cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of regional hypoxia and incubation temperature on growth, differentiation, heart mass, and oxygen consumption in embryos of the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius).

Abstract Oviparous reptile embryos must tolerate fluctuations in oxygen availability and incubation temperature during development. In this study, regional hypoxia was simulated by painting eggs of Eublepharis macularius with melted paraffin wax to decrease the available surface area for gas exchange by approximately 80%. Experimental and control eggs were incubated at either 28 or 34 °C and embryo mass, stage, heart mass, relative heart mass, and oxygen consumption (VO2) were measured at 15 and 30 days of incubation. Embryo mass from the regional hypoxia treatment was reduced by about 50% at day 15 and by about 30% at day 30 of incubation, independent of incubation temperature compared to controls. Embryo stage from the regional hypoxia treatment was reduced by about 2 stages at day 15 independent of incubation temperature but there was no effect of hypoxia treatment at day 30. Absolute heart mass was reduced by about 60% in regional hypoxia embryos sampled at day 15 while relative heart mass was increased by about 30% in regional hypoxic embryos at day 30 compared to controls, suggesting that heart mass is conserved at the expense of somatic growth. Embryo VO2 was affected by incubation temperature at both 15 and 30 days of incubation but not by regional hypoxia treatment. These results indicate that embryos of E. macularius possess plasticity in their capacity to respond to reduction in oxygen availability during incubation, and are able to survive and continue developing when gas exchange surface area is severely limited.
Analytic description of the impact of grain boundaries on Voc

The impact of grain boundaries on the performance of polycrsytalline photovoltaics remains an open question. We present a simplified description of dark grain boundary recombination current. The dark current takes the form of a diode equation, and the model provides closed form expressions for the reverse saturation current and ideality factor in terms of grain boundary and system parameters. This model applies under conditions relevant for thin film photovoltaics such as CdTe, namely for p-type absorbers with reasonably high bulk hole mobility, positively charged grain boundaries with high defect density, and grains which are not fully depleted. The dark recombination current can be used to predict the open circuit voltage for a given short circuit density, providing a simple closed form expression which shows how grain boundaries impact $V_{\mathrm{o}\mathrm{c}}$ .
Usability and Feasibility of a Smartphone App to Assess Human Behavioral Factors Associated with Tick Exposure (The Tick App): Quantitative and Qualitative Study

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) technology takes advantage of smartphone features to turn them into research tools, with the potential to reach a larger section of the population in a cost-effective manner, compared with traditional epidemiological methods. Although mHealth apps have been widely implemented in chronic diseases and psychology, their potential use in the research of vector-borne diseases has not yet been fully exploited. Objective: This study aimed to assess the usability and feasibility of The Tick App, the first tick research–focused app in the United States. Methods: The Tick App was designed as a survey tool to collect data on human behaviors and movements associated with tick exposure while engaging users in tick identification and reporting. It consists of an enrollment survey to identify general risk factors, daily surveys to collect data on human activities and tick encounters (Tick Diaries), a survey to enter the details of tick encounters coupled with tick identification services provided by the research team (Report a Tick), and educational material. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we evaluated the enrollment strategy (passive vs active), the user profile, location, longitudinal use of its features, and users’ feedback. Results: Between May and September 2018, 1468 adult users enrolled in the app. The Tick App users were equally represented across genders and evenly distributed across age groups. Most users owned a pet (65.94%, 962/1459; PPPPP=.03). Recurring users (49.25%, 723/1468) had a similar demographic profile to all users but participated in outdoor activities more frequently (80.5%, 575/714; P55 years; IRR 3.4, 95% CI 1.5-7.6; PPP<.001). Conclusions: This assessment allowed us to identify what fraction of the population used The Tick App and how it was used during a pilot phase. This information will be used to improve future iterations of The Tick App and tailor potential tick prevention interventions to the users’ characteristics.
Computational homogenization for multiscale forward modeling of resonant ultrasound spectroscopy of heterogeneous materials

Abstract We present a computational framework for multiscale forward modeling of ultrasound resonance in heterogeneous materials that accounts for microstructure. The approach includes two steps. The first step is the accurate determination of the elastic properties of heterogeneous materials with finite element simulations on a representative volume element of the microstructure at the mesoscopic length scale. The second step is modeling resonance frequencies of a macroscopic component made of an effective homogeneous medium having the same elastic properties as the actual material with microstructure. The approach is validated in a case study on a Cu–W two-phase composite, for which resonance frequencies predicted with the proposed framework are compared against the experimental measurements. The present multiscale modeling approach, involving computational homogenization and leveraging 3D microstructure data, showed better accuracy compared to classical Voigt/Reuss bounds often used for forward modeling of resonant ultrasound spectroscopy.
Passive and wireless, implantable glucose sensing with phenylboronic acid hydrogel-interlayer RF resonators.

Abstract A phenylboronic acid-based, hydrogel-interlayer Radio-Frequency (RF) resonator is demonstrated as a highly-responsive, passive and wireless sensor for glucose monitoring. Constructs are composed of unanchored, capacitively-coupled split rings interceded by glucose-responsive hydrogels. Phenylboronic acid-hydrogels exhibit volumetric and dielectric variations in response to environmental glucose concentrations—these are efficiently converted to large shifts in the resonant response of interlayer-RF sensors. These tiny, stretchable and scalable sensors (5 mm × 5 mm x 250 μm) require no microelectronics or power at the sensing node and can be read-out remotely via near-field coupling. Sensors exhibit high sensitivities (~10% shift in resonant frequency—corresponding to 50 MHz—per 150 mg/dL of glucose), possess a limit of detection of 10 mg/dL, and a step response time of approximately 1 h to abrupt shifts in carbohydrate concentration. Notably, these sensors exhibited no signal drift or hysteresis over the time periods characterized herein (45 days at room temperature). We transform sensors into bioelectronic RF reporter-tags via the attachment of a single LED—these remotely report on glucose concentration via emitted light. We anticipate the non-degradative, long-term nature of both RF read-out and phenylboronic acid-based hydrogels will enable biosensors capable of long-term, remote read-out of glucose.
Historic First in Hopes That Others Will Follow - Child Death Review for Maintenance of Certification Credit! kentucky Child Death Review as a Quality Improvement and Prevention Tool for Safe Sleep

In December 2015 the ABP accepted this project for MOC credit, a historic first that accomplished a major goal of the AAP Provisional Section on Child Death Review (CDR). It is being submitted in hopes that other pediatricians around the country can utilize this process to support their CDR work as a QI tool to enhance pediatric medicine and public health prevention efforts. For more than 20 years KY has worked to implement multidisciplinary, multi-agency child death review as a tool for better understanding cause, manner and strategies for the prevention of death and serious injury …
Single-crystal synthesis and properties of the open-framework allotrope Si24.

Si24 is a new, open-framework silicon allotrope that is metastable at ambient conditions. Unlike diamond cubic silicon, which is an indirect-gap semiconductor, Si24 has a quasidirect gap near 1.4 eV, presenting new opportunities for optoelectronic and solar energy conversion devices. Previous studies indicate that Na can diffuse from micron-sized grains of a high-pressure Na4Si24 precursor to create Si24 powders at ambient conditions. Remarkably, we demonstrate here that Na remains highly mobile within large (~100 µm) Na4Si24 single crystals. Na readily diffuses out of Na4Si24 crystals under vacuum with gentle heating (10-4 mbar at 125 °C) and can be further reacted with iodine to produce large Si24 crystals that are 99.9985 at% silicon, as measured by wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Si24 crystals display a sharp, direct optical absorption edge at 1.51(1) eV with an absorption coefficient near the band edge that is demonstrably greater than diamond cubic silicon. Temperature-dependent electrical transport measurements confirm the removal of Na from metallic Na4Si24 to render single-crystalline semiconducting samples of Si24. These optical and electrical measurements provide insights into key parameters such as the electron donor impurity level from residual Na, reduced electron mass, and electron relaxation time. Effective Na removal on bulk length scales and the high absorption coefficient of single-crystal Si24 indicate promise for use of this material in bulk and thin film forms with potential applications in optoelectronic technologies.
Ensuring Cyberattack-Resilient Load Forecasting with A Robust Statistical Method

Cyberattacks in power systems can alter load forecasting models' input data. Although extreme outliers that fail to follow regular patterns can be easily identified, other more carefully-designed attacks can escape detection and seriously impact load forecasting. While existing work mainly focuses on enhancing attack detection, we propose a cyberattack-resilient load forecasting model that is based on an adaptation of classic Huber's robust statistical method. In a large-scale simulation study, the proposed method performed better than the classic method in various settings.
Physiological linkage during shared positive and shared negative emotion.

Physiological linkage refers to the degree to which peoples' physiological responses change in coordinated ways. Here, we examine whether and how physiological linkage relates to incidents of shared emotion, distinguished by valence. Past research has used an "overall average" approach and characterized how physiological linkage over relatively long time periods (e.g., 10-15 min) reflects psychological and social processes (e.g., marital satisfaction, empathy). Here, we used a "momentary" approach and characterized whether physiological linkage over relatively short time periods (i.e., 15 s) reflects shared positive emotion, shared negative emotion, or both, and whether linkage during shared emotions relates to relational functioning. Married couples (156 dyads) had a 15-min conflict conversation in the laboratory. Using behavioral coding, each second of conversation was classified into 1 of 4 emotion categories: shared positive emotion, shared negative emotion, shared neutral emotion, or unshared emotion. Using a composite of 3 peripheral physiological measures (i.e., heart rate, skin conductance, finger pulse amplitude), we computed momentary in-phase and antiphase linkage to represent coordinated changes in the same or opposite direction, respectively. We found that shared positive emotion was associated with higher in-phase and lower antiphase linkage, relative to the other 3 emotion categories. Greater in-phase physiological linkage during shared positive emotion was also consistently associated with higher-quality interactions and relationships, both concurrently and longitudinally (i.e., 5 to 6 years later). These findings advance our understanding of the nature of physiological linkage, the emotional conditions under which it occurs, and its possible associations with relational functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Endoscopy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multicenter Study from New York City.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted the practice of endoscopy, but characteristics of COVID patients undergoing endoscopy have not been adequately described. To compare findings, clinical outcomes, and patient characteristics of endoscopies performed during the pandemic in patients with and without COVID-19. This was a retrospective multicenter study of adult endoscopies at six academic hospitals in New York between March 16 and April 30, 2020. Patient and procedure characteristics including age, sex, indication, findings, interventions, and outcomes were compared in patients testing positive, negative, or untested for COVID-19. Six hundred and five endoscopies were performed on 545 patients during the study period. There were 84 (13.9%), 255 (42.2%), and 266 (44.0%) procedures on COVID-positive, negative, and untested patients, respectively. COVID patients were more likely to undergo endoscopy for gastrointestinal bleeding or gastrostomy tube placement, and COVID patients with gastrointestinal bleeding more often required hemostatic interventions on multivariable logistic regression. COVID patients had increased length of stay, intensive care unit admission, and intubation rate. Twenty-seven of 521 patients (5.2%) with no or negative COVID testing prior to endoscopy later tested positive, a median of 13.5 days post-procedure. Endoscopies in COVID patients were more likely to require interventions, due either to more severe illness or a higher threshold to perform endoscopy. A significant number of patients endoscoped without testing were subsequently found to be COVID-positive. Gastroenterologists in areas affected by the pandemic must adapt to changing patterns of endoscopy practice and ensure pre-endoscopy COVID testing.
Let Students Choose: Examining the Impact of Open Educational Resources on Performance in General Chemistry

General chemistry is a gateway course for most STEM majors, so student success is a priority for chemistry faculty. Providing quality information resources for students, including textbooks, is one way that instructors can support student learning. However, these resources can be prohibitively expensive for some students, causing them to opt out of purchasing a textbook or incur stress from the costs of time and money to obtain a textbook. Open educational resources (OERs) are no-cost materials, available in the public domain, that students and instructors can use to reduce the financial burden of college coursework. However, as chemistry instructors consider adopting OERs, they may be concerned about the time cost to reframe their courses around different materials, the risk of negatively impacting student learning, and whether the benefits to students outweigh those costs and risks. Although the financial benefits to students have been established, and the evidence suggests minimal risk of poor academic outcomes, the cost to instructors continues to be prohibitively high. In this study, the instructor used a commercial text as the official resource for the course and offered students a choice to use either the commercial textbook or an OER textbook. This soft adoption of OERs dramatically reduced the time cost associated with using the OER for the instructor, while providing financial benefits to students who chose the OER. To address the risk that using an OER might negatively impact student performance, we investigated the impact of student textbook choice on student performance in general chemistry, controlling for relevant academic and affective variables. We found that students using OER performed as well as students using the commercial textbook. With minimal effort, chemistry instructors can provide a no-cost alternative for students, with confidence that it will not detrimentally affect their learning.
The COMET framework: A novel approach to design an escape room workshop for interprofessional objectives

While recreational escape rooms have gained momentum across education and team training in multiple professions, few published escape room designs have been truly interprofessional. A major obstacl...
An ultrasound study of the mobility of the median nerve during composite finger movement in the healthy young wrist

INTRODUCTION/AIMS There is a lack of consensus regarding median nerve movement in the carpal tunnel during composite finger flexion in healthy individuals. In this study we examined the amount and direction of median nerve movement and differentiate nerve mobility between dominant and nondominant sides in a large, healthy, young adult cohort. METHODS Sonographic videos of the median nerve during composite finger motion from extension to full flexion were analyzed in 197 participants without median nerve pathology. Displacement of the nerve's centroid was calculated based on a change in the relative location of the nerve. Longitudinal nerve sliding was categorized as none, independently from the tendons, or with the tendons. RESULTS In short axis, median nerves moved within 1 mm vertically and 3 mm horizontally; no direction was predominant. About half of the nerves (52.5%) slid independently while 26.9% slid with the tendons; 21.3% did not slide at all. On the nondominant side, median nerves that slid with the tendons had a larger absolute vertical displacement than nerves that slid independently or did not slide at all (P < .01). Nerves on the dominant side moved in a radial direction more frequently than on the nondominant side (P = .02). DISCUSSION Transverse nerve movement during composite finger flexion in healthy individuals varies widely with no clear pattern in the direction of transverse movement or amount of longitudinal sliding. These data provide a foundation for future research to better understand the biomechanical contribution of nerve movement to median nerve pathologies.
The rise of financial capitalism: The Bank of England and the South Sea Company: how the bubbles ended

Adam Anderson's detailed description of the events of the South Sea Bubble has remained the authoritative source for all subsequent analysis of this fascinating episode at the dawn of financial capitalism. Anderson's theme was simply that an inner ring of the South Sea directors had bribed the government into allowing them to hoodwink the holders of the existing government debt. That was the immediate, politically palatable, verdict reached as well by Robert Walpole. Because of his leadership in the financial reconstruction that followed the collapse of the bubble, Walpole became prime minister, and his term of office (1720–42) remains the longest in British history. All subsequent historians have echoed his verdict, with minor variations of emphasis on the political intrigues of the time, general corruption in the government and the society, the peculiar nature of the South Sea Company, or the infections from international speculative fevers. It is clear that the South Sea episode included a swindle by a subset of the directors of the company, as well as widespread bribes to high officials, court favorites, and members of Parliament that were in some cases quite large. It is not clear, however, that swindling and bribery were the primary elements in the situation. Although the directors of the company were fined severely, all of their estates being expropriated save for the £5,000 to £10,000 capital necessary for an eighteenth-century London gentleman, the company retained its charter, the government debt exchanged from South Sea stock remained converted, and foreign investors who had been attracted to the London stock market during the bubble continued to invest in English securities on a much larger scale after the end of the bubble.
Community violence, children and youth: considerations for programs, policy, and nursing roles

Nurses working with children and adolescents who witness or directly experience violence in the communities in which they live need to understand and recognize symptoms of mental-emotional distress that can result from these experiences. The nature of community violence is multifaceted. Therefore, sharing of knowledge and skills and collaboration between health care professionals from different disciplines can further theoretical understandings, enhance the effectiveness of prevention and intervention strategies, and inform development of, and advocacy for policies at local, state, and national levels to prevent, reduce, and intervene in community violence. These activities will offer challenges and opportunities to shape nurses' roles and nursing practice in future health care environments. Language: en
Renal osteodystrophy with oral manifestations; report of a case.

Abstract This case presents the necessary clinical criteria for diagnosis of an apparently rare syndrome first described by Albright, Drake, and Sulkowitch 1 and named by them renal osteitis fibrosa cystica. However, Norman's 2 term, renal osteodystrophy, seems more accurate. The syndrome seems to be the adult counterpart of renal rickets in children. Albright, Drake, and Sulkowitch believed that the parathyroid function is disturbed and in their case at necropsy all four parathyroid glands were tremendously enlarged and consisted essentially of chief cells. The parathyroid hyperplasia was believed to be secondary to phosphate retention occasioned by the renal insufficiency. The osteodystrophy may be the result of the excess parathyroid hormone, but a more likely explanation is a lack or decrease of calcium absorption from the intestinal tract with a sligntly increased resorption of bone due to the acidosis. The osteodystrophy of the bones of the face, as characterized by the full-mouth x-ray in this case, is extremely rare. This report may serve to call the attention of the dentist to the syndrome. It is also interesting to speculate upon the possible relationship of renal insufficiency to hypercementosis of the teeth.
CinC Challenge: Predicting in-hospital mortality in the intensive care unit by analyzing histograms of medical variables under Cascaded Adaboost model

In this paper, we develop an effective framework to predict in-hospital mortality (IHM) during an intensive care unit (ICU) stay, on the basis of specific medical variables. This work involves both binary mortality predictions and mortality risk estimates, corresponding to Event-1 and Event-2 of the Computing in Cardiology (CinC) Challenge 2012. Our proposed framework contains 1) feature extraction from medical variables by linear interpolation, histogram analysis, and temporal analysis; and 2) mortality classifier learning under Cascaded Adaboost learning model. A released dataset set-a of ICU medical records is used as training set, where cross validation is performed to evaluate our proposed framework. Our framework achieves Event-1 Score1 0.806 and Event-2 Score2 24.00, which outperform those obtained from SAPS-1 score (Score1 0.296 and Score2 68.39) on the same dataset. Over another dataset set-b, our framework obtains Event-1 Score1 0.379 and Event-2 Score2 5331.15.
An educational tool for load flow analysis with electromechanical interface

The paper describes a new combination of hardware and software being developed at Georgia Tech as a learning tool for power system steady state analysis. The hardware consists of a panel with a graphic representation of a power system and a number of adjustable parameters (potentiometers). The manual parameter adjustment is acquired by a personal computer, which runs the software and complements the parameters from a database. A variety of simple tests and small projects may be derived from such hardware/software configuration. Some of them are described. >
A Rasch Analysis of Three Measures of Teacher Perception Generated from the School and Staffing Survey

The National Center for Educational Statistics’1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey data are used extensively by researchers conducting secondary analysis on a variety of issues including teacher quality, teacher preparation, and the use of technology in the classroom. Researchers frequently combine the data from several related survey questions to create scaled variables, but little is known about the psychometric quality of these created variables. In this article, a Rasch analysis is conducted on three types of teacher perception: perception of influence, perception of students, and school climate. Measures for each type of teacher perception are scaled using a Rasch Rating Scale Model. The quality of these measures for the three scales is then examined. Evaluations focus on six characteristics of each instrument: dimensionality, internal consistency, rating category effectiveness, item quality, item hierarchy, and measure quality. Overall, the three scaled variables exhibit acceptable quality and are...
Formal semantic specifications as implementation blueprints for real-time programming languages

Formal definitions of language and system semantics provide highly desirable checks on the correctness of implementations of programming languages and their runtime support systems. If these definitions can give concrete guidance to the implementor, major increases in implementation accuracy and decreases in implementation effort can be achieved. It is shown that of the wide variety of available methods the Hgraph (hypergraph) definitional technique (Pratt, 1975), is best suited to serve as such an implementation blueprint. A discussion and example of the Hgraph technique is presented, as well as an overview of the growing body of implementation experience of real-time languages based on Hgraph semantic definitions.
Structure and Expression of the Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Envelope Protein

The structure and expression of the HTLV-1 envelope protein was examined using T lymphoid cell lines infected with HTLV-1 and recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing the HTLV-1 envelope. Pulse-chase experiments demonstrated that the envelope precursor, gp62, had a half-life of 7-12 hr. N-glycosylation of the precursor protein was examined using tunicamycin and endoglycosidase H. These studies revealed that at least four and possibly five potential N-glycosylation sites were utilized. In addition, the envelope precursor was found to sediment on sucrose gradients as high-molecular-weight complexes, in positions consistent with the formation of dimers and smaller amounts of higher multimeric forms. Finally, the recombinant vaccinia system was used to express mutants designed to analyze the role in HTLV-1 envelope processing of the cytoplasmic tail and the membrane-spanning domain.
Optimization of Directionally Attached Piezoelectric Actuators

A directionally attached piezoelectric (DAP) actuator is one method to control the twisting vibration of a plate with high authority. Although insuring proper performance for DAP actuators has been discussed in terms of the control law used, the optimization of the mechanical details of the actuator itself has received little attention. There is an interaction between the actuator and the controlled structure because more actuator material on the structure adds actuation power but also stiffens the structure. The effects of DAP actuator geometric parameters and material properties are explored in a systematic way for the case of a cantilever beam and it is shown that significant improvements in performance are possible. The material property study indicates that an optimum point exists whereby the weight and thus cost can be lowered while improving structure response by using a composite actuator. The actuator thickness. width, orientation angle, and offset from the clamped end have significant effects on structure response. in order of importance, the geometric parameters are: actuator thickness, orientation angle, width and offset. A study of the modal distribution for the structure shows that if the input disturbance that is to be suppressed is modally well characterized, the structure can be efficiently controlled by using more than one independent actuation voltage.
Lack of mda-6/WAF1/CIP1-mediated inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases in interferon-α resistant murine B16 melanoma cells

Previously we demonstrated that IFN-alpha augments mda-6/WAF1 and inhibits cyclin-dependent kinases in a p53-independent fashion in B 16 murine melanoma cells. On the other hand, IFN-gamma activates p53 expression without affecting the mda-6/WAF1 system. Combination of the two IFNs is additive. B16 cells acquire IFN-alpha resistant but IFN-gamma sensitive phenotype after long term IFN-alpha treatment (B16alpha cells). Here we demonstrate the absence of mda-6/WAF1-associated repression of cyclin-dependent kinases, but the existence of p53-dependent c-myc inhibition in IFN-gamma-treated B16alpha cells. Clearly, selective desensitization of IFN-alpha related growth regulation does not influence the IFN-gamma associated pathway. Our results further support the coexistence of distinct growth regulatory mechanisms in B16 cells that can be activated by different IFN-types independently of each other.
Single-grain OSL dating of sediments from the Southern High Plains, USA

Single-grain OSL dating is applied to sediments from different depositional settings on the Southern High Plains of western Texas and eastern New Mexico. Criteria of acceptance are used to screen equivalent doses from individual grains and resulting distributions are evaluated in terms of normality. Wide variation is found in proportion of acceptable grains and in the distributions. While some of the latter are normal, many show broadening that may be the result of mixing of different-aged grains and skewness that may result from variant depositional and post-depositional modes. Geological modeling will be required to understand better these distributions, although for most samples means produced ages that agree with independent evidence. The resolution possible with single grains is necessary for best estimates of equivalent dose for other samples. A few samples do not agree with independent evidence, even with a normal distribution of equivalent dose. Sand dunes seem the most difficult to date accurately, probably because of mixing.
Fishing and Natural Mortality of Bluegills and Redear Sunfish at Lake Panasoffkee, Florida: Implications for Size Limits

Abstract Growth, annual exploitation (u), and natural mortality (v) of bluegills Lepomis macrochirus and redear sunfish L. microlophus were investigated on Lake Panasoffkee, Florida, during 1998 and 1999 to assess the potential benefits of several minimum size limits. The average u of 15.0-cm total length (TL) or larger fish was 0.14 for bluegills and redear sunfish during the 2-year period. For both species, exploitation increased up to threefold as fish size increased (e.g., u = 0.37 for bluegills ≥23.0 cm TL in 1999). Total annual mortality (A) was 0.64 for bluegills and 0.68 for redear sunfish. Natural mortality estimates were 0.50 (78% of A) for bluegills and 0.55 (81% of A) for redear sunfish. Simulations predicted that minimum size limits would decrease average total yield and harvest for both bluegills and redear sunfish, but that a 20.3-cm minimum length limit could slightly increase the number of fish harvested over 20.0 cm TL. A 22.9-cm minimum length limit was predicted to greatly reduce yield...
The relationship between actuator reduction and controllability for a Robotic Hand

The Anatomically Correct Testbed (ACT) Robotic Hand was carefully designed to capture the biomechanical features of the human hand in order to understand the role of different structures for superior dexterity. While robotic hands have been designed to match a variety of performance, space, and weight constraints, typically the number of actuators is chosen without regard to muscular anatomy. Like the human fingers, each finger in the ACT Hand has 6 – 8 muscles to control 4 – 5 degrees of freedom that are often coupled. The algorithm presented in this paper provides a method for reducing the number of actuators in the design of future biomimetic robots such that human levels of dexterity can be maintained. The results shed light into the evolutionary basis for musculoskeletal complexity in the human hand.
ESI-MS characterization of a novel pyrrole–inosine nucleoside that interacts with guanine bases

Based on binding studies undertaken by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry, a synthetic pyrrole-inosine nucleoside, 1, capable of forming an extended three-point Hoogsteen-type hydrogen-bonding interaction with guanine, is shown to form specific complexes with two different quadruplex DNA structures [dTG(4)T](4) and d(T(2)G(4))(4) as well as guanine-rich duplex DNA. The binding interactions of two other analogs were evaluated in order to unravel the structural features that contribute to specific DNA recognition. The importance of the Hoogsteen interactions was confirmed through the absence of specific binding when the pyrrole NH hydrogen-bonding site was blocked or removed. While 2, with a large blocking group, was not found to interact with virtually any form of DNA, 3, with the pyrrole functionality missing, was found to interact non-specifically with several types of DNA. The specific binding of 1 to guanine-rich DNA emphasizes the necessity of careful ligand design for specific sequence recognition.
How autonomy and the web are taking the people out of TacSat-2

One of the most costly components of the on-orbit operation of a spacecraft is the people that execute the mission. Historically, for Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Department of Defense Space Test Program (STP) research and development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) space missions, a team of fifteen personnel maintains 24-hour coverage for the three-week Launch and Early Operations (L/EO) phase of the mission and four one-week L/EO rehearsals. During the Nominal Operations phase of the mission, 2.5 "man-days" of support are necessary each day that the spacecraft remains on-orbit, as well as during the two, week-long, nominal operations rehearsals. Therefore, the mission-dedicated personnel contribution to the cost of a one-year mission is more than eleven man-years, and this does not include the personnel that actually operate the antennas at the various remote ground facilities or develop and maintain the mission-specific or shared-use ground network, hardware, and software. In the low-budget RDT&E world, hardware, software, or Concept of Operations (CONOPS) developments that significantly reduce the necessary Operations personnel investment can mean the difference between a mission that does or does not survive. This paper explores the CONOPS and suite of tools that the TacSat-2 program has put together to achieve maximum mission effectiveness at minimum manpower cost.
Limnological reconnaissance of waterbodies in central and southern Nepal

Ionic composition of waterbodies in central and southern Nepal sampled in spring 1985 differed from that normally found in freshwater. Distinguishing characteristics were: 1) predominance of bicarbonate among the anions — accounting for > 90% of the negative equivalents in two-thirds of the waterbodies, 2) the near absence of sulfates — accounting for < 1 % of the anions in half the samples so that chloride exceeded sulfate (as meq/L) in three-fourths of the waters tested and 3) calcium was the dominant cation, although in certain waters the relative proportion of either magnesium or the monovalent cations was much higher than the world average. Regional patterns in water chemistry were apparent and are largely explained by differences in local geology, inputs from artesian wells or extensive use by humans. Most ionic salinity values were <400 mg/L. Using conventional criteria to assess trophic state, most water-bodies were eutrophic or hypereutrophic when judged by total phosphorus and chlorophyll content but as a whole the lakes sampled were low in nitrogen. Nitrogen: phosphorus ratios (generally < 10) and a significant empirical relation for chlorophyll-nitrogen provide evidence that nitrogen limited algal biomass. Secchi transparency values indicate light regimes were affected by nonalgal materials.
High capacity mercury adsorption on freshly ozone-treated carbon surfaces

A set of carbon materials was treated by a choice of common oxidizers to investigate the mercury capture capacities at varying temperature conditions. It was found that ozone treatment dramatically increases the mercury capture capacity of carbon surfaces by factors up to 134, but the activity is easily destroyed by exposure to the atmosphere, to water vapor, or by mild heating. Freshly ozone-treated carbon surfaces are shown to oxidize iodide to iodine in solution and this ability fades with aging. FTIR analysis shows broad C–O stretch features from 950 to 1300 cm−1, which decay upon atmospheric exposure and are similar to the C-O-C asymmetric stretch features of ethylene secondary ozonide. The combined results suggest that the ultra-high mercury capture efficiency is due to a subset of labile C-O functional groups with residual oxidizing power that are likely epoxides or (epoxide-containing) secondary ozonides. The results open the possibility for in situ ozonolysis to create high-performance carbon-based Hg sorbents.
Transcriptional regulation in bacterial membrane lipid synthesis

This review covers the main transcriptional mechanisms that control membrane phospholipid synthesis in bacteria. The fatty acid components are the most energetically expensive modules to produce; thus, the regulation of fatty acid production is very tightly controlled to match the growth rate of cells. Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria have evolved different structural classes of regulators to control the genes required for fatty acid biosynthesis. Also, there are other transcriptional regulators that allow the cells to alter the structure of fatty acids in existing phospholipid molecules or to modify the structures of exogenous fatty acids prior to their incorporation into the bilayer. A major thrust for future research in this area is the identification of the ligands or effectors that control the DNA binding activity of the transcriptional regulators of fatty acid biosynthesis. With the exception of malonyl-CoA regulation of FapR from Bacillus subtilis and long-chain acyl-CoA regulation of FadR from Escherichia coli and DesT from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the identity of these intracellular regulators remains unknown.
COMPREHENSIVE THREE–VESSEL PLAQUE MAPPING BY OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

In vivo detailed distribution of coronary atherosclerotic plaques has not been reported. We sought to obtain detailed morphologic information on plaques in 3 coronary arteries using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Patients with 3 vessel OCT imaging were identified in the OCT registry. Plaques
An analysis of distributed and asynchronous wireless group communication mechanisms

Asynchronous group communication systems propagate updates from each group member to every other member. Contemporary users are wireless and operate from a variety of locations. Hence, we investigate the propagation performance for these users. An analysis of wireless users in academia, corporation and in a city-wide hotspot federation shows that the availability durations and the duration between sessions depends on the locale. A longer term analysis shows that the user session lengths are becoming smaller while the duration between sessions are becoming larger with significant user churn. We show that the propagation performance depends on the locale. New users incur a heavy cost in receiving updates from prior users; applications need to develop expiration mechanisms to reduce this overhead. Also, since users regularly leave the system, practical communication mechanisms need to choose their propagation periodicity in order to respond to scenarios when the user abruptly leaves the system without propagating their updates to other users.
Sensor management for landmine detection using correlated sensor observations

Previous research has developed an information-theoretic sensor management framework for improving static target detection performance. This framework has been successfully applied to a large dataset of real landmine data; performance using the sensor manager on this dataset was demonstrated to be superior to performance using a direct search technique in which sensors blindly sweep through the gridded region of interest. In previous work, the sensor manager has modeled the observations made in each grid cell as being independent from the other observations made in that cell by the same sensor and also as being independent from observations made in that cell by other sensors. Such a modeling approach fails to account for the correlations that will result between observations made both by the same and different sensors. This paper alters the modeling framework that has been used previously to incorporate observation correlation, which will more realistically model the interrelationships between sensor observations. After introducing the new modeling approach, results are then presented that compare the performance of the sensor manager to the performance of an unmanaged direct search procedure. The sensor manager is again demonstrated to outperform direct search. Furthermore, the performance effects of modeling and failing to model correlation are examined through simulation. Failing to model correlation that is present in the data is demonstrated to substantially degrade performance and cause direct search to outperform the sensor manager. However, when correlated modeling is used to model correlated data, the sensor manager is again demonstrated to outperform direct search.
Alcohol dependence: a commentary on mechanisms

The alcohol dependence syndrome includes the presence of alcohol tolerance, physical dependence and an inability to control one's alcohol intake. Studies are reviewed that implicate the mesolimbic dopaminergic systems, and the γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) and N -methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors as mediators of various aspects of the alcohol dependence syndrome. It is suggested that alcohol-induced changes in the GABAA receptor may play a role in certain aspects of tolerance to alcohol and in altered abilities of an individual to terminate alcohol intake. Chronic alcohol-induced increases in the activity of NMDA receptors may contribute to the withdrawal signs that are the defining feature of physical dependence on alcohol. It is hypothesized that decreased mesolimbic dopaminergic function, which occurs during alcohol withdrawal, may be involved in the compulsion to initiate and maintain alcohol drinking, another aspect of the alcohol dependence syndrome. Furthermore, evidence is presented that this decreased dopaminergic function could occur secondarily to the increase in NMDA receptor function, such that the alcohol-induced increase in NMDA receptor function could underlie both the overt withdrawal signs and the compulsion to drink alcohol in the alcohol-dependent individual.
A cross-cultural assessment of attitudes regarding perceived breaches of ethical conduct by both parties in the business-consumer dyad

Recent initiatives in business curricula have included emphases on global business and ethics. Using 28 scenarios which reflect potential concerns regarding the conduct of either business or a consumer, this research combines these issues by comparing the ethical predisposition of business students in Australia with their Canadian counterparts. A sample of 264 students indicated that students in both countries generally hold high expectations for the behaviour of business and consumers. Both groups exhibited quite similar views in relation to the 28 consumer and business-related scenarios. When comparing Canadian students to Australian students, four significant differences were documented in the 14 scenarios which address the behaviour of business entities. The assessment of attitudes regarding questionable consumer actions provided even more homogeneity as only one statistically significant difference was identified. The study concludes by documenting a series of attitudinal differences on the part of groups defined not by nationality, but rather on the basis of gender or age. These demographic differences were more pronounced than were the differences across the two countries. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications.
Phosphorus metabolite characterization of human prostatic adenocarcinoma in a nude mouse model by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and high pressure liquid chromatography

A series of experiments were conducted to identify and quantify the phosphorus metabolites of DU 145 xenografts (a human prostatic adenocarcinoma cell line grown in nude mice) using 31P MRS and HPLC. The 31P spectral characteristics of DU 145 xenografts were compared to perfused DU 145 cells and to in situ human prostatic adenocarcinomas. These studies demonstrated that both DU 145 xenografts and perfused DU 145 cells exhibited reduced levels of phosphocreatine relative to spectra of in situ human prostatic adenocarcinomas. Elevated levels of phosphomonesters (PMEs) were observed in 31P spectra of both DU 145 xenografts and in situ human prostatic adenocarcinomas. The major components of the PME resonance of DU 145 xenografts were identified as phosphocholine and phosphoethanolamine. High levels of diphosphodiesters (DPDEs) were consistently observed for both DU 145 xenografts and perfused DU 145 cells, but were absent in 31P spectra in in situ primary human adenocarcinomas. In agreement with spectroscopic results, high pressure liquid chromatographic analyses of human tissue removed at surgery contained insignificant amounts of DPDEs while DU 145 xenografts had high levels of DPDEs consisting mainly of uridine-5'-diphospho-N-acetylgalactosamine (22.4 nmol/mg protein) and uridine-5'-diphospho-N-acetylglucosamine (7.4 nmol/mg protein).
Computer-Based Integrated Learning Systems in the Elementary and Middle Grades: A Critical Review and Synthesis of Evaluation Reports.

Currently, schools are investing substantial funds in integrated learning systems (I.L.S.'s)—networked comprehensive basic skills software from a single vendor. Although rational arguments can be made for the effectiveness of I.L.S.'s, districts want—and vendors are supplying—empirical evidence for decisionmaking. This article reanalyzes results reported in thirty evaluations of I.L.S.'s by using a common “effect size” statistic and correcting, where possible, for deficiencies in the original designs and reports. Some studies (including the most widely cited) substantially over-report I.L.S. effectiveness. On average, I.L.S.'s show a moderately positive effect on student achievement. However, the poor quality of most evaluations and the likely bias in what does get reported at all provide too weak a platform for district purchasing decisions.