cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fab’-bearing siRNA TNFα-loaded nanoparticles targeted to colonic macrophages offer an effective therapy for experimental colitis

Patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are currently treated by systemic drugs that can have significant side effects. Thus, it would be highly desirable to target TNFα siRNA (a therapeutic molecule) to the inflamed tissue. Here, we demonstrate that TNFα siRNA can be efficiently loaded into nanoparticles (NPs) made of poly (lactic acid) poly (ethylene glycol) block copolymer (PLA-PEG), and that grafting of the Fab' portion of the F4/80 Ab (Fab'-bearing) onto the NP surface via maleimide/thiol group-mediated covalent bonding improves the macrophage (MP)-targeting kinetics of the NPs to RAW264.7 cells in vitro. Direct binding was shown between MPs and the Fab'-bearing NPs. Next, we orally administered hydrogel (chitosan/alginate)-encapsulated Fab'-bearing TNFα-siRNA-loaded NPs to 3% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-treated mice and investigated the therapeutic effect on colitis. In vivo, the release of TNFα-siRNA-loaded NPs into the mouse colon attenuated colitis more efficiently when the NPs were covered with Fab'-bearing, compared to uncovered NPs. All DSS-induced parameters of colonic inflammation (e.g., weight loss, myeloperoxidase activity, and Iκbα accumulation) were more attenuated Fab'-bearing NPs loaded with TNFα siRNA than without the Fab'-bearing. Grafting the Fab'-bearing onto the NPs improved the kinetics of endocytosis as well as the MP-targeting ability, as indicated by flow cytometry. Collectively, our results show that Fab'-bearing PLA-PEG NPs are powerful and efficient nanosized tools for delivering siRNAs into colonic macrophages.
Ciliary Secretion: Switching the Cellular Antenna to ‘Transmit’

Cilia are microtubule/membrane-based protrusions that mediate cell motility or transduce sensory information. New work in Chlamydomonas demonstrates that cilia can also act as secretory organelles by budding enzyme-containing vesicles from the flagellar membrane for post-mitotic hatching of daughters from the mother cell wall.
The Analysis of Nonadditivity in Two-Way Analysis of Variance

Abstract Singular value decompositions are used to study interactions in two-way layouts. In contrast to traditional treatments, emphasis is on description of the nature of the interactions rather than on tests of whether they do or do not exist. The first model considered assumes that the matrix of interactions has rank 1, so in a singular value decomposition of the interactions, only one singular value is not 0. Given that this model holds and interactions are present, normal approximations are obtained under conditions described for the estimates of this singular value and for the corresponding scores for row categories and column categories. Thus approximate confidence intervals can be obtained for the parameters in this singular value decomposition of interactions. In addition, under this model, approximate t and F tests can be constructed for hypotheses that assign specified values to the row and column scores in the singular value decomposition. Results are illustrated in a reanalysis of data previ...
Nonuniqueness of equilibria in closed reacting systems

While the equilibrium point in an ideal closed reacting system is unique and globally stable, it is shown herein that nonideal systems can have multiple equilibria and that more than one of these can be stable. The simplest kind of nonideality, exemplified by strictly regular solutions, can lead to large jumps in the equilibrium concentrations with only small parameter changes, in analogy to behavior known for open systems.
Theories of Corrosion as Applied to Preservation of Archaeological Ceramics

An understanding of corrosion processes is beneficial in the preservation of ancient ceramic artifacts. A wealth of information is available on this topic in the materials science and engineering literature. Significant contributions to the corrosion literature have been made over the last 15 years due to the extensive research performed on nuclear wasteform systems. This paper will review the current state of understanding of aqueous corrosion of glasses. We will discuss how this information can be applied to some of the current issues in preservation of archaeological ceramics.
Temperature deformation behavior of nanocrystalline matrix derived from metallic glass

Abstract A single phase α-Fe microstructure with equiaxed, randomly oriented, 15 nm grains was produced through the devitrification of Vitroperm (Fe 73.5 Cu 1 Nb 3 Si 15.5 B 7 ) metallic glass. This microstructure was found to be stable during tensile testing at 600 °C, showing a strain rate exponent that nominally correlates to grain boundary sliding ( m =0.5), but with little ductility, and strengths up to 1250 MPa. It is suggested that the lack of dislocation activity at the small grain sizes can cause the observed brittle behavior. During testing at higher temperatures, a Nb-containing phase grows at the triple points of the original microstructure, and considerable grain growth occurs. At 725 °C, elongations as large as 65% at flow stresses of 250 MPa were attained.
Intention to discontinue care among primary care patients: influence of physician behavior and process of care.

BACKGROUND: Specific elements of health care process and physician behavior have been shown to influence disenrollment decisions in HMOs, but not in outpatient settings caring for patients with diverse types of insurance coverage. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether physician behavior and process of care affect patients’ intention to return to their usual health care practice. DESIGN: Cross-sectional patient survey and medical record review. SETTING: Eleven academically affiliated primary care medicine practices in the Boston area. PATIENTS: 2,782 patients with at least one visit in the preceding year. MEASUREMENT: Unwillingness to return to the usual health care practice. RESULTS: Of the 2,782 patients interviewed, 160 (5.8%) indicated they would not be willing to return. Two variables correlated significantly with unwillingness to return after adjustment for demographics, health status, health care utilization, satisfaction with physician’s technical skill, site of care, and clustering of patients by provider: dissatisfaction with visit duration (odds ratio [OR], 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4 to 7.4) and patient reports that the physician did not listen to what the patient had to say (OR, 8.8; 95% CI, 2.5 to 30.7). In subgroup analysis, patients who were prescribed medications at their last visit but who did not receive an explanation of the purpose of the medication were more likely to be unwilling to return (OR, 4.9; 95% CI, 1.8 to 13.3). CONCLUSION: Failure of physicians to acknowledge patient concerns, provide explanations of care, and spend sufficient time with patients may contribute to patients’ decisions to discontinue care at their usual site of care.
Dose Reduction in Fluoroscopic Interventions Using a Combination of a Region of Interest (ROI) X-Ray Attenuator and Spatially-Different, Temporally-Variable Temporal Filtering.

A novel dose reduction technique for fluoroscopic interventions involving a combination of a material x-ray region of interest (ROI) attenuator and spatially different, temporally variable ROI temporal recursive filter, was used to guide the catheter to the ROI in three live animal studies, two involving rabbits and one involving a sheep. In the two rabbit studies presented , a catheter was guided to the entrance of the carotid artery. With the added ROI attenuator the image under the high attenuation region is very noisy. By using temporal filtering with a filter weight of 0.6 on previous frames, the noise is reduced. In the sheep study the catheter was guided to the descending aorta of the animal. The sheep offered a relatively higher attenuation to the incident x-rays and thus a higher temporal filter weight of 0.8 on previous frames was used during the procedure to reduce the noise to levels acceptable by the interventionalist. The image sequences from both studies show that significant dose reduction of 5-6 times can be achieved with acceptable image quality outside the ROI by using the above mentioned technique. Even though the temporal filter weighting outside the ROI is higher, the consequent lag does not prevent perception of catheter movement.
Variable power broadcast using local information in ad hoc networks

Network wide broadcast is a frequently used operation in ad hoc networks. Developing energy efficient protocols to reduce the overall energy expenditure in network wide broadcast can contribute toward increasing the longevity of ad hoc networks. Most of the existing work in energy efficient broadcast protocols use either a fixed transmission power model or assume global knowledge of the entire network at each node. Variable power broadcast with local knowledge has recently been proposed as a promising alternative approach for network wide broadcast in ad hoc networks. In this paper, we present a novel approach, called INOP, for network wide broadcast. INOP is a variable power broadcast approach that uses local (two-hop neighborhood) information. INOP utilizes a novel technique for determining the transmission power level at each transmitting node. We also propose two alternative methods to cover the nodes that are not covered by the transmission of the source or a retransmitting node. Our simulation based evaluations show that, compared to other approaches, INOP achieves better results in terms of energy efficiency, and competes with and exceeds other approaches in terms of a number of other performance metrics including traffic overhead, coverage, and convergence time. Based on these results, we can conclude that INOP improves the current state-of-the-art approaches for energy efficient broadcast in ad hoc networks.
Vicarious franchisor liability: marketing and public policy implications

Reports that franchisors are sometimes found liable for consumer injuries resulting from faulty products that the franchisor neither designed, manufactured, inspected, nor distributed. Examines the legal doctrines by which these outcomes are reached. In addition, reviews and supports the basic public policy arguments underlying vicarious franchisor liability. Finally, provides managerial recommendations for dealing with this aspect of the legal environment to both franchisors and franchisees.
Nonparametric estimation of petroleum accident risk to improve environmental protection

The researchers collected and examined 10 years of petroleum-related accidents in the state capital of New York (NY) to develop a preliminary model (N = 1,005). The goal of the research was to propose an evidence-driven methodology to inform urban environmental policy making and emergency preparedness planning. Albany, NY, USA, was a preferentially selected sample site since it was a large city in an environmentally sensitive region with controversial oil–gas fracking policies being debated within government. The objective of the study was to develop a predictive model from petroleum accident data using nonparametric inferential statistical techniques to avoid the constraints inherent of normal distribution assumptions. A statistically significant model was formulated and tested, which indicated that the probability of petroleum accidents in the gas–oil industry was almost six times higher than their occurrence by people in other groups, such as electricity generation, transportation, hospitals, universities, warehouses, government, businesses, and residences.
Rigidity phase transition in granular packings

We numerically model two-dimensional systems of granular aggregates confined between two rough walls and demonstrate that at a critical grain volume fraction ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{c}$ an abrupt rigidity transition occurs. The transition has first-order characteristics, although the elastic constants undergo a second-order transition. Densely packed grains, with a volume fraction $\ensuremath{\nu}g{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{c},$ display an elastic-plastic rheology. Loose packings, with $\ensuremath{\nu}l{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{c},$ display gaslike characteristics. It is shown that when the volume fraction is allowed to change freely (applying a constant normal stress to the walls), it evolves spontaneously to ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{c}$ under a wide range of boundary stress values, demonstrating that the phase boundary is an attractive critical state.
A Video Super-Resolution Framework Using SCoBeP

Super-resolution as an exciting application in image processing was studied widely in the literature. This paper presents new approaches to video super-resolution based on sparse coding and belief propagation. First, find candidate match pixels on multiple frames using sparse coding and belief propagation. Second, incorporate information from these candidate pixels with weights computed using the nonlocal-means method in the first approach or using the sparse coding and belief propagation method in the second approach. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is demonstrated for both synthetic and real video sequences in the experiment section. In addition, the experimental results show that our models are naturally robust in handling super-resolution on video sequences affected by scene motions and/or small camera motions.
How to define biomarkers of human T cell aging and immunocompetence

In 2012, 13–22% of the population in Europe, the US, and China were older than 60 years of age. In 2050, demographic models predict that 27–34% of the population in these countries will be older than 60 years of age. Worldwide, more than two billion persons will be age 60 years or over by 2050 (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, 2012). This will pose an enormous medical and socioeconomic challenge to our future society. One of the most recognized consequences of aging is a decline in immune function, which limits the protective effect of vaccinations and renders elderly people more susceptible to certain infectious diseases and to newly emerging infections, such as influenza (Gavazzi and Krause, 2002; Goronzy and Weyand, 2013). A higher prevalence of urinary tract infections, lower respiratory tract infections, skin and soft tissue infections, infective endocarditis, bacterial meningitis, tuberculosis, and herpes zoster has been observed in the elderly. Yet, infections in the elderly are not only more frequent but also more severe and have distinct features with respect to clinical presentation (Gavazzi and Krause, 2002). Accordingly, pneumonia, influenza, and septicemia are ranked among the 10 major causes of deaths in people aged 65 years and over in developed countries. Although considerable progress has been made to identify the cellular changes and molecular mechanisms underlying T cell aging, we still lack biomarkers of T cell aging that have been validated in large populations and that correlate with functional immune responsiveness. This opinion article will therefore focus on how aging affects the number, phenotype, and function of human naive and memory T cells, and how to identify and validate potential biomarkers of T cell aging. The availability of a valid set of biomarkers will be of utmost importance to improve medical and preventive treatments in the elderly and to evaluate potential therapies that aim to rejuvenate the aged immune system.
Results of patch testing in 10 patients with peristomal dermatitis

Background Peristomal dermatitis is a common problem in patients with ostomies that is a source of considerable morbidity. Irritant contact dermatitis is most common, but allergic contact dermatitis can also occur. Because of the lack of published reports on patch testing for this indication, we undertook a retrospective study of patch testing results in patients with suspected peristomal allergic contact dermatitis. Objective We sought to describe our patch testing experience with patients referred with peristomal dermatitis. Methods This was a retrospective review of medical records of patients with ostomies and peristomal dermatitis who underwent patch testing in the Mayo Clinic Departments of Dermatology in Jacksonville, FL; Rochester, MN; and Scottsdale, AZ, during a 10-year period (2000-2010). Results Ten patients with peristomal dermatitis were referred for patch testing (6 in Minnesota, 2 in Florida, and 2 in Arizona). Patients were patch tested to the materials used in their stoma devices, to the standard series, and in some cases to supplemental series. All 10 had at least one allergic patch test reaction, most commonly to stoma paste (3 of 10 patients). Limitations Retrospective nature of study via chart review is a limitation. Conclusion Patch testing is a useful tool for identification of allergens in patients with peristomal dermatitis.
The Etiology of Social Change

A fundamental aspect of human beings is that they learn. The process of learning and what is learned are impacted by a number of factors, both cognitive and social; that is, humans are boundedly rational. Cognitive and social limitations interact, making it difficult to reason about how to provide information to impact what humans know, believe, and do. Herein, we use a multi-agent dynamic-network simulation system, Construct, to conduct such reasoning. In particular, we ask, What media should be used to provide information to most impact what people know, believe, and do, given diverse social structures? All simulated agents are boundedly rational both at the cognitive and social level, and so are subject to factors such as literacy, education, and the breadth of their social network. We find that there is no one most effective intervention; rather, to be effective, messages and the media used to spread the message need to be selected for the population being addressed. Typically, a multimedia campaign is critical.
Drug treatment program patients' hepatitis C virus (HCV) education needs and their use of available HCV education services

In spite of the disproportionate prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among drug users, many remain uninformed or misinformed about the virus. Drug treatment programs are important sites of opportunity for providing HCV education to their patients, and many programs do, in fact, offer this education in a variety of formats. Little is known, however, about the level of HCV knowledge among drug treatment program patients, and the extent to which they utilize their programs' HCV education services. Using data collected from patients (N = 280) in 14 U.S. drug treatment programs, we compared patients who reported that they never injected drugs (NIDUs) with past or current drug injectors (IDUs) concerning their knowledge about HCV, whether they used HCV education opportunities at their programs, and the facilitators and barriers to doing so. All of the programs were participating in a research project that was developing, implementing, and evaluating a staff training to provide HCV support to patients. Although IDUs scored higher on an HCV knowledge assessment than NIDUs, there were many gaps in HCV knowledge among both groups of patients. To address these knowledge gaps, all of the programs offered at least one form of HCV education: all offered 1:1 sessions with staff, 12 of the programs offered HCV education in a group format, and 11 of the programs offered this education through pamphlets/books. Only 60% of all of the participating patients used any of their programs' HCV education services, but those who did avail themselves of these HCV education opportunities generally assessed them positively. In all, many patients were unaware that HCV education was offered at their programs through individual sessions with staff, group meetings, and books/pamphlets, (42%, 49%, and 46% of the patients, respectively), and 22% were unaware that any HCV education opportunities existed. Efforts especially need to focus on ensuring that all drug treatment program patients are made aware of and encouraged to use HCV education services at their programs.
Political pilgrims and the NAS

I t is a clich6 of the visual age in which we live that seeing is believing. Yet, as Paul Hollander suggests in one of the most profound books of the last four decades-Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of The Good Society-believing is seeing. A class of intellectuals has developed the morally debilitating idea that belief is a filtering system in which the evidence that challenges suppositions is discarded and rendered irrelevant. Daniel Bell asks of these intellectuals "why did not the young zealots read and learn about the history of revolutions, and why...did one and does one, see the continual 'process of enchantment, ' the aching need to embrace revolutionary romanticism which recurs time and again?" Paul Hollander had an answer. Many intellectuals, nurtured on relativism, do not have the capacity to differentiate among political systems. Filled with a romantic ideal, they embark on peregrinations around the globe searching for a system that confirms their vision. At its core this belief system is antiintellectual, anti-rational. Those who share the faith engage in pilgrimages that invariably affirm their belief. They see, or choose to see, only that which legitimates a deeply held orthodoxy. As a consequence, many intellectuals can rationalize political violence, alas even the gulag, rather than challenge the atrocities in front of their eyes. They have built a Potemkin village of the mind, one that sees violence as a necessary means to a desirable end. Not only do they see what they believe in so called progressive states, they usually hold their own Western political systems in great contempt. Their credulousness, as Professor Hollander points out so effectively, knows no bounds. When Western pilgrims are given special treatment in revolutionary states, they come to feel insufficiently recognized in their own countries. They do not question; they do not probe. They are the dupes Lenin described, who are so intoxicated by their faith in revolution that even childish propaganda is swallowed whole hog. If mention is made of torture and arbitrary imprisonment in the Promised Land of the moment, these soi disant intellectuals refer to class stratification in the United States or cruelty to animals in England. This is moral equivalence with a vengeance, one in which distinctions exist only in the mind of the true believer. While intellectuals rail against the slightest violation in the United States, they steadfastly refuse to issue any criticism of human rights violations in Cuba or Nicaragua. Even when the evidence is overwhelming and devastating the true believers find excuses or seek solace in another activity that
Analysis of structure-borne and radiated sound using component modal bases

Abstract Owing to the mathematical convenience and physical insight which they afford, analysis methods based on component modal functions are very useful for the study of structurally transmitted vibration in assemblies of machine elements, and acoustic radiation from vibrating structures. In this paper, a thorough discussion of prior work involving the use of component modal basis methods for estimating structure-borne and radiated sound is presented. In addition, formulations for two recently developed analysis frameworks for structurally transmitted vibration and acoustic radiation from vibrating planar radiators and, in particular, from a vibrating annular disk are given. To illustrate the use and relevance of these methods, an example of an elastically-supported rigid rotor joined to a flexible annular disk is considered.
Determination of trace impurities of peptides and alkaloids by capillary electrophoresis-ion spray mass spectrometry

Two different mixtures have been analyzed by CE-UV-MS using selected ion monitoring (SIM) conditions to evaluate whether this technique can detect trace impurities in such mixtures. The first mixture consisted of two bioactive peptide analogues which included Lys-bradykinin (kallidin) and Met-Lys-bradykinin. The presence of 0.1% Lys-bradykinin was detected by SIM CE-MS but not by CE-UV at the 0.1% level as it migrated from the capillary column prior to the major component, Met-Lys-bradykinin. The second mixture consisted of two antibacterial alkaloids, berberine and palmatine. The presence of 0.15% palmatine was detected by CE-UV and SIM CE-MS at the 0.15% level as it migrated from the capillary column following the major component, berberine. These results suggest that SIM CE-MS offers the necessary separation efficiencies and sensitivity to provide a complementary analytical determination of trace components in such sample mixtures.
Gynecological Management of Premenstrual Symptoms

The vast majority of menstruating women experience uncomfortable symptoms during the premenstrual phase of their menstrual cycles. Although many women do not require specific treatment of their symptoms, approximately 20% to 50% report moderate to severe premenstrual symptoms and about 5% meet the diagnostic criteria for premenstrual dysphoric disorder, the most severe manifestation of premenstrual symptoms. While the etiology of premenstrual symptoms remains unclear, several theories have implicated sex steroids and neurotransmitters in the development and manifestation of symptoms. Further complicating the delineation of etiology is that premenstrual symptoms can be somatic, psychological, or behavioral, as well as a combination of all three. Developing successful interventions for premenstrual symptoms has thus been challenging, with interventions focused on a particular aspect of premenstrual symptomatology. Treatments for premenstrual symptoms include lifestyle changes, cognitive behavioral therapies, and pharmacologic agents including ovulation suppression regimens, antidepressant medications, and anxiolytics.
A Grounded Theory Study of Socializing Men into Nursing

This study explores the process that led to the male nurse's decision to become a nurse and to remain a nurse. Grounded theory methods were used to generate a descriptive theory of socialization of...
On the classical support of quantum mechanical wavefunctions

Abstract The nature of the classical support of quantum-mechanical wave-functions is examined in the limit ℏ → 0. We prove that a sequence of states can only localize to those regions of phase space supporting an invariant measure.
From Natural History to the Nuclear Shell Model: Chemical Thinking in the Work of Mayer, Haxel, Jensen, and Suess

In 1949 the nuclear shell model was discovered simultaneously in the United States and Germany. Both discoveries were the result of a nuclear scientist looking at geochemical and nuclear data with the eyes of a chemist. Maria Goeppert Mayer in the United States and Hans Suess in Germany both brought a chemist’s perspective to the problem; the theoretical solution was subsequently supplied independently by Mayer and Hans Jensen.
Phosphors as sensors for radiation-induced displacement damage

Because of their luminescent properties, phosphors make excellent candidates for radiation detectors. The materials are inclined to luminesce when exposed to a variety of radiation sources including gammas, protons, alphas and so forth. However, the vast majority of research and use of phosphors as radiation sensors are as scintillators-when luminescence spontaneously occurs due to the incident radiation. In this case, incident radiation promotes electrons to excited levels. The excited electrons subsequently decay to produce photons that can be detected. The luminescence is therefore a result of ionizing radiation.
Toxicity of insecticides used in citrus to Aphytis melinus DeBach (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) and Rhizobius lophanthae (Blaisd.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

The 48-h toxicities of freshly deposited residues of 28 insecticides against Aphytis melinus DeBach and Rhizobius lophanthae (Blaisd.) were evaluated at various rates. Rates as high as 4-fold the recommended field rate of several materials (formulated plant alkaloids, amitraz, formulated Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner endotoxin or exotoxin, and cryolite) revealed little mortality to either species. Concentration–mortality regressions were quantified for the remaining materials, which included five carbamates, a macrocyclic lactone, eight organophosphates, and four pyrethroids. Of these, pyrethroids in general were most toxic, followed by carbamates, and then organophosphates, to both species. Most materials tested were more toxic to A. melinus than to R. lophanthae.
Intervention in context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean networks revisited

An approximate representation for the state space of a context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean network has previously been proposed and utilized to devise therapeutic intervention strategies. Whereas the full state of a context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean network is specified by an ordered pair composed of a network context and a gene-activity profile, this approximate representation collapses the state space onto the gene-activity profiles alone. This reduction yields an approximate transition probability matrix, absent of context, for the Markov chain associated with the context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean network. As with many approximation methods, a price must be paid for using a reduced model representation, namely, some loss of optimality relative to using the full state space. This paper examines the effects on intervention performance caused by the reduction with respect to various values of the model parameters. This task is performed using a new derivation for the transition probability matrix of the context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean network. This expression of transition probability distributions is in concert with the original definition of context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean network. The performance of optimal and approximate therapeutic strategies is compared for both synthetic networks and a real case study. It is observed that the approximate representation describes the dynamics of the context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean network through the instantaneously random probabilistic Boolean network with similar parameters.
Using Cloze for Reading Comprehension.

Five modified cloze exercises that have proven useful in instruction of reading comprehension
High-voltage A-C motor controllers

Some trends in the present-day design and use of a-c motor controllers for use on systems with line voltage from 601 to 5,000 volts are discussed, and some of the essential differences between controllers using air-break contacts and oil-immersed contacts are pointed out.
Development of self-powered wireless high temperature electrochemical sensor for in situ corrosion monitoring of coal-fired power plant

Reliable wireless high temperature electrochemical sensor technology is needed to provide in situ corrosion information for optimal predictive maintenance to ensure a high level of operational effectiveness under the harsh conditions present in coal-fired power generation systems. This research highlights the effectiveness of our novel high temperature electrochemical sensor for in situ coal ash hot corrosion monitoring in combination with the application of wireless communication and an energy harvesting thermoelectric generator (TEG). This self-powered sensor demonstrates the successful wireless transmission of both corrosion potential and corrosion current signals to a simulated control room environment.
"Early" fertility decline in America: a problem in family history.

In terms of a comparative perspective the early fertility decline is a central problem in American demographic and family history. By the end of Civil War in 1860 the total fertility rate had dropped to 5.2 and by 1900 reached 3.6 a 50% decrease over the course of the 19th century. The evidence for an early pre-1860 decline in marital fertility in the US is examined skeptically and the literature on the correlates of fertility in this period are reviewed. Finally a new interpretive approach to American fertility decline is outlined arguing that fertility behavior is a collective or group phenomena. The basis for most of what is known about American fertility change in the 19th century is the age structure reported in the decennial US census with a decrease in fertility inferred from the declining ratio of children to women. Various series have been calculated but all depend on the child-woman ratio. Much of the interpretive literature on fertility change explicitly or implicitly focuses on childbearing within marriage but data on levels and trends in nuptiality are scattered in coverage and uneven in quality. Further there is no viable way of ascertaining the relative underenumeration of children and women of childbearing age in each census. A real decrease in the child-woman ratio does not necessarily mean that fertility within marriage actually declined. At least some of the decrease can be attributed to an increasing fraction of the female population who never married and a rising age of 1st marriage. Further increases in mortality rates if they took place in the 1st half of the 19th century will appear as reductions in fertility as measured by the child-woman ratio: a higher mortality level means that relatively more children than adults die the average age of the population increases and the child-woman ratio declines. The lack of data on marital status and the consequent neglect of the effect of changing nuptiality on overall fertility are major flaws in the literature depicting an early decline in American fertility. Historians of political behavior and womens activities provide data to suggest that the understanding of the early decline in marital fertility in the US may best be pursued by the study of the fertility behavior and value of the principal action groups of antebellum America -- religious ethnic and economic. According to this hypothesis both the motivations for and possibly the techniques of family limitation were transmitted and sustained through membership and participation in these groups.
Structured light based hyperspectral time-resolved diffuse optical tomography system

Time-resolved Diffuse Optical Tomography (DOT) has experienced rapid progress in recent years. It is a powerful functional imaging technique that allows acquiring abundant quantitative optical information from turbid media. However, the application of time domain DOT systems is hampered by the tradeoff between gathering dense data sets and practical acquisition times. Recently, wide-field structured illumination patterns have been applied in time-resolved DOT platforms to drastically accelerate the data acquisition process. In this work, we present a novel structured light based imaging strategy for DOT that can generate time domain datasets enriched by hyperspectral information with short data acquisition times. We employ two digital light processors to generate wide-field imaging pattern both in the illumination and detection channels to capture tomographic data sets over large areas. The hyperspectral data sets are acquired using a time-resolved spectrophotometer built around a multi-anode photomultiplier tube (PMT) that can detect photons in 16 wavelength channels simultaneously based on time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) technique. The characteristics of the system are tested in the spatial, temporal and spectral dimensions. The performance of the imaging system is validated through preliminary 3D reconstruction of absorption heterogeneity distribution within a murine model phantom. The application of digital light modulators in illumination and detection combined with timeresolved PMT spectrophotometer enables our system to acquire dense time domain data sets both in the spatial, temporal and spectral dimensions at an unprecedented speed. The phantom validation shows that proposed strategy is a promising technique for fast, high resolution, quantitative three dimensional volumetric imaging.
Evaluation of plant nitrate extraction techniques and effect on commonly used analytical methods of detection

Abstract Forage nitrate (NO3) analytical methods have shown biases. Extraction of plant material has not been standardized for NO3 analysis. Significantly different extraction techniques are currently used by professionals in the field, often depending on the professional discipline or analytical detection method. The effects of extraction variables has not been adequately examined. In this paper, five different extraction variables were investigated, including sample size, extraction volume, extraction shake time, extraction temperature, and extraction solution pH. The effects of the extraction variables were determined for three commonly used analytical detection techniques, including flow injection analysis, ion chromatography, and ion specific electrode.
Identification and quantification of halogenated and non-halogenated octylphenol polyethoxylate residues by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry using electron ionization and chemical ionization

Residues of octylphenol polyethoxylates (OPEO) are frequently found in wastewater effluents. OPEO are commonly used surfactants. The polyethoxy chain of OPEO may be shortened or carboxylated during biological wastewater treatment and the aromatic ring chlorinated or brominated during wastewater disinfection with chlorine. Mass spectral data obtained using electron ionization (EI) and chemical ionization (CI) are presented which positively characterize these residues. For CI, methane was used as the reactant gas and protonated molecular ions were observed. The most prominent ions formed under EI resulted from benzylic cleavage while the prominent ions formed under CI resulted from alkyl ion displacement and olefin displacement. EI and CI mass spectra are summarized and fragmentation mechanisms are proposed. Response factors are presented for quantitative analysis by single ion monitoring.
The road to linearity: why linearity at low doses became the basis for carcinogen risk assessment

This article assesses the historical foundations of how linearity at low dose became accepted by the scientific/regulatory communities. While the threshold model was used in the 1920s/1930s in establishing radiation health standards, its foundations were challenged by the genetics community who argued that radiation induced mutations in reproductive cells followed a linear response, were cumulative and deleterious. Scientific foundations of linearity for gonadal mutations were based on non-conclusive evidence as well as not being conducted at low doses. Following years of debate, leaders in the genetics community participated in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) (1956) Biological Effects of Atomic Radiation (BEAR) BEAR I Committee, getting their perspectives accepted, incorporating linearity for radiation-induced mutational effects in risk assessment. Overtime the concept of linearity was generalized to include somatic effects induced by radiation based on a protectionist philosophy. This affected the course of radiation-induced and later chemically-induced carcinogen risk assessment. Acceptance of linearity at low dose from chemical carcinogens was strongly influenced by the NAS Safe Drinking Water Committee report of 1977 which provided the critical guidance to the U.S. EPA to adopt linear at low dose modeling for risk assessment for chemical carcinogens with little supportive data, much of which has been either discredited or seriously weakened over the past 3 decades. Nonetheless, there has been little practical change of regulatory policy concerning carcinogen risk assessment. These observations suggest that while scientific disciplines are self correcting, that regulatory 'science' fails to display the same self-correcting mechanism despite contradictory data.
Prehypertension, Racial Prevalence and Its Association With Risk Factors: Analysis of the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study

BACKGROUND There are few available data on the epidemiology of prehypertension (preHTN).To determine racial, clinical, and demographic differences in the prevalence of preHTN and its cross-sectional association with vascular risk factors. METHODS Cross-sectional analysis of 5,553 prehypertensives, 20,351 hypertensive's, and 4,246 nonhypertensive participants (age ≥45), from a population-based national cohort study (REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) total population 30,239, of whom 30,150 had adequate blood pressure (BP) measurements) enrolled from January 2003-October 2007 with oversampling from the southeastern stroke belt, and black individuals. Baseline data were collected using a combination of telephone interview and in-home evaluation. preHTN was defined according to The Seventh Report of the Joint national Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) guidelines. RESULTS The prevalence of preHTN was associated with age and black race (62.9% in blacks compared to 54.1 % in whites). A higher prevalence of preHTN was observed in obese individuals, self-reported heart disease; and, those with elevated high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP), diabetes, and microalbuminuria compared to those without these factors. Heavy alcohol consumption in white participants was associated with increased odds of preHTN (odds ratio (OR) = 1 . 3 2) but was even greater in black participants (OR =2.27). CONCLUSION The prevalence of preHTN increased by age and African-American race. In addition, a higher prevalence of preHTN was observed with elevated hsCRP, diabetes, microalbuminuria, and those with heavy alcohol consumption compared to those without these factors.
Magnetic moment distribution in FeNiV and FeCoV alloys

Abstract Magnetization and neutron scattering measurements were made on the alloys Fe 0.375 Ni 0.375 V 0.25 and Fe 0.165 Co 0.585 V 0.25 in both the atomically ordered and disordered state. Individual atomic magnetic moment assignments were made based on these data and the known systematic behaviour of fcc Ni-V and Co-V alloys. Fe moments of 1.14μ B /Fe (ordered) and 0.95μ B /Fe (disordered) were obtained for the ferromagnetic FeNiV alloys at 4.2 K. Much smaller moments were found for the FeCoV alloys which are not spontaneously ferromagnetic and far from saturation under the experimental conditions. The V moments are small and oppositely aligned to the net magnetization.
Asymptotic properties of some subset vector autoregressive process estimators

We establish consistency and derive asymptotic distributions for estimators of the coefficients of a subset vector autoregressive (SVAR) process. Using a martingale central limit theorem, we first derive the asymptotic distribution of the subset least squares (LS) estimators. Exploiting the similarity of closed form expressions for the LS and Yule-Walker (YW) estimators, we extend the asymptotics to the latter. Using the fact that the subset Yule-Walker and recently proposed Burg estimators satisfy closely related recursive algorithms, we then extend the asymptotic results to the Burg estimators. All estimators are shown to have the same limiting distribution.
Kinetically differentiating influenza hemagglutinin fusion and hemifusion machines.

Membrane fusion mediated by influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) yields different phenotypes depending on the surface density of activated HAs. A key question is whether different phenotypes arise from different fusion machines or whether different numbers of identical fusion machines yield different probabilistic outcomes. If fusion were simply a less probable event than hemifusion, requiring a larger number of identical fusion machines to occur first, then two predictions can be made. First, fusion should have a shorter average delay time than hemifusion, since there are more machines. Second, fusion should have a longer execution time of lipid mixing after it begins than hemifusion, since the full event cannot be faster than the partial event. Using a new automated video microscopy technique, we simultaneously monitored many HA-expressing cells fusing with erythrocytes and identified individual cell pairs with either full or only partial redistribution of fluorescent lipids. The full lipid mixing phenotype also showed contents mixing, i.e., fusion. Kinetic screening of the digitized fluorescence data showed that the execution of lipid mixing after the onset is faster for fusion than hemifusion. We found no correlation between the delay times before the onset of lipid mixing and the final fusion phenotype. We also found that the execution time for fusion was faster than that for hemifusion. Thus, we provide the first experimental evidence for fusion and hemifusion arising from different machines.
491 Trends in Wait-List Mortality in Children Listed for Heart Transplantation in the United States: Does Race Still Influence Outcome?

Purpose: The improvement in wait-list mortality in children listed for a heart transplant (HT) in the US has not been well characterized. Even less is known about the racial gaps in wait-list mortality, in particular how differences have evolved over time. We sought to assess trends in overall and race-specific pediatric HT wait-list mortality in the US during the last 20 yrs. Methods and Materials: All children 18 yrs of age listed for a primary HT in the US during 1989-2009 were identified using the OPTN database. Risk-adjusted wait-list mortality was assessed in 4 successive cohorts (1989-94, 95-99, 00-04 and 05-09) using Cox models. Results: Of 8096 children analyzed, 62% were white, 19% were black, 13% were Hispanic and 6% Other. There was a progressive decline in overall wait-list mortality (26%, 23%, 18% and 13% in successive eras, P 0.001) which remained significant after adjusting for age, race, diagnosis, blood type, listing status, hemodynamic support and dialysis (hazard ratio [HR] 0.70 in successive cohorts, 95% CI 0.67, 0.74) with a 67% lower risk of wait-list death in the 05-09 cohort vs. the 89-94 cohort (HR 0.33, CI 0.28, 0.39). In models stratified by race, era effect was present in all racial groups: white (HR 0.69, CI 0.64, 0.74), black (HR 0.70, CI 0.63, 0.78), Hispanic (HR 0.82, CI 0.71, 0.95) and Other (HR 0.64, CI 0.52, 0.79). In models stratified by era, minority children were not at higher risk of wait-list death vs. white children in the most recent cohort.
Ramp crossings for Slepian's process (Corresp.)

An expression for the probability density on the unit interval of the time to first ramp crossing is derived for Slepian's process, a Gaussian process with a triangular correlation function.
On controlled solidification studies of some TiO2 binary alloys

TiO2 single crystal fibers in the 1 mm diameter range were pulled from different alloy melts using the laser heated pedestal melting technique. The alloying elements studied were CaO, MnO, MgO, SiO2, FeO, and Al2O3. Phase diagram solute partition coefficient, k 0, maximum solid solubility limit, CS(max), eutectic concentration, CE, and eutectic temperature, TE, were determined for each of these alloys. Solute redistribution effects in the solid, controlled precipitation in the solid, smooth solid-liquid interfaces in the presence of high melt concentrations and substantial crystal broadening by fluid migration up the solid from the melt all indicated the existence of a very strong thermodynamic field and a large solid diffusion coefficient operating in the solid behind the solid/liquid interface.