cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The relationship between latissimus dorsi stiffness and altered scapular kinematics among asymptomatic collegiate swimmers.

Abstract Objectives To determine the strength of the relationship between latissimus dorsi stiffness and altered scapular kinematics among swimmers. Design Cross sectional. Setting Laboratory. Participants Nineteen NCAA Division III swimmers (7 male, 12 female) (age = 18.8 ± 0.9 years, height = 174.7 ± 8.9 cm, mass = 71.6 ± 11.9 kg) volunteered to participate. Subjects had no recent history of upper extremity pathology or any previous surgery. Interventions We measured latissimus dorsi stiffness of the dominant arm while in a lengthened position with a myotonometer. We used an electromagnetic tracking device with specialized software to measure scapular kinematics at humeral elevation angles of 30°, 60°, 90°, and 110° within the scapular plane. Main outcome measures Latissimus dorsi stiffness and scapular upward/downward rotation, internal/external rotation, and anterior/posterior tilt. Results Latissimus dorsi stiffness showed moderate-to-good relationships with increased scapular upward rotation ( r > −0.63, P r > −0.62, P r = 0.47, P = 0.03) and 90° ( r = 0.54, P = 0.01). Conclusions Our results suggest there are several moderate-to-good relationships between increased latissimus dorsi stiffness in swimmers and altered scapular upward rotation, internal rotation, and posterior tilt at various angles of humeral elevation. If latissimus dorsi stiffness is not addressed subsequent scapular alterations, which have been associated with shoulder dysfunction, may occur.
"Inordinate Fondness" Explained: Why Are There So Many Beetles?

The phylogeny of the Phytophaga, the largest and oldest radiation of herbivorous beetles, was reconstructed from 115 complete DNA sequences for the 18S nuclear ribosomal subunit and from 212 morphological characters. The results of these analyses were used to interpret the role of angiosperms in beetle diversification. Jurassic fossils represent basal lineages that are still associated with conifers and cycads. Repeated origins of angiosperm-feeding beetle lineages are associated with enhanced rates of beetle diversification, indicating a series of adaptive radiations. Collectively, these radiations represent nearly half of the species in the order Coleoptera and a similar proportion of herbivorous insect species.
The influence of pH in metal/bromide catalyzed homogeneous aerobic oxidation. Part 1. Effect on activity and selectivity of p-xylene oxidation

Abstract By variation of the pH i.e. the acetate concentration, during oxidation of p-xylene in acetic acid/water mixtures and catalyzed by Co/Mn/Br, a maximum activity and selectivity is observed. The same is observed for the autoxidation of acetic acid by Co(II) acetate. If one operates at a lower or higher than the optimum pH, the rate of the formation of the desired product decreases and the rate of undesirable by-products increases. At sufficiently low pH the autoxidation reaction does not initiate. These observations can be rationalized by noting how the structures of the catalyst metal compounds change resulting in an increase in redox potentials of the metals as the acetate concentration decreases. Thus a thermodynamic balance of the required oxidation and reduction reactions of the metals is required. This explains why metal acetates i.e. basic compounds, are used as the initial catalytic species. Often autoxidation reactions are optimized by changing the catalyst concentration and it should be noted that this changes the pH as well. The pH dependence of the reactions that form undesirable by-products is summarized. The concept of thermodynamic and kinetic balance can also rationalize why metal/bromide catalysts are active while metal/fluoride, chloride, and iodide are either non-active or very weak.
Liquid-helium temperature operation of silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors

We present the first measurements of silicon-generated (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT) in the liquid-helium temperature regime. We have measured the dc characteristics of SiGe HBTs from two different profile designs over the temperature range of 300 K - 4 K. The first SiGe HBT design was optimized for high-speed digital applications at room temperature (`i-p-i' SiGe HBT), and the second SiGe HBT design was specifically optimized for cryogenic operation (`emitter-cap' SiGe HBT). A silicon bipolar junction transfer (Si BJT) which has a doping profile similar to the i-p-i SiGe HBT is used as a control. The devices continue to exhibit transistor action down to the liquid-helium temperature regime, even in the presence of strong carrier freeze-out in the neutral base and collector regimes. In contrast to the Si BJT, the peak current gain of the optimized emitter-cap SiGe HBT rises monotonically from 100 to 300 K to nearly 2000 at 16 K, although parasitic base current leakage limits the useful operating range to collector currents above about 1.0 (mu) A. At very low-injection levels (less than 1.0 nA) below 77 K, we identify a non- diffusive transport mechanism in the collector current of both SiGe HBTs and the Si BJT which is unaccounted for in conventional device theory. Initial calculations suggest that this phenomenon has a bias and temperature dependence characteristic of a carrier tunneling process.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Mining Social Tagging Data for Enhanced Subject Access for Readers and Researchers.

Social tagging enables librarians to partner with users to provide enhanced subject access. This paper quantifies and compares LC subject headings from each of 31 different subject divisions with user tags from Amazon.com and LibraryThing assigned to the same titles. The intersection and integration of these schemas is described and evaluated.
The Distribution of Electron Donor−Acceptor Potential on Protein Surfaces

Maps of the surface distribution of the electron donor−acceptor (Lewis acid−base, AB) potential of proteins have been created by (i) identifying the surface residues, (ii) classifying them according to their AB characteristics, and (iii) projecting them onto a cylinder which is then cut and flattened. Net electron donor or acceptor potential densities are determined by an area-preserving gridding procedure, and the variation of these densities with grid size was investigated. Electron donors and acceptors are distributed at random on the surface of urease and cytochrome b5, but not on human serum albumin. The results suggest that the characteristic length of the AB interaction which determines protein adsorption is greater than that implied by macroscopic surface tension measurements and, hence, that interfacial energies derived therefrom overestimate the hydration repulsion between a protein and a surface.
Civil Rights Tourism in Mississippi: Openings, Closures, Redemption and Remuneration

Unlike Georgia and Alabama which have had large civil rights museums for many years, Mississippi is just beginning to acknowledge and memorialize this part of its history. Since 2005, visitors to Neshoba County, infamous for the murder of civil rights workers Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney, have been able to obtain copies of the African-American Heritage Driving Tour which directs tourists to nine points of interest associated with the 1964 killings. In examining this development, my aim is to highlight the diverse political, economic and psychological motives underlying civil rights tourism and the formation of the Philadelphia Coalition which came together to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the murders. In specific, this paper argues that civil rights tourism rests on four convergent trends: 1) the interest of the business community in re-imaging Mississippi, 2) the formation of a fragile alliance between white conservatives and moderate African-American leaders, 3) the search for redemption among white Christians, and 4) a growing concern over who will write Mississippi’s recent history.
Beyond the nuclear family: Cultural dissolution and borderline personality disorder

Abstract This article examines the influence of broader social forces on the origin of borderline personality disorder. A relationship between BPD and the lack of reparative kinship or community relationships for children growing up in chaotic, neglectful, or abusive families is postulated. An exploratory study of dysthymic borderline and non‐borderline dysthymic subjects found that having one kinship relationship that buffered the stresses of growing up with a disabled parent and family discord was associated with dysthymia, while the borderline diagnosis was associated with substantial parenting limitations, family discord, and family isolation from social supports. The implications of the findings in this study and of the research on stress and social support for social work practice are explored. The need for identifying and enhancing naturally occurring social support systems as preventive and interventive strategies is suggested.
Developing Tomorrow's Integrated Community Health Systems: A Leadership Challenge for Public Health and Primary Care

As the nation's health system moves away from earlier models to one grounded in population health and market-based systems of care, new challenges arise for public health professionals, primary care practitioners, health plan and institutional managers, and community leaders. Among the challenges are the need to develop creative concepts of organization and accountability and to assure that dynamic, system-oriented structures support the new kind of leadership that is required. Developing tomorrow's integrated community health systems will challenge the leadership skills and integrative abilities of public health professionals, primary care practitioners, and managers. These leaders and their new organizations must, in turn, assume increased accountability for improving community health.
Contractualist Liberalism and Deliberative Democracy

L'A. defend la these selon laquelle le modele d'une democratie deliberative ne fournit pas une meilleure defense de la democratie que la theorie du contrat social. Au contraire, le contractualisme fournit une justification des institutions egalitaires et de la participation politique qui fondent la democratie deliberative
Microcanonical determination of effective-spin models for finite-temperature QCD.

Using microcanonical simulations we determine the dependence of the finite-temperature QCD effective-spin model coupling $J$ on ${g}^{2}$, the gauge-field coupling. The results are compared with the theoretical prediction.
Measures of Location of Skew Distributions Obtained through Box-Cox Transformations

Abstract Box—Cox power transformations are used to transform a set of observations to symmetry. A measure of location of the original data is obtained by applying the inverse transformation to the center of the transformed data. Its properties are discussed, and it is compared with other measures of location.
Shorter time to target temperature is associated with poor neurologic outcome in post-arrest patients treated with targeted temperature management

Introduction Time to achieve target temperature varies substantially for patients who undergo targeted temperature management (TTM) after cardiac arrest. The association between arrival at target temperature and neurologic outcome is poorly understood. We hypothesized that shorter time from initiation of cooling to target temperature (“induction”) will be associated with worse neurologic outcome, reflecting more profound underlying brain injury and impaired thermoregulatory control.
Boost invariant flow, black hole formation, and far-from-equilibrium dynamics in N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory

Using gauge/gravity duality, we study the creation and evolution of boost-invariant anisotropic, strongly-coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma. In the dual gravitational description, this corresponds to horizon formation in a geometry driven to be anisotropic by a time-dependent change in boundary conditions.
Enhancement by Auxin of Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis in Excised Soybean Hypocotyl Tissue.

tionen des lignins bei der Sulfatkochung. II. Modellversuche zur Spaltung von Arylalkyllatherbindingungen durch Alkali. Acta Chem. Scand. 16: 1713-29. 8. HANSON, K. R. AND M. ZUCKER. 1963. The biosynthesis of chlorogenic acid and related conjugates of the hydroxycinnamic acids. J. Biol. Chem. 238: 1105-15. 9. HIGUCHI, T. 1957. Biochemical studies of lignin formation. II. Physiol. Plantarum 10: 621-32. 10. HIGUCHI, T. 1958. Studies on the chemical properties of bamboo stalk. J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 45: 675-85. 11. HrGUCHr, T. AND S. A. BROWN. 1963. Studies on lignin biosynthesis using isotopic carbon. XI. Reactions relating to lignification in young wheat plants. Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 41: 65-76. 12. HIGUCHI, T. AND S. A. BROWN. 1963. Studies of lignin biosynthesis using isotopic carbon. XIII. The phenylpropanoid system in lignification. Can. J. Biochem. Physiol. 41: 621-8. 13. LEMON, H. W. 1947. The effect of alkali on the ultraviolet absorption spectra of hydroxyaldehydes, hydroxyketones, and other phenolic compounds. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 69: 2998-3000. 14. LEVY, C. C. AND M. ZUCKER. 1960. Cinnamic and p-coumaryl esters as intermediates in the biosynthesis of chlorogenic acid. J. Biol. Chem. 235: 2418-25. 15. RICHTZENHAIN, H. 1949. Enzymatische Versuche zur Entstehung des Lignins. IV. Mittel Dehydrierung in der Guaj acolreihe. Chem. Ber. 82: 447-53.
Negative Pollution Taxes for Controlling Wind Erosion

This article explores the use of a negative pollution tax to control erosion in semiarid agriculture. This tax operates on the setting of either one or two threshold levels. With two threshold levels, T-max identifies the maximum acceptable limit of pollution and T-min identifies the desirable or target level. Above T-max, fines or penalties are imposed; below T-min, the farm, county, or state is paid for their superior achievement. Although from a theoretical perspective the negative pollution tax has several attractive features, from an operational and political point of view many obstacles to its implementation must be surmounted.
Taming the untamable: planning, programming and budgeting and the normalization of war

Abstract This paper demonstrates the profound political consequences accounting can have by examining the emergence of Planning, Programming and Budgeting (PPB) in the United States as an ostensibly value-free tool for allocating defense resources during the 1960s. The research shows how PPB assisted with normalizing the preparation for nuclear war by converting the “unthinkable” into a technical and mundane resource allocation problem, as well as the internal inconsistencies generated by placing an economically rational frame of representation on a dialectical and political process. In addition, the paper demonstrates how this accounting technique was strategically deployed by the Secretary of Defense to centralized decisions over resource allocations within his office.
The White Edge of the Margin: Textuality and Authority in Biak, Irian Jaya, Indonesia

In Biak, Irian Jaya, in the far east of Indonesia, foreign slogans, narratives, and books are considered a crucial source of authority. In this article, I examine how amber beba (big foreigners), the Biak term for respected leaders, harness the potency attributed to distant lands by presenting their words as translations of an alien text. I explore the implications of this strategy for pursuing authority by examining the worldview expressed in big foreigners' translations of the Bible and other imported works. The case of Biak calls into question scholarly treatments that have taken literacy and Christian conversion as setting the stage for the emergence ofpostcolonial forms of hegemony. In valorizing the textual aspects of outsiders' words, Biaks reproduce a boundary between local and national structures of meaning, keeping foreign orders at a distance even as they tap them for authority and power. [leadership, literacy, translation, Christianity, intercultural relations, postcolonial societies, modernity]
Comparing virulence of North American Beauveria brongniartii and commercial pathogenic fungi against Asian longhorned beetles

In the USA, the development and field application of Beauveria brongniartii (Sacc.) Petch (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) to control the invasive Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) have been hampered because it was unknown whether this fungal species is native to North America. With the recent confirmation of the occurrence of B. brongniartii in North America there is renewed interest in this species, particularly as it is an effective pathogen of cerambycids in Japan.
Transcription Activation by the Bacteriophage Mu Mor Protein: Analysis of Promoter Mutations in Pm Identifies a New Region Required for Promoter Function

Middle transcription of bacteriophage Mu requires Escherichia coli RNA polymerase holoenzyme and a Mu-encoded protein, Mor. Consistent with these requirements, the middle promoter, Pm, has a recognizable -10 region but lacks a -35 region. Mutagenesis of this promoter (from -70 to +10) was performed using mutagenic oligonucleotide-directed PCR. The resulting fragments were cloned into a promoter-lacZfusion vector and analyzed for promoter activity by assaying beta-galactosidase production. Single point mutations with a Down phenotype were clustered in three regions: the -10 region, the Mor footprint region and the spacer between them. Gel retardation experiments with purified Mor protein and promoter mutants demonstrated that sequences important for Mor binding are located within the Mor footprint region and lead us to propose the existence of a dyad symmetry element involved in Mor binding. In agreement with this prediction, glutaraldehyde crosslinking of Mor in solution generated a species with the size of a dimer. These experiments also identified an unusual group of mutations located in the spacer region adjacent to the Mor footprint. These mutations alter promoter activity without affecting Mor binding. A circular permutation assay revealed that Mor does not introduce a significant bend upon binding to its target sequence.
Evaluation of Frying Oil Filtration Systems

Three heated oil filtration systems were evaluated: (1) paper filter; (2) paper filter plus diatomaceous earth (DE); and (3) depth filtration with a filter pad under positive pressure. Methods 1 and 2 are traditional methods. Results on tallow-cottonseed oil (90:10) and hydrogenated soybean shortening indicated that depth filtration was more effective at maintaining lipid oxidation products at low levels than methods 1 and 2. Levels of free fatty acids did not appear to differ markedly between treatments in both comparisons of depth filtration with traditional methods. Mineral analysis of both heated oil filtrate and residue removed from oil by filters revealed that depth filtration was more effective at removal of pro-oxidant transition metals than were methods 1 and 2.
Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of overlapping recoil events in ThO

Ab initio molecular dynamics is used to study defect production and interactions from overlapping atomic recoil events in thoria. The pre-existing defects, charge redistribution, and structural distortion from an initial recoil event significantly affect the dynamics of defect production processes that occur from a subsequent overlapping recoil event. The final defect configurations and increase in system energy are dependent on the incident directions and sequence of the recoils. A linear relationship between system potential energy and charge transfer at the distance of closest approach between the recoil and atomic nuclei demonstrates the important role of charge transfer in the response of thoria to single and overlapping recoils.
Potential biases in remotely sensed cloud properties due to the plane parallel cloud assumption employed in retrieval algorithms

Algorithms developed to estimate cloud optical properties from satellite observations are based on radiative transfer models that assume clouds to be plane-parallel homogeneous entities. In this study, the effect of the plane-parallel assumption on the retrieval of cloud optical thickness and effective particle radius is examined through the use of a three- dimensional (3-D) radiative transfer model. Satellite observed radiances are simulated for 3-D stratus and convective cloud fields. Optical properties are retrieved from these fields and compared to the known inputs. Results show that for the stratus field the plane-parallel assumption is reasonable for most solar and viewing geometries. However, for a combination of a high solar zenith angle and a viewing angle towards the sun the bias becomes significant at high spatial resolutions. In contrast, retrieving cloud properties for the convective cloud at any spatial scale is not possible using the plane- parallel assumption.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Prediabetes: The Effects on Arterial Thickness and Stiffness in Obese Youth

Objective: Adults with prediabetes are at increased risk to develop cardiovascular disease. Whether prediabetes in adolescents is associated with early markers of cardiovascular disease is not known. We sought to 1) compare the cardiovascular risk profiles among adolescents and young adults with prediabetes with those with normal glucose tolerance and 2) determine whether prediabetes is independently associated with noninvasive measures of arterial thickness and stiffness. Research Design and Methods: We studied 102 obese youth with prediabetes and 139 obese youth with normal glucose tolerance in a cross-sectional study. Prediabetes or at increased diabetes risk was diagnosed by a fasting blood glucose level of ≥100 to 125 mg/dL, 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test value of ≥140 to 199 mg/dL, or a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) value of ≥5.7% to 6.4%. Arterial thickness and stiffness were measured by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), augmentation index, pulse wave velocity, and brachial distensibility (BrachD)...
Multiconstraint shape analysis

Abstract The paper presents a method for applying multiple semantic constraints based on discrete relaxation. A separate graph is maintained for each constraint relation and used in parallel to achieve consistent labelling. This permits both local and global analysis without recourse to complete graphs. Here, the term ‘local’ is used with respect to a particular constraint graph, and thus includes global spatial relations on the features, eg parallel edges on an object will be neighbours in the parallel constraint graph even though they are far apart in Euclidean space. Another major result is a technique for handling occlusion by incorporating the use of spatially local feature sets in the relaxation-type updating method.
Effect of Thyrotoxicosis on Gluconeogenesis from Alanine in the Perfused Rat Liver

The influence and mechanism of action of T4 treatment on hepatic gluconeogenesis from alanine was studied in isolated rat livers. Conversion of alanine into glucose was increased markedly in livers of thyrotoxic rats compared to that in normal rats. Estimation of metabolic intermediates of the gluconeogenic pathway showed that T4 treatment produced forward cross-over between pyruvate and phosphoenolpyruvate, which suggests that this point is a control site. Alanine transport into the liver cells was apparently active since the alanine level was higher within the hepatocytes than in the extracellular space. Furthermore, T4 treatment stimulated the transport of alanine into the liver cells. alpha-Aminoisobutyric acid uptake was significantly higher by liver of thyrotoxic animals than of normal rats. The hepatic level of cAMP was also higher in experimental livers than control livers. These studies suggest that T4 stimulates hepatic gluconeogenesis from alanine and the underlying mechanism involves an increase in both the transport of amino acid into the liver cell and the conversion pyruvate to phosphoenolpyruvate.
A biomechanical model for estimating loads on thoracic and lumbar vertebrae

Background Biomechanical models are commonly used to estimate loads on the spine. Current models have focused on understanding the etiology of low back pain and have not included thoracic vertebral levels. Using experimental data on the stiffness of the thoracic spine, ribcage, and sternum, we developed a new quasi-static stiffness-based biomechanical model to calculate loads on the thoracic and lumbar spine during bending or lifting tasks.
Polarization-dependent characterization of scattering media using intensity correlations

Polarized light transport through randomly scattering media is studied using second and third order correlations of speckle patterns in frequency. The measured data provide information on the scattering properties of the medium. In the appropriate regime, a diffusion model satisfactorily describes the polarized light transport.
Package inspection using inverse diffraction

More efficient cost-effective hand-held methods of inspecting packages without opening them are in demand for security. Recent new work in TeraHertz sources,1 millimeter waves, presents new possibilities. Millimeter waves pass through cardboard and styrofoam, common packing materials, and also pass through most materials except those with high conductivity like metals which block light and are easily spotted. Estimating refractive index along the path of the beam through the package from observations of the beam passing out of the package provides the necessary information to inspect the package and is a nonlinear problem. So we use a generalized linear inverse technique that we first developed for finding oil by reflection in geophysics.2 The computation assumes parallel slices in the packet of homogeneous material for which the refractive index is estimated. A beam is propagated through this model in a forward computation. The output is compared with the actual observations for the package and an update computed for the refractive indices. The loop is repeated until convergence. The approach can be modified for a reflection system or to include estimation of absorption.
Network application programming interfaces (APIs) performance on commodity operating systems

Abstract Network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are important components of network-based applications. They play a central role in the end-to-end performance ultimately delivered by networked applications. In addition, most network architectures exploit the underlying networking APIs in their designs. We present an empirical performance evaluation on the PC platform of the most popular networking APIs, namely: Winsock/BSD, Java, and RMI.To explore the impact of the underlying operating system and the Java Virtual Machine architecture on the networking APIs, we conducted performance tests on four widely used operating systems namely, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Linux, and Solaris 8. We found that RMI latency is 1.7 times higher over Java. Latency over Java is around two to three times higher than over native Windows or BSD sockets. Moreover, native sockets yield around 1.8 and 3.5 times higher throughput over Java and RMI, respectively. We hope that our results will be useful to application designers and developers and help them better optimize the end-to-end performance of their applications with a knowledge of the performance of the underlying networking APIs.
Modeling Field Theory and Logic

The modeling field theory (MFT) has been developed for modeling complex systems including the most challenging one that is the modeling of mind. It has been successful in dealing with the enormous computational complexity of these problems. One of the main ideas behind such success is the matching of the levels of uncertainty of the problem/model and the levels of uncertainty of the evaluation criterion used to identify the model. When a model becomes more certain then the evaluation criterion is also adjusted dynamically to match an adjusted model. This process is called a dynamic logic (DL) of model construction. It is likely that the dynamic logic mimics a process of a natural evolution. The goal of this paper is the formalization of the dynamic logic using the first order logic and logic model theory. We introduce partial orders on the models with respect to their uncertainty and specificity. These partial orders are represented using Boolean parameters. The theory of monotone Boolean functions is used for search guiding the search in the parameter space
Applying system of systems engineering to enable component-level modularity in communications systems

Communications systems fielded by US-DoD and commercial organizations are often highly customized by individual programs and vendors. These systems are typically integrated into larger individual (system-of-systems) platforms one platform at a time. While such systems perform very well for their designed use, many do not consider enterprise requirements such as scalability, and aggregation of control and management in their design. Further, platform-by-platform customization of communications results in interoperability and interchangeability drift, where terminals cannot communicate with those from other generations, or cannot be swapped out at the component level. The end result is a set of system silos requiring completely separate and vendor-unique ancillary equipment and control infrastructure. Based on a survey of existing terminal management capabilities and trends in platform requirements, we developed a common, layered management interface structure for communications terminals, making them an interchangeable component of a system of systems (SoS). This interface allows an evolutionary path from the silo infrastructure to one that can aggregate control and management functions. By emphasizing control of interfaces between system elements and external systems, we mitigate risks to the SoS[1][2]. Additionally, working with terminal vendors and other stakeholders, we developed a management information base (MIB)[6] in accordance with this structure. Lastly, we developed a SNMP-based terminal controller connected into a service-oriented architecture (SOA) as a SOA service interface, and used this to test two vendors' SNMP agents implementing the MIB on their terminals. These tests validated the MIB and demonstrated its utility as a common control interface (CCI). Having validated the MIB, this test platform can be extended to validate subsequent implementations of both the SNMP agent and terminal controllers as units under test (UUT).
Electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was electrospun in dimethylformamide as a function of electric field, solution flow rate, and polymer concentration (C). The fiber diameter increased with C and ranged from 30 nm to 3.0 μm. The fiber diameter increased with the flow rate and decreased when the electric field was increased by a change in the working distance; however, it did not change significantly when the electric field was varied by a change in the voltage at a given working distance. The fibers below about 350 nm diameter contained beads, whereas above this diameter, bead-free fibers were obtained. For PAN with a molecular weight of 100,000 g/mol, the fiber diameter scaled as C1.2 and C7.5 at low (5.1–16.1 wt %) and high (17.5–22.1 wt %) C values, respectively. Both concentrations were in the semidilute entangled regime, where the specific viscosity scaled as C4.4, consistent with De Gennes's scaling concepts. In the semidilute unentangled regime (0.5–3.1 wt %), where the viscosity scaled as C1.3, microscopic or nanoscopic particles rather than fibers were obtained. Concentration- dependent electrospinning studies were also carried out for higher molecular weight PAN (250,000 and 700,00 g/mol). The results of these studies are also presented and discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 1023–1029, 2006
Bilateral compartment syndrome after a long gynecologicoperation in the lithotomy position

Summary Compartment syndrome occurred after a tubal anastomosis in a prolonged lithotomy position. Thissyndrome carries the risk of permanent neuromuscular and kidney damage. The pathophysiologic features of the syndrome are reviewed. Specific guidelines for the prevention and management of this syndrome in patients undergoing gynecologic procedures are presented
Gender Differences in the Cognitive Vulnerability-Stress Model of Depression in the Transition to Adolescence

This study examined whether the cognitive vulnerability-stress model of depression may contribute to our understanding of the gender difference in depression in adolescence. Specifically, we examined emergent gender differences in depressive symptoms, cognitive style, and stress in the context of exposure, cognitive scar, and stress generation models. We also examined whether gender moderated the cognitive vulnerability-stress effects on depression. Participants were 366 youth from a community sample who completed measures of depressive symptoms, stress, and negative cognitive style at ages 11, 13, and 15. Data were analyzed longitudinally using multi-level modeling and structural equation modeling. Results indicated that gender differences in depressive symptoms emerged prior to gender differences in cognitive vulnerability and stressful life events; depressive symptoms significantly mediated the emergent gender difference in cognitive style and dependent interpersonal stress. Gender also moderated several components of the cognitive vulnerability-stress model. Girls showed stronger associations between stress and depression over time, and the cognitive vulnerability-stress interaction was significant in predicting girls’ but not boys’ depression trajectories.
The Pharmacist-Physician Relationship in the Detection of Ambulatory Medication Errors

ABSTRACT Background Expenditures on outpatient prescription drugs have increased enormously in the last decade. Despite this growth in expenditures, prescription medication safety in the ambulatory setting is lacking. Prior research in outpatient care has centered around the physician-patient encounter. What remains unexamined in the ambulatory care literature is the pharmacist’s role as interceptor, detector, and reporter of medication errors to the physician. Methods Data about the role, responsibilities, and expectations to inform physicians about this subject were collected from pharmacist (N = 30) and patient (N = 31) focus groups conducted between July 2002 and July 2003. Pharmacists in outpatient practices and patients were randomly selected from the state licensure database and the Jackson Metropolitan phonebook, respectively. Analysis Grounded theory provided the perspective on which data were interpreted. Data patterns were linked using key words and phrases for theme analysis. Arbitration between coders resulted in an inter-rater reliability of 0.85. Results Three complementary patterns were identified from the data: 1) patients likely see multiple physicians and only one pharmacist; 2) patients are more likely to report medication errors to the pharmacist than to the physician; and 3) pharmacists are the final interceptors, detecting medication errors before they reach patients. Conclusions Ambulatory pharmacists are in a privileged position to gather data regarding adverse responses to prescribed medication or incidents of medication mishaps. The failure of pharmacists to report information back to physicians is a missed opportunity to improve patient safety.
EFFECT OF PROLONGED UTERINE BLOOD FLOW REDUCTION ON FETOPLACENTAL PROTEIN TURNOVER IN SHEEP. † 330

EFFECT OF PROLONGED UTERINE BLOOD FLOW REDUCTION ON FETOPLACENTAL PROTEIN TURNOVER IN SHEEP. † 330
A simple and efficient direct forcing immersed boundary framework for fluid-structure interactions

A direct forcing immersed boundary framework is presented for the simple and efficient simulation of strongly coupled fluid-structure interactions. The immersed boundary method developed by Yang and Balaras [J. Yang, E. Balaras, An embedded-boundary formulation for large-eddy simulation of turbulent flows interacting with moving boundaries, J. Comput. Phys. 215 (1) (2006) 12-40] is greatly simplified by eliminating several complicated geometric procedures without sacrificing the overall accuracy. The fluid-structure coupling scheme of Yang et al. [J. Yang, S. Preidikman, E. Balaras, A strongly-coupled, embedded-boundary method for fluid-structure interactions of elastically mounted rigid bodies, J. Fluids Struct. 24 (2008) 167-182] is also significantly expedited by moving the fluid solver out of the predictor-corrector iterative loop without altering the strong coupling property. Central to these improvements are the reformulation of the field extension strategy and the evaluation of fluid force and moment exerted on the immersed bodies, by taking advantage of the direct forcing idea in a fractional-step method. Several cases with prescribed motions are examined first to validate the simplified field extension approach. Then, a variety of strongly coupled fluid-structure interaction problems, including vortex-induced vibrations of a circular cylinder, transverse and rotational galloping of rectangular bodies, and fluttering and tumbling of rectangular plates, are computed. The excellent agreement between the present results and the reference data from experiments and other simulations demonstrates the accuracy, simplicity, and efficiency of the new method and its applicability in a wide range of complicated fluid-structure interaction problems.
A hobby or hobbling? Playing Palestinian women’s soccer in Israel

This paper examines the ways in which the players, parents and managers of the Banāt Sakhnin soccer team understand and make palatable their participation in a sport that has been historically ascribed to men. By conceptualizing their participation in soccer as a hobby, the players, coaches and parents create space for imaginative reshaping of Palestinian-ness, while maintaining limits on how far that creativity can go. Building on scholarship that analyses sport as ‘play’, or an activity that stands outside ‘ordinary life’ and a recreational space where alternate or inverted social roles are performed, I examine how conceptualizing women’s soccer as a ‘hobby’ or ‘leisure activity’ creates a space where Palestinian women can safely act outside the prescribed norms of Palestinian womanhood inside Israel. The story presented is based on interviews collected during two years of fieldwork in Israel. It is a story of a team’s enduring passion for soccer in light of ongoing struggle, social expectations and set...
DKK3 is a potential tumor suppressor gene in papillary thyroid carcinoma

The expression of the Dickkopf homolog 3 (DKK3) gene is downregulated in some human cancers, suggesting a possible tumor suppressor role of this gene. The role and regulation of DKK3 in thyroid cancer have not been examined. In this study, we explored the relationship of promoter methylation with the inactivation of DKK3 and tumor behaviors in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). We used methylation-specific PCR and RT-PCR to examine the promoter methylation and expression of DKK3 and tumor characteristics. We found mRNA expression of DKK3 in 44.9% of the PTC tissue samples vs 100% of the matched normal thyroid tissue samples (P!0.01). In contrast, an opposite distribution pattern of DKK3 gene methylation was observed; specifically, 38.8% of the PTC tissue samples vs 0% of the matched normal thyroid tissue samples harbored DKK3 methylation. An inverse correlation between the promoter methylation and mRNA expression of DKK3 in PTC tissue samples was also observed. Moreover, we also found an inverse correlation between DKK3 expression and some aggressive pathological characteristics of PTC, including high TNM stages and lymph node metastasis, but a positive correlation between DKK3 promoter hypermethylation and pathological aggressiveness of the tumor. Treatment of the PTC cell line TPC-1 with the demethylating agent 5-azaC reduced DKK3 promoter methylation and enhanced its expression, establishing functionally the impact of DKK3 methylation on its expression. Our data thus for the first time demonstrate that the DKK3 gene is a potential tumor suppressor gene in thyroid cancer and that aberrant promoter methylation is an important mechanism for its downregulation, which may play a role in the tumorigenesis and aggressiveness of PTC.
CATASTROPHIC DECLINE OF A DESERT RODENT, DIPODOMYS SPECTABILIS: INSIGHTS FROM A LONG-TERM STUDY

We describe the catastrophic decline of a species of keystone rodent at a Chihuahuan Desert site. The population density of Dipodomys spectabilis averaged 7.6 individuals/ha from 1977 to 1983, but declined to near extinction over the winter of 1983–1984. We propose hypotheses to explain this decline: 1) disease; 2) damage to seed stores by heavy precipitation; 3) contamination of seed stores by mycotoxins. Available data cannot conclusively distinguish these possibilities, but they implicate tropical storm Octave and favor hypotheses 2 and 3. The decline of D. spectabilis was followed by increased abundance of three species of a rodents and a sharp decline in another, Perognathus flavus . Long-term studies can provide unique insights into the nature, magnitude, and consequences of infrequent catastrophic disturbances.
Implementing SPC in a large manufacturing facility: an example

The authors explain how statistical process control (SPC) was successfully implemented in a large manufacturing facility. The broad philosophies that resulted in the successful implementation incorporate the following ingredients that were necessary to make the program successful: top management commitment, SPC training, an organized approach to implementation, and an SPC career path. Each of these topics is discussed. Auditing SPC implementation is considered. >
A Framework for Scalable Postsilicon Statistical Delay Prediction Under Process Variations

Due to increased variability trends in nanoscale integrated circuits, statistical circuit analysis and optimization has become essential. While statistical timing analysis has an important role to play in this process, it is equally important to develop die-specific delay prediction techniques using postsilicon measurements. We present a novel method for postsilicon delay analysis. We gather data from a small number of on-chip test structures, and combine this information with presilicon statistical timing analysis to obtain narrow die-specific timing probability density function (PDF). Experimental results show that for the benchmark suite being considered, taking all parameter variations into consideration, our approach can obtain a PDF whose standard deviation is 79.0% smaller, on average, than the statistical timing analysis result. The accuracy of the method defined by our metric is 99.6% compared to Monte Carlo simulation. The approach is scalable to smaller test structure overheads and can still produce acceptable results.
A randomized, blinded trial comparing the hemostatic effects of pentastarch versus hetastarch.

BACKGROUND: HES solutions provide a sterile, alternative colloidal fluid to albumin solutions and/or plasma in the management of patients who need plasma volume expansion. Solutions of HES are widely accepted internationally but are used only modestly in the United States, largely because of concerns over hemostasis. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A randomized, blinded, two-arm trial comparing the hemostatic effects of pentastarch versus hetastarch when infused in the clinically relevant dose of 90 g of HES dissolved in 1.5 L of saline was conducted. Multiple studies of fibrin clot formation, fibrinogen/fibrinolysis, and platelet (PLT) functions were performed before and on multiple occasions for 70 days following HES infusion. RESULTS: Several significant abnormalities of hemostasis assay results occurred following HES infusions, with hetastarch causing significantly greater abnormalities than pentastarch. Individual clotting proteins and blood PLTs fell modestly because of plasma volume expansion and hemodilution. A fall in excess of that caused by hemodilution was demonstrated for von Willebrand factor antigen plus its associated FVIII and ristocetin cofactor activities. The partial thromboplastin time was prolonged, whereas the thrombin time was shortened. Plt function abnormalities were seen in most subjects to a modest degree. Studies of fibrinolysis were normal. CONCLUSIONS: Solutions of hetastarch produce significant abnormalities of some hemostasis laboratory results when infused at clinically relevant doses, but it is unlikely that the modest hemostatic abnormalities pro
Remote spectral imaging with multi-wavelength and tunable, wavelength-modulation lasers

Scanning laser remote imaging with wavelength-division-multiplexed and/or wavelength-agile transmitters allows acquisition of different target spectral signatures. Wavelength-modulation-spectroscopic imaging of a gas using broadly tunable mid-IR lasers is demonstrated.
Comparison of three different doses of intrathecal fentanyl and sufentanil for labor analgesia.

Abstract Study Objective: To compare the duration of analgesia and incidence of side effects of three doses of intrathecal fentanyl (25 μg, 37.5 μg, 50 μg) with three doses of intrathecal sufentanil (5 μg, 10 μg, 15 μg). Design: Randomized, double-blind study. Setting: Labor suite of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Patients: 60 ASA physical status I and II parturients in active labor who requested analgesia. Interventions: Patients received one of the six doses of opioid diluted with normal saline to achieve a volume of 1.5 ml intrathecally. Measurements and Main Results: Duration of analgesia, contraction pain, degree of pruritus, maternal blood pressure, maternal heart rate, fetal heart rate, Apgar scores, and neurologic and adaptive capacity scores were measured. There was no statistical difference among the doses of fentanyl in duration of analgesia. In addition, there was no statistical difference among the doses of sufentanil. The durations of analgesia for all doses of sufentanil were statistically longer than that for all doses of fentanyl. There was no difference among all the groups for maximal pruritus score. The duration of pruritus did not differ among doses of fentanyl or sufentanil; the duration of pruritus was significantly longer for sufentanil. All groups had a decrease in blood pressure. There was no difference among the groups in regard to the effect on the systolic or diastolic blood pressure. Conclusions: Intrathecal sufentanil produced analgesia of longer duration than fentanyl for all doses studied. The duration of pruritus with sufentanil was also longer.
Analysis and Comparison of Two Types of Square-Wave Inverter Drives

The application of adjustable frequency static inverters to induction motor speed control has resulted in a diversity of inverter designs. In this paper, the state-variable formulation is applied to the analysis of two widely used drive systems incorporating square-wave inverters with 180° and 120° firing logic. Measured characteristics of an actual drive system are included, and the results are compared to an analytical solution. Steady-state speed-torque curves for each inverter supplying three markedly different types in induction motors are given. Performance of the two inverter drives are compared by a thorough investigation of typical operating points.