cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Implementing Large-Group Consultation in Comprehensive School Counseling Programs

Large-group consultation (LGC) is a tool in which professional school counselors deliver key expertise to faculty and staff in their schools while using their group work skills to facilitate meanin...
Creative Staffing during a Pandemic: Training and Utilizing an on-Campus Student Worker While Working Remotely

In Fall 2020, Lasell University trained a student assistant to handle the physical aspects of interlibrary loan lending while the interlibrary loan librarian was unable to return to campus due to COVID-19 concerns. This article outlines the breakdown of duties between librarian and student worker and discusses how the student was trained and supervised remotely. © 2021 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Charging for Local Telephone Calls: How Household Characteristics Affect the Distribution of Calls in the GTE Illinois Experiment

Abstract When the billing of local telephone service is changed from flat rate to measured service, the distribution of monthly calling rates is altered. This paper models the distribution of flat-rate telephone use in terms of demographic variables and stochastic components; the shift to measured service affects both the systematic and stochastic parameters. The model is fitted by maximum likelihood to data for interviewed households participating in General Telephone's local-measured-service experiment in Illinois. Households tend to make more calls if they are larger (more people), older, or include teenagers. They tend to reduce calling proportionately more in response to usage charges if they average many calls under flat rate for any of the above reasons or for other, unexplained reasons. There is substantial variation in telephone use by households with similar demographic characteristics. Consequently, the benefits and costs of local measured service will tend to be diffused across demographic groups.
Dispersion polymerization of n‐butyl acrylate

The dispersion polymerization of n-butyl acrylate (BA) was investigated using alcohol/water mixtures as the dispersion medium, 4,4′ -azobis-(4-cyanopentanoic acid) as the initiator, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the stabilizer. The effects of polymerization parameters, such as the alcohol/water ratio in the medium and the type and concentration of the polymeric stabilizer, on the resulting particle size and size distribution were studied. The final particle size and the stability of the dispersion system were found to be greatly influenced by the type of alcohol used in the mixture; that is, methanol or ethanol, even though the apparent solubility parameters are almost the same for the two types of mixtures. Poly(butyl acrylate) particles with controlled size and size distribution (monodisperse), and gel content were successfully prepared in a 90/10 methanol/water medium. It was found that the particle size decreased with increasing initiator concentration. This is the opposite of what was previously reported in the dispersion polymerizations of styrene and methyl methacrylate. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 2692–2709, 2002
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

In an e-commerce transaction both the user and the provider of the service have expectations regarding the security of the transaction. These are authentication of those involved in the communication; confidentiality of the information exchanged in the communication; and integrity of the information exchanged in the communication. A secure communication channel will meet these expectations. This chapter provides an understanding of how the Secure Sockets Layer Protocol (SSL) and its variation Transport Layer Security Protocol (TLS) can be used to set up, maintain, and use a secure channel. This secure channel may be used for e-commerce as well as secure communication. In addition, a discussion of SSL's strengths and weakness is presented and alternatives are suggested. Keywords: authentication; confidentiality; IPsec; secure channel; transport layer security protocol (TLS)
Purification and properties of galactokinase from human red blood cells.

Abstract 1. Galactokinase from normal human red blood cells was purified 3300- to 3900-fold by ion exchange chromatography, ammonium sulfate precipitation, and dextran gel filtration with a yield of 14 to 19%. Analytical disc electrophoresis of the purified enzyme revealed a single protein band. 2. The Km of purified galactokinase for galactose is 100 to 150 µm; for ATP, 200 to 500 µm. The pH optimum for enzymic phosphorylation of galactose is in the range of pH 7.7 to 7.9. In electrofocusing experiments the isoelectric point of galactokinase was found to be 5.7. The molecular weight of galactokinase was determined to be 53,000 to 57,000 by means of dextran gel chromatography and sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide electrophoresis. The enzyme seems to have a dimeric structure consisting of monomers with a molecular weight of 25,000 to 27,000. 3. The biochemical properties of galactokinase from human red blood cells are similar to the characteristics of galactokinase from other mammalian tissues, but differ considerably from galactokinase of yeast and Escherichia coli.
The Effectiveness of EAP Supervisory Training

(1995). The Effectiveness of EAP Supervisory Training. Employee Assistance Quarterly: Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 17-31.
Integrating SQL Databases with Content-Specific Search Engines

In recent years, database research and product development activities have focused on support for non-traditional data types, such as text or multi-media documents. This paper describes an approach of coupling SQL databases and content-specific search engines, such as fulltext retrieval engines, in an efficient manner. It is based on a query rewrite scheme that exploits so-called table functions, which are used to pass results from external search engines into the database engine. Using this approach the content-specific indexing mechanisms of search engines can be exploited without having to extend the database engine with new access methods, or having to break up the search engine to map its indexing scheme to database index structures.
Range of Motion after Total Hip Arthoplastry: Simulation of Non-axisymmetric Implants

Dislocation following total hip replacement surgery represents a significant cause of early failure, incurring additional medical costs and patient distress. One major cause of dislocation is implant impingement. The most important factor in preventing implant impingement is correct implant orientation. This paper describes the newest version of a prosthetic range of motion simulator which permits prediction of prosthetic range of motion for non-axisymmetric femoral and acetabular implants. This analytical methodology could be used as a preoperative simulation tool that can help surgeons decide the implant placement that reduces the chance of implant impingement. Coupled with a computer-assisted clinical system for precise implant positioning, this approach could significantly reduce the risk of dislocation, maximize the “safe” range of motion, and minimize the risk for complications arising from impingement.
Using Easel for modeling and simulating the interactions of cells in order to better understand the basics of biological processes and to predict their likely behaviors

Modeling, simulation, visualization, and animation play a significant role in the study of bioinformatics. Research in this area is generally multidisciplinary in nature and collaboratively conducted by researchers with expertise in biology, bioinformatics, computer science, artificial intelligence, mathematics, and statistics. Easel programming language is used for modeling, simulation, visualization, and animation of interactions of cells in order to better understand the basics of biological processes and to predict their likely behaviors. This paper presents a computer science modeling, simulation, visualization, and animation approach to such research. The paper provides a brief overview of the basic ideas in the "Message Passing" Easel program to demonstrate the transmission of signals between cells based on their physical proximity.
Transitioning to concept-based teaching: A discussion of strategies and the use of Bridges change model

Nursing education literature is replete with anecdotal accounts of continual struggle with curriculum content saturation. Recent calls, however, for transformation of nursing education have challenged nurse educators to explore innovative pedagogies and consider sweeping changes in the way future nurses are educated. In order to meet the needs of todays health care consumer, nursing education must move away from teacher-centered learning environments to one where students have the primary responsibility and play an active role in their learning. Concept-based teaching (CBT) pedagogies are a novel approach to educating students. Grounded in a constructivist learning theory, CBT allows faculty to build upon students’ prior experiences and acquired knowledge from previous educational endeavors. Concepts that are applicable to multiple care settings are introduced by faculty early in the nursing program and are reinforced with exemplars. The change to CBT is a change in the pedagogical approaches with which faculty are unfamiliar. With student centered learning environments, minimal lecturing, and the increase use of collaborate teamwork, faculty must begin the transition to CBT. The Bridges change model includes three phases that can be used as a framework for identifying strategies to successfully transition to CBT. The use of reflective teaching practice strategies may also enhance the transition to CBT.
Fantasy Space, Private Myths, Visions

Slavoj Žižek proposed an ethic of respect for the fantasy space of another. Under "fantasy" Jacques Lacan borrowed from Claude Levi-Strauss the notion of a "private myth." But this fantasy is, Žižek says, illusionary, fragile, and helpless. Fantasy is the way everyone, each in a particular way, conceals the impasse of his desire. Psychoanalytic practice can be criticized as a radical destitution of the fundamental fantasy of the patient. The author argues that what Žižek analyzes as fantasy is a misfire of vision, and could only be recognized in a subject where visions are possible. But visions-the visions of visionaries and seers, and the visions of youth-have to be envisioned dynamically in their activity of formulating, shaping, and intensifying one's insights and one's feelings. Žižek assumes that the forces mobilized by drive, which takes hold of an organ and compulsively makes it repeat the same failed gesture, aim at the excessive and monstrous paroxysm of pleasure in pain, which is jouissance. The author argues that that jouissance can never appear as something possible in the organism, not because it would be a death drive for a finite and temporal organism, but because it is a by-product and not a goal.
Density and Conformation with Relaxed Substrate, Bulk, and Interface in Electrophoretic Deposition of Polymer Chains

Abstract Characteristics of relaxed density profile and conformation of polymer chains are studied by a Monte Carlo simulation on a discrete lattice in three dimensions using different segmental (kink-jump (K), crank-shaft (C), reptation (R)) dynamics. Three distinct density regimes, substrate, bulk, and interface, are identified. With the KC segmental dynamics, we find that the substrate coverage grows with a power law, d s ∝ t γ with a field (E) dependent non-universal exponent γ =0.23+0.7 E . The bulk volume fraction d b and the substrate polymer density ( d s ) increases with the field with power-laws ( d b ∝ E 0.4 , d s ∝ E 0.2 ) in the low field regime. The interface polymer density d f increases with the molecular weight. With the KCR segmental dynamics, bulk and substrate density decreases linearly with the temperature at high temperatures. The bulk volume fraction is found to decay with the molecular weight, d b ∝ L c −0.11 . The radius of gyration remains Gaussian in all density regions.
Postnatal thyroxine modifies effects of early androgen on lordosis.

The sensitivity of female rats to the organizational effects of postnatal androgen was examined after neonatal manipulations known to affect the rate of brain development: thyroxine (T4) administration and handling at birth. Testosterone propionate (TP) was injected subcutaneously in oil on postnatal day 6 to littermates that (i) had been undisturbed at birth; (ii) had received saline injections (S) and associated handling (H) on the day of birth (postnatal day 1) and the following day; and (iii) had received T4 in saline (1 μg/g body wt) and H on postnatal days 1 and 2. Estrous cycles at 45 and 90 days of age, ovulation at Day 100 and sexual receptivity (lordosis score) at Days 115 and 125 were used to evaluate changes in TP effects. The majority of animals treated with 100 μg TP on postnatal day 6 exhibited persistent estrus (PE) at 45 and 90 days of age as expected. Neither T4 nor S pretreatment on postnatal days 1 and 2 changed the incidence of PE. A reduction in ovarian weights and incidence of ovulation at 100 days of age supported cycle data in that only one out of 25 androgenized rats showed ovulation, compared with 16 of 22 controls. At approximately 115 days of age 2 μg of estradiol benzoate were administered for 3 days and 0.5 mg progesterone given on the 4th day 4 hr prior to placing females with sexually vigorous males. T4-TP females exhibited higher (< .01) median lordosis scores than their S-TP littermates. The latter results were replicated in a second test conducted 10 days later (p = .002). In addition, the second test indicated that the S-TP group had lower (p = .005) lordosis scores than littermates given only TP neonatally. The results of these studies demonstrate that pretreatment with T4 and handling, which are known, respectively, to hasten and retard the chronology of brain maturation, can exert differential effects on behavioral manifestations of postnatal TP without modifying androgen-induced sterility.
Residual Potential In Amorphous Selenium Photoreceptors

The Light Beam Readout (LBRO) imaging system has been found to display a residual potential similar to that observed in the Xerographic (XR) imaging system. Both of these imaging systems utilize amorphous selenium as the photoactive element in their image receptors. It has been proposed that the phenomenon of residual potential in amorphous selenium photoreceptors is due to bulk trapping effects. An experimental method of measuring residual potential in amorphous selenium photoreceptors which may be used to test this bulk formation theory is presented.© (1980) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
In vivo approaches to quantifying and imaging brain arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid metabolism

Abstract A novel in vivo fatty acid method has been developed to quantify and image brain metabolism of nutritionally essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). In unanesthetized rodents, a radiolabeled PUFA is injected intravenously, and its rate of incorporation into brain phospholipids is determined by chemical analysis or quantitative autoradiography. Results indicate that about 5% of brain arachidonic acid (20:4 n–6) and of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n–3) acid are lost daily by metabolism and are replaced from dietary sources through the plasma. Calculated turnover rates of PUFAs in brain phospholipids, due to deesterification by phospholipase A2 (PLA2) followed by reesterification, are very rapid, consistent with active roles of PUFAs in signal transduction and other processes. Turnover rates of arachidonate and docosahexaenoate are independent of each other and probably are regulated by independent sets of enzymes. Brain incorporation of radiolabeled arachidonate can be imaged in response to drugs that bind to receptors coupled to PLA2 through G proteins, thus measuring PLA2-initiated signal transduction. The in vivo fatty method is being extended for human studies using positron emission tomography.
Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence of Aromatic Hydrocarbon Nanoparticles in an Aqueous Solution

We report the preparation, characterization, and electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of rubrene nanoparticles (NPs) and 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA) nanorods. The organic NPs were prepared in an aqueous phase using a simple reprecipitation method, i.e., injecting a solution of the hydrocarbon in an organic solvent into water. The resulting NPs can be collected and redispersed to form stable colloidal solutions in water. Rubrene forms spherical nanoparticles (NPs) (diameter ∼50 nm), while DPA initially forms nanorods with an average size of ∼500 nm in length and ∼50 nm in diameter. DPA nanorods grew gradually with time into wires with diameters of ∼1 μm and lengths of ∼10 μm. ECL emission from these NPs was observed upon electrochemical oxidation in aqueous solutions containing different co-reactants, such as tri-n-propylamine for rubrene and an oxalate ion for DPA NPs. The ECL intensity from rubrene NPs was significantly higher than that from DPA NPs because of the smaller size, and thus there is a ...
The Contradictions in Culinary Collaboration: Vietnamese American Bodies in Top Chef and Stealing Buddha's Dinner

Near the end of Bich Minh Nguyen’s Stealing Buddha’s Dinner (2007), a memoir of a Vietnamese American girl growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the reader encounters a conspicuous two-page “Author’s Note.” In this section, found between the body of the text and the acknowledgments, Nguyen explains some of the decisions she made when writing the book—specifically, “owning up to my own memories rather than others’” (255). She continues: Although I did need to rely on stories from my father, uncles, and grandmother to depict our escape from Saigon, I generally tried to avoid turning my family into collaborators. . . . I do not mean to speak for all of my family, or all of Vietnamese immigrants, many of whom have had entirely different experiences with, and opinions on, assimilation, culture, and language. (255-56) This note, as brief and unobtrusive as it may be, is striking when one considers the dearth of Vietnamese American writing and scholarship, a field that is distinctly marginal even within Asian American Studies, never mind the humanities at large. With Michele Janette’s warning that Vietnam is in danger of slipping away from the American psyche through projects that systematically erase memories of violence, contradiction, and defeat (280), one might think that Nguyen, whose memoir traffics richly in the hardships Vietnamese refugees faced in America, would be more than happy to open up and submit her memoir as evidence of the trials that she, her family, and other Vietnamese American families have had to endure. Distinguishing her experience from others’ avoids producing a broadly conflated image of the Vietnamese American subject. Considering the paucity of Vietnamese diasporic representation, this is surely a concern. But still a question lingers: what is behind this reluctance to turn her family and other Vietnamese immigrants specifically into “collaborators”? For instance, Vietnamese American author Andrew X. Pham in the
Generation of a uniform line source using a binary filter

Abstract A uniform or nearly uniform 10 mm long line source has been generated from a gaussian laser beam using a binary filter. This is done by processing the binary filter throughout a well corrected optical system, so that the equivalent of a continuous inverse gaussian filter is obtained at the final image plane. This equivalent continuous filter generates a uniform line source with maximum conversion efficiency of 50%.
The RHIC computing facility

Abstract A description of the RHIC Computing Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory is given.
Multi-scale modeling of granulation processes: Bi-directional coupling of PBM with DEM via collision frequencies

Abstract Wet granulation is a complex particle design process often operated inefficiently in industrial applications. Enhanced process understanding is required to facilitate design, control, and optimization. In this study, a hybrid multi-scale model is presented using a bi-directional coupling approach between DEM and PBM. The hybrid model takes into account particle collision frequencies and liquid distribution, providing a framework suitable for the complex sub-processes in wet granulation. The effect of particle size distribution on the collision frequency function was demonstrated, indicating the need for a multi-scale model. Results of the hybrid model show an increase in particle size over time from an average diameter of 0.98 mm to 2.5 mm, which qualitatively agrees with experimental trends observed during the liquid addition and wet massing stages. Two-dimensional distributions in particle size and liquid fraction are also presented incorporating the key effect of liquid distribution on the evolution of granule PSD.
Structural Evolution in Metal Oxide/Semiconductor Colloidal Nanocrystal Heterostructures

Colloidal nanocrystal heterostructures in which two or more chemically distinct inorganic components are epitaxially fused together provide new opportunities in developing multifunctional building block materials. The ability to synthesize structurally and chemically well-defined nanocrystal heterostructures can provide novel combinations of unique properties arising at the nanometer length scale. Here, we examine the structural evolution of inverse spinel iron oxide/CdS nanocrystal heterostructures with respect to the sizes of both components. The crystal structure and the crystallinity of the initial iron oxide are first identified by a combination of X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements. Studies on the size effect suggest lattice-strain-induced limitations on the achievable sizes of CdS within the heterostructures. Because of this limitation, increasing the amount of Cd/S reagents leads to multiple particle nucleation on individual iron oxide nanocrystals rather than continued growth. La...
The co-construction of medical humanitarianism: analysis of personal, organizationally condoned narratives from an agency website.

Recent years have seen significant growth in both the size and profile of the humanitarian sector. However, little research has focused upon the constructions of humanitarian practice negotiated by agencies and their workers that serve to sustain engagement in the face personal challenges and critique of the humanitarian enterprise. This study used the public narrative of 129 website postings by humanitarian workers deployed with the health-focused international humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to identify recurrent themes in personal, organizationally-condoned, public discourse regarding humanitarian practice. Data represented all eligible postings from a feature on the agency's UK website from May 2002 to April 2012. The text of postings was analysed with respect to emergent themes on an iterative basis. Comprehensive coding of material was achieved through a thematic structure that reflected the core domains of project details, the working environment, characteristics of beneficiaries and recurrent motivational sub-texts. Features of the co-construction of narratives include language serving to neutralize complex political contexts; the specification of barriers as substantive but surmountable; the dominance of the construct of national-international in understanding the operation of teams; intense personal identification with organization values; and the use of resilience as a framing of beneficiary adaptation and perseverance in conditions that--from an external perspective--warrant despair and withdrawal. Recurrent motivational sub-texts include 'making a difference' and contrasts with 'past professional constraints' and 'ordinary life back home.' The prominence of these sub-texts not only highlights key personal agendas but also suggests--notwithstanding policy initiatives regarding stronger contextual rooting and professionalism--continuing organizational emphasis on externality and volunteerism. Overall, postings illustrate a complex co-construction of medical humanitarianism that reflects a negotiated script of personal and organizational understandings adapted to evolving demands of humanitarian engagement.
Magnetism, spin fluctuations, and non-Fermi-liquid behavior in ( U x La 1 − x ) 2 Zn 17

We present results of the low-temperature specific heat C of samples of the series $({\mathrm{U}}_{x}{\mathrm{La}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{)}_{2}{\mathrm{Zn}}_{17},$ combined with measurements of the low-temperature magnetic susceptibility (\ensuremath{\chi}) and resistivity (\ensuremath{\rho}). For $xg0.8$ we find antiferromagnetic order in coexistence with heavy-fermion behavior. An extrapolation of ${T}_{N}$ as a function of the uranium concentration implies that ${T}_{N}$ vanishes for $x=0.8;$ at $x=0.8,$ no magnetic order is detected experimentally at temperatures above 0.06 K. The non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior predicted at such a point in the magnetic phase diagram may be observed, but not as clearly as in other systems; some of the behavior is more consistent with spin fluctuations. As the uranium concentration is lowered below $x=0.8,$ C continues to rise in the low-temperature limit, while $\ensuremath{\chi}\ensuremath{\propto}{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{0}\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{aT}}^{0.5},$ but C seems to tend towards the behavior of a Fermi liquid with spin fluctuations at the lowest temperatures $(Tl0.25\mathrm{K}).$ First at $x=0.3$ the temperature dependence of $C/T$ is found to be contrary to Fermi-liquid behavior, while $\ensuremath{\chi}\ensuremath{\propto}{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{0}\ensuremath{-}a\mathrm{log}T.$ Thus non-Fermi-liquid behavior is not found so unambiguously at the concentration where ${T}_{N}$ vanishes as expected by a quantum critical point theory, but rather at lower uranium concentrations. This presents the possibility that NFL behavior in $({\mathrm{U}}_{x}{\mathrm{La}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{)}_{2}{\mathrm{Zn}}_{17}$ is not due to nearness to a quantum critical point, but rather to disorder or the presence of spin fluctuations.
The use of drug-resistant markers to study the hybridization of mouse fibroblasts.

When 2 clonal sublines of mouse fibroblasts lacking either guanylic acid-inosinic acid pyrophosphorylase or thymidine kinase were grown together in mixed culture for 4 days, it was possible by a selective technique to detect hybrid cells at a frequency of 1 to 5 × 10−6. These hybrid cells contained approximately double the chromosome number and the DNA, RNA, and protein/cell of the parental cells, as well as both enzymes. During cultivation for about 1 year, 2 hybrid lines have lost an average of 8 and 9 chromosomes. So far it has not been possible to increase the frequency of hybridization nor the speed of chromosome loss.
Relationship Between Aggressive Behavior and Psychological Tests

(1961). Relationship Between Aggressive Behavior and Psychological Tests. Journal of Projective Techniques: Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 431-440.
Overeducation, undereducation and asymmetric information in occupational mobility

Due to short-term asymmetric information, overeducated and undereducated workers are shown to have different optimal strategies in seeking upward occupational mobility into their next positions. Undereducated workers typically have other human capital strengths, but these strengths are not marketable to outsiders. Overeducated workers typically have other human capital weaknesses that are not apparent to outsiders while their excess schooling is marketable in labour markets with dynamic asymmetric information. This article presents empirical evidence showing that job tenure increases the probability of upward occupational mobility more if individuals are undereducated. Moreover, the probability of finding upward occupational mobility is increased by overeducated workers engaging in firm switching. This article also validates prior empirical studies finding overeducated workers more likely to self report engaging in firm switching activities and more likely to experience upward occupational mobility than o...
Toward understanding the variability in the language proficiencies of Arabic heritage speakers

Previous research on Arabic heritage speakers points to notable variability in the language proficiencies of Arabic heritage speakers, both as individuals and as groups (Albirini & Benmamoun, 2012; Albirini, Benmamoun, & Saadah, 2011). This study examines the language proficiencies of Egyptian and Palestinian heritage speakers, assesses the relationship between their L1 proficiency levels and other linguistic, socio-affective, socio-contextual, and demographic factors, and explores the relative significance of these factors in determining proficiency in heritage Arabic. A total of 20 Egyptian and 20 Palestinian heritage speakers completed an oral narrative that was used for assessing three dimensions of their language proficiencies, namely fluency, grammatical accuracy, and syntactic complexity. In addition, the participants filled in a 182-item questionnaire about the factors potentially influencing their heritage language skills, including language input, language use, language attitudes, ethnic identit...
Properties of an interspinous fixation device (ISD) in lumbar fusion constructs: a biomechanical study.

Abstract Background Segmental fixation improves fusion rates and promotes patient mobility by controlling instability after lumbar surgery. Efforts to obtain stability using less invasive techniques have lead to the advent of new implants and constructs. A new interspinous fixation device (ISD) has been introduced as a minimally invasive method of stabilizing two adjacent interspinous processes by augmenting an interbody cage in transforaminal interbody fusion. The ISD is intended to replace the standard pedicle screw instrumentation used for posterior fixation. Purpose The purpose of this study is to compare the rigidity of these implant systems when supplementing an interbody cage as used in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. Study design An in vitro human cadaveric biomechanical study. Methods Seven human cadaver spines (T12 to the sacrum) were mounted in a custom-designed testing apparatus, for biomechanical testing using a multiaxial robotic system. A comparison of segmental stiffness was carried out among five conditions: intact spine control; interbody spacer (IBS), alone; interbody cage with ISD; IBS, ISD, and unilateral pedicle screws (unilat); and IBS, with bilateral pedicle screws (bilat). An industrial robot (KUKA, GmbH, Augsburg, Germany) applied a pure moment (±5 Nm) in flexion-extension (FE), lateral bending (LB), and axial rotation (AR) through an anchor to the T12 vertebral body. The relative vertebral motion was captured using an optoelectronic camera system (Optotrak; Northern Digital, Inc., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada). The load sensor and the camera were synchronized. Maximum rotation was measured at each level and compared with the intact control. Implant constructs were compared with the control and with each other. A statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance. Results A comparison between the intact spine and the IBS group showed no significant difference in the range of motion (ROM) in FE, LB, or AR for the operated level, L3–L4. After implantation of the ISD to augment the IBS, there was a significant decrease in the ROM of 74% in FE (p Conclusions In FE, the ISD can provide lumbar stability comparable with Bilat instrumentation. It provides minimal rigidity in LB and AR when used alone to stabilize the segment after an IBS placement. The unilat and the more typical bilat screw constructs were shown to provide similar levels of stability in all directions after an IBS placement, though the bilat construct showed a trend toward improved stiffness overall.
Protection by the NDI1 Gene against Neurodegeneration in a Rotenone Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease

It is widely recognized that mitochondrial dysfunction, most notably defects in the NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (complex I), is closely related to the etiology of sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD). In fact, rotenone, a complex I inhibitor, has been used for establishing PD models both in vitro and in vivo. A rat model with chronic rotenone exposure seems to reproduce pathophysiological conditions of PD more closely than acute mouse models as manifested by neuronal cell death in the substantia nigra and Lewy body-like cytosolic aggregations. Using the rotenone rat model, we investigated the protective effects of alternative NADH dehydrogenase (Ndi1) which we previously demonstrated to act as a replacement for complex I both in vitro and in vivo. A single, unilateral injection of recombinant adeno-associated virus carrying the NDI1 gene into the vicinity of the substantia nigra resulted in expression of the Ndi1 protein in the entire substantia nigra of that side. It was clear that the introduction of the Ndi1 protein in the substantia nigra rendered resistance to the deleterious effects caused by rotenone exposure as assessed by the levels of tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine. The presence of the Ndi1 protein also prevented cell death and oxidative damage to DNA in dopaminergic neurons observed in rotenone-treated rats. Unilateral protection also led to uni-directional rotation of the rotenone-exposed rats in the behavioral test. The present study shows, for the first time, the powerful neuroprotective effect offered by the Ndi1 enzyme in a rotenone rat model of PD.
Brain aging: reorganizing discoveries about the aging mind

New discoveries challenge the long-held view that aging is characterized by progressive loss and decline. Evidence for functional reorganization, compensation and effective interventions holds promise for a more optimistic view of neurocognitive status in later life. Complexities associated with assigning function to age-specific activation patterns must be considered relative to performance and in light of pathological aging. New biological and genetic markers, coupled with advances in imaging technologies, are enabling more precise characterization of healthy aging. This interdisciplinary, cognitive neuroscience approach reveals dynamic and optimizing processes in aging that might be harnessed to foster the successful aging of the mind.
El Niño-Like Pattern in Ice Age Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature

Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the cold tongue of the eastern equatorial Pacific exert powerful controls on global atmospheric circulation patterns. We examined climate variability in this region from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present, using a SST record reconstructed from magnesium/calcium ratios in foraminifera from sea-floor sediments near the Galapagos Islands. Cold-tongue SST varied coherently with precession-induced changes in seasonality during the past 30,000 years. Observed LGM cooling of just 1.2°C implies a relaxation of tropical temperature gradients, weakened Hadley and Walker circulation, southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and a persistent El Nino–like pattern in the tropical Pacific. This is contrasted with mid-Holocene cooling suggestive of a La Nina–like pattern with enhanced SST gradients and strengthened trade winds. Our results support a potent role for altered tropical Pacific SST gradients in global climate variations.
Perioperative Acute Kidney Injury

The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) is generally 5-7.5% in all acute care hospitalizations and accounts for up to 20% of admissions to intensive care units (ICUs). Of all of the cases of AKI during hospitalization, approximately 30-40% are observed in operative settings. AKI is a serious morbidity that is associated with greater length of hospital stay, high risk of hospital mortality, and increased risk of incident and progressive chronic kidney disease. The incidence of AKI is variable depending on the specific surgical setting under consideration. Much of our knowledge regarding the epidemiology of AKI is derived from studies related to cardiac or vascular surgery. With limited treatment options, prevention of AKI and amelioration of its severity remain important cornerstones of improving patient outcomes. The magnitude of the problem and the unique set of patient characteristics calls for a multidisciplinary approach for the perioperative management of renal complications. The purpose of the review presented here is to discuss the current knowledge regarding the epidemiology and risk factors, outcomes, diagnoses, and prevention and treatment of AKI during the perioperative period in cardiovascular and noncardiovascular surgical settings.
A pattern classification approach to evaluation function learning

Abstract We present a new approach to evaluation function learning using classical pattern classification methods. Unlike other approaches to game playing where ad hoc methods are used to generate the evaluation function, our approach is a disciplined one based on Bayesian learning. This technique can be applied to any domain where a goal can be defined and an evaluation function can be applied. Such an approach has several advantages: (1) automatic and optimal combination of the features, or terms of the evaluation function; (2) understanding of inter-feature correlation; (3) capability for recovering from erroneous features; and (4) direct estimation of the probability of winning by the evaluation function. We implemented this algorithm using the game of Othello and it resulted in dramatic improvements over a linear evaluation function that has performed at world championship level.
Technology-Information Processing Fit and the Performance of R&D Project Groups: A Test of Contingency Theory

A study of 98 R&D project groups using a longitudinal design found support for the contingency theory hypothesis that the fit between a task technology's nonroutineness and information-processing n...
The isotopic composition of strontium in Central American ignimbrites

Voluminous sheets of rhyolitic ignimbrites were crupted during Miocene time in a region of Central America that is underlain by a thick sequence of middle Paleozoic and older metamorphic and plutonic rocks. Strontium isotopic ratios of fifteen ignimbrites range from 0.7035 to as high as 0.7175. These values are markedly higher than those measured for cale-alkaline lavas of the same province, but overlap the range found in basement rocks that may have served as source rocks for anateetic magmas. This relationship is in contrast to that found in the western United States where siliceous ignimbrites are not significantly richer in radiogenic strontium than are the basalt erupted through the same basement series.
Acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase (AMP forming)

Acetyl-coenzyme A synthetase (AMP forming; Acs) is an enzyme whose activity is central to the metabolism of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The physiological role of this enzyme is to activate acetate to acetyl-coenzyme A (Ac-CoA). The importance of Acs has been recognized for decades, since it provides the cell the two-carbon metabolite used in many anabolic and energy generation processes. In the last decade researchers have learned how carefully the cell monitors the synthesis and activity of this enzyme. In eukaryotes and prokaryotes, complex regulatory systems control acs gene expression as a function carbon flux, with a second layer of regulation exerted posttranslationally by the NAD+/sirtuin-dependent protein acetylation/deacetylation system. Recent structural work provides snapshots of the dramatic conformational changes Acs undergoes during catalysis. Future work on the regulation of acs gene expression will expand our understanding of metabolic integration, while structure/function studies will reveal more details of the function of this splendid molecular machine.
Generalized obstructive emphysema in infants

Summary The clinical pattern of diffuse bilateral obstructive emphysema in infants has been described and cases illustrating a number of unrelated conditions which may be responsible for it are reviewed. These include aspiration of large amounts of amniotic fluid and its contents during or just prior to delivery, respiratory infections associated with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas, acute bronchiolitis (interstitial pneumonia), atypical forms of acute tracheobronchitis, aspiration of zinc stearate powder, and chronic passive congestion secondary to a congenital cardiac lesion. While the pathologic lesions which are responsible for obstructive emphysema also occur in older children and adults, the clinical pattern and respiratory embarrassment are less pronounced than in infants. It is speculated that the cases which have been termed acute bronchiolitis may in certain instances represent the infantile pattern of acute viral pneumonitis.
Trastuzumab‐based neoadjuvant therapy in patients with HER2‐positive breast cancer

Overexpression, or gene amplification, of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is evident in 20% to 25% of breast cancers. The biologic agent trastuzumab is an HER2-targeted monoclonal antibody that inhibits the proliferation of tumor cells and induces tumor cell death through multiple mechanisms of action. Currently, trastuzumab is approved for use in the adjuvant and metastatic settings. Trials combining trastuzumab with neoadjuvant chemotherapy suggest that patients with HER2-positive breast cancer also may benefit from preoperative trastuzumab. For this article, the author reviewed efficacy and safety data from key studies of patients who received neoadjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy. Studies were identified from literature searches of publication and congress databases. The results of 3 large phase 3 trials (the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center neoadjuvant trastuzumab trial, the Neoadjuvant Herceptin [NOAH] trial, and the German Breast Group/Gynecologic Oncology Study Group "GeparQuattro" trial) demonstrated that, compared with chemotherapy alone, neoadjuvant trastuzumab plus chemotherapy significantly increased pathologic complete response rates to as high as 65%. Improvements in disease-free, overall, and event-free survival also were reported in the NOAH trial. In addition to demonstrated efficacy, a low incidence of cardiac dysfunction suggests that neoadjuvant trastuzumab is both effective and well tolerated. Similar results have been reported in a range of phase 2 studies using different trastuzumab-based regimens. These encouraging data led the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to recommend treating patients who have operable, locally advanced, HER2-positive breast cancer with neoadjuvant paclitaxel plus trastuzumab followed by 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide plus trastuzumab.
Migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States: a review of health hazards, status, and policy.

Although the occupation and associated living conditions of migrant and seasonal agricultural workers in the US pose exceptional health hazards to the workers and their dependents relatively few occupational health professionals have been involved with this group. This articles examines the basis for this neglect and proposes a definition of the population that should be considered in farmworker health policy. It then reviews existing evidence regarding hazards of 4 major occupational exposures--pesticides the sun injuries and poor field sanitation--and policies that have been developed to address these hazards. The extremely negative health consequences of farmworker living conditions which are indirect occupational hazards are also summarized. Numerous policy planning and research recommendations are made. Adequate solutions for this impoverished and powerless group however will require significant sociopolitical advances such as are developing with unionization and other forms of political organization. (authors)
Unexpected spatiotemporal abundance of infected Culex restuans suggest a greater role as a West Nile virus vector for this native species

Abstract Difficulties in correctly differentiating Culex restuans mosquitoes from Culex pipiens have left the spatiotemporal mechanisms underlying the epidemiology of West Nile virus (WNV) in the northeastern United States largely unresolved. We performed weekly surveys across a natural to urban gradient of sites in central New Jersey (USA) and used a rapid and cheap DNA extraction and a species-specific PCR assay to create single species pools for WNV testing. To assess seasonal trends we combined these results with WNV surveillance records generated from grouped Cx. restuans/Cx. pipiens pools tested in 2011–2012. C x . restuans was found to be highly abundant within all sites and reached especially high abundance in urban wetland habitats greatly disturbed by human action. In contrast, the seasonal presence of Cx. pipiens was greatest in residential and urban habitats and its presence in natural areas was minimal throughout the season. WNV infection rates in both species were similar but Cx. restuans was consistently found infected first and more frequently, even as early as May, whereas WNV was first detected in Cx. pipiens in late July. WNV activity peaked during the month of August when WNV was commonly isolated from both species. The peak in WNV activity in August observed for both species was consistent with data from 2011 to 2012 when Cx. restuans and Cx. pipiens were grouped, although analyzing single species pools increased overall predicted infection levels. Our results support the preeminence of Cx. restuans as an enzootic vector of WNV and strongly suggest this species has become a “native invasive” exploiting human modified habitats and reaching very high abundance there. Importantly, high infection rates in disturbed wetland sites with high populations of Cx. restuans suggest this species may enable the introduction of WNV to urbanized environments where both Culex contribute to transmission potentiating disease risk.
Fluid-metasomatized mantle beneath the Ouachita belt of southern Laurentia: Fate of lithospheric mantle in a continental orogenic belt

The nature and history of the cratonic lithosphere beneath the southern margin of Laurentia are poorly understood due to the paucity of basement exposure in the Gulf Coast region. One place where we are afforded the opportunity to study the deep lithosphere of southern Laurentia is within the Balcones igneous province of Texas. Mantle xenoliths occur in Late Cretaceous alkali basaltic magmas erupted through the remnants of the Appalachian-Ouachita structural belt. Geochemical signatures in the form of enrichments in fluid-mobile trace elements (e.g., La) relative to fluid-immobile trace elements (e.g., Nb) are preserved in these mantle xenoliths. We interpret these signatures to represent metasomatism by subduction-related fluids, suggesting that the mantle xenoliths represent fragments of continental lithospheric mantle that served as the upper plate during a convergent episode. These xenoliths may thus represent fragments of Laurentian lithospheric mantle that were stabilized by collisional processes during the continent-continent collisions associated with the Grenville orogeny and subsequent Paleozoic orogenies. These observations suggest that some of the original continental lithosphere was preserved beneath the orogenic belt during continent-continent collision and did not undergo wholesale removal or delamination. Alternatively, the fluid signatures may have been caused by Farallon flat-slab hydration of the overriding lithosphere, but such a scenario seems unlikely because flat subduction is thought to have culminated in the early Cenozoic and hence after the eruption of these xenoliths.