cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Role of PACAP in the relationship between cAMP and opioids in hypoxia-induced pial artery vasodilation

The opioids methionine enkephalin and leucine enkephalin contribute to hypoxic pial artery dilation in the newborn pig, and adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) analogs have been shown to elevate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) opioid concentration. The present study was designed to investigate the contribution of cAMP to hypoxic dilation and to determine whether an endogenous activator of adenylate cyclase, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP), could modulate the cAMP-induced release of opioids to contribute to hypoxic pial dilation in piglets equipped with closed cranial windows. An alpha level of P < 0.05 was considered significant in all statistical tests. Moderate and severe hypoxia (PO2 approximately 35 and 25 mmHg, respectively) induced pial artery dilation that was attenuated by the Rp diastereomer of 8-bromoadenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphothioate (Rp-8-BrcAMPS), a cAMP antagonist (24 +/- 1 and 36 +/- 2% vs. 21 +/- 1 and 30 +/- 1% for moderate hypoxia and 34 +/- 1 and 46 +/- 2% vs. 24 +/- 1 and 32 +/- 1% for severe hypoxia before and after Rp-8-BrcAMPS, respectively). These responses were associated with an increased CSF cAMP (1,046 +/- 25, 1,366 +/- 28, and 1,735 +/- 47 fmol/ml for control, moderate, and severe hypoxia, respectively). Hypoxic pial dilation was also accompanied by an increase in CSF methionine enkephalin (1,101 +/- 62, 3,283 +/- 119, and 3,835 +/- 129 pg/ml for control, moderate, and severe hypoxia, respectively). Hypoxic dilation additionally increased CSF PACAP (1,727 +/- 86, 2,268 +/- 157, and 7,980 +/- 238 pg/ml for control, moderate, and severe hypoxia, respectively). PACAP (10(-8) and 10(-6) M) elicited pial dilation that was associated with increased CSF cAMP and blunted by Rp-8-BrcAMPS. PACAP-induced dilation was also accompanied by increases in the opioid methionine enkephalin (1,059 +/- 23, 1,483 +/- 34, and 2,108 +/- 77 pg/ml for control and 10(-8) and 10(-6) M PACAP, respectively). These data show that cAMP contributes to hypoxic pial artery dilation. Hypoxia increases CSF PACAP, whereas PACAP elevates CSF opioid concentration. These data, therefore, suggest that PACAP modulates cAMP-induced opioid release, thereby contributing to hypoxic pial dilation.
Analysis and Control of Time Delayed Systems via the Lambert W Function

Abstract This paper summarizes recent research results by the authors for the analytical solution to systems of delay differential equations using the matrix Lambert W function, and its applications to analysis and control of time-delay systems. The solution has the form of an infinite series of modes written in terms of the matrix Lambert W function. This solution is analytical in terms of the parameters, coefficients and delay time, of the system, and each eigenvalue in the infinite eigenspectrum is distinguished in terms of the branches of the Lambert W function. This enables extension of methods for systems of ordinary differential equations to systems of delay differential equations. These include stability analysis, controllability and observability, as well as methods for eigenvalue assignment.
Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis: Response to Early Treatment

A 5-year-old girl with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor encephalitis and near-complete recovery following early diagnosis and treatment with immune globulin and steroids is reported from Indiana University, University of Pennsylvania, and Mayo Clinic.
THE MEASUREMENT OF REACTIVITY

The use of a general purpose analog computer for the continuous measurement of reactivity of a nuclear reactor is described. The machine is programmed to solve the conventional space-independent reactor kinetics equations for reactivity using the signal from an ion chamber as input data. This technique provides reactivity information instantaneously and continuously. Using it, one can calibrate control rods "on the run," and can measure station ary values of reactivity without waiting for asymptotic periods to develop. (auth)
A Very Principled Boy: The Life of Duncan Lee, Red Spy and Cold Warrior. By Mark A. Bradley. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 2014. Pp. xvii, 384. $29.99.)

Who was Duncan Lee? His name does not resonate like those of Alger Hiss and Aldrich Ames. Yet during World War II, while he worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Lee passed highly clas...
"I just had to be flexible and show good patience": management of interactional approaches to enact mentoring roles by peer mentors with developmental disabilities.

AbstractPurpose: Peer mentoring may be an effective approach for fostering skill development for mentors and mentees with developmental disabilities. However, little is known about how mentors with developmental disabilities perceive and enact their roles. Research questions: (1) How do young adults with developmental disabilities describe their role as a peer mentor in the context of instrumental peer mentoring? (2) How do they enact their perceived roles?Methods: Thematic analysis of semi-structured reflections completed by six mentors with developmental disabilities (ages 17–35) with multiple mentoring experiences.Results: Mentors perceived themselves as professionals with a primary role of teaching, and for some mentoring relationships, a secondary role of developing an interpersonal relationship. To enact these roles, mentors used a supportive interactional approach characterized by actions such as encouragement and sharing examples and dispositions, such as flexibility and patience. Mentors monitore...
Learning features for text classification

Text classification is a general and important machine learning problem. For example, topic classification of text documents has been extensively studied for more than a decade, and simple word features are found to be very indicative of topics. Researchers have been focusing mostly on machine learning of classifiers instead of that of features. More recently, classification of sentiment, agreement and opinions in social media has drawn much attention, where individual word features are no longer sufficiently discriminative. Because good features are important to these tasks, engineering features becomes a crucial step in developing good text classification systems. However, feature engineering involves much manual work and is time-consuming. Another challenge to many text classification tasks is limited labeled training data. Large amounts of unlabeled data are available but they are often not used in supervised classifier training. A big issue related to features caused by limited labeled data is that only limited features are seen, and classifiers trained by supervised learning cannot use features that are unseen in training data. This thesis attempts to address both issues by applying machine learning to text features. A type of feature, i.e., phrase patterns, and the efficient algorithm to learn them from labeled training data, are proposed. Phrase pattern features are particularly useful for tasks involving modeling long-range complex behaviors as we see in social media data, and they are more flexible than n-gram features. The learned phrase patterns can contain both words and word classes, which improves generalizability. Significant performance improvements are observed in multiple conversational text classification tasks. This thesis also proposes feature affinity and cluster regularization, which uses feature relationships learned from unlabeled data to regularize training. This regularization scheme converts supervised learning text classification to semi-supervised, and it is simple to control the relative importance of the knowledge learned from unlabeled data. Using this method, features that are unseen in the labeled data get non-zero weights due to their relationships to seen features. These algorithms are evaluated in topic and sentiment classification tasks, achieving significant improvements. This thesis also studies the problem of learning feature relationships for high-dimensional features using a mixture co-occurrence model, making our approach applicable to complex task classification tasks where large amounts of unlabeled data are available. Multiple conversational text classification tasks are studied in our experiments, and significant performance improvements are demonstrated.
Effect of Neospora caninum infection on milk production in first-lactation dairy cows.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether cows seropositive to Neospora caninum produced less milk during their first lactation than seronegative cows. DESIGN Repeated-measures, prospective study. ANIMALS 372 Holstein cows in their first lactation. PROCEDURE Cows were tested repeatedly before and during their first lactation for antibodies to N caninum. One-way and repeated-measures ANOVA were used to determine whether mean daily milk weights and milk weights from Dairy Herd Improvement Association testing were less for seropositive cows than for seronegative cows. RESULTS Weekly mean daily milk weights for the 118 seropositive cows were significantly less than those for the 254 seronegative cows, and milk production for seropositive cows (mean, 55.2 lb/cow/d) was 2.5 lb/cow/d less than that for seronegative cows (mean, 57.7 lb/cow/d). Analysis of results from Dairy Herd Improvement Association testing revealed that production of seropositive cows was less for milk (3.1 lb/cow/d), fat-corrected milk (3.6 lb/cow/d), and fat (0.14 lb/cow/d) than production of seronegative cows. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS The economic impact of N caninum infection in dairy cows can include reduced revenues from decreased milk production, which may warrant culling of young, seropositive replacement stock.
Exploratory Study of rTMS Neuromodulation Effects on Electrocortical Functional Measures of Performance in an Oddball Test and Behavioral Symptoms in Autism

There is no accepted pathology to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) but research suggests the presence of an altered excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) bias in the cerebral cortex. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) offers a non-invasive means of modulating the E/I cortical bias with little in terms of side effects. In this study, 124 high functioning ASD children (IQ > 80, <18 years of age) were recruited and assigned using randomization to either a waitlist group or one of three different number of weekly rTMS sessions (i.e., 6, 12, and 18). TMS consisted of trains of 1.0 Hz frequency pulses applied over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The experimental task was a visual oddball with illusory Kanizsa figures. Behavioral response variables included reaction time and error rate along with such neurophysiological indices such as stimulus and response-locked event-related potentials (ERP). One hundred and twelve patients completed the assigned number of TMS sessions. Results showed significant changes from baseline to posttest period in the following measures: motor responses accuracy [lower percentage of committed errors, slower latency of commission errors and restored normative post-error reaction time slowing in both early and later-stage ERP indices, enhanced magnitude of error-related negativity (ERN), improved error monitoring and post-error correction functions]. In addition, screening surveys showed significant reductions in aberrant behavior ratings and in both repetitive and stereotypic behaviors. These differences increased with the total number of treatment sessions. Our results suggest that rTMS, particularly after 18 sessions, facilitates cognitive control, attention and target stimuli recognition by improving discrimination between task-relevant and task-irrelevant illusory figures in an oddball test. The noted improvement in executive functions of behavioral performance monitoring further suggests that TMS has the potential to target core features of ASD.
Person and Moral Life

The Prajnāpāramitā-sūtras are the largest and perhaps also the earliest among the scriptures basic to Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Buddhism of the Great Way. The ultimate reality of the undivided being and the way-faring by non-clinging constitute practically the heart of these sūtras (aphorisms). They form the foundation of Māhāyāna, which developed and upheld the absolutist line of Buddhist philosophy.
Global warming and cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms

The Earth and the oceans have warmed significantly over the past four decades, providing evidence that the Earth is undergoing long-term climate change. Increasing temperatures and changing rainfall patterns have been documented. Cyanobacteria have a long evolutionary history, with their first occurrence dating back at least 2.7 billion years ago. Cyanobacteria often dominated the oceans after past mass extinction events. They evolved under anoxic conditions and are well adapted to environmental stress including exposure to UV, high solar radiation and temperatures, scarce and abundant nutrients. These environmental conditions favor the dominance of cyanobacteria in many aquatic habitats, from freshwater to marine ecosystems. A few studies have examined the ecological consequences of global warming on cyanobacteria and other phytoplankton over the past decades in freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments, with varying results. The responses of cyanobacteria to changing environmental patterns associated with global climate change are important subjects for future research. Results of this research will have ecological and biogeochemical significance as well as management implications.
Simulation of Waterflooding in Heterogeneous, Compressible, and Irregularly Shaped Reservoirs

ABSTRACT A finite element procedure based on the Galerkin's approach is presented for simulation of two-phase, incompressible flow through a porous medium which is heterogeneous and compressible in nature. This procedure is illustrated for water flooding process in heterogeneous and irregular shaped oil reservoirs to simulate the effect of impervious region(s) on waterflooding performance.
Microbial conversion of xylose into useful bioproducts

Microorganisms can produce a number of different bioproducts from the sugars in plant biomass. One challenge is devising processes that utilize all of the sugars in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. D-xylose is the second most abundant sugar in these hydrolysates. The microbial conversion of D-xylose to ethanol has been studied extensively; only recently, however, has conversion to bioproducts other than ethanol been explored. Moreover, in the case of yeast, D-xylose may provide a better feedstock for the production of bioproducts other than ethanol, because the relevant pathways are not subject to glucose-dependent repression. In this review, we discuss how different microorganisms are being used to produce novel bioproducts from D-xylose. We also discuss how D-xylose could be potentially used instead of glucose for the production of value-added bioproducts.
An Anticorruption Strategy for Latin America

Latin America can, in time, free itself of much of the corruption that now penetrates its public and corporate spheres. Given the breaking of impunity for politicians and executives in Brazil and elsewhere, a growing intolerance of corrupt dealings by the publics of Latin America, and a greater vigilance of civil society and the media, cleansing those thoroughly corrupt countries of the practice of corruption is much more likely than in decades past. The mostly positive examples of Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica provide promise. The innovations proposed in this chapter could also help.
Neuropathic pain modulation after spinal cord injury by breathing-controlled electrical stimulation (BreEStim) is associated with restoration of autonomic dysfunction

Background Recent findings have implicated supraspinal origins from the pain neuromatrix- central autonomic network (PNM-CAN) in the generation of neuropathic pain (NP) after spinal cord injury (SCI). The aim of this study was to further investigate the theorized PNM-CAN mechanisms in persons with SCI by using a centrally directed pain intervention, provided by breathing-controlled electrical stimulation (BreEStim), to measure resultant autonomic changes measured by time and frequency domain heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Methods Null and active BreEStim interventions were administered to SCI+NP subjects (n=10) in a random order. HRV data and VAS pain scores were collected at resting pre-test and 30 minutes post-test time points. Resting HRV data were also collected from SCI-NP subjects (n=11). Results SCI+NP subjects demonstrated a lower baseline HRV and parasympathetic tone, via SD of the normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN) and low frequency (LF) parameters, compared with SCI-NP subjects. However, following active BreEStim, SCI+NP subjects exhibited an increase in HRV and parasympathetic tone, most notably via pairs of successive R-R beat lengths varying by greater than 50 ms (NN50) and proportion of NN50 for total number of beats (pNN50) parameters along with lower VAS scores. Additionally, the post-test SCI+NP group was found to have a statistically comparable autonomic profile to the SCI-NP group across all HRV variables, including SDNN and LF parameters. Conclusion The analgesic effects of active BreEStim in SCI+NP subjects were associated with restoration of autonomic dysfunction in this population.
Nutrition Transition in Africa: Consequences and Opportunities

Nutrition transition, defined as a shift in dietary patterns and energy expenditure, is a major concern worldwide and especially in low and middle-income countries. Nutrition transition is linked to an increased prevalence of metabolic disorders and non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. In regions such as the sub-Saharan Africa, prevalence of overweight and obesity has steadily increased in the recent years despite the high prevalence of hunger and malnutrition. Factors that have contributed to nutrition transition include urbanization, socio-economic developments and technological advancements. Food consumption in some households has shifted to diets rich in fats and oils, calorie-based sweeteners, and animal-based products high in saturated fats (referred to as “western diets”), from traditional African diets based on legumes, whole grain products and traditional vegetables. Opportunities to slow down the effects of nutrition transition in Africa may exist through education and policy changes that are culturally sensitive.
Development and Content Validation of the Child Oral and Motor Proficiency Scale (ChOMPS)

This article describes the development and content validation of the Child Oral and Motor Proficiency Scale (ChOMPS), a parent-report assessment of eating, drinking, and related skills in children ...
Buffon Versus the Beast: Taming the Wild Artist in Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin

This chapter on Therese Raquin (1867) by Emile Zola (1840–1902) analyzes the battle between two protagonists Camille and Laurent—one a bourgeois esthete and the other an artist-animal—as representative of the tension between conservative Buffonian versus radical Darwinian views regarding the organic world. Whereas Camille studies creatures at the Jardin des Plantes, the painter Laurent is an animal. Zola’s scientific literature sought to strip characters to their physical essence. The reevaluation of the human subject contributed to a radical approach to literature—a quest to find “the beast” within man. Deconstructing Zola’s essentialist construct of “the inner animal” in humans (which ignores the varieties of individual species and beings as articulated by Derrida), this chapter also argues that Therese Raquin may enhance the fields of contemporary animal studies and aesthetics (Deleuze, Guattari, Aloi and Baker) by linking animals and modern art.
Religious coping and acceptability and outcome of short-term psychotherapeutic treatments for depression among low-income homebound older adults.

AbstractObjectives: To examine (1) correlates of religious coping, and (2) associations of religious coping at baseline with evaluation of treatment acceptability and depressive symptom severity ou...
Use of Salvage Surgery or Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Multiply Recurrent Skull Base Chordomas: A Single-Institution Experience and Review of the Literature.

Introduction Chordomas are locally destructive neoplasms characterized by appreciable recurrence rates after initial multimodality treatment. We examined the outcome of salvage treatment in recurrent/progressive skull base chordomas. Methods This is a retrospective review of recurrent/progressive skull base chordomas at a tertiary urban academic medical center. The outcomes evaluated were overall survival, progression-free survival (PFS), and incidence of new toxicity. Results Eighteen consecutive patients who underwent ≥1 course of treatment (35.3% salvage surgery, 23.5% salvage radiation, and 41.2% both) were included. The median follow-up was 98.6 months (range 16–215 months). After initial treatment, the median PFS was 17.7 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.9–22.6 months). Following initial therapy, age ≥ 40 had improved PFS on univariate analysis (p = 0.03). All patients had local recurrence, with 15 undergoing salvage surgical resections and 16 undergoing salvage radiation treatments (mostly stereotactic radiosurgery [SRS]). The median PFS was 59.2 months (95% CI: 4.0–99.3 months) after salvage surgery, 58.4 months (95% CI: 25.9–195 months) after salvage radiation, and 58.4 months (95% CI: 25.9.0–98.4 months) combined. Overall survival for the total cohort was 98.7% ± 1.7% at 2 years and 92.8% ± 5.5% at 5 years. Salvage treatments were well-tolerated with two patients (11%) reporting tinnitus and one patient each (6%) reporting headaches, visual field deficits, hearing loss, anosmia, dysphagia, or memory loss. Conclusion Refractory skull base chordomas present a challenging treatment dilemma. Repeat surgical resection or SRS seems to provide adequate salvage therapy that is well-tolerated when treated at a tertiary center offering multimodality care.
Optimizing Ammonia Separation via Reactive Absorption for Sustainable Ammonia Synthesis

Metal halide salts such as magnesium chloride have been demonstrated to be promising candidates for ammonia storage materials for energy storage and agriculture applications due to their ability to...
A novel approach to generate glass-ceramics samples for molecular dynamics simulations

Abstract Molecular dynamics simulations of glass-ceramics are especially challenging partially due to the difficulties in generating samples with realistic microstructures. In this work, we developed an advanced approach named ‘cut-combine’ to address the challenge. The approach can access rich microstructures with a high level of complexity and wide range of crystallinity. Technical implementations, advantages, and limitations of this approach are clearly detailed. Representative model samples, for an already reported SiO2-Al2O3-CaO glass-ceramics study, were successfully generated by the approach with microstructures close to actual sample observations. In addition, crack propagation simulations using these samples reveal interesting atomic pictures regarding the interactions between a running crack and nanocrystals, suggesting even more exciting results from future simulation studies on glass-ceramics by taking advantage of this approach.
State Regulation of Curriculum in Private Religious Schools: A Constitutional Analysis

State governments, which closely regulate many aspects of private school operations, often require private and public schools alike to provide instruction in designated subjects. Religious private schools that resist such regulation often raise claims based upon both substantive due process and free exercise. Neither variety of claim precludes states from requiring private schools to adhere to legislatively or administratively determined secular courses of study. But there are limits. State regulation cannot be so all-encompassing that it prevents private schools from meaningfully pursuing their private educational goals, including but not limited to religious goals. This chapter is part of a book-length treatment of a dispute in New York State between a State Department of Education taking a newly aggressive posture towards curricular regulation and private religious academies serving the state’s rigorously Orthodox (“haredi”) Jewish communities. The chapter uses that conflict to develop its argument. The chapter then considers a distinction between impermissible regulation of private schools’ educational methods and permissible regulation of courses of study. Several of the topics that have been particularly contentious in the conflict between New York and the haredi schools, notably regulation of the language of instruction and of time in class, illustrate how difficult this distinction can be to draw.
The role of alanine synthesis and nitrate‐induced nitric oxide production during hypoxia stress in Cucurbita pepo nectaries

Floral nectar is a sugary solution produced by nectaries to attract and reward pollinators. Nectar metabolites, such as sugars, are synthesized within the nectary during secretion from both pre-stored and direct phloem-derived precursors. In addition to sugars, nectars contain nitrogenous compounds such as amino acids; however, little is known about the role(s) of nitrogen (N) compounds in nectary function. In this study, we investigated N metabolism in Cucurbita pepo (squash) floral nectaries in order to understand how various N-containing compounds are produced and determine the role of N metabolism in nectar secretion. The expression and activity of key enzymes involved in primary N assimilation, including nitrate reductase (NR) and alanine aminotransferase (AlaAT), were induced during secretion in C. pepo nectaries. Alanine (Ala) accumulated to about 35% of total amino acids in nectaries and nectar during peak secretion; however, alteration of vascular nitrate supply had no impact on Ala accumulation during secretion, suggesting that nectar(y) amino acids are produced by precursors other than nitrate. In addition, nitric oxide (NO) is produced from nitrate and nitrite, at least partially by NR, in nectaries and nectar. Hypoxia-related processes are induced in nectaries during secretion, including lactic acid and ethanolic fermentation. Finally, treatments that alter nitrate supply affect levels of hypoxic metabolites, nectar volume and nectar sugar composition. The induction of N metabolism in C. pepo nectaries thus plays an important role in the synthesis and secretion of nectar sugar.
Convergence Rates of Distributed Consensus over Cluster Networks: A Two-Time-Scale Approach.

We study the popular distributed consensus method over networks composed of a number of densely connected clusters with a sparse connection between them. In these cluster networks, the method often constitutes two-time-scale dynamics, where the internal nodes within each cluster reach consensus quickly relative to the aggregate nodes across clusters. Our main contribution is to provide the rate of the distributed consensus method, which characterize explicitly the impacts of the internal and external graphs on the performance of this method. Our main result shows that this rate converges exponentially and only scales with a few number of nodes, which is relatively small to the size of the network. The key technique in our analysis is to consider a Lyapunov function which captures the impacts of different time-scale dynamics on the convergence of the method. Our approach avoids using model reduction, which is the typical way according to singular perturbation theory and relies on relatively simple definitions of the slow and fast variables. In addition, Lyapunov analysis allows us to derive the rate of distributed consensus methods over cluster networks, which is missing from the existing works using singular perturbation theory. We illustrate our theoretical results by a number of numerical simulations over different cluster networks.
Complexity analysis of the Next Gen Air Traffic Management System: trajectory based operations

According to Federal Aviation Administration traffic predictions currently our Air Traffic Management (ATM) system is operating at 150 percent capacity; forecasting that within the next two decades, the traffic with increase to a staggering 250 percent [17]. This will require a major redesign of our system. Today's ATM system is complex. It is designed to safely, economically, and efficiently provide air traffic services through the cost-effective provision of facilities and seamless services in collaboration with multiple agents however, contrary the vision, the system is loosely integrated and is suffering tremendously from antiquated equipment and saturated airways. The new Next Generation (Next Gen) ATM system is designed to transform the current system into an agile, robust and responsive set of operations that are designed to safely manage the growing needs of the projected increasingly complex, diverse set of air transportation system users and massive projected worldwide traffic rates. This new revolutionary technology-centric system is dynamically complex and is much more sophisticated than it's soon to be predecessor. ATM system failures could yield large scale catastrophic consequences as it is a safety critical system. This work will attempt to describe complexity and the complex nature of the NextGen ATM system and Trajectory Based Operational. Complex human factors interactions within Next Gen will be analyzed using a proposed dual experimental approach designed to identify hazards, gaps and elicit emergent hazards that would not be visible if conducted in isolation. Suggestions will be made along with a proposal for future human factors research in the TBO safety critical Next Gen environment. Language: en
Stimulant Medication and the Social Interactions of Hyperactive Children

In the past decade investigators have begun to emphasize the clinical, prognostic, and theoretical importance of hyperactive children’s social interactions (Barkley, 1982; Campbell & Paulauskas, 1979; Milich & Landau, 1982; Pelham & Bender, 1982; Whalen & Henker, 1985). Indeed, such social and interpersonal phenomena as disruptive interactions in classrooms, aggression against children and adults, noncompliance with parental directions, and disturbed peer relationships are currently considered to be as central to hyperactivity as are the “core” features of inattention, impulsivity, and motor overactivity (Barkley, 1985b; Hinshaw, 1987a; Pelham & Milich, 1984). Indeed, because of their tendencies to elicit undesirable reactions from others, hyperactive children have been characterized as “negative social catalysts” (see Whalen, Henker, Castro, & Granger, 1987a). Furthermore, the deficient social skills and disturbed interpersonal relationships of these children are likely to be implicated in their relatively poor prognoses with respect to adolescent and young adult functioning (Barkley, Fischer, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1990; Gittelman, Mannuzza, Shenker, & Bonagura, 1985; Satterfield, Hoppe, & Schell, 1982; Weiss, Hechtman, Milroy, & Perlman, 1985). Clearly, no consideration of hyperactivity can ignore the social domain.1
Dose differences between the three dose calculation algorithms in Leksell GammaPlan.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dose differences introduced by the TMR 10 and the convolution dose calculation algorithms in GammaPlan version 10, as compared to the TMR classic algorithm in the previous versions of GammaPlan. Computed axial tomographic images of a polystyrene phantom and a human head were acquired using a GE LightSpeed VCT scanner. A treatment target with a prescription dose of 20 Gy to 50% isodose line was defined in the phantom or the head CT set. The treatment times for single collimator, single shot placements were calculated using the three dose calculation algorithms in GammaPlan version 10. Four comparative studies were conducted: i) the dose matrix position was varied every 10 mm along the x-, y-, z-axes of the stereotactic coordinate system inside the phantom and the treatment times were compared on each matrix for the three collimators of the Gamma Knife Perfexion and the four collimators of the 4C; ii) the study was repeated for the human head CT dataset; iii) the matrix position was varied every 20 mm in the X and the Y directions on the central slice (Z = 100mm) of the head CT and the shot times were compared on each matrix for the 8 mm collimator of both units; a total of 51 matrix positions were identified for each unit; iv) the above comparison was repeated for the head CT transverse slices with Z = 20, 40, 60, 80, 120, 140, and 160 mm. A total of 271 matrix positions were studied. Based on the comparison of the treatment times needed to deliver 20 Gy at 50% isodose line, the equivalent TMR classic dose of the TMR 10 algorithm is roughly a constant for each collimator of the 4C unit and is 97.5%, 98.5%, 98%, and 100% of the TMR 10 dose for the 18 mm, 14 mm, 8 mm, and the 4 mm collimators, respectively. The numbers for the three collimators of the Perfexion change with the shot positions in the range from 99% to 102% for both the phantom and the head CT. The minimum, maximum, and the mean values of the equivalent TMR classic doses of the convolution algorithm on the 271 voxels of the head CT are 99.5%, 111.5%, 106.5% of the convolution dose for the Perfexion, and 99%, 109%, 104.5% for the 4C unit. We identified a maximum decrease in delivered dose of 11.5% for treatment in the superior frontal/parietal vertex region of the head CT for older calculations lacking inhomogeneity correction to account for the greater percentage of the average beam path occupied by bone. The differences in the inferior temporal lobe and the cerebellum/neck regions are significantly less, owing to the counter-balancing effects of both bone and the air cavity inhomogeneities. The dose differences between the TMR 10 and the TMR classic are within ± 2.5% for a single shot placement on both Perfexion and 4C. Dose prescriptions based on the experiences with the TMR classic may need to be adjusted to accommodate the up to 11.5% difference between the convolution and the TMR classic.
Experimental Manipulation of Model Ecosystems

Ecosystems have been described as the “functional units of the landscape” (Odum, 1971), where organisms interact with their physical-chemical environment and with other organisms. For limnologists, lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers and their associated drainage basins represent the ecosystems of interest. However, these ecosystems are large and complex, and thus it is difficult to decipher the various interactions that occur within them.
Fabrication of flexible microlens arrays through vapor-induced dewetting on selectively plasma-treated surfaces

Microlens arrays have been increasingly employed as key components in building micro-optical systems. Conventional fabrication methods, such as grayscale lithography, ink-jet printing, and photoresist thermal reflow, are often constricted by certain drawbacks, including mask resolution, high fabrication cost, and complexity of processes. In this paper, we present a low-temperature dewetting method that enables fabrication of microlens arrays on polymeric surfaces in a rapid and cost-effective way. As the demonstration of such a technique, vapor-induced dewetting of SU-8 thin films has been carried out on heterogeneous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates that were selectively pre-treated with low-energy sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) or oxygen (O2) plasma. The dewetted SU-8 droplets are self-organized to directly form well-aligned microlens arrays on the O2-plasma-treated regions, with various lens curvatures ranging from ∼27° to ∼47° as the processing temperature rises from 20 °C to 80 °C. The exposure to the solvent vapor allows for the realization of dewetting at low temperatures. The optical performance of such microlens arrays has been characterized by testing their imaging capabilities.
Prediction of Steady State Adhesive Wear in Spur Gears Using the EHL Load Sharing Concept

The concept of load sharing between asperities and fluid film is applied in conjunction with lubricated sliding wear formulation proposed by Wu and Cheng (1991, “A Sliding Wear Model for Partial-EHL Contacts,” ASME J. Tribol., 113, pp. 134–141; 1993, “Sliding Wear Calculation in Spur Gears,” ASME J. Tribol., 115, pp. 493–500) to predict the steady state adhesive wear in gears. Thermal effects are included using a simplified thermoelastohydrodynamic analysis. The prediction of the model is verified by comparing simulation results with published experimental data pertinent to steady state wear rate. The main advantages of this method are the accuracy and the remarkable computational efficiency. The results of parametric simulation study are presented to investigate the effect of speed and surface roughness on a portion of load carried by asperities and wear rate.
The effect of removal of point-of-care fecal occult blood testing on performance of digital rectal examinations in the emergency department.

Study objective We determine whether removing point-of-care fecal occult blood testing from the emergency department (ED) is associated with a decrease in documented digital rectal examinations. Methods We performed a retrospective observational chart review study examining documented digital rectal examinations, before and after removal of a point-of-care fecal occult blood test, on all adult patients who presented to our ED with chief complaints that were likely to warrant a fecal occult blood test (intervention-sensitive). We studied the 6 months immediately before and after switching from bedside fecal occult blood testing to immunohistochemical laboratory fecal occult blood testing. We compared the results with those from a similar cohort of patients who presented during the same period, with chief complaints that would warrant a digital rectal examination for reasons other than fecal occult blood test (intervention-insensitive). Results A total of 4,981 and 5,557 patients met our inclusion criteria during the before and after intervention periods, respectively. We observed an overall reduction of 10% (95% confidence interval [CI] 8% to 12%) in digital rectal examinations in patients with intervention-sensitive chief complaints. The largest relative decreases in digital rectal examinations were observed in patients with chief complaints of abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, and diarrhea. Smaller decreases were observed in gastrointestinal bleeding, constipation, and rectal problem. There was an overall reduction of 3% (95% CI 0% to 5%) in documented digital rectal examinations in intervention-insensitive chief complaints. After controlling for all covariates, digital rectal examinations decreased in the postintervention period for intervention-sensitive (odds ratio 0.44 [95% CI 0.39 to 0.50]) and, to a lesser extent, for intervention-insensitive (odds ratio 0.67 [95% CI 0.52 to 0.86]) conditions. Conclusion Removal of point-of-care fecal occult blood test from our ED was associated with a reduction in digital rectal examinations, particularly among chief complaints that may require fecal occult blood testing.
The functionalisation of saturated hydrocarbons. Part XXI. The Fe(III)-catalyzed and the Cu(II)-catalyzed oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons by hydrogen peroxide: a comparative study

Abstract The selective functionalisation of saturated hydrocarbons catalyzed by copper or iron salts are compared. In addition to further studies on the homogeneous oxidation by Cu(II)-H2O2 is pyridine-acetic acid (GoChAgg system), we introduce a heterogeneous GifIII-analog based on Cu0 and dioxygen in pyridine-acetic acid. Both Cu-based systems display Gif-type reactivity. The intermediacy of alkyl hydroperoxides in the Cu(II)-catalyzed reaction has been proven spectroscopically (following the reaction on [1-13C]-cyclohexane by 13C-N.M.R. spectroscopy) and chemically (quenching the reaction with triphenylphosphine to reduce the hydroperoxide to alcohol). The same holds for Cu0/O2 system, as shown by the effect of triphenylphosphine added to the reaction mixture. Thus, both reactions follow the pathway alkane → alkyl hydroperoxide → alcohol or ketone. Experiments running the GoChAgg reaction (H2O2-based) under an 18O2-atmosphere showed the incorporation of 18O2 into the hydroperoxide and the alcohol (which derives itself from the alkyl hydroperoxide). The relative reactivity of this Cu(II) system was studied for a series of cycloalkanes. The participation of another reaction intermediate (A) has also been demonstrated. However, some important differences are presented, that show that the chemical properties of the Cu-A and the Fe-A intermediates are different. Thus, Gif-type reactivity is metal-dependent and involves two chemically different non-radical species.
Cockayne Syndrome in Adults: Review With Clinical and Pathologic Study of a New Case

Cockayne syndrome and xeroderma pigmentosum-Cockayne syndrome complex are rare autosomal recessive disorders with poorly understood biology. They are characterized by profound postnatal brain and somatic growth failure and by degeneration of multiple tissues resulting in cachexia, dementia, and premature aging. They result in premature death, usually in childhood, exceptionally in adults. This study compares the clinical course and pathology of a man with Cockayne syndrome group A who died at age 31(1/2) years with 15 adequately documented other adults with Cockayne syndrome and 5 with xeroderma pigmentosum-Cockayne syndrome complex. Slowing of head and somatic growth was apparent before age 2 years, mental retardation and slowly progressive spasticity at 4 years, ataxia and hearing loss at 9 years, visual impairment at 14 years, typical Cockayne facies at 17 years, and cachexia and dementia in his twenties, with a retained outgoing personality. He experienced several transient right and left hemipareses and two episodes of status epilepticus following falls. Neuropathology disclosed profound microencephaly, bilateral old subdural hematomas, white-matter atrophy, tigroid leukodystrophy with string vessels, oligodendrocyte proliferation, bizarre reactive astrocytes, multifocal dystrophic calcification that was most marked in the basal ganglia, advanced atherosclerosis, mixed demyelinating and axonal neuropathy, and neurogenic muscular atrophy. Cellular degeneration of the organ of Corti, spiral and vestibular ganglia, and all chambers of the eye was severe. Rarely, and for unexplained reasons, in some patients with Cockayne syndrome the course is slower than usual, resulting in survival into adulthood. The profound dwarfing, failure of brain growth, cachexia, selectivity of tissue degeneration, and poor correlation between genotypes and phenotypes are not understood. Deficient repair of DNA can increase vulnerability to oxidative stress and play a role in the premature aging, but why patients with mutations in xeroderma pigmentosum genes present with the Cockayne syndrome phenotype is still not known.
The challenge of relationships and fidelity: Home visitors' perspectives ☆

Abstract This qualitative study examines home visitors' perspectives on their practical attempts to establish and maintain relationships with clients while also maintaining fidelity to their evidence-based program model. Drawing from a sample of 85 home visitors from three types of evidence-based home visitation programs in Illinois, our results demonstrate that home visitors often feel compelled to adjust the program curriculum to clients' perceived needs. Home visitors also feel that in order to establish and maintain relationships with clients they need to be flexible in working days and working hours, accept alternative meeting places, use cell phones and text messaging, and address crisis situations before presenting the curriculum. Although they acknowledged paperwork as being important to support fidelity, they also perceived it as harming the natural course of relationships or devaluing the importance of relationships in successful programs. State budget cuts, which led to local program instability, also emerged as a barrier to relationships. The cuts discouraged home visitors from using flexible practices within the context of model fidelity. This paper offers a framework for understanding the tensions between relationships and fidelity and discusses implications for policy.
n-Hexadecyl and n-octadecyl disulfides in “sediment” derived from the Gorgonian Pseudoplexaura parosa (Houttuyn)

Abstract Investigation of “sediment” produced by the anaerobic decomposition of Pseudoplexaura porosa cortex in slowly running sea water yielded a n-alkyl disulfide fraction (0.65 wt. %) shown to contain three components: R-S-S-R, R-S-S-R', and R'-S-S-R' ( R | = n-hexadecyl, ( R | = n-octadecyl).
Renewable energy policy and electricity restructuring: a California case study

Abstract Many countries are in the process of deregulating and restructuring their electric power industries. Although the introduction of retail competition may have negative impacts on the development of renewable energy, a number of countries are establishing new programs to support these clean energy technologies. In the United States, debate has centered on three primary renewables support mechanisms: (1) the renewables portfolio standard; (2) programs funded by an electricity distribution surcharge; and (3) voluntary renewable energy purchases by electricity customers via green power marketing. California provides a good case study of the design of renewables support programs within industry restructuring because policymakers considered all three of these options during the state’s restructuring proceedings. Moreover, many of the same policy options, design issues, and political conflicts that have arisen in California are likely to recur in other states and countries. Some of the most important lessons from the California experience include: (1) renewable energy and environmental advocates must clearly articulate the need and rationale for continued support of renewables; (2) cost containment and competitive neutrality concerns must be addressed head on; (3) combinations of policies are likely to be far more effective than any single renewables policy; and (4) the effectiveness of renewable energy policies developed during the restructuring process will be strongly linked to their duration and stability.