cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
How Race and Class Stereotyping Shapes Attitudes Toward Affordable Housing

The development of affordable housing often involves a contentious siting process. Proposed housing developments frequently trigger concern among neighbors and community groups about potential negative impacts on neighborhood quality of life and property values. Advocates, developers, and researchers have long suspected that these concerns stem in part from racial or class prejudice. Yet, to date, empirical evidence supporting these assumptions is lacking. This study seeks to examine roles that perceptions of race and class play in shaping opinions that underlie public opposition to affordable housing. This study applies a public opinion survey to determine the extent to which stereotypes and perceptions of the poor and minorities relate to attitudes toward affordable housing. The results demonstrate that such perceptions are particularly strong determinants of negative attitudes about affordable housing. These findings provide advocates, planners, developers, and researchers with a more accurate portrayal of affordable housing opposition, thereby allowing the response to be shaped in a more appropriate manner.
Usage of Nonpharmacological Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Pediatric Sedation

Nonpharmacological complementary and integrative medical therapies comprise those acceptable healthcare approaches outside of our conventional medicine. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at National Institute of Health, more than 30% of adults and 12% of children use nonconventional medical therapies. Many complementary and integrative medical therapies can be used in pediatric sedation which include guided imagery, acupuncture-related techniques, music therapy, hypnotherapy, and sucrose sucking in infants. These remedies are generally underutilized and can be successfully integrated in conjunction with available conventional medical treatments for pediatric sedation.
Redefining the Relationship: Palliative Care in Critical Perinatal and Neonatal Cardiac Patients

Patients with perinatal and neonatal congenital heart disease (CHD) represent a unique population with higher morbidity and mortality compared to other neonatal patient groups. Despite an overall improvement in long-term survival, they often require chronic care of complex medical illnesses after hospital discharge, placing a high burden of responsibility on their families. Emerging literature reflects high levels of depression and anxiety which plague parents, starting as early as the time of prenatal diagnosis. In the current era of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the additive nature of significant stressors for both medical providers and families can have catastrophic consequences on communication and coping. Due to the high prognostic uncertainty of CHD, data suggests that early pediatric palliative care (PC) consultation may improve shared decision-making, communication, and coping, while minimizing unnecessary medical interventions. However, barriers to pediatric PC persist largely due to the perception that PC consultation is indicative of “giving up.” This review serves to highlight the evolving landscape of perinatal and neonatal CHD and the need for earlier and longitudinal integration of pediatric PC in order to provide high-quality, interdisciplinary care to patients and families.
Financial Literacy in For-Profit vs Pro-Social Peer-to-Peer Lending

Fintech applications enable convenient direct access to online lending opportunities and highlight the need for financial literacy. This study examines heuristics and behavioral decisions in for-profit vs. pro-social online Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending. The goal is to support financial literacy towards borrower inclusion and lender success in P2P platforms. More specifically, this experimental study examines 1,347 lending decisions by 449 finance students. Each participant was asked to make three lending decisions. Testimonials were used to condition participants towards either for-profit or pro-social decision making. The loan applications were identical except for a female or male headshot (vs.an icon) and reports of half the loan being raised in either 3 or 11 days (vs. 7). Data analysis shows that pro-social lenders pursue returns on investment and state a lower trust in P2P borrowers than for-profit lenders. However, compared to for-profit ones, pro-social investors underestimate the risk in P2P lending and overestimate their financial literacy. Second, pro-social investors are more confident than for-profit investors when lending to borrowers highly trusted by other lenders, especially if the popular loan applicant is female. Third, pro-social conditioning increases lending to male applicants who are less trusted by other lenders. Forth, pro-social investors who have experienced financial trauma have greater confidence in bad loan recovery. The findings assist P2P platforms and regulators by highlighting the need for balanced testimonials and transparent comprehensive data analytics on P2P sites.
Building biorepositories in the midst of a pandemic

Biospecimen repositories play a vital role in enabling investigation of biologic mechanisms, identification of disease-related biomarkers, advances in diagnostic assays, recognition of microbial evolution, and characterization of new therapeutic targets for intervention. They rely on the complex integration of scientific need, regulatory oversight, quality control in collection, processing and tracking, and linkage to robust phenotype information. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified many of these considerations and illuminated new challenges, all while academic health centers were trying to adapt to unprecedented clinical demands and heightened research constraints not witnessed in over 100 years. The outbreak demanded rapid understanding of SARS-CoV-2 to develop diagnostics and therapeutics, prompting the immediate need for access to high quality, well-characterized COVID-19-associated biospecimens. We surveyed 60 Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) hubs to better understand the strategies and barriers encountered in biobanking before and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Feedback revealed a major shift in biorepository model, specimen-acquisition and consent process from a combination of investigator-initiated and institutional protocols to an enterprise-serving strategy. CTSA hubs were well equipped to leverage established capacities and expertise to quickly respond to the scientific needs of this crisis through support of institutional approaches in biorepository management.
Globalizing Oil: Firms and Oil Market Governance in France, Japan, and the United States

Oil is the world's most important commodity. It is also one of the most politicized, with national oil companies controlling most of the world's reserves. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Llewelyn Hughes shows that governments across the advanced industrial states responded to the politicization of oil in the 1970s by freeing prices, lowering barriers to trade, and privatizing national oil companies. How did this come about? And why do some governments continue to support domestic firms? In answering these questions, Hughes shows that the politicization of oil also led to a transformation in oil market governance by changing the balance of risk and opportunities facing firms. He also shows that their ability to benefit from this change was conditioned by previous attempts to shape the competitive landscape in their favor. Hughes' study has important implications not only for the politics of oil, but also for the study of economic liberalization.
Chapter 14 Provenance, Distribution and Alteration of Volcanic Sediments in A Saline Alkaline Lake

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the provenance, distribution, and alteration of Lake Abert, which is a closed-basin, shallow, saline, alkaline lake. Lake Abert is situated in the volcanic terrain of south-central Oregon and provides an ideal setting to examine mineral–water interaction. Studies of the geochemical evolution of the lake water and interstitial brines of lake and playa sediments suggest that reactions with clay minerals are removing major cations from solution and are thus exerting a significant influence on the solute budget of the lake system. Examination of the fine sand fraction of Lake Abert sediment has suggested a number of processes occurring in the lake or associated groundwater environment and provided a background for the consideration of others. Average grain-size distribution for representative Lake Abert sediment samples clearly indicates that the finest size fractions accumulate in the center of the basin. Despite shallow water depths, the fine character of the lake sediment, which apparently increases downward in at least the top meter, argues for the preferential disaggregation of the more siliceous fine-grained and cryptocrystalline rock types in the basin. The distribution of pyroxene and opaques in the lake sediment, such as detrital feldspar, is related to the crystallinity of the contributive lithologies. Glass shards in the lake sediments are concentrated in certain horizons, related to regional ash falls, or disseminated, thereby suggesting derivation by the erosion of local ash flow tuffs.
Microcellular and Solid Polylactide–Flax Fiber Composites

Polylactide–flax fiber composites with 1, 10 and 20 wt% fiber were melt-compounded and subsequently molded via the conventional and microcellular injection-molding processes. Silane was used as a coupling agent. The effects of fiber and silane content on cell morphology, static and dynamic mechanical properties, and crystallization properties have been studied. The average cell size decreased while the cell density increased with the fiber content. The degree of crystallinity increased with the fiber content. Silane treatment of fibers affected neither the cell morphology nor the degree of crystallinity. The toughness and strain-at-break of solid samples decreased with the fiber content while silane treatment increased both properties; however, neither fiber content nor silane treatment had much influence on the toughness and strain-at-break of microcellular samples. The specific modulus of both solid and microcellular samples increased with the fiber content. The specific strength of the solid and microc...
Fetomaternal hemorrhage from diagnostic transabdominal amniocentesis

Abstract Diagnostic transabdominal amniocentesis is, at the present time, the most reliable method available for predicting the severity of erythroblastosis fetalis due to Rh incompatibility between mother and fetus. Since this procedure is essentially a blind one, there is the possibility that the probing needle may traverse and traumatize the placenta, thereby leading to fetomaternal hemorrhage and increased maternal sensitization. In this study, maternal blood was examined for fetal cells before and after 74 amniocenteses. No fetomaternal hemorrhage was detected when the amniotic fluid was easily obtained. However, when amniocentesis was performed with difficulty, fetomaternal hemorrhage was observed in 32 per cent. When both easy and difficult taps were considered together, the frequency of fetomaternal hemorrhage was 10.8 per cent. There was no clear-cut evidence that fetomaternal hemorrhage definitely increased maternal sensitization, but in this report 2 cases are described in which fetal death might have been related to a previous traumatic amniocentesis.
Absence of a Dirac cone in silicene on Ag(111): First-principles density functional calculations with a modified effective band structure technique

We investigate the currently debated issue of the existence of the Dirac cone in silicene on an Ag(111) surface, using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory to obtain the band structure. By unfolding the band structure in the Brillouin zone of a supercell to that of a primitive cell, followed by projecting onto Ag and silicene subsystems, we demonstrate that the Dirac cone in silicene on Ag(111) is destroyed. Our results clearly indicate that the linear dispersions observed in both angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy [P. Vogt et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 155501 (2012)] and scanning tunneling spectroscopy [L. Chen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 056804 (2012)] come from the Ag substrate and not from silicene.
Eckensberger, Lutz H

Lutz H. Eckensberger is Professor Emeritus at the University of Frankfurt and the German Institute for International Educational Research. At the German Institute he served as director (1998–2004) and as head of the Department of Culture and Education (until 2007). He completed work for the doctorate in 1970 and his Habilitation in 1973 at Saarland University, and for 20 years was a professor of developmental psychology at the same institution. Eckensberger moved to Frankfurt in 1996. He is a cultural psychologist with interests in environmental psychology, culture and development, cross-cultural psychology, education, and morality. Keywords: cross-cultural psychology; cultural psychology; indigenous psychology; Kohlberg, Lawrence
Genetic control of somatic embryogenesis in cotton petiole callus cultures

Three commercial varieties (Acala SJ-5, Coker 312 and Paymaster 303) and three exotic accessions (T1, T25 and T169) of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) were tested for ability to undergo somatic embryogenesis. Sections of split petiole were cultured on 3 media and evaluated for embryogenesis after 180 days. Embryogenic T25 and Coker 312 plants were selected and crossed in a diallel with non-embryogenic Acala SJ-5, Paymaster 303, T1 and T169 plants. F1, F2 and BC1 populations were generated and tested for embryogenesis on a medium of MS salts and vitamins (1962) plus (per liter) 4.0 mg NAA, 1.0 mg Kn, 30 g glucose, 100 mg myo-inositol, 2.0 g Gelrite and 0.75 g MgCl2. Segregation for both occurrence and magnitude of embryogenesis was observed, suggesting the action of more than one gene.
Lamellar and interlamellar structure in melt-crystallized polyethylene

The effects of small (<20%) strain on the microstructure of Marlex 6009 polyethylene was investigatedin situ by absolute small and wide-angle X-ray diffraction. The methods of analysis given in previous papers by Kavesh and Schultz were utilized. The degree of crystallinity decreased monotonically with strain. The “amorphous” density increased with strain to some 8 to 12% strain, after which the density levelled off at a value of about 0.901. The lamellar thickness was found to decrease slightly with strain while the intervening layer thickness increased. Finally, the plane of the carbon backbone rotated toward thea-c crystallographic plane as the strain increased. The microstructural effects are interpreted in the light of molecular rearrangements in both crystalline and “amorphous” zones.
High doses of vitamin E in the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system in the aged

Oxidative stress is a putative factor in the pathogenesis of many human disorders of the central nervous system. Therefore, antioxidants such as vitamin E have become attractive as therapeutic agents in the treatment of several diseases. In addition, vitamin E seems to play a specific role in the nervous system. As a result, vitamin E has been used in pharmacologic doses in the treatment of disorders such as Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, and tardive dyskinesia. One investigation showed that the use of 2000 IU all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate is beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer disease. Similar doses of vitamin E, however, were not beneficial for delaying the progression of Parkinson disease. In other studies, dosages >/=400 IU vitamin E/d were found to be beneficial in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia, although this finding was not confirmed in a larger cooperative study conducted by the Veterans Administration. Even though the efficacy of vitamin E in the management of cardiovascular disease has been shown, the potential role of vitamin E in the treatment of cerebrovascular disease remains essentially unknown. The experience from 2 large clinical trials involving the oral intake of 2000 IU vitamin E/d suggests that vitamin E is relatively safe at this dosage for periods <2 y. However, the safety and efficacy of supplemental vitamin E over periods of many years in the prevention of neurologic diseases has not been adequately explored.
Lower urinary tract dysfunction in patients with dysautonomia.

Objective With the goal of better defining the types of bladder dysfunction observed in this population, we present the chief urologic complaints, results of urodynamic studies, and treatments of patients with dysautonomia-related urinary symptoms.
Delayed graft function may not adversely affect short-term renal allograft outcome.

Introduction: Delayed graft function (DGF) is commonly believed to adversely impact both short- and long-term renal allograft function. Because immunosuppressive therapy is commonly altered after DGF is identified, retrospective analyses are difficult to interpret. We therefore prospectively sought to examine the natural history of DGF in a controlled patient population under identical immunosuppressive protocols. Methods: Adult patients undergoing cadaveric renal transplantation were treated with sequential triple drug immunotherapy. High-dose steroids were administered in the operating room and rapidly tapered to 20 mg prednisone by post-operative day (POD) 6. Cyclosporine (CsA) microemulsion was begun on POD 1, and dosed asymmetrically at 12-h intervals to reach a daytime Cav of 650 ng/mL (utilizing 2-h and 6-h levels), while PM doses were adjusted to an AM trough of 300 ng/mL. Mycophenolate (1000 mg q12 h) was added on POD 3 in most patients and discontinued after 3 months. No induction agents were used. All patients were followed for at least 6 months. Results: Sixty consecutive patients received 64 allografts (four double grafts). In all, 17 patients required dialysis and were considered to have DGF. Eight of these patients received marginal organs turned down by at least one other centre. Cold ischaemia time was significantly longer in patients with DGF (24 h vs. 19 h, P < 0.01) All patients were treated as planned and there were no major protocol violations. One patient had primary non-function and was excluded from analysis. CsA trough and Cav values were similar between groups. Mean serum creatinine levels (mg/mL) fell more slowly in patients with DGF but there was no significant difference by 3 months (1.7 vs. 1.5) and the creatinine clearance was not significantly different between the groups after 1 year (71 cm 3 /min in DGF vs. 61 cm 3 /min, P = 0.13). Our data demonstrate that alterations in routine immunosuppressive strategies may not be necessary to achieve equivalent outcomes in patients with DGF.
Helix-loo-helix proteins in the regulation of immunoglobulin gene transcription

Abstract Transcriptional control of the Ig heavy chain and κ light chain is dominated by single enhancers located within the body of each gene. These enhancers bind distinct, yet overlapping, sets of cell-type-specific and ubiquitous nuclear proteins. This review focusses on one particular subclass of enhancer-binding protein, termed helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins, describing their role in the establishment of cell-type-specific transcription and suggesting how they may be regulated during B-cell maturation.
Words that heal.

A study in this issue indicates that lawyers, physicians, and patients might all benefit from more dialogue about disclosing medical error. These conversations might tell us that a few well-chosen,...
Comorbidity, body mass index, and age and the risk of nonprostate‐cancer‐specific mortality after a postradiation prostate‐specific antigen recurrence

BACKGROUND: Some men with a postradiation therapy (RT) prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence will die of noncancer causes before developing metastases. Therefore, our ability to determine who would benefit from salvage hormonotherapy (HT) would be enhanced if an individual's risk of nonprostate-cancer-specific mortality were known. METHODS: Among 206 men with unfavorable-risk localized prostate cancer initially randomized to RT+/−HT, 87 men who experienced PSA recurrence were studied. Fine and Gray's competing risks regression was used to assess whether body mass index (BMI) and the Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27 comorbidity level at randomization were associated with the risk of nonprostate-cancer-specific mortality after PSA recurrence, adjusting for age at recurrence. RESULTS: After a median postrecurrence follow-up of 4.4 years, moderate/severe comorbidity (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 3.15; P = .02), BMI ≥ median (27.4 kg/m2; adjusted HR=2.98; p=.04), and increasing age at recurrence (adjusted HR = 1.17; P = .03) were significantly associated with an increased risk of nonprostate-cancer-specific mortality. Five-year cumulative incidence estimates of nonprostate-cancer-specific mortality were as follows: 0% (95% confidence interval [CI] [0,0]) for low-risk patients (mild/no comorbidity and age<median [76.2 years] and BMI<median), 18.8% (5.8-31.8) for intermediate-risk patients (mild/no comorbidity and either age≥median or BMI≥median); and 37.9% (95% CI, 6.8-68.9) for high-risk patients (moderate/severe comorbidity; P = .03 overall). CONCLUSIONS: After a post-RT PSA recurrence, men with moderate/severe comorbidity and those who are obese or older face a substantial risk of nonprostate-cancer-specific mortality, and they could be considered for surveillance protocols with a plan to initiate salvage HT if the PSA rises rapidly (eg, PSA doubling time <6 months) or the patient develops clinically or radiographically evident disease. Cancer 2010. © 2009 American Cancer Society.
A Force-Based Blending Model forAtomistic-to-Continuum Coupling

A method for coupling atomistic and continuum models across a subdomain, or bridge region, is presented. Coupling is effected through a force-based blending model. The method properly accounts for the the atomistic and continuum contributions to the force balance at points in the bridge region. Simple patch tests and computational experiments are used to study the method and its properties in one dimension. A discussion of implementation issues in higher dimensions is provided.
Lithium bis(ethylenedioxyboryl)methide and its reactions with carbonyl compounds and with the chlorotriphenyl derivatives of germanium, tin and lead

Transesterification of tris(dimethoxyboryl)methane, HC[B(OCH3)2]3, with ethylene glycol yielded tris(ethylenedioxyboryl)methane (I), HC(BO2C2H4)3 which with methyllithium in THF at −70°C precipitated lithium bis(ethylenedioxyboryl)methide (II), Li+ HC(BO2C2H4)2-. Reaction of II with Ph3MCl, where M = Ge, Sn, or Pb, gave Ph3MCH(BO2C2H4)2. The analogous 1,3-propanediol ester, Li+HC(BO2C3H6)2-, yielded Ph3MCH(BO2C3H6)2. Treatment of Ph3SnCH(BO2C2H4)2 with MeLi followed by Ph3SnCl gave (Ph3Sn)2CHBO2C2H4, showing that one B and one Sn atom are sufficient to stabilize a carbanion. Reaction of II with aldehydes gave high yields of 1-alkene-1-boronic esters, RCHCHBO2C2H4, with unexpectedly high stereoselectivity, 90–100% trans by NMR analysis. Aqueous work-up of these boronic esters yielded the boronic acids, RCHCHB (OH)2, which crystallized as the pure trans isomers. Ketones react with II in an analogous manner. The reaction with acetophenone was not stereospecific. Functional group compatibility has been demonstrated in condensations of II with 1,3-dichloroacetone, cinnamaldehyde, p-nitrobenzaldehyde, and p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde. The trans geometry of the major isomer of CH3CHCHBO2C2H4 was proved by B-butylation with butyllithium followed by rearrangement with iodine and base to form cis-2-heptene, a sequence of known stereochemistry, and analogous structure proofs were carried out with cis-CH3CHCHBO2C2H4 and trans-C6H5CHCHBO2C2H4.
Central and peripheral endocannabinoids and cognate acylethanolamides in humans: association with race, adiposity, and energy expenditure.

2-Arachidonoylethanolamide is elevated in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of American Indians; in plasma, anandamide correlates strongly with adiposity and in CSF oleoylethanolamide is positively associated with energy expenditure.
Immature erythroblasts with extensive ex vivo self-renewal capacity emerge from the early mammalian fetus

In the hematopoietic hierarchy, only stem cells are thought to be capable of long-term self-renewal. Erythroid progenitors derived from fetal or adult mammalian hematopoietic tissues are capable of short-term, or restricted (102- to 105-fold), ex vivo expansion in the presence of erythropoietin, stem cell factor, and dexamethasone. Here, we report that primary erythroid precursors derived from early mouse embryos are capable of extensive (106- to 1060-fold) ex vivo proliferation. These cells morphologically, immunophenotypically, and functionally resemble proerythroblasts, maintaining both cytokine dependence and the potential, despite prolonged culture, to generate enucleated erythrocytes after 3-4 maturational cell divisions. This capacity for extensive erythroblast self-renewal is temporally associated with the emergence of definitive erythropoiesis in the yolk sac and its transition to the fetal liver. In contrast, hematopoietic stem cell-derived definitive erythropoiesis in the adult is associated almost exclusively with restricted ex vivo self-renewal. Primary primitive erythroid precursors, which lack significant expression of Kit and glucocorticoid receptors, lack ex vivo self-renewal capacity. Extensively self-renewing erythroblasts, despite their near complete maturity within the hematopoietic hierarchy, may ultimately serve as a renewable source of red cells for transfusion therapy.
The Effect of Combined Arousal States on Attitude Change.

Abstract An experiment was devised in which subjects either were given a choice or were given no choice to listen to a counter-attitudinal communication. For half the subjects (Interrupt condition) the tape of the communication broke during the concluding sentence of the speech. The other half of the subjects (No Interrupt condition) heard the speech in its entirety. A recall measure indicated that subjects in the Interrupt condition recalled significantly more arguments made in the communication than subjects who heard the complete speech. This was interpreted as being a Zeigarnik effect caused by arousal created by the interruption. The choice manipulation should have created dissonance and motivated attitude change. Consistent with dissonance theory, measures of attitude change showed that greater attitude change toward the position of the speech occurred in the Choice condition than in the No Choice condition. In addition, an interaction in which significantly greater change occurred in the Choice-Interrupt condition than any of the other conditions was obtained. Since both the choice and interruption manipulations were hypothesized to be arousing, it was speculated that, in the Choice-Interrupt condition, the arousal created by the cognitive inconsistency and by the interrupted task may have combined to yield the increased attitude change. The conditions under which arousal states might combine were discussed.
The effects of pair-programming on individual programming skill

Previous studies have reported significant educational benefits from the use of pair-programming, in which two students program together at the same computer. Here, we report the results of a controlled study designed to measure the effects of pair-programming on the development of individual programming ability. Our findings indicate significant improvements in individual programming skill for students with lower SAT scores. Additionally, we found that all students are more likely to complete the course successfully when using pair-programming.
North Sabine Lake Field: Complex Deposition and Reservoir Morphology of Lower Hackberry (Oligocene), Southwest Louisiana

Gas and condensate production at the North Sabine Lake field is from sands of the Hackberry wedge of the Oligocene Frio Formation. These lower Hackberry sands were deposited in a preexisting submarine canyon. Multiple sand bodies are present, and five patterns of sand deposition are recognized from SP logs: (1) incised channel fill, (2) braided fan channel, (3) intermediate suprafan, (4) proximal suprafan, and (5) overbank. Although three faults surround the field, the primary trapping mechanism is stratigraphic. The development and production history of the field indicate that many small sand lenses have coalesced to form a single large reservoir; however, differences in permeability have caused variations in water influx and in the levels of gas-water contacts. Sand lenses that are not connected to the larger reservoir are of limited size and have produced small amounts of hydrocarbon. Development of the field has been complicated by casing damage probably caused by reservoir compaction.
Optimization of Jet-A fuel reforming for aerospace applications

This paper focuses on the optimization of Jet-A fuel reforming for use with solid-oxide fuel cells in aerospace applications. Because of the specialized operating conditions and reforming requirements, a broad range of reforming inlet conditions need to be considered. Both equilibrium calculations for reforming of a Jet-A surrogate and zero-dimensional modeling with detailed chemistry for reforming of a kerosene surrogate are performed over a wide range of conditions with varying inlet temperature, operating pressure, steam-to-carbon ratio, and oxygen-to-carbon ratio. While equilibrium calculations provide some insight into the efficiency of the final reformer, the kinetics modeling can account for the finite residence time of the gas within the reformer. Calculations using finite-rate gas-phase chemistry indicate that the most efficient mode of reforming is achieved using a short-contact partial oxidation reactor operating with minimal water addition. Certain factors to consider for the development of a future catalytic reformer, such as local hot-spots and coke deposition on the catalyst, are also discussed.
Role in neuronal cell migration for high-threshold potassium currents in the chicken hindbrain.

We have investigated the influence of voltage-dependent, potassium conductances on the migration of embryonic neurons, using a culture preparation taken from the acoustico-vestibular anlage long before the onset of electrical excitability and synaptic function. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings from migrating neuroblasts at Hamburger-Hamilton stage 28 (E 5.5) revealed the exclusive expression of voltage-dependent, high-threshold, outward currents, activating at potentials positive to -20 mV. These currents were completely suppressed by the potassium channel blockers, 1.0 mM tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA) or 1.0 mM 4-aminopyridine (4-AP). In control media, the active migration of individual neuroblasts was recorded at 27 +/- 6 microm per hr. Within minutes after adding either drug to the culture, normal migration completely stopped for several hours. Calcium channel blockers, omega-conotoxin (3 microM) or cadmium chloride (100 microM), slowed, but did not halt, migration, while nickel chloride (100 microM) or N-methyl-D-glucamine (1 mM) had no effect. However, within 8 hr after TEA exposure, migratory activity usually returned. This recovery was associated with the appearance of a previously undetected, low-threshold and 4-AP- sensitive potassium conductance. We suggest that high-threshold, TEA/4-AP-sensitive potassium channels may normally support the migration of these neurons, while their chronic blockade can be compensated by the appearance of novel potassium channels. Potassium currents may act in concert with N-type calcium channels to regulate neuronal migration.
Nonhermeticity of Polymeric Lid Sealants

Organic adhesives are useful lid sealants because they are processed at low temperatures, are inexpensive, and are easy to rework. However, there has been concern about the degree of protection organics can provide moisture-sensitive components. Data presented in this paper show that organic adhesives can seal packages which pass gross and fine leak tests but allow water vapor to permeate rapidly. Permeation measurements on hybrid microcircuit packages gave seal permeabilities of 3-7 x 10-11g/cm-s-torr; these permeabilities agree with those listed for epoxies in the literature. With this permeability range and the package configuration used in this study, the interior humidity of a package will reach 50 percent of the exterior humidity in 6-10 h.
Anion exchange chromatography and molecular size of deoxyribonucleic acid.

IN conjunction with investigations on deoxyribonucleic acid isolated from white blood cells of patients with leukaemia (Polli, E. E., Rosoff, M., di Mayorca, G., and Cavalieri, L. F. (unpublished) and ref. 1), an interesting correlation was found between the molecular parameters of the acid and their chromatographic profiles obtained by fractionation on columns of ‘Ecteola’2.
Manganese +2 Exhibits Dynamic Binding to Multiple Ligands in Human Plasma

Plasma from fasted adult male subjects was labeled in vitro with 54MnCl2 and then fractionated using several techniques. Molecular sieve chromatography showed that the major 54Mn-containing peak had a very low molecular weight (VLMW), although four other significant peaks, one of which corresponded to the mass of transferrin (Tf), were also observed. The 54Mn content of the Tf peak increased with increasing incubation time in vitro, suggesting the oxidation of Mn+2 to Mn+3 before its association with Tf. This time-dependent effect was verified using affinity chromatography consisting of immobilized anti-Tf. Electrophoretic analyses of plasma yielded equivocal results, indicating a limited value of this method for investigating plasma manganese localization. The above findings are discussed in the context of factors that influence the oxidation and metabolism of Mn2+ in human plasma.
Destructive adsorption of chlorinated benzenes on ultrafine (nanoscale) particles of magnesium oxide and calcium oxide.

The exchange of oxide for chloride in the reaction of MgO or CaO with chlorinated hydrocarbons has been investigated on a fully automatic reactor-GC-MS system. The presence of MgO or CaO allows destruction of chlorinated benzenes at lower temperatures than simple pyrolysis or combustion processes. The presence of hydrogen as a carrier gas allows still lower temperatures to be employed. Decomposition have been observed for mono-, di-, and tri-chlorobenzenes over MgO and CaO of varying surface areas, and using helium, air, and hydrogen as flow gases. CaO induces more coupling of arenes and more carbon formation compared with MgO. A careful search for true toxins as products (particularly dioxins) was carried out. With low surface area CaO and air as a flow gas, dioxin and monochlorodioxin were produced in small amounts. However, nanoscale MgO did not allow formation of these toxic substances.
IUE OBSERVATIONS OF THE LOW-EXCITATION PLANETARY NEBULA TC-1.

Ultraviolet observations of Tc-1 confirm that the object is a low excitation planetary nebula with a central star of type O7. The nebular spectrum has few emission lines and the P Cygni character of the C IV line remains uncertain. A radial velocity of -95 km/s is found from the semiforbidden C III wavelength 1909 line, and an extinction of 0.22 m from the wavelength 2200 absorption feature.
Attempts to detect myosin and actin in cilia and flagella.

Abstract Antisera against chicken skeletal muscle myosin and actin were used to test for the presence of these proteins in chicken ciliated epithelium and sperm. The fluorescent antibody (cytological) method and precipitin reactions in gels both showed that there are no antigenic similarities between the contractile proteins of skeletal muscle and those of cilia and flagella.
Testing QCD at low-energies

Abstract We examine three low energy experiments which probe various aspects of the chiral symmetry property of the underlying QCD Lagrangian and point out possible problems.
Inward, Outward, Upward Prayer and Big Five Personality Traits

and prayer are both conceptualized as focusing on issues of connectivity with the self and beyond. Individual participants each recruited a peer to join the study (total N = 140). Partici- pants (n = 70) rated themselves according to multi-item scales that detail five personality factors (extraversion, intellect, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability; Abridged Big Five Circumplex). Th ey also responded to an instrument specifying eight foci of the inward, out- ward, and upward cognitive content of prayer (examination, tears, intercession, petition, radical, suffering, rest, and sacrament); these eight foci were reduced to three prayer themes: internal con- cerns, embracing paradox, and bold assertion. Finally, respondents reported the strength of six "basic" emotions (happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, fear, and sadness) that may be experienced during their typical prayer. Using the same instruments, each peer (n = 70) rated her or his matched participant. Results reveal discrete patterns between self and peer ratings, with respect to links among prayer and personality variables. Both self and peer ratings emphasize a relation between prayer and the personality traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness (e.g., prayer themes of inter- nal concerns correlated with agreeableness). Several concluding points highlight the value of the present conceptualization of personality and prayer with relation to connectivity, potential differences between personal and corporate prayers, and the potential role of sex differences in the disclosure of prayer's content and emotional influence.
Understanding relationship quality: theoretical challenges and new tools for assessment

Relationship quality is studied in a variety of disciplines, yet widely accepted practices promulgate a lack of conceptual clarity. We build on a conceptually simple and theoretically advantageous view of relationship quality and suggest a shift to conceptualizing it as two distinct yet related dimensions—positive and negative evaluations of relationships. We introduce item response theory as a powerful tool for measure development, demonstrating how relationship quality can be optimally pursued in the context of modern test theory, thus leading to better theory development. Recognizing the limitations of self-reported relationship quality, we extend this two-dimensional conceptualization further by drawing on developments in the derivation of implicit measures. After briefly introducing such measures, we illustrate their application to assessment of relationship quality.
Improving forecast skill by assimilation of AIRS temperature soundings

This paper uses AIRS temperature profiles derived by the AIRS Science Team Version-5 retrieval algorithm. The AIRS Science Team Version-5 retrieval algorithm is being used operationally at the Goddard DAAC in the processing (and reprocessing) of all AIRS data. The AIRS Science Team Version-5 retrieval algorithm contains two significant improvements over Version-4: 1) Improved physics allows for use of AIRS observations in the entire 4.3 µm CO 2 absorption band in the retrieval of temperature profile T(p) during both day and night. Tropospheric sounding 15 µm CO 2 observations are now used primarily in the generation of cloud cleared radiances HR i . This approach allows for the generation of accurate values of HR i and T(p) under most cloud conditions. 2) Another very significant improvement in Version-5 is the ability to generate accurate case-by-case, level-by-level error estimates for the atmospheric temperature profile, as well as for channel-by-channel error estimates for HR i . These error estimates are used for quality control of the retrieved products. We have conducted forecast impact experiments assimilating AIRS temperature profiles with different levels of quality control using the NASA GEOS-5 data assimilation system. Assimilation of quality controlled T(p) resulted in significantly improved forecast skill compared to that obtained from analyses obtained when all data used operationally by NCEP, except for AIRS data, is assimilated. We also conducted an experiment assimilating AIRS radiances uncontaminated by clouds, as done operationally by ECMWF and NCEP. Forecasts resulting from assimilating AIRS radiances were of poorer quality than those obtained assimilating AIRS temperatures.
The mechanical design of snake-arm robot

Snake-arm robots with a slender and flexible body have many potential applications in aerospace, nuclear and surgery industry. In this paper, we presented a snake-arm robot. This robot has three hollow slender segments composed of ball-joints driven by steel cables. A cage-like structure is contrived to drive the steel cables, and a special motor-driven control system is proposed for the control of this robot. A kinematics model has been built with a new moving decomposition method which significantly simplifies the transformation matrix. In the end, the prototype of this robot is performed, and the design of this robot is proved to be feasible by experimental results that have been shown in this paper.
The current state of affairs in dimensional tolerancing: 1997

This paper summarizes the evolution of mechanical tolerancing practices, the general character of tolerances as they are currently understood, the current state of tolerancing technologies, and the recent surge of activity aimed at rationalizing and “mathematizing” form tolerancing. The paper concludes with two examples that illustrate current research frontiers.
Comparison of Classical Ion Exchange Amino Acid Analysis and o-Phthaldialdehyde Methods to Characterize Proteolysis by Lactobacillus bulgaricus

Abstract Seven strains of Lactobacillus bulgaricus were assayed for proteolytic activity using o -phthaldialdehyde and classical ion exchange amino acid analysis. The strains were ranked in the same order of proteolysis by both methods. Linear regressions of total and individual amino acid concentrations, except for alanine and glycine, were correlated with o -phthaldialdehyde results (R 2 = .95). The mean coefficient of variation was 7.3% for amino acid analyses and 10.2% for o -phthaldialdehyde. The o -phthaldialdehyde method was comparable to amino acid analysis for measuring gross proteolysis, but amino acid analysis provides additional information.
A Native-Like Three-α-Helix Bundle Protein from Structure-Based Redesign: A Novel Maquette Scaffold

A uniquely structured 65 amino acid helix−loop−helix‘−loop−helix‘‘ three-α-helix bundle, α3-1, was designed and chemically synthesized, using the crystallographically characterized three stranded c...
Calibration of Phen Green™ for use as a Cu(I)-selective fluorescent indicator

Conditional stability constants for the Cu-sensitive fluorescent dye Phen Green™ SK (PGSK) were determined for complexes containing both Cu(I) and Cu(II). Experimental conditions were optimized to minimize oxidation of Cu(I) to Cu(II). A binding constant of 1011.38 for PGSK and Cu(I) was determined using chloride as the competing ligand and an iterative procedure involving equilibrium calculations to fit experimental data. The new constant was tested by evaluating PGSK fluorescence in the presence of the strong Cu(I)–ligand neocuproine and thiourea. There was good agreement between experimental data and changes in fluorescence predicted by calculations using the new constant and published constants for the competing ligands. Using EDTA to buffer the free ion concentration of Cu2+, the conditional stability constant of PGSK with Cu(II) was measured to be 109.8. Both of these new constants are significantly higher than previously published values. Finally PGSK was used to examine the kinetics of Cu(I) dissociation from the biologically important ligand glutathione.
Smoking imputation and lung cancer in railroad workers exposed to diesel exhaust

Background An association between diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer mortality in a large retrospective cohort study of US railroad workers has previously been reported. However, specific information regarding cigarette smoking was unavailable. Methods Birth cohort, age, job, and cause of death specific smoking histories from a companion case-control study were used to impute smoking behavior for 39,388 railroad workers who died 1959–1996. Mortality analyses incorporated the effect of smoking on lung cancer risk. Results The smoking adjusted relative risk of lung cancer in railroad workers exposed to diesel exhaust compared to unexposed workers was 1.22 (95% CI = 1.12–1.32), and unadjusted for smoking the relative risk was 1.35 (95% CI = 1.24–1.46). Conclusions These analyses illustrate the use of imputation in record-based occupational health studies to assess potential confounding due to smoking. In this cohort, small differences in smoking behavior between diesel exposed and unexposed workers did not explain the elevated lung cancer risk. Am. J. Ind. Med. 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Trajectory studies of energy transfer: CH3NC with He, Xe, H2 and N2

Abstract A trajectory program was used to simulate the collisions of CH 3 NC with He, Xe, H 2 and N 2 . Calculated energy transfer is in accord with experiment. The pattern of CH 3 NC vibrational mode energization is found to be noticeably non-random. The approximate sampling methods used in thermal unimolecular trajectory studies produce a more uniform state distribution.
The Separation of Banking and Commerce in the United States: An Examination of Principal Issues

Banking law and regulation in the United States have customarily restricted the nonbanking activities of banks and the banking activities of nonbanking firms, producing a separation of banking from commerce. While such separation is surprising in a free market system that, in general, permits private firms to engage in any lawful business, it is understandable in an historical and institutional context. Proposals for change raise a wide range of economic and other issues. This paper identifies, catalogues, and elaborates these issues to provide a framework for informed judgment and further investigation. It begins with a review of early restrictions on bank activities in the United States and contrasts U.S. developments with those in several other countries in which banks have not been separated from commercial and industrial firms. It, then, reviews relevant issues arising in the financial sector, commercial sector, related to central banking and supervision, and socio-political concerns. It concludes that limited banking, as it exists in the United States, and universal banking, as it exists in other countries, have differential benefits and costs. Summary evaluation based on standard cost benefit analysis, however, presents serious difficulties. Considerable uncertainty remains about effects in a number of areas. Many of the costs and benefits are not quantifiable, and some that are quantifiable are incomparable. A careful review of all existing evidence, identification of gaps, and further investigation is needed.