cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Building Behavioral Health Homes: Clinician and Staff Perspectives on Creating Integrated Care Teams

Adults with serious mental illness and substance use disorders have elevated risk of mortality and higher healthcare costs compared to the general population. As these disparities have been linked to poor management of co-occurring chronic conditions in primary care, the behavioral health setting may be a preferred setting for routine medical screening and treatment. This qualitative study describes early stages of integrating care teams in emerging medical homes based in mental health and addiction treatment settings. Clinicians and staff from ten agencies engaged in the Behavioral Health Home Learning Collaborative participated in qualitative interviews exploring local definitions of "behavioral health home" and initial barriers and facilitators to integration. Facilitators included clear staff roles, flexible scheduling, and interdisciplinary huddles and staff trainings. Challenges included workforce, limited use of electronic health records, and differing professional cultures. Participants advocated for new workflows and payment structures to accommodate scheduling demands and holistic case management.
Nutrient uptake by chemotactic bacteria in presence of rising oil drops

Abstract We investigate the consumption of a dissolved chemoeffector by bacteria, in a flow generated by buoyancy driven rise of oil drops. Our aim is to quantify the differences in the rate of consumption by motile and non-motile bacteria. We employ direct numerical simulations to resolve the multiphase flow, chemoeffector transport, and bacteria transport in a swarm of rising oil drops. Our simulations indicate that chemotaxis enables motile bacteria to consume the chemoeffector at rates that can be as high as ≈ 45% faster than their non-motile counterparts. We find that the chemotactic advantage depends most acutely on the bacteria's swimming speed, and on their sensitivity toward gradients in chemoeffector concentration. Furthermore, our results reveal that chemotactic advantage reduces monotonically with an increase in the diameter of the drops, while it varies non-trivially with the volume fraction of the drops.
Medical Facts, Errors, and This Book

This book presents literally hundreds of facts, based on the conclusions of published research reports, meta-analyses and other sources. We clinicians are responsible for knowing the “facts of the day,” the current evidence that forms the basis of practice. Although some of these facts can be traced to our professional school education, most have become known after we received our degrees. As an example, most of the drugs we use today – the proton pump inhibitors, the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, the statins, the triptans, and more – have been introduced since I received my MD degree, and I have learned about them outside the medical school classroom. Thus for me, and for you, learning about timely and essential facts becomes, in the words of Billings, “the most important part of [our] education.”
The Search for Life in the Solar System

In this presentation I give an overview of the long struggle to answer the age old question, does life exist anywhere else? The focus will be specifically on the search for life in the solar system, since this is the only region currently accessible to direct investigation. A hundred years ago many people believed that life, possibly even intelligent life, existed at the nearby planets Venus and Mars, and possibly elsewhere. The space age exploration of the planets has radically altered that view. We now know that Venus is a very hostile place, with no possibility for life, and that Mars is almost completely barren and very cold, with little prospect for life. The only remaining possibility appears to be in the interior of some of the moons of the outer planets where, due to an unlikely combination of factors, the conditions may be suitable for life.
Interfacial area measurement with new algorithm for grouping bubbles by diameter

Many industrial systems make use of two-phase flows for processing or safety applications. Modeling these flows is essential for ensuring safety and engineering optimization. In general, these flows are modeled using the two-fluid model. Two key parameters in the two-fluid model are void fraction and interfacial area concentration. To improve model accuracy, the bubbles are typically broken up into groups based on transport properties and modeled separately. Such models must be validated using experimental data, which is often collected using intrusive probes such as electrical conductivity or optical void probes. Current algorithms for converting the signals from these instruments into void and interfacial area measurements struggled with missing interfaces due to signal rise and fall time. These types of instruments also use the chord length to classify the “group” of a bubble, which can lead to incorrect grouping behavior. In this paper, a new dynamic signal processing method and a grouping algorithm based on calculating bubble diameter have been introduced in an attempt to correct these inaccuracies. The ability of the new algorithm is to correctly identify smaller bubbles and to more accurately identify bubble signals is demonstrated by comparison of the output logic pulse for both the old and new algorithms with the same input signal. The new bubble size calculation means that a number of bubbles that were previously classified as “spherical/distorted” are now classified as “cap/slug/churn” bubbles. This leads to changes in average bubble properties. While these changes were expected in several cases, the increase was larger than the reported uncertainty of the instruments. This may indicate significant shortcomings in data analyzed using the previous algorithms. Additional data collection and analysis is required in order to evaluate this possibility. However, the new algorithm has a significant weakness: the bubble diameter calculation increases the computational t ime by an order of magnitude.
Medical Education Journal Club for the Millennial Resident: An Interactive, No-Prep Approach

Abstract Objective The traditional journal club (JC) format of reviewing an article followed by group discussion may be misaligned with millennial learners’ needs and may not rely on best principles of adult learning. Our objective was to deliver an interactive JC allowing pediatric residents to critically engage with medical education research without previous preparation. Methods We conducted 4 one-hour “interactive, no-prep” medical education JCs for pediatric residents in a medium-sized program in 2018. Without previous reading, participants developed methods to answer the study question, compared that with actual methods, analyzed the results, and extrapolated the findings. We developed a simple, anonymous evaluation tool to determine perceived educational impact, analyzed using mixed methods. Results A total of 52 of 59 participants (88% response rate) indicated on a 7-point scale that the JC helped them think about how to analyze a paper (mean = 5.32), use a paper to inform further study questions (mean = 5.42), and understand medical education research (mean = 6.00). Four qualitative themes indicated that, although improvement was possible, it provided a strong interactive learning experience. Conclusions Our JC approach using active learning principles and requiring no advance preparation is proof of concept that faculty's objectives to teach critical literature evaluation and millennial needs for engagement can be simultaneously met.
Personalized Service Recommendation Based on User Dynamic Preferences

In order to personalize users’ recommendations, it is essential to consider their personalized preferences on non-functional attributes during service recommendation. However, to increase recommendation accuracy, it is essential that recommendation systems include users’ evolving preferences. It is not sufficient to only consider users’ preferences at a point in time. Existing time-based recommendation systems either disregard rich and useful historical user invocation information, or rely on information from similar users, and thus, fail to thoroughly capture users’ dynamic preferences for personalized recommendation. This work proposes a method to personalize users’ recommendations based on their dynamic preferences on non-functional attributes. First, we compose a user’s preference profile as a time series of his/her invocation preference and pre-invocation dependencies (i.e. the different services that were viewed prior to invoking the preferred service). We model a user’s invocation preference as a combination of non-functional attribute values observed during service invocation, and topic distribution from WSDL of the invoked service using Hierarchical Dirichlet Process (HDP). Next, we employ long short-term memory recurrent neural networks (LSTM-RNN) to predict the user’s future invocation preference. Finally, based on the predicted future invocation preference, we recommend service(s) to that user. To evaluate our proposed method, we perform experiments using real-world service dataset, WS-Dream.
Twist Spinning Knotted Trivalent Graphs

In 1965, E. C. Zeeman proved that the (+/-)-twist spin of any knotted sphere in (n-1)-space is unknotted in the n-sphere. In 1991, Y. Marumoto and Y. Nakanishi gave an alternate proof of Zeeman's theorem by using the moving picture method. In this paper, we define a knotted 2-dimensional foam which is a generalization of a knotted sphere and prove that a (+/-)-twist spin of a knotted trivalent graph may be knotted. We then construct some families of knotted graphs for which the (+/-)-twist spins are always unknotted.
Rethinking resistance: public health professionals on empathy and ethics in the 2014-2015 Ebola response in Sierra Leone and Liberia

Public health professionals may be confronted with unique ethical challenges in outbreak response situations. We conducted interviews with twenty-two public health professionals involved in respons...
Design and Operation of Autonomous Underground Freight Transportation Systems

AbstractDespite the increases in freight transportation demand, options for increasing capacity of the overground freight transportation infrastructure system are limited. This paper investigated t...
Structural design and analysis of a redesigned wind turbine blade

Wind turbine power is on the rise due to increased energy extraction made possible by longer blades, higher tower heights, and improved electronics. As wind turbine blades get larger, structural co...
Reflections of the Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Recall by the FDA and Repercussions on Healthcare.

Beginning in July of 2018, the FDA issued a voluntary recall regarding the presence of a contaminant found in the manufacturing of valsartan. What would ensue has become a largely unprecedented sequence of alarming events since the FDA began reporting public recalls, withdrawals and safety alerts on their website in 2016. Since then, the United States has been significantly impacted by drug recalls affecting angiotensin receptor blockers. This report arms clinicians with additional guidance and provides a framework for responding appropriately to future similar incidents and includes an overview of the angiotensin receptor blockers, and their effects and safety profiles. This report includes a review of data from all pertinent clinical and scientific sources including information from the FDA’s inspection documents and recall website. Additional information is provided on the specific bottles including all lot numbers, expiration dates, etc. The recalls/withdrawals are attributable to the presence of cancer-causing contaminants identified during the manufacturing process from drug manufacturers abroad. The root causes behind the recalls and subsequent shortage appear multifactorial, and stem to a certain extent from the outsourcing of medication manufacturing overseas and lack of quality checks and appropriate oversight. This inherent issue is not likely to resolve soon and has eroded the public trust of/in the healthcare system and the pharmaceutical industry. Patients and healthcare providers are significantly affected and should have a full understanding of the matter in order to guide appropriate response and actions.
The Nrf2-mediated defense mechanism associated with HFE genotype limits vulnerability to oxidative stress-induced toxicity

There is considerable interest in gene and environment interactions in neurodegenerative diseases. The HFE (homeostatic iron regulator) gene variant (H63D) is highly prevalent in the population and has been investigated as a disease modifier in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. We have developed a mouse model to interrogate the impact of this gene variant in a model of paraquat toxicity. Using primary astrocytes, we found that the H67D-Hfe(equivalent of the human H63D variant) astrocytes are less vulnerable than the WT-Hfe astrocytes to paraquat-induced cell death, mitochondrial damage, and cellular senescence. We hypothesized that the Hfe variant-associated protection is a result of the activation of the Nrf2 antioxidant defense system and found a significant increase in Nrf2 levels after paraquat exposure in the H67D-Hfe astrocytes than the WT-Hfe astrocytes. Moreover, decreasing Nrf2 by molecular or pharmaceutical manipulation resulted in increased vulnerability to paraquat in the H67D-Hfe astrocytes. To further elucidate the role of Hfe variant genotype in neuroprotection mediated by astrocytes, we added media from the paraquat-treated astrocytes to differentiated SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and found a significantly larger reduction in the viability when treated with WT-Hfe astrocyte media than the H67D-Hfe astrocyte media possibly due to higher secretion of IL-6 observed in the WT-Hfe astrocytes. To further explore the mechanism of Nrf2 protection, we measured NQO1, the Nrf2-mediated antioxidant, in primary astrocytes and found a significantly higher NQO1 level in the H67D-Hfe astrocytes. To consider the translational potential of our findings, we utilized the PPMI (Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative) clinical database and found that, consistent with the mouse study, H63D-HFE carriers had a significantly higher NQO1 level in the CSF than the WT-HFE carriers. Consistent with our previous reports on H63D-HFE in disease, these data further suggest that HFE genotype in the human population impacts the antioxidant defense system and can therefore alter pathogenesis.
In Defense of Big Data Analytics

This chapter argues that big data analytics, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, are natural outgrowths of recent developments in computer technology such as the availability of massive data sets, vast increases in computing power, and breakthroughs in analytical techniques. These techniques promise unprecedented benefits for consumers, workers, and society at large, but they also pose challenges for privacy and fairness. The chapter contains a short summary of the range of potential benefits made possible by these new analytic techniques and then discusses privacy and fairness challenges. Principles of privacy policy requiring data minimization and restricting secondary data use need to be reformulated to allow for both the successful delivery of big data benefits and effective privacy protection. Ubiquitous re-identification risks and information externalities reduce the ability of individuals to control the disclosure of information and suggest less reliance on notice and choice mechanisms. Big data analytics can pose fairness challenges, but these techniques are not exempt from existing antidiscrimination and consumer protection laws. Regulatory agencies and courts need to enforce these laws against any abuses accomplished through big data analysis. Disclosure of source code is not an effective way to respond to the challenges of designing and using unbiased algorithms. Instead, enterprises should develop and implement a framework for responsible use of data analytics that will provide for fairness by design and after-the-fact audits of algorithms in use. Such a framework will need to adopt standards of fairness and appropriate remedies for findings of disparate impact. This will require moving beyond technical matters to address sensitive normative issues where the interests of different groups collide and moral intuitions diverge. A collaborative effort of businesses, governments, academics, and civil rights and public interest groups might sharpen the issues and allow sharing of information and best practices in a way that would benefit all.
Ethics, Culture and Higher Purpose in Banking: Post-Crisis Governance Developments

This paper examines the roles of ethics, culture, and higher purpose in banking, defining these concepts and discussing how they are related. Developments in these areas since the financial crisis are discussed in the context of governance in banking. The theoretical and empirical research on ethics, culture and purpose is reviewed, including a discussion of a framework for diagnosing bank culture. The paper closes with a discussion of the regulatory policy implications of the review.
Postpartum Care Utilization Among Women with Medicaid-Funded Live Births in Oregon.

Postpartum care is an important strategy for preventing and managing chronic disease in women with pregnancy complications (i.e., gestational diabetes (GDM) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP)). Using a population-based, cohort study among Oregon women with Medicaid-financed deliveries (2009–2012), we examined Medicaid-financed postpartum care (postpartum visits, contraceptive services, and routine preventive health services) among women who retained Medicaid coverage for at least 90 days after delivery (n = 74,933). We estimated postpartum care overall and among women with and without GDM and/or HDP using two different definitions: 1) excluding care provided on the day of delivery, and 2) including care on the day of delivery. Pearson chi-square tests were used to assess differential distributions in postpartum care by pregnancy complications (p < .05), and generalized estimating equations were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Of Oregon women who retained coverage through 90 days after delivery, 56.6–78.1% (based on the two definitions) received any postpartum care, including postpartum visits (26.5%-71.8%), contraceptive services (30.7–35.6%), or other routine preventive health services (38.5–39.1%). Excluding day of delivery services, the odds of receiving any postpartum care (aOR 1.26, 95% CI 1.08–1.47) or routine preventive services (aOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.14–1.53) were meaningfully higher among women with GDM and HDP (reference = neither). Medicaid-financed postpartum care in Oregon was underutilized, it varied by pregnancy complications, and needs improvement. Postpartum care is important for all women and especially those with GDM or HDP, who may require chronic disease risk assessment, management, and referrals.
Effect of Al2O3 ALD coating on thermal stability of silica aerogel

An optically transparent and thermally insulating (OTTI) silica aerogel demonstrates promising results for various solar thermal applications, particularly concentrated solar power systems. Higher system efficiency can be achieved by integrating OTTI materials by reducing heat loss at higher receiver temperature. However, the thermal stability of OTTI aerogels has been one of the limiting factors. Here, we report that Al2O3 atomic layer deposition (ALD) enhances the thermal stability of silica aerogel. The more layers of Al2O3 ALD coating on silica aerogels, the higher the thermal stability. However, more layers of Al2O3 ALD coating compromises transmittance of silica aerogel due to increasing the size of scattering centers. Therefore, optimization of Al2O3 ALD coating needs to be performed to enhance performance for a solar thermal system. The demonstrated ALD-coated aerogel provides a potential pathway to further improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of state-of-the-art concentrating solar power (CSP) systems.
The operator pseudoinverse in control and systems identification

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the pseudoinverse of a linear transformation between Hilbert spaces. It presents the basic theory and shows its use for applications to systems identification and the quadratic regulator problem. It also presents an exposition of the basic theory of the pseudoinverse for densely defined linear closed operators with arbitrary range. The theory includes the case of operators that do not have closed range. The chapter discusses the Gauss-Markov theorem on statistical estimation that is shown to be proved under the hypothesis that both the quantity to be estimated and the observations are elements of Hilbert spaces. This theorem applies only to nonsingular covariance operators and reduces to the classical Gauss-Markov theorem when the spaces are finite dimensional. In one classical form of the quadratic regulator problem, it is required to find the minimum energy input that will move a system from some initial state to the origin at a designated time. The chapter presents a reformulation that generalizes this problem to admit a greater variety of linear constraints, possibly including some of which are incompatible and/or unattainable by the system. The solution always exists as a pseudoinverse and reduces to the classical result if the system is capable of meeting the constraint.
Information systems and environmentally sustainable development: energy informatics and new directions for the is community

While many corporations and Information Systems units recognize that environmental sustainability is an urgent problem to address, the IS academic community has been slow to acknowledge the problem and take action. We propose ways for the IS community to engage in the development of environmentally sustainable business practices. Specifically, as IS researchers, educators, journal editors, and association leaders, we need to demonstrate how the transformative power of IS can be leveraged to create an ecologically sustainable society. In this Issues and Opinions piece, we advocate a research agenda to establish a new subfield of energy informatics, which applies information systems thinking and skills to increase energy efficiency. We also articulate how IS scholars can incorporate environmental sustainability as an underlying foundation in their teaching, and how IS leaders can embrace environmental sustainability in their core principles and foster changes that reduce the environmental impact of our community.
Knowledge state reconsideration: hindsight belief revision

As a knowledge representation and reasoning (KRR) system gathers and reasons about information, it has to update its belief space to maintain consistency. Some belief change operations it can perform include expansion (addition with no consistency checking), contraction (aka removal or retraction), revision (consistent prioritized addition), and consolidation (elimination of any and all inconsistencies). Whether belief change operations are performed on theories (Alchourron, Gardenfors, & Makinson 1985) or bases (Nebel 1989; Hansson 1991; 1993b), with ideal agents or those that are resource-bounded (Wassermann 1999; Williams 1997), there is no doubt that the order of operations typically affects the makeup of the resulting belief base. If a KRR system gains new information that, in hindsight, might have altered the outcome of an earlier belief change decision, the earlier decision should be re-examined. We call this operation reconsideration, and the result is an optimal belief base regardless of the order of previous belief change operations. For this paper, we assume a global decision function is used in the belief change operations, and it will favor retaining the most preferred beliefs as determined by a preference ordering ( ) that is irreflexive, anti-symmetric and transitive (referred to here as an IAT-preference ordering).1 Any base can be represented as a sequence of beliefs in order of decending preference: B = p1, p2, . . . , pn, where pi is preferred over pi+1 (pi pi+1). This work proposes maintaining a knowledge state (KS) which is defined as follows: KS = 〈B,B∪, 〉, where B is the current belief base2, B∪ is the set of all beliefs that have ever been in the belief base at any time (effectively, the union of all past and current bases), and is the preference ordering relation for the beliefs in B∪.
'It's Not Just Poverty': South Korea, the United States, and the Global Sex Trade

This paper explores the dynamics of human smuggling and trafficking from South Korea to the United States.
Accelerating the neighbor-joining algorithm using the adaptive bucket data structure

The complexity of the neighbor joining method is determinedby the complexity of the search for an optimal pair ("neighbors tojoin") performed globally at each iteration. Accelerating the neighbor-joining method requires performing a smarter search for an optimal pairof neighbors, avoiding re-evaluation of all possible pairs of points at eachiteration. We developed an acceleration technique for the neighbor-joining method that significantly decreases complexity for important applicationswithout any change in the neighbor-joining method. This techniqueutilizes the bucket data structure. The pairs of nodes are arranged inbuckets according to values of the goal function δij = ui+uj-dij. Bucketsare adaptively re-arranged after each neighbor-joining step. While thepairs of nodes in the top bucket are re-evaluated at every iteration, pairsin lower buckets are accessed more rarely, when the algorithm determinesthat the elements of the bucket need to be re-evaluated based on newvalues of δij. As a result, only a small portion of candidate pairs of nodesis examined at each iteration. The algorithm is cache efficient, since the bucket data structures areable to exploit locality and adjust to cache properties.
Variable disposition of ciprofloxacin in critically ill patients undergoing continuous arteriovenous hemodiafiltration.

Continuous arteriovenous hemodiafiltration (CAVHD) is being used increasingly in critically ill patients with acute renal failure (ARF). We prospectively evaluated extracorporeal and total systemic clearances (Cl CAVHD and Cl s ) of ciprofloxacin during CAVHD in four patients with severe ARF to assess the adequacy of drug dosing. Ciprofloxacin serum and ultrafiltrate concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. The Cl CAVHD accounted for approximately 5.9% (range 2.8-11.6%) of Cl s of ciprofloxacin. However, large variability in serum concentrations was observed with the normally recommended dose of 400 mg/day, and doses of up to 800 mg/day were required to maintain concentrations suitable for treatment of serious infections. High daily doses of ciprofloxacin required in these patients are likely related to altered pharmacokinetics in serious illness as well as to the increased extracorporeal clearance during CAVHD. Clinical studies to define appropriate dosing recommendations for ciprofloxacin during CAVHD are necessary to guide clinicians in optimum drug use
The Hunting of the Quark: The Particle in English:

The verb-particle construction in English has two forms when occurring with a nominal direct object. The particle can precede the object, e.g., look up the information, or follow it, e.g., look the...
Myocardial Injury After Blunt Trauma Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Intravascular Ultrasound to the Rescue

A 43-year-old healthy Amish man presented to the emergency department with a history of blunt trauma to the chest following a horse kick. The blunt trauma happened 6 hours before presentation. He also reported loss of consciousness for a brief period of 5 minutes. After regaining consciousness, he experienced constant dull ache in his chest that radiated to his left shoulder. He presented to the emergency department for further evaluation. He was a tobacco user and there was no family history of coronary disease. On examination, he did not have any bruising over his chest. His chest was tender to palpation. Laboratory tests were significant for troponin T of 0.8 ng/mL (normal <0.01 ng/mL). Twelve-lead ECG revealed age indeterminate inferior infarct (Figure 1). Chest radiograph did …
The sexual lives of medical students: a single institution survey.

ABSTRACT Introduction Little is known about the personal sexual lives of medical students. Aim To assess sexual habits and determine the presence of sexual dysfunction among medical students. Main Outcome Measures Demographic and sexual experience data and domain scores on validated sexuality surveys. Instruments selected included the International Index of Erectile Function, the Index of Premature Ejaculation, and the Self Esteem and Relationship Quality Survey for male medical students and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and the Index of Sex Life for female medical students. Methods Medical students at our institution were invited to complete a demographic questionnaire and gender- appropriate sexuality surveys. Results were compared with established normative data and validated cut-off scores when available. Linear regression and Pearson coefficient were used to assess relationships between variables. Results There were 132 responses (78 female mean age 24 years, 54 male, mean age 25 years). Condoms and oral contraceptives were the most popular form of contraception. Among men, 81.5%, 37%, and 93% were in a relationship, married, and heterosexual, respectively. Among women, 64%, 18%, and 95% were in a relationship, married, and heterosexual. Erectile dysfunction was reported by 30% of men. Proxy measures of other sexual problems in men revealed a 28% prevalence of dissatisfaction with sex life, a 28% prevalence of problems controlling ejaculation, an 11% prevalence of orgasmic dysfunction, and a 6% prevalence of low sexual desire. Based on validated FSFI scoring, 63% of women were at high risk of sexual dysfunction. Proxy measures of other problems in women indicated disorders of pain, orgasms, desire, sex satisfaction, lubrication, and arousal in 39%, 37%, 32%, 28%, 26%, and 24% of female respondents, respectively. Conclusions These data provide insight into the sexual lives of medical students. Rates of sexual dysfunction are higher than expected based on normative data. Further research is required. Shindel AW, Ferguson GG, Nelson CJ, and Brandes SB. The sexual lives of medical students: A single institution survey.
Sperm-specific expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is mediated by a 91-base-pair promoter containing a CRE-like element

The gene encoding the testis isozyme of angiotensin-converting enzyme (testis ACE) is one example of the many genes expressed uniquely during spermatogenesis. This protein is expressed by developing germ cells late in their development and results from the activation of a sperm-specific promoter that is located within intron 12 of the gene encoding the somatic isozyme of ACE. In vitro transcription, DNase footprinting, gel shift assays, and transgenic mouse studies have been used to define the minimal testes ACE promoter and to characterize DNA-protein interactions mediating germ cell-specific expression. These studies show that proper cell- and stage-specific expression of testis ACE requires only a small portion of the immediate upstream sequence extending to -91. A critical motif within this core promoter is a cyclic AMP-responsive element sequence that interacts with a testis-specific transactivating factor. Since this putative cyclic AMP-responsive element has been conserved within the testis ACE promoters of different species and is found at the same site in other genes that are expressed specifically in the testis, it may provide a common mechanism for the recognition of sperm-specific promoters.
A parametric analysis of heat transfer in composite nuclear fuels

Abstract The composite nuclear fuel described in this paper consists of a heat generating fuel matrix containing cylindrical metal and fibers uniformly aligned throughout the matrix. Exact analytical solutions were found for temperature distributions in the fiber and matrix for a composite cell modeled as concentric cylinders. A parametric study is presented of composite overall thermal conductivities and temperature distributions as a function of fiber-to-matrix conductivity ratios, cell length-to-radius ratios, and fiber-to-cell radius ratios. For composite cells in which length-to-radius ratios exceed 10, axial temperature distributions may be calculated assuming a homogeneous material.
Signaling events activated by angiotensin II receptors: What goes before and after the calcium signals

Angiotensin II (Ang II) receptors of the AT1 subtype are coupled to heterotrimeric G nucleotide-binding proteins, G(q/11), to activate phospholipase C-beta isoforms with production of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) and diacylglycerol. The resultant release of intracellular Ca2+ and increased Ca2+ influx are major determinants of several acute cellular responses initiated by Ang II, including secretion of aldosterone from the adrenal cortex and smooth muscle contraction. However, cellular events related to more prolonged effects of Ang II, such as hypertrophic and hyperplastic responses, are triggered by intracellular signaling cascades that are less dependent on Ca2+ signals. The Ang II-induced activation of Raf-1 kinase, p42 MAP-kinase and c-fos expression in response to Ang II in adrenal glomerulosa cells does not require Ca2+ influx. Moreover, the dose-response relationships for Raf-1 activation, MAP-kinase activation and mitogenesis show significantly higher sensitivity to Ang II than the InsP3, Ca2+-release and aldosterone secretory responses. The sensitivities of both Raf-1 kinase and MAP-kinase stimulation by Ang II to the inhibitors of phosphoinositide kinases, wortmannin and LY 294002, suggest that inositol phospholipids may play a role in these activation events unrelated to their role in Ca2+ signaling. To investigate the changes of various inositides after stimulation at the single cell level, fluorescent probes were developed in which pleckstrin homology domains with distinct binding specificities to inositol phospholipids were fused to the green fluorescent protein and expressed in NIH 3T3 cells. The use of these probes revealed heterogeneity of the inositol lipid pools and their complex relationship to Ca2+ signals. The use of these tools will help to further clarify the complex role of these lipids in initiating Ca2+-dependent and -independent signaling responses.
Tunable Terahertz Lasers: A wrench of wavelength

Mechanically manipulating the lateral size of the lasing mode of a single-mode terahertz quantum cascade laser provides a new and robust method for widely and continuously tuning its emission wavelength.
The evolution of magnetic activity on V711 Tauri and evidence for a significant facular contribution

The nature of the long-term evolution of magnetic activity in the RS CVn binary V711 Tauri is investigated using the complete set of available archival IUE SWP low-dispersion spectra of V711 Tau for the period covering August 1978 - December 1984. An analysis of the spectra confirmed the pattern of a long-term smooth variation of chromospheric and transition region emission found previosly by Dorren et al. (1986). An explanation of the relationship between the different facets of the magnetic activity on V711 Tau is presented.
Epistemic Responsibility 1

Abstract Given the hundreds of articles and books that have been written in epistemology over the span of just the past few decades, relatively little has been written specifically on epistemic responsibility. What has been written rarely considers the nature of epistemic responsibility and its possible role in epistemic justification or knowledge. Instead, such work concerns philosophical analyses and arguments about related concepts such as epistemic virtues or duties, rather than epistemic praiseworthiness and blameworthiness. 2 It is epistemic responsibility in the blameworthiness and praiseworthiness senses that is the primary concern of this paper, though the duty sense of epistemic responsibility is explored in terms of its pertinence to epistemic virtue. What is epistemic responsibility? And what, if anything, is its relationship to justification and knowledge?
Implications of ω -oxocarboxylic acids in the remote marine atmosphere for photo-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids

Specific organic compounds have been used as tracers of biological and anthropogenic source inputs to the marine atmosphere1–8. This tracer approach uses the unique molecular signatures or fingerprints for various lipid compound classes of marine and terrestrial plants to identify the sources of the organic substances in aerosols9. However, many of these substances are not stable and undergo transformation reactions. For example, unsaturated fatty acids, which are major constituents of marine and terrestrial plants, have not been frequently detected in remote marine aerosols3,6,7. The mechanism for the transformation of unsaturated fatty acids in the atmosphere has not been elucidated. In this paper, we report the discovery of a homologous series of ω-oxocarboxylic acids (C4–C14; C9 being maximum) in marine aerosols. We propose that these compounds are oxidation products of unsaturated fatty acids in the marine environment. The discovery of ω-oxoacids, along with additional aerosol, sea water, and rain data for mono- and di-carboxylic acids, has led us to postulate a photo-induced oxidative reaction scheme for unsaturated fatty acids in the marine atmosphere and surface seawater.
The kinetics and stoichiometry of the transition from the primary to the secondary peroxidase peroxide complexes

Abstract The demonstration of the second-order reaction of complex I of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) with the donor molecule, together with the demonstration that complex I loses one oxidizing equivalent in this reaction, now clarifies the second step in the peroxidase mechanism studied previously (2); the complete mechanism being HRP + S k 1 = 0.9 × 10 7 M × sec. −1 k 2 sec. −1 → Complex I (1) Complex I + A H k 7 = 0.9 × 10 7 M −1 × sec. −1 → Complex II + A (2) Complex II + A H k 4 = 2.4 × 10 5 M −1 × sec. −1 → HRP + A (3)2 for S = H2O2 and AH = nitrous acid at 26 °. 5The large ratio of k7 and k4 causes complex II to be the rate-determining or Michaelis intermediate in peroxidase action. The primary complexes of horse-blood catalase and horse-radish peroxidase react with nitrous acid at very nearly the same speed.
Evaluating the performance of geosynthetic-reinforced unpaved roads using plate load tests

This study evaluates the performance of geosynthetic-reinforced unpaved road sections over soft subgrade using plate load test. The parameters investigated included the location and tensile modulus of geosynthetics, and the number of geosynthetic layers. Stress distribution on top of the subgrade layer and strain distribution along the geosynthetic reinforcements were also investigated. The test results indicated that geosynthetic reinforcement resulted in appreciable reduction of surface deformation and increase of bearing capacity. The test results also demonstrated the effects of geogrid arrangement/location on the performance of unpaved test sections, with double reinforcement location consistently yielded the best improvement. The definite trend of increasing Bearing Capacity Ratio (BCR) and reloading elastic modulus with increasing tensile modulus of geosynthetics was observed when geosynthetics were grouped according to aperture shape and polymer type. The BCR is defined as the ratio of the bearing...
Functionalized carboxyl nanoparticles enhance mucus dispersion and hydration

Luminal accumulation of viscous, poorly hydrated, and less transportable mucus has been associated with altered mucus rheology and reduced mucociliary clearance. These symptoms are some of the cardinal clinical manifestations found throughout major respiratory diseases as well as gastrointestinal and digestive disorders. Applications of current mucolytics may yield short-term improvements but are continuously challenged by undesirable side-effects. While nanoparticles (NPs) can interact with mucin polymers,whether functionalized NPs can rectify mucus rheology is unknown. Herein, we report that carboxyl-functionalized NPs (24 nm and 120 nm) dramatically reduced mucin gel size and accelerated mucin matrix hydration rate (diffusivity). Our results suggest that carboxyl-functionalized NPs disperse mucin gels possibly by enhancing network hydration. This report highlights the prospective usages of carboxyl-functionalized NPs as a novel mucus dispersant or mucolytic agent in adjusting mucus rheological properties and improving mucociliary transport to relieve clinical symptoms of patients suffering from relevant diseases.
Use of time and preferences for time allocation among urban, employed, married women

This study examines the relationship between employed wives' preferences for household production time, employment time, leisure, and their actual time use. A random sample of 235 employed, married women estimate their time use on an average weekday and weekend day in 13 activities and indicate their preferences for time in those activities. Hierarchical multiple regression procedures are used to examine the relationships between actual and preferred time use. Weekday employment time is not related to preferences for more or less time in household production but wives allocating more time to employment want to spend less time at that employment and more time in leisure. Weekend employment time is related to preferences for more time in leisure, child care, and other household work. Time spent performing household work is not related to preferences for more or less time in any activity except the desire for more leisure time on weekends.
Freud’s Theory of Mind and Functional Imaging Experiments

13C in vivo NMR experiments have measured large neuronal neurotransmitter fluxes in resting rat and human brains which are coupled to brain energy consumption. In the awake, resting state this “baseline” neuronal activity accounts for ~80% of brain energy consumption. The resting activity decreases with deepening anesthesia. In stimulated anesthetized rats, high localized somatosensory brain activity is restored by incremental changes during forepaw stimulation. Functional imaging experiments generally measure such incremental changes in activities during a task period and discard the highly active baseline. Single electrode measurements of the spiking rates in a representative population of neurons in the rat somatosensory region have been correlated with the functional imaging under the same stimulation. The population response has allowed patterns from the sensory stimulation to be distinguished from connections with the brain’s global activity. In this way it is becoming possible to identify global ta...
Visualizing rhizosphere chemistry of legumes with mid-infrared synchrotron radiation.

A bright synchrotron light source operated by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory served as an external source for infrared (IR) microscopy of plant root microcosms. Mid-IR light from synchrotrons is 2-3 orders of magnitude brighter than conventional sources, allowing mapping based on the chemical information in the reflected signal with a spatial resolution near the diffraction limit of 3-10 microns. The IR microscope's computer-controlled x-y stage allows acquisition of spatially resolved maps of reflectance or transmittance versus position. In an experiment using plant root microcosms fitted with 50 x 20 x 1 mm ZnSe IR-transmissive windows, we describe chemical differences and similarities within the root zone of mung beam (Vigna radiata L.), grown with or without phosphorus revealed by reflectance microspectroscopy. Comparative root and root-exudate profiles are described in sand/silt culture over the wavelength range of 2.5 to 16 microns (4000 to 650 cm-1) in the mid-IR, the wavelength range most useful for the analytic identification of small organic molecules. Root epidermal tissue of plants grows with low-phosphorus showed greater lipid contribution and less lignin than nutrient-sufficient plants. In the zone 200 microns from the root axis, control plants were enriched with simple sugars and monomeric lignin precursors. In low-phosphorusmore » plants, the rhizosphere possessed IR signatures from protein and sugars. Individual soil particles could be easily discriminated from biological material. Synchrotron IR spectromicroscopy complements existing root imaging techniques.« less
Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Purine Nucleoside Analogs

Abstract It is well known that adenosine plays an important role in inflammatory processes. A collection of adenosine analogs modified in the base and/or sugar functional moiety have been synthesized and submitted for biological testing. Each purine nucleoside analog was tested for inhibition of endothelial cell activation by various inflammatory stimuli. A number of analogs exhibited potent anti-inflammatory activity. Animal studies have been carried out on AMG002370 which was found to potently inhibit adjuvant induced arthritis in the Lewis rat.
Gender Differences in Teen Parents' Perceptions of Parental Responsibilities

Accurate information concerning teen parents' knowledge of their children's development and their expectations for paternal involvement becomes increasingly important as efforts increase to promote involvement of unmarried fathers with their children. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess differences in the knowledge and perceptions of normal child development, and expectations for paternal responsibilities between unmarried, low-income African American and Mexican American adolescent mothers and their males partners. Seven unmarried adolescent mothers participated in a focus group interview held at a family service agency in the Midwest. Afterward, their male partners and reported fathers of their babies, participated in a separate focus group interview The mean age of the adolescent mother participants was 16.7 years, the mean age of their partners was 19.3 years. Data were analyzed using a tape-based analysis method. A number of differences were identified between the perceptions of the adolescent mothers and young fathers including their level of child development knowledge, context for selecting physical methods of discipline, expectations for paternal role behaviors, and feelings about child support payments and establishing legal paternity. The study findings may help health care providers develop more effective prenatal and parenting educational experiences for adolescent parents.