cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the outage performance of an IEEE 802.11 broadcast scheme in vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

This paper proposes a new mathematical framework is proposed for analyzing the outage performance of a periodic broadcast service in vehicular networks. Using this framework we are able to calculate higher-order statistics of various random variables associated with the network, including message delay and the number of received packets from neighborhood nodes. Characterizing such quantities beyond their first-order statistics is important in resilient and safety-critical design of networked control systems. We also provide numerical results to compare the outage performance of IEEE 802.11 medium access control with a simple ALOHA like protocol.
The association of minor and major depression with health problem-solving and diabetes self-care activities in a clinic-based population of adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Abstract Aims We examined whether problem-solving and diabetes self-management behaviors differ by depression diagnosis – major depressive disorder (MDD) and minor depressive disorder (MinDD) – in adults with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods We screened a clinical sample of 702 adults with T2DM for depression, identified 52 positive and a sample of 51 negative individuals, and performed a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview. MDD (n = 24), MinDD (n = 17), and no depression (n = 62) were diagnosed using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) Text Revised criteria. Health Problem-Solving Scale (HPSS) and Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) questionnaires determined problem-solving and T2DM self-management skills, respectively. We compared HPSS and SDSCA scores by depression diagnosis, adjusting for age, sex, race, and diabetes duration, using linear regression. Results Total HPSS scores for MDD (β = − 4.38; p Conclusion MinDD and MDD individuals with T2DM have impaired problem-solving ability. MDD individuals had impaired diabetes self-management, partially explained by impaired problem-solving. Future studies should assess problem-solving therapy to treat T2DM and MinDD and integrated problem-solving with diabetes self-management for those with T2DM and MDD.
Proton therapy dosimetry by using silica glass optical fiber microprobes

We investigated the feasibility of proton therapy dosimetry by using bare silica glass optical fibers. A silica glass fiber, with 400μm core diameter, was placed in proton radiation fields generated by a proton therapy cyclotron and simultaneously luminescence spectroscopy was performed to analyze the emission spectrum of the fiber tip. In order to measure the radiation absorbed dose at various depths in tissue-mimicking media, the fiber tip was embedded in a plastic slab and additional slabs of phantom were added sequentially. The spectrum of the irradiated fiber over the 400–700 nm sensitivity range of the spectrometer shows two distinct peaks at 460 and 650 nm, whose spectral shape is different from that of Cerenkov radiation. We found that the emission peak at 650 nm shows correlation with the radiation absorbed dose measured by a standard ion chamber device indicating the feasibility of proton dose measurement by using a bare silica fiber.
A Case Against Tiny Tasks in Iterative Analytics

Big data systems such as Spark are built around the idea of splitting an iterative parallel program into tiny tasks with other aspects of system design built around this basic design principle. Unfortunately, in spite of immense engineering effort, tiny tasks have unavoidably large overheads. We use the example of logistic regression -- a common machine learning primitive -- to compare the performance of Spark to different designs that converge to a hand-coded parallel MPI-based implementation. We conclude that Spark leaves orders of magnitude performance on the table, due to its insistence on setting the granularity of a task to a single iteration. We counter a common argument for the tiny task approach --namely better resilience to faults -- by demonstrating that optimum job checkpoint intervals are far longer than the duration of the tiny tasks favored in Spark's design. We propose an alternative approach that relies on an auto-parallelizing compiler tightly integrated with the MPI runtime, illustrating the opposite end of the spectrum where task granularities are as large as possible.
Stakeholder Corporate Social Responsibility Orientation Congruence, Entrepreneurial Orientation and Environmental Performance of Chinese Small and Medium‐sized Enterprises

Stakeholder studies have discovered that strong stakeholder corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientation can motivate firms to engage better in environmental activities. However, when multiple stakeholders are involved, strong yet incongruent stakeholder pressure may not lead to improved environmental performance. The authors integrate complexity science with stakeholder management theory to address this issue. Using a sample of 149 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises, they find that the average stakeholder's CSR orientation improves environmental strengths, but generates an inverted U-shaped relationship with environmental concerns. Further, results indicate that the congruence in stakeholders’ CSR orientation enhances this inverted U-shaped relationship, and that the moderating impact of congruence is weaker when entrepreneurial orientation is higher.
A Survey on Quasiperiodic Topology

This article is a survey of the Novikov problem of the structure of leaves of the foliations induced by a collection of closed 1-forms in a compact manifold M. Equivalently, this is to the study of the level sets of multivalued functions on M. To date, this problem was thoroughly investigated only for \(M={\mathbb {T}}^n\) and multivalued maps \(F:{\mathbb {T}}^n\to \mathbb {R}^{n-1}\) in three different particular cases: when all components of F but one are multivalued, started by Novikov in 1982; when all components of F but one are singlevalued, started by Zorich in 1994; when none of the components is singlevalued, started by Arnold in 1991. The first two problems can be formulated as the study of the level sets of certain quasiperiodic functions, the last as level sets of pseudoperiodic functions. In this survey we present the main analytical and numerical results to date and some physical phenomena where they play a fundamental role.
Management of pediatric ovarian torsion: evidence of follicular development after ovarian preservation.

Abstract Purpose This study reviews contemporary management and follow-up of pediatric ovarian torsion. Methods This is a retrospective series of patients from birth to 19 years undergoing operative management of ovarian torsion from 2012 to 2016. Results We studied 43 girls who underwent 51 operations for ovarian torsion. The median age was 8.3 years. Ultrasound was utilized for diagnosis in 24/29 patients (83%) evaluated in a children's hospital. In contrast, computed tomography was used initially in 7 cases (50%) in children imaged at non–children's hospitals before transfer. Initial operation for ovarian torsion was completed laparoscopically in 38 (88%). Overall, ovarian preservation was performed in 37 (86%) patients, while 6 (13%) underwent oophorectomy. Indications for oophorectomy included 5 infants with in utero torsion and an 18-year-old with a suspected malignancy. In girls with acute ovarian torsion, the oophorectomy rate was reduced to 2%. Postoperatively, 1 patient developed a small bowel obstruction requiring operation after laparoscopic ovarian detorsion. Recurrent torsion occurred in 3 patients (7%). In total, 34 patients underwent postoperative ovarian imaging. A total of 25 (74%) had follicles visualized in the previously torsed ovary. Conclusion Ovarian-sparing operations for acute torsion are safe and result in ovarian salvage and preservation of follicular development in more than 70% of children and adolescents.
Expectation and Integrals

In the previous chapter, the mathematical expectation of a real random variable X is characterized as the probability-weighted average of the possible values of X. In the case of a simple random variable, which has a finite set of possible values, the expectation is a sum. The idea of expectation as an average is extended by intuitive and heuristic arguments to the case of random variables with absolutely continuous distributions. The sum becomes an integral. For mixed distributions, we may use the Stieltjes integral, or a mixture of a sum (for the discrete part) and an integral (for the absolutely continuous part).
Third Bodies: Perspectives on Modeling in Lubricated Contacts, in close fitting contacts, Etc: Following on the Concepts of Dr. Maurice Godet

The third-body concepts have advanced the field of contact mechanics, friction and wear to the point where broad-ranging modeling has begun. To date third-bodies have been modeled as powders or aggregates of solid particles. Several additional properties must be included in the future, including the role of two phase third-bodies, third-bodies that expand to fill restricted spaces and the sizes of third-body particles relative to clearance spaces. The latter is likely to be controlled by the surface free energy properties of the third-body substances.
Generating Set Partitioning Test Problems with Known Optimal Integer Solutions

In this work, we investigate methods for generating set partitioning test problems with known integer solutions. The problems are generated with various cost structures so that their solution by well-known integer programming methods can be shown to be difficult. Computational results are obtained using the branch and bound methods of the CPLEX solver. Possible extensions are considered to the area of cardinality probing of the solutions
Determination of a Source Term in a Linear Parabolic Differential Equation with Mixed Boundary Conditions

We consider the problem of determining u = u(x,t) and f = f(x) which satisfy Lu = (p(x)ux)x − q(x)u − p(x)ut= p(x)f(x), 0 < x < 1, 0 < t ≤ T, u(x,0) = φ(x), u(0,t) = σ1 (t), and ux (1,t) + su(l,t) = σ2(t) from the additional specification of p(0)ux (0,t) = g(t). The problem is not well posed in the sense of Hadamard. Uniqueness is demonstrated. Continuous dependence of u and f upon the data is demonstrated for f twice continously differentiable in 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 with f(0) = 0 and f’(l) + sf(l) = 0 and with first and second derivatives bounded in absolute value by the known positive constant K. The continuous dependence is shown to be asymptotically logarithmic
Poster: A Topic Analysis of the R Programming Language

We leverage Latent Dirichlet Allocation to analyze R source code from 10,051 R packages in order to better understand the topic space of scientific computing. Our method is able to identify several generic programming concepts and, more importantly, identify concepts that are highly specific to scientific and high performance computing applications.
Configuration Estimation for Accurate Position Control of Large-Scale Soft Robots

There is a significant trend in robotics of exploring passively compliant and low inertia systems that can safely make contact with the environment. This paper defines many of the problems associated with developing effective control of soft, pneumatically actuated, inflatable robots, and proposes an approach to solving a subset of these problems. We show that we can obtain a global measurement of orientation for a given soft-robot link using two different types of sensors (not including motion capture). Given the orientation measurement, it is possible to estimate relative configurations of the soft actuators and joints. In order to validate the ability to control position and orientation at the end effector, we show a new method for calibrating the coordinate frames of two unrelated measurement systems. Then, using one of our configuration estimation methods, we demonstrate its viability by performing simple behaviors with a large-scale (approximately 1.5 m long) soft-robot platform attached to the K-Rex rover at NASA Ames in an outdoor environment. Our results also show the importance of soft-robot kinematic calibration and the sensitivity of a soft robot to simple perturbations in the structure like deflation and reinflation. Finally, we show that end effector error can be significantly reduced by doing a form of servoing. In summary, our approach and demonstrations show effective soft-robot configuration estimation and control for large-scale soft robots capable of performing manipulation tasks.
Implementation of an Intimate Partner Violence Screening Assessment and Referral System in an Academic Women’s Imaging Department

Abstract Purpose One in five US women report that they have been victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) during their lifetime. With millions of women presenting for mammography every year, breast imaging centers may represent ideal venues to identify women at risk for IPV and refer them to appropriate support services. Our purpose was to evaluate implementation of a novel IPV screening and referral system for women presenting for mammography. Methods A question was added to intake questionnaire (“Do you feel safe in your home?”) for adult women presenting for screening or diagnostic mammography from 2016 to 2017 at our hospital outpatient breast imaging sites. The proportion of women presenting for screening or diagnostic mammogram who felt unsafe was calculated. Bivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to compare baseline characteristics of women who stated that they felt unsafe at home versus women who did not state that they felt unsafe at home. Results In all, 99,029 examinations were performed (68,158 unique patients). Of these patients, 71 stated that they felt unsafe at home (71 of 68,158, 0.1%). Women presenting for their first mammogram were more likely to report feeling unsafe at home (odds ratio 3.03, 95% confidence interval 1.31-7.06, P = .01). No differences were found in age (P = .148), ethnicity (P = .271), gravida (P = .676), parity (P = .752), age at menarche (P = .775), and history of breast cancer (P = .726). Conclusions Our results demonstrate the feasibility of a screening and referral system for IPV in radiology departments.
Quantitative evaluation of mattresses using a thermal seat tester

Mattresses have the ability to deliver different degrees of thermal comfort to users. However, there is no current standardized test method for assessing the thermal comfort of mattresses. In effor...
Grammatical Gender, Neo-Whorfianism, and Word Embeddings: A Data-Driven Approach to Linguistic Relativity.

The relation between language and thought has occupied linguists for at least a century. Neo-Whorfianism, a weak version of the controversial Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, holds that our thoughts are subtly influenced by the grammatical structures of our native language. One area of investigation in this vein focuses on how the grammatical gender of nouns affects the way we perceive the corresponding objects. For instance, does the fact that key is masculine in German (der Schlussel), but feminine in Spanish (la llave) change the speakers' views of those objects? Psycholinguistic evidence presented by Boroditsky et al. (2003, §4) suggested the answer might be yes: When asked to produce adjectives that best described a key, German and Spanish speakers named more stereotypically masculine and feminine ones, respectively. However, recent attempts to replicate those experiments have failed (Mickan et al., 2014). In this work, we offer a computational analogue of Boroditsky et al. (2003, §4)'s experimental design on 9 languages, finding evidence against neo-Whorfianism.
The Hyperfine Structure of the 3 p P 1 2 2 State of Al 27

The hyperfine structure interval of the $3p^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}$ state of ${\mathrm{Al}}^{27}$ has been measured and found to be 1506.14\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05 Mc/sec. From this datum and the known hyperfine structure of the $3p^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$ state a recalculation of the nuclear electric quadrupole moment, taking into consideration configuration interactiion, yields the value $Q=+0.149\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}24}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$.
3D hodge decompositions of edge- and face-based vector fields

We present a compendium of Hodge decompositions of vector fields on tetrahedral meshes embedded in the 3D Euclidean space. After describing the foundations of the Hodge decomposition in the continuous setting, we describe how to implement a five-component orthogonal decomposition that generically splits, for a variety of boundary conditions, any given discrete vector field expressed as discrete differential forms into two potential fields, as well as three additional harmonic components that arise from the topology or boundary of the domain. The resulting decomposition is proper and mimetic, in the sense that the theoretical dualities on the kernel spaces of vector Laplacians valid in the continuous case (including correspondences to cohomology and homology groups) are exactly preserved in the discrete realm. Such a decomposition only involves simple linear algebra with symmetric matrices, and can thus serve as a basic computational tool for vector field analysis in graphics, electromagnetics, fluid dynamics and elasticity.
Entrepreneurship and Formulating Business Plans

Many physicians do not consider themselves to be entrepreneurs, when in fact many of the things physicians do from opening a new office to creating a new educational program are entrepreneurial. This chapter will describe how to take an idea and convert it into a successful business plan in order to gain support for the idea.
“What to do when you’re raped”: Indigenous women critiquing and coping through a rhetoric of survivance

ABSTRACTNative women and girls suffer sexual violence at the highest rate of any demographic in the United States—primarily perpetrated by non-Native assailants. In this essay, we explore how domin...
Linguistic Inequality in the United States

Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the problem of widespread negative, misinformed language ideologies in the United States, which results in linguistic prejudice and linguistic discrimination. Examples are analyzed to illustrate how people are socialized into problematic language ideologies, such as differences in linguistic portrayals of heroes and villains in children’s movies and the use of stigmatized varieties in television shows to index undesirable qualities. Also examined are several examples of how these ideologies negatively affect linguistically marginalized people, such as the denial of housing through the use of linguistic profiling, the mistreatment of linguistically marginalized students in primary and secondary schools, and the unequal judicial treatment of witnesses due to their linguistic backgrounds. The chapter concludes by introducing a proposal for one possible part of the solution to this problem: the adoption of the Structural Inquiry of Stigmatized Englishes (SISE) approach to the introductory linguistics course.
Eyes in the Aisles: Why Is Cap’N Crunch Looking Down at My Child?

To what extent do cereal spokes-characters make eye contact with children versus adults, and does their eye contact influence choice? The shelf placement and eye positioning of 86 cereal spokes-characters were evaluated in ten grocery stores in the Eastern United States. In Study 1, we calculated the average height of cereal boxes on the shelf for adult- versus children-oriented cereals (48 versus 23-in.) and the inflection angle of spokes-characters’ gaze (0.4 versus -9.6 degrees). We found that cereal characters on children- (adult-) oriented cereals make incidental eye contact at children’s (adults’) eye level. In Study 2, we showed that eye contact with cereal spokes-characters increased feelings of trust and connection to the brand, as well as choice of the brand over competitors. Currently, many of the cereals targeted towards children are of the heavily sugared, less healthy variety. One potential application of this finding would be to use eye contact with spokes-characters to promote healthy choices and healthier food consumption.
Factors Determining Participation of the Elderly in Supplemental Security Income

The same low participation rates which plague many welfare programs have been observed among the elderly eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). A number of hypotheses have been offered to explain the low enrollment, but none has attracted universal acceptance. In this paper I use the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to examine the participation of the elderly in SSI. Because of the high quality of the data, I am able to determine eligibility more accurately than in most previous studies. In this sample, only 56 percent of those whom I determine to be eligible for SSI are presently receiving benefits. I model the decision to participate as a probit equation but modify the likelihood function to account for measurement error in the expected benefit. The results indicate that participation is primarily determined by the financial situation of the eligible individuals. Although all those eligible for SSI are poor, those with little in the way of other resources are significantly more likely to participate. This finding differs from widespread beliefs that eligible individuals are discouraged by the difficulty of the application process or that many are uninformed about the program.
Considerations for Culturing and Preserving Adult Stem Cells for Therapeutics

The field of stem-cell therapy holds immense potential to develop as a new branch of medicine that can not only enhance endogenous stem-cell repair processes in the human body, but also be able to supplement with isolated and expanded multipotent autologous stem cells especially in the case of diseased and old patients when the body is unable to generate sufficient and healthy stem cells. In order to be able to supply clinical quality stem cells, several traditional practices that were previously used for cell culture need to be challenged and new practices established that will closely mimic physiological conditions. This review focuses on the current methods used for cryopreservation of stem cells, the source of serum and growth factors supplied during stem-cell culture, and also on the role of oxygen as an important regulatory factor that challenges to be controlled in laboratory conditions to meet physiological needs. Despite the limitations in finding safe practices for cryopreserving stem cells for the purpose of long-term use, limited availability of human supplements to grow stem cells at a clinical scale, and the extreme challenge to limit the exposure of these sensitive stem cells cultured in vitro from a naturally abundant oxygen surrounding, we discuss here the efforts of research groups that are investing in finding improved methods to optimize stem-cell protocols. It is the hope that increase in the knowledge to fine-tune these cells will open doors for healing several traditionally hard-to-treat disease conditions.
The Bastard Child of the Cat Listicle and the Concern Troll: New Media, Democratic Practices and Domination

Among the many points raised by the rise of new media outlets like BuzzFeed are larger questions about the proliferation of soft-news and its effects on democratic practices. Some argue that, like news comedy programs such as the Daily Show, soft-news has a dumbing down effect by focusing more on personalities, drama and the sensationalism of public affairs. However, some recent work suggests this kind of news may perform an educative function for an inattentive public that does not regularly follow the more traditional forms of hard-news. Described as an incidental by-product, citizens may gain important exposure to public affairs that can contribute to political learning. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze these developments through the lens of modern republicanism. Within this approach, it is believed that in order for citizens to avoid domination, they must take an active role in self-government through contestatory democratic practices. I will argue that despite the potential negatives of soft-news, the opportunities it presents coupled with the expansion and penetration of information technology has given citizens an important weapon to challenge hierarchies of power and fight back against domination.
Is There a Role for Selective Vasodilation in the Management of Sickle Cell Disease

To test the hypothesis that microvascular obstruction to blood flow at the level of the arteriole may be significant in individuals with sickle cell anemia, the ophthalmologic effects of orally administered nifedipine were monitored in 11 steady-state patients. Three patients with evidence of acute peripheral retinal arteriolar occlusion displayed a prompt reperfusion of the involved segment. Two other patients showed fading of retroequatorial red retinal lesions. Color vision performance was improved in six of the nine patients tested. The majority of patients also demonstrated a significant decrease in the amount of blanching of the conjunctiva which reflects improved blood flow to this frequently involved area. Such improvements were not observable in a control group of untreated stable sickle cell subjects. These findings support the hypothesis that inappropriate vasoconstriction or frank vasospasm may be a significant factor in the pathogenesis of the microvascular lesions of sickle cell disease and, further, that selective microvascular entrapment inhibition may offer an additional strategy to the management of this disorder. We believe a larger, placebo-controlled study with nifedipine and similar agents is warranted.
Accelerated aging effects on color and translucency of flowable composites.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of accelerated aging on color and translucency parameter of composites. Materials and Methods: Filtek Supreme Ultra Flowable, shades A1, A3, White, Tetric EvoFlow, shades A1, A3, Bleach, and Filtek Z250 shades A1, A3, B1 were evaluated. Color and translucency were recorded using a spectrophotometer after 24-hour storage (baseline) and after accelerated aging. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance. Results: Fisher's PLSD intervals for comparisons among products and shades were 0.4, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.4 for ΔL*, Δa*, Δb*, and ΔE*, respectively. The data showed significant ΔE* and ΔL* main effects for composite product and shades (p 0.05). Conclusion: The effects of aging on color of resin composites were composite and shade dependent. Translucency was not affected by accelerated aging.
Another Perspective on Research as a Measure of High-Quality Practitioner Training: a Response to Dixon, Reed, Smith, Belisle, and Jackson.

Dixon et al. (Behavior Analysis in Practice 8:7–15, 2015) argued that the research productivity of behavior analytic graduate programs may be a reasonable criterion to evaluate training program quality. They reviewed the cumulative publications of graduate programs. From this analysis, they generated a top ten list of graduate programs with the greatest number of faculty publications and, because of the number of these publications, inferred that they may be better training programs than those not on the list. We countered that the quality of graduate training programs is evident in the behavior of those who are trained, and thus, our field’s interest should focus on determining the degree to which individual program graduates—and not their faculty—have mastered the research process. Thus, we proposed including student authors’ work as an alternative to Dixon et al.’s analysis.
Novel Approach to studying Relationships between Mycoplasmas and Tissue Culture Cells

MOST continuous cultures of tissue cells are contaminated with mycoplasmas1, which can be detected by staining2, immunofluorescence3, isolation3 or biochemical studies4. Furthermore, the interaction of mycoplasma organisms with HeLa cells and other types of mammalian cells has been studied with the electron microscope5,6. Electron microscopy, in particular, shows that there is an intimate relationship between mycoplasmas and infected cells, which might explain why it is so difficult to eliminate these organisms from tissue culture cell lines and strains.
A method for almost exact histogram matching for two digitized images

Abstract A method for the almost exact matching of the histograms between two digitized images, with noise level comparable to the separation between two consecutive discrete gray levels, is presented. The exact matching between the histograms of the two images can be easily obtained if the original histograms are given as continuous functions of the gray level in the images. But using the existing methods, it is not possible to do so in general for digitized images where the gray level for each pixel is one of the allowed discrete values. If the noise level in the images is comparable to the separation between the discrete gray levels, then the exact value for the mean gray level for each pixel can be any value in a small interval about the specified discrete gray level, such that the specification of the discrete gray level for that pixel does not change. Using the above fact, an almost exact histogram matching can be obtained in the discrete case.
NMR quantum toys

Clusters of dipolar-coupled nuclear spins are excellent model systems for implementing various quantum experiments. The presented examples demonstrate recent techniques of coherent control for spin systems, as well as quantum dynamic schemes, like amplified quantum detection and measurement, state purification, adiabatic transfer of coherences, or projective measurement with NMR. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Concepts Magn Reson Part A 30A: 194–217, 2007.
Purification and characterization of the cardiotoxins from the venom of the thailand cobra, Naja naja siamensis

Abstract 1. 1. A complex mixture of membrane active toxins from the venom of the Thailand cobra, Naja naja siamensis , have been separated into four components (A-D-D). 2. 2. All four toxins were nearly identical in charge and size (mol. wt: 7500)although toxin A was clearly resolved from the other toxins in polyacrylamide gels at pH 24. 3. 3. Each toxin possessed hemolytic and toxic properties characteristic of their action as cobra venom cardiotoxins. 4. 4. Initial rate of toxin induced human erythrocyte lysis increased with decreasing LD 50 for toxins , A, C and D, respectively. 5. 5. Direct measurement of phospolipase activity showed that toxins B, C and wewere effectively free of such activity while toxin A was not. 6. 6. Ca +2 inhibited the hemolytic action of toxin D while promoting its synergistic action with added venom phospholipase.
Assessment of the distribution and elimination of ochratoxin A in the pregnant rat.

The distribution and elimination of %H-ochratoxin A was studied in pregnant rats following s.c. administration of a single dose of 2.5 mg/kg on day 12 of gestation. Elimination of radioactivity from serum was biphasic. The overall elimination (beta) half life was 55.88 h. Fecal elimination of radioactivity accounted for 29.1% of the total radioactivity in the first 24 h and 36.2% in 48 h. Radioactivity in the urine accounted for 6.7% of the total at 24 h and 8.6% at 48 h. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) of whole fetal extracts demonstrated the presence of the parent compound 12 h after maternal dosing, with peak fetal levels (64.2 ng/g) occurring at 48 h. Virtually all of the radioactivity from the extracts was equivalent to ochratoxin A by TLC. No metabolic congeners of ochratoxin were detected in fetal tissues.
The relationship of the outcome and procedural fairness: How does knowing the outcome influence judgments about the procedure?

Justice theories distinguish between fair procedures and fair or favorable outcomes. However, it is not clear whether people can clearly separate judgments about procedures from knowledge of the outcomes of those procedures. Two experiments are reported which address that question. In both studies respondents evaluate the fairness of decision-making procedures. In one case those evaluations occur prior to knowing the outcome of the procedure (“behind the veil”), while in the other the outcome is known before the procedural evaluation (“in front of the veil”). Two hypotheses about outcome influence are tested: that knowing the outcome changes themeaning of procedural fairness and that knowing the outcome changes theweight given to procedural fairness. Findings of both studies suggest that prior knowledge about the outcome does not change the way people define the meaning of the fairness of a procedure. However, people place less weight on their judments about procedural fairness when evaluating the decision maker if they make those judgments already knowing the outcome of the procedure.
The method of stress variation applied to minimal design for multiple loading

Abstract The method of stress variation, previously developed for the optimal design of axisymmetric sandwich plates obeying the Tresca criterion for a single loading condition[1–3], is extended to multiple loading conditions. The method consists of a systematic reduction in the design parameter until the optimum is reached. For the class of loadings treated in this paper, it is shown that repeated application of only a single stress variation is necessary to produce the optimum design for a simply supported plate. The method is such that it can easily be adapted to automatic computation, and the computer time required is simply proportional to the number of separate loads to be considered. An example of a simply supported plate for three separate loads is presented.
Annual contribution of sulfur dioxide to the atmosphere by volcanoes

Abstract The average contribution of SO2 to the atmosphere by volcanoes, estimated largely by extrapolation from direct measurements of volcanic SO2, is calculated to be 18.7 Tg per year. Of this, an estimated 6.8 Tg per year (36%) is from non-erupting degassing volcanoes. Erupting volcanoes yield an average annual flux estimated to be 11.9 Tg SO2 per year (64%). The estimated total annual SO2 output is about 23% larger than the most recent estimate based on direct measurements. Our calculations suggest that 64% of the total comes from erupting volcanoes, as compared to 7% in the earlier estimate. Of the total worldwide annual SO2 flux, 9% is found to be from volcanoes.
Odd and even mode capacitances for coupled strips in a layered medium

Abstract Odd and even mode propagation characteristics are calculated for coupled strip transmission lines in a layered dielectric medium. Green's functions are used in setting up a variational expression. The charge distributions on the centre strips are expanded in a cosine series. Calculation of mode capacitances, impedances and phase velocities is then carried out using the Rayleigh-Ritz procedure. Design data for any combination of dimensional or material parameters can be determined using the computer programme.
Local isomorphism, Landau theory, and matching rules in quasicrystals

Discussion portant sur quelques differences entre les quasi-cristaux et les cristaux ordinaires et en particulier sur les consequences physiques contenues dans l'idee d'isomorphisme local et dans les regles de raccordement
Weight Patterns of Youth Entering an Urban Juvenile Justice Facility

Adolescents with a history of incarceration face a disproportionate number of health issues compared with their peers in virtually all areas, including perceived well-being; self-esteem; acute, chr...
A general systems taxonomy for psychological defence mechanisms.

Abstract A taxonomy of psychological defence mechanisms based on general systems concepts is proposed. The personality system consists of the subsystems concerned with input, internal processing, and output of information. Psychological defence mechanisms can be classified according to the subsystem whose function is mainly altered. Defence mechanisms primarily altering the input apparatus function through changes in the perceptual process. These include diminution of perception (denial), distortion of the origin of the percepts (projection and introjection), and distortion of subjectively perceived direction of the feelings and thoughts (displacement). Defence mechanisms that primarily alter the functions of the internal processing apparatus include repression, rationalization, intellectualization, isolation, and fantasy/day-dreaming. These mechanisms alter associative and cognitive processes either directly (repression) or indirectly. In reaction formation, there may be a selective distortion to produce an opposite affect. Defence mechanisms that primarily affect the output apparatus include acting out, counterphobic activity, undoing, sublimation, and non-specific activity. Regression and identification are defence mechanisms that affect all the subsystems, input, internal processing, and output, more or less uniformly producing effects throughout the personality system. The advantage of this classification scheme is that it relates primarily to directly observable phenomena that can be readily classified. Another advantage is that it may generate researchable neuropsychological hypotheses concerning possible neural substrates of defence mechanisms.
Competitive primary amine/epoxy and secondary amine/epoxy reactions: Effect on the isothermal time‐to‐vitrify

The effect of temperature on the ratio of the kinetic rate constants, k2/k1, has been investigated using FTIR spectroscopy for the competing reactions of epoxy with secondary amine (k2) and primary amine groups (k1) in a trimethylene glycol di-p-aminobenzoate/diglycidyl ether of the bisphenol A system. The ratio of the rate constants increases from 0.16 to 0.33 in the temperature range 100−160°C. The corresponding difference in the activation energies for the competing reactions is about 3.7 kcal/mol. The effect of the ratio on the time-to-vitrify contour of the isothermal time–temperature–transformation (TTT) cure diagram is discussed: The effect is more significant at higher curing temperatures.
Proximal row carpectomy versus scaphoid excision and intercarpal arthrodesis: intraoperative assessment and procedure selection.

Purpose To demonstrate the relative frequency of degenerative changes of the radiolunate and capitolunate joints in osteoarthritis of the wrist as seen by direct visualization, and to demonstrate the disparity between findings on preoperative radiographs and direct visualization. Methods We reviewed 18 consecutive patients who underwent either a proximal row carpectomy (PRC) or a scaphoid excision and 4-corner arthrodesis (SEFCA) for symptomatic degenerative arthritis of the wrist. In each case, the articular surfaces of the radiolunate and capitolunate joints were inspected intraoperatively; based on the relative degree of degenerative changes, either a PRC or an SEFCA was performed. We compared preoperative radiographs and the predicted procedure based on them with intraoperative findings and the procedure actually performed. Results Of 18 wrists, 15 had more severe degenerative changes on the proximal articular surface of the lunate than on the capitate head and underwent a PRC; the remaining 3 had more severe changes on the capitate head than on the proximal surface of the lunate and underwent an SEFCA. In contrast, preoperative radiographs in 13 of the 18 cases revealed degenerative changes at the capitolunate joint and minimal or no changes at the radiolunate joint. An SEFCA was the predicted procedure in all 13, but was performed in 3. The remaining 10 underwent a PRC. Conclusions Preoperative radiographs did not correlate well with intraoperative findings in the assessment of degenerative changes at the radiolunate and capitolunate joints, with changes at the radiolunate joint often underestimated. Our findings contradict the widely held contention that the radiolunate joint is consistently spared in osteoarthritis. The lunate fossa of the radius appears to be consistently spared, but not the proximal surface of the lunate. We recommend intraoperative assessment of the articular surfaces, rather than preoperative radiographs, for selection of the surgical procedure. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic IV.
Allelopathic effects ofPolygonum aviculare L. II. Isolation, characterization, and biological activities of phytotoxins

In earlier work, we found thatPolygonum aviculare had pronounced allelopathic effects against several test species. Four inhibitors were isolated from livingPolygonum plants, three of which were glucosides. Four different inhibitors were isolated fromPolygonum residues and soil underPolygonum stands, and none of these occurred in soil fromCynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. stands. Three of these were glycosides containing both fructose and cellobiose as the sugars. Color reactions of all the inhibitors indicated that they are phenolic in nature. All the inhibitors reduced seed germination and/or seedling growth ofChenopodium album L. Moreover some of them inhibited growth of different strains ofRhizobium andAzotobacter.
The effectiveness of contingent restraint on aggression, self‐injury, and property destruction of institutionalized mentally retarded persons

This study was a retrospective evaluation of in place treatment procedures. Clinical data were reviewed from 45 cases in which contingent restraint was employed in an effort to modify the inappropriate behaviors of institutionalized mentally retarded persons. Statistically significant decrements in the rates of inappropriate behavior were detected over the 18 months of study. Clinically meaningful improvement in the rates of behavior were detected in 53% of the cases in which the target behavior was either aggression, selfinjury, or property destruction. The inclusion of less serious behaviors in the study did not substantially increase this rate. Effectiveness appeared to be more pronounced for males, younger persons, persons with short institutional tenures, and persons who were free from psychotropic medication during the course of treatment.
Coping with spinal cord injury: The family perspective

Abstract Little attention has been paid in the literature to the special needs of family members in dealing with the sudden trauma of spinal cord injury and the long-term implications of rehabilitation. Families are often encouraged to participate in rehabilitation plans that do not take their own developmental needs into account. As a result, developmental stresses occur, often expressed as a medical crisis for the spinal cord injured patient. Requests for psychiatric consultation are a frequent initial response of the medical staff to such crisis. Two clinical cases are presented to illustrate this process. Emphasis is placed on family aspects of the cases. Data from family interviews and home visits are used to illustrate the central themes that emerged during consultations. In particular, the data illustrate how family efforts to cope with the needs of their spinal cord injured member have caused them to place inappropriate emphasis on short-term stability of family life, sacrificing, in the process, long-term growth. Recommendations are made regarding the role of the consultation-liaison psychiatrist in the use of this family developmental approach.
An Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Controller for a Wind Turbine Operating in Region 3

An adaptive neuro-fuzzy controller for large and flexible wind turbines operating in high-speed winds is presented. The control objective is to regulate the rotor speed at the given rated power in region 3 (full load) via collective blade pitch angle. The modeled turbine is a three-bladed, upwind machine with flexible blade and tower. We use the particle swarm optimization (PSO) method in off-line training of our adaptive neuro-fuzzy controller. Numerical simulations are performed using wind inflow step change with the nonlinear wind turbine model. We compare the performance of the proposed controller with the baseline PI controller. Simulation results confirm successful performance of the proposed controller.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Intracellular competition for a mismatch recognition system and marker-specific rescue of transforming DNA from inactivation by ultraviolet irradiation

We show that donor-recipient heterozygosity for unlinked genes allows low efficiency markers in transforming DNA to escape from attack by the discrimination system present in Diplococcus pneumoniae of genotype hex+. The observed efficiency of a marker is a function of donor DNA concentration, duration of exposure, and relatedness of the donor to the recipient strain. Efficiency can be increased at least six to seven fold by addition of excess homologous but nonisogenic DNA, which appears to compete for a limited amount of an enzyme system recognizing mismatched heteroduplexes. Low efficiency markers are often hypersensitive to ultraviolet irradiation of the donor DNA, and this effect also is reversed by the presence of excess nonisogenic homologous DNA, leading to a dramatic (for example, 260-fold) marker-specific rescue from inactivation.
Searching for a single mathematical function to address the nonlinear retention time shifts problem in nanoLC-MS data: A fuzzy-evolutionary computational proteomics approach

Proteomics involves collecting and analyzing information about proteins within one or more complex samples in order to address a biological problem. One methodology is the use of high performance liquid chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS). In such a case, the accurate determination of non-linear peptide retention times between runs is expected to increase the number of identified peptides and hence, proteins. There are many approaches when using a computer for such a problem; including very interactive to completely non-interactive algorithms for finding global and local functions that may be either explicit or implicit. This paper extends previous work and explores finding an explicit global function for which two stages are involved: i) computation of a set of candidate functions (results) by the algorithm, and ii) searching within the set for patterns of interest. For the first stage, three classes of approximating global functions are considered: Class 1 functions that have a completely unknown structure, Class 2 functions that have a tiny amount of domain knowledge incorporated, and Class 3 functions that have a small amount of domain knowledge incorporated. For the second stage, some issues with current similarity measures for mathematical expressions are discussed and a new measure is proposed. Preliminary experimental results with an Evolutionary Computation algorithm called Gene Expression Programming (a variant of Genetic Programming) when used with a fuzzy membership within the fitness function are reported.
Silica Nanoparticles with Continuously Tunable Sizes: Synthesis and Size Effects on Cellular Contrast Imaging

Controlling the size of silica nanoparticles (NPs) on a continuously variable scale was achieved by systematically varying the organic solvent(s) used in water-in-oil microemulsion synthesis. A number of individual as well as binary solvent mixtures were investigated for tuning silica NP size. The results demonstrated that the size of a silica NP was continuously tunable over as range of 20−100 nm by varying the alkane chain length of the organic solvent(s) being used. A simple physical model was proposed to describe the size effect and identify the principle factors needed for precisely controlling the size of a silica NP. In the model, the alkane chain length(s) of the organic solvent(s) primarily determined the average size of a silica NP when other synthetic conditions were fixed, whereas variance in size was affected by water droplet percolation with the precursor microemulsion. The significance and utility of these tunable silica NPs was evaluated for bioimaging applications. Specifically, dye-doped...