cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What librarians say they want from their professional associations: A survey of business librarians

Library organizations exist to provide professional development, networking, and service and presentation opportunities to librarians. Yet membership in many library organizations is declining. A survey of business librarians from all types of libraries provided data on benefits of membership. Respondents identified characteristics of successful organizations as well as reasons for their disappointments. Quality programming and training, networking opportunities, and member engagement were positives while poor communication and a lack of opportunities to get involved were the most common concerns. The article concludes with four recommendations on ways library organizations can remain relevant, useful, and valued to their members.
Chronic dietary erythritol exposure elevates fasting plasma erythritol levels but does not cause weight gain or modify glucose homeostasis in mice

Objective: Erythritol is both a common non-nutritive sweetener (NNS) and an endogenous product of glucose metabolism. Recent reports indicate that elevated plasma erythritol is a predictive biomarker of cardiometabolic disease onset and complications. Although short-term erythritol consumption has been evaluated, the effect of chronically elevated circulating erythritol on adiposity and glucose metabolism has not. This study investigated the effect of longer-term erythritol consumption on weight gain and glucose tolerance, and the interaction between dietary composition and erythritol supplementation on these parameters. Methods: 8-week-old and 20-week-old C57BL/6J mice were randomized to consume low-fat diet (LFD), high-fat diet (HFD), LFD with 40g/kg erythritol (LFD+ERY), and HFD with 40g/kg erythritol (HFD+ERY) groups. After 8 weeks, plasma erythritol, body weight and composition, food intake, glucose tolerance, and brown adipose tissue (BAT) uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression were measured. Results: Plasma erythritol was elevated 40-fold in mice consuming LFD+ERY or HFD+ERY relative to mice consuming LFD or HFD, respectively. Liver and kidney tissue contained higher levels of erythritol than adipose. Unexpectedly, there was no effect of erythritol supplementation on body weight or glucose tolerance in 8- or 20-week-old mice fed LFD+ERY, or in 8-week-old mice fed HFD+ERY. In 20-week-old mice fed HFD+ERY, there was a significant interaction between erythritol and body weight (p<0.0001) compared to controls, but the main effect of diet was not significant. We also found no effect of chronic erythritol consumption on BAT UCP1 expression. Conclusion: Prolonged erythritol consumption did not significantly impact body weight, composition, or glucose tolerance. This suggests that dietary erythritol does not contribute to the development of cardiometabolic disease.
The impact of patient demographics on the utilization of video vs telephonic care in a telemedicine clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, stroke outpatient care was transformed to telemedicine (TM) through video (VTM) and telephonic (TPH) visits. While TM offers potential benefits over in-person visits for stroke patients, accessibility of VTM may be limited for patients at highest risk for poor outcomes. We recommended VTM for all patients, but offered TPH visits if patients did not have adequate equipment or declined VTM. We examined whether demographic variables influenced the TM visit type completed (VTM vs TPH) for patients seen during the pandemic. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of charts for patients seen in our stroke clinic between 3/16/20 (fully operational TM) and 5/31/20. We determined visit type: VTM vs in-person vs TPH and abstracted demographic and clinical data. We focused on TM visits and used t-tests, Fisher's exact tests, and chi-squared as appropriate for univariate analyses and logistic regression for multivariate analyses. Results: Among 463 visits, 47 in-person visits were excluded, leaving 416 (328 VTM and 88 TPH). Mean age was 61.5 and by race/ethnicity: 42.9% non-Hispanic white (NHW), 36.9% non-Hispanic Black (NHB), 11.6% Hispanic, 4.3% Asian, and 4.3% other (Table 1). In univariate analyses, visit type was significantly associated with race (p = 0.024), insurance type (p=0.001), and visit type (new vs established). In adjusted analysis, NHB race was associated with 1.90 times higher odds (95% CI 1.09-3.32) of TPH vs VTM compared to NHW. Medicaid insurance was associated with 3.90 times higher odds (95% CI 1.54-9.88) of TPH vs VTM visit compared to private insurance. Conclusions: We found that NHB patients and patients with Medicaid were less likely to complete VTM visits compared to TPH. This suggests barriers to VTM based on race and insurance type and deserves further study. If video visits are superior to TPH visits for clinical care, these barriers may widen disparities in secondary stroke prevention during the pandemic.(Figure Presented).
Kevin W. Edwards BSRT (N),(R); CNMT (RS),(PET)

3004 Introduction: LPHR vs MEGP Collimators for I123 Imaging Evaluation Objectives: To evaluate image quality of Phantom SPECT studies on an LPHR (Low Penetration High Resolution) collimator vs a MEGP (Medium Energy General Purpose) collimator to determine if there is a substantially equivalent or better scan on either of the collimators. Methods: Acquisition of the standard Jaszczak Phantom using 5.23 mCi of I123 was obtained on both the LPHR collimators and the MEGP collimators at an acquisition time of 16 minutes, 8 minutes, 4 minutes and 2 minutes. Acquisitions were performed immediately following one another to minimize decay of the radioactivity and any effects it may have on the imaging. Results: Images were evaluated by a total of 7 nuclear medicine professionals (1 physician and 6 technologists, the technologists experience ranged from 3 years to 36 years. Images were evaluated in terms of best image quality for the varying acquisition times for both sets of reconstructed data (FBP or Filtered Back Projection and Flash3D) and for both sets of collimators LPHR (Low Penetration High Resolution) collimator and MEGP (Medium Energy General Purpose). Images were also reviewed for best display of uniformity, resolution and contrast for the same data points. The results showed that the 16 minute acquisition time was a clear preference in terms of producing a better image. The Flash3D reconstruction was preferred for uniformity evaluation for both sets of collimators. The filtered back projection was preferred for the cold rod and cold sphere reconstructions. Overall the LPHR acquisitions were preferred at a rate of 4 to 2 with one respondent abstaining. The tally’s that do not equal seven respondents were due to respondents leaving blank or determining neither was a clear preference. These preliminary results are promising but additional research is being obtained to include higher count imaging similar to actual patient acquisitions and phantom acquisitions to better replicate ACR standard phantom acquisitions.
The Relationship between Health Literacy and Comfort with Teleneuropsychology in a Veteran Sample.

OBJECTIVE: Health literacy is a strong psychosocial determinant of health disparities and has been found to relate to various aspects of health-related technology use. With the increased implementation of neuropsychological services performed via telehealth during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the relationship between health literacy and comfort with teleneuropsychology warrants further investigation. METHOD: The present study examined 77 Veterans participating in neuropsychological evaluations as a part of standard clinical care. The sample was diverse in terms of age ethnicity, and psychiatric and neurocognitive diagnoses. In addition to a fixed-flexible neuropsychological battery, the Brief Health Literacy Screening Tool (BRIEF) was administered to evaluate health literacy. Self-reported comfort with the teleneuropsychological evaluation was assessed using an informal 10-point scale, and qualitative comfort responses were also recorded. RESULTS: Independent samples t-tests revealed older adults were more likely to participate in the evaluation via telephone than with VA Video Connect. Although health literacy was not related to telehealth modality, it was correlated with comfort with the teleneuropsychological evaluation (r = .34, p < .01), although it is notable that average comfort levels were high across modalities (M = 8.16, SD = 2.50). CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the notion that teleneuropsychological services may feasibly be implemented with a diverse group of patients, although flexibility with modality may be necessary. Those performing these services should also be aware that patients with lower health literacy may feel less comfortable with teleneuropsychology as they seek to build rapport and optimize evaluation engagement.
The heathen, the plague, and the model minority: Perpetual self-assessment of Asian Americans as a panoptic mechanism

Incidents of racism against Asians have been rising since the COVID-19 pandemic turned global in early 2020. Employing Foucault's concept of panopticism and Kathryn Lofton's insights on the function of religion to demarcate group boundaries, this article argues that American religion constructs Asian American stereotypes to limit the discursive space within which Asian Americans may negotiate their identities. These discursive limitations have, in turn, buttressed white supremacy. This article examines how some Asians and Asian Americans respond to anti-Asian sentiments during the pandemic by performing a close reading of an op-ed by prominent Asian American politician Andrew Yang in The Washington Post. This reading reveals that Yang's colorblind solution upholds whiteness as the American gnosis and limits the discursive space in which Asian Americans may negotiate their identities. This article also discusses how the myth of America as a white Christian country withstands challenges from minority groups contesting its dominance.
High Voltage Output Characteristics and Short Circuit Robustness of HV SiC MOSFETs

The short circuit characteristics of the recently developed high voltage (HV) SiC MOSFETs are essential to ensure the proper functioning of the power converters during the short circuit fault conditions. The short circuit failure time can be estimated using the HV output characteristics of the MOSFETs with reasonable assumptions. The HV output characteristics of the 3.3 kV, 6.5 kV, and 10 kV SiC MOSFETs, developed by Wolfspeed, are measured for the first time. The estimated short circuit failure time is 3.5 μs, 7.4 μs and 8.1 μs for the 3.3 kV, 6.5 kV, and 10 kV SiC MOSFETs, respectively at the gate bias of 15 V. The analytical results are closely matching with the experimental short circuit failure results of the 6.5 kV SiC MOSFET. The short circuit robustness of the single 6.5 kV SiC MOSFET is found to be superior to the two series-connected 3.3 kV SiC MOSFETs.
A syntactic approach to planning

Formal language theory concerns the study of two major issues: 1. Generative Grammars: a language is specified in terms of an alphabet vocabulary symbols, rewrite rules and a start symbol; i.e., a method for generating all strings in the language, and 2. Recognizers: a language is specified by giving an alphabet, states, memory and state transitions; i.e., a method for deciding for any given string whether or not it is in the language. Most of the syntactic pattern recognition work has exploited the recognition aspect of formal language theory. What we propose here is the use of generative grammars as a mechanism to help encode plans.
Phases, Phase Changes, and the Thermodynamics of Small Systems

The thermodynamics of small systems seems strange, even bizarre, at first encounter, especially if one’s thinking is locked to the concepts traditionally presented in texts and courses on thermodynamics of conventional bulk systems. Perhaps the most striking aspect shows itself in the thermodynamics of phase changes. Atomic and molecular clusters exhibit a variety of phase-like forms and phase changes that differ from those of bulk matter. It is possible to relate some — but not all—of these to corresponding phases and phase transitions of bulk matter. Clusters are attractive vehicles for studying phases and phase changes because they are susceptible to the analytic and computational methods applicable to small systems. Moreover they open the way to study size dependence of phase characteristics, even to quite large systems. Among the properties that distinguish phases and phase changes of small systems are bands of temperature and pressure within which two or more phase-like forms may coexist — not just curves of coexistence. This coexistence is dynamic, like that of coexisting chemical isomers. Moreover clusters may exhibit phase-like forms that do not exist for bulk matter. These properties of existence and coexistence are the consequence of the small differences between the free energies of clusters in different phase-like forms. Theory predicts that the bands of coexistence should have sharp boundaries, due to the disappearance of local stability of each phase-like form, implying that, in the bulk limit, the two branches of the spinodals should have sharp limits of temperature and pressure. One necessary condition that a species of cluster exhibit a particular phase is that such clusters must reside in the corresponding region of configuration and phase space long enough to establish equilibrium-like properties characteristic of that phase.
Physiological rationale for a bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt: A versatile complement to the Fontan principle

The original Fontan procedure included a classic superior vena cava-to-right pulmonary artery (Glenn) shunt. Subsequent experience demonstrated that this anastomosis was not essential and was an unnecessary commitment of the larger right pulmonary circulation to the smaller blood volume of the superior vena caval return. With application of the Fontan principle to more complex cardiac malformations, there has been a reconsideration of possible benefits of a cavopulmonary shunt in selected patients. A modified shunt from the divided end of the superior vena cava to the side of the undivided right pulmonary artery utilized in 21 patients is described. This shunt is designed to allow bidirectional pulmonary arterial distribution of both superior vena caval inflow and right atrial outflow after completion of the Fontan procedure. Twelve patients had the bidirectional shunt performed prior to a Fontan operation; five of these had a subsequent atriopulmonary connection and seven await operation. Eight patients had construction of this shunt at the time of their Fontan procedure. One patient had a bidirectional shunt constructed following atriopulmonary anastomosis to help relieve right atrial outflow obstruction. Two patients with univentricular heart undergoing simultaneous Fontan procedure and a bidirectional shunt died while in the hospital. The remaining 19 patients have been followed up for 2 months to 9 years with one late sudden death at 9 years. There have been no bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt failures, stenoses, kinks, or recognized pulmonary arteriovenous malformations. Postoperatively, eight patients had assessment of pulmonary distribution of shunt blood flow by angiography. Seven of these patients were also evaluated by radionuclide angiography. Superior vena caval blood flow via the bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt tended to be greater to the right lung, but bilateral pulmonary flow was documented in all but one patient. After Fontan operation, six of seven patients tested also demonstrated bilateral distribution of atriopulmonary flow. We concluded from our experience that this modified shunt provides excellent relief of cyanosis, allows bidirectional pulmonary distribution of both superior vena caval return and also the right atrial blood flow after atriopulmonary connection, and may be done before, with, or after a Fontan procedure and is compatible with all currently recommended modifications. Perioperative hemodynamic adjustments to the Fontan procedure may be improved by reducing atrial volume, and this may also be of potential benefit in the long-term adaptation to Fontan physiology by minimizing atrial distention.
Electrochemical Studies of Water-Soluble Palladium Nanoparticles

Aqueous-soluble monolayer-protected palladium nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrogen reduction of Pd(II) in a water solution. The particles were then further functionalized by incorporating multiple copies of mercapto derivatives of viologen into the particle protecting monolayers. The electrochemistry of the viologen moieties with the particles dissolved in solution or immobilized onto electrode surfaces was carefully studied using various electrochemical techniques. The particle molecular capacitance was evaluated by rotating-disk-electrode voltammetry and the electron-transfer rate constant of the particle-bound viologen moieties was estimated by impedance measurements.
Embryonic yolk removal affects a suite of larval salamander life history traits.

Egg size is a key life history trait affecting fitness, and it varies abundantly. The value of egg size to a mother and her offspring is often determined by a trade-off between investing more yolk in a few large eggs or less yolk into many more, smaller eggs. Smaller eggs are generally expected to be phenotypically inferior or females could increase their fitness by making more smaller eggs. However, many females produce a mix of egg sizes and natural yolk variation induces normal developmental responses which may persist into subsequent stages of a complex life history. Since sources of phenotypic variation are easily confounded, I surgically removed yolk from embryonic spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) using a sham surgery as a control and a split-clutch design to isolate the effects of yolk reserve variation from genetic sources of variation. Yolk removal induced early hatching, reduced developmental stage and hatchling body size. Small hatchlings stayed relatively small through the early larval period, but 17 weeks later the correlation with early larval body size was lost. When the experiment ended, larger individuals were further along in metamorphic development but mortality was independent of early larval body size. Variation in spotted salamander yolk reserves affects a suite of hatchling life history traits that persists into the larval period. Outside the laboratory, egg size effects may cascade throughout complex amphibian life histories. Applied experimentally and comparatively, this simple yolk removal technique may help identify how traits increase or decrease their response to maternal yolk investment. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 322B: 45–53, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Birthright Citizenship & the Civic Minimum

A question at rest in most nations, but not yet in the United States, is how one gains citizenship as of right. Clearly the right, in the United States as elsewhere, is gained at birth, as a birthright. The open question is: What are the circumstances of birth that give rise to citizenship? Case law is thin and scholarly commentary is divided. One claim is that birth on United States soil by itself confers citizenship. This metric is said to be historically determined, according to the (royalist) measure of "subject-ship" (jus soli per Calvin's Case) that preceded the American Revolution. The competing claim considers (as does most of the world) that a purely geographically determined citizenship is arbitrary, in that it requires no meaningful relation with the US as condition to citizenship. This second claim would dispel arbitrariness by positing a substantial relation with the US as an element of birthright citizenship, which relation is identified as one of "allegiance and consent". The history that underlies our supposed adoption of jus soli has its flaws. And as the second claim requires that birth be within a substantial relation with the United States, this claim better meets the conditions set by constitutional text, that of the Fourteenth Amendment as it provides citizenship to "All persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof". As shown by ordinary heuristics, the "subject to the jurisdiction" condition entails a meaningful affiliation with the United States. This affiliation, though, is not well determined by allegiance and consent. These terms are not consistent with the leading case nor are they entirely consistent with baseline notions respecting the obligations of a sovereign to those who would be citizens. The appropriate baseline is better seen as one of "fairness", of fairness as reciprocity. Fairness as thus determined does not consist of a deontologically determined set of obligations and rights. Rather, fairness is more flexibly and generously built out of some better parts of human nature, parts essential to what recent scholarship identifies as the "civic minimum" in the liberal democratic state.
Enseignement interdisciplinaire des Trois Mousquetaires

Cet article propose un mode d’enseignement du mythe litteraire a des apprenants en Francais Langue Etrangere. Tenant compte de la barriere linguistique, du profil des etudiants et de l’immense corpus du mythe litteraire, il suggere un moyen de faire « entrer » les apprenants dans ce dernier : par le heros. Apres avoir restreint la definition du mythe en insistant sur le role essentiel du personnage central, il avance une approche theorique basee sur les discussions de cours et sur les travaux ecrits. This article offers a way of teaching the literary myth to French as a Second Language students. As it takes into account the language barrier, the learners’ profiles and the vast corpus of the literary myth, it suggests a medium to make students « enter » the myth. : through the hero. While insisting on the essential role of the central character, this article reduces the definition of the literary myth, and it offers a theoretical approach, which is based on class discussions and written assignments.
The imperative to prevent and treat childhood obesity: why the world cannot afford to wait.

Summary In the past 20 years, the prevalence of obesity in the United States increased almost 50% among adults and by 300% in children. Today, 9.7% of all U.S. infants up to 2 years old have abnormally high weight-for-recumbent length; 25% of children under age 5 are either overweight or obese; and 17% of adolescents are obese. Ethnic disparities in the rates of obesity are also large and apparent in childhood. Further, 44% of obese adolescents have metabolic syndrome. Obese children tend to become obese adults; thus, in a decade, young adults will likely have much higher risks of chronic disease, which has tremendous implications for the healthcare system. However, early childhood may be the best time to prevent obesity. Teachers' healthy eating choices are positively associated with changes in body mass index percentiles for children, for example. In addition, 8 million children attend afterschool programs, which can successfully promote health and wellness and successfully treat obesity. This childhood epidemic of obesity and its health-related consequences in adolescents should be a clinical and public health priority. However, this major public health problem cannot be managed solely in clinical settings. Rather, public health strategies must be integrated into home and family, school and community-based settings.
On asking people questions about what they are reading

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the effects of asking people questions during or shortly after exposure to text passages. It also presents several original experiments designed to evaluate a model of the “direct” effects of questions and a report of an attempt to use questioning techniques in an ongoing instructional program is presented. The chapter also contains discussions of (a) the kinds of effects of questions, their magnitude and consistency, (b) the conditions under which questioning facilitates learning, (c) an appraisal of the explanations which have been proposed to account for the effects of questions, and (d) a brief evaluation of the practical educational implications of questioning techniques. However, the set of experiments presented in the chapter failed in its major objective, which was to give rise to a theory of the direct effects of questions. The most important findings of the present research are that in every experiment, verbatim scores are significantly higher than paraphrase scores when the questions are asked immediately after reading the passage, and that verbatim scores declines more over a one-week interval than did paraphrase scores. The most plausible interpretation of these facts is that there are at least two kinds of memory code, a close-to-surface code with a relatively short memorial half life, and a more permanent semantic-based code.
Integrated range-Doppler map and extended target identification with adaptive waveform for cognitive radar

In this paper, we propose an integrated scheme to identify an extended moving target while trying to correctly locate its peak range-Doppler cell. The scheme is extended to handle multiple target responses. The cognitive radar platform uses adaptive waveform based on the eigenwaveform. Two real-time adaptive waveforms called maximum a posteriori probability weighted eigenwaveform (MAP-PWE) and match-filtered PWE (MF-PWE) are combined with range-Doppler map (RDM) technique to execute target type identification for moving extended targets. Joint RDM cell localization and target identification performance comparison between a traditional pulsed wideband waveform, MAP-PWE, and MF-PWE techniques are shown. It is noted the MF-PWE performs better than the wideband and MAP-PWE.
Exception safety for C

Programming-language mechanisms for throwing and handling exceptions can simplify some computer programs. However the use of exceptions can also be error prone, leading to new programming errors and code that is hard to understand. This paper describes ways to tame the exception usage in C#. In particular the paper describes the treatment of exceptions in Spec#, an experimental superset of C# that includes code contracts.
Andrew Glassner's notebook: recreational computer graphics

Preface Chapter 1 - Solar Halos and Sun Dogs January & March 1996 Chapter 2 - Frieze Groups May 1996 Chapter 3 - Origami Polyhedra July & September 1996 Chapter 4 - Going the Distance January/February 1997 Chapter 5 - Situation Normal March/April 1997 Chapter 6 - Signs of Significance May/June 1997 Chapter 7 - Net Results July/August 1997 Chapter 8 - The Perils of Problematic Parameterization September/October 1997 Chapter 9 - Inside Moire Patterns November/December 1997 Chapter 10 - Upon Reflection Jaunuary/February Chapter 11 - Circular Reasoning March/April 1998 Chapter 12 - Aperiodic Tiling May/June & July/August 1998 Chapter 13 - Know When to Fold September/October 1998 Chapter 14 - The Triangular Manuscripts November/December 1998 Chapter 15 - Polygons Under the Covers January/February 1999 Chapter 16 - String Crossings March/April 1999 Index
Detection of Purple Sulfur Bacteria in Purple and Non-purple Dairy Wastewaters

The presence of purple bacteria in manure storage lagoons is often associated with reduced odors. In this study, our objectives were to determine the occurrence of purple sulfur bacteria (PSB) in seven dairy wastewater lagoons and to identify possible linkages between wastewater properties and purple blooms. Community DNA was extracted from composited wastewater samples, and a conservative 16S rRNA gene sequence within and genes found in both purple sulfur and nonsulfur bacteria was amplified. Analysis of the genes indicated that all of the lagoons contained sequences that were 92 to 97% similar with . Sequences from a few lagoons were also found to be similar with other PSB, such as sp. (97%), (93-100%), and (95-98%). sequences amplified from enrichment and pure cultures were most similar to (93-96%). Carotenoid pigment concentrations, which were used as an indirect measure of purple bacteria levels in the wastewaters, were found to be positively correlated with salinity, nitrogen, total and volatile solids, and chemical oxygen demand; however, salinity could be the dominant factor influencing purple blooms. Due to the detection of PSB sequences in all lagoons, our findings suggest that the non-purple lagoons may have been purple in the past or may have the potential to become purple in the future.
Variations in abundance of the molecular ion of the derivatized cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine

Benzoylecgonine (BEG) is the principal urinary metabolite of cocaine. For forensic drug testing, the presence of BEG in urine, suggested by a positive result for a screening immunoassay, must be confirmed by quantitative gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analysis, i.e., stable isotope dilution with a deuterium-labeled internal standard. GC/MS criteria for positivity also require appropriate relative abundances of qualifier ions, including the molecular ion, but there is little published information on the observed absolute values for qualifier ion ratios or on the variability of these values. This lack of information creates uncertainty for laboratories initiating programs testing urine for drugs of abuse as to performance criteria for run acceptability and sample positivity. We have observed substantial variability (CV = 50%) in the abundance of the molecular ion of derivatized BEG relative to the base ion in reference materials. This variability can result in a high rate of repetition of runs and generate confusion in the defense of forensic drug-testing results. Normalization of the abundance of the molecular ion of derivatized BEG to that of the deuterium-labeled internal standard in the same sample greatly reduces the apparent variability in this measurement; it is also more reliable than the absolute value of the relative abundance of the molecular ion in determining run acceptability and positive or negative results for a sample.
Terrorism and the politics of fear

This article examines how news reports about terrorism in five nationally prominent U.S. newspapers reflect the terms and discourse associated with the politics of fear, or decision makers' promotion and use of audience beliefs and assumptions about danger, risk, and fear, to achieve certain goals. Qualitative data analysis of the prevalence and meaning of the words fear, victim, terrorism, and crime 18 months before and after the attacks of September 11, 2001, shows that terrorism and crime are now linked very closely with the expanding use of fear, there was a dramatic increase in linking terrorism to fear, coverage of crime and fear persisted but at a very low rate, and there was a large increase in news reports linking terrorism to victim. The implications for the social constructionist approach to social problems and social control are discussed.
Caffeine-halothane accuracy in MH testing

The accuracy and stability of caffeine and halothane concentrations in liquid Krebs medium were examined. Caffeine-Krebs Ringer's solution in incremental concentrations from 0.25 to 10 mM (N = 8 for each concentration) was serially assayed over a three-year period. Storage was at 4 degrees C. For serial testing of halothane during a five month period, halothane 1% or 3% in carbogen was bubbled through a Krebs solution, contained in muscle baths, either using a roller pump (to eliminate vaporizer back pressure) or using carbogen at a line pressure of 4-6 lbs/in2 (27-41 kPa). Halothane in Krebs was assayed by high pressure liquid chromatography. Caffeine concentrations did not vary for 20 weeks. From then, through 60 weeks, concentrations less than 2 mM steadily diminished; after that, through 156 weeks, only 4, 8, and 10 mM were stable. When compared to the halothane concentration in gas entering the muscle baths, halothane concentration in Krebs was predictable regardless of method delivery, as long as a gas analyzer indicated the proper concentration. We conclude that caffeine solutions are stable for 20 weeks when refrigerated, and for three years at concentrations 4 mM or greater.
Changes in maternal serum chlorinated pesticide concentrations across critical windows of human reproduction and development.

Abstract Investigators often employ a single cross-sectional measure of in utero exposure when evaluating associations between organochlorine (OCs) pesticides/metabolites and adverse reproductive outcomes. Few data are available on the stability of exposures to OCs over critical windows of human reproduction and development inclusive of the periconception window. Our objective was to measures changes in OC concentrations prior to conception and throughout pregnancy or after 12 unsuccessful months attempting pregnancy. Seventy-nine women planning pregnancy were prospectively enrolled and followed for up to 12 menstrual cycles. Blood specimens were obtained for toxicologic analysis of seven OCs from participating women at baseline (preconception, n =79), at the first prenatal visit following a positive pregnancy test leading to a live birth ( n =54) or after pregnancy loss ( n =10), at approximately 6 weeks post-partum ( n =53), and after 12 unsuccessful cycles ( n =9). Overall and daily rate of change in OCs concentration (ng/g serum) were estimated adjusting for serum lipids and baseline concentration. Significant ( P −4 , respectively), HCB (−0.069, −0.003, respectively), and trans-nonachlor (−0.045, −0.002, respectively), and an overall increase for oxychlordane (0.015) were seen for women with pregnancy losses. Significant decreases also were observed among infertile women for aldrin (−0.003, −3.52×10 −6 , respectively), DDE (−0.210, −4.29×10 −4 , respectively), and HCB (−0.096, −2.03×10 −4 , respectively), along with an increase for trans-nonachlor (0.034, 7.59×10 −5 , respectively). These data, though limited by sample size and the possibility of laboratory measurement error, suggest that OC concentrations may change over critical windows. This underscores the importance of timing biospecimen collection to critical windows for development in the assessment of reproductive and/or developmental effects.
Thoracic Aortic Dissection and Mycotic Pseudoaneurysm in the Setting of an Unstable Upper Thoracic Type B2 Fracture

Thoracic type B2 fractures are high-energy injuries. It is crucial to maintain a high index of suspicion for concomitant visceral injuries. A 33-year-old man presented after a motor vehicle accident with a T4 type B2.3 fracture with an associated sternum fracture. He was treated with a T4 corpectomy and an expandable titanium cage and lateral plate construct at T3-T5. Two months later he developed focal kyphosis and loosening of his screws. This was addressed with an instrumented posterior fusion from T1 to T8 complicated by a wound infection, pneumonia, and fungal esophagitis requiring several debridements and vacuum assisted closure therapy. Worsening back pain prompted a thoracic computed tomography scan, revealing a dissecting thoracic-aortic aneurysm, which was treated with an endovascular stent graft. Few months later, he presented with fevers, chills, and hemoptysis secondary to Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, endovascular leak, and T3-T5 osteomyelitis. He was transferred to our institution and restented by the cardiothoracic service. Subsequently, he underwent a thoracotomy, evacuation of infected aneurysmal hematoma with removal of instrumentation. A revision corpectomy with iliac crest autograft reconstruction was performed without complications. The patient's infection and thoracic pain resolved. However, there was a significant delay in treatment, resulting in substantial morbidity. Patients with thoracic type B2 fractures require careful evaluation for concomitant aortic and visceral injuries. Missed associated injuries result in increased morbidity and mortality.
Experimental study of flow separation on an oscillating flap at Mach 2.4

Measurements of unsteady wall pressures have been made in the turbulent boundary layer just upstream of the hinge line of an oscillating flap. The flap, which creates a highly three-dimensional compression corner flowfield, was oscillated in fully attached, crossing incipient separation, and fully separated flow regimes over a range of frequencies. It was found that a substantial lag of the pressure on the flap was produced when oscillating across the point of incipient separation. This occurred at much lower reduced frequencies than for the case of dynamic stall on an airfoil in transonic flow. The dynamic hysteresis was much less in the fully separated case and negligible in the fully attached case.
CD30-activation–mediated growth inhibition of anaplastic large-cell lymphoma cell lines: apoptosis or cell-cycle arrest?

We read with interest the Mir et al article on the effects of CD30 activation on anaplastic large-cell lymphoma and Hodgkin disease cell lines.[1][1] The authors demonstrated apoptotic responses and lack of an nuclear factor (NF)–κB response, which is presumed to be responsible for the apoptotic
Steady-State Predictions from a Compact Cooperative Kinetic Model of Cardiac Sarcomere Dynamics

A compact model of cardiac sarcomere dynamics is useful when developing integrated models of whole ventricular function. Kinetic models can be simplified by separating slower from faster processes. The representation of faster processes can then be reduced to their equivalent equilibrium relationships. Analysis of cooperativity within a cardiac sarcomere is also aided by dealing with equilibria, which can be analyzed using statistical thermodynamics. These principles guided the formulation of a compact kinetic model of cardiac sarcomere dynamics. In this scheme there were three slower processes: (1) reversible transitions between weak and strong crossbridges, (2) detachment of strong crossbridges, (3) dissociation of calcium from regulatory units (RUs) having a strong crossbridge. In the overall kinetic scheme, an individual RU could exist in 6 states: 3 states of crossbridge binding (none, weak, strong) interacting with 2 states of calcium binding (yes, no). Exchanges between the 4 states without strong crossbridges occurred by rapid equilibria. Thus, in the reduced model only 3 kinetic states remained: (1) strong crossbridges attached to RUs where calcium was bound, (2) strong crossbridges remaining attached even after calcium had dissociated, (3) the equilibrium mixture of the 4 remaining states. Since strong crossbridges appear to act independently, rate constants between these 3 states were considered independent of neighboring RUs. However, cooperativity between neighboring RUs exerted major impacts on the mixture of 4 states interacting rapidly as equilibria. Applying the linear Ising Model of statistical thermodynamics, the grand partition function characterizing interactions between neighboring RUs included activating effects from strong crossbridges as well as free calcium ions. This model predicted steady-state relationships between force and pCa (given as Hill plots) that reproduced the experimentally observed bend toward less cooperative slope near half activation.
A Probability Method for Bulk Power System Security Assessment - III - Models for Stand-by Generators and Field Data Collection and Analysis

The paper continues the description of a probability method for bulk power system security assessment begun in companion papers. The present paper describes probability models for stand-by generators. Also discussed are methods for collecting and analyzing field data to obtain parameters needed for probability models.
Detection of the Wolbachia-encoded DNA binding protein, HU beta, in mosquito gonads.

Wolbachia are obligate intracellular bacteria that cause cytoplasmic incompatibility in mosquitoes. In an incompatible cross, eggs of uninfected females fail to hatch when fertilized by sperm from infected males. We used polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry to identify Wolbachia proteins in infected mosquito gonads. These included surface proteins with masses of 25 and 18 kDa and the DNA binding protein, HU beta. Using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, we showed that the HU gene is transcribed in Wolbachia-infected Culex pipiens and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. We sequenced HU genes from four Wolbachia strains and compared deduced protein sequences with additional homologs from the databases. Among the Rickettsiales, Wolbachia HU has distinct N- and C-terminal basic/acidic amino acid motifs as well as a pair of conserved, cysteine residues.
A regression-based analytic model for capacity planning of multi-tier applications

The multi-tier implementation has become the industry standard for developing scalable client-server enterprise applications. Since these applications are performance sensitive, effective models for dynamic resource provisioning and for delivering quality of service to these applications become critical. Workloads in such environments are characterized by client sessions of interdependent requests with changing transaction mix and load over time, making model adaptivity to the observed workload changes a critical requirement for model effectiveness. In this work, we apply a regression-based approximation of the CPU demand of client transactions on a given hardware. Then, we use this approximation in an analytic model of a simple network of queues, each queue representing a tier, and show the approximation's effectiveness for modeling diverse workloads with a changing transaction mix over time. Using two case studies, we investigate factors that impact the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed performance prediction models. Experimental results show that this regression-based approach provides a simple and powerful solution for efficient capacity planning and resource provisioning of multi-tier applications under changing workload conditions.
A pilot study for monitoring changes in the microbiological component of metalworking fluids as a function of time and use in the system.

This article describes the results of a pilot study to examine changes in the biological component of metalworking fluids (MWF) as a function of use. Fluid samples were taken from two newly charged systems, designated BT-7415 and BT-7707, at 1-week intervals for 8 weeks and characterized with respect to the kinds and numbers of bacteria present and presence of soluble protein in cell-free supernatants. In addition, lipid extracts of pelleted cells from fluids in BT-7415 were examined by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy for the kinds and relative amounts of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) present. A total of 19 different bacterial species was cultured and identified, more than half (12/19) of which were gram-negative. Total colony-forming units (CFU) reached levels of 2.2 × 103/mL in BT-7415 and 2.4 × 105/mL in BT-7707. The most common genus isolated was Pseudomonas. Estimations of cell numbers based on total biomass from PLFA in samples from BT-7415 indicated 1.1 × 107/mL after 8 weeks of use. Both th...
Molecular regulation of CCN2 in the intervertebral disc: Lessons learned from other connective tissues

Connective tissue growth factor (CCN2/CTGF) plays an important role in extracellular matrix synthesis, especially in skeletal tissues such as cartilage, bone, and the intervertebral disc. As a result there is a growing interest in examining the function and regulation of this important molecule in the disc. This review discusses the regulation of CCN2 by TGF-β and hypoxia, two critical determinants that characterize the disc microenvironment, and discusses known functions of CCN2 in the disc. The almost ubiquitous regulation of CCN2 by TGF-β, including that seen in the disc, emphasizes the importance of the TGF-β-CCN2 relationship, especially in terms of extracellular matrix synthesis. Likewise, the unique cross-talk between CCN2 and HIF-1 in the disc highlights the tissue and niche specific mode of regulation. Taken together the current literature supports an anabolic role for CCN2 in the disc and its involvement in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis during both health and disease. Further studies of CCN2 in this tissue may reveal valuable targets for the biological therapy of disc degeneration.
Analysis of deformation and contraction in cylindrical crystals due to dispirations or dislocations.

Abstract Cylindrical crystal structures are common in biology. The shape changes and movements of cylindrical crystals are basic to the understanding of the contractile mechanisms in biological systems such as tobacco mosaic viruses and the tail sheath of T-even bacteriophages. It has been suggested that the concept of defects in crystal physics can be applied to study these contractile mechanisms. The defect believed to be responsible for the shape changes of cylindrical crystals is known as a dispiration. Dispirations are characterized by the shear displacement on the slip plane through a screw symmetry operation. The elastic field of a dispiration can be decomposed into its translational (dislocation) and rotational (disclination) components. The magnitude of the translational and rotational displacements in a cylindrical crystal has been related to the crystal structural parameters. The passage of a dispiration along a helical plane in a cylindrical crystal can induce one of two types of shape changes. In one type, only the disclination component of the dispiration contributes to contraction, whereas in the other type, both the disclination and dislocation components are responsible for the shape change. Estimates of the magnitude of contraction are made in terms of the dimensional and structural parameters of the cylindrical crystal. The reversal of the direction of helical slip results in extension instead of contraction of the cylindrical crystal. The local elastic deformation of a dispiration dipole situated on the helical plane of a cylindrical crystal is examined. It has been shown that, for the first type of deformation mentioned above, closed form solutions of the stress field can be obtained by superposing the stress fields of two dispiration dipoles with slip planes parallel and normal to the cylinder axis, respectively. The approximations of shallow shell theory are adopted in the analysis. Future problems of biological interests are identified.
Toad orientation: Variability of response and its relationship to individuality and environmental parameters

Results of compass orientation studies with amphibians and other organisms typically are characterized by large variability. This study considered the extent to which variability in individual responses may account for group variance and also assessed the role of environmental factors in influencing orientation. Statistical tests showed that even though all animals were trained similarly, the orientation of some individuals reversed (10% of our test sample). A physiological basis for this directional reversal is suggested, dependent upon stress-induced corticosterone levels.
Form factors of descendent operators in perturbed conformal field theories

Abstract Using the Ising model with a thermal perturbation as an example, we show that the solution space of the linear equations satisfied by the off-shell form factors of an integrable perturbed conformal field theory admits a structure which is isomorphic to that of the Virasoro irreducible representations characterizing the critical theory.