magnetization

In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging and spectroscopy it is a common practice to excite repeatedly a macroscopic system of nuclei by a series of r.f. pulses. In the conventional approach used for spatial encoding in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) a number of excitations are needed to collect all spatially encoded signals required for subsequent image reconstruction. One of the main assumptions of this approach is the existence of a steady state, under which repetitive excitations would produce the same transverse magnetization in a sample. Using the Bloch equations, it is demonstrated that such a steady state can indeed be established as a result of the evolution of the nuclear magnetization subjected to a series of r.f. pulses. An example of spatially selective excitation that creates nonzero transverse magnetization only in a chosen slice of material is also described. The dynamics of nuclear magnetization in an external magnetic field in the presence of a train of identical r.f. pulses are also described. To simplify further derivations, it is assumed that the transverse magnetization in a sample is negligibly small immediately before the beginning of each successive excitation. To avoid signal loss due to magnetic field nonuniformity, 180-degree pulses are frequently included in pulse sequences used in NMR imaging and spectroscopy. Magnetic resonance imaging is typically used to image an object in three dimensions. To achieve spatial localization, it is a common practice to first selectively excite transverse magnetization in a thin slice of material, which is subsequently imaged in the two remaining directions.
Lessons learned from advanced data collection system implementations

During 2006 the national statistics agencies for New Zealand, Canada and Australia all offered an internet response channel option for their national population census. Along with South Korea and Singapore, these represent the first adopters of the internet as a mechanism for collecting national population census data. With the rapid acceptance of the internet by the general public, and the relatively long interval between national Census in any given country, it is vital to leverage the lessons learned from these early implementations.
Methods in case-based classification in bioinformatics: lessons learned

Bioinformatics datasets are often used to compare classification algorithms for highly dimensional data. Since genetic data are becoming more and more routinely used in medical settings, researchers and life scientists alike are interested in answering such questions as finding the gene signature of a disease, classifying data for diagnosis, or evaluating the severity of a disease. Since many different types of algorithms have been applied to this domain, often with comparable, although slightly different, results, it may be cumbersome to determine which one to use and how to make this determination. Therefore this paper proposes to study, on some of the most benchmarked datasets in bioinformatics, the performance of K-nearest-neighbor and related case-based classification algorithms in order to make methodological recommendations for applying these algorithms to this domain. In conclusion, K-nearest-neighbor classifiers perform as or among the best in combination with feature selection methods.
Electron mobility enhancement in (100) oxygen-inserted silicon channel

High performance improvement (+88% in peak Gm and >30% in linear and saturation region drain currents) was observed for N-MOSFETs with Oxygen-Inserted (OI) Si channel. From TCAD analysis of the C-V measurement data, the improvement was confirmed to be due to electron mobility enhancement of the OI Si channel (+75% at Ninv = 4.0 × 1012 cm−2 and +25% at Ninv = 8.0 × 1012 cm−2). Raman and high-resolution Rutherford backscattering measurements confirmed that negligible strain is induced in the OI Si layer, and hence, it cannot be used to explain the origin of mobility improvement. Poisson-Schrodinger based quantum mechanical simulation was performed, taking into account phonon, surface roughness and Coulomb scatterings. The OI layer was modeled as a “quasi barrier” region with reference to the Si conduction band edge to confine inversion electrons. Simulation explains the measured electron mobility enhancement as the confinement effect of inversion electrons while the formation of an super-steep retrograde we...
Analytical Rheology of Metallocene-Catalyzed Polyethylenes

In this paper, a computational algorithm that seeks to invert the linear viscoelastic spectrum of single-site metallocene-catalyzed polyethylenes is presented. The algorithm uses a general linear rheological model of branched polymers as its underlying engine, and is based on a Bayesian formulation that transforms the inverse problem into a sampling problem. Given experimental rheological data on unknown single-site metallocene-catalyzed polyethylenes, it is able to quantitatively describe the range of values of weight-averaged molecular molecular weight, MW, and average branching density, bm, consistent with the data. The algorithm uses a Markov-chain Monte Carlo method to simulate the sampling problem. If, and when, information about the molecular weight is available through supplementary experiments, such as chromatography or light scattering, it can easily be incorporated into the algorithm, as demonstrated.
Retinoid processing in cone and Müller cell lines.

To determine whether cones and Muller cells in the rod dominated retina cooperate to regenerate the 11-cis retinal chromophore via the retinoid cycle, two cell lines from the rod dominated retinas of Murine were used for this study: 661W, a mouse cell line derived from cones, and rMC-1, a rat Muller cell line. Retinoid cycle enzymes were analyzed by RT-PCR, and their catalytic activity was detected by incubation with retinoids and analyzed by HPLC. We found that 661W cells are capable of reducing all-trans retinal to all-trans retinol due to the presence of multiple dehydrogenases and to generate minor amounts of retinyl-ester. The rMC-1 cells take up all-trans retinol and oxidize it to all-trans retinal or esterify it to retinyl-ester, but are incapable of isomerizing all-trans retinoids to 11-cis retinoids. This could be a reflection of lack of necessary activities in Muller cells in vivo, which suggests that Muller cells do not contribute to retinoid cycling by regenerating 11-cis retinoids. Alternatively, this could be due to the potential that rMC-1, as a transformed cell line, has stopped expressing the proteins needed for the regeneration of 11-cis retinoids.
Market-back approach to the design of integrated communications programs: A change in paradigm and a focus on determinants of success

Abstract Although widely used in practice, integrated marketing communications (IMC) remains poorly defined and has met with mixed success. The present article reviews various definitions of IMC and suggests that each of these definitions is consistent with a more general paradigmatic view of integrated communications. Four misleading assumptions implicit in the development of IMC programs that may reduce the effectiveness of such programs are identified. Use of a “market back” process for the design of coordinated marketing programs as a means for increasing the probability of the success of IMC programs is suggested. This approach and the assumptions implicit in IMC suggest the need for a very different approach to the management of marketing communications.
Pre-cognitive Semantic Information

This paper addresses one of the fundamental problems of the philosophy of information: How does semantic information emerge within the underlying dynamics of the world?—the dynamical semantic information problem. It suggests that the canonical approach to semantic information that defines data before meaning and meaning before use is inadequate for pre-cognitive information media. Instead, we should follow a pragmatic approach to information where one defines the notion of information system as a special kind of purposeful system emerging within the underlying dynamics of the world and define semantic information as the currency of the system. In this way, systems operating with semantic information can be viewed as patterns in the dynamics—semantic information is a dynamical system phenomenon of highly organized systems. In the simplest information systems, the syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of the information medium are co-defined. It proposes a new more general theory of information semantics that focuses on the interface role of the information states in the information system—the interface theory of meaning. Finally, with the new framework, it addresses the debate between weakly semantic and strongly semantic accounts of information, siding with the strongly semantic view because the pragmatic account developed here is a better generalization of it.
Cratering saturation and equilibrium: A new model looks at an old problem

Recent advances in computing technology and our understanding of the processes involved in crater production, ejecta production, and crater erasure have permitted me to develop a highly-detailed Cratered Terrain Evolution Model (CTEM), which can be used to investigate a variety of questions in the study of impact dominated landscapes. In this work, I focus on the manner in which crater densities on impacted surfaces attain equilibrium conditions (commonly called crater ‘saturation’) for a variety of impactor population size-frequency distributions: from simple, straight-line power-laws, to complex, multi-sloped distributions. This modeling shows that crater density equilibrium generally occurs near observed relative-density (R) values of 0.1–0.3 (commonly called ‘empirical saturation’), but that when the impactor population has a variable power-law slope, crater density equilibrium values will also be variable, and will continue to reflect, or follow the shape of the production population long after the surface has been ‘saturated.’ In particular, I demonstrate that the overall level of crater density curves for heavily-cratered regions of the lunar surface are indicative of crater density equilibrium having been reached, while the shape of these curves strongly point to a Main Asteroid Belt (MAB) source for impactors in the near-Earth environment, as originally stipulated in Strom et al. [Strom, R.G., Malhotra, R., Ito, T., Yoshida, F., Kring, D.A., 2005. Science 309 (September), 1847–1850]. This modeling also validates the conclusion by Bottke et al. [Bottke, W.F., Durda, D.D., Nesvorný, D., Jedicke, R., Morbidelli, A., Vokrouhlický, D., Levison, H., 2005. Icarus 175 (May), 111–140] that the modern-day MAB continues to reflect its ancient size-frequency distribution, even though severely depleted in mass since that time.
Emerging Agricultural Technologies, Public Policy, and Implications for Third World Agriculture: The Case of Biotechnology

What would eventually become known as the "Green Revolution" began in the 1960s with the release from the Centro Internacional del Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT) of improved wheat varieties and from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) of improved rice varieties. The course of the green revolution-both its accomplishments and controversies-is now fairly well known (Dahlberg, Griffin, Hayami and Ruttan, IRRI, Johnston and Kilby, Pearse, Pineiro and Trigo, Wortman and Cummings). While the green revolution controversy appears to us to have subsided in its polarization and intensity, most economists and other social scientists
Why we have two ears—a hands‐on experiment comparing monaural and binaural hearing.

Whether they fly, swim, crawl, or walk, vertebrates have binaural auditory systems. Two ears provide redundancy in case of injury to the auditory system, improve the ability to detect quiet sounds, and perhaps most importantly, improve the ability to localize sound. This paper describes an all ages experiment to study the binaural and monaural sound localizing abilities of a human using headphone based auralizations. The experiment utilizes computer generated binary impulse response measurements that are convolved with computer generated noises to create a set of binaural directional directional audio tracks. The tracks are randomly presented over headphones to a subject who indicates the perceived direction of the source. The experiment is repeated with one only one audio channel to test monaural hearing. The perceived directions are then compared to the true source directions.
Forearm vascular responses to mental stress in healthy older adults.

Forearm vascular conductance (FVC) increases in response to mental stress (verbal mental arithmetic) in young people. However, the effect of healthy aging and mental stress on FVC is unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that FVC and cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) would be attenuated in older adults compared to young adults. In 13 young (27 ± 1 year) and 11 older (62 ± 1 year) subjects, we quantified heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), FVC (Doppler ultrasound), and CVC (laser Doppler flowmetry) in response to a 3‐min bout of mental stress in the supine posture. Changes from baseline were compared between groups and physiological variables were also correlated. Older adults had a blunted HR response to mental stress (Δ = 7 ± 2 vs. 14 ± 2 beats/min) but ΔMAP was comparable between groups (Δ = 11 ± 2 mmHg vs. 9 ± 1). During the third minute of mental stress, the %ΔFVC (−2 ± 5 vs. 31 ± 12%) and %ΔCVC (2 ± 6 vs. 31 ± 15%) were both impaired in older adults compared to young subjects. There was no relationship between ΔHR and %ΔCVC in either group, but there was a positive relationship between ΔHR and %ΔFVC in both young subjects (R = 0.610, P < 0.027) and older subjects (R = 0.615, P < 0.044), such that larger tachycardia was associated with higher forearm vasodilation. These data indicate that older adults have impaired forearm vasodilation in response to mental stress.
The Effect of Family Processes on School Achievement as Moderated by Socioeconomic Context

This longitudinal study examined a model of early school achievement in reading and math, as it varies by socioeconomic context, using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. A conceptual model was tested that included features of family stress, early parenting, and school readiness, through both a single-group analysis and also a multiple-group analysis. Latent profile analysis was used to identify subgroups of more advantaged and less advantaged families. Family stress and parenting were shown to operate differently depending on the socioeconomic context, whereas child-based school readiness characteristics were shown to operate similarly across socieodemographic contexts. Implications for intervention are discussed.
WebGestalt2: an updated and expanded version of the Web-based Gene Set Analysis Toolkit

Background Functional enrichment analysis has become a popular approach for the interpretation of gene lists derived from large scale genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic studies. Many software tools have been developed for this analysis, including our previously published Web-based Gene Set Enrichment Analysis Toolkit (WebGestalt) [1]. Major differences among existing tools include: 1) the statistical test used for the enrichment analysis; 2) supported organisms; 3) supported input ID types; 4) coverage of functional categories; and 5) presentation of the output results. We have made improvements in the above areas in the updated and expanded version, WebGestalt2.