cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reoperation after Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Surgery

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the results of reoperation of lumbar disc surgery. This report analyses that group of patients who required more than one surgical procedure. Twelve of 179 patients who initially underwent operation required two or more procedures.The reason for a second or third operation were1) Recurrent disc lesion, same level as previous surgery: 62) Recurrent disc lesion, different level: 33) Segmental instability (pseudo arthrosis): 14) Adhesive archnoidites: 15) Spinal stenosis: 2
Simultaneous determination of 16 phthalate esters in water using ultrasound-assisted liquid-liquid small volume extraction followed by GC-MS

Objective:To develop a new method to detect 16 kinds of phthalate esters in water using ultrasound-assisted liquid-liquid small volume extraction followed by GC-MS.Methods: Benzene was chosen as extraction solvent.The parameters influencing extraction emciency,such as volume of benzene,concentrations of NaCl and ultrasonic time were evaluated and optimized.200 ml of water used only 2 ml of benzene,20 g of NaCl and ultrasonic for 50 min.Results: Under the optimum conditions,the recovery range was 86.8%~111.2%.RSD was 1.4%~12.5%,and the lowest detection limit was 0.03 μg/L~0.13 μg/L.Conclusion: The method can analyze phthalate esters in water with convenience,rapidity and security.
The Modification of the Abnormal Remote Sensing Data from the DVB-S System Based on MODIS

The DVB-S is a new digital satellite broadcasting technology which meets the industrial standard.Based on this technology,China Meteorological Administration built up a low-cost,wildly-applied satellite remote sensing data sharing platform.The users can acquire the near-real-time satellite remote sensing data from US EOS,NOAA and Chinese FY satellite series.Due to the signal disturbance and other reasons,some received data have lots of abnormal data,which influence their utilization.Considering the multiple receiving stations in the DVB-S system,there would be lots of overlapped areas in their receiving range.A method for modifying the abnormal data in the MODIS 1B swath image by using the correspondent pixels in the overlapped area is introduced in this paper.Its key steps include image selection,overlapped area matching,abnormal data replacement etc.,and the automatic data processing code is realized by using Visual C++.
Comparison of catecholamine effects on canine myocardial metabolism and regional blood flow during and after cardiopulmonary bypass.

The acute metabolic and hemodynamic effects of dopamine, dobutamine (both at 10 μg · kg−1 · min), and isoproterenol (at 0.05 or 0.1 μg · kg−1 · min) were determined in dogs following 20 minutes of normothermic global myocardial ischemia. The catecholamines were started 10 minutes before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was discontinued and were continued for 1 hour after bypass. Regional myocardial and systemic blood flow distribution was measured by means of the radioactive microsphere technique. On bypass all catecholamines sharply increased heart rate, myocardial oxygen consumption, and left ventricular blood flow (p
Disrupting Mating Behavior of Diaphorina citri (Liviidae).

Severe economic damage from citrus greening disease, caused by 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' bacteria, has stimulated development of methods to reduce mating and reproduction in populations of its insect vector, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae). Male D. citri find mating partners by walking on host plants, intermittently producing vibrational calls that stimulate duetting replies by receptive females. The replies provide orientational feedback, assisting the search process. To test a hypothesis that D. citri mating can be disrupted using vibrational signals that compete with and/or mask female replies, courtship bioassays were conducted in citrus trees with or without interference from female reply mimics produced by a vibrating buzzer. Statistically significant reductions occurred in the rates and proportions of mating when the buzzer produced reply mimics within 0.4 s after male courtship calls compared with undisturbed controls. Observations of courtship behaviors in the two bioassays revealed activity patterns that likely contributed to the reductions. In both disruption and control tests, males reciprocated frequently between structural bifurcations and other transition points where signal amplitudes changed. Males in the disruption bioassay had to select among vibrational signals combined from the buzzer and the female at each transition point. They often turned towards the buzzer instead of the female. There was a statistically significant reduction in the proportion of males mating if they contacted the buzzer, possibly due to its higher vibration amplitude and duration in comparison with female replies. Potential applications of D. citri mating disruption technology in citrus groves are discussed.
Screening and brief intervention in high schools: School nurses' practices and attitudes in Massachusetts.

ABSTRACTBackground: Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is recommended as a strategy to prevent or reduce adolescent substance use. Offering SBIRT in schools may provide an opportunity to reach adolescents not accessing primary care. The objective is to assess school nurses' attitudes and practices regarding adolescent SBIRT. Methods: The authors administered electronically and in person a questionnaire including 29 items on SBIRT attitudes and practices to school nurses registered for the Northeastern University's School Health Institute Summer Program in Massachusetts (N = 168). Survey questions were adapted from a questionnaire originally developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Results: One hundred and forty-four nurses completed the survey for a response rate of 85.7%. More than three quarters of the respondents (77.0%) were in favor of universal alcohol screening in schools. None of the respondents reported screening their students on a regular basis. More than h...
Anorexia of ageing: a key component in the pathogenesis of both sarcopenia and cachexia

The anorexia of aging was first recognized as a physiological syndrome 30 years ago. Its major causes are an alteration in fundal compliance with an increase in antral stretch and enhanced cholecystokinin activity leading to increased satiation.This anorexia leads to weight loss in aging persons and is one of the component causes of the aging related sarcopenia. This physiological anorexia also increases the risk of more severe anorexia when an older person has an increase in inflammatory cytokines such as occurs when they have an illness. This results in an increase in the anorexia due to cachexia in older persons.
An Overview of the Discontinuous Petrov Galerkin Method

We discuss our current understanding of the discontinuous Petrov Galerkin (DPG) Method with Optimal Test Functions and provide a literature review on the subject.
Opportunistic Channel-Hopping Based Effective Rendezvous Establishment in Cognitive Radio Networks

In cognitive radio networks (CRNs), second users (SUs) exploit spectrum holes by accessing multiple channels opportunistically. In such a dynamic-spectrum-access network, the SUs equipped with cognitive radios have to establish rendezvous on a common channel before they are able to communicate with each other. Due to the intermittent appearance of primary users’ signals, SUs have to access the channels opportunistically, which makes the rendezvous problem challenging. This paper focuses on blind rendezvous where neither any central controller nor common control channel is available. Under an opportunistic framework, we propose the concept of channel availability to measure the dynamic feature of channels, and we study the pairwise effective rendezvous problem systematically, for which a simple yet efficient and flexible opportunistic method is proposed. We further extend our method to the many-to-one rendezvous problem for fairness consideration. The performances of our solutions are evaluated via both theoretical analysis and extensive simulations.
Learning, extinction, and relearning of running and basal skin resistance (BRL) in a segmented straight alley

A test was devised of the interpretation of the goal gradient found by Di Lollo and Walker (1964) in terms of the handling of the animal rather than in terms of rg. Two groups of 12 animals each were run in the same maze with a starting box attached. During a five min. delay period in the starting box, one group was handled during the entire 2nd min. and the other group during the 4th min. On each trial animals were retained in each of the six segments of the maze for one full minute before the gate was raised giving access to the next segment. Two trials per day were given, separated by 4 hours. There were 10 reinforced learning trials, 8 trials of extinction, and 4 trials of relearning. Handling produced a drop in BRL during the 5 min. delay period. BRL rose during learning, dropped during extinction, rose again during relearning. There was no evidence of a goal gradient in either mean or individual day data. The findings constitute additional evidence that the goal gradient may be attributable to the manner in which the animal is handled while being placed in and removed from the maze.
Current Standards of Chemotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer

Abstract Purpose Pancreatic cancer has a dismal prognosis due to the early development of systemic metastatic disease. Chemotherapeutic agents are the only systemic therapy that offers patients meaningful benefit. Methods This study reviewed the literature for recently published Phase III clinical trials whose results have guided the current standards of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Findings Although combination chemotherapy regimens are shown to be superior to gemcitabine monotherapy for both metastatic pancreatic cancer and adjuvant chemotherapy after surgical resection, it should be recognized that all combination chemotherapy regimens offer only limited benefits. In addition, there is a paucity of clinical trials that directly compare the various combination chemotherapy regimens. Implications With the advancement of systemic cancer treatment beyond chemotherapy, it is important to devote more investigation into better understanding the biology of these chemotherapy regimens, such that we combine them with targeted therapeutics and immunotherapeutics in a rational and scientific manner. For the current treatment of pancreatic cancer, the available chemotherapy regimens have shown modest but statistically significant improvements in survival. However, it is important to avoid cross-comparisons of trials and choose regimens based on patient characteristics and the side-effect profiles of the regimen.
Description and assessment of a pilot interprofessional education case competition activity.

Abstract Background and purpose A case competition involving pharmacy and nursing students was designed as a pilot project to determine if this would be an effective way to implement interprofessional education (IPE) within the College of Health and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Educational activity and setting Level 5 nursing students and third-year pharmacy students were invited to participate in a patient case competition activity as interprofessional teams. A modified version of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Competency Survey and the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) Questionnaire were administered before and after the activity. Findings and discussion Nineteen students (nine nursing, 10 pharmacy) participated in the case competition and completed both the pre- and post-survey. Responses to questions in the IPEC Competency Self-Assessment Tool suggest improved self-reported competence in the interaction and values/ethics domains. Summary Participation in this IPE case competition demonstrated improved engagement with other healthcare professional students as assessed by the IPEC Competency Survey and the RIPLS Questionnaire. This activity could serve as a way for other schools of pharmacy to implement IPE in their curriculum.
Hybrid beamforming for link recovery in millimeter wave communications

This paper presents a novel dual-beam recovery method for blocked links in millimeter wave communications. Namely, transmit diversity is achieved here by using a hybrid beamforming technique to establish recovery beams in Rician channels. Once the direct line-of-sight link is blocked, equal gain combining is applied to the incoming signals from the dual-beams, i.e., to compensate for signal degradation. The proposed method provides near-instantaneous link recovery without the need for iterative beam scanning. Simulations show that the proposed method yields enhanced received signal levels across various blockage parameters versus single beam recovery schemes.
Rizhao: China’s Green Beacon for Sustainable Chinese Cities

By sustaining an average annual GDP growth rate of over 10% during the last two decades, China has rapidly developed its economy [10], emerging as a key and powerful player in today’s globalized market. However, alongside the rise of its economy, the country has seen an equally rapid decline in its environmental quality. Although China’s environmental degradation and pollution are widespread, it has been estimated that over 75% of China’s pollution can be attributed solely to burning coal [13]. The rapid economic development has created a burgeoning demand for energy, resulting in the construction of over 2,000 coal-fired power plants littered throughout the country, with plans for an additional 500 more by 2010 [12, 6]. Every day, particulate matter produced from these power plants choke the air, leaving a permanent brown haze over many Chinese cities.
Earth’s Climate System

Climate is the state factor that most strongly governs the global distribution of terrestrial biomes. This chapter provides a general background on the functioning of the climate system and its interactions with atmospheric chemistry, ocean, and land.
Prenatal gonadal steroidal influences on gender-related behavior.

Publisher Summary A primary role of steroid hormones during early development is the establishment of morphological sex differences, which provide the foundation for sex differences of behavior. This chapter discusses the influence of prenatal exposure to steroid hormones on the behavioral development of humans, the process of sexual differentiation, and laboratory animal experiments that provide support for the conclusions of the human studies. Available evidence suggests that exposure to steroid hormones during gestation does affect human behavioral development in a manner generally consistent with that demonstrated experimentally in laboratory animals. It follows, based upon the concordance of evidence between the laboratory animal and human studies of behavioral alteration in response to critical period exposure to steroids, that the human brain is likely to undergo a process of sexual differentiation similar to that of other mammals. Sex differences in human brain morphology have been identified, await only is definitive empirical evidence of the role hormones play in brain differentiation.
Home-Based Services

Home-based services for individuals with developmental disabilities have been implemented successfully for several decades and have been the subject of a large amount of research demonstrating their effectiveness. This chapter reviews research on several varieties of home-based service delivery. In particular, home-based early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for young children with autism is discussed, including research on EIBI implemented by university clinics, community-based agencies, and treatment directed by parents. The effects of age at intake and treatment intensity on EIBI outcomes are also reviewed. Research on other home-based services is also reviewed, including procedures for parent training and the reduction of challenging behavior. The latter section of the chapter discusses the relative strengths and limitations of home-based service delivery, as well as the importance of the quality of treatment. The chapter concludes with a discussion of variables to consider when selecting the most appropriate treatment setting for any given individual.
Comments on P. G. Hare and D. T. Ulph

In the model of this paper children cannot make their own education decisions, because they cannot borrow to finance their education. Parents, however, care about children’s income, so, if the rate of return to education is higher than the rate of return to financial assets, parents will invest in their children’s education rather than pass on financial wealth. Under the assumptions that there is a stationary distribution of abilities, and that each parent knows his child’s ability, the authors are able to show that there is a stationary distribution of wealth. In equilibrium wealth inequality exists because more able children receive more education, and as a result accumulate more wealth.
Crystal Structure of the COMPASS H3K4 Methyltransferase Catalytic Module.

The SET1/MLL family of histone methyltransferases is conserved in eukaryotes and regulates transcription by catalyzing histone H3K4 mono-, di-, and tri-methylation. These enzymes form a common five-subunit catalytic core whose assembly is critical for their basal and regulated enzymatic activities through unknown mechanisms. Here, we present the crystal structure of the intact yeast COMPASS histone methyltransferase catalytic module consisting of Swd1, Swd3, Bre2, Sdc1, and Set1. The complex is organized by Swd1, whose conserved C-terminal tail not only nucleates Swd3 and a Bre2-Sdc1 subcomplex, but also joins Set1 to construct a regulatory pocket next to the catalytic site. This inter-subunit pocket is targeted by a previously unrecognized enzyme-modulating motif in Swd3 and features a doorstop-style mechanism dictating substrate selectivity among SET1/MLL family members. By spatially mapping the functional components of COMPASS, our results provide a structural framework for understanding the multifaceted functions and regulation of the H3K4 methyltransferase family.
Effects of Polyamine Binding on the Stability of DNA i-Motif Structures.

B-form DNA can adopt alternative structures under conditions such as superhelical duress. Alternative DNA structures are favored when there is asymmetric distribution of guanosine and cytosine on c...
Columnar Injection for Intracerebral Cell Therapy.

Background Surgical implantation of cellular grafts into the brain is of increasing importance, as stem cell-based therapies for Parkinson and other diseases continue to develop. The effect of grafting technique on development and survival of the graft has received less attention. Rate and method of graft delivery may impact the cell viability and success of these therapies. Understanding the final location of the graft with respect to the intended target location is also critical. Objective To describe a "columnar injection" technique designed to reduce damage to host tissue and result in a column of graft material with greater surface area to volume ratio than traditional injection techniques. Methods Using a clinically relevant model system of human embryonic stem cell-derived dopaminergic progenitors injected into athymic rat host brain, we describe a novel device that allows separate control of syringe barrel and plunger, permitting precise deposition of the contents into the cannula tract during withdrawal. Controls consist of contralateral injection using traditional techniques. Graft histology was examined at graft maturity. Results Bolus grafts were centered on the injection tract but were largely proximal to the "target" location. These grafts displayed a conspicuous peripheral distribution of cells, particularly of mature dopaminergic neurons. In contrast, column injections remained centered at the intended target, contained more evenly distributed cells, and had significantly more mature dopaminergic neurons. Conclusion We suggest that this columnar injection technique may allow better engraftment and development of intracerebral grafts, enhancing outcomes of cell therapy, compared to fixed-point injection techniques.
Identifying forage populations of concern: A new perspective based on predator recruitment considerations

Abstract Concerns about forage fish taxa declines caused by fishing or environmental change and their impact on predator populations have become an important issue in fisheries management. However, it has proven difficult to identify critical forage taxa, and elusive to establish clear linkages between forage and predator dynamics. We provide a new avenue for identifying forage taxa of concern by focusing on organisms consumed during predator recruitment, the juvenile phase of the predator lifecycle that is most important in determining predator abundance. Using a case study of four coastal predatory fish species on the West Florida Shelf, Gulf of Mexico, USA, we show that consumption of exploited fish and crustacean species is less common during the phase of predator recruitment than in the predator lifecycle as a whole. Many taxa consumed during this critical phase are not systematically monitored. Among the monitored taxa, many showed relative-abundance declines despite not being targets or bycatch of any known fishery, which points towards environmental factors as drivers. We conclude that environmentally-driven declines in forage resources consumed during the critical phase of predator recruitment is an overlooked, but potentially important, “forage fish” concern.
On (χ,b)-factors of cuspidal automorphic representations of unitary groups I

Abstract Following the idea of [GJS09] for orthogonal groups, we introduce a new family of period integrals for cuspidal automorphic representations σ of unitary groups and investigate their relation with the occurrence of a simple global Arthur parameter ( χ , b ) in the global Arthur parameter ψ σ associated to σ, by the endoscopic classification of Arthur [Art13] , [Mok13] , [KMSW14] . The argument uses the theory of theta correspondence. This can be viewed as a part of the ( χ , b ) -theory outlined in [Jia14] and can be regarded as a refinement of the theory of theta correspondences and poles of certain L-functions, which was outlined in [Ral91] .
What Computers Can Teach Us About Doctor-Patient Communication: Leveraging Gender Differences in Cancer Care

Advanced cancer patients sometimes spend their final days in unnecessary distress while receiving aggressive cancer treatment that is unlikely to work. Part of this problem stems from patients having incorrect understanding of their prognosis. Although studies have identified that effective doctor-patient communication is associated with better patient outcomes, most cancer patients misunderstand their prognosis. We applied computational language analysis tools (word category and language sentiment) to identify gender-specific communication characteristics associated with improved patient prognosis understanding. Analysis of 382 conversations between oncologists and patients identified that for female doctors, discussing feelings, using positive sentiment language, and speaking in shorter turns were strongly associated with better patient prognosis understanding. For male doctors, allowing patients to speak more, discussing the future, and not focusing heavily on religion or death were important. Synchrony between the doctors and patients usage of positive sentiment language was shown to be relevant only for female doctors.
Selection among Approaches

One of the most difficult tasks in mineral and energy model implementation is deciding which single modeling approach or which combination or hybridization of methodologies will best solve the modeling problem at hand. It is important to realize that there is no such thing as an “all-purpose” model. Different model structures lead to the solution of different kinds of mineral and energy policy problems. At the same time, however, some relation does exist between the requirements of model specification and the methodologies employed. Specifications that require temporal, process or spatial configurations might employ econometric, engineering process, or spatial equilibrium models respectively. To help make these and other more difficult decisions of model selection, the major methodologies are now compared on the basis of their relative strengths and weaknesses. Time and space limit the evaluations to only the three more utilized approaches.
Exploring the use of virtues to facilitate identity construction among management students

Abstract This paper explores the challenges and opportunities facing educators who wish to facilitate management students’ identity construction as a means to foster their students’ emergent professional identities and post-graduate career attainments. We look to medical and law schools’ recent advancements, alongside their traditional dissemination of knowledge and technical skills, in better aligning students’ developing identities and related behaviors with respective professional ideals. Drawing on insights from these professional schools, we examine whether the concept of “professional virtues” that’s proven valuable in these contexts might also be used to facilitate students’ professional identity construction within management education.
The afterlives of the terror: facing the legacies of mass violence in postrevolutionary France: by Ronen Steinberg, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 2019, xviii, 222 pp., $19.95 (paperback), ISBN: 9781501739248

Thirty years ago, historians largely abandoned their debate about the origins of the French Revolution in favor of a debate about the origins of “the Terror.” In this latter case, historians have g...
National egg-freezing trends: cycle and patient characteristics with a focus on race/ethnicity.

Objective To describe the trends and characteristics of oocyte cryopreservation (OC) cycles stratified by self-reported race/ethnicity in the United States Design Retrospective cohort analysis using the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinical Outcome Reporting System Setting US fertility clinics Patients All patients undergoing OC from 2012 through 2016 Interventions None Main Outcome Measures The OC cycle trends were analyzed on the basis of race/ethnicity: non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Asian/Pacific islander, Hispanic, and other (American Indian, Alaskan native, or mixed race). Results Between 2012 and 2016, there was a total of 29,631 OC cycles; the total number of cycles increased yearly from 2,925 in 2012 to 8,828 in 2016. When compared with the demographics of the United States, OC was underused by some minority patient groups because majority of the cycles (66.5%) were performed in white patients. The total number of OC cycles increased annually among all the ethnic groups, most notably among Asian patients. The patients of all the ethnic backgrounds were most commonly under 35 years of age and underwent 1 OC cycle, except for Asian patients, who most frequently underwent OC between the ages of 35 and 37 years and were more likely to have undergone ≥2 cycles than patients of other minority groups. After adjustment for cofounders, there were no clinically significant differences in oocyte yield and the percentage of maturation across the racial/ethnic groups. Conclusions Nationally, OC cycles have been increasing in number, most often in patients under the age of 35 years, with similar proportions of patients of minority groups pursuing OC over time. The oocyte yield was comparable across the ethnic groups. Future research regarding subsequent thawing outcomes is warranted.
An adventitious agent-free clonal cell line that is highly susceptible to foot -and-mouth disease virus.

Abstract Porcine LFBKαVβ6 cells have been successfully used for diagnostics and propagation of all FMDV serotypes/subtypes. Unfortunately, after initial characterization, these cells showed contamination with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), a non-cytopathic adventitious agent. Persistent infection with BVDV could interfere with diagnostic tests and, also prevent consideration for other uses, i.e., vaccine production. In this study, we developed a three-prong methodology to completely remove BVDV from LFBKαVβ6 cells. Combined treatment with siRNA against BVDV NS5A, porcine interferon alpha and ribavirin resulted in the elimination of BVDV, as determined by immunohistochemistry analysis, quantitative RT-PCR and RNA sequencing. Importantly, elimination of BVDV from LFBKαVβ6 did not affect FMDV growth and plaque phenotype from different serotypes isolated and propagated in the clean cell line, newly named MGPK αVβ6-C5. Additionally, isolation of FMDV from field oro-pharyngeal samples, was successful at the same sensitivity as in BVDV-contaminated LFBKαVβ6 cells. Our results identified a direct method to efficiently eliminate BVDV from porcine cells without altering FMDV permissiveness, diagnostic value, or potential for use in vaccine production. Furthermore, these cells may provide an improved platform for diagnostics and propagation of other viruses of interest in the veterinary field and the virology community at large.
Optimal sampling designs for estimating salmonid run abundances from video recordings at a fishway on the Bois Brule River, Wisconsin, a tributary to Lake Superior

Abstract Using a simulation program and video census data (2004–2018) from the Bois Brule River fishway, Wisconsin, USA, we compared alternative sampling designs to estimate spawning run abundances of steelhead, coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and brown trout. We evaluated two types of two-stage sampling designs, comprising varying numbers of days sampled within a year (1st stage samples) and varying numbers of hours sampled within a day (2nd stage samples). While days were sampled using stratified random sampling under both types of sampling designs, hours were sampled using uniform (1/24) or non-uniform (proportional to hourly runs) selection probabilities under the first and second types of sampling designs, respectively. Number of days sampled within a year, comprising three strata, varied from 30 to 200 days in 10-day increments, and number of hours sampled within a day varied from 2 to 24 h in 2-hour increments. Spawning run sizes of the salmonids could be estimated with a relative root mean square error (RMSE) of less than 10% on average by employing a two-stage sampling design with samples of 100 days·yr−1 and 8 hrs·day−1, i.e., 800 hrs·yr−1; by contrast, full census involved reviewing 250 days·yr−1 and 24 hrs·day−1, i.e., 6000 hrs·yr−1, of video. Sampling more days (>100) resulted in greater reductions in estimation error than sampling more hours (>8). Non-uniform (vs. uniform) selection probabilities for hours sampled slightly reduced error of estimates. Our results underscore that optimal sampling designs could ensure a considerable reduction in survey resources while maintaining relatively low error in estimation of salmonid abundances.
Indoles Derived From Glucobrassicin: Cancer Chemoprevention by Indole-3-Carbinol and 3,3'-Diindolylmethane

Hydrolysis of glucobrassicin by plant or bacterial myrosinase produces multiple indoles predominantly indole-3-carbinol (I3C). I3C and its major in vivo product, 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM), are effective cancer chemopreventive agents in pre-clinical models and show promise in clinical trials. The pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of DIM have been studied in both rodents and humans and urinary DIM is a proposed biomarker of dietary intake of cruciferous vegetables. Recent clinical studies at Oregon State University show surprisingly robust metabolism of DIM in vivo with mono- and di-hydroxylation followed by conjugation with sulfate or glucuronic acid. DIM has multiple mechanisms of action, the most well-characterized is modulation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) signaling. In rainbow trout dose-dependent cancer chemoprevention by dietary I3C is achieved when given prior to or concurrent with aflatoxin B1, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrosamines or direct acting carcinogens such as N-methyl-N'-nitro-nitrosoguanidine. Feeding pregnant mice I3C inhibits transplacental carcinogenesis. In humans much of the focus has been on chemoprevention of breast and prostate cancer. Alteration of cytochrome P450-dependent estrogen metabolism is hypothesized to be an important driver of DIM-dependent breast cancer prevention. The few studies done to date comparing glucobrassicin-rich crucifers such as Brussels sprouts with I3C/DIM supplements have shown the greater impact of the latter is due to dose. Daily ingestion of kg quantities of Brussels sprouts is required to produce in vivo levels of DIM achievable by supplementation. In clinical trials these supplement doses have elicited few if any adverse effects. Sulforaphane from glucoraphanin can act synergistically with glucobrassicin-derived DIM and this may lead to opportunities for combinatorial approaches (supplement and food-based) in the clinic.
Molecular dynamics simulation study of meso-confined propane in TiO2

We report the structural and dynamical properties of propane confined in mesoporous TiO2, studied using MD simulations. Results indicate that the propane molecules have a tendency to be adsorbed at the pore walls forming sequential layers. Three different regimes of translational motion can be identified which correspond to motion at different time scales accessible to different experimental probes. The variation of the dynamical behavior with loading differs for different regimes and the trend for one of these is consistent with that obtained in recent neutron scattering experiments on propane in mesoporous TiO2 and silica aerogel. The rotational motion of propane molecules confined in the pore exhibits a very fast free rotation at short times which is followed by isotropic rotational diffusion. This work provides an explanation to the counterintuitive observations of an enhancement in the diffusivity with an increased loading of confined propane in recent neutron scattering experiments.
Are Mothers Hazardous to Their Children’s Health?: Law, Culture, and the Framing of Risk

This Article examines the psychosocial processes of risk construction and explores how these processes intersect with core principles of Anglo-American law. It does so by critiquing current cultural and legal perceptions that mothers, especially pregnant women, pose a risk to their children’s health. The Article’s core argument is that during the last four decades, both American society and American law have increasingly come to view mothers as a primary source of risk to children. This intense focus on the threat of maternal harm ignores significant environmental sources of injury, including fathers and other men, as well as exposure to toxic chemicals, dangerous social environments, poverty, and other multi-factorial contributors to childhood harm. The singular focus on mothers as a source of harm to children is scientifically unfounded and reflects persistent racial, gender, and class stereotypes. It also can lead to poor public policy. Risk that is misunderstood is likely to be met with measures that are both misguided and ineffective.The Article first explicates the landscape of mothers and risk, contrasting common misperceptions with the hard data on children’s health. The Article then considers how and why this distorted view has arisen, relying on new social science research about risk perception and risk communication. Building on that research, the Article examines American legal history and theory, casting a wide net in criminal, environmental, and tort law to demonstrate how core legal doctrine both reflects and reinforces existing sociocultural norms, particularly in the areas of mothers’ responsibility for children’s health. The Article urges a reengagement with the precautionary principle, based on solid scientific evidence, to improve the health of all of America’s children.
SELECTION OF CRITICAL BRIDGES FOR RETROFITTING

With few exceptions highway bridges in this country have not been designed to resist motions and forces that may be generated by the occurrence of earthquakes in their areas. Thus, many bridges may be expected to fail in some major way during their remaining life if subjected to strong motion seismic loads. If an earthquake occurs a bridge may be destroyed or damaged to the extent that it cannot sustain traffic or that it blocks an intersecting road. This narrative addresses itself to the identification of the criticality of the bridge in relation to the road, the road network, the community, and the national defense/security system. The criticality of the bridge is then compared to its ability in resisting the disaster and a need to retrofit (or not to retrofit) the bridge is established. The objective is to produce a procedure whereby a decision can be made as to which bridges in a given road network need to be retroffitted relative to a given earthquake.
Violence and substance abuse: Opportunity and challenge for nursing practice and research

The overlap of substance abuse and domestic violence has been a neglected area of nursing research and practice. Except for the research programs of Carol Boyd, Ruth Harris, and Dorothy Henderson (e.g., Henderson and Boyd, 1997), the complex interrelationships of these phenomena and their resultant effects on women's health are all but absent from nursing literature. This volume of Journal of Addictions Nursing addresses this gap. Nursing is not alone in its neglect of these intersecting issues. Although violence and substances are forever closely intertwined in the public's eye, very little is really known about what exactly are the causal mechanisms between the two and what are the best interventions to address both serious health, criminal justice, and social problems. Violence and substance abuse intersect in many complex ways, are both important health problems by themselves, and closely related to many other health problems. They are, thus, both appropriate areas for nursing scholarship and nursing ...
WHO SHOULD GO AND WHO SHOULD STAY

The need for more efficient use of probation services is widely accepted. Indeed, many offenders are being incarcerated who might have been better served on probation. However, the percentage of incarcerated offenders who perhaps should have been retained in the community has been open to question The purpose of this study was to provide a bench mark as to the percentage of incarcerated offenders who might be better served on probation.
The effects of vehicle-to-grid systems on wind power integration

Renewable energy portfolio standards have created a large increase in the amount of renewable electricity production, and one technology that has benefited greatly from these standards is wind power. The uncertainty inherent in wind electricity production dictates that additional amounts of conventional generation resources be kept in reserve, should wind electricity output suddenly dip. The introduction of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles into the transportation fleet presents an possible solution to this problem through the concept of vehicle-to-grid power. The ability of vehicle-to-grid power systems to help solve the variability and uncertainty issuess in systems with large amounts of wind power capacity is examined through a multiparadigm simulation model. The problem is examined from the perspectives of three different stakeholders: policy makers, the electricity system operator and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle owners. Additionally, a preliminary economic analysis of the technology is performed, and a comparison made with generation technologies that perform similar functions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A semiparametric model for hyperspectral anomaly detection

Using hyperspectral (HS) technology, this paper introduces an autonomous scene anomaly detection approach based on the asymptotic behavior of a semiparametric model under amultisample testing andminimum-order statistic scheme. Scene anomaly detection has a wide range of use in remote sensing applications, requiring no specific material signatures. Uniqueness of the approach includes the following: (i) only a small fraction of the HS cube is required to characterize the unknown clutter background, while existing global anomaly detectors require the entire cube; (ii) the utility of a semiparematric model, where underlying distributions of spectra are not assumed to be known but related through an exponential function; (iii) derivation of the asymptotic cumulative probability of the approach making mistakes, allowing the user some control of probabilistic errors. Results using real HS data are promising for autonomous manmade object detection in difficult natural clutter backgrounds from two viewing perspectives: nadir and forward looking.
Electronic data publishing and GenBank

GenBank, the national repository for nucleotide sequence data, has implemented a new model of scientific data management, which we term electronic data publishing. In traditional publishing, both scientific conclusions and supporting data are communicated via the printed page, and in electronic journal publishing, both types of information are communicated via electronic media. In electronic data publishing, by contrast, conclusions are published in a journal while data are published via a network-accessible, electronic database.
Design considerations for infrared fiber optic sensors

This presentation focuses on mechanical and electro-optical design considerations embodied in VOtectTM -- an infrared fiber optic sensor for volatile organic compounds. Presently, the VOtectTM system is configured for remote detection of hydrocarbon vapors associated with gasoline and other internal-combustion fuels. Using commercially available zirconate glass optical fibers, the sensor exploits the overlap of absorption spectra due to carbon-hydrogen stretching vibrations between 3.3 and 3.6 microns, with the optical output of an infrared HeNe laser operating at 3.39 microns. Compensation for position-dependent fiber bending losses is achieved using 1.15-micron radiation simultaneously emitted by the laser source. Initial laboratory evaluations of the VOtectTM system indicates detection sensitivities well below the lower explosion limits for petroleum distillates, indicating the usefulness of the sensor for petrochemical safety applications. The sensor is intrinsically safe (e.g., explosion-proof), since no electrical power is required at the probe tip. Preliminary sensor optical power budget calculations indicate that the zirconate fiber optic umbilical, which connects the sensor probe to the electro-optical detection system, can be as long as several hundred meters. Calibration data for a variety of hydrocarbons indicate linear relationships between ln(V/Vo) and vapor concentration, suggesting that the sensor should prove useful for on-line, real-time process control applications.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Transnational Labor Process and Gender Relations: Women in Fruit and Vegetable Production in Chile, Brazil and Mexico

This paper examines labor dynamics in the export agro-industry, a workforce structured by gender, ethnicity and migratory status. Focusing on efforts to secure cheap and highly controllable labor in Chile, Brazil and Mexico, the author finds more diversity in assignments the notation of �cheap labor� suggest, She argues that theories of labor must attend to existing structures of inequality at the local level when analyzing expansion of the labor pool, reduction of returns to skilled labor, and emergence of a differentiated workforce
Semi-empirical interpretation of nuclear fission based on deformed-shell effects

Abstract The main features of the fragment mass and charge distribution in the fission of nuclides from Po to Fm are accounted for using a correlation of minimum potential energy with fragment yield. The potential energy is calculated from a liquid drop surface with deformed-fragment shell and pairing corrections at a particular deformation for the nascent fission fragments.
Aerodynamics of high-performance Ludwieg tubes.

A small perturbation analysis of the flow in a Ludwieg tube supply is described which includes both the growing turbulent boundary-layer and axial pipe nonuniformities. Measured pressure time histories are used to check the theory and its extension to high pipe Mach numbers and large flow perturbations. The nonsteady coupling of this flow to a nozzle is investigated. Calculations are made of the effects on the nozzle boundary layer, while a separate analysis is carried out for the case of complete mixing in a nozzle plenum. The double expansion nozzle is shown to extend Ludwieg-tube capability. Analytical and experimental studies are made of the aerodynamic problems that can arise in these nozzles.
Epoxy‐toughened, unsaturated polyester interpenetrating networks

A series of translucent interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) made of a reactive elastomer [linear (D) and branched (T) with varying molecular weights] (Jeffamine™), a commercially available epoxy (D.E.R. 331), and an unsaturated polyester (15:85 wt %) were prepared. DSC data indicated complete cure after 8 h at 90°C. DMTA data showed a single glass-transition temperature (Tg) for all elastomer-containing IPNs, an indication of homogeneity. As expected, all IPNs showed a decrease in Tg with incorporation of elastomer, from 16 to 114°C or lower, the largest decrease being with T-5000. Izod impact strengths were increased by 28–44%, but with no apparent pattern among structure and molecular weight variations. In several cases the standard deviation of impact data increased significantly. Flexural data were measured using a three-point bend test. The highest flexural modulus obtained was that which incorporated linear D-2000 with a decrease of only 22% upon incorporation of the elastomer, whereas other compositions dropped up to 55% in flexural modulus. The strongest material obtained was that using D-2000 with a flexural strength increase of 65% upon incorporation of the elastomer. Two of the three branched elastomer components showed flexural strength increases of about 53%, but one was only equal to the base polyester resin. TGA data were recorded for all IPNs and values compared well to that of the pure polyester resin, with the exception of T-403, which showed a 20°C decrease, and D-2000 with a 10°C decrease. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 2283–2286, 2002
Prions on the move

Prions consist mainly, if not entirely, of PrP(Sc), an aggregated conformer of the host protein PrP(C). Prions come in different strains, all based on the same PrP(C) sequence, but differing in their conformations. The efficiency of prion transmission between species is usually low, but increases after serial transmission in the new host, suggesting a process involving mutation and selection. Even within the same species, the transfer of prions between cell types entails a selection of favoured 'substrains', and propagation of prions in the presence of an inhibitory drug can result in the appearance of drug-resistant prion populations. We propose that prion populations are comprised of a variety of conformers, constituting 'quasi-species', from which the one replicating most efficiently in a particular environment is selected.