cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Policy Incentives on Long-Term Care Insurance and Medicaid Costs: Does Underwriting Matter?

Objective To test whether underwriting modifies the effect of state-based incentives on individuals' purchase of long-term care insurance. Data source Health and Retirement Study (HRS), 1996-2012. Study design We estimated difference-in-difference regression models with an interaction of state policy indicators with individuals' probabilities of being approved for long-term care insurance. Data extraction We imputed probabilities of underwriting approval for respondents in the HRS using a model developed with underwriting decisions from two U.S. insurance firms. We measured the elasticity response to long-term care insurance price using changes in simulated after-tax price as an instrumental variable for premium price. Principal findings Tax incentives and Partnership programs increased insurance purchase by 3.62 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points, respectively, among those with the lowest risk (highest approval probability). Neither had any statistically significant effects among the highest risk individuals. Conclusions We show that ignoring the effects of underwriting may lead to biased estimates of the potential state budget savings of long-term care insurance tax incentives. If the private market is to play a role in financing long-term care, policies need to address the underlying adverse selection problems.
Managing Real-Time Distributed Multimedia Applications

Distributed multimedia applications are characterized by timing constraints and endto-end quality of service (QoS) requirements, and therefore need efficient management mechanisms to respond to transient changes in the load or the availability of the resources. This chapter presents a real-time distributed multimedia framework, based on the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), that provides resource management and Quality of Service for CORBA applications. The framework consists of multimedia components and resource management components. The multimedia components produce multimedia streams, and combine multimedia streams generated by individual sources into a single stream to be received by the users. The resource management components provide QoS guarantees during multimedia transmissions based on information obtained from monitoring the usage of the system’s resources.
A computer-in-the-loop approach for detecting bullies in the classroom

Bullying is a social phenomenon that is highly prevalent within the school population. To study this phenomenon, social scientists traditionally use questionnaires that are costly to administer and that cannot provide detailed information about children's interactions without causing a large amount of fatigue to the participants. An on-line computer game has been developed to aid social scientists in observing, in a non-intrusive way, children's behaviors and roles within their peer group. Participants solve a collaborative and an adversarial task, and are allowed to communicate only through a chat system. Observable data from the game, such as the amount of messages sent and received and points transactions, correlates well with questionnaire data while providing more detailed information about participants' interactions. The online game is a new tool that alleviates the cost of obtaining data and considerably reduces the fatigue of the participants while providing sound results.
To some concepts from an area of agricultural economy, that are used in EU country - Austria

All agricultural enterprises in Austria, within the period before and after the accession of Austria into European Union, struggled with the changes of the economic environment. Small agricultural enterprises did not pay much attention to financial and cost accounting. There was a need to change this situation as a response to the figures used in EU countries (Germany for example). The enterprises in Czech Republic face similar problem, even with different initial moment (our enterprises used to have an accounting based on incomes, profits and losses). Because of the accession of Czech Republic into European Union, it is necessary to analyze the methods and economics figures and to compare their contents.
Adaptation to small intestinal starch assimilation and glucose transport in ruminants.

Four crossbred steers (380 ± 6 kg) and seven Polypay wethers (40.3 ± .6 kg) fitted with hepatic venous, hepatic portal, mesenteric venous and arterial, ruminal, and abomasal (steers) or duodenal (wethers) catheters were used in two crossover design experiments to evaluate adaptation to small intestinal starch and glucose transport. Steers were fed 8.6 kg/d and sheep were fed .9 kg/d of alfalfa hay in 12 equal portions and infused with an α-amylase partial starch hydrolysate (SH) either postruminally (adapted) or ruminally (unadapted) for 4 (steers ; 40 g/h) or 5 (sheep ; 6 g/h) days before measuring splanchnic flux of metabolites. On the day of flux measurements, ruminal SH infusion was switched to the postruminal site in unadapted animals. Flux measurements were made 3 to 6 h after switching infusion site for steers and 2 to 5 h for sheep. Phlorizin, a competitive inhibitor of Na/glucose cotransport, was then postruminally infused (550 and 500 μmol/h for steers and sheep, respectively) and flux measurements repeated from h 9 to 12 (steers) and h 7 to 10 (sheep). In the steers, adaptation increased (P ≤ .09) portal-drained visceral (PDV) glucose release 26 mmol/h and decreased hepatic uptake of lactate 20 mmol/h. Abomasal infusion of phlorizin decreased ( P = .01) net PDV glucose flux 40 mmol/h and concomitantly increased (P = .05) hepatic release of glucose by 47 mmol/h. In sheep, duodenal infusion of phlorizin increased ( P ≤.005) portal and hepatic blood flow and decreased ( P ≤ .02) PDV release of glucose and lactate by 9 and .4 mmol/h, respectively. The liver released 4.2 mmol/h more (P = .09) glucose and removed 3.2 mmol/h more lactate (P = .001) ; arterial glucose decreased ( P = .003) .75 mM in response to phlorizin. Phlorizin also caused loss of glucose in the urine of sheep (.09 mmol/h). Adaptation did not alter net splanchnic flux of glucose, lactate, oxygen, or α-amino N. These studies indicate that ruminants maintain the Na/glucose cotransporter when consuming little preformed α-glucosidic polymers and that the liver increases glucose release to compensate for reduced PDV delivery of glucose to maintain glucose homeostasis. In addition, the steers maintain at least 960 mmol/d and the sheep maintain at least 216 mmol/d of glucose transport capability regardless of adaptation. Steers (Exp. 1) adapted to luminal starch by delivering more glucose to the liver, whereas sheep (Exp. 2) did not deliver more glucose to the liver and may have increased visceral glucose utilization.
Qualitative Determination of the Secondary Metabolites and Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Activity of Leaf Extracts from Different Plant Families (Boraginaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae and Lauraceae) against Microorganisms of Clinical Importance

Aims: This study was conducted to investigate the antimicrobial activities of Sassafras albidum (Nutt.), Ehretia anacua (Teran & Berl.), Melissa officinalis (Linn.), Eysenhardtia texana (Scheele), and Melissa odorata. Specifically, this study aims to evaluate the antimicrobial potential and to qualitatively determine presence of secondary metabolites in the different leaf extracts. Place and Duration of Study: Plant leaves were collected from the San Antonio Botanical Garden in Texas. The microbial assays and chemical analysis were done at the Department of Biology and Chemistry, Texas A&M International University, Laredo Texas. This study was done from October 2013 to May 2016. Methodology: Leaves were collected and aqueous, acetone, diethyl ether, and ethanol leaf extracts were prepared. Antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi were investigated via disc diffusion assay. Phytochemical screening was done to qualitatively determine secondary metabolites. Results and Conclusion: The ethanol and diethyl E. anacua (Boraginaceae) extracts showed a statistically significant antimicrobial activity against S. aureus. Although the values, 7.4 mm and 7.5 mm for the ethanol and diethyl ether extracts could be low values for zone of inhibitions, the potential for E. anacua for anti-S. aureus activity cannot be undermined. Phytochemical analysis showed detectable presence of alkaloids, diterpenes, and phenols in the ethanol and diethyl E. anacua extracts. Results of this study, although preliminary, demonstrated the potential of E. anacua as a new source of bioactive metabolites. Further investigations are needed in order to specifically identify, quantify, and isolate the bioactive compounds that might act against S. aureus associated skin infections.
Towards Study on Thermoacoustic Imaging Guided Focused Microwave Therapy for Breast Cancer Treatment

We present preliminary data for a novel platform that integrates focused microwave therapy (FMT) with thermoacoustic imaging (TAI) for mapping temperature, quantifying the heat zone, and guiding the delivery of focused heat. The longterm objectives of this study are to 1) Design and build an image-guided FMT system that is noninvasive, safe and effective for treating small or large locally aggressive solid breast tumors as a possible replacement or complement to invasive surgery; 2) Benchmark performance and optimize TAI-guided FMT platform using in numerical breast phantom and excised tissue. We present the overall system concept, numerical simulations and initial bench-top results related to the proposed platform.
Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry to Identify Organic Contaminants Linked to Urban Stormwater Mortality Syndrome in Coho Salmon

Urban stormwater is a major threat to ecological health, causing a range of adverse, mostly sublethal effects. In western North America, urban runoff is acutely lethal to adult coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) that spawn each fall in freshwater creeks. Although the mortality syndrome is correlated to urbanization and attributed to road runoff contaminant(s), the causal agent(s) remain unknown. We applied high-resolution mass spectrometry to isolate a coho mortality chemical signature: a list of nontarget and identified features that co-occurred in waters lethal to coho spawners (road runoff from controlled exposures and urban receiving waters from two field observations of symptomatic coho). Hierarchical cluster analysis indicated that tire wear particle (TWP) leachates were most chemically similar to the waters with observed toxicity, relative to other vehicle-derived sources. Prominent road runoff contaminants in the signature included two groups of nitrogen-containing compounds derived from TWP, poly...
Occupational fatal injuries associated with mobile hand‐fed wood chippers

Background Workers are killed every year in wood chipper-related incidents despite the repeated hazard warnings. In-depth, comprehensive, and up-to-date studies are needed to identify causal, risk, and contributing factors and assess the current control measures so that an effective and proactive prevention approach can be developed. Methods Cases were identified from four online databases and manually reviewed to characterize and categorize the fatal events. Results The study identified 113 wood chipper-related worker deaths (1982-2016). The victims were killed in struck-by (57), caught-in (41), motor vehicle (7), electrical (4), fall (2), and heat stroke (2) incidents while performing chipper-related tasks. Conclusions Chipper-related worker deaths are preventable. Young and inexperienced workers may be at higher risk for caught-in deaths. The current feed wheel control devices are not effective for workers to self-rescue. Fully automatic feed wheel stop devices are needed to prevent caught-in incidents.
Cohort Shepherd II: Verifying Cohort Constraints from Hospital Visits

Abstract : This paper describes the updated system created by the University of Texas at Dallas for content-based medical record retrieval submitted to the TREC 2012 Medical Records Track. Our system updates our work from the previous year by building a structured query for each cohort that captures the patient's age, gender hospital status, and medical assertion information. Further, all keywords that encode any medical phenomena from the query are recursively decomposed before being expanded using knowledge from UMLS SNOMED, Wikipedia, and PubMed co-occurrences. An initial ranking of hospital visits is then obtained using BM25 relevance on an interpolation of these decomposed keywords. Finally, hospital visits are re-ranked according to the constraints extracted in the structured query. Four runs were submitted, comparing pair-wise combinations of complete vs. shallow keyword decomposition and full vs. negation-only assertion processing. Our highest scoring submission achieved an infNDCG score of 0.426.
Dynamic data driven analytics for multi-domain environments

Recent trends in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), dynamic data driven application systems (DDDAS), and cloud computing provide opportunities for enhancing multidomain systems performance. The DDDAS framework utilizes models, measurements, and computation to enhance real-time sensing, performance, and analysis. One example the represents a multi-domain scenario is “fly-by-feel” avionics systems that can support autonomous operations. A "fly-by-feel" system measures the aerodynamic forces (wind, pressure, temperature) for physics-based adaptive flight control to increase maneuverability, safety and fuel efficiency. This paper presents a multidomain approach that identifies safe flight operation platform position needs from which models, data, and information are invoked for effective multidomain control. Concepts are presented to demonstrate the DDDAS approach for enhanced multi-domain coordination bringing together modeling (data at rest), control (data in motion) and command (data in use).
Quantum Mechanics as Bayesian Complex Probability Theory

As a possible alternative to conventional quantum mechanics, the Bayesian version of probability theory is extended to include complex probabilities. An additional assumption of realism restores a frequency interpretation while coexisting with Bell’s theorem. Such complex probabilities are shown to have a superposition principle, to include wave functions which are expansions in eigenfunctions of Hermitian operators, to have a path-integral representation and to describe both pure and mixed systems. A scalar particle in Rd is shown to obey the Schrodinger equation with mass, vector potential and metric appearing as moments of a fundamental probability. Illustrative examples are given. The quantum version of Bayesian inference is discussed.
Does a Research Position Count

Having research experience while applying to residency can play a major factor. This chapter deals with everything an IMG need to know about advantages and disadvantages of having a research experience, the impact on the match and data to see how many candidates with research experience matched.
Hipster Antitrust: New Bottles, Same Old W(h)ine?

Although the debate over hipster antitrust is often portrayed as something new, experienced observers recognize it as a replay of an old argument that was resolved by the global consensus that antitrust should focus on consumer welfare rather than on the size of firms, the levels of industry concentration, and other considerations. Moreover, the history of the Federal Trade Commission’s Section 5 authority to prevent unfair methods of competition stands as a reminder of the dangers of allowing enforcement policy to be guided by vague and uncertain standards.
Denoise magnitude diffusion magnetic resonance images via variance-stabilizing transformation and optimal singular-value manipulation

Abstract Although shown to have a great utility for a wide range of neuroscientific and clinical applications, diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) faces a major challenge of low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), especially when pushing the spatial resolution for improved delineation of brain’s fine structure or increasing the diffusion weighting for increased angular contrast or both. Here, we introduce a comprehensive denoising framework for denoising magnitude dMRI. The framework synergistically combines the variance stabilizing transform (VST) with optimal singular value manipulation. The purpose of VST is to transform the Rician data to Gaussian-like data so that an asymptotically optimal singular value manipulation strategy tailored for Gaussian data can be used. The output of the framework is the estimated underlying diffusion signal for each voxel in the image domain. The usefulness of the proposed framework for denoising magnitude dMRI is demonstrated using both simulation and real-data experiments. Our results show that the proposed denoising framework can significantly improve SNR across the entire brain, leading to substantially enhanced performances for estimating diffusion tensor related indices and for resolving crossing fibers when compared to another competing method. More encouragingly, the proposed method when used to denoise a single average of 7 ​Tesla Human Connectome Project-style diffusion acquisition provided comparable performances relative to those achievable with ten averages for resolving multiple fiber populations across the brain. As such, the proposed denoising method is expected to have a great utility for high-quality, high-resolution whole-brain dMRI, desirable for many neuroscientific and clinical applications.
Extended Duration Ketamine Infusions in Critically Ill Children: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Ketamine is an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist that has been used as an adjunct analgesic and sedative in critically ill children. Previous reports noted that ketamine has been used for a variable duration of 12 to 408 hours for this indication. We report on the use of ketamine infusions for >720 hours as a second-line sedative in addition to an opioid and dexmedetomidine infusion in a 2-month old and 17-month old. The purpose of this case report and review of the literature is to highlight the prolonged ketamine exposure of these two patients and to provide awareness to clinicians on the potential of withdrawal with extended ketamine administration. These children were started on initials doses of 5 and 15 µg/kg/min and titrated to peak doses of 20 and 25 µg/kg/min, respectively. They were continued for a total of 987 and 792 hours, respectively. No adverse events were noted during the ketamine infusions. One patient developed possible withdrawal symptoms 17 hours after ketamine discontinuation despite tapering of the infusion. These symptoms resolved with administration of as needed intravenous opioids and benzodiazepines, and the agitation normalized within 24 hours after ketamine discontinuation. Clinicians should consider tapering ketamine infusions in children receiving >72 hours of a continuous infusion by 5 µg/kg/min every 8 to 12 hours. Patients should be monitored for potential withdrawal symptoms including anxiety, allodynia, hyperalgesia, sweating, and drowsiness.
Silicone Skin Trays: An Innovative Simulation Approach to Nurse Practitioner Skills Training

Abstract Nurse practitioners (NPs) need skills training to provide safe and quality patient care. Regardless of the NP specialty, finding realistic methods and equipment for skills training can be difficult for educators. Nursing faculty and staff collaborated with a university drama department to create a silicone rubber skin tray that included a laceration, abscess, and two suspicious lesions. NP students participated in a 2-day “intensive” workshop where skills training was completed using the silicone skin tray. NP students' satisfaction scores were high, and the nursing faculty were satisfied with the realism of the silicone skin tray.
Parasitic Inductance Modeling and Reduction for Wire-Bonded Half-Bridge SiC Multichip Power Modules

This article first developed an inductance model that includes the parasitic mutual inductance between parallel current path segments for SiC multichip power modules. Based on the developed model, the SiC multichip module's transient response was analyzed, important parasitic inductances were identified. The layout was improved based on the transient analysis. The improved package layout can reduce the parasitic inductance without increasing the fabrication difficulty. Experiments were conducted to validate the reduction of parasitic inductances. The parasitic ringing and the crosstalk effect were significantly reduced with the proposed technique. The thermal performance was also improved with the proposed layout.
Reflections on the 25th anniversary of Baumeister & Leary’s seminal paper on the need to belong

This special issue celebrates the impact of Baumeister and Leary’s paper on the need to belong on its 25th birthday. This seminal work identified the importance of social connections for humans, su...
How Diverse Task Experience Affects Both Group and Subsequent Individual Performance

Task demonstrability defines the criteria that, when met, facilitate the effective exchange of knowledge within a problem-solving group. The extent to which those criteria are met should vary as a ...
Cover Picture: ChemBioChem 4/2002

The cover picture shows a representation of a ratchet model where the integration of multiple signals by the transmitter kinase VirA is achieved by xenognostic signal induced movement between three accessible homodimeric coiled-coil interfaces. It is this interface registry that activates the kinase domain, initiating lateral gene transfer from Agrobacterium tumefaciens to its eukaryotic host. Further details can be found in the article by Lynn and co-workers on p. 311 ff.
Precise Timing Based on Pulsar Observation for Grid Synchronization

While Global Positioning System signals are widely used as the synchronized timing Sources for wide-area measurement systems for power grid monitoring and control, they are vulnerable to failures and malicious attacks. To address this Problem, an altlernative kind of timing sources, the millisecond pulsars, were proposed to serve the power grid as they are more precise and physically indestructible. Millisecond pulsars are a kind of neutron stars that emit radio pulse signals that have extremely stable periods of milliseconds. However, the observed pulse Signals from pulsars cannot be directly used for timing because of their low signal-to-noise ratio and the dispersion effects of interstellar medium. In this paper, the precise timing method based on pulsar observation data is proposed to interpret the pulsar observation data and therefrom to generate precise timing signal for the power grid synchronization. In our proposed mlethod,. incoherent de-dispersion is used on the observation data to mitigate the effect of interstiellar medium. dispersion. Then spectrum analysis and segment folding are used to precisely estimate the local pulsar period. Finally the standard pulse per second signal is generated from. the estimated pulsar period and its precision. is analyzed. Experiments with the obeservation data of the pulsar based timing signal can be more accurate compared to GPS timing signals.
Critical discourse analysis of urban park and public space development

Abstract Public urban parks are valued community amenities and an integral part of an environmentally just society. Given increasing concerns of gentrification associated with urban parks, this paper critically analyzed the discourse of urban park development to understand its main message, rhetorical devices, and potential to affect praxis. I find current discourse surrounding park development overstates the ability of public urban parks to reverse trends in social stratification while understating the possible downsides to urban park development. The discourse of ‘parks-as-social-healers’ is produced by urbanists with significant sociopolitical power in their respective fields who use three distinct discursive tools to enhance the discourse's utility and efficacy. Using the power and influence of wealthy foundations to back up their claims, this discourse exerts hegemonic influence on urban public space development. Downplaying gentrification and exaggerating social benefits—hallmarks of this discourse—can lead to environmental injustices, potentially exacerbating park access disparities.
Opposing adenine nucleotide-dependent pathways regulate guanylyl cyclase C in rat intestine.

Abstract Opposing adenine nucleotide-dependent pathways regulating guanylyl cyclase C (GC-C) in rat intestinal membranes have been identified and characterized. ATP analogues substituted in the 2-position were potent inhibitors of basal and Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin (ST)-stimulated GC-C, independent of the metal cation cofactor present. Inhibition of GC-C was associated with large changes in Vmax but only small changes in the S0.5, suggesting a noncompetitive mechanism. Also, inhibition of GC-C was associated with a concentration-dependent shift from positive to negative cooperativity when manganese served as the cation cofactor. These data support the existence of a noncompetitive allo steric regulatory mechanism mediating adenine nucleotide-dependent inhibition of GC-C. Adenine nucleotides not substituted in the 2-position potentiated the activation of GC-C by ST in intestinal membranes. The potentiating and inhibitory pathways regulating GC-C enzyme activity were separate and distinct. A specific inhibitor (2-chloroadenosine 5'-triphosphate (2ClATP)), was without effect on the potency of a selective activator (adenosine 5'-O-thiomonophosphate (AMPS)) of GC-C. Similarly, AMPS was without effect on the potency of 2ClATP to inhibit GC-C. These data suggest that adenine nucleotide-dependent activation and inhibition are mediated by independent sites which may modulate the second messenger response of GC-C to ST.
General taxonomy of system[ic] approaches for analysis and design

Taxonomy for the classification of systems or systemic approaches used in analysis and design is presented in this paper. The design of the classification is structured around an epistemological model of complexity where complexity is defined as a characteristic of a situation rather than an entity or domain. The intent of the taxonomy is to provide definition to the variety of fields that hold claim to the term systems, and to reduce this group into a set of meaningful related clusters. Although the applicability of the taxonomy has yet to be validated, some examples of its potential use are demonstrated. Finally, conclusions are drawn, including recommendations on further expansion to the taxonomy and research into its applicability.
Aging and Mental Retardation

With the recent growth in the population of older adults, there has been a concomitant increase in the visibility of “special populations” of elders. One “special population” consists of older adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. Although estimates of the size of this population vary, it is expected that by the year 2025 there will be between 400,000 and one million people over the age of 65 with developmental disabilities living in the United States (see Anderson, 1993, for a review of other pertinent statistics). It is believed that older adults with mental retardation constitute a group with special needs beyond those of the general aged population (Newbern & Hargett, 1992). For example, older adults with mental retardation have fewer compensatory abilities than their nonretarded peers to adjust for age-associated declines in functioning (Jenkins, Hildreth, & Hildreth, 1993). As a result, there has been a recent effort by researchers, health care professionals, and other service providers to identify the pertinent characteristics and needs of this special population. This information would help to determine whether existing services for older adults and persons with mental retardation are adequate for meeting their needs.
Thermal Infrared Imaging of the Bipolar H II Region S106

The extended infrared emission from Sharpless 106 shows complex structure in ground-based images obtained at wavelengths from 3 to 20 μm. The structure of the ionization fronts and photodissociation regions are resolved in Brα emission at 4.05 μm and emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at 3.29 μm, with the H I emission residing interior to the hydrocarbon emission. The mid-infrared observations at 10 to 20 μm reveal the distribution of continuum emission from warm dust in the nebula. These images have a higher spatial resolution than previous mid-infrared maps, but they support earlier findings of a relatively constant dust color temperature of ~135 K in the extended dust, excluding the dust near the self-luminous sources IRS 2 and 4. All infrared images presented here show a dark lane bisecting the nebula, which probably results from shadowing of light from the central engine rather than line-of-sight extinction. If this shadow is caused by a compact disk around IRS 4, its ionized inner edge would be within the radio photosphere of the stellar wind at wavelengths longer than about 1.5 cm. There appears to be a faint point source seen at near-infrared wavelengths that is coincident with the position of a bright far-infrared source. This source is adjacent to some bright near-infrared nebulosity but is not clearly detected in thermal infrared dust emission.
Gene cluster controlling conversion to alginate-overproducing phenotype in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: functional analysis in a heterologous host and role in the instability of mucoidy.

Conversion to mucoidy, caused by the overproduction of the exopolysaccharide alginate in laboratory and cystic fibrosis strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, can occur via frameshift or nonsense mutations in the second gene of the algU mucA mucB cluster. The first gene of the cluster, algU, encodes a putative alternative sigma factor required for algD transcription. The algD gene encodes a critical alginate biosynthetic enzyme and is invariably activated in mucoid P. aeruginosa cells. To investigate the function of the genes controlling conversion to mucoidy, the wild-type algU mucA mucB cluster from the standard genetic strain PAO1 was used to reconstitute algD transcription in Escherichia coli. Transcription of an algD-lacZ chromosomal fusion in E. coli was detected upon introduction of plasmid-borne algU mucA mucB. Moreover, insertional inactivation of either mucA or mucB resulted in further stimulation of transcriptional activity from the algD promoter. This activation was dependent on algU, since a double algU mucA mutation abrogated transcription of algD. These experiments suggest that the phenotypic manifestations of muc mutations, i.e., increased algD expression and mucoid phenotype, depend on the presence of an active algU gene and that this regulator and the factors encoded by the downstream genes interact. Further support for these conclusions came from the investigations of the mechanism of reversion to nonmucoidy in P. aeruginosa, a phenomenon frequently referred to as the instability of mucoid phenotype. Spontaneous nonmucoid derivatives of the mucoid strain PAO578 carrying the mucA22 mutation were examined for the presence of alterations within the algU mucA mucB locus. Point mutations which inactivated algU were detected in some, but not all, nonmucoid revertants. No reversion of the original mucA22 mutation (a deletion of one C) was observed in any of the investigated strains. This observation suggests that the process of conversion to nonmucoidy ban be explained, at least partially, by second-site suppressor mutations and that a fraction of such mutations occurs in algU.
Was there a basis for anticipating the 2010 Russian heat wave

[1] The 2010 summer heat wave in western Russia was extraordinary, with the region experiencing the warmest July since at least 1880 and numerous locations setting all-time maximum temperature records. This study explores whether early warning could have been provided through knowledge of natural and human-caused climate forcings. Model simulations and observational data are used to determine the impact of observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs), sea ice conditions and greenhouse gas concentrations. Analysis of forced model simulations indicates that neither human influences nor other slowly evolving ocean boundary conditions contributed substantially to the magnitude of this heat wave. They also provide evidence that such an intense event could be produced through natural variability alone. Analysis of observations indicate that this heat wave was mainly due to internal atmospheric dynamical processes that produced and maintained a strong and long-lived blocking event, and that similar atmospheric patterns have occurred with prior heat waves in this region. We conclude that the intense 2010 Russian heat wave was mainly due to natural internal atmospheric variability. Slowly varying boundary conditions that could have provided predictability and the potential for early warning did not appear to play an appreciable role in this event.
Tests and measurements of the CESR Phase III interaction region superconducting magnets

Superconducting interaction region magnets for the CESR ring have been built by industry and tested. They will allow for higher luminosity by reducing the long range beam-beam effect at the crossing point nearest to the interaction point (IP). They also provide the necessary energy flexibility needed for charm physics operation in the future. The design of these magnets places them as close as physically possible to the IP, immersed within the 1.5 T CLEO detector solenoid field. Consequently the peak beta functions are modest, similar to arc values, and the chromaticity contribution is minimized.
REDUCTIVE DECHLORINATION OF DDT TO DDD BY YEAST.

In the report "Reductive dechlorination of DDT to DDD by yeast," by B. J. Kallman and A. K. Andrews [ Science 141, 1050 (13 Sept. 1963)] there are two errors in Fig. 1. Structure II requires a para chlorine on the second benzene ring, and in structure III the group bound to the carbon atom between the rings should have been Cl-C-H instead of Cl-C-Cl.
The regulation of exogenous and endogenous class I MHC genes in a human tumor cell line, K562

Previous studies have implied the existence of a trans-dominant intracellular repressor able to down-regulate the expression of the entire family of class I MHC genes in the genome of the K562 erythroleukemia cell line. This study demonstrates, however, that the transfection of human or murine class I genes into K562 cells leads to the cell surface expression of the transfected MHC gene product in all situations, even when several kilobases of 5' flanking sequence were included in the transfected genes. The endogenous cellular class I MHC genes remained repressed in the transfected cells. These findings suggest that repression of class I MHC gene expression in K562 may not be mediated predominantly by a trans-dominant repressor of MHC gene expression; rather, other more complex regulatory influences might exist.
The functional assessment of cancer therapy-BRM (FACT-BRM): a new tool for the assessment of quality of life in patients treated with biologic response modifiers.

Purpose: This paper reports on the development and validation of two biologic response modifier (BRM) subscales for use with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) quality of life (QOL) questionnaire. Methods: Using the FACT-G as a base, 17 additional questions related to symptoms common to interferon and retinoid therapy were developed. Data collected at baseline (n = 191) and week 2 (n = 168) in a randomized trial of interferon ±13-cis-retinoic acid in advanced renal cell carcinoma patients were used to validate this measure. Results: Using a combined empirical and conceptual approach, the 17 questions were reduced to 13 questions consisting of two subscales: ‘BRM-physical’ (7 items; baseline coefficient alpha(α) = 0.70; week-2 α = 0.75) and ‘BRM-mental’ (6 items; baseline α = 0.79; week-2 α = 0.78). Internal consistency of the trial outcome index (TOI) combining physical well-being, functional well-being and the BRM subscales, was 0.91 for baseline assessments and 0.92 for week 2. Discriminant validity was demonstrated for the TOI by its ability to differentiate among prognostic risk groups, and for the total FACT-G, TOI and total FACT–BRM scores by their ability to distinguish between groups differing in performance, response and toxicity status. Conclusions: The ‘BRM-physical’ and ‘BRM-mental’ subscales can be combined with the FACT-G to form the ‘FACT–BRM’ scale, useful for measuring QOL in cancer patients who are receiving treatment with biologic response modifiers.
Chilling-induced oxidative stress in cucumber fruits

Abstract Oxidative stress was evoked in the peel tissue of cucumber fruits during chilling at 4°C in the dark. Within 2 days of chilling, tissue reduced glutathione (GSH) and thylakoid α-tocopherol (αToc) levels decreased by 28% and 50%, respectively. Tissue ascorbic acid (AA) and thylakoid β-carotene (CAR) levels decreased by 35% and 60%, respectively, between 5 and 7 days of chilling. Rewarming generally had no effect on, or led to further declines in, the levels of these antioxidants. Lipophilic fluorescent products of lipid peroxidation began to accumulate in polar lipid fractions isolated from peel tissue thylakoids after 5–7 days of chilling or chilling/rewarming. This was accompanied by a 2-fold increase in the phospholipid:glycolipid ratio and a slight decrease in the degree of unsaturation of the glycolipids. Measurements of electrolyte leakage of peel tissue indicated that irreversible injury in cucumber fruits required at least 7 days of continuous chilling. None of these changes occurred for fruit held at 13°C in the dark. These results indicate that oxidative stress is an early response of cucumber fruits to chilling and that lipid peroxidation may contribute to the development of chilling injury.
A critical theory perspective on accelerated learning

This chapter situates accelerated learning programs, and in particular cohort-based programs, within a critical analysis using concepts from Herbert Marcuse and Erich Fromm.
A System for Multi-Modality Optical and MR Imaging of Implanted Window Chambers

Window chambers implanted in mice provide a useful model system for many studies in cancer and vascular biology. A system allowing simultaneous optical and magnetic resonance imaging of window chambers is described and results presented.
Bone Resorption by Osteoclasts

Osteoporosis, a disease endemic in Western society, typically reflects an imbalance in skeletal turnover so that bone resorption exceeds bone formation. Bone resorption is the unique function of the osteoclast, and anti-osteoporosis therapy to date has targeted this cell. The osteoclast is a specialized macrophage polykaryon whose differentiation is principally regulated by macrophage colony-stimulating factor, RANK ligand, and osteoprotegerin. Reflecting integrin-mediated signals, the osteoclast develops a specialized cytoskeleton that permits it to establish an isolated microenvironment between itself and bone, wherein matrix degradation occurs by a process involving proton transport. Osteopetrotic mutants have provided a wealth of information about the genes that regulate the differentiation of osteoclasts and their capacity to resorb bone.
Part two: A preliminary reconnaissance into the persistence and explanation of ethnic subcultural drinking patterns

(1978). Part two: A preliminary reconnaissance into the persistence and explanation of ethnic subcultural drinking patterns. Medical Anthropology: Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 31-51.
Low latency live video streaming using HTTP chunked encoding

Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) based streaming solutions for live video and video on demand (VOD) applications have become available recently. However, the existing HTTP streaming solutions cannot provide a low latency experience due to the fact that inherently in all of them, latency is tied to the duration of the media fragments that are individually requested and obtained over HTTP. We propose a low latency HTTP streaming approach using HTTP chunked encoding, which enables the server to transmit partial fragments before the entire video fragment is published. We develop an analytical model to quantify and compare the live latencies in three HTTP streaming approaches. Then, we present the details of our experimental setup and implementation. Both the analysis and experimental results show that the chunked encoding approach is capable of reducing the live latency to one to two chunk durations and that the resulting live latency is independent of the fragment duration.
Interhemispheric interference during word naming.

The hypothesis that the use of two hemispheres as receiving stations for information, rather than just one hemisphere, decreases interference between items, and improves performance, was tested by requiring subjects to identify four words simultaneously projected to one visual field (Unilateral-single hemisphere presentation) or divided between two visual fields (Bilateral-bihemispheric presentation.) In Experiment I, words projected to different hemispheres were incorrectly “blended” into a single response as frequently as words projected to a single hemisphere. In Experiment II, subjects were told that half of the display was irrelevant. Irrelevant words which were projected to a different hemisphere than the relevant words were incorrectly named as often as when all four words were projected to the same hemisphere. In addition, overall performance during Bilateral-bihemispheric presentations did not exceed that during the better of the two Unilateral-single hemisphere presentations, not only when namin...
Battered women's compliance‐gaining strategies as a function of argumentativeness and verbal aggression

This study investigated (1) the type of compliance‐gaining strategies that battered women reported using in domestic conflicts and (2) whether these strategies related to the battered women's verbal aggression and argumentativeness. Participants in this study were 115 abused women who were seeking refuge from abusive spouses in temporary shelters for battered women. The results suggest that battered women most frequently reported using indirect strategies. Aversive Stimulation (i.e., pouting sulking, crying) and ingratiation (i.e., manipulation in the form of affection or favor‐doing) were the top two strategies reported. Furthermore, a canonical correlation analysis resulted in an overall significant relationship between compliance‐gaining strategies and argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness.
Formation and morphological development of porosity in icosahedral Al–Pd–Mn alloys

Abstract Directional solidification and quenching experiments have been conducted to examine the formation and origin of the faceted porosity commonly observed in icosahedral Al–Pd–Mn alloys. Faceted porosity has been previously observed in both Czochralski grown and Bridgman grown single crystals during single-phase solidification of the icosahedral phase. Detailed observations in Bridgman grown single crystals indicate that the distribution and quantity of pores are non-uniformly distributed along the length of the as-grown ingot. This non-uniform distribution suggests that their formation is influenced by both chemical segregation during solidification as well as convection in the liquid. Controlled solidification of this alloy followed by quenching of the solid–liquid interface provides for a time–temperature history of the porosity formation and morphological development as a function of processing conditions.
Microkinetic modeling of Pt-catalyzed ethylene glycol steam reforming

Abstract A predictive mean-field microkinetic model is developed for steam reforming of ethylene glycol over a Pt catalyst using a hierarchical multiscale modeling approach. The model's predictive capabilities are assessed by comparison to experimental data under kinetically controlled conditions. It is found that early dehydrogenation reaction steps control the reaction rate, highlighting a kinetic analogy between ethylene glycol steam reforming and CH 4 steam reforming on Pt catalysts.
Induction of biohydrogenation of oleic acid in Bacillus cereus by increase in temperature.

A system catalyzing the biohydrogenation of oleate to stearate is present in a strain of Bacillus cereus which has been incubated at 37°. but not at 20°. The appearance of the system is blocked by the addition of chloramphenicol or rifampin. These findings indicate the biohydrogenation system present in this organism is induced by an elevation in temperature.
Novel Series and Shunt MEMS Switch Geometries for X-Band Applications

In this paper, novel metal membrane series switches and inductively tuned shunt switches are presented. The series switch produces an isolation better than - 30 dB at 5 GHz in the up-state and return loss less than ?20 dB from DC to 20 GHz. The shunt switch geometry can be modified to specify the resonant frequency of the switch in the down-state. The shunt switch is modeled by an equivalent CLR circuit. The MEMS membrane height is 1.5-2.5 ?m, resulting in a pulldown voltage of 15-25 V. Application areas are in low-loss high-isolation communication and radar switches.
Extension of completely bounded A-B bimodule maps

In this paper, we present an “order” characterization of completely bounded bimodule maps for bimodules over unital operator algebras. We use this result to prove a bimodule generalization of Wittstock's generalized Hahn-Banach theorem. Our proofs simplify and unify some of Wittstock's arguments.
The Questionable Power of the Millennium Development Goal to Reduce Child Mortality

AbstractDespite almost a quarter of a century during which the global community pursued the goal of child survival, together with targets for improving child health and nutrition, Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4) had but one target: the reduction of child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. MDG4 was untethered from the Millennium Declaration and from the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This paper analyzes the unintended consequences of framing MDG4 in this reductive manner, showing that doing so shrunk the child health agenda, and ignored earlier incipient efforts to embed human rights principles in the pursuit of child survival. The paper also analyzes the evidence of whether the remarkable 47% decline in child mortality since 1990 was a consequence of the mobilizing Power of MDG4's numbers. Change seems due to veterans of the child-survival revolution of the late twentieth century coalescing to overcome MDG4's limitations. By 2010, the coalition began to address the distortions tha...
Theme Teacher Candidate Selection An Overview

Selection of teacher candidates is cen tral to current debates about improving teacher quality. Applegate's overview provides a discussion of four issues that have continued to plague decision mak ...