cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Routinization of the New Russians

The era of the “New Russians” in post-Soviet society was a remarkably brief interlude, one of many times that Russia has experienced a “compressed development” of the country’s social structure. 1 The New Russians, like NEPmen in the 1920s, were a negative stereotype associated with a period of abrupt and painful social change. Unlike the NEPmen, many of whom suffered repression in the 1930s, the New Russians are rapidly evolving into a group resembling a nascent haute bourgeoisie, or Asia’s “new rich.” 2 Routinized New Russians have become an emblem of the apparent “stability” of the Putin era; whether that stability is sustainable remains an open question. This article begins by discussing the multiple identities ascribed to, and in a few cases assumed by, New Russians. Not surprisingly, they see themselves quite differently from the popular stereotypes. I then turn to locating the New Russians in context by examining other treatments of the new rich. The final two sections consider the evolution of New Russians, first in terms of changing patterns of social stratification and then by looking at some of the iconographic evidence.
Emotionally disturbed, adopted, inpatient adolescents.

Adopted adolescents represent 21.2% of 160 consecutive admissions to an adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit. Within the general population the estimate of adopted adolescents is 3.5%. Some of the demographics of the clinical population and some reasons for the high percentage are discussed.
Inhibitory Neurons: Vip Cells Hit the Brake on Inhibition

Recent studies on vasoactive intestinal peptide-expressing inhibitory neurons in the barrel and auditory cortices of the mouse brain have shown that they form a disinhibitory circuitry that affects the excitability of pyramidal neurons.
Recovery of native plant communities after the control of a dominant invasive plant species, Foeniculum vulgare : Implications for management

Abstract The control and/or removal of a dominant invasive species is expected to lead to increases in native species richness and diversity. Small pilot studies were performed on Santa Cruz Island (SCI), California, in the early 1990s to test the efficacy of different methods on the control of Foeniculum vulgare (fennel) and management’s effects on native species recovery. We chose a treatment that showed significant native species recovery, applied it at the landscape scale, and followed its effects on fennel infested plant communities. We tested the hypothesis that results from small-scale studies translate to the landscape level. We found that although the control of fennel translated from the small to landscape scale, decreasing from an average of 60% to less than 3% cover, native species recovery did not occur in the landscape study as it did in the pilot studies. Invasive fennel cover was replaced by non-native grass cover over time. Unexpectedly, fennel cover in untreated fennel plots decreased significantly (though not as drastically) from over 60% cover to just under 40% cover while native species richness in untreated areas increased significantly. The correlation between precipitation and changes in native and non-native species richness and abundance in this study imply that changes in species abundances were highly correlated with environmental fluctuations. The lack of a native seedbank and the accumulation of non-native grass litter likely prevented the recovery of native species in treated areas. Greater vertical complexity found in fennel communities, which increased visitation by frugivorous birds and likely increased native seed dispersal, may have been responsible for the increase in native species richness in the untreated areas. These results suggest that successful invasive species control and native species recovery experiments conducted at small scales may not translate to the landscape level, and active restoration should be an organic component of such large-scale projects.
Functional Defects in Troponin and the Systems Biology of Heart Failure

Abstract R. J. Solaro and E. M. Burkart. Functional Defects in Troponin and the Systems Biology of Heart Failure. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology (2002) 34 , 689–693.
Determination of mono- and non-o,o′-chlorine substituted polychlorinated biphenyls in Aroclors and environmental samples

Abstract High resolution capillary gas chromatography (GC) is the best known technique for the separation of complex mixtures; however, no single GC column has yet separated all 209 congeners of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A number of coeluting PCB congener pairs exist, and even under favorable separation conditions such as with multidimensional GC, assignment of peak identities to known PCB structures is tedious, subject to errors from other contaminants, and requires enrichment to achieve the necessary detection limits for the most toxic PCB congeners. Routine analysis of PCBs is also complicated by coelution with other halogenated hydrocarbons such as naphthalenes, terphenyls, dibenzofurans, and pesticides. Therefore, techniques for class separations of PCBs prior to gas chromatography must be developed. These techniques should separate PCB congeners along lines that have environmental or toxicological significance. The unique ability of activated carbon to separate halogenated aromatics on the basis of molecular planarity and degree of halogenation has been demonstrated. We present a method that uses dispersed carbon on glass fibers and commercially available instrumentation to fractionate and determine mono- and non- o , o ′-chlorine substituted PCB congeners in Aroclors and environmental samples.
An Activation Marker Finds a Function

In this issue of Immunity, Baaten et al. (2010) describe a previously unknown role for CD44 in counteracting Fas-mediated apoptosis of Th1 effector cells during clonal expansion and allowing their entry into the memory pool.
A post-mid-blastula transition requirement for TGFβ signaling in early endodermal specification

In Xenopus, endodermal cell fate is determined gradually from late blastula to early gastrula stages; cell-cell interaction plays an important role in this process. Here we use a cell dissociation assay to show that extracellular signaling is required continuously before endoderm determination. Activin and Vg1, but not BMP2 or basic FGF, rescue the expression of endodermal markers in dissociated cells when provided at the mid-blastula transition (MBT, the time in which zygotic transcription begins). Removal of exogenously added activin or Vg1 before MBT results in reduction of endodermal gene expression in dissociated vegetal cells. In vivo, endogenous endodermal markers are reduced in vegetal explants when activin-like signaling is blocked with dominant negative receptors. VegT, a maternal transcription factor shown to be critical for endoderm specification, relies on an active TGFbeta pathway to induce endoderm in animal caps. These results indicate that TGFbeta signaling may be activated by the maternally expressed VegT to participate in endoderm determination. In addition, VegT function seems to be required in parallel with the TGFbeta pathway, as overexpression of activin does not relieve endoderm repression by a dominant negative VegT mutant in vegetal cells. Our data suggest that maternal VegT first activates a zygotic TGFbeta signal, then cooperates with this signal to determine the endodermal cell fate.
Conservation of Ca2+/Calmodulin Regulation across Na and Ca2+ Channels

Voltage-gated Na and Ca2+ channels comprise distinct ion channel superfamilies, yet the carboxy tails of these channels exhibit high homology, hinting at a long-shared and purposeful module. For different Ca2+ channels, carboxyl-tail interactions with calmodulin do elaborate robust and similar forms of Ca2+ regulation. However, Na channels have only shown subtler Ca2+ modulation that differs among reports, challenging attempts at unified understanding. Here, by rapid Ca2+ photorelease onto Na channels, we reset this view of Na channel regulation. For cardiac-muscle channels (NaV1.5), reported effects from which most mechanistic proposals derive, we observe no Ca2+ modulation. Conversely, for skeletal-muscle channels (NaV1.4), we uncover fast Ca2+ regulation eerily similar to that of Ca2+ channels. Channelopathic myotonia mutations halve NaV1.4 Ca2+ regulation, and transplanting the NaV1.4 carboxy tail onto Ca2+ channels recapitulates Ca2+ regulation. Thus, we argue for the persistence and physiological relevance of an ancient Ca2+ regulatory module across Na and Ca2+ channels.
Active defense against counterfeiting attacks through robust antifuse-based on-chip locks

The rapidly rising incidences of counterfeit Integrated Circuits (ICs) in the semiconductor supply chain pose a significant threat to the electronic industry. These ICs may suffer from functional, performance or reliability issues and can affect design houses, chip manufacturers, system designers as well as end users. The standard chip/package/system level tests are often inadequate in detecting various forms of counterfeit ICs. On the other hand, design approaches that enable IC authentication are often not attractive due to significant design effort, hardware overhead and test cost. In this paper, we propose a novel defense against counterfeiting attacks through a “chip locking approach”, where an IC is made non-operational by locking select pins through insertion of Antifuse (AF) devices in input/output circuitry. It can be unlocked through application of a hard-to-clone key. The key is internally stored in a onetime programmable non-volatile memory. The key storage and comparison circuit is protected against reverse engineering and side-channel analysis attacks. Through mathematical analysis and simulation results, we demonstrate that the proposed mechanism provides high level of protection against all major forms of counterfeiting attacks (reselling, remarking and cloning) at ultralow overhead (< 0.01% area).
FAMILIAL RENAL ONCOCYTOMA: CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF 5 FAMILIES

AbstractPurpose: We analyzed familial renal oncocytoma to provide a foundation for studies aimed at defining genes involved in the pathogenesis of renal oncocytoma.Materials and Methods: We describe 5 families with multiple members affected with renal oncocytoma. Tumors were analyzed pathologically, and affected and nonaffected members were screened clinically and genetically.Results: We identified 12 affected male and 3 affected female (ratio 4:1) individuals in the 5 families. In affected family members renal oncocytomas were often multiple and bilateral. No metastatic disease was observed. Most renal oncocytomas were detected incidentally in asymptomatic individuals or during screening of asymptomatic members of renal oncocytoma families. One identical twin pair was affected with bilateral multiple renal oncocytomas.Conclusions: Renal oncocytoma may be inherited in some families.
Overtreatment in threshold and developed countries

In acute paediatrics, overtreatment and overdiagnosis is encountered in threshold and developed countries. The reason for overtreatment may be similar in the two settings, namely the mere availability of invasive procedures, which may lead to their inappropriate use. Physiological healing processes should be integrated into treatment plans and whenever possible natural organ function should be maintained (eg, enteral instead of parenteral nutrition). Standards and guidelines may assist the paediatrician in weighing up the benefits and risks of available invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Safe and simple methods, successfully introduced in countries with limited resources, are equally useful in the industrialised world, as they have the potential to reduce the application of risky invasive therapies.
Knowledge elicitation for authoring patent claims

Interactive elicitation techniques let us readily acquire knowledge about different domains. When these techniques are coupled with text generation, we can ultimately simplify text composition tasks faced by all sorts of professionals.
Data augmentation in multi-way contingency tables with fixed marginal totals

We describe and illustrate approaches to data augmentation in multi-way contingency tables for which partial information, in the form of subsets of marginal totals, is available. In such problems, interest lies in questions of inference about the parameters of models underlying the table together with imputation for the individual cell entries. We discuss questions of structure related to the implications for inference on cell counts arising from assumptions about log-linear model forms, and a class of simple and useful prior distributions on the parameters of log-linear models. We then discuss “local move” and “global move” Metropolis–Hastings simulation methods for exploring the posterior distributions for parameters and cell counts, focusing particularly on higher-dimensional problems. As a by-product, we note potential uses of the “global move” approach for inference about numbers of tables consistent with a prescribed subset of marginal counts. Illustration and comparison of MCMC approaches is given, and we conclude with discussion of areas for further developments and current open issues. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. MSC: 62F15; 62H17
Continual Coevolution Through Complexification

In competitive coevolution, the goal is to establish an "arms race" that will lead to increasingly sophisticated strategies. However, in practice, the process often leads to idiosyncrasies rather than continual improvement. Applying the NEAT method for evolving neural networks to a competitive simulated robot duel domain, we will demonstrate that (1) as evolution progresses the networks become more complex, (2) complexification elaborates on existing strategies, and (3) if NEAT is allowed to complexify, it finds dramatically more sophisticated strategies than when it is limited to fixed-topology networks. The results suggest that in order to realize the full potential of competitive coevolution, genomes must be allowed to complexify as well as optimize over the course of evolution.
Low Dose Effects in Psychopharmacology: Ontogenetic Considerations

Low doses of psychoactive drugs often elicit a behavioral profile opposite to that observed following administration of more substantial doses. Our laboratory has observed that these effects are often age-specific in rats. For instance, whereas moderate to high doses of the dopamine agonist apomorphine increase locomotion, suppressed locomotor activity is seen following low dose exposure, with this low dose effect not emerging consistently until adolescence. A somewhat earlier emergence of a low dose "paradoxical" effect is seen with the 5HT(1a) receptor agonist, 8-OH-DPAT, with late preweanling, but not neonatal, rats showing increases in ingestive behavior at low doses but suppression at higher doses. In contrast to these ontogenetic increases in expression of low dose drug effects, low dose facilitation of social behavior is seen following ethanol only in adolescent rats and not their mature counterparts, although suppression of social interactions at higher doses is seen at both ages. This hormesis-like low dose stimulation appears related in part to overcompensation, with brief social suppression preceding the subsequent stimulation response, and also bears a number of ontogenetic similarities to acute tolerance, a well characterized, rapidly emerging adaptation to ethanol. Implications of these and other ontogenetic findings for studies of hormesis are discussed.
The Cultural and Intercultural Identities of Transnational English Teachers: Two Case Studies from the Americas.

This article presents case studies of two long-time English language teachers: a California English as a second language instructor originally from Brazil, and a Chilean English as a foreign language teacher who worked for many years in the United States before returning home. Based on interview and classroom observation data, this research explores teachers' perspectives on the connections between their transnational life experiences and their development of intercultural competence, how they define their own (inter)cultural identities; and how they approach cultural issues with their English language learners. Although both women self-identify as bicultural, they were observed to have somewhat different approaches to teaching cultural issues: The California teacher emphasizes subjective comparisons between the many national cultures represented in her classroom, but the teacher in Chile focuses more on the cultural changes that she and her students have experienced as a result of globalization. Whereas previous studies of teacher identity in TESOL have focused primarily on the dichotomy between native- and nonnative-English-speaking teachers, this article argues that the profession needs to put more value on the pedagogical resources that transnational and intercultural teachers bring to English language teaching. I end with implications for educating intercultural teachers.
The Positive and Negative Effects of Switching Costs on Relational Outcomes

Research increasingly suggests the importance of switching costs in customer retention strategies. However, research on the downstream effects of different types of switching costs is lacking. This study seeks to address this issue by proposing and testing a framework for examining the alternative routes through which different types of switching costs (i.e., procedural, social, and lost benefits) operate in affecting relational outcomes. Consistent with our hypotheses, social switching costs, and lost benefits costs appear to bolster affective commitment, which subsequently increases positive emotions and repurchase intentions and decreases negative word of mouth. Furthermore, and again consistent with our hypotheses, procedural switching costs appear to bolster calculative commitment, which subsequently increases repurchase intentions in some instances but also increases negative emotions and negative word of mouth. Overall, this study's findings suggest that service firms should use caution when utiliz...
Switch-level timing simulation of bipolar ECL circuits

A method for switch-level timing simulation of bipolar emitter-coupled-logic (ECL) circuits is presented. The approach is based on the development of a switch level model of the transistor and on the representation of the circuit by a switch-graph. The circuit is partitioned into subcircuits, and the symbolic logic expressions, which represent the logic states of the nodes in terms of subcircuit inputs and initial conditions, are then generated. Timing information is computed using a new physical delay model based on device equations, transistor interconnection, input slew rate, and loading conditions. The delay model was derived on the basis of average branch current analysis and incorporates more than 15 delay-sensitive circuit and SPICE BJT model parameters. The use of a novel parametric correction scheme permits greater freedom to handle complex effects such as high-level injection, parasitic resistances, and interconnection delay. In addition, the dynamic fanout effects due to base leakage current are incorporated by a fanout collapsing technique. >
Junction Formation in Silicon by Rapid Thermal Annealing

The feasibility of using isothermal RTA in annealing ion implanted layers for forming junctions has been investigated for the past 10 years. While many of the scientific details surrounding defect formation, transient diffusion and dopant activation remain to be clarified, RTA intrinsically is a viable annealing process which is essential for fabricating advanced silicon devices.
On diffusion in high-dimensional Hamiltonian systems

The purpose of this paper is to construct examples of diffusion for e-Hamiltonian perturbations of completely integrable Hamiltonian systems in 2d-dimensional phase space, with d large. In the first part of the paper, simple and explicit examples are constructed illustrating absence of ‘long-time’ stability for size e Hamiltonian perturbations of quasi-convex integrable systems already when the dimension 2d of phase space becomes as large as log1e. We first produce the example in Gevrey class and then a real analytic one, with some additional work. In the second part, we consider again e-Hamiltonian perturbations of completely integrable Hamiltonian system in 2d-dimensional space with e-small but not too small, |e|>exp(-d), with d the number of degrees of freedom assumed large. It is shown that for a class of analytic time-periodic perturbations, there exist linearly diffusing trajectories. The underlying idea for both examples is similar and consists in coupling a fixed degree of freedom with a large number of them. The procedure and analytical details are however significantly different. As mentioned, the construction in Part I is totally elementary while Part II is more involved, relying in particular on the theory of normally hyperbolic invariant manifolds, methods of generating functions, Aubry–Mather theory, and Mather's variational methods. Part I is due to Bourgain and Part II due to Kaloshin.
Évaluation de données de simulation aux grandes échelles (LES) et de vélocimétrie par imagerie de particules (PIV) via une décomposition orthogonale aux valeurs propres invariante en phase (POD)

This study is part of a program to understand the stochastic variations in IC engine flows; in particular, it is a comparison of measured (PIV) and computed (LES) velocity from multiple cycles of the same motored engine. Comparison procedures included traditional RANS (Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes) decomposition (ensemble-averaged and RMS (Root Mean Square) velocity), phase-dependent, and phase- invariant POD. Phase-dependent POD was performed on the PIV and LES samples separately and on the combined samples, thus creating separate or a single POD mode sets, respectively. The phase- invariant POD was performed both on normalized snapshots and on snapshots where the original energy was conserved. Initial comparisons of the mass-specific kinetic energies of the ensemble average and RMS velocities revealed that the PIV and LES data sets differed significantly during most of the intake stroke. This discrepancy was quantifiedfirst by comparing the relevance indices calculated between ensemble average velocity fields and, second, using phase-dependent POD, which quantified cycle-to-cycle flow variations of the RANS average and turbulence. Phase-dependent POD was applied separately to the PIV and LES data sets during the intake stroke (76° ATDCE, After Top Dead Center Exhaust), where the intake-valve jet is strong and the PIV and LES data were earlier found to be significantly different. The cyclic variability of the LES ensemble average was estimated to be significantly higher than that of the PIV data set. POD was also applied to the combined sample of LES and PIV snapshots for quantitative comparison creating a single set of modes, so that comparison could be made with POD coefficients alone. Example comparisons were made at again for data at 76° and also 330° ATDCE, which is a viable spark timing in a fired engine. The results at 76° ATDCE were similar to those obtained with the POD analysis of the separate samples. At 330° ATDCE, the PIV ensemble average and RMS velocities showed somewhat more cyclic variability. Phase-invariant POD was applied to the combined PIV and LES velocity data from all crank angles to study the flow evolution over the crank angle range. Conclusions derived from the two different energy transformations are contrasted. When the energy of each velocity field is normalized, the phase-invariant POD results focus on differences in flow structures and their evolution. On the other hand, when the energy of each velocity field is conserved, the phase-invariant POD results also take into account differences in energy between the PIV and LES data.
Subtle Defects in Pre-TCR Signaling in the Absence of the Tec Kinase Itk

alphabeta T cell development in the thymus is dependent on signaling through the TCR. The first of these signals is mediated by the pre-TCR, which is responsible for promoting pre-T cell proliferation and the differentiation of CD4(-)8(-)3(-) (DN) thymocytes into CD4(+)8(+)3(+) (DP) cells. In many cases, T cell signaling proteins known to be essential for TCR signaling in mature T cells are also required for pre-TCR signaling in DN thymocytes. Therefore, it came as a surprise to discover that mice lacking the Tec kinases Itk and Rlk, enzymes required for efficient activation of phospholipase C-gamma1 in mature T cells, showed no obvious defects in pre-TCR-dependent selection events in the thymus. In this report, we demonstrate that DN thymocytes lacking Itk, or Itk and Rlk, are impaired in their ability to generate normal numbers of DP thymocytes, especially when placed in direct competition with WT DN thymocytes. We also show that Itk is required for maximal pre-TCR signaling in DN thymocytes. These data demonstrate that the Tec kinases Itk and Rlk are involved in, but are not essential for, pre-TCR signaling in the thymus, suggesting that there is an alternative mechanism for activating phospholipase C-gamma1 in DN thymocytes that is not operating in DP thymocytes and mature T cells.
Depression decision support in primary care: A cluster randomized trial

The authors randomly assigned 41 primary care physicians from 5 clinics to receive depression decision support or usual care. Depression decision support was provided by a team that included a psyc...
Waveguide stub-line tuning of RF cavities with heavy beam loading

A method is proposed for using adjustable, waveguide stub-line tuners to match the load impedance of the cavity plus beam to the power source, without the need to detune the cavity. Adjustable stub-line tuners are shown to be able to completely match the resistive and reactive parts of the load impedance to a generator under all conditions of beam loading, ensuring optimum power transfer between generator and cavity. This technique may have advantages in high-current storage rings such as the SLC damping rings and the new PEP II storage rings. The coupled-bunch instability driven by the fundamental mode of the cavity is re-appraised in this coupling scheme in which the cavity is no longer detuned. The consequences of this matching scheme are also considered for the beam loading stability limit.
Stability and performance of distributed production control methods based on continuous-flow models

Investigates the stability and performance of a two-level production control method for part release, routing, and machine scheduling in manufacturing systems. At the first level (off line), a continuous-flow (fluid) approximation of the production control problem is formulated and solved as a linear program. At the second level (on line), simple distributed control policies are used to track the solution of the continuous-flow model of level one. A major research issue concerns the potential instability of decentralized tracking policies due to the discreteness of the decision space (caused by the sequential nature of operations and their discrete processing times). The author considers a broad class of distributed tracking policies, which is called nonidling-nonexceeding (NINE) and finds a sufficient condition for their stability. The results show the NINE policies potential instability for nonacyclic systems due to machine starvation, which is caused by tracking delays induced by the discrete nature of operations. The sufficient stability condition takes a familiar form, namely that, the largest eigenvalue of a matrix/spl minus/which captures the dynamics of tracking delays in the system/spl minus/must be less than one. It ensures the contraction of tracking delays in the feedback loops of material flow in the system. When this condition is met, an upper bound on the performance of the policy is readily obtained. It is further shown that any nonidling dispatching policy can be considered as a special NINE policy, and thus the same stability and performance results apply to the class of all nonidling policies. The author also investigates NINE policies with buffer priorities and shows that a NINE policy with certain buffer priority ordering is always stable. Simulation experiments show that near-zero work-in-process and finished-parts' inventory can be achieved with the method even for demands that are very close to the production capacity of the system. >
30 nm ultra-thin-body SOI MOSFET with selectively deposited Ge raised S/D

MOSFETs with selectively deposited Ge raised source/drain (S/D) implemented in 8 nm ultra-thin-body (UTB) SOI are demonstrated. The Ge is selectively deposited by LPCVD and annealed at a low temperature using RTA (650/spl deg/C, 20 s). Devices with gate lengths down to 30 nm are obtained with 8 nm UTB and show excellent short-channel behavior.
Voiding Cystography Practices and Preferences of North American Pediatric Urologists

Purpose: Little consensus exists regarding the choice of a specific modality of voiding cystography in the evaluation and management of vesicoureteral reflux. We hypothesized that choices of pediatric urologists are based on technical factors of the studies themselves, as well as institutional factors unique to their hospital(s). Therefore, we surveyed pediatric urologists to determine their current practices and preferences of modalities of voiding cystography.Materials and Methods: We mailed an anonymous survey of 40 questions to all fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Urology.Results: Surveys were returned from 186 of 301 fellows (62%). Of the respondents 57% were in academic, 30% in private and 13% in mixed practices. Given a choice of fluoroscopic voiding cystourethrography, radionuclide cystography and voiding ultrasonography, fluoroscopic voiding cystourethrography was preferred by 98% and 96% of respondents for initial evaluation of urinary tract infection in males and females...
Protein–DNA binding specificity predictions with structural models

Protein-DNA interactions play a central role in transcriptional regulation and other biological processes. Investigating the mechanism of binding affinity and specificity in protein-DNA complexes is thus an important goal. Here we develop a simple physical energy function, which uses electrostatics, solvation, hydrogen bonds and atom-packing terms to model direct readout and sequence-specific DNA conformational energy to model indirect readout of DNA sequence by the bound protein. The predictive capability of the model is tested against another model based only on the knowledge of the consensus sequence and the number of contacts between amino acids and DNA bases. Both models are used to carry out predictions of protein-DNA binding affinities which are then compared with experimental measurements. The nearly additive nature of protein-DNA interaction energies in our model allows us to construct position-specific weight matrices by computing base pair probabilities independently for each position in the binding site. Our approach is less data intensive than knowledge-based models of protein-DNA interactions, and is not limited to any specific family of transcription factors. However, native structures of protein-DNA complexes or their close homologs are required as input to the model. Use of homology modeling can significantly increase the extent of our approach, making it a useful tool for studying regulatory pathways in many organisms and cell types.
Promoting mental health and preventing substance abuse and violence in elementary students: a randomized control study of the Michigan Model for Health.

BACKGROUND: In elementary grades, comprehensive health education curricula mostly have demonstrated effectiveness in addressing singular health issues. The Michigan Model for Health (MMH) was implemented and evaluated to determine its impact on multiple health issues, including social and emotional skills, prosocial behavior, and drug use and aggression. METHODS: Schools (N = 52) were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. Participants received 24 lessons in grade 4 (over 12 weeks) and 28 more lessons in grade 5 (over 14 weeks), including material focusing on social and emotional health, interpersonal communication, social pressure resistance skills, drug use prevention, and conflict resolution skills. The 40-minute lessons were taught by the classroom or health teacher who received curriculum training and provided feedback on implementation fidelity. Self-report survey data were collected from the fourth-grade students (n = 2512) prior to the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and 6 weeks after the intervention, with the same data collection schedule repeated in fifth grade. RESULTS: Students who received the curriculum had better interpersonal communication skills, social and emotional skills, and drug refusal skills than the control group students. Intervention students also reported lower intentions to use alcohol and tobacco, less alcohol and tobacco use initiated during the study and in the past 30 days, and reduced levels of aggression. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of the MMH in promoting mental health and preventing drug use and aggression supports the call for integrated strategies that begin in elementary grades, target multiple risk behaviors, and result in practical and financial benefits to schools. Language: en
Manufacturing benefits of disilane as a precursor for polycrystalline silicon films for the advanced CMOS gate electrode

The polycrystalline silicon deposited by single-wafer rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition with both silane (SiH/sub 4/) and disilane (Si/sub 2/H/sub 6/) precursors have been characterized for across wafer uniformity, thickness repeatability, and basic material properties such as grain structure and surface topography. The results show that the disilane process greatly improves the manufacturability of the single-wafer polycrystalline silicon process. Specifically, a /spl sim/50% improvement in the thickness uniformity, /spl sim/25% improvement in surface roughness, and a significantly less sensitivity of the process to hardware have been achieved with similar particle performance. The grain structure of as-deposited and postimplant and anneal films have been compared by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope. NMOS and PMOS capacitors have been fabricated with polycrystalline silicon using silane and disilane precursors. The grain structure and electrical parameters, such as gate leakage currents and gate capacitance, show no significant difference between these two precursors.
From Climbing Stairs to Riding Waves Group Critical Thinking and Its Development

This article provides a model, measure, and theoretical background for understanding group critical thinking. A research study was designed to test group critical thinking and its relationship to the learning style composition of teams. Groups were composed using a randomized block design based on learning style, and responses to a group exercise were coded for type of critical thinking. Results showed support for a group-level measure of critical thinking based on interrater agreement on codes. Some support was found for differences in critical thinking based on learning style. However, critical thinking was not shown to relate to group cohesion, psychological safety, or efficacy. This study marks the first empirical evidence supporting critical thinking at the group level. It provides a measure that can be used in assessing the level of critical thinking for vocational education and assessing team performance on ill-structured problems.
Movements, Migrations, Obstruction, & Creativity: Research Trajectories in Central Africa

Central Africa, for at least the past three centuries, has experienced significant political, environmental, cultural, and historical change. In recent decades many Central African states have witnessed political turmoil and some of the continent’s most destructive and long-running wars, resulting in the movement and migration of people; the circulation of political and religious ideas; the extraction and movement of mineral resources; regional and international intervention; and the obstruction of livelihoods and of human rights. Central Africans have met flux with creativity: cultural institutions maintain continuity across centuries while popular cultural practices manage the quotidian. Such conditions present particular challenges to researchers interested in the past and present of these places and their peoples. This roundtable brings together five scholars with diverse disciplinary practices to explore the particular challenges and promise of research in Central Africa. In responding to the following questions and discussing their research trajectories, the scholars on this roundtable will explore the complexities and praxis of work in this region. 1) What are your main methodological questions? How are they shaped by working in your region? 2) How does the presentness or the pastness of your research impact your research?3) What particular political challenges do you face in doing research in/on a Central African nation? 4) What obligations do we have as scholars of this region to be activists or public intellectuals in the countries of our home institutions around questions related to Central Africa?
Radiative decay of densely confined atoms

The decay rate of an excited state atom into a ground state atom and a photon of momentum k depends on the photon mode structure1,2 and also the number of photons present in those modes.3 We consider the extent to which the rate of spontaneous emission may be altered by the mode structure of the atom (caused, e.g., by a trap) and in particular by the presence of other ground state atoms in the modes. We predict that this rate is enhanced in the presence of occupied atom modes for boson atoms and strongly suppressed for Fermi atoms.
Zero-sum of all fears: intergroup threat, contact, and voting behavior in Northern Ireland

How do varying levels of inter-group contact affect voter preferences in connection with ethnically radical political candidates and parties? Two competing hypotheses have emerged in the last 60 years: the first, known as the group threat hypothesis, argues that voters from an ethnic or religious group in more ethnically or racially heterogeneous districts will exhibit stronger preferences for ethnically radical political candidates. The contact hypothesis argues that groups living in mixed localities are actually less likely to support ethnic radicals. Both perspectives have found empirical support, but no previous study has offered a theoretical explanation for two seemingly contradictory conclusions. We specify just such a theory, arguing that the effect of district level integration is conditioned by the direction of a group’s share of the national population. We test this theory quantitatively using electoral data from Northern Ireland between 1983 and 2010.
Retinoid and carotenoid angiogenesis: A possible explanation for enhanced oral carcinogenesis

Abstract The carotenoids β‐carotene and canthaxanthin and the retinoid 13‐cis‐retinoic acid (13‐RA) have inhibited oral carcinogenesis in the hamster cheek pouch (16 wks, 3 times/wk at 1.4 mg/kg) induced by an 0.5% solution of 7,12‐dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA). However, 13‐RA at a higher dose (>2.0 mg/kg per treatment) increased squamous cell carcinoma growth (Eur J Cancer Clin Oncol 24, 839–850, 1988). 13‐RA, β‐carotene, and canthaxanthin administered to 60 hamsters (16 wks, 3 times/wk, 10 mglkg) altered neovascularization characterized by immunohistochemistry for transforming growth factor‐α (TGF‐α) and factor VIII. 13‐RA + DMBA resulted in more smaller‐sized tumors, with a reduced volume and tumor burden (tumor controls, 185.9; 13‐RA + DMBA, 151.0). The carotenoids reduced the number and the sizes of the carcinomas formed (β‐carotene, 60 tumors, 142.3 x 103 mm3; canthaxanthin, 30 tumors, 116.1 x 103 mm3). Factor VIII and TGF‐a were expressed in high intensity at cancer sites of the 13‐RA + DMBA and...
Abstract 259: Histone Deacetylase1 and 2 Are Increased in Myofibroblasts/Fibroblasts After MI

Myofibroblast activation after myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the major mechanisms of myocardial fibrosis and subsequent heart failure. Elucidating the mechanisms of myofibroblast activation ...
"The Immune Conundrum": Acquired Hemophilia A, Immune Thrombocytopenia, and Neutropenia in a Patient with Pancreatic Cancer.

Abstract Background: Malignancy-associated bleeding can pose diagnostic dilemmas. We report a unique case of paraneoplastic acquired hemophilia A (AHA), immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), and immune neutropenia in a patient with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Case Presentation: A 66-year-old male with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer and normal preoperative hematological evaluation was taken to the operating room for pancreaticoduodenectomy. The operation was aborted due to empyema of the gall bladder, cholangitis, and local extent of disease. Postoperatively, the patient developed bleeding diatheses with mucocutaneous and intra-abdominal bleeding and a prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time. Evaluation revealed high-titer factor VIII inhibitor confirming AHA. Management with bypassing agents such as recombinant activated factor VII, factor VIII inhibitor bypassing activity, and immunosuppression with steroids, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab achieved remission in 2 months. ITP developed after achieving...
Design of five-phase ferrite magnet assisted synchronous reluctance motor using lumped parameter model based optimizer and FEA

This paper proposes an efficient and reliable five-phase ferrite magnet assisted synchronous reluctance motor (Fa-SynRM) which exhibits comparable performance to a five-phase rare-earth permanent magnet based PMa-SynRM. Five-phase PMa-SynRM offers higher reliability and lower torque ripple compared to conventional three phase PMa-SynRMs, and low-cost ferrite magnet potentially decrease the manufacturing cost. However, lower strength of ferrite magnets require more magnet composition and increase stress towards the edges of flux barriers. Demagnetization of ferrite magnets is another factor to be considered in designing the Fa-SynRM. Initially, to develop an optimal and sustainable design, a lumped parameter model (LPM) based optimizer and a finite element model (FEA) has been used to extract an optimal model. The designs are further optimized to reduce the cost and develop more robust models to stress and demagnetization. Finally, the performance and cost of the developed models have been compared to those of benchmark model and initial LPM model.
Variation of Band Gap and Lattice Parameters of β−(AlxGa1−x)2O3 Powder Produced by Solution Combustion Synthesis

Single-phase monoclinic aluminum–gallium oxide powders, β−(AlxGa1−x)2O3, have been produced by solution combustion synthesis for Al fraction 0 ≤ x < 0.8. α−(AlxGa1−x)2O3 is observed for x = 1, with mixed α + β for x = 0.8. The contraction in lattice parameters and increase in band gap with increasing Al concentration were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively, and are compared with a first-principles density-functional theory calculation. A novel filtering procedure is described to reduce the uncertainty involved in measuring band gap using photoemission, and to remove asymmetry in XPS line shapes caused by differential charging of loose powder. The lattice parameters vary linearly with Al fraction, but exhibit a change in slope at x = 0.5 that is attributed to the difference between aluminum occupying tetrahedral and octahedral sites in the monoclinic lattice. The band gap changes linearly with local stoichiometry, including increasing when aluminum content at the surface is enriched relative to the interior, with a range of over 1.8 eV.
Taking the First Full Drink: Epidemiological Evidence on Male-Female Differences in the United States.

BACKGROUND: This research extends prior epidemiological estimates for the United States and re-examines a previously described male excess in alcohol drinking. Its aim was to estimate fine-grained age-specific incidence of becoming a drinker among 12- to 24-year-old U.S. males and females, and to compare incidence estimates with prevalence proportions. METHODS: The study population is 12- to 24-year-old noninstitutionalized U.S. civilian residents. Estimates are from 12 successive U.S. National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), with nationally representative samples drawn each year from 2002 to 2013 and assessed via computer-assisted self-interviews (n ~ 390,000). Analysis-weighted incidence and prevalence estimates are generated using the NSDUH Restricted Data Analysis System for 6 year-pairs. Meta-analysis-derived summary estimates are provided, treating each year-pair as a replication. RESULTS: In this 21st century evidence, there no longer is male excess of incidence with respect to underage drinking. Indeed, in mid-adolescence, there is a clear female excess for the risk of becoming an underage drinker. Meta-analytic summaries disclosed no other male-female differences in incidence. Nevertheless, a male excess in the prevalence of recently active drinking can be seen after the age of 19 years. CONCLUSIONS: This new evidence from the United States shows that the so-called "gender gap" in risk of becoming a drinker has narrowed to the point of there being no gap at all. Indeed, in mid-adolescence, risk of starting to drink is greater for females than for males.Copyright © 2016 by the Research Society on Alcoholism. Language: en
Increased lymphoblast-like cells following umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation do not predict recurrent acute leukemia

Increased lymphoblast-like cells following umbilical cord blood stem cell transplantation do not predict recurrent acute leukemia
Effects of biochar amendment on geotechnical properties of landfill cover soil

Biochar is a carbon-rich product obtained when plant-based biomass is heated in a closed container with little or no available oxygen. Biochar-amended soil has the potential to serve as a landfill cover material that can oxidise methane emissions for two reasons: biochar amendment can increase the methane retention time and also enhance the biological activity that can promote the methanotrophic oxidation of methane. Hydraulic conductivity, compressibility and shear strength are the most important geotechnical properties that are required for the design of effective and stable landfill cover systems, but no studies have been reported on these properties for biochar-amended landfill cover soils. This article presents physicochemical and geotechnical properties of a biochar, a landfill cover soil and biochar-amended soils. Specifically, the effects of amending 5%, 10% and 20% biochar (of different particle sizes as produced, size-20 and size-40) to soil on its physicochemical properties, such as moisture content, organic content, specific gravity and pH, as well as geotechnical properties, such as hydraulic conductivity, compressibility and shear strength, were determined from laboratory testing. Soil or biochar samples were prepared by mixing them with 20% deionised water based on dry weight. Samples of soil amended with 5%, 10% and 20% biochar (w/w) as-is or of different select sizes, were also prepared at 20% initial moisture content. The results show that the hydraulic conductivity of the soil increases, compressibility of the soil decreases and shear strength of the soil increases with an increase in the biochar amendment, and with a decrease in biochar particle size. Overall, the study revealed that biochar-amended soils can possess excellent geotechnical properties to serve as stable landfill cover materials.
Aero-Optical Measurements in a Heated, Subsonic, Turbulent Boundary Layer

A scaling relationship for OPD rms that accounts for the fluctuating total temperature profile within a turbulent boundary is derived from the modified Crocco relation. Experimental data from heated, compressible boundary layers at six subsonic Mach numbers in two wind tunnel facilities are shown to be consistent with the theory. The results show that a temperature mismatch between the freestream and underlying wall has a significant impact on the overall optical aberration.