cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Promoting nursing students' transcultural self-efficacy to care for Burmese refugees using a set of educational strategies.

BACKGROUND Educators must respond to changing societal demographics with revised curricula that facilitate student transcultural self-efficacy to care for diverse client populations. PROBLEM A Midwest University was situated in a community wherein the Burmese Chin refugees were predominant arrivals, and the least known. OBJECTIVES This project examined the change in mean scores for transcultural self-efficacy for nursing cohorts following their engagement in educational strategies focused on the Burmese Chin culture. METHODS The project was a pre-post design. The Transcultural Self-Efficacy Tool (TSET) was used to measure students' self-efficacy. INTERVENTIONS Nursing students completed a set of educational strategies intentionally staged over 5 weeks of a semester. RESULTS There was a significant increase in mean change from pre- to post for each of the three domains of the TSET, cognitive (1.3), practical (1.4), and affective (0.7) (p < 0.0001). There was a marginally significant mean change in the practical (p = 0.0573; p < 0.05) domain with the accelerated students in comparison with the traditional students. The group differences in mean change TSET scores remained marginally significant after adjusting for age.
Surface Currents on the Plates of a Charging Capacitor

Ampere’s law is presented in introductory physics as a relation between the line integral of the magnetic field around a closed loop and the net current crossing any open surface spanning that loop. By allowing the surface to pass between the plates of a charging parallel-plate capacitor, Maxwell realized that this law is incomplete and introduced a term called the displacement current Id (due to changing electric flux), which needs to be combined with the conduction current Ic (due to charge flow) to give the effective net current I. Textbooks state that the way these currents are to be combined is by simple addition, I = Ic+Id. They verify that the resulting Ampere-Maxwell law gives the correct expression for the magnetic field at an arbitrary point outside of both plates for two different choices of spanning surfaces. However, those traditional two surfaces are special and do not prove that the total current must be the simple addition of the displacement and conduction currents. A third, more general spanning surface is used here to establish it. This third approach draws attention to the surface currents on the capacitor plates.
Dissecting a Criminal Investigation

Despite the considerable attention criminologists devote to the study of policing, they tend to ignore one of its most important functions. Detectives comprise approximately 16% of law enforcement personnel and play a major role in the public’s image of the police through their successes or failures. This scholarly lacuna is even more surprising given the gateway position held by police investigators; unless a crime is solved and an individual arrested, the entire remainder of the criminal justice system—prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, juries, probation, prisons, parole, rehabilitation—fails to come into play. What research that has explored this function has been primarily interested in organizational and technical aspects of detective work. Here, I take a different approach by dissecting criminal investigations to expose their underlying structure—what they involve, how they fail, and ways they might be improved. Specific areas of interest include the functional phases of an investigation, the definition and nature of evidence, and the systemic structure of criminal investigative failures. The Gail Miller-David Milgaard murder investigation in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is used as a case study.
Pre-Transplant Frailty Assessment is Not Associated with Incidence of Pneumonia after Lung Transplantation

Purpose Frailty is associated with increased mortality in lung transplant candidates, but its association with infections during the post-transplant period is unknown. We sought to determine if there was an association between frailty and incidence of pneumonia after lung transplantation. Methods Pre-transplant frailty in transplant candidates over age 55 was evaluated by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and Fried Physical Phenotype (FPP). Positive respiratory cultures (sputum, tracheal aspirate, BAL) up to 3 months post-transplant were reviewed. Presence of pneumonia was determined by physician documentation of “pneumonia” or “infection” in the medical record. Results 47 lung transplant recipients had frailty testing available. Among the 13 nonfrail (NF) lung transplant recipients by SPPB, 8 (62%) had positive respiratory cultures and 2 (15%) pneumonia, compared to 19 (63%) positive cultures and 6 (20%) cases of pneumonia in the prefrail (PF) group and 2 (67%) positive cultures and 1 (33%) pneumonia in the frail (F) group. Results were similar with frailty assessed by FFP, with 15 PF candidates of whom 11 (69%) had positive respiratory cultures and 2 (13%) had pneumonia, and 26 F patients, of whom 15 had positive cultures (58%) and 4 pneumonia (15%). Frailty was not significantly associated with pneumonia by SPPB (p= 0.73) or FFP (p=0.23). Identified species in colonization and infection varied by frailty category (Figure). Interestingly, an association was seen between cultures positive for Pseudomonas and frailty by FFP (p=0.015). Pneumonia but not colonization was significantly associated with death (p=0.009), suggesting that our chart-based definition was clinically relevant. Conclusion Pre-transplant frailty is not associated with pneumonia as assessed by chart review in the 3 months after transplantation. Future studies will examine whether this evaluation is confirmed in a larger patient cohort, and whether an association might exist for specific species.
A “More General Crisis”: Hannah Arendt, World-Alienation, and the Challenges of Teaching for the World As It Is:

Background/ContextThis article is part of a special issue on the 50th anniversary of the publication of Hannah Arendt's essay, “The Crisis in Education” and her book The Human Condition. Despite th...
A Large Publicly Available Corpus of Website Privacy Policies Based on DMOZ

Studies have shown website privacy policies are too long and hard to comprehend for their target audience. These studies and a more recent body of research that utilizes machine learning and natural language processing to automatically summarize privacy policies greatly benefit, if not rely on, corpora of privacy policies collected from the web. While there have been smaller annotated corpora of web privacy policies made public, we are not aware of any large publicly available corpus. We use DMOZ, a massive open-content directory of the web, and its manually categorized 1.5 million websites, to collect hundreds of thousands of privacy policies associated with their categories, enabling research on privacy policies across different categories/market sectors. We review the statistics of this corpus and make it available for research. We also obtain valuable insights about privacy policies, e.g., which websites post them less often. Our corpus of web privacy policies is a valuable tool at the researchers' disposal to investigate privacy policies. For example, it facilitates comparison among different methods of privacy policy summarization by providing a benchmark, and can be used in unsupervised machine learning to summarize privacy policies.
An Intervention-Related Comparison of Preschoolers' Scores on the TGMD-2 and TGMD-3.

This study compared preschoolers’ fundamental motor skills (FMS) on the Test of Gross Motor Development 2nd and 3rd editions (TGMD-2 and TGMD-3) before (pretest) and after (posttest) a motor skill ...
SignalNet: A Low Resolution Sinusoid Decomposition and Estimation Network.

The detection and estimation of sinusoids is a fundamental signal processing task for many applications related to sensing and communications. While algorithms have been proposed for this setting, quantization is a critical, but often ignored modeling effect. In wireless communications, estimation with low resolution data converters is relevant for reduced power consumption in wideband receivers. Similarly, low resolution sampling in imaging and spectrum sensing allows for efficient data collection. In this work, we propose SignalNet, a neural network architecture that detects the number of sinusoids and estimates their parameters from quantized in-phase and quadrature samples. We incorporate signal reconstruction internally as domain knowledge within the network to enhance learning and surpass traditional algorithms in mean squared error and Chamfer error. We introduce a worst-case learning threshold for comparing the results of our network relative to the underlying data distributions. This threshold provides insight into why neural networks tend to outperform traditional methods and into the learned relationships between the input and output distributions. In simulation, we find that our algorithm is always able to surpass the threshold for three-bit data but often cannot exceed the threshold for one-bit data. We use the learning threshold to explain, in the one-bit case, how our estimators learn to minimize the distributional loss, rather than learn features from the data.
A new class of entropy stabilized oxides: Commensurately modulated A6B2O17 (A = Zr, Hf; B = Nb, Ta) structures

Abstract High entropy oxides (HEOs) have experienced a meteoric rise in the past decade. Here, we report a new class of entropy stabilized A6B2O17 (A = Zr, Hf; B = Nb, Ta) oxides whose enthalpies of formation have been determined by high temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry. All four compounds have endothermic enthalpies of formation from binary oxides (AO2 and B2O5), indicating that these modulated phases are entropy stabilized. The unfavorable energetics of formation are counterbalanced by large configurational entropy arising from cation disorder. The calculated configurational entropy per formula unit for A6B2O17 is 4.50R J/mol⋅K, which is ~2.8 times higher than the maximum configurational entropy value of 1.61R for an equimolar five cation containing “high entropy oxide”. Based on X-ray and neutron diffraction data, measured enthalpies of formation and calculated configurational entropies, one can infer that all four compounds have a high degree of disorder.
The Return of Feminist Liberalism

Can liberalism continue to serve feminist purposes as the most practical vehicle for gaining the reforms needed for women to lead fuller and freer lives, or are feminisms aspirations incompatible with the underlying premises of liberal theory? This book explores the troubled relationship between feminist theory and liberal political theory by examining the work of three contemporary feminists  Martha Nussbaum, Susan Moller Okin and Jean Hampton  who are unwilling to give up on liberalism. Abbey examines why, and in what ways, each of these theorists believe that liberalism offers the normative and political resources for the improvement of womens situations. In doing this the book explores issues at the heart of recent debates in feminist and political theory, including the sexual contract, public/domestic separation, structures of power, intersectionality, care and dependency. The Return of Feminist Liberalism offers new insights into the tension between feminism and Rawlsian liberalism and will be welcomed by a wide range of readers in political theory, political philosophy, gender studies and feminist theory.
TU-AB-BRA-07: Radiomics of Breast Cancer: A Robustness Study

Purpose: Computer-extracted image phenotypes (CEIPs) are being investigated as complimentary attributes in the characterization of breast cancer in radiomics/ radiogenomics research. To be useful, CIEPs need to be robust across data obtained with different manufacturers’ MRI scanners and imaging protocols. Methods: Our research involved two HIPAA-compliant retrospectively-collected MRI datasets: Database 1 included 91 imaged breast cancers from the National Cancer Institute repository (imaged using General Electric equipment) and Database 2 included 117 breast cancers (imaged at our site using Phillips equipment). For each case, information on clinical lymph node status and histopathology on ER, PR, and Her2 receptor status was available. Each lesion underwent quantitative radiomics analysis yielding CEIPs characterizing tumor size, shape, morphology, enhancement texture, kinetic curve assessment, and enhancement variance kinetics. The robustness of CEIPs was assessed through statistical comparisons across the two datasets in terms of average CEIP values, t-test results on the subgroups of interest, and non-inferiority testing of performance in the prognostic tasks of distinguishing ER, PR, and Her2 receptor status and lymph node status using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: We failed to find any statistically significant differences in the average value of the CEIP distributions across the 2 scanners for subgroups possessing enough cases. We found greater variation in average feature values for the clinical subgroups having less than 20 cases. Non-inferiority analysis demonstrated varying degrees of robustness for different MRI phenotypes. The most enhancing volume and total rate variation showed the best agreement with absolute value of the lower bound of the 90% confidence for delta AUC<0.02. Conclusion: MRI phenotypes appeared robust in their average values across MRI scanners given large enough datasets. Statistical analysis revealed the robust phenotypes in cancer subtype classification. In future work, larger data sets will be collected and robustness of CEIP further investigated. Supported, in part, by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health under grant number T32 EB002103.
WE‐G‐304‐03: My Personal Experience

In the past few years, several high-profile medical physicists found their positions terminated. It is a fact that no medical physics job is a sinecure, and that individuals can be terminated through no fault of their own. Medical physicists need to be prepared for such an occurrence. Termination provisions in an employment contract, whether individually negotiated or as part of an employee manual, are important, and also generally overlooked when one is going into a new job. Coupled with the fact that most states are “at-will,” that makes for a tough position for any physicist who finds his/her position terminated. In this course, a medical physicist who is also a practicing attorney will start the discussion with a description of the various types of employment situations and employment agreements. This will be followed by two high-profile medical physicists who had their positions terminated in recent years, who will describe their experiences, including answering such questions as How much time were you given before termination was effective? Did you have any foreshadowing of what was coming? How did you deal with the termination? Given hindsight, what would you have done differently to mitigate the effects of your termination? During job interviews, are there ways to open closets to find the skeletons? What advice would you give medical physicists if faced with a similar situation? What can you negotiate in a termination agreement? What kinds of termination agreements could be presented? The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion. Learning Objectives: 1. Identify the various types of employment contracts with an emphasis on termination provisions. 2. Recognize the implications of non-compete clauses in employment contracts. 3. Recognize the possibility of termination of employment. 4. Identify ways to recognize possibly poor employment situations 5. Identify steps that one could take to mitigate the effects of termination.
The Power of Warm Glow

Professor Brian Galle’s Keep Charity Charitable is a thoughtful contribution to the ongoing conversation about the proper tax treatment of charitable organizations. I largely agree with Galle’s arguments, but I would like to offer two criticisms of his positions: first, Galle overstates the problem posed by for-profit firms offering charitable services; and second, he understates the power of “warm glow” in the nonprofit organization.
Acid-soluble nucleotides of blood in pregnancy toxemia.

Abstract Peripheral and intervillous space blood from normal and toxemic pregnancies were analyzed for acid-soluble nucleotides using a gradual gradient elution method with anion exchange column, Dowex-1 formate system. Fractions of 5.0 ml. were analyzed and chromatograms of such studies were similar in both normal and toxemic pregnancies. Fourteen peaks were separated and thirteen compounds identified. Quantitative data however, showed some differences between normal and abnormal pregnancies. In cases of toxemias, both peripheral and intervillous space blood showed marked increase in plasma uric acid level and measurable increase in CDP choline. The over-all study showed decrease in free nucleotides in pregnancy toxemias except for an elevation in GDP and NADP in peripheral blood.
When the Back Office Moved to the Front Burner: Settlement Fails in the Treasury Market after September 11

Settlement fails, which occur when securities are not delivered and paid for on the date scheduled by the buyer and seller, can expose market participants to the risk of loss due to counterparty insolvency. This article examines the institutional and economic setting of the fails problem that affected the Treasury market following September 11 and describes how the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury responded. The authors explain that fails rose initially because of the physical destruction of trade records and communication facilities. Fails remained high because a relatively low federal funds rate and investor reluctance to lend securities kept the cost of borrowing securities to avert or remedy a fail comparable to the cost of continuing to fail. The fails problem was ultimately resolved when the Treasury increased the outstanding supply of the on-the-run ten-year note through an unprecedented "snap" reopening. The article also suggests other ways to alleviate chronic fails, such as the introduction of a securities lending facility run by the Treasury and the institution of a penalty fee for fails.
Meeting of the Minds, Episode II: A Dark and Angry God Arises

In 1988, Professor Heald found a lost manuscript of Steve Allen's groundbreaking television show, "A Meeting of the Minds." In that episode, published in 6 J. of Law & Rel. 279, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mark Kelman, Blaise Pascal, and Richard Posner discussed the nature of law. While completing renovation of a house, possibly visited by Allen, Heald recently found another manuscript jammed on top of an old water tank. The present episode reveals a lively discussion of Columbine, the death penalty, and the nature of retribution between Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.-65 A.D.), C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), Jerry Falwell, and Milner Ball.
The Younger Dryas: Cold, Cold Everywhere?

The transition from the last ice age to the current warm period was interupted by a ~1000-year return to glacial conditions. Most of the evidence for this Younger Dryas (YD) event comes from in and around the North Atlantic, and the geographical extent of the event remains uncertain. In his Perspective, Rodbell reviews the evidence for and against a YD event in the Southern Hemisphere and highlights the study by Bennett et al., who have found no evidence for a YD event in four lake records from southern Chile.
The Picard iteration and its application

The convergence behavior of the Picard iteration Xk+1=AXk+B and the weighted case Yk=Xk/bk is investigated. It is shown that the convergence of both these iterations is related to the so-called effective spectrum of A with respect to some matrix. As an application of our convergence results we discuss the convergence behavior of a sequence of scaled triangular matrices {DNTN }.
Enzymatic measurement of phosphatidylglycerol in amniotic fluid

We describe an enzymatic method for measuring phosphatidylglycerol (PG) at concentrations as low as 0.2 mumol/L in amniotic fluid. Amniotic fluid (1.5 mL) is centrifuged at 10,000g for 20 min to obtain a lamellar body pellet, which is reconstituted with 0.5 mL of buffer. The PG is measured by a two-step enzymatic scheme. Recovery studies demonstrated that the pellet contains > 97% of the PG present in amniotic fluid. Between-run CVs were 28%, 5.7%, and 2.6% for amniotic fluid controls with means of 0.32, 3.9, and 10.7 mumol/L, respectively (n = 20). The enzymatic procedure was not significantly affected by blood, meconium, bilirubin, or other phospholipids. Lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio (n = 101) and fluorescence polarization (n = 127) compared with log(PG) showed correlation coefficients of 0.832 and -0.866, respectively. This test's ability to detect low concentrations of PG in amniotic fluid may make it a better predictor of fetal lung immaturity than previous methods.
Comparison Between Water Vapor Sorption Isotherms Obtained Using The New Dynamic Dewpoint Isotherm Method and those Obtained Using The Standard Saturated Salt Slurry Method

The Dynamic Dewpoint isotherm method directly determines sample aw using chilled-mirror technology, while changes in sample weight are tracked gravimetrically. The objective of this research was to compare the Dynamic Dewpoint isotherms to saturated salt slurry isotherms for five materials: dent corn starch, isolated soy protein, microcrystalline cellulose, crystalline sucrose, and corn flakes. The Dynamic Dewpoint isotherms were obtained using the AquaSorp Isotherm Generator between 0.10 and 0.95 aw at 25°C. Comparison working isotherms were obtained using 12 saturated salt slurries, between 0.064 and 0.973 aw in desiccators and proximity equilibration cells at 25°C. The Dynamic Dewpoint isotherms exhibited similar sorption behavior to the saturated salt slurry isotherms, except for corn flakes, where there was a marked decrease in moisture content compared to the saturated salt slurry isotherms between 0.40 and 0.70 aw. This difference was attributed to the slow diffusion of water into the very dense la...
Chemoreception in the food-searching and feeding behavior of the red hake, Urophysics chuss (Walbaum)

Abstract Behavioral observations were made of hake, Urophycis chuss (Wa,baum), presented with a freeze-dried clam extract over a wide concentration range. The silent food searching behaviors observed were emerging from shelter, swimming, and extending the chemosensitive modified pelvic fins over the bottom. Some fish also snapped at the source of extract-laden sea water. As the extract concentration increased, the three food searching behaviors occurred in more individuals and more concurrently in the same individuals. Above 10 −9 g·1 −1 , the percentage of hake showing the three food-searching behaviors and snapping increased linearly with the logarithm of the extract concentration. Detection was inferred from emergence from shelter or extension of pelvic fins. The threshold concentration at which 50% of the hake showed the behaviors indicating detection was 10 −8 g·1 −1 . The thresholds for food searching and snapping were 10 −7 g·1 −1 , respectively. The amounts of time spent swimming and moving the pelvic fins over the bottom were power functions of the food extract concentration. For hake, variation in one sensory input, strength of a chemical food cue, largely determined the onset and duration of food searching and feeding behavior.
An asymmetric communications platform for knowledge sharing with low-end mobile phones

We present Awaaz.De ("give voice"), a social platform for communities to access and share knowledge using low-end mobile phones. Awaaz.De features a configurable mobile voice application organized into asynchronous voice mes-sage boards. For poor, remote and marginal communities, the voice-touchtone interface addresses the constraints of low literacy, language diversity, and affordability of only basic mobile devices. Voice content also presents a low barrier to content authoring, encouraging otherwise disconnected communities to actively participate in knowledge exchange. Awaaz.De includes a web-based administration interface for Internet-connected community managers to moderate, annotate, categorize, route, and narrow-cast voice messages. In this paper we describe the platform's design, implementation, and future directions.
Entropically driven segregation in blends of branched and linear polymers.

A self-consistent mean-field treatment of branched polymer additives in a linear polymer matrix is developed in order to study the effect of chain architecture on surface segregation. With branched additives, connectivity between side chains and an increased number of chain ends results in near-surface concentration profiles that differ both qualitatively and quantitatively from those seen with linear chain additives. A much larger degree of segregation with branched additives is observed when compared with linear additives of equivalent molecular weight. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A HALF-BEAM WEDGE FOR TREATMENT OF BREAST PATIENTS

Abstract Purpose: The Radiation Oncology Department of Kansas University Cancer Center on the average treats approximately 60 breast patients per year. Many of them require large field sizes with widths greater than 20 cm. Our purpose is to design a half-beam wedge that is lighter in weight than a standard wedge for larger field sizes. This could replace the compensator and reduce the number of monitor units. We have designed and fabricated half-beam wedges for a Varian linear accelerator, with the angles of 15, 30 and 45 degrees for a 6 MV photon beam. A set of dosimetry data for these wedges was entered into a treatment planning computer. The treatment plans generated using these newly designed wedges were compared with those using standard wedges. Methods and materials: From basic principles, the geometry for the design of the wedges was calculated for three angles, 15, 30 and 45. Using trays provided by Varian, three brass wedges were milled and attached to the trays. Measurements were taken in a water phantom with three wedge angles, 15, 30 and 45, for treatment planning purposes. Conclusion: The design and fabrication of a half-beam wedge for the use of treatment with large field sizes could reduce the need for fabrication of a compensator. This would also reduce the time required for treatment and give a better dose distribution.
Nizatidine Suppression of Basal Gastric Acid Output: A Comparison of Two Intravenous Dosage Regimens

To study the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of two intravenous nizatidine dosing regimens, serial plasma concentrations and continuous intragastric pH were monitored simultaneously in 10 subjects with a documented history of duodenal or gastric ulcers. A 24-hour gastric pH profile was characterized for a 300 mg daily dose of nizatidine randomly administered both as 100 mg every 8 hours and 150 mg every 12 hours. No significant differences were observed in the mean pharmacokinetic parameters between the two dosing regimens. Pharmacodynamic parameters for the 100 mg every 8 hours versus the 150 mg every 12 hours regimen were not significantly different except for percent of time during the 24-hour study period that the pH was maintained greater than 4 (43.6 +/- 20.7 versus 34.7 +/- 18.3, P less than .05). A significant relationship was demonstrated for both regimens (P less than .05) between the percent time pH greater than 4 and area under the plasma curve for the 24 hour study period. The lack of a significant difference in nizatidine pharmacokinetics between the two dosage regimens suggests a pharmacodynamic cause for the greater cumulative pH effect of the every 8 hour regimen.
Power of One Bit: Increasing Error Correction Capability with Data Inversion

Phase-change memory (PCM) has emerged as a candidate that overcomes the physical limitations faced by DRAM and NAND flash memory. While PCM has desirable properties in terms of scalability and energy, it suffers from limited endurance. Repeated writes cause PCM cells to wear out and get permanently stuck at either 0 or 1. Recovering from stuck-at faults through a proactive error correction scheme is essential for the widespread adoption of PCM. In this paper, we propose data inversion as a practical technique to increase the number of faults that an error correction code can cover. Since stuck-at cells can still be read, errors are manifested only when a worn-out cell is programmed with a bit value different than the value it is stuck at. After a write operation fails for a given block of data, data inversion attempts another write operation with all original data bits inverted. Inverting the data is likely to bring the number of errors within the nominal capability of the deployed error correction code. Requiring only one additional auxiliary bit, data inversion can double the capability of an error correction code and extends the lifetime by up to 34.5%.
STABILITY OF ELASTO-DAMPER-COUPLED WHEELSET FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL VEHICLES

A symmetric wheelset with an elasto-damper coupling between the wheels is used to investigate the effect of coupling and primary stiffness and damping on the vehicle critical speed. Different suspension parameters are considered. Stability boundaries for various conditions are presented. The dynamic model of the elasto-damper-coupled wheelset is validated using published results. Both coupler and primary suspensions can dramatically affect the vehicle stability, and optimal parameters can be used to improve the vehicle performance over that of the conventional system.
Micro-hydraulic structure for high performance bio-mimetic air flow sensor arrays

Here we introduce a novel micro-hydraulic structure that can significantly improve performance of many MEMS devices. Using this structure we fabricate and test a new type of low-power, accurate and robust flow sensor in which a hair-like appendage is used to translate flow into hydraulic pressure. This pressure is hydraulically amplified and sensed with a capacitance that is integrated with the micro-hydraulic system. The air flow sensor can detect flow speeds ranging from zero to 10 m.s−1 with a resolution of 1 cm.s−1 in the low flow regime and a predicted minimum detectable flow of 3 mm.s−1.
Identification of the tellurium donor at the residual level in GaAs

Abstract Lightly tellurium doped epilayers have been grown by the AsCl 3 GaH 2 technique. The position of the residual donors and of the Te donor have been determined by the high resolution photoluminescence technique and the position of the Te donor is found to be coincident with that of the a -donor reported by Cooke et al . within experimental uncertainty.
The influence of molecular weight and mould temperature on the skin-core morphology in injection-moulded polypropylene parts containing weld lines

The sandwich structure of injection-moulded polypropylene parts with and without weld lines has been investigated using optical microscopy. X-ray scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that the skin-layer thickness is strongly dependent on whether the mould is injected through one gate or through two gates. Samples containing a weld line show a much lower skin-layer thickness than samples without a weld line. This difference, however, depends strongly on the molecular weight of the polypropylene. The skin-layer thickness also varies along the flow path and decreases with increasing mould temperature. While most of the polypropylene crystallizes in the crystallographic α-modification, in the textured skin layer, some β-modification occurs. The β-crystallinity depends on the molecular weight but disappears in the weld line. X-ray investigations exhibited a bimodal crystal orientation in the skin layer, one with thec-axis oriented parallel to the flow direction, the second one with thea*-axis oriented parallel to the flow direction. The core exhibited only a weakc-axis orientation. In the skin, the metastable α1-modification was found.
Limb Mesenchymal Cells Inhibited from Undergoing Cartilage Differentiation by a Tumor-Promoting Phorbol Ester Maintain Expression of the Homeobox-Containing Gene Msx1 and Fail to Exhibit Gap Junctional Communication

Tumor promoting phorbol esters are potent inhibitors of the chondrogenic differentiation of limb mesenchymal cells, but the mechanism by which these agents elicit their antichondrogenic effect is unknown. Here we report that limb mesenchymal cells inhibited from undergoing chondrogenesis by a tumor promoting phorbol ester exhibit deregulated expression of the homeobox-containing gene Msx1, a gene implicated in suppressing differentiation of limb mesenchymal cells, and fail to exhibit the extensive gap junctional intercellular communication that normally occurs at the onset of chondrogenesis. These results suggest that tumor promoting activity of phorbol esters may relate to their ability to modulate the expression of regulatory genes involved in controlling terminal differentiation, as well as to their ability to disrupt the intercellular communication involved in initiating the differentiated phenotype of cells.
Factor analysis in geochemical exploration

Abstract Soil samples collected in the vicinity of a small sulfide mineralization were analyzed for Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ag, Mn, Ni, Co, Cr, and Mo. Factor analysis was used to study the interrelationships among these variables. Selective removal of some samples prior to factor analysis proved to be an important tool in exposing “hidden” relationships between samples, variables, and factors. It has been demonstrated that factor analysis is a suitable technique for data reduction in geochemical exploration since factor scores can be used, instead of raw variables, for interpretation of field observations and location of anomalies.
The interaction of nitrotyrosine-83 plastocyanin with cytochromes f and c: pH dependence and the effect of an additional negative charge on plastocyanin.

Spinach plastocyanin was selectively modified using tetranitromethane which incorporates a nitro group ortho to the hydroxyl group of tyrosine 83 (Anderson, G.P., Draheim, J.E. and Gross, E.L. (1985) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 810, 123–131). This tyrosine residue has been postulated to be part of the cytochrome f binding site on plastocyanin. Since the hydroxyl moiety of nitrotyrosine 83 is deprotonated above its pK of 8.3, it provides a useful modification for studying the effect of an extra negative charge on the interaction of plastocyanin with cytochrome f. No effect on cytochrome f oxidation was observed at pH 7 under conditions in which the hydroxyl moiety is protonated. However, the rate of cytochrome f oxidation increased at pH values greater than 8, reaching a maximum at pH 8.6 and decreasing at still higher pH values. The increase was half-maximal at pH 8.3 which is the pK for the hydroxyl moiety on nitrotyrosine 83. In contrast, the rate of cytochrome f oxidation for control plastocyanin was independent of pH from pH 7 to 8.6. These results show that increasing the negative charge on plastocyanin at Tyr-83 increases the ability to react with cytochrome f, supporting the hypothesis that cytochrome f interacts with plastocyanin at this location. In contrast, the reaction of Ntyr-83 plastocyanin with mammalian cytochrome c was independent of pH, suggesting that its mode of interaction with plastocyanin is different from that of cytochrome f. A comparison of the effects of Ntyr-83 modification of plastocyanin with the carboxyl- and amino-group modifications reported previously suggests that plastocyanin binds to cytochrome f in such a way that electrons could be donated to plastocyanin at either of its two binding sites.
Social Work in Health Care with Older Adults: Future Challenges:

Dramatic changes in demography, epidemiology, and the financing and delivery of health care have significantly affected the lives of older adults and their families. The authors review current and future trends in aging and health care in the United States and their implications for social work practice in enhancing the health and well-being of older adults and their caregivers. Health care social work in the 21st century requires the development and application of evidence-based knowledge that reflects the interrelatedness of aging, physical and mental health, and intergenerational family processes. The authors demonstrate the value of social work research to issues that are in the forefront of gerontological health care practice, policy, and education.
Electrical conductivity and thermogravimetric studies of single crystalline cobaltous oxide

Abstract Electrical conductivity and thermogravimetric measurements on single crystalline cobaltous oxide indicate that the electronic and atomic defect concentration is a function of the 1 4 power of the oxygen partial pressure over the temperature range of 900°–1200°C and oxygen partial pressure of 10°−10 −4 atm. These results are in agreement with singly ionized cation vacancies as the predominant defect. The enthalpy of defect formation, Δ H f 0 , was obtained from data of conductivity, of vacancy concentration and also determinations of constant weight for the same defect concentration. The results were 13·2, 13·8 and 13·4 kcal/mole, respectively. Activities of oxygen and cobalt in CoO relative to CoO 1.002 have been determined as well as the entropies of activation for electrical conduction and formation of nonstoichiometric disorder. Measurements of the electrical conductivity while at thermodynamie equilibrium at constant composition confirm that it is possible to quench in a constant concentration of disorder. Mobilities for electron holes at fixed compositions for these data were also determined.
Assertiveness as a Mediating Variable in Conformity to Confederates of High and Low Status

40 men and 40 women, college students high and low in assertiveness, were exposed to an Asch-like conformity paradigm involving confederates of high and low status. The 40 highly assertive students conformed significantly less often than the 40 low in assertiveness to confederates of high and low status.
Photodynamic therapy as palliation for esophageal cancer: experience in 215 patients

Abstract Background Photodynamic therapy (PDT) utilizes a photosensitizing agent, light, and oxygen to endoscopically ablate cancer cells. This review summarizes our experience with PDT for the palliation of bleeding or obstructing esophageal cancer (EC). Methods All patients with bleeding or obstructing EC treated with PDT from November 1996 through June 2002, were reviewed. After Photofrin II injection, nonthermal light treatment was delivered endoscopically. Dysphagia scores, duration of palliation, reinterventions, complications, and survival after treatment were reviewed. Results A total of 215 patients underwent 318 courses of PDT for bleeding (n = 15), obstruction (n = 277), bleeding and obstruction (n = 18), or other indications (n = 8). Tumor histology included 179 adenocarcinomas, 33 squamous cell carcinomas, and 3 undifferentiated. Seventy-five percent of EC were in the distal esophagus. In 85% of courses for obstruction, mean dysphagia scores improved pre- and post-PDT. The mean dysphagia-free interval was 66 days. Supplemental nutrition was discontinued after PDT in 8 of 27 patients (30%). Thirty-five patients required stent placement after PDT with a mean interval to reintervention of 58.5 days. PDT complications included perforation (2% of treatment courses), stricture (2%), Candida esophagitis (2%), pleural effusions (4%), and sunburn (6%). The procedure-related mortality rate was 1.8%, and median survival was 4.8 months. Conclusions PDT offers effective palliation for patients with obstructing EC in 85% of treatment courses. The ideal EC patient for PDT palliation has an obstructing endoluminal cancer. Patients living more than 2 months may require reintervention to maintain palliation of malignant dysphagia, and a multimodality treatment approach is common.
Deformylation of 4,4'-diformamidodiphenyl sulfone (DFD) by plasma of certain mammals☆

Abstract Enzymatic defonnylation of 4,4'-diformamidodiphenyl sulfone (DFD) to 4,4'-diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS) occurs rapidly and completely in the mouse and in vitro in mouse plasma. Within 1 hr all DPD is present as DDS. The intermediate product in the stepwise defonnylation is 4-arnino-4'-formamidodiphenyl sulfone (MFD). DFD is also deformylated in plasma from other animals with species variation in the rates of defonnylation; mouse > rat > guinea pig > rabbit. DFD is not deformylated in plasma from dog or man. Defonnylation is inhibited by diethyl p -nitrophenylphosphate (paraoxon), but not by p -chloromercuribenzoate or neostigmine. The reaction also shows marked substrate specificity: of other formamido compounds tested only those linked to the diphenylsulfone structure were substrates. The rapid defonnylation of DFD to DDS indicates that the antimalarial efficacy of DPD in Plasmodium berghei in the mouse is due to its conversion to DDS. Reported superiority of DFD to DDS in treatment of P. berghei is considered to be related to solubility differences in the two compounds and repository effects of certain routes of administration.
Protracted survival after resection of metastatic uveal melanoma.

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of resection of metastatic uveal melanoma and to analyze the characteristics of patients who may benefit from surgical intervention. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twelve patients underwent surgical removal of metastasis between 1976 and 1998. Data regarding primary uveal melanoma, systemic metastasis, surgical procedures, and outcomes were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS There were seven patients with liver metastases, two with lung metastases, one with brain metastasis, and two patients with metastases in the liver and other organs. Median time to systemic metastasis was 8 years. Seven of 12 patients were asymptomatic when they were found to have metastasis. Ten patients underwent complete resection of metastasis. No significant surgical complications were experienced. Median recurrence free and overall survival periods after complete resection were 19 months (range, 6–78 months) and greater than 27 months (range, 11–86 months), respectively. Recurrence free and overall 5-year survival rates of those patients were 15.6% and 53.3%, respectively. Three of these patients had no further systemic recurrence. All patients whose time to systemic metastasis was within 5 years developed further systemic recurrence within 2 years after surgery. In contrast, in 8 patients whose time to systemic metastases was greater than 5 years, 4 patients either were recurrence free or developed second metastasis more than 4 years after surgery. CONCLUSIONS Complete surgical removal of metastatic uveal melanoma provided unexpectedly long survival without significant morbidity for the selected patients. These results are encouraging and justify a trial in which patients eligible for resection are randomized between standard treatment and surgery. Cancer 2000;89:1561–8. © 2000 American Cancer Society.
Relative dehydrogenase activity of kidney and liver slices from control and tumor mice.

SummaryThe in vitro dehydrogenase activity of liver and kidney slices from female control and tumor mice of the CFW, C3H, dba, and A strains was determined and the relative intensity of the kidney to liver values (K/L ratio) was calculated. The K/L ratio was found to be maintained within a relatively narrow range in the different control groups. In the CFW and A mice this value was shifted to a lower value in the presence of a tumor. Such a change occurred to a lesser degree in the dba mice and not at all in the C3H mice.
Suitability of Selected Bacteria and Yeasts for Growing the Estuarine Heterotrich Ciliate Fabrea salina (Henneguy)

ABSTRACT. Twenty-six species of bacteria and seven species of yeasts were aseptically presented separately as potential food sources to the estuarine heterotrich ciliate, Fabrea salina, under standardized conditions of cell number, medium, and temperature. The bacteria and yeasts were classified according to their effect on the intrinsic growth rate of the ciliate: Nutritious bacteria: Photobacterium fisherii, Vibrio neresis, V. natriegens, Flavobacterium sp. strain ASN16, V. harveyi, Xanthomonas sp. strain ASN22; Maintainer bacteria: V. vulnificus, Vibrio sp. strain V344, V. alginolyticus, V. anguillarum, Bacillus sp. strain ST332B2, Vibrio sp. strain V415, Acinetobacter sp. strain BHT8, Flectobacillus marinus, and Enterobacter aerogenes; Maintainer yeasts: Candida albicans and Cryptococcus marcerans strain 2; Nonnutriuous bacteria: V. parahaemolyticus, Planococcus sp. strain ASN13, P. mandapapanensis, Hyphomicrobium vulgari, Pseudomonas sp. strain CNS1, an unidentified gram-negative, yellow-pigmented, motile bacillus strain IG9A2, Thiobacillus thioparus, Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium sp. strain BR 17, Achromobacter sp. strain 23030, and Oceanospirillum beijerinckii; Nonnutriuous yeasts: C. marcerans strain 1, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Debaryomyces hansenii, an unidentified black yeast, and C. laurentii. Under the conditions specified, bacteria appear to have a certain minimal value for the growth of Fabrea while yeast have little to none.
A characterization of type-1 λ-designs

Abstract It is proven that a λ-design D is type 1 iff every pair of treatments with different replication in D is contained in precisely λ sets of D .
Follow-up disparities after trauma: a real problem for outcomes research

Introduction The objectives of this study were to (1) determine risk factors associated with failure to follow-up (FTF) after traumatic injury and (2) in those patients who do follow up, to determine if information within the electronic medical record (EMR) is an adequate data-collection tool for outcomes research. Methods A 6-year retrospective analysis was conducted on all admitted trauma patients using data from the trauma registry, National Death Index, 2000 Census Data, and the EMR. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses identified risk factors for FTF. A subgroup analysis evaluated the utility of using the EMR to determine basic functional outcomes (Glasgow outcome scale, diet, ambulation, and employment status). Results A total of 14,784 patients were discharged, and 61% had follow-up appointments. Lower income, higher poverty rates, and lower education were significantly (P < .05) associated with FTF. Logistic regression analysis (excluding census data) identified that older age, lower Injury Severity Score, less severe head injury, nonwhite race, blunt injury, death after discharge, zip code within 25 miles, and patients discharged to home independently predicted FTF after traumatic injury. A subgroup analysis of the EMR showed the inability to reliably determine functional outcomes. Conclusions There are several disparities related to follow-up after trauma. Furthermore, charting deficiencies, even with an EMR, highlight the weaknesses of data available for trauma outcomes research. Trauma process improvement programs could target patients at risk for not following up and use a structured electronic outpatient note.