cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Coulter Counter® Model S-Plus IV

Evaluation of linearity, carry-over, precision, and accuracy of a Coulter Counter model S-Plus IV prototype showed that they meet the manufacturer's specifications. The instrument also was compared with an earlier model. Correlations of the lymphocyte and granulocyte values in the three-part differential count with manual eye-count and a Technicon Hemalog D90 results were very close to the correlation of eye-count to Hemalog D90 results. The percentage of mononuclear cells showed acceptable correlation to the manual eye-count when monocytes were combined with blasts, eosinophils, and basophils. The medical effectiveness of the three-part differential was determined by comparison with manual eye-counts in 1,084 samples. The false positive and false negative values were 7.38% and 7.84%, respectively. The instrument has acceptable limits of operation. When combined with analysis of histograms by trained personnel, the three-part differential count is capable of screening for abnormalities that require further analysis.
Resistance of 2ZrO2·Y2O3 top coat in thermal/environmental barrier coatings to calcia-magnesia-aluminosilicate attack at 1500°C

Internally cooled, hollow SiC-based ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) components that may replace metallic components in the hot section of future high-efficiency gas-turbine engines will require multilayered thermal/environmental barrier coatings (T/EBCs) for insulation and protection. In the T/EBC system, the thermally insulating outermost (top coat) ceramic layer must also provide resistance to attack by molten calcia-magnesia-aluminosilicate (CMAS) deposits. The interactions between a potential candidate for top coat made of air-plasma-sprayed (APS) 2ZrO2·Y2O3 solid-solution (ss) ceramic and two different CMASs (sand and fly ash) are investigated at a relevant high temperature of 1500°C. APS 2ZrO2·Y2O3(ss) top coat was found to resist CMAS penetration at 1500°C for 24 hours via reaction products that block CMAS penetration pathways. In situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies have identified the main reaction product to be an Ca-Y-Si apatite, and have helped elucidate the proposed mechanism for CMAS attack mitigation. Ex situ electron microscopy and analytical spectroscopy studies have identified the advantageous characteristics of the reaction products in helping the CMAS attack mitigation in the APS 2ZrO2·Y2O3(ss) coating at 1500°C. Finally, the Y3+ solubility limit and transport behavior are identified as potential comparative tools for assessing the CMAS resistance ability of top-coat ceramics.
Progressive image transmission over differentially space-time coded OFDM systems: Research Articles

In this paper, we consider progressive image transmission over differentially space-time coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems and treat the problem as one of optimal joint source-channel coding (JSCC) in the form of unequal error protection (UEP), as necessitated by embedded source coding (e.g., SPIHT and JPEG 2000). We adopt a product channel code structure that is proven to provide powerful error protection and employ low-complexity decision-feedback decoding for differentially space-time coded OFDM without assuming channel state information. For a given SNR, the BER performance of the differentially space-time coded OFDM system is treated as the channel condition in the JSCC/UEP design via a fast product code optimization algorithm so that the end-to-end quality of reconstructed images is optimized in the average minimum MSE sense. Extensive image transmission experiments show that SNR/BER improvements can be translated into quality gains in reconstructed images. Moreover, compared to another non-coherent detection algorithm, i.e., the iterative receiver based on expectation-maximization algorithm for the space-time coded OFDM systems, differentially space-time coded OFDM systems suffer some quality loss in reconstructed images. With the efficiency and simplicity of decision-feedback differential decoding, differentially space-time coded OFDM is thus a feasible modulation scheme for applications such as wireless image over mobile devices (e.g., cell phones). Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Conductivity and power factor enhancement of n-type semiconducting polymers using sodium silica gel dopant

This work demonstrates the use of sodium silica gel (Na-SG) particles as a reducing agent for n-type conjugated polymers to improve the conductivity and thermoelectric properties. Substantial increase in the electrical conductivity (σ, from 10−7 to 10−3 S/cm in air) was observed in two naphthalenetetracarboxylic diimide solution-processable n-type polymers, one of which was designed and synthesized in our lab. Systematic investigations of electrical conductivity were done by varying the weight percentage of Na-SG in the polymers. Additional evidence for the reduction process was obtained from electron spin resonance spectroscopy and control experiments involving nonreducing silica particles and non-electron-accepting polystyrene. The Seebeck coefficient S of the highest conductivity sample was measured and found to be in agreement with an empirical model. All the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficients measurements were performed in ambient atmosphere.
The integrated contaminant elution and tracer test toolkit, ICET3, for improved characterization of mass transfer, attenuation, and mass removal

It is evident based on historical data that groundwater contaminant plumes persist at many sites, requiring costly long-term management. High-resolution site-characterization methods are needed to support accurate risk assessments and to select, design, and operate effective remediation operations. Most subsurface characterization methods are generally limited in their ability to provide unambiguous, real-time delineation of specific processes affecting mass-transfer, transformation, and mass removal, and accurate estimation of associated rates. An integrated contaminant elution and tracer test toolkit, comprising a set of local-scale groundwater extraction-and injection tests, was developed to ameliorate the primary limitations associated with standard characterization methods. The test employs extended groundwater extraction to stress the system and induce hydraulic and concentration gradients. Clean water can be injected, which removes the resident aqueous contaminant mass present in the higher-permeability zones and isolates the test zone from the surrounding plume. This ensures that the concentrations and fluxes measured within the isolated area are directly and predominantly influenced by the local mass-transfer and transformation processes controlling mass removal. A suite of standard and novel tracers can be used to delineate specific mass-transfer and attenuation processes that are active at a given site, and to quantify the associated mass-transfer and transformation rates. The conceptual basis for the test is first presented, followed by an illustrative application based on simulations produced with a 3-D mathematical model and a brief case study application.
The Seventh Kew Environmental Lecture: Our global future: climate change

The Kew lecture provides a major contribution to contemporary environmental views. The Hon. Timothy E. Wirth is US Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs and he is responsible within the US State Department for overseeing environment, population, human rights, refugee, narcotics and related programmes. He was elected to the US Senate from Colorado in 1986 and served until 1993 when he chose not to run for re-election. He was, previously, a Congressman for 12 years and was voted one of the 25 most effective Members of Congress. In 1992, he served as national co-chair of the Clinton – Gore presidential campaign. The lecture was delivered at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, on 15 September 1997.
The necessary art of persuasion

Business today is largely run by teams and populated by authority-averse baby boomers and Generation Xers. That makes persuasion more important than ever as a managerial tool. But contrary to popular belief, the author asserts, persuasion is not the same as selling an idea or convincing opponents to see things your way. It is instead a process of learning from others and negotiating a shared solution. To that end, persuasion consists of four essential elements: establishing credibility, framing to find common ground, providing vivid evidence, and connecting emotionally. Credibility grows, the author says, out of two sources: expertise and relationships. The former is a function of product or process knowledge and the latter a history of listening to and working in the best interest of others. But even if a persuader's credibility is high, his position must make sense--even more, it must appeal--to the audience. Therefore, a persuader must frame his position to illuminate its benefits to everyone who will feel its impact. Persuasion then becomes a matter of presenting evidence--but not just ordinary charts and spreadsheets. The author says the most effective persuaders use vivid--even over-the-top--stories, metaphors, and examples to make their positions come alive. Finally, good persuaders have the ability to accurately sense and respond to their audience's emotional state. Sometimes, that means they have to suppress their own emotions; at other times, they must intensify them. Persuasion can be a force for enormous good in an organization, but people must understand it for what it is: an often painstaking process that requires insight, planning, and compromise.
Proceedings of the Intelligent Narrative Technologies III Workshop

Narrative is a pervasive aspect of human culture in both entertainment and education. Historically, humans have been the primary agents behind the creation, telling, and adapting of narrative. However, as society's reliance on digital technology for both entertainment and communication increases, the need for more innovative approaches to represent, perform, and adapt narrative experiences increases as well. With recent research advances, computer systems now have the means to organize experiences into a narrative form enabling them to interact and communicate with human users in novel and intuitive ways that were not possible a short time ago. A computer system that possesses narrative intelligence can interact with and communicate with human users in novel and intuitive ways. The research presented through the Intelligent Narrative Technologies workshop represents the state of the art in the use of computational representation and reasoning about narrative for entertainment, communication, and education. The academic research community is continuing to make advances in intelligent computing that bring these experiences closer to realizing the full potential of the computer as an interactive medium. The Intelligent Narrative Technologies III (INT3) workshop at the 2010 Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) conference brings together participants from the research community and industry in an effort to accelerate technology transfer to commercial games. Computer games are a natural modality for storytelling because of the sense of immersion and transportation into a virtual world with compelling characters and the promise of opportunity to interact with characters and the world in a meaningful way. Many experiences in virtual worlds are entertaining but not necessarily strictly games. A second goal of the INT3 workshop was to explore the role of narrative intelligence in facilitating other forms of computer-based entertainment, education, and training. Narrative appears prominently in many forms of entertainment and interpersonal communication, including novels, movies, and machinima. Narrative can also play a role in education and training. Novel techniques for entertaining, training, and education have been developed in such fields as narrative understanding, narrative generation, storytelling, virtual cinematography, models of emotion, narrative cognition, and natural language generation. The 2010 INT3 workshop is the third in a successful sequence of symposia and workshops on artificial intelligence in representation and reasoning about narrative. The one-day INT3 workshop features 17 paper presentations from authors around the world on topics ranging from narrative understanding, emergent storytelling, player evaluations, narrative discourse, improvisation, and story generation.
Coagulation Disorders in Patients with Cirrhosis

Coagulation abnormalities have been a hallmark of the protein synthetic dysfunction of cirrhosis since early physicians noted increased bleeding tendencies in the jaundiced patient. During the twentieth century, an increasing fund of knowledge regarding inborn coagulation defects led to elucidation of the coagulation protein cascade and basic laboratory tests describing prolonged clotting times in diseases such as the hemophilias. Prolonged prothrombin times and bleeding times in cirrhosis patients led physicians and scientists to the conclusion that these patients were at greatly increased risk for bleeding and were therefore “auto-anticoagulated.” Despite these laboratory findings, the usual cirrhosis patient does not suffer from spontaneous bleeding related to coagulation abnormalities like hemophilia patients and in fact many cirrhosis patients are prone to thrombosis events and thrombophilia. Investigation into this paradox in recent years has led to new discoveries that stable cirrhosis patients are in a “rebalanced” state of hemostasis characterized by equal and opposite compensatory mechanisms in primary hemostasis, coagulation, and fibrinolysis. A major difficulty in the clinical care of cirrhosis patients is the lack of adequate and accessible clinical laboratory assays to give an overview of the hemostasis pattern of an individual patient. Consequently, clinical decisions based solely on tests designed for congenital clotting disorders are wrought with dangers. It is now understood that despite this rebalance, the reserve is tenuous and perturbations due to factors such as infection, kidney disease, surgical procedures, mechanical sources of bleeding, and medications can rapidly tilt the balance away from hemostasis. This chapter briefly describes the pathophysiology of the rebalanced hemostasis system in cirrhosis patients, the current clinically available laboratory assays to describe the hemostatic disorders, and the established and emerging therapies for bleeding and clotting disorders in patients with cirrhosis.
Neonatal functional brain maturation in the context of perioperative critical care and pain management: A case report.

Abstract Introduction Remarkable plasticity during the first year of life imparts heighted vulnerability of the developing infant brain. Application of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in infants may contribute to our understanding of neuroplastic changes associated with therapeutic interventions and/or brain insults. In addition to showing clinically relevant incidental brain MRI findings, the objective of our pilot study was to test feasibility of rs-fMRI methods at this early age in the context of pediatric perioperative critical care. Methods We report the case of a former 33-week premature infant born with long-gap esophageal atresia that underwent complex perioperative critical care (Foker process) requiring prolonged post-operative sedation and whom presented with incidental subdural hematoma. Rs-fMRI data was acquired before (at 1-month corrected age) and after (at 2.25-months corrected age) complex perioperative care. We evaluated resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) using graph theory to explore the complex structure of brain networks. Results A transient increase in head circumference coincided temporally with lifting of sedation and initiation of sedation drugs weaning, and qualified for hydrocephalus (93%) but not macrocephaly (>95%). RSFC analysis identified networks spatially consistent with those previously described in the literature, with notable pre-post-treatment qualitative differences in correlated and anticorrelated spontaneous brain activity. Discussion Current definitions of macrocephaly may require lower threshold criteria for monitoring of critically ill infants. Although we demonstrate that available rs-fMRI could be effectively applied in a critically ill infant in the setting of brain pathology, future group-level studies should investigate RSFC to evaluate maintenance of network homeostasis during development of both healthy and critically ill infants.
Molecular Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Gd(III)-Based Contrast Agents: Challenges and Key Advances

In an era of personalized medicine, the clinical community has become increasingly focused on understanding diseases at the cellular and molecular levels. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful imaging modality for acquiring anatomical and functional information. However, it has limited applications in the field of molecular imaging due to its low sensitivity. To expand the capability of MRI to encompass molecular imaging applications, we introduced bioresponsive Gd(III)-based magnetic resonance contrast agents (GBCAs) in 1997. Since that time, many research groups across the globe have developed new examples of bioresponsive GBCAs. These contrast agents have shown great promise for visualizing several biochemical processes, such as gene expression, neuronal signaling, and hormone secretion. They are designed to be conditionally retained, or activated, in vivo in response to specific biochemical events of interest. As a result, an observed MR signal change can serve as a read-out for molecular events. A significant challenge for these probes is how to utilize them for noninvasive diagnostic and theranostic applications. This Perspective focuses on the design strategies that underlie bioresponsive probes, and describes the key advances made in recent years that are facilitating their application in vivo and ultimately in clinical translation. While the field of bioresponsive agents is embryonic, it is clear that many solutions to the experimental and clinical radiologic problems of today will be overcome by the probes of tomorrow.
Bong Joon Ho's Parasite and post-2008 Revolts: From the Discourses of the Master to the Destituent Power of the Real

Bong Joon Ho's Parasite has been globally praised for presenting a new perspective on class conflict and for placing the precarious working class at its center. Prestigious awards such the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival or the unprecedented Oscar for the Best Film of the Year (for a film in a language other than English) only corroborate this global consensus. But I think it's the opposite. Parasite is an overworked and convoluted narrative about the impossibility of overcoming, dismantling, or exiting neoliberal capitalism. Literally, the South Korean film is a cinematic version of Fredric Jameson's infamousthat "it is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism." Therefore, the interesting thing to analyze is how we all have enjoyed globally, in almost ecclesiastical communion, our last cinematic surrender to the ideology of late capitalism. And at that, it must be admitted, Bong Joon Ho's film is a work of genius. Parasite is also a pertinent departure point to revisit some of Žižek’s theories on the issue of neoliberalism’s global fantasies and on Lacan’s four discourses.
CHEx86: context-sensitive enforcement of memory safety via microcode-enabled capabilities

This work introduces the CHEx86 processor architecture for securing applications, including legacy binaries, against a wide array of security exploits that target temporal and spatial memory safety vulnerabilities such as out-of-bounds accesses, use-after-free, double-free, and uninitialized reads, by instrumenting the code at the microcode-level, completely under-the-hood, with only limited access to source-level symbol information. In addition, this work presents a novel scheme for speculatively tracking pointer arithmetic and pointer movement, including the detection of pointer aliases in memory, at the machine code-level using a configurable set of automatically constructed rules. This architecture outperforms the address sanitizer, a state-of-the-art software-based mitigation by 59%, while eliminating porting, deployment, and verification costs that are invariably associated with recompilation.
Reopening the trade after SARS: China's wildlife industry and the fateful policy reversal

China's policy-making remains a top-down process Yet, non-State actors, particularly businesses that have aligned their commercial interest with the national interest and political objectives of the Party-State, are uniquely positioned to impact policy-making This article uses China's reopening of the wildlife trade following the end of SARS in 2003 to shed light on the interplay of the Party's policy guidelines, the policy-making authority of the administrative agencies, and the influence of the country's wildlife business interest This article argues that the reversal of the wildlife trade ban was predestined since expanding wildlife business also contributed to the government's development objectives and served the bureaucratic interest of the administrative authorities In 2003, the wildlife businesses had unique lobbying power It was a production of scale that purportedly served the country's conservation, public health and poverty-reduction purposes The failure of the Chinese scientists to reach a consensus on the risk of pandemic outbreaks from wildlife operations helped the Chinese authorities to end the wildlife trade, a fateful decision The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to an enhanced understanding of the connections between wildlife exploitation and pandemic outbreaks China has come to a crossroads to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of its wildlife industry © 2020 - IOS Press and the authors All rights reserved
Contralateral exploration and repair of occult inguinal hernias during laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair: systematic review and Markov decision process.

Background Contralateral clinically occult hernias are frequently noted at the time of laparoscopic unilateral inguinal hernia repair. There is no consensus on the role of contralateral exploration and repair. This systematic review assessed the safety and efficacy of operative repair of occult contralateral inguinal hernias found during unilateral repair. Methods PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from inception to February 2020. Adults diagnosed with a unilateral inguinal hernia undergoing laparoscopic repair were included. The primary outcome was the incidence of occult contralateral hernias. Summative outcomes of operative and expectant management were reported along with development of a Markov decision process. Results Thirteen studies (1 randomized trial, 12 observational cohorts) with 5000 patients were included. The incidence of occult contralateral inguinal hernias was 14.6 (range 7.3-50.1) per cent. Among patients who underwent repair, 10.5 (4.3-17.0) per cent experienced a postoperative complication. Of patients managed expectantly, 29 per cent later required elective repair for symptoms. Mean follow-up was 36 (range 2-218) months. Using a Markov decision process, it was calculated that, for every 1000 patients undergoing unilateral inguinal hernia repair, contralateral exploration would identify 150 patients with an occult hernia. Repair would result in 15 patients developing a postoperative complication and 105 undergoing unnecessary repair. Alternatively, expectant management would result in 45 patients requiring subsequent repair. Conclusion Contralateral repair is not warranted in patients with occult hernias diagnosed at the time of elective hernia repair. The evidence is largely based on observational studies at high risk of bias.
Targeting NRF2 to treat cancer

NRF2 is a basic leucine zipper (bZip) transcription factor that is the master regulator of redox homeostasis. Under basal conditions, the cellular level of NRF2 is low due to a posttranslational regulation by the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). But, when an organism is challenged with oxidative or xenobiotic stress, the NRF2 pathway is activated by inhibition of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex that normally marks NRF2 for destruction. For several decades, researchers have searched for molecules that can intentionally activate NRF2, as this was shown to be a means to prevent certain diseases, at least in animal models. In the present era, there are many compounds known to activate the NRF2 pathway including natural products and synthetic compounds, covalent and non-covalent compounds, and others. However, it was also revealed that like many protective pathways, the NRF2 pathway has a dark side. Just as NRF2 can protect normal cells from damage, it can protect malignant cells from damage. As cells transform, they are exposed to many stressors and aberrant upregulation of NRF2 can facilitate transformation and it can help cancer cells to grow, to spread, and to resist treatment. For this reason, researchers are also interested in the discovery and development of NRF2 inhibitors. In the present review, we will begin with a general discussion of NRF2 structure and function, we will discuss the latest in NRF2 non-covalent activators, and we will discuss the current state of NRF2 inhibitors.
Comparison of Humidity Delivery With High Flow Nasal Cannula Connected to an Unheated Bubble Humidifier: A Simulation Study

Background: A low-flow nasal cannula (LFNC) is a common device used in the administration of oxygen and has been traditionally used for flows up to 6 L/min. The heated high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) was designed for use with oxygen flow up to 60 L/min and heated humidifier. Recently, manufacturers have introduced a HFNC for use with a bubble humidifier up to 15 L/min. The ISO 80601-2-74:2017 standard for unheated humidification devices specifies that 12 mg/L is the minimum level of humidification for patients whose upper airways have not been bypassed. The purpose of this study was to determine if use of an unheated bubble humidifier for HFNC meets this standard. Methods: A HFNC (Westmed 0549) was attached to the bubble humidifier supplied with it (Westmed 0795) and experiments run at flows of run at 5, 10, and 15 L/min. The humidifier was filled with sterile water. To verify flow, a Citrix H4 flow meter was used to set a medical grade oxygen flow meter and the setup was allowed to reach steady state temperature. Then the Citrix H4 was removed the humidifier was weighed. After 5 h of continuous flow, the humidifier was weighted again. The delivered absolute humidity (mg/L) was calculated as water weight difference divided by delivered volume (flow × time). Each experiment was repeated once. Results: The absolute humidity decreased as flow increased (see Table). At 5 L/min the bubble humidifier met ISO standards. However, at flows of 10 and 15 L/min the humidifier did not meet the ISO standards. Conclusions: Humidity produced by an unheated bubble humidifier is only adequate at low flows but may not provide sufficient humidity at higher flows commonly used for HFNC.
Finite Element Based Stress Analysis of Graphite Component in High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor Core Using Linear and Nonlinear Irradiation Creep Models

Irradiation creep plays a major role in the structural integrity of the graphite components in high temperature gas cooled reactors. Finite element procedures combined with a suitable irradiation creep model can be used to simulate the time-integrated structural integrity of complex shapes, such as the reactor core graphite reflector and fuel bricks. In the present work a comparative study was undertaken to understand the effect of linear and nonlinear irradiation creep on results of finite element based stress analysis. Numerical results were generated through finite element simulations of a typical graphite reflector.
Shell Structure in Clusters

Using jellium and pseudopotential models, it is possible to make realisticcalculations of the properties of small metal clusters. For simple metals, it is found that the electronic energy is a large fraction of the total energy of a cluster and can be dominant in determining the cluster size. Experimental mass abundance spectra show discontinuities which can be attributed to shell structure in the electronic energy levels.
Resonant Frequency Biofeedback Training to Increase Cardiac Variability: Rationale and Manual for Training

Heart rate and blood pressure, as well as other physiological systems, among healthy people, show a complex pattern of variability, characterized by multifrequency oscillations. There is evidence that these oscillations reflect the activity of homeostatic reflexes. Biofeedback training to increase the amplitude of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) maximally increases the amplitude of heart rate oscillations only at approximately 0.1 Hz. To perform this task people slow their breathing to this rate to a point where resonance occurs between respiratory-induced oscillations (RSA) and oscillations that naturally occur at this rate, probably triggered in part by baroreflex activity. We hypothesize that this type of biofeedback exercises the baroreflexes, and renders them more efficient. A manual is presented for carrying out this method. Supporting data are provided in Lehrer, Smetankin, and Potapova (2000) in this issue.
Lichen myxedematosus; differentiation from cutaneous myxedemas or mucoid states.

Lichen myxedematosus is a distinct entity that has not been recognized generally in the past. We wish to demonstrate that the condition has nothing to do with disturbances of the thyroid gland or other endocrine glands on the one hand or with papular or other forms of scleroderma on the other hand. Lichen myxedematosus, formerly referred to as “generalized localized” myxedema (1), occurs usually as a generalized lichenoid eruption, less frequently in discrete papular form or discrete lichenoid plaques and rarely as urticarial plaques. Histopatholog-ically, deposits of mucin occur in discrete papules or, less frequently, as diffuse deposits throughout the cutis, and in this regard only is the condition similar to cutaneous myxedematous (mucoid) states associated with disease of the thyroid or other endocrine disturbances.
Protein Sequencing in the Post-Genomic Era

The availability, in recent years, of the nucleotide sequences of entire genomes, has radically reshaped approaches to protein sequencing. When the entire genomic sequence for an organism is known, it is a relatively simple matter to identify all possible open reading frames and to deduce the sequences of the proteins encoded by them. Improved mass spectrometric methods, coupled with robotic sampling techniques are revolutionizing the sequencing and identification of proteins. This article discusses the use of techniques, such as Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) and ElectroSpray Ionization (ESI), in protein sequencing and identification.
Identification of children who may benefit from self-hypnosis at a pediatric pulmonary center

Background Emotional difficulties can trigger respiratory symptoms. Thus, children presenting with respiratory complaints may benefit from a psychological intervention. The purpose of this study was to define the proportion of patients referred to a Pediatric Pulmonary Center who may benefit from instruction in self-hypnosis, as a psychological intervention.
Effects of Pulsed Electric Fields on Physicochemical Properties and Microbial Inactivation of Carrot Juice

Carrot juice samples treated with pulsed electric fields (PEF) of electric field intensity of 25 kV/cm and treatment time of 144.6 μs (PEF1) and 433.8 μs (PEF2) and thermal pasteurization (TP) treatment of 90C for 1 min were evaluated for physicochemical properties and microbial inactivation. The PEF1 and PEF2 treated carrot juice retained higher amounts of ascorbic acid, α-carotene, β-carotene and lutein than the TP-treated carrot juice. The PEF-treated carrot juices were not significantly (P > 0.05) different in pH and °Brix compared to the control, while the TP-treated juices were significantly different in °Brix and total acidity compared to the control. The PEF2 was comparable with the TP for inactivation of aerobic bacteria and mold in carrot juice. Practical Applications Pulsed electric field (PEF) can be used as a nonthermal pasteurization method to inactivate microorganisms and enzymes in liquid food and it preserves the physiochemical and sensory properties, and nutritional value of liquid food. Our study showed that PEF treatment was more efficient in preserving some physicochemical and quality properties of carrot juice compared to conventional heat pasteurization.
On sequences of consecutive quadratic nonresidues

Abstract A smaller bound for the length of sequences of consecutive nonresidues, namely p +( 3 4 ) 2 p 1 4 +2, is shown by purely elementary methods to hold for all primes p.
Estradiol regulates markers of synaptic plasticity in the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus and amygdala of female rats.

Abstract Ovarian hormones act in multiple brain regions to modulate specific behaviors and emotional states. For example, ovarian hormones promote female sexual receptivity in the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMH) and modulate anxiety in the amygdala. Hormone-induced changes within the VMH include structural modifications, such as changes in dendritic spines, dendrite length and the number of synapses. In some situations, dendrite remodeling requires actin polymerization, which depends on phospho-deactivation of the enzyme cofilin, or the ionotropic AMPA-type glutamate receptors, especially the GluA1 and GluA2 subunits. The present experiments used immunohistochemistry to test the hypothesis that ovarian hormone-induced neural plasticity in the VMH and amygdala involves the regulation of phospho-cofilin, GluA1 and GluA2. These proteins were assessed acutely after estradiol administration (0.5, 1.0 and 4.0 h), as well as three days after hormone treatment. Both brain regions displayed rapid (4.0 h or less) and transient estradiol-induced increases in the level of phospho-cofilin. At the behaviorally relevant time point of three days, differential changes in AMPA receptor subunits were observed. Using Golgi impregnation, the effect of estradiol on amygdala dendrites was examined. Three days after estradiol treatment, an increase in the length of dendrites in the central nucleus of the amygdala was observed. Thus, estradiol initiates structural changes in dendrites in both the VMH and amygdala associated with an early phospho-deactivation of cofilin, followed by dynamic, brain region-specific changes in AMPA receptor composition.
Aneurysms of the Previously Ligated Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Five cases of postoperative aneurysm of the ductus arteriosus are presented and discussed, together with 12 from the literature. The ductus had become recanalized in all 17 patients. Infection was present in 11, having existed preoperatively in only two of these cases. The evidence suggests that contamination at the time of surgery was responsible for the infection in at least seven cases.
MESSA: MEta-Server for protein Sequence Analysis

Computational sequence analysis, that is, prediction of local sequence properties, homologs, spatial structure and function from the sequence of a protein, offers an efficient way to obtain needed information about proteins under study. Since reliable prediction is usually based on the consensus of many computer programs, meta-severs have been developed to fit such needs. Most meta-servers focus on one aspect of sequence analysis, while others incorporate more information, such as PredictProtein for local sequence feature predictions, SMART for domain architecture and sequence motif annotation, and GeneSilico for secondary and spatial structure prediction. However, as predictions of local sequence properties, three-dimensional structure and function are usually intertwined, it is beneficial to address them together. We developed a MEta-Server for protein Sequence Analysis (MESSA) to facilitate comprehensive protein sequence analysis and gather structural and functional predictions for a protein of interest. For an input sequence, the server exploits a number of select tools to predict local sequence properties, such as secondary structure, structurally disordered regions, coiled coils, signal peptides and transmembrane helices; detect homologous proteins and assign the query to a protein family; identify three-dimensional structure templates and generate structure models; and provide predictive statements about the protein's function, including functional annotations, Gene Ontology terms, enzyme classification and possible functionally associated proteins. We tested MESSA on the proteome of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. Manual curation shows that three-dimensional structure models generated by MESSA covered around 75% of all the residues in this proteome and the function of 80% of all proteins could be predicted. MESSA is free for non-commercial use at http://prodata.swmed.edu/MESSA/
Fantastic Truths, Compelling Lies: Radio Free Europe and the Response to the Slánský Trial in Czechoslovakia

This article examines the coverage by Radio Free Europe (RFE) of the show trial of Rudolf Slanský in 1952 and contrasts this coverage with documents on the response to the trial within Czechoslovakia. RFE aggressively portrayed the trial as a pack of lies and condemned its anti-Semitism as not authentically Czechoslovak. The response within Czechoslovakia was more much nuanced. Most publicly accepted the trial as valid and acted in ways that underscored that acceptance. Within this acceptance, however, they varied from the trial script and brought their own meanings to the story. Those meanings were not always ones that either RFE or Czechoslovak leaders would have recognised as true.
Alkyne-functionalized palladium nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterization, and electrocatalytic activity in ethylene glycol oxidation

Abstract 1-Octyne-stabilized palladium nanoparticles (PdHC8, core dia. 2.50 ± 0.28 nm) were prepared by a simple reduction procedure. FTIR studies showed that the self-assembly of 1-octyne onto the Pd nanoparticle surfaces involved the effective breaking of the terminal H C bonds and the formation of Pd–vinylidene interfacial linkages by a tautomeric rearrangement process. With this conjugated metal–ligand interfacial bond, the nanoparticles exhibited unique photoluminescence properties that were analogous to those of diacetylene derivatives. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis showed that there were about 150 ligands per nanoparticle, with an average footprint of ca. 13 A2 per capping ligand on the nanoparticle surface, consistent with a head-on configuration of the alkyne ligands on the Pd surface. Interestingly, the PdHC8 nanoparticles exhibited apparent electrocatalytic activity in the oxidation of ethylene glycol in alkaline media that was about twice that of commercial Pt/C, as manifested in cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric studies. Such an apparent improvement of the electrocatalytic activity was most probably ascribed to the partial removal of the alkyne capping ligands whereby the remaining molecules provided a relatively hydrophobic chemical environment and hence facilitated the removal of water generated from the oxidative dehydration reaction of ethylene glycol. Additionally, the enhanced electron density within the Pd metal cores as a result of the intraparticle charge delocalization between the particle-bound acetylene moieties might also facilitate the formation of Pd C bonds in Pd-[C2H3(OH)2]ads, which was presumed to be the rate-determining step in ethylene glycol oxidation on Pd surfaces.
Event-related brain potentials in boys at risk for alcoholism

Recent neurophysiological findings have demonstrated that abstinent chronic alcoholics manifest deficits in event-related brain potentials. To explore possible biological antecedents of alcoholism the present study examined boys at high risk for alcoholism. Event-related brain potentials were recorded from biological sons of alcoholic fathers and matched control boys. Differences in the P3 component of the potentials were obtained between the high-risk and control subjects.
Microbial Production of l-Threonine

l-Threonine producing α-amino-β-hydroxyvaleric acid resistant mutants were derived from E. coli K-12 with 3 x 10-5 frequency. One of mutants, strain β-101, accummulated maximum amount of l-threonine (1. 9 g/liter) in medium. Among isoleucine, methionine and lysine auxotrophs derived from E. coli K-12, only methionine auxotrophs produced l-threonine. In contrast, among isoleucine, methionine and lysine auxotrophs derived from β-101, l-threonine accumulation was generally enhanced in isoleucine auxotrophs. One of isoleucine auxotrophs, strain βI-67, produced maximum amount of l-threonine (4. 7 g/liter). Methionine auxotroph, βM-7, derived from β-101 produced 3.8 g/liter, and βIM-4, methionine auxotroph derived from β1-67, produced 6.1 g/liter, when it was cultured in 3% glucose medium supplemented with 100 μg/ml of l-isoleucine and l-methionine, respectively. These l-threonine productivities of E. coli mutants were discussed with respect to the regulatory mechanisms of threonine biosynthesis. A favourable f...
Will Low Rates of Return on Stocks Continue

This article is a follow-up to an analysis published in this Journal in 2000 that deals with the high level of market returns in the 1990s. Now we have the negative stock market returns in 2000 and 2001. While three years of negative stock market returns would be extremely unusual, a much more important issue for investors is the likelihood of lower expected returns for the future. We document that this is a function of the unprecedented decline in dividend yields. New probability analysis that focuses on the price appreciation component of total returns shows that a likelihood of earning the historical 11% compound annual average rate of return on stocks is not high when current dividend yields are considered. Instead, if low dividend yields continue, investors may need to adjust their expectations about expected returns on common stocks.
Lidar Observations of Mixed Layer Dynamics: Tests of Parameterized Entrainment Models of Mixed Layer Growth Rate

Ground based lidar measurements of the atmospheric mixed layer depth, the entrainment zone depth and the wind speed and wind direction were used to test various parameterized entrainment models of mixed layer growth rate. Six case studies under clear air convective conditions over flat terrain in central Illinois are presented. It is shown that surface heating alone accounts for a major portion of the rise of the mixed layer on all days. A new set of entrainment model constants was determined which optimized height predictions for the dataset. Under convective conditions, the shape of the mixed layer height prediction curves closely resembled the observed shapes. Under conditions when significant wind shear was present, the shape of the height prediction curve departed from the data suggesting deficiencies in the parameterization of shear production. Development of small cumulus clouds on top of the layer is shown to affect mixed layer depths in the afternoon growth phase.
Virtual wired transmission scheme using directional antennas to improve energy efficiency in wireless mobile ad-hoc networks

Energy efficiency improvement methods can be applied at different layers of the network architecture for mobile ad-hoc networks. There have been many research efforts on improving the performance parameters at physical, data link, and network layers. The properties of directional antennas have been exploited for better energy efficiency. Some of the properties include simultaneous multiple transmissions, lower interference levels, optimum channel access, and low overhead. This paper proposes a virtual wired transmission scheme with MAC and physical cross layer protocol using directional antennas to improve the performance characteristics of the system. Energy efficiency is the main focus of this paper and results obtained from MATLAB simulations have demonstrated the proposed scheme to be energy efficient.
Identification and quantitation of trenbolone in bovine tissue by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Abstract Identification and quantitation of trace amounts of trenbolone in bovine tissue by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-selected-ion monitoring (GC-MS-SIM) has been developed. Three-phase liquid-liquid extraction using a mixture of water-acetonitrile-dichloromethane-hexane was utilized for the sample extraction from tissue. Target compounds were extracted from the tissue into the acetonitrile layer. The residue from this extraction was then subjected to solid-phase extraction by C 18 and silica gel disposable cartridges using methanol-water and benzene-acetone as eluents. To overcome extensive matrix interferences, preparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic separation was used with an octadecyl-bonded column using methanol-water as mobile phase for sample clean-up prior to GC-MS analysis. A structural analogue of trenbolone, 19-nortestosterone, was chosen as the internal standard for quantitation by GC-MS. The sample was co-injected with N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide-1-(trimethylsilyl) imidazole (95:5, v/v) for flash heater derivatization. Identification and quantitation were simultaneously carried out by SIM of characteristic ions of the trimethylsilyl derivatives of trenbolone and 19-nortestosterone. The limit of detection for trenbolone and epitrenbolone was 0.5 ppb in muscle and liver tissue. A comparison of sensitivity and specificity between GC-MS under electron ionization in addition to positive- and negative-ion chemical ionization conditions using methane reagent gas is also discussed.
Transactive Memory Systems: A Mechanistic Analysis of Emergent Group Memory

Wegner, Giuliano, and Hertel (1985) defined the notion of a transactive memory system (TMS) as a group level memory system that “involves the operation of the memory systems of the individuals and the processes of communication that occur within the group (p. 191). Those processes are the collaborative procedures (“transactions”) by which groups encode, store, and retrieve information that is distributed among their members. Over the past 25+ years, the conception of a TMS has progressively garnered an increased interest among social and organizational psychologists, communication scholars, and management theorists (Ren & Argote The Academy of Management Annals 5(1): 189–229, 2011). But there remains considerable disagreement about how exactly Wegner’s appeal to group memory should be understood. My goal in this paper is contribute to this debate, by articulating more clearly the value of conceptualizing groups as TMSs. This value, I argue, consists in providing us with a blueprint for how to explain group memory in terms of collective information-processing mechanisms. Collective information-processing mechanisms are dependent on, and interact with, the brain-bound information-processing of individuals, but cannot be reduced to the latter. In my analysis, I lean on extant accounts of mechanistic explanation in the philosophy of science (Bechtel & Richardson 1993; Machamer, Darden, & Craver 2000; Wimsatt 2007) that have been used to analyze the explanatory practices of psychology and cognitive neuroscience (Bechtel 2008, Philosophical Psychology 22: 543–564, 2009). Based on my reconstruction of Wegner’s conceptualization of a TMS, I argue that the reality of emergent group cognition is compatible with its mechanistic explanation. More generally, my analysis shows that group cognition cannot be reduced to individual cognition, while avoiding the false dilemma between “wholism” and “nothing but-ism” which has hampered traditional construals of the “group mind” thesis (Allport 1968).