cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ventilation and Locomotion in Humans: Mechanisms, Implications, and Perturbations to the Coupling of These Two Rhythms

To best sustain endurance activity, two systems must be effectively coordinated: ventilation and locomotion. Evidence has long suggested that these two mammalian rhythms are linked, yet determinants and implications of locomotor–respiratory coupling (LRC) continue to be investigated. Two general areas explaining the potential mechanisms underlying LRC are (1) neural interactions between central and peripheral controllers of locomotion and respiration, and (2) mechanical interactions between locomotor dynamics and respiratory mechanics. Additional suggested explanations for/consequence of the existence of LRC in mammals include an improved energetic cost of locomotion and a reduced sensation of breathlessness. As such, any perturbation to LRC, via alterations in breathing or kinematic patterns, could have negative performance implications to both athlete and patient populations.
Nonsurgical management of the anterior open bite: a review of the options

The open bite malocclusion has been described as being of 2 types: dental and skeletal. Proper differentiation is essential in determining the appropriate corrective measures. Dental open bites are generally more responsive to treatment with orthodontics alone, whereas skeletal open bites often require a combination of orthodontics and orthognathic surgery. Patient selection and treatment principles for nonsurgical open bite treatment are discussed, and a review of various methods of treatment for the skeletal open bite is presented. Posttreatment stability and retention concerns are addressed.
Environmental Education as a Catalyst for Transfer of Learning in Young Children

Abstract As environmental educators continue to develop guidelines for curriculum, instruction, and professional development, it is important to consider the issue of transfer. This issue is particularly a concern in early childhood education, where the formation of environmental learning and attitudes is just beginning. The researcher attempted to determine how a variety of knowledges (declarative, procedural, and schematic) transferred when third-grade children were given problem situations. Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of covariance, and statistically significant results provide insight into further considerations for enhancing instruction in environmental education.
Accepting critically ill transfer patients: adverse effect on a referral center's outcome and benchmark measures.

Accepting transfer patients can adversely affect measures of efficiency and quality of care, even after use of the most thorough, precise methods to adjust for case mix. If organizations that colle...
Simple and accurate calibration technique for measuring γ-ray energies and Ge(Li) detector linearity

Abstract A technique for precise calibration of Ge(Li) γ-ray spectrometers, which is particularly useful in studies of decay schemes, has been developed. The differential response of a multichannel analyzer is measured with a sliding pulse generator whose incremental nonlinearity is 0.005–0.01%. The integral of this response with respect to counts is a linear function of energy. With the use of two known γ-ray lines the calibration constant in counts/keV, and in turn, the energies corresponding to unknown γ-ray peaks can be determined. The technique is simple, fast and virtually automatic. The method was evaluated by measuring γ-ray energies (0.27–2.75 MeV) from ten sources. The results obtained agree with published values to within the measurement uncertainty of 40–110 eV. The accuracy of the technique depends on the linearity of the sliding pulser and the Ge(Li) detector. From a spectrum of 66 Ga, measured energy intervals of 2 m 0 c 2 were examined as a function of γ-ray energy. The standard deviation of the eight 2 m 0 c 2 intervals was only 0.08 keV. It is therefore concluded that between 1 and 5 MeV the incremental non-linearity of the coaxial Ge(Li) detector is less than ±0.1 keV. Measurement uncertainties due to errors in the calibration standards, peak location, and the number of counts/channel in the differential response are discussed.
Terminal Relaxations in Linear and Three-Arm Star Polyisoprenes

Dynamic mechanical spectra were obtained for linear and three-arm star-branched polyisoprenes (PI) in the terminal region of the viscoelastic spectrum. Terminal relaxation times, defined from the peak frequency of the dispersion in the loss modulus, were found to be more sensitive to changes in temperature for the stars than for the linear polyisoprene. From Arrhenius plots of the ratio of the relaxation times for the star and linear polymers, an activation energy describing the excess temperature dependency of the stars was determined. The results were 2.3 and 3.2 kcal/mol for star PI with respective arm molecular weights equal to 18 and 44 times the molecular weight between entanglements. Unlike the linear PI, the star-branched polymers were thermorheologically complex. These results are very similar to the behavior of polybutadiene, hydrogenated polybutadiene, and hydrogenated polyisoprene. Nevertheless, they are unexpected, in that the existing hypothesis for the excess temperature dependence and thermorheological complexity of branched polymers should not apply to polyisoprene.
How informative are average effects? Hedonic regression and amenity capitalization in complex urban housing markets ☆

Abstract Variations in real estate prices within an urban area are commonly exploited to value local amenities. Be they public or private goods, local amenities should be capitalized into property prices. This paper, however, demonstrates that standard hedonic models used to recover implicit prices are highly sensitive to sample choice and to model specification. In the case of Los Angeles, complex local housing markets produce attribute prices that vary spatially and temporally, violating the common assumption they are fixed. This misspecification yields estimated average effects of the value of access to light rail stations that vary widely across seemingly innocuous choices regarding samples and model specification. The paper proposes an alternative, more flexible approach, which yields a finding of no capitalization of light rail access into surrounding home prices.
High Repetition Rate Pulsers for Beam Switching Magnets

This paper describes a type of pulsed power supply which has been developed to energize deflection magnets with a field of either direction, for a right or left beam deflection, on a pulse-to-pulse basis, at repetition rates up to 360 pulses per second, and to recover most of the energy at the end of the pulse. The scheme consists basically of using ignitron tubes to switch energy stored in a capacitor bank to the pulsed magnet and back to the capacitor bank with relatively small losses, and using a dc supply to recharge the capacitor bank between pulses. Two capacitor banks, one charged to a positive polarity and the other to a negative polarity, with their associated ignitron tubes, are connected to one magnet to permit energizing the magnet with a field in either direction as desired on a pulse-to-pulse basis. The two capacitor banks can be charged to different voltages, thus permitting the deflection of two different energy beam pulses. The current pulse through the magnet is a one-cycle sine wave of the resonant frequency of the capacitance of the energy storage bank and the inductance of the magnet, with the timing of the pulse arranged such that the beam passes through the magnet at the peak of the sine wave. Regulation of the peak current in the magnets to the order of 0.1% has been achieved.
Health-related quality of life: methods of assessment.

Developing a health-related quality of life (HRQOL) assessment requires both a conceptual model and an extended plan whereby the assessment can continue to be developed with repeated applications. While generic HRQOL assessments exist and can be readily applied, it is when the assessment is integrated into the treatment development process that it is of most value, and to do this optimally requires either disease or study-specific assessments. Investigators were encouraged to view the assessment task as an information processing activity, and to be as concerned about how a person generates an HRQOL assessment as much as what they state their HRQOL to be. The added value of doing an HRQOL assessment is also discussed.
Bing's house and the zeeman conjecture

Abstract Let K 2 be the geometric realization of { a : a 3 = 1}. Then K 2 is a 2-dimensional spine of a 3-manifold-with-boundary, but K 2 × I does not collapse to a 3-manifold-with-boundary. In addition to proving this result, we discuss the geometry involved in 1-collapsing Bing's house-with-two-rooms.
The Diagnosis and Management of Fluid Collections Associated with Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis may be acute or chronic, mild or severe. Acute necrotizing pancreatitis remains the most serious form of acute pancreatitis and accounts for the majority of complications. Although there is an established nomenclature for pancreatitis and pancreatic fluid collections, such as pancreatic pseudocysts, it is not widely understood or recognized by physicians, including gastroenterologists. Because nonspecialists will be increasingly called upon to treat and appropriately refer patients with pancreatitis and its complications for more specialized care, it is important to understand the evolving treatment options for managing these patients. This article addresses and summarizes pancreatitis and its complications, particularly pancreatic collections.
Visualization of centromere proteins CENP-B and CENP-C on a stable dicentric chromosome in cytological spreads.

We have screened for the presence of two centromere autoantigens, CENP-B (80 kDa) and CENP-C (140 kDa) at the inactive centromere of a naturally occurring stable dicentric chromosome using specific antibodies that do not cross-react with any other chromosomal proteins. In order to discriminate between the active and inactive centromeres on this chromosome we have developed a modification of the standard methanol/acetic acid fixation procedure that allows us to obtain high-quality cytological spreads that retain antigenicity with the anti-centromere antibodies. We have noted three differences in the immunostaining patterns with specific anti-CENP-B and CENP-C antibodies. (1) The amount of detectable CENP-B varies from chromosome to chromosome. The amount of CENPC appears to be more or less the same on all chromosomes. (2) CENP-B is present at both active and inactive centromeres of stable dicentric autosomes. CENP-C is not detectable at the inactive centromeres. (3) While immunofluorescence with anti-CENP-C antibodies typically gives two discrete spots, staining with anti-CENP-B often appears as a single bright bar connecting both sister centromeres. This suggests that while CENP-C may be confined to the outer centromere in the kinetochore region, CENP-B may be distributed throughout the entire centromere. Our data suggest that CENP-C is likely to be a component of some invariant chromosomal substructure, such as the kinetochore. CENPB may be involved in some other aspect of centromere function, such as chromosome movement or DNA packaging.
Proper expression of the Gcn5 histone acetyltransferase is required for neural tube closure in mouse embryos.

Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) are important to gene activation, altering chromatin structures to facilitate association of transcription proteins with gene promoters. The functions of individual HATs in mammalian developmental are not well defined. Our previous studies demonstrated that Gcn5, a prototypical HAT, is required for mesodermal maintenance in early embryos. Homozygous Gcn5 null embryos die soon after gastrulation, preventing determination of Gcn5 functions later during development. We report here the creation of a Gcn5flox(neo) allele, which is only partially functional and gives rise to a hypomorphic phenotype. Mice homozygous for this allele had an increased risk of cranial neural tube closure defects (NTDs) and exencephaly. These defects were found at an even greater penetrance in Gcn5flox(neo)/Δ embryos. These results indicate that normal levels of Gcn5 expression are critical for neural tube closure in mice and predict that mutations in this HAT may be associated with increased risk of NTDs in humans. Developmental Dynamics 237:928–940, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Oral Administration of (±)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine and (+)Methamphetamine Alters Temperature and Activity in Rhesus Macaques

Abstract Rationale Emergency Department visits and fatalities in which (±)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or (+)methamphetamine (METH) are involved frequently feature unregulated hyperthermia. MDMA and METH significantly elevate body temperature in multiple laboratory species and, most importantly, can also produce unregulated and threatening hyperthermia in nonhuman primates. A majority of prior animal studies have administered drugs by injection whereas human consumption of “Ecstasy” is typically oral, an important difference in route of administration which may complicate the translation of animal data to the human condition. Objective To determine if MDMA and METH produce hyperthermia in monkeys following oral administration as they do when administered intramuscularly. Methods Adult male rhesus monkeys were challenged intramuscularly (i.m.) and per os (p.o.) with 1.78 or 5 mg/kg (±)MDMA and with 0.1 or 0.32 mg/kg (+)METH. Temperature and activity were monitored with a radiotelemetry system. Results Oral administration of either MDMA or METH produced significant increases in body temperature. Locomotor activity was suppressed by MDMA and increased by METH following either route of administration. Conclusions The data show that the oral route of administration is not likely to qualitatively reduce the temperature increase associated with MDMA or METH although oral administration did slow the rate of temperature increase. It is further established that MDMA reduces activity in monkeys even after relatively high doses and oral administration.
Phenotype-associated changes in retinal pigment epithelial cell expression of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins.

Purpose The objectives of this study were to evaluate retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells as a source of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) and to characterize biosynthetic changes associated with the cell phenotype and vitreous growth factor stimuli known to be present in fibrocontractive diseases. Methods Early culture-associated changes in RPE phenotype were characterized by indirect immunofluorescence localization and Western blot analysis of cell lysates. IGFBP expression was evaluated by RT-PCR and Northern blot analysis of total RNA preparations. Results Normal unperturbed RPE are immunoreactive for cytokeratin 18 and negative for cytokeratin 19, vimentin, and alpha-smooth muscle actin (alphaSMA). Early reactive RPE (7 days in culture) express cytokeratin 18, cytokeratin 19, and vimentin. Myofibroblastic RPE (35 days in culture) express cytokeratin 19, vimentin, and alphaSMA. RT-PCR studies revealed that normal RPE can produce IGFBP-2, -3, -4, -5, and -6 but not IGFBP-1. Early reactive and myofibroblastic RPE have detectable levels of message for IGFBP-3, -5, and -6. However, Northern blot analysis suggests that IGFBP-5 is the predominant binding protein produced. Finally, stimulation with biologically relevant quantities of IGF-I and IGF-II had no detectable effects on IGFBP expression. Conclusions Changes in RPE phenotype are accompanied by dramatic changes in IGFBP expression profile, with IGFBP-5 the predominant binding protein produced by myofibroblastic RPE cells.
Urban Women’s Preferences for Learning of Their Mammogram Result: A Qualitative Study

Research suggests that communication of mammogram results is flawed for many low-income ethnic minority women. This study conducted four focus groups with low-income inner-city minority women (n = 34). The goals of our project were: (1) to elucidate women's experiences learning of their result; (2) to elicit their preferences as to how this communication could be improved; and (3) to gather information to help inform the development of a new tool for communicating mammogram results. Salient themes included dissatisfaction with result communication; difficulty elucidating the meaning of a typical results notification letter; a preference for direct verbal communication of results and for print materials that included pictures, testimonials, and an action plan including a hotline to call with questions; and a strong interest in advance education about the likelihood of having to return for additional follow up. Video and other programs to inform patients before the test about what happens after may improve patient satisfaction and enhance women's understanding of their personal result and follow up plan.
Phosphorylation of troponin I and phospholamban during catecholamine stimulation of rabbit heart

During adrenergic stimulation heart cells develop increased force and there is an increase in the rate of rise and fall of force. These changes are thought to be triggered by the binding of catecholamine to the β-receptor, which in turn signals alterations in membranes and the contracto-regulatory protein complex by multiple, coordinated mechanisms involving Ca2+, cyclic nucleotides and protein phosphorylation1,2. This view is supported by results of in vitro studies with cardiac myofibrils3,4 and vesicles of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)5–7 showing that these organelles have sites of protein phosphorylation that may act as effectors of the adrenergic signal giving rise to the altered twitch dynamics. Phosphorylation of troponin I (TnI), a regulatory protein of cardiac myofibrils, results in a decreased steady-state affinity of troponin (TnC) for Ca2+, an increase in the off rate for Ca2+ exchange with TnC8 and a rightward shift of the relationship between free Ca2+ and myofibrillar force9 or ATPase3,4. Phosphorylation of phospholamban, a regulatory protein of cardiac SR, increases the velocity of Ca2+ transport by SR vesicles, the affinity of the transport protein for Ca2+ and the turnover of elementary steps of the ATPase reaction5–7,10,11. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that the inotropic response of the heart to catecholamine stimulation involves phosphorylation of TnI and phospholamban. Yet, although it is known that TnI is phosphorylated during adrenergic stimulation of beating heart12–14 there has been no clear evidence that phospholamban is phosphorylated at the same time. We now report that during the peak of the inotropic response of the rabbit heart to perfusion with isoproterenol, there is simultaneous phosphorylation of TnI and an 11,000-molecular weight (Mr) protein associated with SR, which is probably monomeric phospholamban.
On the mechanism of alkaline and neutral fructose 1,6-diphosphatase: Inhibition by substrate analogs at neutral pH☆

Inhibitor characteristics at pH 7.6 are reported for rabbit liver fructose-1,6-diphosphatase (EC 3.1.3.11) with the substrate analogs, α- and β-methyl-d-fructo-furanoside-1,6-diphosphate and 2,5-anhydro-d-mannitol-1,6-diphosphate. The α-analog yields competitive inhibition at all concentrations examined, whereas the β-analogs result in competitive-noncompetitive inhibition with the latter mode becoming increasingly important at higher concentrations. The data obtained from the kinetics of inhibition are quantitatively in accord with increasing substrate inhibition of FDPase at neutral pH and strongly implicate as responsible a site specific for a β-configuration. Incubation of enzyme with Mn2+ and α-methyl-d-fructofuranoside-1,6-diphosphate at pH 7.6 apparently leads to increased levels of a more active form of the enzyme while similar incubation with the β-analog at pH 7.6 results in only a small change. Incubation at pH 9.4 is without effect. Enzyme with high activity in the neutral pH range and enzyme with an alkaline pH optimum respond similarly to the substrate analogs suggesting there are no gross differences in substrate specificity for the two forms.
A new delayless sub-band filtering method for cancelling the effect of feedback path in Hearing aid systems

Performance of commonly used Hearing aid systems is degraded by the presence of acoustic feedback between loudspeaker and microphone. Prediction Error Method Adaptive Feedback Canceller (PEM-AFC) has been proposed recently that could attenuate the feedback effect. In this paper, we present a new delayless frequency-based sub-band filtering method for alleviating the effect of feedback path for the Hearing aid systems. The proposed method avoids sub-band distortions and has low computational complexity making it suitable for low-power cost-effective hearing aid system designs. Performances of the two methods are compared and simulation results are presented.
Tandem single sideband modulation scheme for doubling spectral efficiency of analogue fibre links

Using a dual-electrode Mach-Zehnder modulator, a 'tandem' single sideband modulator has been constructed that doubles the spectral efficiency of a system by enabling the transmission of different data streams in the upper and lower sidebands of the same optical carrier.
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Adult-Onset Still’s Disease: Rapid Response to Anakinra

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare inflammatory condition characterized by spiking quotidian fever, rash, chronic arthralgia, leukocytosis, and occasional pulmonary involvement such as pleural effusion and transient pulmonary infiltrates. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare pulmonary complication of AOSD, and we are aware of only 5 cases reported in the literature. We report the case of a 27-year-old woman of Middle Eastern descent, with a 7-year history of AOSD, who developed severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). After unsuccessful exposure to various immunosuppressive regimens, shortly following the initiation of anakinra, an interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor antagonist, her disease became quiescent and the PAH resolved. With this case report, we hope to show that anakinra, either by virtue of controlling the overall inflammation in AOSD, or by direct effect on the pulmonary microangiopathy, can improve severe PAH.
Efficacy of a store-based environmental change intervention compared with a delayed treatment control condition on store customers' intake of fruits and vegetables.

Objective: The present store-based intervention was designed to promote sales of fruits and vegetables (FV intervention customers reported an increase in FV the intervention increased availability of vegetables but not fruit. Conclusions: Environmental change strategies to promote healthy eating are needed given the rates of obesity and diabetes in the Latino population. A storebased intervention was moderately effective at increasing customers’ reported F&V intake. Such strategies can have a public health impact on underserved populations.
India-Born in the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce

With the intense debates over the extent to which foreign-born in the U.S. science and engineering (S&E) workplace displace U.S.-born, very few have focused on the work experience and professional activities of foreign-born in S&E. This article examines the extent to which India-born in the U.S. S&E workforce consider themselves professionally successful and/or facing institutional barriers, and their transnationalism between the United States and India. The article is primarily based on in-depth interviews conducted with different strata of scientists and engineers from India.
The effect of genetic background on the function of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mlh1 alleles that correspond to HNPCC missense mutations

Germline mutations in the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene MLH1 are associated with a large percentage of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancers. There are approximately 250 known human mutations in MLH1. Of these, one-third are missense variants that are often difficult to characterize with regards to pathogenicity. We analysed 28 alleles of baker's yeast MLH1 that correspond to non-truncating human mutant alleles listed in online HNPCC databases, 13 of which had not been previously studied in functional assays. Using the highly sensitive lys2::InsE-A(14) reversion rate assay, we determined the MMR proficiency conferred by each allele in the S288c strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Seven alleles conferred a null phenotype for MMR and eight others showed significant MMR defects, suggesting that all 15 are likely to be pathogenic in humans. In addition, we observed a strong correlation between these results, limited results from previous functional assays and clinical data. To test whether the potential pathogenicity of certain alleles depends on the genetic background of the host, we examined the mutation rates conferred by the mlh1 alleles in a second yeast strain, SK1, which is approximately 0.7% divergent from S288c. Many alleles displayed a difference in MMR efficiency between strain backgrounds with decreasing differences as the severity of the MMR defect increased. These findings suggest that genetic background can play an important role in determining the pathogenicity of MMR alleles and may explain cases of atypical colorectal cancer inheritance.
Interactions between Disordered Sleep, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Substance Use Disorders

Disordered sleep is associated with a number of adverse health consequences and is an integral component of many psychiatric disorders. Rates of substance use disorders (SUDs) are markedly higher among individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and this relationship may be partly mediated by disturbed sleep. Sleep disturbances (e.g. insomnia, daytime sleepiness, vivid nightmares) are hallmark features of PTSD and there is evidence that individuals with PTSD engage in substance use as a means of coping with these symptoms. However, prolonged substance use can lead to more severe sleep disturbances due to the development of tolerance and withdrawal. Behavioural or pharmacological treatment of disordered sleep is associated with improved daytime symptoms and psychosocial functioning among individuals who have developed PTSD. Initial research also suggests that improving sleep could be similarly beneficial in reducing coping oriented substance use and preventing relapse among those seeking treatment for SUDs. Together, these findings suggest that ameliorating sleep disturbance among at-risk individuals would be a viable target for the prevention and treatment of PTSD and associated SUDs, but prospective research is needed to examine this hypothesis. Enhanced understanding of the interrelation between sleep, PTSD, and SUDs may yield novel prevention and intervention approaches for these costly, prevalent and frequently co-occurring disorders.
Structural basis of influenza virus neutralization

Although seasonal influenza vaccines play a valuable role in reducing the spread of virus at the population level, ongoing viral evolution to evade immune responses remains problematic. No current vaccines elicit enduring protection in the face of emerging and re-emerging influenza viruses that are rapidly undergoing antigenic drift. Eliciting broadly cross-neutralizing antibody (nAb) responses against influenza virus is a crucial goal for seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine preparation. Recent three-dimensional structure information obtained from crystallization of influenza antigens in complex with nAbs has provided a framework for interpreting antibody-based viral neutralization that should aid in the design of vaccine immunogens. Here, we will review current knowledge of the structure-based mechanisms contributing to the neutralization and neutralization escape of influenza viruses. We will also explore the potential for this structure-based approach to overcome the obstacles in developing the highly desired "universal" influenza vaccine.
Optimizing Epochal Evolutionary Search: Population-Size Dependent Theory

Epochal dynamics, in which long periods of stasis in an evolving population are punctuated by a sudden burst of change, is a common behavior in both natural and artificial evolutionary processes. We analyze the population dynamics for a class of fitness functions that exhibit epochal behavior using a mathematical framework developed recently, which incorporates techniques from the fields of mathematical population genetics, molecular evolution theory, and statistical mechanics. Our analysis predicts the total number of fitness function evaluations to reach the global optimum as a function of mutation rate, population size, and the parameters specifying the fitness function. This allows us to determine the optimal evolutionary parameter settings for this class of fitness functions. We identify a generalized error threshold that smoothly bounds the two-dimensional regime of mutation rates and population sizes for which epochal evolutionary search operates most efficiently. Specifically, we analyze the dynamics of epoch destabilization under finite-population sampling fluctuations and show how the evolutionary parameters effectively introduce a coarse graining of the fitness function. More generally, we find that the optimal parameter settings for epochal evolutionary search correspond to behavioral regimes in which the consecutive epochs are marginally stable against the sampling fluctuations. Our results suggest that in order to achieve optimal search, one should set evolutionary parameters such that the coarse graining of the fitness function induced by the sampling fluctuations is just large enough to hide local optima.
Severe weather in Mediterranean ports

Environmental phenomena such as strong winds, high waves, restrictions to visibility and thunderstorms can be hazardous to US Navy fleet operations. The Mediterranean region is an area where the complicated topography significantly influences these kind of environmental phenomena, particularly in the coastal regions. Because the US Navy recognised this as a concern to many ship captains, the Marine Meteorology Division of the Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, California was asked to evaluate the severe weather suitability of 55 Mediterranean ports and document the results. The resulting analyses provide decision-making guidance for ship captains as well as environmental information for operational forecasters. These port evaluations have been disseminated in hard copy form as individual port studies as well as in a compilation of all port studies in CD-ROM format.
Optimal Constitutive Parameters and Subject Specific Variability: An Application to the Aortic Sinuses

Advanced analyses of soft biological tissues have shown substantial subject-specific variability in mechanical properties [1]. Such variability is also easily observed at a geometrical or morphological level, and has been reported also in mechanical tests on biological tissue samples [1, 2]. While there is wide interest in reproducing accurate geometries for subject-specific modeling, constitutive parameters for mechanical models often use averaged data from mechanical tests [3]. Outliers are typically neglected, and only the ‘mean’ tissue behavior is considered. However, due to an increased interest in using multi-scale and finite element (FE) models for medical device testing and surgical planning [4], understanding of the variability of the outlier tests becomes increasingly important. In particular, by using detailed mechanistic constitutive models, it might be possible to classify the different mechanical behaviors observed on the basis of the changes in the constitutive parameters. This process could lead to the definition of a library of different ‘healthy’ or ‘diseased’ constitutive parameters to be used in computational analyses.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Spirituality, Psychological Coping, and Community Integration for Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract Primary Objective: to determine the relationships that exist among level of spirituality, psychological coping strategies, and community integration for persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Research Design: non-experimental, prospective study. Methods and Procedures: Participants were 26 individuals with non-acute TBI (18 males, 8 females; 25 Caucasian, 1 Hispanic; average time since injury = 41 months). Participants completed a measure of spirituality (i.e., INSPIRIT; Kass et al., 1991); a measure of psychological coping (i.e., a revised Ways of Coping Scale (WAYSS); Felton, Revenson, & Hinrichson, 1984); and a measure of community integration (i.e., Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ); Corrigan & Deming, 1995). Main Outcomes and Results: Spearman correlational analyses indicated statistically significant positive relationships between spirituality and “positive” psychological coping strategies (i.e., WAYSS Cognitive Restructuring, Information Seeking, and Emotional Expression scales...
DIALYZING THE ELDERLY: ISSUES AND CONCERNS: Dialysis in Nursing Homes

The number of geriatric end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in the United States is increasing disproportionately to other age groups on dialysis. Thus there will be more dialysis patients that will require the assistance of nursing homes or extended care facilities. Nursing homes may be beneficial for the geriatric patient in terms of social and physical rehabilitation. Many of these facilities, however, may not take care of or may not have the capacity to adequately care for dialysis patients. Such patients have a higher rate of peritonitis when on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and have higher mortality rates on hemodialysis (HD) or PD compared to similar dialysis patients in the community. Cooperation and communication between the dialysis center and the nursing home, given the complex management issues involved in the care of these patients, are essential. One promising approach to the care of elderly dialysis patients is an integration of nursing home and dialysis unit. Although another approach could be to more fully utilize the services of adult day care centers, this has proven logistically difficult and has not been reported to be successful since it was first suggested more than a decade ago.
Cutting Edge: Self-Antigen Controls the Balance between Effector and Regulatory T Cells in Peripheral Tissues

Immune homeostasis in peripheral tissues is achieved by maintaining a balance between pathogenic effector T cells (Teffs) and protective Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs). Using a mouse model of an inducible tissue Ag, we demonstrate that Ag persistence is a major determinant of the relative frequencies of Teffs and Tregs. Encounter of transferred naive CD4(+) T cells with transiently expressed tissue Ag leads to generation of cytokine-producing Teffs and peripheral Tregs. Persistent expression of Ag, a mimic of self-antigen, leads to functional inactivation and loss of the Teffs with preservation of Tregs in the target tissue. The inactivation of Teffs by persistent Ag is associated with reduced ERK phosphorylation, whereas Tregs show less reduction in ERK phosphorylation and are relatively resistant to ERK inhibition. Our studies reveal a crucial role for Ag in maintaining appropriate ratios of Ag-specific Teffs to Tregs in tissues.
Long-term Brazilian Economic Development

The Purpose of this article is to clarify some historical features of Brazilian economic development in order to gain some insight into the process of long-term growth. The recent extension of the principal macroeconomic time-series to 1920 and the publication of several specialized monographs provide the material for such an analysis. We will begin with a consideration of the timing of Brazilian industrialization and, more important, of the conditions in which it took place. Such a discussion is all the more necessary since it appears that some of the stock ideas concerning Brazilian economic development before 1939 require revision.
Computer-Based Typing and Keypad Skills Training Outcomes of Unemployed Injection Drug Users in a Therapeutic Workplace

The Therapeutic Workplace is an employment-based treatment for chronic drug misuse and unemployment. As a part of this intervention, participants are taught skills to perform data entry jobs and are paid based on attendance and productivity. In this study, computerized typing and keypad training programs were evaluated in recently detoxified HIV-positive injection drug users (n = 32) enrolled in the Therapeutic Workplace treatment program between October 2000 and September 2001. Results show that trainees can be taught fundamental typing and keypad skills in an average of 51.48 and 1.73 h of training, respectively, administered over 17.91 and 12.59 weeks, respectively. Overall, the results demonstrate that adults with long histories of chronic unemployment and drug addiction can reliably acquire typing and keypad skills and do so over relatively short periods of time.
Trust And Trustworthiness: A Game Theory Transcontinental Experiment

This article reports the results of a laboratory experiment that investigated differences in trust and trustworthiness between Americans and Croatians. Contrary to the majority of previous crosscultural studies, this experiment implemented a design that allowed participants to simultaneously interact with subjects from the other country. Additionally, it analyzed changes in their levels of trust and trustworthiness when information about the nationality of a subject’s counterpart was not revealed. The main findings are: 1) Overall, Croatians trusted more than Americans did, but Americans were more trustworthy, 2) Subjects from both nationalities trusted less when they knew they were paired with somebody from another country, compared to when they interacted with someone from the same country, 3) Croatians also became less trustworthy when they were paired with an American, but Americans became more trustworthy when they were paired with a Croatian, and 4) Uncertainty about the nationality of one’s counterpart reduced both trust and trustworthiness for both nationalities, a result that suggests that, overall, not knowing the nationality of one person caused the subjects to behave as if this person was of a different nationality.
Placement of thermal vias in 3-D ICs using various thermal objectives

As thermal problems become more evident, new physical design paradigms and tools are needed to alleviate them. Incorporating thermal vias into integrated circuits (ICs) is a promising way of mitigating thermal issues by lowering the effective-thermal resistance of the chip. However, thermal vias take up valuable routing space, and therefore, algorithms are needed to minimize their usage while placing them in areas where they would make the greatest impact. With the developing technology of three-dimensional integrated circuits (3-D ICs), thermal problems are expected to be more prominent, and thermal vias can have a larger impact on them than in traditional two-dimensional integrated circuits (2-D ICs). In this paper, thermal vias are assigned to specific areas of a 3-D IC and used to adjust their effective-thermal conductivities. The method, which uses finite-element analysis (FEA) to calculate temperatures quickly during each iteration, makes iterative adjustments to these thermal conductivities in order to achieve a desired thermal objective and is general enough to handle a number of different thermal objectives such as achieving a desired maximum operating temperature. With this method, 49% fewer thermal vias are needed to obtain a 47% reduction in the maximum temperatures, and 57% fewer thermal vias are needed to obtain a 68% reduction in the maximum thermal gradients than would be needed using a uniform distribution of thermal vias to obtain these same thermal improvements. Similar results were seen for other thermal objectives, and the method efficiently achieves its thermal objective while minimizing the thermal-via utilization.
Predictors of total body bone mineral density in non-corticosteroid-treated prepubertal children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective. To determine the extent of significant osteopenia in prepubertal patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) not treated with corticosteroids and to identify variables that are highly related to bone mineralization in this population. Methods. In a cross-sectional study, 48 JRA patients and 25 healthy control subjects ages 4.6–11.0 years were evaluated. Total body bone mineral density (TB BMD) was determined by Hologic dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. All patients were prepubertal (Tanner stage I or II) and had never taken corticosteroids. For comparison, JRA patients were divided into “low” TB BMD (Z score ⩽−1) or “normal” TB BMD (Z score >-1). Results. The overall mean ± SD TB BMD scores did not differ between the JRA subjects (0.75 ± 0.06 gm/cm2) and controls (0.73 ± 0.07 gm/cm2; P > 0.30). However, 29.2% of the JRA patients had low TB BMD, whereas only 16% would be expected to have low TB BMD based on the standard normal distribution (goodness of fit X2 = 4.84, P = 0.01). The mean Z score for the JRA patients with low TB BMD was -1.43, and for those with normal TB BMD, it was 0.32. The JRA subjects with low TB BMD were significantly younger, had more active articular disease, greater physical function limitation, higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate, higher joint count severity score, lower body mass index, lower lean body mass, less participation in organized sports, and more protein and vitamin D in their diet compared with JRA patients with normal TB BMD (all P < 0.05). Using logistic regression, a model including age at JRA onset, Juvenile Arthritis Functional Assessment Report (JAFAR) score, triceps skinfold percentiles, percentage US recommended daily allowance for dietary magnesium intake, and serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels was able to accurately segregate 79.6% of the JRA subjects into either the low or normal TB BMD groups (X2 = 20.5, P = 0.001). Conclusion. This study demonstrated that in a mildly to moderately ill prepubertal JRA population that had never been exposed to corticosteroids, almost 30% had significantly low TB BMD. The patients with low TB BMD had more active and severe articular disease and greater physical function limitation. Disease-related parameters in JRA appear to exert a negative effect on bone mineralization even in prepubertal children, which can be demonstrated despite the exclusion of corticosteroid-treated patients.
Amplified bimorph scanning mirror for optical coherence tomography

We have modeled, fabricated, and tested an amplified bimorph scanning mirror for application in optical coherence tomography. The scanning mirror was fabricated using photolithography on a polyimide substrate. This scanning mirror uses a bimorph actuator to drive a polyimide micromechanical structure at resonance. The forced vibration of the micromechanical structure causes a polysilicon gold plated mirror attached to two torsion hinges to tilt. Operating the device at resonance allows us to achieve very large displacements of the mirror. The material properties of the polyimide allow for large torsion angles in the hinges to be realized. The mirror and support structures were modeled using one-dimensional beam theory and fundamental vibration mechanics. The structures were also modeled and simulated using Intellisuite, a microelectromechanical (MEMS) analysis package. This device has demonstrated optical scan angles of up to 80 degrees using applied voltages of 35 V at resonant frequencies of 35 Hz, appropriate for real time imaging.
Predictions of ultrahigh-energy proton-air production cross sections from accelerator data

We make new predictions of {sigma}{sub p-air}{sup prod}, the proton-air inelastic production cross section, at pp center-of-mass energies 0.1 < or approx. {radical}(s) < or approx. 100 TeV, using high-energy predictions from a saturated Froissart bound parametrization of accelerator data on forward pp and pp scattering amplitudes, together with Glauber theory. The parametrization of the pp and pp cross sections incorporates analyticity constraints and unitarity, allowing accurate extrapolations to ultrahigh energies. Our predictions are in excellent agreement with available cosmic-ray extensive air shower measurements, both in magnitude and in energy dependence.
Full-field surface heat flux measurement using non-intrusive infrared thermography

Abstract A method was developed to measure full-field, transient heat flux from a fire onto a surface using infrared (IR) thermography. This research investigated metal plates that were directly exposed to fire while the unexposed side temperature of the plate was measured using IR thermography. These temperatures were then used in a two-dimensional finite difference inverse heat transfer analysis to quantify the heat flux. The method was demonstrated through a series of experiments with direct fire exposures onto vertical and horizontal plates. Fires were produced using a propane sand burner and ranged from 20 to 100 kW. Point heat flux measurements were also measured using a Schmidt–Boelter heat flux gauge. It was found that heat fluxes obtained via IR thermography were within one standard deviation of those from the Schmidt–Boelter gauge. The effect of plate material was studied both numerically and experimentally for stainless steel and aluminum plates. It was found that although precision is affected by material, appropriate resolutions can be selected to obtain similar precision for both materials. Spatial and temporal resolution effects were also investigated and it was found that the precision of the heat flux measurement is inversely proportional to both spatial and temporal resolutions.
Measuring and Characterizing Unconditional Self-Acceptance

The theoretical conceptualization of self-acceptance has been in development for the last century. Early research focused on studying self-acceptance in relation to acceptance of others, whereas more recently researchers have emphasized trying to understand the association of self-acceptance with other aspects of psychological well-being, and the differentiation of self-acceptance from self-esteem. To facilitate empirical work on these issues, a number of measures of unconditional self-acceptance have been developed. Research using one of these measures, the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire (USAQ), based on Ellis’s rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) model, has uncovered extensive empirical support for an association of self-acceptance with psychological health. More research is needed, however, on aspects of the reliability and validity of this scale, and more generally on theoretical views of self-acceptance. This chapter will address these issues.
Direct comparisons of T cell costimulation and checkpoint blockade in the setting of tumor-targeted monoclonal antibody therapy

Meeting abstracts T cell checkpoint blockade and T cell costimulation, two types of immunotherapy undergoing active clinical investigation, have led to improved outcomes for patients with different types of advanced cancer. Given that these approaches can result in durable remissions, there is
A novel blue-enhanced photodetector using honeycomb structure

In this paper, we present a honeycomb structure to maximize the edge-length in the detector and therefore enhance the detector responsivity in the blue region of the spectrum. A layout of a prototype honeycomb detector was designed and fabricated on a silicon wafer using a standard CMOS process. Based on our measured spectral response, the honeycomb structure improves the photocurrent in blue by about 60%. Moreover, the honeycomb detector demonstrates 20% less dark current than in conventional detector. Simulation results using MEDICI confirm the measured data.