cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Taking on the Challenge of the Centennial Vision: Transforming the Passion for Occupational Therapy into a Passion for Leadership

ABSTRACTThe Centennial Vision makes it clear that the profession of occupational therapy is facing challenges that require members to move beyond clinical excellence toward larger health care initiatives (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2007). Accomplishing this goal requires the development of professionals with leadership skills. The focus of the doctorate in occupational therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) hits this mark. In this paper, we describe the development process of a postprofessional occupational therapy doctorate focused on building leaders. To exemplify putting the Centennial Vision in action through education, we describe courses and content, and offer examples of the capstone leadership project and data describing students' experiences with becoming leaders.
A comparison of microsatellite polymorphism and heterozygosity among field and laboratory populations of Schistosoma mansoni

The genetic diversity of a field population (recently collected in Melquiades, Brazil) and two laboratory strains (LE and NMRI) of a human blood fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, were analysed using microsatellite markers. Data from the three groups showed an extreme and consistent discrepancy in the level of polymorphism at all microsatellite loci between the field population and laboratory populations. The numbers of alleles detected in LE and NMRI populations averaged only 14 and 10% of those found in the field population, respectively. Especially apparent was the abundance of rare alleles in the Melquiades population when compared with the laboratory strains. The reduction in allelic diversity in the laboratory strains is most likely due to the founder effect and potential bottlenecks that may have occurred during decades of laboratory maintenance. Surprisingly, a much less drastic difference was found when comparing the average heterozygosity of the field population with the laboratory strains. This apparent anomaly may be explained by observed population substructuring (and a potential resultant Wahlund effect) in the natural population. Our comparison of genetic diversity between laboratory and field populations of S. mansoni emphasizes the need for studies of representative populations in schistosome vaccine development.
Automated perimetry in amblyopia: a generalized depression

Abstract PURPOSE: To quantitate the visual field abnormalities associated with amblyopia. METHODS: In a prospective study, 37 amblyopic patients (11 anisometropic, 13 strabismic, 9 combination, 4 deprivation) performed automated perimetry in each eye using the Humphrey 30-2 program. Primary outcome measures were foveal threshold, mean deviation, and average threshold. RESULTS: When the probability plots were examined, 21 visual fields in amblyopic eyes were normal, 8 had central scotomas, and 7 had diffuse depressions. No focal defects other than mild central scotomas were seen. However, the foveal threshold of amblyopic eyes was decreased by an average of 7.2 ± 8.0 dB (P CONCLUSIONS: Although automated visual fields in amblyopic eyes typically appear normal, all four types of amblyopia are associated with a generalized depression of light sensitivity, which is proportionately greatest at the fovea and highly correlated with visual acuity loss. In general, amblyopia is not associated with any area of focal loss of threshold light sensitivity. If a focal defect is present in the visual field of the amblyopic eye, organic causes of visual loss should be suspected. The Humphrey visual field analyzer STATPAC program (Allergan-Humphrey, Inc, San Leandro, California) may artifactually transform small and generalized full-field depressions in a manner that makes them appear to be isolated central defects.
Test connections - tying application to process

The ability to meet ever more demanding customer quality and reliability requirements is becoming increasingly difficult with each advancing technology generation. This issue becomes more complex as customer applications and requirements become more varied for the same basic technology. The customer applications range from cell phones and PDAs to servers to automotive. The reliability requirement descriptions vary from hundreds of defective parts per million (DPPM) to five nines availability to a zero defects culture. This paper focus on how customer quality and reliability expectations are influencing the perception and direction of test
Instruction Librarians: Acquiring the Proficiencies Critical to their Work

A bibliographic instruction librarian must possess many proficiencies. In an initial survey of members of the Bibliographic Instruction Section of the Associafion of College and Research Libraries, respondents evaluated the importance of eighty-four bibliographic instruction skills in thirteen categories. Skills in communication, instruction, and planning accounted for fourteen of the top twenty-five skills. In a second survey, respondents indicated how they had acquired the most important proficiencies and where they would have liked to have acquired them
Noise statistics of and BER estimation using demodulated signals for direct detection differential polarization-phase-shift keying

The noise statistics of optically demodulated signal of the recently proposed modulation format, namely differential polarization-phase-shift keying, are analyzed. It is found that, in the linear regime, the Gaussian approximation is reasonably accurate in estimating the BER. In the nonlinear regime, the noise of the demodulated signal is dominated by the effect of nonlinear phase noise and obeys chi-squared statistics with a degree of freedom of one. Gaussian approximation underestimates the BER in the nonlinear regime. A two-step BER estimation method accounting for both linear beat noise and nonlinear phase noise is proposed. The effectiveness of this two-step BER estimation method at all power levels has been established by comparison with direct error counting.
Automation of IEEE 1149.6 Boundary Scan Synthesis in an ASIC Methodology

This paper describes an automated methodology to insert IEEE 1149.6 boundary scan in a production ASIC environment. The methodology includes updating the ASIC library to support the new test receiver component, updating the TAP controller logic and boundary cells, and finally providing support for embedded high speed I/O logic. Results from several industrial designs and example circuits are shown. These examples include multi-GHz serial I/O such as those used with Serial ATA and PCI-Express.
What Does it Mean to Design? A Qualitative Investigation of Design Professionals' Experiences

BACKGROUND Design is essential to the engineering profession and plays a crucial role in preparation for future practice. Research investigating variations of how professional designers experience, give meaning to, and approach design can inform the ways we characterize, assess, and facilitate design learning. This may also have significant implications for preparing future engineering professionals to collaborate within and across disciplines.
The morphology of the intrinsic tongue musculature in snakes (Reptilia, ophidia): Functional and phylogenetic implications.

Tongue musculature in 24 genera of snakes was examined histologically. In all snakes, the tongue is composed of a few main groups of muscles. The M. hyoglossus is a paired bundle in the center of the tongue. The posterior regions of the tongue possess musculature that surrounds these bundles and is responsible for protrusion. Anterior tongue regions contain hyoglossal bundles, dorsal longitudinal muscle bundles and vertical and transverse bundles, which are perpendicular to the long axis of the tongue. The interaction of the longitudinal with the vertical and horizontal muscles is responsible for bending during tongue flicking. Despite general similarities, distinct patterns of intrinsic tongue musculature characterize each infraorder of snakes. The Henophidia are primitive; the Scolecophidia and Caenophidia are each distinguished by derived characters. These derived characters support hypotheses that these latter taxa are each monophyletic. Cylindrophis (Anilioidea) is in some characters intermediate between Booidea and Colubroidea. The condition in the Booidea resembles the lizard condition; however, no synapomorphies of tongue musculature confirm a relationship with any specific lizard family. Although the pattern of colubroids appears to be the most biomechanically specialized, as yet no behavioral or performance feature has been identified to distinguish them from other snakes.
Habitat Preferences of Introduced Smallmouth Bass in a Central Arizona Stream

Abstract Smallmouth bass Micropterus dolmieu have been introduced and persist in Wet Beaver Creek in central Arizona. With a predominantly sand substrate, Wet Beaver Creek is not a typical smallmouth bass stream. Despite the atypical habitat, the smallmouth bass population is reproducing and individual fish are reaching total lengths in excess of 355 mm. In general, adult and juvenile smallmouth bass in Wet Beaver Creek preferred the same velocities and depths as has been reported for smallmouth bass in other geographic regions. However, adult fish from Wet Beaver Creek had a lower preference for deeper waters (between 1.5 and 3.0 m) than has previously been reported and preferred much finer substrates. Juvenile fish preferred gravel substrates and greater velocities than did adults.
Gain-of-function/Noonan syndrome SHP-2/Ptpn11 mutants enhance calcium oscillations and impair NFAT signaling

Gain-of-function mutations in SHP-2/PTPN11 cause Noonan syndrome, a human developmental disorder. Noonan syndrome is characterized by proportionate short stature, facial dysmorphia, increased risk of leukemia, and congenital heart defects in ≈50% of cases. Congenital heart abnormalities are common in Noonan syndrome, but the signaling pathway(s) linking gain-of-function SHP-2 mutants to heart disease is unclear. Diverse cell types coordinate cardiac morphogenesis, which is regulated by calcium (Ca2+) and the nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT). It has been shown that the frequency of Ca2+ oscillations regulates NFAT activity. Here, we show that in fibroblasts, Ca2+ oscillations in response to FGF-2 require the phosphatase activity of SHP-2. Conversely, gain-of-function mutants of SHP-2 enhanced FGF-2-mediated Ca2+ oscillations in fibroblasts and spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in cardiomyocytes. The enhanced frequency of cardiomyocyte Ca2+ oscillations induced by a gain-of-function SHP-2 mutant correlated with reduced nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity of NFAT. These data imply that gain-of-function SHP-2 mutants disrupt the Ca2+ oscillatory control of NFAT, suggesting a potential mechanism for congenital heart defects in Noonan syndrome.
Privacy-Aware BedTree Based Solution for Fuzzy Multi-keyword Search over Encrypted Data

As Cloud Computing technology becomes more mature, many organizations and individuals are interested in storing more sensitive data e.g. personal health records, customers related information in the cloud. Such sensitive data needs to be encrypted before it is outsourced to the cloud. Typically, the cloud servers also need to support a keyword search feature for these encrypted files. Traditional searchable encryption schemes typically only support exact keyword matches. However, users sometimes have typos or use slightly different formats e.g. "data-mining" versus "data mining". Thus, fuzzy keyword search is a useful feature to have. Recently, some researchers propose using wild card based approach to provide fuzzy keyword search. They also propose a solution for multi-keyword search. Their approaches have some limitations, namely (a) their fuzzy keyword search solution consumes large storage size since it inserts every fuzzy keyword as a leaf node in the index tree, (b) their fuzzy single-keyword search solution does not support multi-keyword search, (c) the existing multi-keyword search scheme does not provide efficient incremental updates. In this paper, we propose a privacy-aware bed tree based approach to support fuzzy multi-keyword feature. Incremental updates can be easily done using our solution. We have implemented our solution. Our evaluation results show that our approach is more cost-effective in terms of storage size and construction time. Our search time is usually better than the wild card approach for multi-keyword queries where many encrypted files are returned using single-word queries for approaches that do not support multi-keyword queries.
Bistatic Synthetic Aperture Hitchhiker Imaging

We introduce a new bistatic synthetic-aperture imaging method for a radar system consisting of two receivers, which will be referred to as hitchhikers, and a source of opportunity. We assume the receivers fly along arbitrary, but known, flight trajectories. We develop a correlation-based filtered-backprojection reconstruction method that preserves the visible edges of the target scene in the reconstructed image. We present an analysis of the computational complexity of the introduced method and demonstrate its applicability in numerical simulations. Potential applications of the proposed method include image formation using low earth orbiting and space-borne satellites as sources of opportunity.
U.S. Fluid Milk Demand: A Disaggregated Approach

In this study, we examine retail fluid milk data from Nielsen 2007 Homescan. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of demographic variables, retail prices and total milk expenditure on flavored and non-flavored milk purchases. A censored AIDS model is used in estimate the demand for fluid milk. Results reveal that demographic variables have statistically significant impacts on fluid milk purchases, and own-price elasticities are unity or elastic for almost all fluid milk categories. All expenditure elasticities are unity or greater except whole milk and 1% milk.
Collimation optimization in high intensity rings

In high intensity proton rings, collimation is needed in order to maintain reasonable levels of residual activation and allow hands-on maintenance. A small acceptance to emittance ratio and restrained longitudinal space become important restrictions when dealing with low energy rings. The constraints and specifications when designing a collimation system for this type of machine will be reviewed. The SNS accumulator ring will serve as an example along which we will illustrate the optimization path. Experimental studies of collimation with 1.3 GeV proton beams are currently under way in the U-70 machine in Protvino. The first results will be presented.
Clinical Communication Strategies of Nurse Practitioners with Patients

Nurses' awareness of their communication strategies is critically important both in identifying effective patterns in their interaction and in teaching themselves to improve their patient education techniques. Ineffective communication between client and nurse practitioner can result in failure to improve health status or deterioration of health status when recommendations are not followed. Studies of nonverbal aspects of clinical communication tend to count or average types of communication behaviors over the entire interaction rather than use sequential analysis of these behaviors. This paper presents initial results of a pilot study that used a sequential analysis of strategic roles played by nonverbal communication in nurse practitioner-patient interactions involving patient education. Because there is little previous work in applying sequential analysis, the grounded theory approach was used to identify nonverbal communication behaviors. Routine visits that focused on osteoporosis prevention were conducted by three nurse practitioners. Two visits per nurse were videotaped and analyzed for sequential events of nonverbal communication by the researchers alone and then in combination with the nurse conducting the visit. Descriptions of each visit were developed based upon both the verbal and nonverbal characteristics of the nurse-patient interactions as observed in the videotaped visits. From these, vignettes were created that summarized each nurse-patient visit according to the nature of the clinical communication that took place. Interviews of both nurses and patients were conducted before and after the visits to explore osteoporosis knowledge, goals, and strategies for the visit.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
FPGA implementation of a prototype PI Feedback control system for the LANSCE accelerator

The current LANSCE LLRF system is an analog PI Feedback control system which achieves amplitude and phase error of 1% and 1 degree respectively. The feedback system receives cavity amplitude and phase, crosstalk between the amplitude and phase paths is significant. We propose an In-phase (I) and Quadrature (Q) based feedback control system which easily decouples the crosstalk of the I and Q channels. A PI feedback controller is implemented with an Altera Stratix III FPGA. The control system is modeled with DSP Builder which automatically generates HDL. Altera SOPC Builder is used for the hardware integration of the DSP Builder model, memories, peripherals, and 32 bit NIOS II embedded processor. The NIOS II processor communicates with the host computer via Ethernet, uploads data, computes parameters, and downloads parameters. The network support of the design makes it possible to set and tune the control system parameters on-line and to conduct the calibration of the whole RF system easily. The proposed control system is successfully tested with a LANSCE sided-coupled linear accelerator at 720kw.
Measurement of the Elastic Moduli of Continuous-Filament and Eutectic Composite Materials

Continuous filaments and eutectic composite materials have been treated as homogeneous and orthotropic and transversely isotropic elastic materials, respectively, in stress analysis problems. Based on these assump tions the elastic moduli of boron-epoxy and Al-Al3Ni eutectic composite materials are measured using pulse-echo techniques. The shear wave measurements show that the elastic anisotropy assumed for each material is only an approximation. The measurements are also influenced by defects in the fiber arrangement and, m the eutectic composite, by the presence of a solidification substructure.
Herpetic Paronychia-Primary Herpes Simplex Infection of the Finger

Dental, medical, and nursing personnel are susceptible to herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections because of their increased risk of exposure and because of a low prevalence of antibody to the virus. In the two instances reported, a dental intern and a medical intern each developed an HSV infection after receiving an initial lacerating injury to the finger.
Stretch reflex sensitivity: effects of postural and muscle length changes

In this study, a combination of clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and model simulation of spasticity is performed under various postural conditions to investigate the changes in the sensitivity and specific mechanisms of spasticity. Fifty-nine multiple sclerosis patients participated in the study and received spasticity evaluation based on both the Ashworth scale and the pendulum test. Spasticity was found to increase in the pendulum test when the subjects were tested in a supine posture, compared to when they were sitting. Three patterns of stretch reflex response were seen for similar leg swing trajectories. While it was clear that the increased stretch of rectus femoris in the supine posture contributed to the increased spasticity, the results of modeling showed that other more complex factors were also involved. The supraspinal descending modulation associated with postural control may play a more dominant role in the severity of spasticity. The results suggest that the biomechanical test of spasticity should be performed for several different postures or ranges of movement with muscle activities monitored simultaneously, so that the effect of various factors can be examined. The work also indicates that a neuromusculoskeletal model with detailed muscle dynamics and stretch reflex loops is a valuable tool for investigating the neural mechanisms of spasticity.
Our Hierarchy of Values

THE field of education at the present time is practically the last realm in which the seeker after absolute values should expect to find satisfaction. While a very few may feel perfectly content in a position of dogmatic certainty, the situation among the skeptical and the open-minded majority will be more characteristically pictured by a committee of serious college teachers who, when recently faced with some new problems in the curriculum and challenged to formulate a definitive educational policy, with one accord maintained a discreet silence. Distracted theologians could hardly do more-or less. Even if one presumes to believe that human life offers anywhere else solid foundation for an absolute creed, certainly in our conflicting educational theories and practices we can claim no such certainty. Why do we believe as we do? Is it some unassailable body of fact and logic that decides us, or mere tradition or environment, or some superficial piece of petrified reasoning? In language teaching, for instance, the oldest assumption was that, in both school and college, the grammar-translation method functioned as a miraculous and all-satisfying process of mental discipline; this complacent certainty has melted before the doubts cast by experiment on the supposed discipline1 and before the suspicion engendered by experience with a dull and mechanical routine. A second cheerful assumption is that of the culture resulting from the appreciation of literature, a confidence chilled by the fear of dilettantism and by doubts about "practical values." A third group have been sure that we are all to be saved by learning to speak the foreign languages-and then someone asked, "With whom will Americans talk French and German?" Others suggested the query whether several years of study are not a high price to pay for the ability to fight with a Parisian taxi driver over the fare, unless conversational lessons have some other intellectual meaning. Finally scholarship was stressed-in college classes and in the graduate school-meaning linguistics and the "scientific" study of literature. The obvious danger here is arid pedantry arising from acquiring or "producing" remote and dehumanized information. There are, to be sure, just a few who feel that they have a clear and positive educational program from which no righteous or intelligent person may dissent. These may be found both-in two mutually destructive extremes-among conservatives living in some traditional rut, and among
minimac2: faster genotype imputation

Summary: Genotype imputation is a key step in the analysis of genome-wide association studies. Upcoming very large reference panels, such as those from The 1000 Genomes Project and the Haplotype Consortium, will improve imputation quality of rare and less common variants, but will also increase the computational burden. Here, we demonstrate how the application of software engineering techniques can help to keep imputation broadly accessible. Overall, these improvements speed up imputation by an order of magnitude compared with our previous implementation. Availability and implementation: minimac2, including source code, documentation, and examples is available at http://genome.sph.umich.edu/wiki/Minimac2 Contact: ude.hcimu@bshcufc, ude.hcimu@olacnog
Synergistic Reconfiguration of Adaptive Precision Chemical Classifiers

We present parallel implementations of a multilayer perceptron that uses reduced variable bit width hardware to improve resource utilization while still providing known levels of accuracy. We show results for a chemical classification application and introduce ways in which to take advantage of the capabilities of a reconfigurable device. We show how the optimized circuit can be used synergistically in parallel with other classifiers for added capability and alone for fault tolerance and saving power.
The intracranial entrance of the atlantal segment of the vertebral artery in crania with occipitalization of the atlas

Object An anomalous vertebral artery (VA) position can jeopardize an otherwise successful procedure, such as a posterior cranial fossa decompression for hindbrain herniation, and may increase the propensity for VA occlusion. Methods The authors describe the detailed anatomy of the entrance site of the VA in adult human crania in which there is occipitalization of the atlas. They found that if the atlantal posterior arch or hemiarch was fused to the occiput one should anticipate encountering an anomalous osseous pathway as the VA enters into the cranium, as evidenced by this finding in 80% of their specimens. An anomalous entry pathway was present in all but one left-sided specimen in which the left posterior hemiarch was not fused to the occiput and one right-sided specimen in which there was an unfused and rudimentary posterior arch of the atlas. Conclusions The clinician should consider the possibility that the VA takes anomalous routes into the skull in cases in which there is occipitalization of the a...
Isotopic heterogeneity and cycling of organic nitrogen in the oligotrophic ocean

We measured the nitrogen (N) isotopic composition (d15N) of a large set (n 5 38) of high-molecular-weight (HMW) dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) samples isolated from the tropical and subtropical North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The d15N signature of surface HMW DON is relatively invariable in both oligotrophic basins (4.1 6 0.6 in the Atlantic; 5.4 6 0.8 in the Pacific) and shows little correlation with sources or concentrations of N supporting new production in the euphotic zone. While large variations in d15N of bulk HMW DON are not apparent, d15N of proteins isolated from sites with relatively high rates of N2 fixation (.80 m mol Nm 22 d21) were consistently depleted in 15N relative to bulk HMW DON and to proteins isolated from sites where N2 fixation does not routinely occur. This small component of HMW DON appears to be cycling more rapidly than bulk HMW DON and may be indicative of fresh DON contributed by organisms in the surface ocean. Furthermore, d15N of DNA extracted from the bacterial size fraction (0.2–0.5 mm) revealed that free-living bacteria may be an important sink for isotopically depleted N produced during N2 fixation. We suggest that there exists a tight coupling between the production and uptake of DON contributed by diazotrophs (N2 fixers) in regions where N2 fixation provides a major input of new nitrogen.
Chronic Mesenteric Ischemia from Diaphragmatic Compression of the Celiac and Superior Mesenteric Arteries

Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) is caused by extrinsic compression of the celiac axis leading to postprandial epigastric abdominal pain, weight loss, and vomiting. The condition is most often identified in young women, and it is a controversial, unusual cause of chronic mesenteric ischemia. Rarely, the median arcuate ligament can compress the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) in addition to the celiac artery. We present a case of MALS in a young female patient with chronic abdominal pain resulting from external compression of not only the celiac artery but also the SMA. This patient was treated with release of the median arcuate ligament via an open retroperitoneal approach in addition to limited endarterectomy and patch angioplasty of the SMA. Preoperative and postoperative 3-dimensional computed tomographic angiographic images depict the lesions and their resolution after surgery. Few other cases of MALS caused by compression of both the celiac artery and SMA have ever been described in the literature. Although rare, it is important to keep the diagnosis of MALS in mind when encountering certain patients with chronic mesenteric ischemia of unclear etiology. Updated diagnostic work-up and treatment options for this condition are described.
A Case for Some Simple Analytics of Demographic Change and Economic Development

Understanding inter-relationships between population growth and economic development is critical to policy making in most countries. For some, survival may depend on their ability to provide satisfactory employment and incomes to their populations. Economists, until recently, gave little attention to the subject partly because of the complexities involved. This paper argues that (1) simple concepts such as the theory of the firm and the Harrod-Domar model can be useful for discussing the subject (2) the assumptions of the models warrant their use in Less Developed Countries (LDCS) and (3) more complex models are unlikely to change the policy implications of the simple models.
A calcineurin- and NFAT-dependent pathway regulates Myf5 gene expression in skeletal muscle reserve cells

Myf5 is a member of the muscle regulatory factor family of transcription factors and plays an important role in the determination, development, and differentiation of skeletal muscle. However, factors that regulate the expression and activity of Myf5 itself are not well understood. Recently, a role for the calcium-dependent phosphatase calcineurin was suggested in three distinct pathways in skeletal muscle: differentiation, hypertrophy, and fiber-type determination. We propose that one downstream target of calcineurin and the calcineurin substrate NFAT in skeletal muscle is regulation of Myf5 gene expression. For these studies, we used myotube cultures that contain both multinucleated myotubes and quiescent, mononucleated cells termed ‘reserve’ cells, which share many characteristics with satellite cells. Treatment of such myotube cultures with the calcium ionophore ionomycin results in an approximately 4-fold increase in Myf5 mRNA levels, but similar effects are not observed in proliferating myoblast cultures indicating that Myf5 is regulated by different pathways in different cell populations. The increase in Myf5 mRNA levels in myotube cultures requires the activity of calcineurin and NFAT, and can be specifically enhanced by overexpressing the NFATc isoform. We used immunohistochemical analyses and fractionation of the cell populations to demonstrate that the calcium regulated expression of Myf5 occurs in the mononucleated reserve cells. We conclude that Myf5 gene expression is regulated by a calcineurin- and NFAT-dependent pathway in the reserve cell population of myotube cultures. These results may provide important insights into the molecular mechanisms responsible for satellite cell activation and/or the renewal of the satellite cell pool following activation and proliferation.
Primary Bladder Heck Obstruction in Men: Variation in Detrusor Response

AbstractA total of 10 men less than 50 years old was found to have primary bladder neck obstruction on multichannel voiding studies with cystourethrography. Of these men 4 had detrusor pressures at maximum flow of 70cm. water or more with significantly more trabeculation, and 8 had normal voiding pressures (50 to 69cm. water) and less trabeculation. The detrusor response to primary bladder neck obstruction is variable but, if the detrusor pressure is sustained, normal pressures may be associated with clinical obstruction.
Interactions of subglottal pressure and neuromuscular activation on fundamental frequency and intensity.

Objectives/Hypothesis Fundamental frequency (F0) and intensity sound pressure level (SPL) of voice are controlled by intrinsic laryngeal muscle (ILM) activation and subglottal pressure (Psub). Their interactions were investigated. Methods In an in vivo canine model, the thyroarytenoid (TA), lateral cricoarytenoid/interarytenoid (LCA/IA), and cricothyroid (CT) muscles were independently activated from threshold to maximal contraction by neuromuscular stimulation in various combinations, whereas airflow was increased to phonation onset pressure and beyond. The resultant acoustic output was analyzed for effects of Psub on vibratory stability, F0, and SPL. Muscle activation plots and vocal range profiles by individual ILM activation states were analyzed. Results Cricothyroid activation increased phonation onset F0, but vibration was less stable in high CT conditions and displayed vibratory mode change. In addition, a decrease in F0 with increased Psub was observed in high CT conditions. Intensity increased with Psub in all conditions, but the slope was greater at high CT, low TA/LCA/IA activations. Lateral cricoarytenoid/interarytenoid activation improved vocal efficiency. To maintain same F0 with increasing SPL (messa di voce), TA activation was decreased and LCA/IA activation was increased. The same F0 and SPL could be achieved with a variety of ILM activation combinations. Conclusion Cricothyroid is primarily required for increasing F0, whereas TA can increase or decrease F0 and SPL. Lateral cricoarytenoid/interarytenoid activation likely maintains vocal fold adduction during increased Psub and improves vocal efficiency. This study also demonstrates laryngeal motor equivalence, the ability of the larynx to achieve the same target F0 and SPL with multiple combinations of ILM activation. Level of Evidence N/A. Laryngoscope, 2015
An international study of shareholder protection in freeze-out M&A transactions

Abstract Freeze-out M&A transactions are those initiated by controlling shareholders to acquire minority shareholders' ownership in the firm. We compare international freeze-out mergers in 35 countries in merger premium, choice of payment, and completion probability. We find greater merger premium and probability of cash payment but lower deal completion rates in countries with stronger minority shareholder protection. Using detailed minority shareholder protection indexes, we find some evidence that the ex-post anti-self-dealing law enforcement is more important than the ex-ante anti-self-dealing law regulation in protecting minority shareholder value. Our study provides new evidence of minority shareholder protection in the setting of conflicts of interest between majority and minority shareholders.
Laryngo-tracheal ultrasonography to confirm correct endotracheal tube and laryngeal mask airway placement.

Waveform capnography was recommended as the most reliable method to confirm correct endotracheal tube or laryngeal mask airway placements. However, capnography may be unreliable during cardiopulmonary resuscitation and during low flow states. It may lead to an unnecessary removal of a well-placed endotracheal tube, re-intubation and interruption of chest compressions. Real-time upper airway (laryngo-tracheal) ultrasonography to confirm correct endotracheal tube placement was shown to be very useful in cadaveric models and during emergency intubation. Tracheal ultrasonography does not interrupt chest compressions and is not affected by low pulmonary flow or airway obstruction, but is limited by ultrasonography scattering and acoustic artifacts generated in air – mucosa interfaces. Sonographic upper airway assessment emerges as a rapid and easily available method to predict difficult intubation, to assess the laryngeal and hypopharyngeal size and visualize the position of the laryngeal mask airway in situ. This study demonstrates that the replacement of air with saline in endotracheal tube or laryngeal mask airway cuffs and the use of the contrast agents enables detection of cuffs in the airway. It also allows visualization of the surrounding structures or tissues as the ultrasound beam can be transmitted through the fluid – filled cuffs without being reflected from air – mucosal interfaces.
Excitation Energy Transfer in the Peridinin-Chlorophyll a-Protein Complex Modeled Using Configuration Interaction

We modeled excitation energy transfer (EET) in the peridinin-chlorophyll a-protein (PCP) complex of dinoflagellate Amphidinium carterae to determine which pathways contribute dominantly to the high efficiency of this process. We used complete active space configuration interaction (CAS-CI) to calculate electronic structure properties of the peridinin (PID) and chlorophyll a (CLA) pigments in PCP and the transition density cube (TDC) method to calculate Coulombic couplings between energy transfer donors and acceptors. Our calculations show that the S1 → Qy EET pathway from peridinin to chlorophyll a is the dominant energy transfer pathway in PCP, with two sets of interactions—between PID612 and CLA601 and between PID622 and CLA602—contributing most strongly. EET lifetimes for these two interactions were calculated to be 2.66 and 2.90, with quantum efficiencies of 85.75 and 84.65%, respectively. The calculated Coulombic couplings for EET between two peridinin molecules in the strongly allowed S2 excited sta...
Standard enthalpy of formation of Sc5Si3

The standard enthalpy of formation of Sc5Si3 has been determined by solute-solvent drop calorimetry at (1473±2) K. The following value is reported: ΔH f o (mean)=−(719.1±34.0) kJ mol−1. This result is compared with corresponding published values for the enthalpies of formation of Me5Si3, with Me=Mn, Cr, V, Ti. This comparison shows regularly increasing negative enthalpies of formation from Mn5Si3 to Sc5Si3.
Intramolecular transport of charge carriers in trimeric aniline upon a three-step acid doping process.

The “acid doping” of a methyl-capped aniline trimer, N-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-N-(4-{[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]imino}-2,5- cyclohexadien-1-ylidene)-amine (TANI), was performed stoichiometrically to study the nature of charge carriers induced by the acid protonation process. The redox centers in TANI were found to undergo a reversible three-step protonation with 1 equiv, 2 equiv and a large molar excess of dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) in chloroform, as evidenced by three different chromophores (doping levels I, II and III) observed using UV–vis–NIR. Acidity of the dopants and solvent polarity were controlling factors. As revealed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR), the doping levels I, II, and III achieved by doping 0.1 mM TANI/chloroform solutions with different amounts of DBSA exhibited relative spin densities of 1:1.2:2.2. Since the expected maximum spin population of TANI through acid doping is two spins per molecule, the reduced paramagnetism given by the doubly protonated TA...
Religiosity and mental health services: An exploratory study of help seeking among Latinos.

En este estudio cualitativo, examinamos la religiosidad, el manejo con la adversidad, y facilitadores en la busqueda de diferentes tipos de servicios de salud mental en una muestra de 17 hombres y mujeres Latinos religiosos. El analisis tematico revelo que los participantes tendian a enfrentar problemas con metodos consistentes con sus practicas religiosas. La mayoria de los participantes, especialmente los de mayor edad, identificaron las practicas religiosas/ espirituales organizadas e informales como metodos importantes y preferidos al manejar la adversidad. Ademas, muchos participantes mostraron preferencias hacia los servicios religiosos que eran consistentes con sus creencias religiosas y complementaban sus formas existentes de lidiar con la adversidad. Finalmente, nuestro estudio indica que habia ideas comunes acerca de las circunstancias en las que los participantes buscan los servicios formales de salud mental, incluyendo sentirse comprendido, el experimentar problemas graves de salud mental, y el enfrentar problemas que se piensa son de origen biologico. Es importante destacar dos factores contextuales que surgieron relevantes para entender estas razones, que los participantes que compartieron estas opiniones tienden a ser mas aculturados y a tener mas educacion formal. Los resultados de este estudio ilustran como la religiosidad esta relacionada con el manejo de problemas y con las actitudes hacia los servicios formales de salud mental entre los Latinos religiosos, asi como la importancia del contexto en la comprension de estos procesos. References Alegria, M., Canino, G., Rios, R., Vera, M., Calderon, J., Rusch, D., & Ortega, A. N. (2002). Mental health care for Latinos: Inequalities in use of specialty mental health services among Latinos, African Americans, and non-Latino Whites. Psychiatric Services, 53, 1547–1555. doi:10.1176/appi.ps
Albuminuria reflects widespread vascular damage. The Steno hypothesis.

Albuminuria in Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes is not only an indication of renal disease, but a new, independent risk-marker of proliferative retinopathy and macroangiopathy. The coincidence of generalised vascular dysfunction and albuminuria, advanced mesangial expansion, proliferative retinopathy, and severe macroangiopathy suggests a common cause of albuminuria and the severe renal and extrarenal complications associated with it. Enzymes involved in the metabolism of anionic components of the extracellular matrix (e.g. heparan sulphate proteoglycan) vulnerable to hyperglycaemia, seem to constitute the primary cause of albuminuria and the associated complications. Genetic polymorphism of such enzymes is possibly the main reason for variation in susceptibility.
Automatic Potentiotitrimetric Determination of Chloride in Desulfurizing System

The content of chloride in desulfurizing system was determined by automatic potentiometric titration using 0.05 mol·L~(-1)AgNO_3 standard solution as titrant in a weakly acidic solution of pH 5,containing total ionic strength buffer.Soluble chloride in the sample was extracted with water.Interference of sulfite was eliminated by boiling the nearly neutral sample solution with H_2O_2 until ceasing of gas-bubbling.Methods of pretreatment of sample,and various parameters affecting the titration were studied and optimized.The proposed method was applied to the determination of chloride in desulfurizing samples of waste water,pasty liquor and gypsum,giving values of recovery and RSD's(n=5)in the ranges of 95.7%-102.0%and 1.2%-5.9% respectively.
Effect Evaluation of the Management of the Model of Alternating Occupational Supervision in Jinshan District

[Objective] To evaluate the effect of the management of the model of alternating occupational supervision in Jinshan district. [Methods]The model of alternating occupational supervision was conducted in 150 factories which sampled from 3 towns for one year. The change of the rate of self study,the rate of physical examination and the rate of detection for occupational risk factors were evaluated byχ2 test. [Results]After one year,in experimental factories the rate of self study increased from 14.67 %to 42.00 % (χ2=27.60,P0.01) and the rate of physical examination increased from 67.30 %to 95.85 % (χ2=2035.44,P0.01) and the rate of detection for occupational risk factors increased from 64.28 %to 77.10 %(χ2=42.07,P0.01). [Conclusion]The model of alternating occupational supervision can meet the requirements of occupational health management operation in jinshan district and the model is worthy of being popularized for more factories.
Regional effects of indomethacin, acetylsalicylic acid and SC-19220 on the contractility of rabbit renal pelvis (pacemaker regions and pelviureteric junction).

Abstract The effects of the cyclooxygenase inhibitors indomethacin and acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and the prostaglandin (PG) antagonist 1-acetyl-2-[8-chloro-10, 11-dihydrodibenz (b, f)(1, 4) oxazepine-10-carbonyl]hydrazine (SC-19220) on smooth muscle strips from the rabbit renal pelvis were examined. Circularly oriented tissues were taken from within the renal pelvis and subdivided into the four adjoining regions, from fornix to pelviureteric junction (PUJ). They were set in a tissue bath and isometric tension changes were recorded. Spontaneous contractions were observed and electrical field stimulations evoked twitch-like contractions. The frequency of spontaneous contractions was dependent on the region within the renal pelvis from which they were dissected, gradually decreasing from fornix (3.92/min.) to PUJ (0.43/min.). Indomethacin (10−5M) or ASA (10−4M) significantly increased the frequencies of spontaneous contractions in all four regions. In the upper three regions (pacemaker regions), both agents significantly decreased the amplitudes of spontaneous and stimulation-induced contractions. In the PUJ region, both agents significantly increased the amplitudes of spontaneous and stimulation-induced contractions. SC-19220 (3 × 10−5M) significantly increased the frequencies and decreased amplitudes of spontaneous contractions in all four regions. These results suggest that the PUJ has different contractile characteristics from those of pacemaker regions and that decrease of amplitude by indomethacin or ASA is based on their cyclooxygenase inhibitor property.
Clinical resistance to antimetabolites.

This article discusses clinically approved and available antimetabolites along with the clinical example of fluorouracil. The thymidylate synthase mechanism of cytotoxicity and results of clinical tumor pharmacodynamics are examined. Some investigational antimetabolites and modulators of fluoropyrimidines, including biological response modifiers, are discussed, as are pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenetic considerations.
An Ontology of Consumer Health Informatics

Amidst the increasing interest in consumer health informatics (CHI), a clear definition of the concept and its domain is absent. Based on the available definitions of the term and literature in the domain, we present an ontology of CHI. The ontology encapsulates the logic of CHI parsimoniously and yet articulates its combinatorial complexity. It integrates the health care, consumer, and informatics dimensions of the concept and provides a panoramic, systemic perspective. It makes the CHI “elephant” visible. The ontology can be used to articulate the components and fragments which constitute CHI using structured natural English sentences and phrases. It serves as a multidisciplinary lens to study the topic drawing upon concepts from information systems, knowledge management, health-care consumerism, and health-care policy and can be used to develop a systematic roadmap for research and practice in CHI.
Adhesion of Ice to Polymers and other Surfaces

A set of simple experiments indicated that water drops can penetrate through a grease layer and make “real” contact with the substrate, then spread over the surface, depending on the surface energy of the substrate, increasing the “real” contact area. Furthermore the ice/substrate bond is stronger than ice itself. The complex problem of ice adhesion may be explainable by combination of these findings in that the “real” contact area multiplied by the strength of ice within the area constitute the apparent adhesive strength. Conceivable effects of various factors are discussed.
A paper/polymer hybrid microfluidic microplate for rapid quantitative detection of multiple disease biomarkers

Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is one of the most widely used laboratory disease diagnosis methods. However, performing ELISA in low-resource settings is limited by long incubation time, large volumes of precious reagents, and well-equipped laboratories. Herein, we developed a simple, miniaturized paper/PMMA (poly(methyl methacrylate)) hybrid microfluidic microplate for low-cost, high throughput, and point-of-care (POC) infectious disease diagnosis. The novel use of porous paper in flow-through microwells facilitates rapid antibody/antigen immobilization and efficient washing, avoiding complicated surface modifications. The top reagent delivery channels can simply transfer reagents to multiple microwells thus avoiding repeated manual pipetting and costly robots. Results of colorimetric ELISA can be observed within an hour by the naked eye. Quantitative analysis was achieved by calculating the brightness of images scanned by an office scanner. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) were quantitatively analyzed with good reliability in human serum samples. Without using any specialized equipment, the limits of detection of 1.6 ng/mL for IgG and 1.3 ng/mL for HBsAg were achieved, which were comparable to commercial ELISA kits using specialized equipment. We envisage that this simple POC hybrid microplate can have broad applications in various bioassays, especially in resource-limited settings.