cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Who Is Caring for Health Care Workers' Families Amid COVID-19?

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, women in medicine, including faculty, residents, medical students, and other health care workers (HCWs), are facing unparalleled challenges. The burdens of pandemic-associated increases in domestic and caregiving responsibilities, professional demands, health risks associated with contracting COVID-19, and the resulting psychosocial distress have exacerbated existing gender disparities at home, at work, and in academia. School and daycare closures have created additional childcare needs, primarily for women, yet little support exists for parents and families. These increased childcare and domestic responsibilities have forced women HCWs, who make up the overwhelming majority of the workforce, to adapt their schedules and, in some cases, leave their jobs entirely. In this article, the authors detail how COVID-19 has exacerbated existing childcare accessibility and affordability issues as well as gender disparities. They argue that, unless government and health care organization support for childcare increases, families, specifically women and children, will continue to suffer. Lack of access to affordable childcare can prevent HCWs from doing their jobs, including conducting and publishing academic scholarship. This poses incalculable risks to families, science, and society. COVID-19 should serve as a call to action to all sectors, including the government and health care organizations, to prioritize childcare provision and increase support for women HCWs, both now during the pandemic and going forward.
High-resistance proximal "scaled" ventricular catheters.

PURPOSE Prove the concept of high-resistance proximal catheters for valve-independent treatment of hydrocephalus. METHODS A preliminary design process yielded optimal high-resistance proximal ventricular catheters with a "scaled" design and parallel-oriented, U-shaped inlets. Prototypes were manually constructed using carving tools to stamp through silicone tubings. A testing apparatus was developed to simulate cerebrospinal fluid flow through a catheter, and the prototypes were tested against a control catheter for exhibition of an "on/off" phenomenon whereby no flow occurs at low pressures, and flow begins beyond a pressure threshold. Flow distribution was visualized with India ink. Regression analysis was performed to determine linearity. RESULTS The new designs showed varying amounts of improved flow control with the "scaled" design showing the most practical flow rate control across various pressures, compared to the standard catheter; however, no true "on/off" phenomenon was observed. The "scaled" design showed various degrees of dynamism; its flow rate can be time dependent, and certain maneuvers such as flushing and bending increased flow rate temporarily. Variation in the number of inlets within each "scaled" prototype also affected flow rate. Contrastingly, the flow rate of standard catheters was found to be independent of the number of inlet holes. Ink flow showed even flow distribution in "scaled" prototypes. CONCLUSIONS This initial feasibility study showed that high-resistance ventricular catheters can be designed to mimic the current/valved system. The "scaled" design demonstrated the best flow control, and its unique features were characterized.
Hidden Aspects of a Cloud Computing Contract

Cloud service providers offer a contract to their customers. The contracts do not deviate much from one another. The cloud service provider prefers the contract to be executed as a click-through online. In a way the cloud service providers keep the contract standard without customization. There are two main reasons for the standard contract. First, the services are standardized and the customer has the full range of services to look at and decide on the services that they want. Second, with numerous customers it will be impossible to manage customized contracts that differ from one another. Review of the standard contract reveals that the Service Level Agreement (SLA) does not give the customer much recourse. Invariably the SLAs favor the service provider. There is a new trend among cloud service providers and customers to seek insurance to mitigate the risks. In this chapter we look at the many hidden aspects of a cloud contract and point out where clarity is needed. Cloud service providers have privileged users who have the potential to access customer data on the cloud. The standard contract does not specify how privileged users will be monitored. Also important to the customer is the ability to switch service providers and move data across providers easily. This requires the service provider to have the resources to support high speed data transfer in a standardized format. We will look at the provisions made in the contract for such a move.
A behavior based approach to virus detection

Fast spreading unknown viruses have caused major damage on computer systems upon their initial release. Current detection methods have lacked capabilities to detect unknown viruses quickly enough to avoid mass spreading and damage. This dissertation has presented a behavior based approach to detecting known and unknown viruses based on their attempt to replicate. Replication is the qualifying fundamental characteristic of a virus and is consistently present in all viruses making this approach applicable to viruses belonging to many classes and executing under several conditions. A form of replication called self-reference replication, (SR-replication), has been formalized as one main type of replication which specifically replicates by modifying or creating other files on a system to include the virus itself. This replication type was used to detect viruses attempting replication by referencing themselves which is a necessary step to successfully replicate files. The approach does not require a priori knowledge about known viruses. Detection was accomplished at runtime by monitoring currently executing processes attempting to replicate. Two implementation prototypes of the detection approach called SRRAT were created and tested on the Microsoft Windows operating systems focusing on the tracking of user mode Win32 API system calls and Kernel mode system services. The research results showed SR-replication capable of distinguishing between file infecting viruses and benign processes with little or no false positives and false negatives.
Psychological and Biological Processes in Children Associated with High Conflict Parental Divorce

Several factors impact a child's adjustment after a parental divorce; a well-established one is the level of parental conflict during and after a divorce. Research is beginning to investigate the biological mechanisms that may be impacted by childhood trauma in general and parental high conflict specifically. This paper reviews the existing research concerning the relationship between exposure to high parental conflict/trauma and the biological stress response system (the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical axis and the sympathetic nervous system), sleep, and psychological maladjustment. We propose a conceptual model linking biological and psychological responses and discuss suggestions for future research.
EFFECTIVENESS OF BUTYROPHENONES AND RELATED DRUGS IN NARCOTIC WITHDRAWAL

Butyrophenones and structurally related compounds were found effective in blocking several withdrawal signs in morphine-dependent rats. Haloperidol was also found satisfactory in controlling withdrawal symptoms in heroin addicts. The mechanism of action of antiwithdrawal activity is not known at present.
Irregular sampling of wavelet and short-time Fourier transforms

We obtain irregular sampling theorems for the wavelet transform and the short-time Fourier transform. These sampling theorems yield irregular weighted frames for wavelets and Gabor functions with explicit estimates for the frame bounds.
PD3: a handheld observation tool to support instructional leadership

We designed and developed a handheld classroom walkthrough to support data-based decision making about professional development and school improvement planning. We used methods of participatory design to maximize the usability and value of our technology to policymakers, school leaders, and teachers, who had different and conflicting goals and concerns. We describe design decisions that met their constraints and led to a tool with potential for wide adoption, and impact at the local level.
RESPIRATORY SINUS ARRHYTHMIA (RSA) IN MAN: ALTERED INSPIRED O2 AND CO2

Publisher Summary At rest, the heart rate increases on inspiration and decreases on expiration. This oscillation in heart rate is called the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). A similar oscillation in heart rate is seen at the beginning of an inspiratory breathhold. This first oscillation during breath hold is defined as the zero frequency respiratory sinus arrhythmia. If breathing frequency is increased, the amplitude of this heart rate oscillation decreases, showing that the respiratory sinus arrhythmia is a frequency dependent phenomenon. Static lung volume and tidal volume also influence the amplitude of the heart rate oscillation. Increased lung volumes increase RSA. Although the influences of breathing frequency and tidal volume on RSA have been investigated independently, few attempts have been made to measure RSA while controlling tidal volume during different breathing frequencies. This chapter discusses the relationship of the tidal volume and breathing frequency to RSA in adult humans.
Proceedings of the 14th ACM SIGSOFT international symposium on Foundations of software engineering

Welcome to SIGSOFT 2006 and the Fourteenth ACM SIGSOFT Symposium on Foundations of Software Engineering.FSE is a premier conference for research in software engineering theory and practice, and the flagship conference sponsored solely by ACM SIGSOFT. FSE has traditionally been a highly selective venue, and this year was no exception. We received 125 submissions from the global software engineering research community on a wide range of topics. Each paper was reviewed by at least 3 members of the technical program committee, composed of leading researchers with a wide range of research interests and, like the authors, drawn from a vibrant world-wide research community. Based on their reviews, about 50 papers were selected for discussion during a program committee meeting held at Rutgers University. Collegial but spirited face-to-face discussion over a period of two days led to the final selection of 30 papers that you see in these proceedings.
Modelling time variable and total eclipses of the millisecond pulsar PSR 1744-24A

The 11 ms pulsar PSR 1744-24A in the globular clusters Terzan 5 is the first and only known example of a binary eclipsing pulsar showing time-variable eclipses with irregular and nonsymmetric eclipse patterns. Occasionally, the pulsar eclipse becomes total, and no radio emission is detected for an extended period of time. We present here numerical results of a hydrodynamical model aimed at explaining the remarkable eclipse properties of PSR 1744-24A. We show that the hydrodynamic time scale for the partial or total pulsar enshrouding is of order of the orbital period for a relatively large mass loss rate, in agreement with observations. The time-variable eclipse egress positions imply that the mass loss rate from the companion varies within one orbital period. Hydrodynamic modelling of the mass outflow of PSR 1744-24A is of crucial importance for the understanding of a class of millisecond pulsars whose radio emission might be occasionally or permanently quenched by mass outflows from their companions. The properties of PSR 1744-24A suggest a new way of studying millisecond pulsars involving radio, X-ray, gamma-ray, and optical observations.
A 10b 160MS/s 84mW 1V Subranging ADC in 90nm CMOS

A 10b 160MS/S subranging ADC with THA is implemented in a 90nm digital CMOS process. Noise averaging and an auto-zeroed comparator are used in the fine converter to achieve low noise and offset at low power dissipation. The prototype converter achieves an ENOB of 9.1b for an 80MHz input and consumes 84mW from a 1V supply
Pool Boiling Enhancement via Micro Ratchets

Preliminary experiments on nucleate pool boiling using asymmetric micro ratchets with de-ionized (DI) water as the working fluid were investigated. Two brass surfaces were tested for comparison; one surface was manually polished while the second was composed of asymmetric ratchets with 30μm height and 150 μm period. Small test aquariums (114.8 mm × 54 mm × 152.4 mm) were fabricated and tested on a hot plate. Results show that the ratchet surface made significant heat transfer improvements over the polished surface.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
The Diagnostic Challenge of Identifying Isolated Fallopian Tube Torsion : A Case Report of Laparoscopic Management

Torsion of adnexal structures is a relatively uncommon occurrence. Isolated fallopian tube torsion is an even rarer gynecologic cause of acute low abdominal pain. Diagnosis of this condition is frequently delayed because of the rarity of its occurrence and prolonged investigations to rule out more common causes of acute abdominal pain on a differential diagnosis. A case of a 32-year-old woman with isolated right fallopian tube torsion managed laparoscopically is presented.
Molecular Structure of [Cu2(MeCN)2(μ-tpy)2][BPh4]2: A Helical Di-Cuprous Terpyridine Complex

The molecular structure of [Cu2(MeCN)2(μ-tpy)2][BPh4]2 has been determined. The two terpyridine ligands coordinate to the same Cu(I) center in a bidentate configuration, in which the copper adopted a distorted tetrahedral geometry with the four nitrogen donors. The third ring of each terpyridine ligand forms a bridge with a second Cu(I) center, whose tetrahedral coordination sphere is completed by two acetonitrile ligands. The resulting structure represents a section of a double helix. Crystal data: space group C2/c, a = 27.202(5), b = 12.995(3), c = 23.409(5) A, β = 123.13(3)°; V = 6930(2) A3, Z = 4, R = 0.0613, wR 2 = 0.0946. The molecular structure of [Cu2(MeCN)2(μ-tpy)2][BPh4]2 has been determined. The terpyridine ligands coordinate in a bidentate fashion to the same Cu center and monodentate to a second Cu center resulting in a double helical structural motif.
Effects of protein inhibitors and auxin on nucleic Acid metabolism in peanut cotyledons.

The accumulation of labeled phosphorus into newly synthesized nucleic acids or peanut cotyledon slices incubated with chloramphenicol, puromycin, or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was reduced. Promotion of nucleic acid synthesis was not noted by any of these chemicals. Chloramphenicol completely inhibited the synthesis of the DNA-RNA fraction at 1.25 × 10 −3 m while soluble and ribosomal RNA was inhibited by 70% and 80%, respectively. At the same concentration messenger RNA was inhibited by only 40%. These effects suggest that chloramphenicol inhibit nucleic acid synthesis in peanut cotyledons in a differential manner. Similar results were noted for DNA at low concentrations of 2,4-D. However, at high concentrations of 2,4-D, DNA as well as RNA fractions were inhibited in a similar manner at a given concentration. Puromycin did not differentially inhibit nucleic acid synthesis except at 2 × 10 −3 m where DNA was least inhibited. Nondifferential inhibition suggests that a common site or precursor pool essential for the synthesis of all nucleic acid fractions is altered. Differential inhibition may be due to the interference with a specific rate-limiting step, directly or indirectly, in the formation of a particular nucleic acid.
Evaluation of molecular community analysis methods for discerning fecal sources and human waste

Molecular microbial community analyses provide information on thousands of microorganisms simultaneously, and integrate biotic and abiotic perturbations caused by fecal contamination entering water bodies. A few studies have explored community methods as emerging approaches for microbial source tracking (MST), however, an evaluation of the current state of this approach is lacking. Here, we utilized three types of community-based methods with 64 blind, single- or dual-source, challenge samples generated from 12 sources, including: humans (feces), sewage, septage, dogs, pigs, deer, horses, cows, chickens, gulls, pigeons, and geese. Each source was a composite from multiple donors from four representative geographical regions in California. Methods evaluated included terminal restriction fragment polymorphism (TRFLP), phylogenetic microarray (PhyloChip), and next generation (Illumina) sequencing. These methods correctly identified dominant (or sole) sources in over 90% of the challenge samples, and exhibited excellent specificity regardless of source, rarely detecting a source that was not present in the challenge sample. Sensitivity, however, varied with source and community analysis method. All three methods distinguished septage from human feces and sewage, and identified deer and horse with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Method performance improved if the composition of blind dual-source reference samples were defined by DNA contribution of each single source within the mixture, instead of by Enterococcus colony forming units. Data analysis approach also influenced method performance, indicating the need to standardize data interpretation. Overall, results of this study indicate that community analysis methods hold great promise as they may be used to identify any source, and they are particularly useful for sources that currently do not have, and may never have, a source-specific single marker gene.
Obatoclax overcomes resistance to cell death in aggressive thyroid carcinomas by countering Bcl2a1 and Mcl1 overexpression

Poorly differentiated tumors of the thyroid gland (PDTC) are generally characterized by a poor prognosis due to their resistance to available therapeutic approaches. The relative rarity of these tumors is a major obstacle to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to tumor aggressiveness and drug resistance, and consequently to the development of novel therapies. By simultaneously activating Kras and deleting p53 (Trp53) in thyroid follicular cells, we have generated a novel mouse model that develops papillary thyroid cancer invariably progressing to PDTC. In several cases, tumors further progress to anaplastic carcinomas. The poorly differentiated tumors are morphologically and functionally similar to their human counterparts and depend on MEK/ERK signaling for proliferation. Using primary carcinomas as well as carcinoma-derived cell lines, we also demonstrate that these tumors are intrinsically resistant to apoptosis due to high levels of expression of the Bcl2 family members, Bcl2a1 (Bcl2a1a) and Mcl1, and can be effectively targeted by Obatoclax, a small-molecule pan-inhibitor of the Bcl2 family. Furthermore, we show that Bcl2 family inhibition synergizes with MEK inhibition as well as with doxorubicin in inducing cell death. Thus, our studies in a novel, relevant mouse model have uncovered a promising druggable feature of aggressive thyroid cancers.
Differential effects of methanol on rat aortic smooth muscle.

Abstract LI, W., B. T. ALTURA AND B. M. ALTURA. Differential effects of methanol on rat aortic smooth muscle . Alcohol 16 (3) 221–229, 1998.—The effects of methanol on isolated segments of rat aorta were investigated. In the absence of any vasoactive agent, methanol (5–675 mM) failed to alter basal tension. In rat aortic rings precontracted with high K + (30 mM), methanol elicited a concentration-related relaxation at concentrations of from 5 to 675 mM. The K + -induced contraction in the presence of endothelium was more strongly inhibited by methanol than in the absence of endothelium. The effective concentration producing approximately 50% of the maximal relaxation response (ED 50 ) to methanol was about 96 mM. Methanol-induced relaxations could not be abolished either by 5 × 10 −5 M N -nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) or N G -nitro-l-arginine (l-NNA), both selective inhibitors of nitric oxide (NO) formation; these relaxations were not potentiated by addition of excess l-arginine. An inhibitor of prostanoid synthesis, indomethacin (10 −5 M), had no effects on methanol-induced relaxation. Removal of extracellular Ca 2+ ([Ca 2+ ] o ) resulted in almost complete inhibition of the relaxant effects of methanol on rat aortic ring segments. Marked attenuation of the relaxation responses of intact arteries to methanol was obtained after buffering intracellular Ca 2+ ([Ca 2+ ] i ) with 10 μM BAPTA-AM. In 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, 2.5 μM)- or phenylephrine (PE, 0.1 μM)-precontracted rat aortic rings, methanol amplified contractile responses to 5-HT and PE; these increased responses were concentration dependent. No significant differences in these methanol potentiated responses were found between aorta with or without endothelial cells. The amplified rat aortic smooth muscle responses induced by methanol after PE could be modified only by phentolamine, an antagonist of PE, while responses to 5-HT could be inhibited by methysergide (an antagonist of 5-HT) and by phentolamine, diphenhydramine, and haloperidol. Pretreatment with 50, 200, and 500 mM methanol increased rat aortic contractile responses induced by 5-HT and PE. Our results suggest that: (a) acute methanol exposure relaxes rat aortic smooth muscle contractile responses induced by high K + , leading to vessel relaxation. This relaxation effect of methanol is endothelium-dependent, clearly Ca 2+ dependent, and independent of endogenous vasodilators such as acetylcholine, histamine, catecholamines, serotonin, or PG. (b) Methanol seems to increase potassium current by shifting the potential towards more negative values in depolarized vascular muscle cell membranes, probably inducing hyperpolarization of the cell membranes leading to a repolarization. (c) In contrast to the relaxant responses, methanol protentiates contractile response of rat aorta to 5-HT and PE.
Regulation of the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor by Protein Phosphorylation

AbstractThe nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is a multisubunit (α2βγδ) neurotransmitter-dependent ion channel that mediates synaptic transmission at the postsynaptic membrane of nicotinic cholinergic synapses. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is multiply phosphorylated by at least three different protein kinases (cAMP-dependent protein kinase protein kinase C, and a tyrosine-specific protein kinase) in postsynaptic membranes isolated from Torpedo californica. The cAMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylates the γ and δ subunits of the receptor, while protein kinase C phosphorylates the δ and α subunits and the tyrosine-specific protein kinase phosphorylates the β, γ and δ subunits. In addition, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in rat myotubes is phosphorylated in intact primary muscle cell cultures and the phosphorylation of the receptor is regulated by forskolin, a potent activator of adenylate cyclase. Forskolin stimulates the phosphorylation of the α, γ and δ subunits of rat nicotinic receptor....
Thermodynamic studies and loading of 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin into mesoporous silica particles MCM-41 in strongly acidic solutions.

A major limitation of the clinical efficacy of the 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN38) therapy is its facile conversion of the active lactone form into a less active carboxylate species at physiological pH and limited aqueous solubility. The present manuscript embodies a detailed description of several physicochemical properties of SN38 and further details the thermodynamic basis for its poor aqueous solubility. The ionization and increased solubility of the drug in highly acidic media were subsequently employed to efficiently load the positively charged drug in its biologically active lactone form into mesoporous silica material of type MCM-41, achieving a maximum loading of 250 mg of SN38 per gram of silicate. It was also found that the equilibrium association constant KA varies with the extent of drug adsorption. At low and high drug load, corresponding to one SN38 molecule bound for every 70 and 13 −SiO2−, KA was determined to be 1253.5 and 127.39 M−1, respectively.
Linear and nonlinear optical properties of group-III nitrides

Linear and nonlinear [second harmonic generation (SHG)] optical functions of cubic and hexagonal BN, AlN, GaN, and InN have been studied by using the first-principles full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave method. Equilibrium lattice constants are determined from the total-energy minimization method. The calculated spectra of the second-order optical susceptibility show pronounced structures related to the two-photon resonances. In materials with heavy metals there are remarkable contributions from the single-photon transitions. Line shapes of the linear and particularly the nonlinear optical spectra of GaN and InN crystals are very sensitive to the interactions between the conduction bands and metallic d states. Studies of the nonlinear optical susceptibilities in both wurtzite and cubic crystals show high sensitivity of the SHG spectra to the changes of atomic structure.
The Voyager encounters with Saturn.

Two Voyager spacecraft were launched in 1977 on a mission of exploration and scientific investigation of the outer solar system. The autonomous spacecraft carried out complex observational sequences of Jupiter and Saturn and their rings, satellites, and magnetospheres. A brief overview of some of the discoveries about the Saturnian system is presented.
Sclerostin: Therapeutic Horizons Based Upon Its Actions

Inactivating mutations of the SOST gene cause a reduction in sclerostin levels and are associated with high bone mass. The clinical phenotypes, sclerosteosis and van Buchem’s disease, were described in 1950s. Much later, it was learned that both diseases are due to loss-of-function mutations in the SOST gene. As a regulator of an important osteoanabolic pathway, Wnt, inactivation of SOST leads to a stimulation of the pathway it regulates. The high bone mass in patients with either sclerosteosis or van Buchem’s disease is associated with unusual skeletal strength; they do not fracture. Knowledge of this molecule and its actions led rather quickly to the development of anti-sclerostin antibodies that lead to marked increases in bone mass in both animals and human subjects. Blocking sclerostin action with anti-sclerostin antibodies is a promising new therapeutic approach to osteoanabolic therapy of osteoporosis.
A new approximate solution technique for randomly excited non-linear oscillators—II

Abstract The method of weighted residuals is applied to the reduced Fokker-Planck equation associated with a non-linear oscillator, which is subjected to both additive and multiplicative Gaussian white noise excitations. A set of constraints are deduced for obtaining an approximate stationary probability density for the system response. One of the constraints coincides with the previously proposed criterion of dissipation energy balancing, and the others are useful for calculating the equivalent conservative force. It is shown that these constraints imply certain relationships among certain statistical moments; their imposition guarantees that such moments computed from the approximate probability density satisfy the corresponding exact equations derived from the original equation of motion. Moreover, the well-known procedure of stochastic linearization and its improved version of partial linearization are shown to be special cases of this scheme, and they are less accurate since the approximations are not chosen from the entire set of the solution pool of generalized stationary potential. Applications of the scheme are illustrated by examples, and its accuracy is substantiated by Monte Carlo simulation results.
Women at Work: Commitment and Behavior Over the Life Course

Women at every stage of the family cycle are increasing their labor force participation but few maintain the continuous, full-time attachment characteristic of employed men. What does this mean in terms of women's subjective work commitment? Using data from six waves of the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics this study investigates the relationship between the pattern of employment over a five-year period and employed women's psychological commitment to work; findings suggest congruence as well as incongruence between labor force attitudes and behavior at different stages of the life course. Commitment to work in 1976 is also incorporated in a model estimating 1977 employment status. Results reveal that the greatest congruence between subjective commitment and labor force attachment is found in young women who have not yet begun their child bearing. On the other hand, employed mothers of preschoolers emerge as the group most likely to evidence discrepancies between labor force behavior and psychological commitment to the work role. Subjective commitment to work is shown to have a slight positive effect in estimating labor force activity the subsequent year, but the greatest predictor is women's work pattern over the previous five years.
Casting out the Foreigners: Interpretation of a Curing Rite in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

When I began fieldwork among the Lauje of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, one particular man, Sumpitan, became my key informant and friend. Sumpitan explained the Lauje worldview in such a way that correlated the spirit world with the social world. He believed that spirits were metaphoric representations of the good and evil actors in everyday Lauje life. Because Sumpitan's metaphoric view described so eloquently the social, economic, and political turmoil of Lauje life, I adopted his worldview. When Sumpitan died in 1985, however, I found that not all Lauje regarded spirits as metaphors. Many of the people in the community believed it sacrilegious to define spirits in terms of the social world. Their rather mystical, non-meaning-oriented interpretations led me to characterize the Lauje worldview as twofold: one part metaphoric and the other mystical. In the conclusion of this paper, however, I discuss the pitfalls of using key informants' voices to make clear, consistent, and homogeneous statements about worldview. I conclude that people's interpretations of the ritual world are difficult to characterize in terms that are compatible with anthropological writing.
Process splitting of the boundary conditions for the advection–dispersion equation

Rational strategies are considered for the specification of the intermediate boundary condition at an inflow boundary where process splitting (fractional steps) is adopted in solving the advection–dispersion equation. Three lowest-order methods are initially considered and evaluation is based on comparisons with an analytical solution. For flow and dispersion parameter ranges typical of rivers and estuaries, the given boundary condition for the complete advection–dispersion equation at the end of the complete time step provides a satisfactory estimate of the intermediate boundary value. This was further confirmed by the development and evaluation of two higher-order methods. These required non-centred discrete approximations for spatial derivatives, which offset any special advantages from the higher truncation error order.
Near-extremal black hole thermodynamics from AdS 2 / CFT 1 correspondence in the low energy limit of 4D heterotic string theory

We compute the full asymptotic symmetry group of the four dimensional near-extremal Kerr-Sen black hole within an AdS 2 /CFT 1 correspondence. We do this by performing a Robinson-Wilczek two dimensional reduction and construct an effective quantum theory of the remaining field content. The resulting energy momentum tensor generates an asymptotic Virasoro algebra, to s-wave, with a calculable central extension. This center in conjunction with the proper regularized lowest Virasoro eigen-mode yields the near-extremal Kerr-Sen entropy via the statistical Cardy formula. Finally we analyze quantum holomorphic fluxes of the dual CFT giving rise to a finite Hawking temperature weighted by the central charge of the near-extremal Kerr-Sen metric.
Participatory Processes/Paradoxical Practices: Communication and the Dilemmas of Organizational Democracy

This article brings together previous research efforts by the authors and reviews a wide range of relevant literatures to explain and analyze paradoxes of employee participation and workplace democracy. Although the authors do not take the position that all or even most of these paradoxes are necessarily harmful, they do maintain that there are a variety of practical avenues for dealing with them. The heart of the essay analyzes several main categories of participatory paradoxes: those of structure, agency, identity, and power. Following that, the authors offer practical suggestions for the management of paradoxes (and related tensions and contradictions), linking those recommendations to relevant theoretical and empirical propositions.
Surface Segregation of Nanoparticles Driven by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Surface segregation (i.e., preferential segregation of one component to the surface in multicomponent systems) is common to all material classes and is typically driven by a reduction in surface energy which compensates for the entropy loss and/or energy gain associated with the demixing of the components. However, the conventional surface segregation for polymeric systems requires high temperatures, typically close to 200°C, and long annealing time, in order to ensure enough polymer mobility. Here we show a low-temperature method to preferentially migrate organoclay nanoparticles to the polymer surface using supercritical carbon dioxide.
Lack of spontaneous activity of cutaneous spinal dorsal horn neurons in awake, drug-free, spinally transected cats.

Abstract Extracellular single-unit activity was recorded from neurons with cutaneous input in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord (L4–L6) of awake, drug-free cats before (for several weeks) and after (day 1 through day 7) cord transection (T12). The spontaneous activity of the neurons was minimal or nonexistent in both recording conditions. The lack of spontaneous activity following spinal cord transection contrasts sharply with activity recorded in acute spinal-cord transected preparations in which high rates of spontaneous activity have been reported. This discrepancy may reflect an important difference between the chronic, awake, drug-free and acute preparations.
Dispersal is fundamental to biogeography and the evolution of biodiversity on oceanic islands

Vicariance biogeography emerged several decades ago from the fusion of cladistics and plate tectonics, and quickly came to dominate historical biogeography. The field has since been largely constrained by the notion that only processes of vicariance and not dispersal offer testable patterns and refutable hypotheses, dispersal being a random process essentially adding only noise to a vicariant system. A consequence of this thinking seems to have been a focus on the biogeography of continents and continental islands, considering the biogeography of oceanic islands less worthy of scientific attention because, being dependent on stochastic dispersal, it was uninteresting. However, the importance of dispersal is increasingly being recognized, and here we stress its fundamental role in the generation of biodiversity on oceanic islands that have been created in situ, never connected to larger land masses. Historical dispersal patterns resulting in modern distributions, once considered unknowable, are now being revealed in many plant and animal taxa, in large part through the analysis of polymorphic molecular markers. We emphasize the profound evolutionary insights that oceanic island biodiversity has provided, and the fact that, although small in area, oceanic islands harbour disproportionately high biodiversity and numbers of endemic taxa. We further stress the importance of continuing research on mechanisms generating oceanic island biodiversity, especially detection of general, non-random patterns of dispersal, and hence the need to acknowledge oceanic dispersal as significant and worthy of research.
Analytical approximations to predict performance measures of manufacturing systems with general distributions, job failures and parallel processing

Abstract Parallel processing is prevalent in many manufacturing and service systems (i.e. some components may have to wait for other components before the assembly can begin). It is also common to observe manufacturing systems that deal with multiple products, resources shared between different products, and circulation due to random part failures. An example of such a system configuration is observed at a facility equipped to assemble and test web servers. The primary objective of this research was to develop analytical approximations to predict performance measures of a system with the above characteristics and evaluate its accuracy. Manufacturing systems with general distributions, multiple products, job circulation due to failures, resource sharing, and a fork and join system (to model parallel processing of some assembly operations) were studied using the parametric decomposition approach. The different work centers (or stations) in the manufacturing system is modeled as a network of queues and the parametric decomposition approach is applied to decompose the network of queues into individual queues to estimate the performance measure of the system. Existing analytical formulations were modified and appropriate correction terms were added to the approximations to bridge the gap in the error between the analytical approximation and the simulation models. Random instances were generated and the flow times from the approximations and simulation models were compared. The experimental study conducted indicates that the analytical approximations along with the correction terms can serve as a good estimate for the flow times of the manufacturing systems with the above characteristics.
Model Error Budgets

An error budget is a commonly used tool in design of complex aerospace systems. It represents system performance requirements in terms of allowable errors and flows these down through a hierarchical structure to lower assemblies and components. The requirements may simply be 'allocated' based upon heuristics or experience, or they may be designed through use of physics-based models. This paper presents a basis for developing an error budget for models of the system, as opposed to the system itself. The need for model error budgets arises when system models are a principle design agent as is increasingly more common for poorly testable high performance space systems.
Adverse effects in blood donors after whole-blood donation: a study of 1000 blood donors interviewed 3 weeks after whole-blood donation.

BACKGROUND : There are no reports in the transfusion medicine literature that describe adverse reactions and donor arm injuries after whole-blood donation based on solicited information. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : The present study solicited adverse reaction and donor arm injury information from 1000 randomly selected whole-blood donors approximately 3 weeks after the whole-blood donation. Two 16-gauge phlebotomy needles in use were also compared. RESULTS : Thirty-six percent of the donors had one or more adverse effects (AEs). The most common systemic AEs were fatigue (7.8%), vasovagal symptoms (5.3%), and nausea and vomiting (1.1%). The most common arm findings were bruise (22.7%), arm soreness (10.0%), and hematoma (1.7%). Men were half as likely as women to have an AE (23% AE vs. 48% AE, p < 0.0001). Repeat blood donors had fewer AEs than first-time blood donors (36% AE vs. 47% AE, p < 0.007), and African-American donors had numbers of AEs similar to those of Caucasian donors (31% AE vs. 38% AE, p = 0.30). The two phlebotomy needles did not differ in causing blood donor AEs. CONCLUSION : AEs after donation and complaints may be more common than previously thought. The postdonation interview is a good tool for defining the blood donor's experience. It can also be used to evaluate and potentially improve blood donor safety and comfort.
Glucose-Induced Release of Glycosylpoly(ethylene glycol) Insulin Bound to a Soluble Conjugate of Concanavalin A

Treatment of diabetes mellitus by insulin injections provides long-term control of the disease but lacks any feedback response to glucose concentration changes, which finally leads to a number of life-threatening conditions. The purpose of this study was to improve and optimize an implantable, concanavalin A (Con A) based, glucose-responsive insulin delivery system studied earlier [Jeong, S. Y., Kim, S. W., Holmberg, D. L., and McRea, J. C. (1985) J. Controlled Release 2, 143-152], which can be used for long-term diabetes treatment. To optimize the "insulin component" of the delivery system, we prepared PheB1 insulin amino group monosubstituted monoglucosylpoly(ethylene glycol) (G-PEG) insulin conjugates (PEG M(r) 600 or 2000), which showed preserved bioactivity, significantly improved solubility and solution stability at neutral pH, and substantially suppressed hexamerization/dimerization. To improve the delivery system further, we synthesized and characterized a conjugate of Con A and monomethoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG, M(r) 5000) grafted hydrophilic poly(vinylpyrrolidone-co-acrylic acid) (PVPAA) with M(r) of 250,000. The optimal conjugate contained around eight PEG chains and two to three Con A tetramers attached through the amide bonds to the PVPAA chain. The Con A sugar binding characteristics were preserved, and, more importantly, Con A solubility at pH 7.4 substantially increased. This also holds true for a complex formed by the Con A conjugate and G-PEG insulin, which is soluble and does not precipitate under the physiologically relevant conditions under which the complex formed by the Con A conjugate and glycosyl insulin immediately precipitates. Finally, no leakage of the Con A conjugate from a membrane device was detected. Preliminary in vitro release experiments with Con A conjugate and G-PEG insulin complex enclosed in the membrane device showed a pulsative, reversible release pattern for G-PEG insulin in response to glucose challenges of 50-500 mg/dL, demonstrating the feasibility of the release system for use in planned, chronic in vivo studies with diabetic (pancreatectomized) dogs.
The role of stress in anaesthetists’ health and well‐being

Stress is an inevitable part of our personal and professional lives. When poorly managed, stress will accumulate to levels that become injurious to our health and well-being. Burnout is one such consequence. However, because stress is an activie process, with the proper knowledge and skills, we can learn to better manage and control its level of intensity. This paper examines the stress cycle and especially those aspects that are unique to the practice of medicine and anaesthesia. Sleep deprivation and physical fatigue are analyzed as key stressors. The role of the medical marriage and dual-career relationships are scrutinized. The importance of retaining the humanistic essence of medicine is emphasized. Stress management strategies and coping responses, including self-care and humor, are discussed.
Personality traits of convicted male batterers

The purpose of this investigation is to determine if select psychological variables are associated with abusive behavior of convicted male batterers. The sample included a treatment group of 75 court-referred abusers who were individually administered the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis (T-JTA) instrument. Explored were: (1) the relationships among personality variables and sociological and demographic characteristics, (2) possible behavioral disorders in our study group of spouse abusers, (3) whether major bipolar personality variables could distinguish our study group from the general population. Results revealed the Taylor-Johnson behavioral disorder types were not useful in identifying distinctions among our spouse abusers. However, a two-factor rotation (Internal/Emotional Balance and Social Interaction) produced results which should be of interest to programs treating batterers as well as provide a suggestive lead for future research. Battering men were found to have a restless proclivity for interaction that will be competitive and conflict-oriented in style. Their impulsiveness further suggests that their interactions will be negative in terms of evocation.
Anisotropic orientation distribution in polycrystalline Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers revealed by second-harmonic generation

Abstract We demonstrate that a significant anisotropy in Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers may be imposed by the compression process. This represents the first demonstration, by the use of second-harmonic generation, of a systematic influence on the properties of a prepared monolayer due to the type of film balance employed.
Process control kits: A hardware and software resource

Inexpensive and flexible process control kits were developed that allow students to design, implement, and test control systems in the classroom. Students can construct a variety of flow processes using in. tubing with “instant” connectors that allow process components to be snapped together quickly. The kits include a submersible pump, two tanks of different diameter, a static mixer, a relay switch box, and a control valve plus a variety of tubing, fittings, supports, and sensors. At the heart of the control system is the LEGO® NXT brick running RoboLAB software. This brick acts as an inexpensive A/D system that grabs student interest. The control system is then implemented on a PC using LabVIEW software. These hardware and software components allow students to conduct a variety of level, flow, and temperature control experiments. The software includes selection for active or passive sensors, linear calibration, and square root extraction allowing it to be easily adapted to a range of other LEGO sensors and systems. These kits have been used for both regular class experiments and for student open-ended projects. Kits were evaluated based on an anonymous student survey, instructors' observations of student activities, and student performance. Student response to the Lego kit has been positive and instructors observed a high level of student engagement when using the kits. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 21: 491–502, 2013