cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neuromuscular variability and spatial accuracy in children and older adults.

Abstract Our ability to control movements is influenced by the developmental status of the neuromuscular system. Consequently, movement control improves from childhood to early adulthood but gradually declines thereafter. However, no study has compared movement accuracy between children and older adults. The purpose of this study was to compare endpoint accuracy during a fast goal-directed movement task in children and older adults. Ten pre-adolescent children (9.7 ± 0.67 yrs) and 19 older adults (71.95 ± 6.99 yrs) attempted to accurately match a peak displacement of the foot to a target (9° in 180 ms) with a dorsiflexion movement. We recorded electromyographic activity from the tibialis anterior (agonist) and soleus (antagonist) muscles. We quantified position error (i.e. spatial accuracy) as well as the coordination, magnitude, and variability of the antagonistic muscles. Children exhibited greater position error than older adults (36.4 ± 13.4% vs. 27.0 ± 9.8%). This age-related difference in spatial accuracy, was related to a more variable activation of the agonist muscle (R2: 0.358; P
Graduate education process

Graduate education can be very complex and demanding. Surviving in this highly stressful environment takes a mixture of intelligence, self-discipline and organization. This book presents guidelines for graduate education and research. There is a technical requirement to coping with graduate research and there is also a managerial requirement. While much has been said and written about the technical requirements, very few guidelines are available for the management of the process.
Swinging on by: the tidal twists

We have seen in the previous chapter that colliding ring galaxies are the result of the direct pull of the companion galaxy’s gravity as it passes through. Most galaxy “collisions” are not literally so. That is, the galaxy disks pass closely by each other, but they do not actually collide. They can still profoundly affect each other, primarily by means of forces that are analogous to those that cause ocean tides on Earth.
Copper, Nickel and Cadmium in the Surface Waters of the Mediterranean

Copper, nickel, and cadmium have been determined on 50 surface samples throughout the Mediterranean. All of these elements are substantially more concentrated in the surface waters of the Mediterranean than in similar nutrient-depleted waters in the open ocean. A mass-balance model for the Mediterranean allows limits to be placed on the magnitudes of the trace element sources. The actual source or sources cannot be resolved from the data, and it is not clear whether this trace element enrichment is natural or anthropogenic in origin.
Passive mixing rate of trapped squeezed nanodroplets—A time scale analysis

The elegance of digital microfluidics is in incorporating high quantities of manipulated micro and nanodroplets on-chip, each of which can be considered a small-volume carrier of various chemical and biological reagents. Therefore, the analysis of on-demand manipulation of these micro and nanocarriers is extremely important in developing an optimized lab on a chip. In this work, passive coalescence and mixing between two trapped, squeezed nanodroplets inside a closed microfluidic device was investigated. The droplets are composed of glycerol dyed in blue and red, dispersed inside oleic acid as the carrier oil. A microwell with a circular cross section was fabricated on the top wall of the microchannels to trap the first droplet for increasing the mixing precision and minimizing the viscous shear stress imposed on the droplets from the channel walls. The energy minimization theory was used to develop a parametric study for this trapping technique and to choose the optimum design parameters for droplet trapping in terms of efficiency. Image processing was performed on the snapshots of the trapped glycerol nanodroplets during mixing. Growth in passive mixing percentage was demonstrated to be asymptotical and was formulated with an empirical equation of exponential form as a function of the passive mixing relaxation time. The required time for the passive mixing of a glycerol droplet pair was measured considering various thresholds for the final standard deviation of the gray intensity indices. This finding was of the order of magnitude of the diffusive mixing time scale and physically consistent with the Stokes flow regime.
Computational screening of metal–organic frameworks for biogas purification

Biogas, which involves methane as the combustible compound, is an abundant and renewable energy resource that produces less harmful gases than conventional fossil-based liquid and solid energy sources. Although biogas is of primary interest due to its methane content, it may also include other gases, such as CO2, N2, H2S, and NH3. Studies investigating biogas purification often assume that biogas is a binary 50%/50% mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. However, together with N2, the toxic contaminants, H2S and NH3 should be accounted for in the biogas mixture for a more realistic separation application. In this study, the computation-ready experimental metal–organic framework (CoRE-MOF) database is screened to identify a shortlist of potentially high-performing MOFs for multi-component biogas purification. Our hierarchical screening process involves (i) removal of MOFs with sub-3 A pore limiting diameter and uncommon metal nodes, (ii) removal of MOFs that do not selectively capture the four undesired compounds, as determined from grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations for the binary mixtures of CH4/(CO2 or N2 or H2S or NH3), and (iii) ranking of the remaining structures based on various performance metrics determined from GCMC for a five-component mixture. Finally, the relations between some of these metrics and structural properties are discussed to reveal favorable structural characteristics for biogas upgrading.
Animacy and Mortality Salience: New Directions for the Adaptive Memory Literature

The past decade has produced great strides in understanding the functional aspects of human cognition. One prolific area of research asserts that memory is optimized when information is processed for its fitness, or “survival relevance” (see, e.g., Nairne et al., J Exp Psychol 33:263–273, 2007). Early work conducted in this area used a simple recall paradigm, with participants first reading a set of instructions that vary among survival relevance rating, moving relevance rating, and so on. Dozens of independent researchers and laboratories have confirmed an adaptive or survival memory advantage: a memory benefit for words processed for their survival relevance, relative to other encoding instructions (see, e.g., Kazanas and Altarriba, Evol Psychol 13:360–396, 2015, for a review). The current chapter outlines the theoretical explanations for this survival memory advantage including work involving animacy effects and mortality salience, with an eye toward identifying the mechanisms that underlie these findings.
Trauma informed care with military populations

ABSTRACTMany of the most challenging issues military members and their families are facing are trauma related. Agencies and treatment providers working with military members and their families shou...
Energy Consumption Analysis of Java Command-line Options

In 2018 Turing Award lecture, John L. Hennessy discusses software-centric opportunities to save Moore’s law. The software is a major consumer of energy in ICT, IoT, and edge systems, but even then the research to make it energy efficient remains fractional. Java is one of the most commonly used languages to develop software for these systems. Java has various command-line options that an application user can use for JVM tuning to enhance the performance of an application. However, there is no study about how these Java command-line options impact the energy consumption of an application. In this work, we explore the impact of various Java command-line options on SPECjvm2008 benchmarks in terms of energy consumption and execution time using different JDKs. Our key findings are: 1) Oracle JDK is more energy efficient than Open JDK, 2) Xint command-line option is the least energy efficient, 3) UseG1GC command-line option is the most energy efficient, and 4) Active energy and execution time show a high correlation.
An Applied Test of Knowledge Translation Methods Using a Mobile Health Solution.

INTRODUCTION The study's objectives were to improve providers' knowledge of mobile health core competencies; increase providers' knowledge and clinical use of the Virtual Hope Box (VHB) mobile app as an evidence-based treatment tool; and test elements of a structured knowledge translation paradigm. MATERIALS AND METHODS knowledge translation best practices were integrated into a training workshop with the goal to increase provider adoption of the VHB. Providers were trained at three sites and provided feedback before the training, post-training, and at 3, 6, and 12 months following the training. RESULTS Pretraining, <22% of respondents indicated that they had used the VHB in clinical practice; post-training, 89% of respondents reported their intent to use the VHB. At 3 and 6 months, 82% of evaluation respondents indicated actual use of the VHB. CONCLUSIONS Using a public-facing technology, this study successfully integrated knowledge translation methods within an existing provider training program. Implementation planning should be deliberate and consider a target site's capacity for new ideas and potential adoption barriers. Lessons learned have implications for future efforts to bridge the gap between research and practice in improving the quality and impact of clinical care.
Misidentified and Misunderstood: Extremists and Extremist Groups Incarcerated in U.S. Correctional Facilities

One of President Barak Obama's campaign promises was to close the prison in Guantanamo and shift the remaining detainees to one or more correctional facilities in the United States. Shortly after being elected the Obama administration found this pledge more difficult than imagined. Few states and jurisdictions were willing to accommodate these individuals. It created sufficient controversy and fear, especially when it was revealed that the detainees would be shifted to Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois. Jails and prisons in the United States have a long history of incarcerating individuals considered to be extremists. By the same token, our correctional facilities have served as catalysts for individuals without ideological convictions to adopt radical beliefs and practices. While inside, these inmates are often subjected to more stringent or harsher prison conditions than the "traditional" convict, such as increased surveillance and brutality by correctional personnel. Over time, these convicts may attract allies not only behind bars but also in the wider community, and thus may extend their identities from convicts to incarcerated celebrities.This chapter reviews the contemporary history of extremists and the groups they belong to in U.S. jails and prisons. It presents the conceptual difficulties of trying to understand this phenomenon, reviews the major individuals and groups belonging to extremist groups in U.S. correctional facilities, and outlines the methods by which jail and prison facilities manage and control these convicts. The chapter also details the connections these individuals and groups have with people and organizations in the outside world and makes recommendations for the improved study of these individuals.
The Right Tool for the Job: An Overview of Hsp90 Inhibitors.

Molecular chaperones are responsible for maintaining intracellular protein quality control by facilitating the conformational maturation of new proteins as well as the refolding of denatured proteins. While there are several classes of molecular chaperones in the cell, this chapter will focus solely on the small molecule modulation of Hsp90, the 90 kDa heat shock protein. Hsp90 is not only responsible for folding nascent proteins, but it also regulates the triage of numerous client proteins through partnering with the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Consequently, Hsp90 plays critical role in maintaining the protein homeostasis (proteostasis) network within the cell and is required for the activation/maturation of more than 300 client protein substrates. Many of the clients that depend upon Hsp90 are overexpressed or mutated during malignant transformation. This often renders the clients thermodynamically unstable and dependent on Hsp90 for stability. This phenomenon results in an oncogenic ‘addiction’ to the Hsp90 protein folding machinery as Hsp90 maintains onco-client proteins. Furthermore, Hsp90-dependent substrates are associated with all ten hallmarks of cancer, making Hsp90 an attractive target for the development of cancer chemotherapeutics. In fact, 17 small molecule inhibitors of Hsp90 have been developed and clinically evaluated for the treatment of cancer. Unfortunately, most of these molecules have failed for various reasons, necessitating a new approach to modulate the Hsp90 protein folding machine.
Contexts for Family Talk about Racism: Historical, Dyadic, and Geographic

Scholars studying ethnic-racial socialization often call for research with larger and more representative samples to permit comparison of the behaviors of members of various ethnic-racial subgroups...
Management of Type 1 Laryngeal Clefts: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

ObjectiveEndoscopic surgical management or injection laryngoplasty of type 1 laryngeal clefts in pediatric patients is used in those who do not respond to conservative treatment. This study compare...
Serological and molecular epidemiology of Japanese Encephalitis in Zhejiang, China, 2015-2018.

Background Shifts have occurred in the epidemiological characteristics of Japanese encephalitis (JE), extending from the molecular level to the population level. The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of JE neutralizing antibodies in healthy populations from different age groups in Zhejiang Province, and to conduct mosquito monitoring to evaluate the infection rate of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) among vectors, as well as the molecular characteristics of the E gene of isolated JEV strains. Methodology/Principal findings A total of 1190 sera samples were screened by a microseroneutralization test, including 429 infants (28d-11m) and 761 participants (2y-82y). For those under 1 year old, the geometric mean titers (GMTs) of the JE neutralizing antibody was 9.49 at birth and significantly declined as the age of month increased (r = -0.225, P<0.001). For those above 1-year old, seropositive proportions were higher in subjects aged 1–3 years old as well as ≥25 years old (65%-75%), and relatively lower in subjects aged between 4–25 years old (22%-55%). Four or more years after the 2nd dose of JEV-L (first dose administered at 8 months and the second at 2 years of age), the seropositive proportion decreased to 32.5%-37.5%, and GMTs decreased to 8.08–9.11. A total of 87,201 mosquitoes were collected from livestock sheds in 6 surveillance sites during 2015–2018, from which 139 E gene sequences were successfully amplified. The annual infection rate according to bias-corrected maximum likelihood estimation of JEV in Culex tritaeniorhynchus was 1.56, 2.36, 5.65 and 1.77 per 1000, respectively. JEV strains isolated during 2015–2018 all belonged to Genotype I. The E gene of amplified 139 samples differed from the JEV-L vaccine strain at fourteen amino acid residues, including the eight key residues related to virulence and virus attenuation. No divergence was observed at the sites related to antigenicity. Conclusions/Significance Zhejiang Province was at a high risk of JE exposure due to relatively lower neutralizing antibody levels among the younger-aged population and higher infection rates of JEV in mosquitoes. Continuous, timely and full coverage of JE vaccination are essential, as well as the separation of human living areas and livestock shed areas. In addition, annual mosquito surveillance and periodic antibody level monitoring are important for providing evidence for improvement in JE vaccines and immunization schedules.
To the Shores of Chile: The Journal and History of the Brouwer Expedition to Valdivia in 1643: By MARK MEUWESE. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019. xvii + [1], 114 + [4] pp., bibliography, index. $26.95 (PB). ISBN 978-0-271-08375-9.

To the Shores of Chile is the fourteenth addition to PSU’s Latin American Originals series, featuring source texts dealing with colonial and nineteenth-century Latin America, translated into Englis...
Current Parental Leave Policies for Medical Students at U.S. Medical Schools: A Comparative Study.

PURPOSE Parental leave for new parents is essential as they adjust to the physical and psychological changes that accompany childbirth and caring for a newborn. This study sought to determine the current state of parental leave policies for medical students at medical schools in the United States. METHOD From November to December 2019, 2 researchers independently reviewed the websites of 199 U.S. MD-granting and DO-granting medical schools (including in U.S. territories). Online student handbooks and school webpages were searched for the following keywords: "pregnant" OR "pregnancy" OR "maternity" OR "parent" OR "family" OR "child" OR "birth." Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Fisher's exact tests evaluated differences in proportion by group. RESULTS Of 199 schools, 65 (32.66%) had parental leave policies available online or in the handbook: 39 of 155 (25.16%) MD-granting and 26 of 44 (59.09%) DO-granting schools. Of those policies, 59 (90.77%) were included in the student handbook. Most policies (28, 43.08%) were included as an option within the school's general leave of absence policy. Both parents were included in 38 (58.46%) policies; 23 (35.38%) policies mentioned only mothers; and 4 (6.15%) were unknown. An option to maintain original graduation date was offered in 21 (32.1%) schools' policies. Three schools (4.62%) included adoption as qualifying for parental leave. When comparing MD and DO programs, DO programs were statistically more likely to have a parental leave policy: 39 (25.16%) vs 26 (59.09%); P < .001. CONCLUSIONS Balancing medical school with pregnancy and childbirth necessitates administrative support to address the inherent scheduling challenges. Currently, many schools lack parental leave policies for medical students that are easily accessible, are separate from formal leaves of absence, allow for at least 12 weeks, and are tailored to the student academic year to ensure on-time completion of medical education.
Beyond Taylor’s hypothesis: a novel volumetric reconstruction of velocity and density fields for variable‑density and shear flows

This work presents a novel numerical procedure for reconstructing volumetric density and velocity fields from planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) and stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) data. This new method is theoretically and practically demonstrated to provide more accurate 3D vortical structures and density fields in high shear flows than reconstruction methods based on the mean convective velocity. While Taylor’s hypothesis of frozen turbulence is commonly applied by using the local mean streamwise velocity, the proposed algorithm uses the measured local instantaneous velocity for data convection. It consists of a step-by-step reconstruction based on a mixed Lagrangian–Eulerian solver that includes the 3D interpolation of scattered flow data and that relaxes the Taylor’s hypothesis by iterative enforcement of the incompressibility constraint on the velocity field. This methodology provides 3D fields with temporal resolution, spatial resolution, and accuracy comparable to that of real 3D snapshots, thus providing a practical alternative to tomographic measurements. The procedure is validated using numerical data of the constant-density channel flow available on the Johns Hopkins University Turbulence Database (JHTDB), showing the accurate reconstruction of the 3D velocity field. The algorithm is applied to an experimental dataset of PLIF and SPIV measurements of a variable-density jet flow, demonstrating its capability to provide 3D velocity and density fields that are more consistent with the Navier–Stokes equations compared to the mean flow convective method.
Osimertinib as neoadjuvant therapy in a patient with stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer: a case report

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) targeting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are approved for use in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here we present a case of a African American patient with stage IIIA NSCLC treated with osimertinib in the neoadjuvant setting with concurrent radiation, followed by resection. The patient remains disease-free 4 months after surgery. This case report suggests that osimertinib may be effective as neoadjuvant therapy in resectable stage III disease. Additionally, we provide a summary of previous case reports and ongoing clinical trials for neoadjuvant EGFR inhibition in stage III NSCLC patients.
Mobile gaming and internet addiction: When is playing No longer just fun and games?

Abstract Using Uses and Gratifications theory as a guide, the proposed framework explores how mobile games are utilized to escape reality and cope with stress in developing a ritualized media use orientation. A purposive online survey of mobile game users uncovered expected positive relationships between materialism and Internet addiction, as well as Internet addiction and amount of money spent. Additionally, survey results revealed a positive relationship between materialism and a negative relationship between social support and Internet addiction. Contrary to expectations, social support did not have a moderating effect on the relationship between materialism and Internet addiction. Theoretical implications stemming from the complexity of using social support as a moderator for problematic uses are discussed.
Ventilatory responses during and following hypercapnic gas challenge are impaired in male but not female endothelial NOS knock-out mice.

The roles of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in the ventilatory responses during and after a hypercapnic gas challenge (HCC, 5% CO2, 21% O2, 74% N2) were assessed in freely-moving female and male wild-type (WT) C57BL6 mice and eNOS knock-out (eNOS-/-) mice of C57BL6 background using whole body plethysmography. HCC elicited an array of ventilatory responses that were similar in male and female WT mice, such as increases in breathing frequency (with falls in inspiratory and expiratory times), and increases in tidal volume, minute ventilation, peak inspiratory and expiratory flows, and inspiratory and expiratory drives. eNOS-/- male mice had smaller increases in minute ventilation, peak inspiratory flow and inspiratory drive, and smaller decreases in inspiratory time than WT males. Ventilatory responses in female eNOS-/- mice were similar to those in female WT mice. The ventilatory excitatory phase upon return to room-air was similar in both male and female WT mice. However, the post-HCC increases in frequency of breathing (with decreases in inspiratory times), and increases in tidal volume, minute ventilation, inspiratory drive (i.e., tidal volume/inspiratory time) and expiratory drive (i.e., tidal volume/expiratory time), and peak inspiratory and expiratory flows in male eNOS-/- mice were smaller than in male WT mice. In contrast, the post-HCC responses in female eNOS-/- mice were equal to those of the female WT mice. These findings provide the first evidence that the loss of eNOS affects the ventilatory responses during and after HCC in male C57BL6 mice, whereas female C57BL6 mice can compensate for the loss of eNOS, at least in respect to triggering ventilatory responses to HCC.
Paediatric regional anaesthesia: a current perspective.

Purpose of reviewEffective analgesia is necessary for optimal recovery after surgery, but children often do not attain adequate postoperative pain control. This review examines the current trends in paediatric regional anaesthesia.Recent findingsBetter pain assessment and therapeutic regimens are ne
How Children Develop

1. An Introduction To Child Development: History, Themes, and Research Methods 2. Prenatal Development, Birth, and The Newborn Period 3. Biology and Behavior: Genetics, Brain Development, and Physical Development 4. Theories of Cognitive Development: Piagetian, Core-Knowledge, Information Processing, and Sociocultural 5. Seeing, Thinking, and Doing Infancy 6. Development of Language and Symbol Use 7. Conceptual Development 8. Intelligence and Academic Achievement 9. Theories of Social Development: Psychoanalytic, Learning, Social Cognition, and Ecological 10. Emotional Development 11. Attachment to Others and Development of Self 12. The Family 13. Peer Relationships 14. Moral Development 15. Gender Development 16. Conclusions: Integrating Current Understanding Around the Seven Major Themes
Autonomous underwater vehicle navigation and mapping in dynamic, unstructured environments

This thesis presents a system for automatically building 3-D optical and bathymetric maps of underwater terrain using autonomous robots. The maps that are built improve the state of the art in resolution by an order of magnitude, while fusing bathymetric information from acoustic ranging sensors with visual texture captured by cameras. As part of the mapping process, several internal relationships between sensors are automatically calibrated, including the roll and pitch offsets of the velocity sensor, the attitude offset of the multibeam acoustic ranging sensor, and the full six-degree of freedom offset of the camera. The system uses pose graph optimization to simultaneously solve for the robot's trajectory, the map, and the camera location in the robot's frame, and takes into account the case where the terrain being mapped is drifting and rotating by estimating the orientation of the terrain at each time step in the robot's trajectory. Relative pose constraints are introduced into the pose graph based on multibeam submap matching using depth image correlation, while landmark-based constraints are used in the graph where visual features are available. The two types of constraints work in concert in a single optimization, fusing information from both types of mapping sensors and yielding a texture-mapped 3-D mesh for visualization. The optimization framework also allows for the straightforward introduction of constraints provided by the particular suite of sensors available, so that the navigation and mapping system presented works under a variety of deployment scenarios, including the potential incorporation of external localization systems such as long-baseline acoustic networks. Results of using the system to map the draft of rotating Antarctic ice floes are presented, as are results fusing optical and range data of a coral reef.
MINDS: Architecture & Design

This chapter provides an overview of the Minnesota Intrusion Detection System (MINDS), which uses a suite of data mining based algorithms to address different aspects of cyber security. The various components of MINDS such as the scan detector, anomaly detector and the profiling module detect different types of attacks and intrusions on a computer network. The scan detector aims at detecting scans which are the percusors to any network attack. The anomaly detection algorithm is very effective in detecting behavioral anomalies in the network traffic which typically translate to malicious activities such as denial-of-service (DoS) traffic, worms, policy violations and inside abuse. The profiling module helps a network analyst to understand the characteristics of the network traffic and detect any deviations from the normal profile. Our analysis shows that the intrusions detected by HINDS are complementary to those of traditional signature based systems, such as SNORT, which implies that they both can be combined to increase overall attack coverage. MINDS has shown great operational success in detecting network intrusions in two live deployments at the University of Minnesota and as a part of the Interrogator architecture at the US Army Research Lab — Center for Intrusion Monitoring and Protection (ARL-CIMP).
On exact sampling of the first passage event of a Lévy process with infinite Lévy measure and bounded variation

Exact sampling of the first passage event (FPE) of a Levy process with infinite Levy measure is challenging due to lack of analytic formulas. We present an approach to the sampling for processes with bounded variation. The idea is to embed a process for which we wish to sample the FPE into another process whose FPE can be sampled based on analytic formulas, and once the latter FPE is sampled, extract from it the part belonging to the former process. We obtain general procedures to sample the FPE across a regular nonincreasing boundary or out of an interval. Concrete algorithms are given for two important classes of Levy processes. The approach is based on distributional results that appear to be new.
Protein purification with polymeric affinity membranes containing functionalized poly(acid) brushes.

Porous nylon membranes modified with poly(acid) brushes and their derivatives can rapidly purify proteins via ion-exchange and metal-ion affinity interactions. Membranes containing poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl succinate) (poly(MES)) brushes bind 118 ± 8 mg of lysozyme per cm3 of membrane and facilitate purification of lysozyme from chicken egg white. Moreover, functionalization of the poly(MES) brushes with nitrilotriacetate (NTA)-Ni2+ complexes yields membranes that bind poly(histidine)-tagged (His-tagged) ubiquitin with a capacity of 85 ± 2 mg of protein per cm3 of membrane. Most importantly, the membranes modified with poly(MES)-NTA-Ni2+ allow isolation of His-tagged cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein directly from a cell extract in <10 min, and the protein purity is comparable to that achieved with commercial affinity columns. Therefore, porous nylon membranes containing functionalized poly(MES) brushes are attractive candidates for rapid, high-capacity purification of His-tagged proteins from ce...
The determination of chiroptical dissymmetry factors and electric-vs. magnetic-dipole transition amplitude ratios from circularly polarized excitation and emission measurements on racemic Eu(dpa)33− in aqueous solution

Abstract A combination of circularly polarized excitation and emission measurements is used to determine the chiroptical properties of Eu(dpa)3−3 complexes in aqueous solution (dpadipicolinate dianionpyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate). Intrinsic chiroptical dissymmetry factors are measured for four absorptive and three emissive transitions, and the results are used to calculate ratios of electric- versus magnetic-dipole transition amplitudes.
Myosin light chain phosphorylation does not modulate cross-bridge cycling rate in mouse skeletal muscle

An attempt was made to determine whether phosphorylation of the myosin light chain represents a thick filament-associated mechanism for modulating the rate of cross-bridge cycling in mouse skeletal muscle. When the degree of light chain phosphorylation was varied independently of tetanus duration, there was no correlation of phosphorylation with cross-bridge turnover rate, as measured by the shortening velocity of the muscle. It is concluded that in intact skeletal muscle phosphorylation of the myosin light chain does not in itself modulate cross-bridge cycling rate and that previously reported changes in cycling rate were due to other factors that may vary with tetanus duration.
Speech, language, and reading skills after early cochlear implantation.

ObjectiveTo examine whether age at cochlear implantation or duration of implant use is associated with speech, language, and reading skills exhibited at age 8 to 9 years in children who underwent implantation by age 5 years.DesignPerformance outcomes in speech perception, speech production, language, and reading were examined in terms of the age at which children first received a cochlear implant (2, 3, or 4 years), the age they received an updated (Spectra) processor, and the duration of use of an implant and an updated processor.SettingData collection was conducted at summer research camps held over 4 consecutive years to maximize the number of children available at a specific age (8-9 years). Children were tested individually by experienced examiners, and their parents and therapists provided background and educational history information.ParticipantsA total of 181 children from 33 different states and 5 Canadian provinces who received a cochlear implant by age 5 years were tested. A subsample of 133 children with performance IQ scores of 80 or greater and onset of deafness at birth were selected for the age-at-implantation analysis. Another subsample of 39 children with deafness acquired by age 3 years was also examined.Outcome MeasuresA battery of tests of speech perception, speech production, language, and reading was administered to each child and reduced to a single factor score for each skill.ResultsCorrelation coefficients between age at implantation and duration of use did not reach significance for any of the outcome skills measured. Age at which the updated speech processor (Spectra) was fitted was significantly related to speech production outcome (earlier use of an updated processor was associated with greater speech intelligibility) but not to any other skill area. However, more of the children who underwent implantation at age 2 years (43%) achieved combined speech and language skills commensurate with their age-matched peers with normal hearing than did children who underwent implantation at age 4 years (16%). Furthermore, normal speech and language skills were documented in 80% of children who lost hearing after birth and who underwent implantation within a year of onset of deafness.ConclusionsFor children who receive a cochlear implant between the ages of 2 and 4 years, early cochlear implantation does not ensure better speech perception, speech production, language, or reading skills. However, greater speech and language proficiency may be expected from children who exhibit normal hearing for even a brief period after birth and receive a cochlear implant shortly after losing their hearing. Further research examining the benefits of cochlear implantation before age 2 years will help families and clinicians better understand the time-sensitive nature of the decision to conduct cochlear implant surgery.
Creep and other tensile properties of rubber cross-linked by dicumyl peroxide

Natural rubber crosslinked by dicumyl peroxide in amounts up to 25 parts per hundred of rubber (phr) showed a maximum in tensile strength near 1 phr, followed by a steep decrease to a minimum near 5 phr. The ultimate elongation decreased from 870% at 0.5 phr. to about 10% above 10 phr. The modulus increased linearly with increase of crosslinking. The creep rate decreased from 5.6% per decade at 0.5 phr to zero at 5 phr and higher values. Crystallization, with a resultant abrupt increase in creep, was noted in specimens held in the stretched condition for more than one day. Between 5 and 25 phr this system (when crystallization is avoided) appears to function as an ideal elastic network and can be recommended for studies of rubber elasticity since no variation of modulus with time is observed.
Minimizing participant attrition in panel studies through the use of effective retention and tracking strategies: Review and recommendations

Abstract Participant attrition poses a significant threat to the internal and external validity of panel studies, in part because participants who successfully complete all follow-up measurements often differ in significant ways from those respondents lost to attrition. The only certain safeguard against potential biases resulting from attrition is to ensure high interview completion rates during follow-up. Unfortunately, information about reducing preventable attrition is not discussed in most research reports and a comprehensive review paper has not yet been published. The purpose of the present paper is to provide a brief overview of how attrition can threaten the validity of panel studies and to discuss eight promising methods of minimizing attrition through the use of effective retention and tracking strategies. Attempts to reduce attrition are not always met with complete success, therefore, a brief discussion of statistical techniques to assess and correct for potential attrition biases is provided. Finally, methods of calculating attrition rates are suggested along with recommendations for future research.
Remarks on the existence of solutions to the average cost optimality equation in Markov decision processes

Necessary conditions are given for the existence of a bounded solution to the optimality equation arising in Markov decision processes, under a long-run, expected average cost criterion. The relationships of some of our results to known sufficient conditions are also shown.
Dominance in Marital Decision Making in Women's Liberation and Non-Women's Liberation Families†

Fourteen couples of whom the wife was associated with the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) and 14 “traditional” couples were interviewed using a modified version of the Revealed Differences Technique. The WLM-associated wives differed significantly from the control group in the dominance indices of “Speaks Last” (p < .001) and “Time Spoken” (p < .05) and in the content of responses to two of the ten interview questions. Analysis indicated that the WLM wives were more self-reliant, while the control-group wives were more passive and dependent. The two groups did not differ significantly on the “Speaks First” and “Decisions Won” indices of dominance and the conflict measures.
The EEG as confirmatory evidence of brain death: previous and current approaches.

The role of EEG in confirming the clinical diagnosis of isolated brain death has undergone evolutionary changes since the original recommendations concerning its use. Accumulated evidence now supports that approach that the EEG can be used not only as a confirmatory test for brain death, but one which considerably facilitates making the diagnosis. Using the EEG, brain death can often be identified with absolute certainty within just a few, rather than the previously recommended 24 or more hours after a known precipitating event. Guidelines to this effect have now been established.
Metabolism of pentachlorophenol by fish.

1. Interspecies variability in the metabolism of pentachlorophenol (PCP) was investigated by exposing rainbow trout, fathead minnows, sheepshead minnow, firemouth, and goldfish to water-borne 14C-PCP for 64 h.2. The amounts of metabolites in bile and exposure water were species-dependent; all of the metabolites excreted into the water were sulphate conjugates while bile was enriched in glucuronide conjugates.3. Biliary excretion accounted for less than 30% of the total PCP metabolites.4. Biliary metabolites alone were a poor indication of the metabolites produced and of the major routes of elimination.
Some Aspects of Yoruba Urbanism

Some Aspects of Yaruba Urbanism WILLIAM BASCOM University of California, Berkeley HE YORUBA Nigeria are the of all African peoples of T comparable size. of The fact that they most urban dense cities which existed have large, prior to European penetration has been demonstrated in earlier papers (see under Bascom). Briefly, 53.5 percent of the 5,046,799 Yoruba recorded in Nigeria's 1952 census lived in communities of 5,000 and over; 44.8 percent in those of 10,000 and over; 36.6 percent in 25 cities of 25,000 and over; and 22.1 percent lived in six cities of 100,000 and over. Their index of urbanization (de­ fined by Davis and Casis [1946] as the average of these four percentages) was 39.3 in 1952, which ranked between that of the United States and that of Canada. If only the Yoruba of the Western Region and the Colony were con­ sidered, excluding 9 percent in Ilorin and Kabba Divisions of the Northern Region of Nigeria, their index of urbanization was 42.4, exceeding that of the United States. Population densities of 87,000 per square mile for Lagos in 1950,55,555 for Ibadan in 1960; and 43,372 for Ogbomosho, 13,914 for Oyo, and 5,720 for Abeokuta in 1931, compare with 24,697 for New York City, 15,850 for Chicago, 15,743 for Philadelphia, and 5,451 for Los Angeles-the four largest urban cen­ ters in the United States-in 1960. The permanence of the 12 largest Yoruba cities, all over 40,000 in 1952 (see Table 2), has been documented over the past century, although most of them were unknown until after 1825 when Yoruba territory was first penetrated. Nevertheless, Old Oyo has been known since 1725 because of its interference in the affairs of Dahomey, or possibly even a century earlier as the Lucumies (Alonso de Sandoval 1627). Ijebu Ode, whose population was 27,558 in 1952, is mentioned repeatedly in the historical documents from 1500 onwards, and it is probable that the first Portuguese explorers to visit Benin City in 1485 brought back word of the King of Ife. Of these cities, only Lagos follows the familiar pattern of the new African cities which have developed at ports, mining and trading centers, and ad­ ministrative headquarters. As the national capital, chief port, and principal railhead of Nigeria, Lagos is not a traditional city, although historical refer­ ences to the village from which it grew go back to the early days of exploration. Ibadan, with nearly half a million inhabitants, and Abeokuta are not old cities, having been founded in the first half of the last century by refugees from the wars with Ilorin. Yet both exceeded 50,000 when they were first visited by Europeans a century ago, and in some respects both are intermediate between the new and the traditional cities. Old Oyo or Katunga was evacuated about
Statins in atherosclerosis: lipid-lowering agents with antioxidant capabilities

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is an established risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). In the presence of oxidative stress LDL particles can become oxidized to form a lipoprotein species that is particularly atherogenic. Indeed, oxidized LDL (oxLDL) is pro-inflammatory, it can cause endothelial dysfunction and it readily accumulates within the arterial wall. Several factors may influence the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation, including its size and composition, and the presence of endogenous antioxidant compounds, such as α-tocopherol. Individuals with type 2 diabetes or the metabolic syndrome have high levels of oxidative stress and consequently are at an increased risk for cardiovascular events. Reducing oxidative stress has been proposed as a potential approach to prevent CHD and antioxidant vitamins have been employed with encouraging results in experimental models of atherosclerosis. However, clinical trials have not demonstrated consistent beneficial effects of antioxidants on cardiovascular outcomes. Statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors) are the first-line choice for lowering total and LDL cholesterol levels and they have been proven to reduce the risk of CHD. Recent data suggest that these compounds, in addition to their lipid-lowering ability, can also reduce the production of reactive oxygen species and increase the resistance of LDL to oxidation. It may be that the ability of statins to limit the oxidation of LDL contributes to their effectiveness at preventing atherosclerotic disease.
Bone morphogenetic protein-2 can mediate myocardial regulation of atrioventricular cushion mesenchymal cell formation in mice.

Abstract Transformation of endocardial endothelial cells into invasive mesenchyme is a critical antecedent of cardiac cushion tissue formation. The message for bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 is known to be expressed in myocardial cells in a manner consistent with the segmental pattern of cushion formation [Development 109(1990) 833]. In the present work, we localized BMP-2 protein in atrioventricular (AV) myocardium in mice at embryonic day (ED) 8.5 (12 somite stage) before the onset of AV mesenchymal cell formation at ED 9.5. BMP-2 protein expression was absent from ventricular myocardium throughout the stages examined. After cellularization of the AV cushion at ED 10.5, myocardial BMP-2 protein expression was diminished in AV myocardium, whereas cushion mesenchymal cells started expressing BMP protein. Expression of BMP-2 in cushion mesenchyme persisted during later stages of development, ED 13.5–16, during valuvulogenesis. Intense expression of BMP-2 persisted in the valve tissue in adult mice. Based on the expression pattern, we performed a series of experiments to test the hypothesis that BMP-2 mediates myocardial regulation of cardiac cushion tissue formation in mice. When BMP-2 protein was added to the 16–18 somite stage (ED 9.25) AV endocardial endothelium in culture, cushion mesenchymal cells were formed in the absence of AV myocardium, which invaded into collagen gels and expressed the mesenchymal marker, smooth muscle (SM) α-actin; whereas the endothelial marker, PECAM-1, was lost from the invaded cells. In contrast, when noggin, a specific antagonist to BMPs, was applied together with BMP-2 to the culture medium, AV endothelial cells remained as an epithelial monolayer with little expression of SM α-actin, and expression of PECAM-1 was retained in the endocardial cells. When noggin was added to AV endothelial cells cocultured with associated myocardium, it blocked endothelial transformation to mesenchyme. AV endothelium treated with BMP-2 expressed elevated levels of TGFβ-2 in the absence of myocardium, as observed in the endothelium cocultured with myocardium. BMP-2-supported elevation of TGFβ-2 expression in endocardial cells was abolished by noggin treatment. These data indicated that BMP signaling is required in and BMP-2 is sufficient for myocardial segmental regulation of AV endocardial cushion mesenchymal cell formation in mice.
Evaluation of gas and other chromatographic separations of indolic methyl esters.

Abstract Diazomethylation esterified all tested acidic indoles without appreciable loss. A group of ten methyl ester derivatives were obtained in crystalline form. These were used to test the relative values of four gas chromatographic substrates. Quantitative comparisons led to the selection of Versamid 900, HI-EFF 8 BP, and SE-30 as permitting complete separation of all indole esters, while SE-52 was unsatisfactory. Gradient elution column and thin-layer chromatography as pre- and post-purification techniques for these indole esters were also compared, as was the usefulness of UV spectroscopy and spectrophotofluorometry in acidic indole analysis.
Protestant ethic ideology : Its multifaceted relationships with just world beliefs, social dominance orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism

To examine how different dimensions of the Protestant work ethic (PWE) are related to constructs indicative of conservative beliefs, 256 Americans completed an online survey including measures of PWE, belief in a just world, social dominance orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the PWE dimensions of the belief that hard work yields desirable outcomes and anti-leisure predicted belief in a just world; the dimensions of centrality of work and anti-leisure attitudes predicted social dominance; and the dimensions of morality/ethics, self-reliance, anti-leisure predicted right-wing authoritarianism. We discuss how focusing on specific dimensions of PWE ideology, rather than a global score, enhances predictive ability and boosts understanding of relationships between PWE and other constructs.