cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Receptors for the TGF-β superfamily: multiple polypeptides and serine/threonine kinases

Abstract Members of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily of peptide growth factors have profound effects on the growth and differentiation of many cell types. Insights into the poorly understood mechanisms of action of these ligands have come from the recent molecular cloning of two types of high-affinity receptors - type II and type III - for TGF-β superfamily members. The cell surface expression of the type III receptor, a membrane-bound proteoglycan, appears to modulate the binding of ligand to the type II receptor, which is a transmembrane serine/threonine kinase. These results provide evidence for interactions between different receptor types, and suggest that serine/threonine phosphorylation is an important element in TGF-β-induced signalling.
Protege Growth Themes Emergent in a Holistic, Undergraduate Peer-Mentoring Experience.

Two faculty members developed and implemented a successful, holistic, goal-oriented peer-mentoring project for two years at a midsize, urban university to enhance student success and retention. In year one, 12 juniors and seniors mentored 34 freshmen and sophomores; in year two, 14 upperclassmen mentored 40 underclassmen. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze goal-progress tracking data, postintervention survey data self-reported by proteges, and mentor journals. The following six themes emerged from this data analysis: academic skills and knowledge, career decision-making, connectedness to others, maturity, physical well-being, and aspiration. Findings advance our summary understanding of the context in which students may grow and develop because of holistic mentoring, understanding that may have value in informing the intelligent design of future mentoring experiences. Results also support program efficacy, from an overall standpoint as well as regarding improvements from the year one to year t...
Situationism versus Situationism

Most discussions of John Doris’s situationism center on what can be called descriptive situationism, the claim that our folk usage of global personality and character traits in describing and predicting human behavior is empirically unsupported. Philosophers have not yet paid much attention to another central claim of situationism, which says that given that local traits are empirically supported, we can more successfully act in line with our moral values if, in our deliberation about what to do, we focus on our situation instead of on our moral character. Call this prescriptive situationism. In this paper, we will point toward a previously unrecognized tension between these two situationist theses and explore some ways for the situationist to address it.
Disseminated cryptococcosis with meningitis, peritonitis, and cryptococcemia in a HIV-negative patient with cirrhosis: a case report

Introduction Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast that causes serious infections in immunocompromised populations. The majority of cases occur in HIV-infected individuals. Disseminated disease is uncommon, and very rarely includes peritonitis.
Towards planning with force constraints: on the mobility of bodies in contact

A configuration-space-based approach for analyzing the interactions and mobility of objects in quasi-static contact is described. This analysis is motivated by a class of articulated robot motion-planning problems that are not handled by current planning systems. Examples are a snake-like robot that crawls inside a tunnel by bracing against the tunnel walls, a limbed robot (analogous to a monkey) that climbs a trussed structure by pushing and pulling, and a dextrous robotic hand that moves its fingers along an object while holding it stationary. In these examples, one must plan the robot motion to satisfy high-level goals while maintaining quasistatic stability. Planning the hand-hold states (analogous to the hand-holds used by rock climbers between dynamically moving states) where the robot mechanism is at a static equilibrium is considered primarily. The results obtained are some of the first steps necessary to develop planning paradigms for this class of problems. Although the authors have the general class of quasistatic planning problems in mind, the authors use the language of grasping for discussion. >
Molecular basis of host epithelial cell recognition by Trichomonas vaginalis

Summary Parasitism of host epithelial cells by Trichomonas vaginalis is a highly specific event. Four trichomonad surface proteins (adhesins) with molecular masses of 65000 daltons (65kDa; AP65), 51 kDa (AP51), 33kDa (AP33), and 23 kDa (AP23) mediate the interaction of T. vaginalis with epithelial cells. Fresh isolates, when compared with long-term-grown isolates, had greater amounts of adhesins, which corresponded with increased levels of cytoadherence. Anti-adhesin antibodies reacted by immunobiol only with the respective protein and detected, by indirect immunofluore-scence, each adhesin on the parasite surface. These antibodies inhibited the binding of live parasites to epithelial cells and protected epithelial cells from contact-dependent cytotoxicity. The pretreatment of epithelial cells with a preparation of purified adhesins also blocked trichomonal cytoadherence. Moreover, HeLa cells possessed molecules which recognized and bound to adhesins on nitrocellulose blots.
Failure to adequately use positive control data leads to poor quality mouse lymphoma data assessments

The mouse lymphoma L5178Y/TK1/–-3.7.2C mutagenesis assay (MLA) is widely used to identify chemicals that are capable of inducing mutational damage (Mitchell et al., 1997). Mutants detected in the assay form a bimodal distribution based on colony size. More than two decades of research demonstrate that both small and large colony trifluorothymidine-resistant (TFTr) colonies are ‘true mutants’ and that the assay detects the broad spectrum of genetic damage known to be involved in the etiology of cancer (Moore-Brown et al., 1981; Moore et al., 1985b; Applegate et al., 1990; Hozier et al., 1992). Because the assay detects mutagens that act through a variety of mechanisms, the MLA is specifically recommended by regulatory agencies for inclusion in hazard identification screening for environmental chemicals and pharmaceuticals (Dearfield et al., 1991; ICH3, 1996). Because of the ability of the MLA to detect both point mutations and chromosomal mutations, it would be expected that some chemicals would be positive in the MLA but not in the Salmonella assay, which only detects chemicals capable of inducing point mutations. In addition, it would be expected that the MLA would yield mutant frequencies (including the spontaneous background mutant frequency) far higher than those characteristic of other gene mutation assays, such as hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase deficiency and ouabain resistance, which by their nature are unable to detect the same broad spectrum of mutational events (Moore et al., 1989). In fact, mutant frequencies .1000310–6 have been induced by a number of chemicals (Clive et al., 1979; Moore et al., 1989; Backer et al., 1990; Moore and Doerr, 1990). A properly conducted MLA includes the demonstration that both small and large colony mutants have been optimally quantitated. This is accomplished by the appropriate use of the positive control. Chemicals that have been successfully used as positive controls (in the absence of exogenous activation) include methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and hycanthone. Mutant frequencies for these chemicals (and colony sizing information) were published in
Treatment of drug-eluting stent restenosis

We have come a long way since the introduction of intracoronary stents, but our early enthusiasm with drugeluting stents (DES) has been tempered by the realization that restenosis has not been completely eradicated. In-stent restenosis (ISR) after DES implantation is much less frequent than that after bare-metal stents (BMS), but it is not less puzzling. Much research has been devoted to the pathophysiology and treatment of ISR in the BMS era, but very little is known about ISR with DES. The report by Cosgrave et al is timely and, together with previous reports, provides valuable clinical data and reassurance on the safety of repeated DES using either the same or a different platform in patients who failed initial DES therapy. It took us more than a decade to recognize that mechanical approaches to maintain lumen enlargement were too simplistic to combat the complex biological process of restenosis. As a result, new sophisticated antiproliferative strategies targeting cell cycle division, namely, DES, became mainstream percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Given the properties of these devices that release potent antiproliferative agents, one should expect different biological mechanisms of restenosis after DES. Understanding the pathophysiology of DES ISR is of paramount importance to establish effective therapeutic and, more important, preventive strategies. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of pathophysiology data on DES ISR. We and others (Y Oikawa, personal communication) have found heterogeneous cellular composition of human DES restenotic tissue, which varied from predominantly smooth muscle cell composition, similar to BMS ISR, to T-lymphocyte
Application of the NFPA 654 dust layer thickness criteria—recognizing the hazard

This article is an overview of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 654 layer thickness criteria, including the 2011 Tentative Interim Amendment, and potential misinterpretations that could result in failure to recognize the hazard. Potential misinterpretations include allowing excessive floor area coverage, failure to account for layers thicker than the threshold, and failure to account for layers on equipment. The thickness criteria are applied to real-life example situations, illustrating application of the equations. Practical guidance is provided for establishing an initial housekeeping plan, monitoring accumulation, and documenting compliance for both existing and new installations. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2012
Representations of Apartheid and Resistance in Documentary Film

Although there has been a surge of interest in South African cinema studies since the end of apartheid, relatively little has been written on documentary film and apartheid era resistance. During the apartheid era, documentary film was used to capture both the atrocities of apartheid and resistance to it. These films not only created a historical record of events in South Africa, but they also became important political tools in mobilizing support against the apartheid regime. In the post-apartheid era, the anti-apartheid movement remains a popular theme in documentary film, serving as a site for reflecting on and reclaiming history. This article provides an overview of apartheid and resistance in documentary films produced both during and after apartheid, and suggests how these films can broaden our understanding of South African history and be used as guideposts for addressing some of the challenges that face South Africa today.
Family group decision making: A propensity score analysis to evaluate child and family services at baseline and after 36-months

Abstract Family group decision making (FGDM) has been increasingly adopted as a decision making strategy in child welfare agencies, although little research exists on how FGDM facilitates connections to services for children and families. This study utilizes 36 months of nationally-representative data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) to evaluate the impact of FGDM meetings on children and families' services. Specifically, the study sample consists of 3220 children referred due to child maltreatment who were residing at home during the initial study interview, including 325 children who experienced FGDM meetings during the initial placement or planning assessment. Propensity score matching was used to generate a comparison group of non-FGDM cases, which aimed to mitigate the factors contributing to FGDM selection bias. Analysis using the matched comparison group showed that around the time of the initial case assessment a higher percentages of children who experienced FGDM meetings than those who had not experienced FGDM were connected with some services, specifically parenting services, children's counseling services, and mental health treatment for parents. After 36 months, however, receipt of child and family services was not statistically different between children who experienced FGDM meetings and those who did not.
A novel lab-on-a-tube for multimodal monitoring of patients with traumatic brain injury

A novel lab-on-a-tube (LOT) integrated with spirally-rolled pressure, temperature, oxygen and glucose microsensors has been designed, fabricated, and characterized for multimodal neuromonitoring of patients with traumatic brain injury and other acute neurosurgical and neurological disorders. While it is capable of measuring various crucial physiological parameters in real-time continuous formats, the LOT if placed in the lateral ventricle of the brain, can also lower the elevated intracranial pressure by draining cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A customized signal conditioning circuit and monitor have been developed to record and display the measured data. The newly developed system is capable of reliably monitoring physiological and metabolic parameters in CSF for at least up to 5 days. The device represents a very significant advance in the technology of neuromonitoring.
Low‐temperature plasma‐assisted processes for fabrication of SiO2/Si heterostructures

In the conventional high-temperature thermal oxidation and rapid thermal oxidation processes used to fabricate commercial SiO2/Si structures at ∼850–1050°C, the SiO2/Si interface and the bulk oxide are formed at the same time. We have developed a low-temperature process for the formation of SiO2/Si structures at 200–300°C that separately controls and optimizes the properties of the SiO2/Si interface and the bulk SiO2. This has been accomplished by separating interface formation by plasma-associated oxidation from bulk oxide plasma-assisted deposition. The oxidation step (i) removes residual C contamination from the Si surface, (ii) prevents N incorporation at the interface from the O atom source gas N2O and (iii) forms an oxide layer ∼0.6 nm thick and an SiO2/Si interface with a trap density, Dit ≈(1–4) × 1010 cm−2 eV−1. This type of process has also been extended to the deposition of multilayer oxide–nitride–oxide dielectrics.
The Incidence and Causes of Death in a Follow-up Study of Individuals with Haemoglobin AS and AA

A cohort of 574 black Adults (mean age 47 years with a range of 28-73 years) with sickle cell trait (haemoglobin AS) which had been age and sex matched with 1148 controls (haemoglobin AA) was monitored for 7 years. We found no evidence of excess mortality or differential causes of mortality between cases and controls. There were no case deaths related to kidney disease, splenic infarcts, or pregnancy. Reports in the literature have been inconsistent with regard to the health effects of sickle cell trait. These findings suggest that discrimination against trait carriers in terms of life insurance premiums and some job opportunities are unjustified.
Surface engineering along the close-packed direction of SrTiO3

We have investigated the effects of wet etching with a 3 : 1 mixture of HCl : HNO3 and of annealing at 8508C on the surface morphology of [1 1 1]-oriented SrTiO3 single crystals. Atomic force microscopy is used to demonstrate that the surface morphology is a strong function of both etching and annealing time. All surfaces have step heights equal to integral or half-integral multiples of the (1 1 1) interplanar spacing. However, step bunching, non-regular step heights, granularity, inhomogeneous surface morphology, and etch pits are observed on many surfaces. A combination of etching and annealing leads to surfaces that are free of these irregularities and are characterized by well-developed step
An Experimental Study of Children's Sensitivity to Mood in Music

This experiment tested children aged five and nine years in their abilities to perceive in music. The non-verbal response instrument used schematic faces arranged in a semantic differential format within each of Wedin's (1972) three musical mood dimensions. Twelve brief but complete classical music selections were used. Three public school elementary music educators acted as the criterion group. Involved in this study were 81 five-year-olds and 92 nine-year-olds. In addition to the age factor in the ability to perceive mood in music, other variables were examined, including gender, handedness, home musical environment, and socio-economic status. Age and handedness did not show significant single effects. Girls performed significantly better than boys at both age levels. Socio-economic status was revealed as a significant effect among the nine-year-olds. The presence of a home musical environment did show a significant effect.
Gonadotropin-Independent Proliferation of the Pale Type A Spermatogonia in the Adult Rhesus Monkey (Macaca mulatta)

The goal of the present study was to examine the relative roles of testosterone (T) and FSH in the proliferation and differentiation of pale type A (Ap) spermatogonia in the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). Twenty adult male monkeys were treated with daily injections of a GnRH-receptor antagonist, acyline, to suppress endogenous gonadotropin secretion during an experiment comprising three phases. Phase 1 established a chronic hypogonadotropic state marked by a profound decrease in testicular size. During phase 2, half the monkeys were implanted with T-filled capsules, and the other half received control implants. Treatment with T produced circulating T levels of approximately 15 ng/ml and normal testicular T content. At the end of phase 2, monkeys were fitted with indwelling i.v. catheters and housed in remote sampling cages for the final phase. During phase 3, five monkeys from the T- and non-T-treated groups were stimulated with recombinant human FSH. The remaining five monkeys from each group received an infusion of vehicle. On the last day of FSH or vehicle infusion, monkeys were bilaterally castrated after receiving an i.v. bolus of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). The BrdU labeling of Ap spermatogonia was robust in the hypogonadotropic group and was uninfluenced by treatment with T and FSH, either alone or in combination. In contrast, both T and FSH stimulated spermatogonial differentiation, and this effect was amplified by combined treatment. We conclude that marked Ap spermatogonial proliferation occurs constitutively and in a gonadotropin-independent manner and that differentiation of Ap into B spermatogonia is absolutely gonadotropin dependent and may be driven by either T or FSH.
Keswick and the East African Revival: An Historiographical Reappraisal

The history of the East African Revival has been understood predominantly from the perspective of British missionaries who were associated with the movement in the 1930s and 1940s. The most enduring of these narratives defined the revival by its relation to the English Keswick-influenced evangelicalism of the Western missionaries associated with the revival. This bias can be observed not only in the basic narrative of the revival, but also in the missionaries’ definition of ‘revival’, which served to exclude from considerations related groups that did not meet the missionaries’ standards. Subsequent historians and anthropologists have largely followed the lead of these initial missionary reporters of the revival. This has resulted in a historiography that conceives the movement primarily in its relationship to European missionaries in general and conservative British evangelicalism in particular. Consequently, significant dimensions of the revival’s impact upon late colonial East Africa have been neglected, such as the movement’s relationship to pre-Christian African religions, late colonial politics, African-language literature and literacy, and other contemporary movements of spiritual renewal. Investigation into such topics is only beginning to emerge with regard to the revival movement. What these varied studies indicate is that the history of the revival is best understood not in its relation to English evangelicalism, but rather as a Christian movement that was shaped by African hands, infused with African life, and carried with an African beat. It is, after all, an African story.
Emerging technologies in control engineering

Provides an overview of emerging technologies that are expected to become major areas of application for control systems technology. The technologies that were selected were chosen because of their importance (especially in economic terms) and because of their relevance to the field of control. They are: intelligent vehicle highway systems; semiconductor manufacturing; mechatronics; and microelectromechanical systems. >
A Massively Parallel Sequencing Approach Uncovers Ancient Origins and High Genetic Variability of Endangered Przewalski's Horses

The endangered Przewalski's horse is the closest relative of the domestic horse and is the only true wild horse species surviving today. The question of whether Przewalski's horse is the direct progenitor of domestic horse has been hotly debated. Studies of DNA diversity within Przewalski's horses have been sparse but are urgently needed to ensure their successful reintroduction to the wild. In an attempt to resolve the controversy surrounding the phylogenetic position and genetic diversity of Przewalski's horses, we used massively parallel sequencing technology to decipher the complete mitochondrial and partial nuclear genomes for all four surviving maternal lineages of Przewalski's horses. Unlike single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing usually affected by ascertainment bias, the present method is expected to be largely unbiased. Three mitochondrial haplotypes were discovered—two similar ones, haplotypes I/II, and one substantially divergent from the other two, haplotype III. Haplotypes I/II versus III did not cluster together on a phylogenetic tree, rejecting the monophyly of Przewalski's horse maternal lineages, and were estimated to split 0.117–0.186 Ma, significantly preceding horse domestication. In the phylogeny based on autosomal sequences, Przewalski's horses formed a monophyletic clade, separate from the Thoroughbred domestic horse lineage. Our results suggest that Przewalski's horses have ancient origins and are not the direct progenitors of domestic horses. The analysis of the vast amount of sequence data presented here suggests that Przewalski's and domestic horse lineages diverged at least 0.117 Ma but since then have retained ancestral genetic polymorphism and/or experienced gene flow.
Efficient asynchronous memory copy operations on multi-core systems and I/OAT

Bulk memory copies incur large overheads such as CPU stalling (i.e., no overlap of computation with memory copy operation), small register-size data movement, cache pollution, etc. Asynchronous copy engines introduced by Intelpsilas I/O Acceleration Technology help in alleviating these overheads by offloading the memory copy operations using several DMA channels. However, the startup overheads associated with these copy engines such as pinning the application buffers, posting the descriptors and checking for completion notifications, limit their overlap capability. In this paper, we propose two schemes to provide complete overlap of memory copy operation with computation by dedicating the critical tasks to a single core in a multi-core system. In the first scheme, MCI (Multi-Core with I/OAT), we offload the memory copy operation to the copy engine and onload the startup overheads to the dedicated core. For systems without any hardware copy engine support, we propose a second scheme, MCNI (Multi-Core with No I/OAT) that onloads the memory copy operation to the dedicated core. We further propose a mechanism for an application-transparent asynchronous memory copy operation using memory protection. We analyze our schemes based on overlap efficiency, performance and associated overheads using several micro-benchmarks and applications. Our microbenchmark results show that memory copy operations can be significantly overlapped (up to 100%) with computation using the MCI and MCNI schemes. Evaluation with MPI-based applications such as IS-B and PSTSWM-small using the MCNI scheme show up to 4% and 5% improvement, respectively, as compared to traditional implementations. Evaluations with data-centers using the MCI scheme show up to 37% improvement compared to the traditional implementation. Our evaluations with gzip SPEC benchmark using application-transparent asynchronous memory copy show a lot of potential to use such mechanisms in several application domains.
Low-complexity rate-distortion optimal macroblock mode selection and motion estimation for MPEG-like video coders

Rate-distortion optimization can significantly improve encoder performance in MPEG-like video coding applications. Nevertheless, mode selection and motion estimation (ME) in a rate-distortion optimized setting can entail a prohibitive computational cost. In this paper, we propose a macroblock mode selection algorithm by employing computationally-efficient, yet highly-effective rate-distortion models. We also consider joint optimization of the ME with the mode selection. With our extensive analysis on various video sequences, we show that the proposed algorithm provides significant improvements with negligible increase in overall computational load. With the proposed method, we achieve 3.13, 1.78, and 1.64 dB peak signal-to-noise ratio gains over TM5 on the average, at the bit rates 2, 4, and 6 Mb/s, respectively, with CCIR-601 video. (More information about the DSP/VLSI implementation of the proposed algorithm may be found online at: http://www.ece.gatech.edu/research/labs/MCCL).
Learn $^{++}$ .NC: Combining Ensemble of Classifiers With Dynamically Weighted Consult-and-Vote for Efficient Incremental Learning of New Classes

We have previously introduced an incremental learning algorithm Learn++, which learns novel information from consecutive data sets by generating an ensemble of classifiers with each data set, and combining them by weighted majority voting. However, Learn++ suffers from an inherent ldquooutvotingrdquo problem when asked to learn a new class omeganew introduced by a subsequent data set, as earlier classifiers not trained on this class are guaranteed to misclassify omeganew instances. The collective votes of earlier classifiers, for an inevitably incorrect decision, then outweigh the votes of the new classifiers' correct decision on omeganew instances-until there are enough new classifiers to counteract the unfair outvoting. This forces Learn++ to generate an unnecessarily large number of classifiers. This paper describes Learn++ .NC, specifically designed for efficient incremental learning of multiple new classes using significantly fewer classifiers. To do so, Learn ++.NC introduces dynamically weighted consult and vote (DW-CAV) , a novel voting mechanism for combining classifiers: individual classifiers consult with each other to determine which ones are most qualified to classify a given instance, and decide how much weight, if any, each classifier's decision should carry. Experiments on real-world problems indicate that the new algorithm performs remarkably well with substantially fewer classifiers, not only as compared to its predecessor Learn++, but also as compared to several other algorithms recently proposed for similar problems.
Catechol 2,3-dioxygenase and other meta-cleavage catabolic pathway genes in the ‘anaerobic’ termite gut spirochete Treponema primitia

Microorganisms have evolved a spectacular diversity of metabolisms, some of which allow them to overcome environmental constraints, utilize abundant but inaccessible resources, and drive nutrient cycling in various ecosystems. The termite hindgut microbial community is optimized to metabolize wood and in recent years, the in situ physiological and ecological functions of community members have been researched. Spirochetes are abundant in the termite gut and herein, putative aromatic meta-cleavage pathway genes typical of aerobic pseudomonads were located in genomes of homoacetogenic termite hindgut “anaerobes,” Treponema primitia str. ZAS-1 and ZAS-2. Phylogenetic analyses suggest the T. primitia catechol 2,3-dioxygenase and several other essential meta-pathway genes were acquired from an α-proteobacterium in the distant past to augment several genes T. primitia acquired from anaerobic firmicutes that do not directly catabolize aromatics but can contribute to the final pathway steps. Further, transcripts for each meta-pathway gene were expressed in strictly anaerobic cultures of T. primitia str. ZAS-2 indicative of constitutive pathway expression. Also, the addition of catechol + O_2 to T. primitia liquid cultures resulted in the transient accumulation of trace amounts of the yellow ring cleavage product, hydroxymuconic semialdehyde. This is the first evidence of aromatic ring cleavage in the phylum (division) Spirochetes. Results also support a possible role for T. primitia in termite hindgut O_2/lignin aromatic monomer metabolism. Potential O_2-dependent yet non-respiratory microbial metabolisms have heretofore been overlooked and warrant further investigation. These metabolisms could describe the degradation of plant-derived and other aromatics in microoxic environments, and contribute significantly to carbon turnover.
Microfluidics for in vivo imaging of neuronal and behavioral activity in Caenorhabditis elegans

The nematode C. elegans is an excellent model organism for studying behavior at the neuronal level. Because of the organism's small size, it is challenging to deliver stimuli to C. elegans and monitor neuronal activity in a controlled environment. To address this problem, we developed two microfluidic chips, the 'behavior' chip and the 'olfactory' chip for imaging of neuronal and behavioral responses in C. elegans. We used the behavior chip to correlate the activity of AVA command interneurons with the worm locomotion pattern. We used the olfactory chip to record responses from ASH sensory neurons exposed to high-osmotic-strength stimulus. Observation of neuronal responses in these devices revealed previously unknown properties of AVA and ASH neurons. The use of these chips can be extended to correlate the activity of sensory neurons, interneurons and motor neurons with the worm's behavior.
Group Narrative Therapy for Women With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Women with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often struggle with the developmental challenges of adulthood and ADHD-related problems. The authors provide specific clinical interventions from a narrative-based group approach to help women with ADHD understand their symptoms, create strength-based narratives, and apply these narratives to the developmental tasks of early adulthood.
Special Functions: Bessel Functions and Confluent Hypergeometric Functions

In this chapter, we discuss the confluent hypergeometric equation and the related Bessel and Whittaker equations. The Bessel equation is important in mathematical physics because it arises from the Laplace equation when there is cylindrical symmetry. The confluent hypergeometric equation is obtained when we start with a second-order differential equation whose only singularities are regular singularities at 0, b , and ∞; we let b → ∞. The resulting equation has ∞ as an irregular singular point obtained from a confluence of two regular singularities. Thus, the confluent equation can be derived from the hypergeometric equation by changing the independent variable x to x/b and letting b → ∞. The solutions are 1 F 1 functions, and some properties of these functions are limits of properties of 2 F 1 functions. However, it is often easier to derive the results directly than to justify the limiting procedures. Whittaker transformed the confluent equation to one in which the coefficient of the first derivative is zero. Solutions of this equation are called Whittaker functions. We find their series and integral representations and their asymptotic behavior and then give some important examples such as the error function and the parabolic cylinder function. The Bessel equation can be derived from a particular Whittaker equation and can be solved to obtain the Bessel functions to which we devote a good portion of this chapter. These functions are also important for their role in Fourier transforms in several variables.
Climate vulnerability as a relational concept

Abstract Within the rapidly expanding literature on the human dimensions of climate change, the ways in which the term vulnerability is used have proliferated. With the increasing influence of the concepts of adaptation and social resilience, there has been the tendency to treat vulnerability as a characteristic of individuals or social groups. In this respect, various quantitative measures of poverty are used as indicators of vulnerability. These approaches run counter to approaches that embrace context and most importantly the social relations that shape the multidimensionality of vulnerability. This paper engages these different viewpoints by juxtaposing the wealth trajectories of the members of 54 households in western Niger from 1984–1994 with an understanding of the changing social relations among these individuals gained from surveys and open-ended interviews of household members. Data analysis shows that poverty alone is an incomplete measure of an individual or household’s vulnerability to loss due not only to the randomness of biophysical hazard but also to different obligations and entitlements attached to wealth. Shifts in wealth following the historic drought of 1984, were more related to longer-term changes in social relations tied to recurrent drought during and before the study period than to the 1984 “trigger” itself. Women and junior men gained wealth relative to senior men. The gains in wealth among women do not reflect their lower vulnerability compared to senior men but rather, their reactions to address their vulnerable positions. In this way, measures of poverty, uninformed by an understanding the changing qualitative nature of social relations, are poor measures of vulnerability in the Sahelian region.
Environmental objections to the PAVE PAWS radar system: a scientific review.

Abstract Adair, R. K. Environmental Objections to the PAVE PAWS Radar System: A Scientific Review. Radiat. Res. 159, 128–134 (2003). As part of our continental defense system, the United States Air Force has operated a radar system, known generally by the label PAVE PAWS, off of Cape Cod, MA since 1978. Some populated areas in the vicinity of the system are subject to a low level of background radiofrequency radiation from the system, and local citizens' groups have expressed concern that this radiofrequency radiation may affect their health. These concerns have been fueled by presentations and letters by Dr. R. A. Albanese, an applied mathematician at the Air Force Research Laboratory, who has proposed standards by which that PAVE PAWS radiofrequency radiation which is incident on populations should be judged. I discuss those standards that are sufficiently well defined to be subject to analysis and show that they are not based on sound quantitative reasoning.
Ethics in Radiological Practice: The Story Behind the Image

In an era when new technologies and demands for increased clinical productivity have rendered direct contact between radiologists and patients less frequent than ever, it is important for radiologists to pause from time to time and consider the relationship between radiologic iages and the lives of the patients they depict.
Tort Claims Analysis in the Veterans Health Administration for Purposes of Quality Improvement

The authors analyzed a torts claims database with an eye toward its use in patient safety and quality improvement work in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Between fiscal years 1989 and 2000, 11,066 claims were resolved: 53% were denied, 23% were settled, and 24% resulted in filed lawsuits. Settlements and payments totaled over one-half billion dollars. Claims that were denied or settled were resolved much quicker than those resulting in lawsuits. Claims settled before a lawsuit was filed resulted in much lower payments ($78,998) than those settled after a lawsuit was filed ($175,544) or those found for the plaintiff ($399,696). Over time, the VHA has experienced more claims and higher average payments, but a stable number of payments. Medication, surgery, treatment and diagnosis related allegations of negligence accounted for 81 percent of eventual payments. When comparing geographic regions, there was substantial variation in the number of claims per patient and per physician. Although the total amount of money spent on tort claims payments is small as a percentage of the total VHA budget and tort claims are rare, our findings suggest three quality improvement uses of tort claims analysis: use of data for internal benchmarking of torts claims processing, closer examination of precipitants of the claims, and use of the database to evaluate specific quality improvement efforts.
Chronic cervical spinal cord injury and autonomic hyperreflexia in rats

Although it is well established that patients with cervical spinal cord injury are prone to acute, marked, hypertensive episodes, i.e., autonomic hyperreflexia, the specific mechanisms mediating this sometimes-fatal phenomenon are not completely understood. In this report, we describe the preparation and characterization of a rat model of chronic cervical spinal cord injury and autonomic hyperreflexia. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were chronically instrumented with arterial, venous, and gastric catheters. Beginning the first day after a complete cervical spinal transection (CST) and continuing for 1 wk, acute hypertensive responses to a modest increase of urinary bladder pressure (0-20 mmHg) were studied. Mean arterial pressure increased 25.9 +/- 4.8 mmHg during bladder distension the first day after CST. This response was not significantly different 3, 5, and 7 days after CST (overall average = 18.0 +/- 2.3 mmHg). The pressor response to bladder distension was completely abolished by intravesical lidocaine and autonomic ganglionic blockade (atropine + hexamethonium). Responses to bladder distension were not observed after the administration of chloralose anesthesia. We conclude that after cervical spinal transection the rat exhibits autonomic hyperreflexia similar to that seen in humans with spinal injury. Furthermore, autonomic hyperreflexia is completely established within 24 h after CST in the rat. Finally, some spinal autonomic reflexes are suppressed by chloralose anesthesia in the rat.
An analysis of the influence of grain boundary strength on microstructure dependent fracture in polycrystalline tungsten

This work examines the influence of changes in grain boundary (GB) strength on microstructure dependent crack propagation in polycrystalline tungsten (W). The property of focus is brittleness index (BI) originally introduced by Evans and Marshall in 1976 and 1979, respectively, used in order to quantify the extent of brittleness of a material. In an earlier work, GBs of Ni-doped polycrystalline W have been characterized for embrittlement using ab-initio quantum mechanical simulations as a function of Ni atomic volume fraction and GB thickness. This work focuses on quantifying the influence of GB strength on microstructure dependent crack propagation. Continuum mechanical GB strength properties and effective W grain properties are derived from ab-initio simulation based stress–strain curves. The crack propagation simulations when GBs are considered of finite width are based on an extended finite element (XFEM) framework. Simulations that consider GBs of infinitesimal width due to mesh resolution issues are based on a combined XFEM-cohesive finite element model that employs cohesive elements at GBs. Analyses of crack propagation through finite width GBs focus on understanding the role of square root of length scale dimension in the original BI formulation. Based on analyses of crack propagation through finite width GBs oriented at angles varying from $$0^{\circ }\,\hbox {to}\,90^{\circ }$$ with respect to advancing crack, a quantitative criterion based on a failure index which predicts crack propagation path in polycrystalline W is proposed and examined.
Estimating Willingness to Pay to Protect Acequia Irrigation and Culture Lessons from San Miguel County, New Mexico

Traditional gravity fed irrigation systems in Hispano communities in New Mexico, USA, are referred to as acequias. Water scarcity is currently motivating negotiations between acequias and municipalities over sharing agreements. Research on willingness to pay to protect and maintain acequias is still scarce. These valuation data could be helpful to improve the quality of water resources decision making and therefore rural development strategies in this region, which is relatively poor compared to the US average. Data from an open-ended CVM survey are used to examine WTP for a program designed to strengthen and perpetuate irrigation and culture on the acequias of El Rio de las Gallinas, in rural northeastern New Mexico. Results indicate that the community supports the program in general, with higher levels of support among rural residents and Anglos. Keywords: Contingent Valuation Method, acequia irrigation, New Mexico, benefit cost analysis
Study of the effect of hydrogen on Pt supported Nanoporous Carbon derived from Polyfurfuryl alcohol

Platinum supported on nanoporous carbon (NPC) is promising candidate for using as electrodes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Performance of the anode of a fuel cell is markedly influenced by the efficiency of the splitting of hydrogen atoms by platinum and the transference of the produced protons to the carbon support (spillover process). Consequently a better understanding of these elemental processes could prompt the improvement of the materials used. With this aim, a series of Pt/NPC samples varying the metallic content were studied by electron spin resonance (ESR) under controlled gas environment. This spectroscopic tool is especially suitable for the investigation of processes that involve transference of electrons. In the present case, all materials studied, including bare carbon, showed a very narrow signal (Hpp=1.5–3 gauss) at g=2.0028±0.0002 after activation in vacuum at 500–C. In the case of the pure carbon and for the samples with lower platinum content (lower than 0.2 wt%) signals are significantly asymmetric, and their intensity is scarcely affected by the introduction of hydrogen up to 500°C. In contrast the spin concentration experiences a significant increment when the samples with platinum loading comes in contact with hydrogen at temperatures in the 300–500°C range. Although the centres originating these signals are located in the carbon matrix, the present results emphasize the importance of platinum for hydrogen activation and electron transference.
Resource Allocation Behavior in Conventional Channels

This exploratory study assesses the impact of variables associated with a financial portfolio model (marginal returns, growth, synergy, and uncertainty) and characteristics of the channel relations...
Failure rate and complications associated with the use of spinal catheters for the management of inadvertent dural puncture in the parturient: a retrospective comparison with re-sited epidural catheters.

AbstractObjective To report on the failure rate of spinal catheters placed following inadvertent dural puncture (IDP) compared with re-sited epidural catheters in the obstetric population.Research design and methods Patients who experienced IDP during epidural or combined spinal epidural placement with 17 or 18 gauge Tuohy needles for labor analgesia between 2003 and 2014 were identified using our post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) database. Patients were categorized into two groups: those who had spinal catheters inserted and those who had epidural catheters re-sited.Main outcome measure Failure rate associated with spinal or re-sited epidural catheters (defined as need for repeat block or alternative analgesic modality). Secondary outcomes were incidence of PDPH, need for epidural blood patch (EBP), and adverse events.Results A total of 109 patients were included in the final analysis; 79 ultimately had spinal catheters and 30 ultimately had re-sited epidural catheters. There were no differences betwee...
EEG Epileptiform Discharges in “Healthy” Children

Researchers from Helios Klinikum Wuppertal, Germany, analyzed the prevalence of epileptiform discharges in digitally recorded EEG (DEEG) of 382 healthy children (226 male, 156 female) ages 6-13 years, and compared the data to those of previously published paper analog recordings.
Accuracy of venous thromboembolism assessment and compliance to prophylaxis in a tertiary care center

Background Proper assessment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk level in hospitalized patients is vital to providing adequate prophylaxis. Clinical decision support (CDS) tools with electronic me...
Cooperative Restrain Method for Tie-line Power Fluctuation Based on Distributed Model Prediction Control

Due to comparatively independent control on tie-line power fluctuation by automatic generation control in regional control departure region,it may not realize fast control on tie-line power fluctuation by coordination of each automatic generation control.Therefore,on the basis of distributed model prediction control theory,a kind of cooperative restrain method for tie-line power fluctuation by regional automatic generation control.This method was based on establishment of DMPC model for active power and frequency of regional interacted system.By means of solving in prediction control period,it was able to restrain Nash equilibrium control of tie-line power fluctuation in order to realize online optimization control coordination of each regional automatic generation control.Meanwhile,it was able to realize fast restrain on tie-line power fluctuation by rolling optimization of model prediction control.Simulation result indicated that this method was provided with good control effect,effectiveness and feasibility.
Computational Completeness of Interaction Machines and Turing Machines.

In the paper we prove in a new and simple way that Interaction machines are more powerful than Turing machines. To do that we extend the definition of Interaction machines to multiple interactive components, where each component may perform simple computation. The emerging expressiveness is due to the power of interaction and allows to accept languages not accepted by Turing machines. The main result that Interaction machines can accept arbitrary languages over a given alphabet sheds a new light to the power of interaction. Despite of that we do not claim that Interaction machines are complete. We claim that a complete theory of computer science cannot exist and especially, Turing machines or Interaction machines cannot be a complete model of computation. However complete models of computation may and should be approximated indefinitely and our contribution presents one of such attempts.
Structural modifications of bryostatin 2

Continuation of a structure/activity relationship study of the bryostatins was focused on bryostatin 2. Stepwise catalytic hydrogenation of bryostatin 2 gave the following results. Reduction of the side-chain diene system to saturated ester 2a (P388 cell line ED50 8.5 x 10(-3) micrograms/ml) did not significantly affect the murine P388 cell line inhibition by bryostatin 2. Further hydrogenation to hexahydro derivative 2b gave a reduced P388 ED50 of 5.1 x 10(-2) micrograms/ml. Conversion to the octahydrobryostatin 2c caused a further reduction of P388 cell line activity to ED50 2.9 x 10(-1) micrograms/ml. Other structural modifications of bryostatin 2 in respect to esterification at the C-7 position significantly affected the P388 lymphocytic leukemia cell line response. Each of the bryostatin 2 derivatives was also evaluated with respect to protein kinase C binding.