cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hippocampal metabolites in asthma and their implications for cognitive function.

Abstract Emerging research indicates that individuals with asthma have an increased risk of cognitive impairment, yet the associations of asthma with neural correlates of memory remain relatively unknown. The hippocampus is the predominant neural structure involved in memory, and alterations in the hippocampal metabolic profile are observed in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. We therefore hypothesized that individuals with asthma may have altered hippocampal metabolites compared to healthy controls. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) were used to compare hippocampal volume and metabolites of otherwise healthy adults with and without asthma (N = 40), and to study the association of these measures with cognitive function and asthma-related variables. Participants underwent 3-Tesla sMRI and 1H-MRS, with the volume of interest placed in the left hippocampus to measure levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), glutamate (Glu), creatine (Cr), and myo-inositol (MI), as indicators of neuronal viability, cellular activity, cellular energy reserve, as well as glial activation. Individuals with asthma had lower hippocampal NAA compared to healthy controls. For all participants, poorer cognitive function was associated with reduced NAA and Glu. For individuals with asthma, poorer cognitive function was associated with reduced disease control. Additionally, short-acting rescue bronchodilator use was associated with significantly lower NAA, and Glu, whereas inhaled corticosteroid use was related to significantly higher Cr and in tendency higher NAA and Glu. All findings controlled for left hippocampal volume, which was not different between groups. These findings highlight that asthma and/or its treatment may affect hippocampal chemistry. It is possible that the observed reductions in hippocampal metabolites in younger individuals with asthma may precede cognitive and hippocampal structural deficits observed in older individuals with asthma.
A comparison of LGBTQ youth and heterosexual youth in the child welfare system: Mental health and substance abuse occurrence and outcomes

Abstract Purpose LGBTQ youth enter the child welfare system often because they are at higher risk of experiencing child maltreatment compared to youth who are heterosexual (Friedman, Marshal, Guadamuz, Wei, Wong, Saewye, & Stall, 2011), and due to family rejection, which places them at higher risk of suicide, higher levels of depression and are more likely to use substances (Ryan, Huebner, Dias & Sanchez, 2009). Using national data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), this study had two purposes; first to examine mental health disparities among LGBTQ youth and their heterosexual peers who are involved in the child welfare system, and second to observe the effectiveness of systems of care with youth in child welfare and if any differences exist between LGBTQ youth and heterosexual youth. Methods Chi-square and logistic regression were used to analyze differences at intake between youth who identified as LGBT or Q and their heterosexual counterparts. Repeated linear mixed modeling was used to evaluate the outcomes and to compare the groups at fixed time points (intake, 6-months, and 12-months). Findings The study found LGBTQ youth had higher levels of suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, depression, and gender identity related problems compared to the heterosexual youth in child welfare. All youth in the study experienced significant improvement, further supporting the effectiveness of system of care approaches. Recommendations are also discussed.
Information Content of Wastewater Flowmeter Data before and during a Surcharge

AbstractWhen local sanitary sewers discharge to regional treatment systems, flow monitoring is performed for billing purposes, but the information content of these flow data is often overlooked. Wa...
Philosophy of Mathematics and Mathematics Education

In this paper we explore how the naturalistic perspective in philosophy of mathematics and the situative perspective in mathematics education, while on one level are at odds, might be reconciled by paying attention to actual mathematical practice and activity. We begin by examining how each approaches mathematical knowledge, and then how mathematical practice manifest itself in these distinct research areas and gives rise to apparently contrary perspectives. Finally we argue for a deeper agreement and a reconciliation in the perspectives based on the different projects of justification and explanation in mathematics.
Unified Coupled-Channels and Hauser-Feshbach Model Calculation for Nuclear Data Evaluation

We present an overview of the coupled-channels optical model and the Hauser-Feshbach theory code CoH$_3$, which focuses on the nuclear reaction calculations in the keV to tens of MeV region with special attention to the nuclear deformation. The code consists of three major sections that undertake the one-body potential mean-field theory, the coupled-channels optical model, and the Hauser-Feshbach statistical decay. There are other complementary segments to perform the whole nuclear reaction calculations, such as the direct/semidirect radiative capture process, pre-equilibrium process, and prompt fission neutron emission.
Current status of lipid emulsions in the prevention of intestinal failure-associated liver disease.

Purpose of reviewThe current review provides a summary of available lipid products and discusses current literature and the limitations to the use of various lipid products for treatment and prevention of intestinal failure-associated liver disease (IFALD) in pediatric patients dependent on parenter
Effect of oxidative stress on the antioxidant enzymes and pathological changes in piglets

The experiment was conducted to study the effect of oxidative stress on the antioxidant enzymes and pathological changes in piglets.Twenty four weanling pigs were allotted to three groups of 8 each.According to a single factorial experimental design,the pigs received diets with 5% of either a fresh(group 1 and group 3) or an oxidized fish oil(peroxidative value was 786.50 meqO2/kg before inclusion in the diet),at the begining of the experiment,pigs in group 3 received an intraperitoneal injection of diquat at 12 mg/kg of body weight.The results showed that the activities of antioxidant enzymes in the liver decreased,and the content of MDA in the body tissues increased,the villi height decreased and the crypt depth of the jejunum increased in group 2 and group 3.The jejunum and liver showed different degrees of pathological changes in oxidized fish oil and diquat group.Oxidized fish oil and diquat could induce oxidative stress of weanling pigs,and effectiveness of anterior is more obvious than posterior.
Shift work and long work hours and their association with chronic health conditions: A systematic review of systematic reviews with meta-analyses.

Background Previous reviews have demonstrated that shift work and long work hours are associated with increased risk for chronic conditions. However, these reviews did not comprehensively assessed the body of evidence, and some were not conducted in a systematic manner. A better understanding of the health consequences of shift work and long work hours will aid in creating policy and practice recommendations. This review revisits the epidemiologic evidence on the association of shift work and long work hours with chronic conditions with particular emphasis on assessing the quality of the evidence. Methods and findings We conducted a systematic review of systematic reviews with meta-analyses (SR-MA) that assessed the link between shift work or long work hours and chronic conditions (PROSPERO CRD42019122084). We evaluated the risk of bias of each SR-MA using AMSTAR v2 and assessed the overall evidence for each condition using the GRADE approach. We included 48 reviews covering cancers, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome and related conditions, pregnancy complications, depression, hypertension, and injuries. On average, only 7 of 16 AMSTAR items were fulfilled. Few SR-MAs had a registered protocol and nearly all failed to conduct a comprehensive search. We found moderate grade evidence linking shift work to breast cancer and long work hours to stroke. We found low grade evidence linking both shift work and long work hours with low to moderate increase in risk for some pregnancy complications and cardiovascular diseases. Low grade evidence also link long work hours and depression. Conclusions Moderate grade evidence suggest that shift work and long work hours increase the risk of breast cancer and stroke, but the evidence is unclear on other chronic conditions. There is a need for high-quality studies to address this gap. Stakeholders should be made aware of these increased risks, and additional screening and prevention should be considered, particularly for workers susceptible to breast cancer and stroke.
Investigating translated Chinese and its variants using machine learning

Translations are generally assumed to share universal features that distinguish them from texts that are originally written in the same language. Thus, we can argue that these translations constitute their own variety of a language, often called translationese. However, translations are also influenced by their source languages and thus show different characteristics depending on the source language. Consequently, we argue that these variants constitute different “dialects” of translations into the same target language. Studies using machine learning techniques on Indo-European languages have investigated the universal characteristics of translationese and how translations from various source languages differ. However, for typologically very different languages such as Chinese, there are only few corpus studies that tap into the intricate relation between translations and the originals, as well as into the relations among translations themselves. In this contribution, we investigate the following questions: (1) What are the characteristics of Chinese translationese, both in general and with respect to different source languages? (2) Can we find differences not only at the lexical but also on the syntactic level? and (3) Based on the characteristics found in the previous questions, which of the proposed laws and universals can we corroborate based on our evidence from Chinese? We use machine learning to operationalize determining the importance of different characteristics and comparing their importance for our Chinese dataset with characteristics previously reported in studies on English. In addition, our methodology allows us to add syntactic features, which have rarely been used to study translations into Chinese. Our results show that Chinese translations as a whole can be reliably distinguished from non-translations, even based on only five features. More interestingly, typological traces from the source languages can often be found in their translations, therefore creating what we call dialects of translationese. For instance, translations from two Altaic languages exhibit more noun repetition and less frequent use of pronouns. Additionally, some characteristics that are not discriminative for English work well for Chinese, possibly because the distance between Chinese and the source languages is greater than that in English studies.
Distribution of injected insulin and insulin-antibody complexes in normal and insulin-immunized animals

The distribution of insulin injected into normal rats and guinea pigs as the free hormone or as insulin-antibody complexes was studied by extraction of immunoreactive insulin and by following the fate of125I- or131I-labeled insulin in the plasma, liver, kidneys and spleens of the injected animals. Injected free hormone rapidly disappears from the plasma to accumulate transiently in the liver, and, to a greater extent, in the proximal convoluted tubules of the kidneys. When insulin-antibody complexes formedin vitro are injected, the hormone disappears more slowly from the plasma and concentrates in the liver and spleen where it can be demonstrated by autoradiography in reticulo-endothelial cells; little or none is found in the kidneys. After injection into insulin-immunized guinea pigs, the hormone disappears very slowly from the plasma and accumulates almost exclusively in the liver with no evidence of concentration by any particular cell type; little or none is found in the kidneys or spleen.
Low-valency gallium PAW for faster defect calculations in GaN using plane wave DFT

Abstract Using an automated optimization scheme, we generate a gallium projector augmented wave (PAW) data set with the 3d electrons treated as core electrons, in contrast to typical treatment of the 3d electrons as valence electrons. Treating the 3d electrons as core electrons reduces calculation sizes, enabling faster defect studies of GaN. We show that the results of defect calculations in GaN are not adversely affected by freezing the 3d electrons to create the new PAW. For all three point defects tested (gallium vacancy, gallium interstitial in the tetrahedral site, and gallium interstitial in the octohedral site), the defect energy levels do not deviate by more than 0.25 eV from results with 3d electrons treated as valence. We show speedups in the defect calculations using the new PAW from 1.3 to 2.9, with increasing speedup for larger supercell size. These speedups would translate to similar speedups in Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics studies of GaN defects. In addition, we share some insight into the development of the optimized PAW including the use of the arctangent of the logderivatives—a superior accuracy metric for automated optimization of logderivatives/scattering properties.
3-D FDTD Modeling of Long-Distance VLF Propagation in the Earth-Ionosphere Waveguide

Very-low-frequency (VLF) electromagnetic wave propagation is modeled for the first time over 1000 km scale distances using a 3-D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) model of the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. Specifically, propagation paths of 2000 km in length are studied, with each simulation requiring 28k processing cores and over 45 h of real time and using ~3.9 TB. A variety of propagation scenarios are tested, including daytime and nighttime propagation paths, a realistic ground propagation path extending from the NAA VLF transmitter in Cutler, ME, USA, toward New Mexico, and day-to-night ionospheric transitions. The 3-D FDTD model results are compared with 2-D azimuthally symmetric FDTD and the long-wave propagation capability (LWPC) results to both validate the 3-D model and understand the impact a fully 3-D model can have on the propagation predictions. The results in this article identify under what conditions and also at what propagation distances, a fully 3-D model is most beneficial.
Pharmacovigilance Analysis on Cerebrovascular Accidents and Coronavirus disease 2019 Vaccines

IntroductionRecently, there have been reports of cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) occurring in individuals who have received the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. ObjectiveThe objective of this analysis was to determine if a statistically significant signal exists in post-marketing safety reports between CVA and the three COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the United States of America (Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen). MethodsA pharmacovigilance disproportionality analysis on adverse events reported with COVID-19 vaccines was conducted using data from Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. ResultsA statistically significant signal was found between CVA events and each of the three COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer/BioNTechs, Modernas and Janssens) in the VAERS database. Females and individuals of age 65 or older had higher number of case reports of CVA events with the COVID-19 vaccines. Females had also more COVID-19 adverse event reports in which a CVA was reported and resulted in the patient having permanent disability or death. LimitationsRandomized controlled trials are needed to further analyze this signal. ConclusionPatients should be made aware of the risk-benefit and symptoms to watch out for that may indicate the onset of a CVA and informed to seek medical care as soon as possible if they develop these symptoms.
Variables Prevalent Among Early Unplanned Readmissions in Infants Following Congenital Heart Surgery

Medically complex children including infants undergoing cardiac surgery are at increased risk for hospital readmissions. Investigation of this population may reveal opportunities to optimize systems and coordination of care. A retrospective study of all infants undergoing cardiac surgery from 2015 through 2016 at a large tertiary institution who were readmitted within 1 year of discharge from cardiac surgical hospitalization was performed. Data specific to patient characteristics, surgical hospitalization, and readmission hospitalization are described. Unplanned readmissions within 1 year of hospital discharge were analyzed with Cox proportional hazard regression to identify factors associated with increased hazard for earlier unplanned readmission. Comparable to previous reports, 12% (78/658) of all surgical hospitalizations were associated with unplanned readmission within 30 days. Infectious etiology, followed by cardiac and gastrointestinal problems, was the most common reasons for unplanned 30-day readmission. Unplanned readmissions within 2 weeks of discharge were multifactorial and less commonly related to cardiac or surgical care. Primary nasogastric tube feeding at the time of discharge was the only significant risk factor for earlier unplanned readmission (p = 0.032) on multivariable analysis. Increased care coordination with particular attention to feeding and comorbidity management may be future targets to effectively mitigate readmissions and improve quality of care in this population.
Faculty attitudes towards nursing students with disabilities in the clinical setting

Objective: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore nursing faculty attitudes towards students with disabilities enrolled in baccalaureate nursing programs. Additionally, we aimed to describe the types of accommodations provided to students with disabilities in the clinical setting. Methods: In two institutions of higher education in the southeastern United States, purposive and snowball sampling was used to recruit 14 nursing faculty with experience teaching in clinical courses. One-on-one interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. Data were transcribed and analyzed using Colaizzi’s process for phenomenological data analysis. The social model of disability served as the conceptual framework for the study. Results: Six themes emerged from the data analysis: ‘Math is a basic required skill,’ ‘You can’t just skip clinical,’ ‘It’s my job to help them learn,’ ‘I’m not prepared for this,’ ‘What type of job will they get,’ and ‘overcoming obstacles.’ Nursing faculty reported positive attitudes towards students with disabilities, but also voiced concerns about patient safety and the ability for a student with a disability to find success. Several barriers including disclosure, lack of accessibility in hospitals, nursing culture, and faculty workload were identified. Conclusions: A lack of clear policies and guidelines leaves nursing faculty unsure of what accommodations are appropriate for students with disabilities and how to implement accommodations in clinical courses. The study demonstrates a need for continuing education regarding teaching methodologies that are effective and meaningful for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diagnosed anxiety, and specific learning disabilities. Further research is warranted to identify appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities in the clinical setting.
Modular Synthesis of Alkenyl Sulfamates and β-Ketosulfonamides via Sulfur(VI) Fluoride Exchange (SuFEx) Click Chemistry and Photomediated 1,3-Rearrangement

Herein, we report a synthesis of medicinally relevant β-ketosulfonamides via a photomediated 1,3-rearrangement of alkenyl sulfamates. This protocol tolerates a wide array of sensitive functional groups including alkenes, alkynes, and nitrogen-based heterocycles. Additionally, this work provides a general approach toward alkenyl sulfamates via a two-step Sulfur(VI) Fluoride Exchange (SuFEx) sequence capitalizing on SO2F2 as a linchpin to efficiently couple readily available ketones and amines without a large excess of either partner.
DeepEdge: A New QoE-based Resource Allocation Framework Using Deep Reinforcement Learning for Future Heterogeneous Edge-IoT Applications

Edge computing is emerging to empower the future of Internet of Things (IoT) applications. However, due to heterogeneity of applications, it is a significant challenge for the edge cloud to effectively allocate multidimensional limited resources (CPU, memory, storage, bandwidth, etc.) with constraints of applications’ Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. In this paper, we address the resource allocation problem in Edge-IoT systems through developing a novel framework named DeepEdge that allocates resources to the heterogeneous IoT applications with the goal of maximizing users’ Quality of Experience (QoE). To achieve this goal, we develop a novel QoE model that considers aligning the heterogeneous requirements of IoT applications to the available edge resources. The alignment is achieved through selection of QoS requirement range that can be satisfied by the available resources. In addition, we propose a novel two-stage deep reinforcement learning (DRL) scheme that effectively allocates edge resources to serve the IoT applications and maximize the users’ QoE. Unlike the typical DRL, our scheme exploits deep neural networks (DNN) to improve actions’ exploration by using DNN to map the Edge-IoT state to joint resource allocation action that consists of resource allocation and QoS class. The joint action not only maximize users’ QoE and satisfies heterogeneous applications’ requirements but also align the QoS requirements to the available resources. In addition, we develop a Q-value approximation approach to tackle the large space problem of Edge-IoT. Further evaluation shows that DeepEdge brings considerable improvements in terms of QoE, latency and application tasks’ success ratio in comparison to the existing resource allocation schemes.
Preface to Section III — The Biosphere

Sections I and II are directed toward methods which establish the amount of solar UV reaching organisms in natural waters; in this section we turn to the responses which the solar UV will induce in the aquatic biota. Obviously, if inquiries are made very specifically, then the biological responses will be as diverse and complex as the organisms which inhabit the seas. The variety of living organisms is so great that biologists have no choice but to generalize, to presume that the basic processes one observes in one or a few species are occurring in a more or less similar fashion in most or all living organisms. One should be very conscious that our biological information is gleaned from the sources presently available; the species most extensively studied are not organisms commonly found in the seas. On the other hand, it must be admitted that generalizing has for the most part worked well in biology; many mechanisms and processes are remarkably ubiquitous among living organisms.
New bounds for expected delay in FIFO GI/GI/c queues

Most bounds for expected delay, E[D], in GI/GI/c queues are modifications of bounds for the GI/GI/1 case. In this paper we exploit a new delay recursion for the GI/GI/c queue to produce bounds of a different sort when the traffic intensity p = λ/μ = E[S]/E[T] is less than the integer portion of the number of servers divided by two. (S AND T denote generic service and interarrival times, respectively.) We derive two different families of new bounds for expected delay, both in terms of moments of S AND T. Our first bound is applicable when E[S2] < ∞. Our second bound for the first time does not require finite variance of S; it only involves terms of the form E[Sβ], where 1 < β < 2. We conclude by comparing our bounds to the best known bound of this type, as well as values obtained from simulation.
TARGET INJECTION PLACEMENT ACCURACY IMPROVEMENT WITH ELECTROSTATIC STEERING

To achieve high gain in an Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) power plant, driver beams must hit direct drive targets with ±20 μm accuracy. For driver beams to arrive at the target with sufficient simultaneity, the targets must be placed to ±5 mm from chamber center. Better placement accuracy simplifies driver beam steering by reducing the distance that steering mirrors must reposition the beam aim point in the last few ms. Current best target placement experimental accuracy is 0.22 mrad standard deviation which corresponds to 3 mm at 13 m. A factor of two improvement is required to achieve 3 a accuracy in ±5 mm, and even greater accuracy is desired. General Atomics has recently embarked on a program to improve target placement accuracy through electrostatic steering. Preliminary experiments have improved accuracy of falling charged spheres. We optically track the motion, and feed back appropriate voltage to steering electrodes. A steering algorithm was prepared to steer targets with placement accuracy limited primarily by rate and accuracy of target tracking. Substantial accuracy improvement is expected with higher-frequency tracking and voltage amplification equipment. The results will be reported.
Autonomous underwater data muling using wireless optical communication and agile auv control

Underwater exploration and surveillance currently relies on subsea cables and tethers to relay data back to the user. The cause for this is that water heavily absorbs most electromagnetic signals, preventing effective radio communication over large distances, and that underwater communication with acoustic signals affords only bit rates on the order of Kilobits per second. In this thesis we present a novel design and implementation for an underwater data muling system. This system allows for automatic collection of underwater datasets without the need to physically connect to or move the sensors by using mobile robots to travel to the sensors and download the data using wireless optical communication to bring it back to the base station. The system consists of two parts. The first part is a modular and adaptive robot for underwater locomotion in six degrees of freedom. We present a hardware design as well as control algorithms to allow for in-situ deployment without the need for manual configuration of the parameter space. To achieve this we designed a highly parameterizable controller and methods and algorithms for automatically estimating all parameters of this controller. The second part of the data mulling system is a novel high-bandwidth optical underwater communication device. This device allows for transfer of high-fidelity data, such as high-definition video and audio, images, and sensor logs. Finally we present algorithms to control the robots path in order to maximize data rates as it communicates with a sensor while using only the signal strength as a measurement. All components and algorithms of the system have been implemented and tested in the real world to demonstrate the validity of our claims. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, libraries.mit.edu/docs - docs@mit.edu)
Principal component analysis for poultry tumor inspection using hyperspectral fluorescence imaging

This paper presents detection of skin tumor on poultry carcasses using hyperspectral fluorescence images. Image samples are obtained from a hyperspectral imaging system that provides digital images of 65 spectral bands with wavelength ranging from 425 [nm] to 711 [nm]. The principal component analysis (PCA) technique finds an effective representation of spectral signature in a reduced dimensional feature space. A support vector machine (SVM) classifies the feature vectors and makes a decision whether each pixel falls in normal or tumor categories.
Interleukin-6 inhibits adrenal androgen release from bovine adrenal zona reticularis cells by inhibiting the expression of steroidogenic proteins

Abstract Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is secreted by adrenocortical cells and modifies cortisol secretion. In this study, the effects of IL-6 on adrenal androgen release were investigated. The zona reticularis (ZR) was generally isolated from bovine adrenal glands by dissection. In select experiments, the intact adrenal cortex (ie, all 3 adrenocortical zones) was dissected from the adrenal glands. For androgen release experiments, ZR and intact adrenocortical cubes were dispersed into isolated cells, the cells cultured and exposed to IL-6 and/or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and androgen release determined by radioimmunoassay. Basal and ACTH-stimulated androgen release from the ZR was inhibited by IL-6 in a concentration-dependent (10–1000 pg/mL) and time-dependent (4–24 h) manner ( P P P P
Comparison of the ultrastructure of cortical and retinal terminals in the rat superior colliculus.

The stratum griseum superficiale (SGS) and stratum opticum (SO) of the superior colliculus (SC) receive dense inputs from the retina and the visual cortex (for reviews, see Huerta and Harting, 1984; May, 2006) and these inputs interact with the SC circuitry to produce unique response characteristics. A particularly prominent feature of SGS/SO neurons is their sensitivity to stimulus movement. In addition, for many neurons, the responses elicited by a moving stimulus are dependent on the direction of motion (for review, see Waleszcyk et al., 2004). In the lower half of the SGS and in the SO, neurons have also been shown to be particularly sensitive to the movement of a visual stimulus relative to the background (Davidson and Bender, 1991). Following lesions of the visual cortex, there is a loss of direction selectivity (Rosenquist and Palmer, 1971; Berman and Cynader, 1975; Ogasawara et al., 1984) and the sensitivity to motion relative to background (Davidson et al., 1992). The SGS and SO contain a dense distribution of neurons and terminals that contain gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), which contribute to the SC receptive field properties (Mize, 1992, 1996). To begin to understand how motion sensitivity is generated in the SC, it is therefore important to establish how corticotectal and retinotectal inputs interact with the GABAergic circuitry. As a first step toward this goal, we labeled cortical terminals via anterograde transport and examined their synaptic targets in tissue stained for GABA via postembedding immunocytochemical techniques. Retinotectal terminals in the same tissue samples were identified by their characteristic ultrastructure. The results provide further insight into the organization and function of the SC.
Heat Transfer in Two-Pass Turbulated Channels Connected by Holes

This is part of a continuing study of a new internal channel cooling design for modern gas-turbine blades. In previous studies, the enhanced cooling in thesecond pass of a serpentine channel was achieved by a combination of impingement and crosse ow-induced swirl. A holed or slotted divider wall replaced the 180-deg U turn connecting the two legs of the serpentine channel. Flow from one coolant pass to the adjoining coolant pass was achieved through a series of straight and angled holes and a two-dimensional slot placed along the dividing wall. The focus is to enhance the heat transfer in the e rst pass of the two-pass channel using traditional rib turbulators. The effect of ribs in the e rst pass on the overall second pass heat transfer enhancement is compared to channels with no rib turbulators. Heat transfer distributions are compared for three channel e ow Reynolds numbers ranging between 1:0 £ 10 4 and 5:0 £ 10 4 . Three different rib cone gurations, 90-deg ribs, 60-deg angled forward facing toward the divider wall, and 60-deg angled backward facing away from divider wall, are studied for all Reynolds numbers and dividerwallgeometries. Thepresenceof ribsin thee rst passdoesnot only decreasethe enhanced heattransfer in the second pass, but also provides higher heat transfer enhancement in the e rst pass, resulting in an increase in overall heat transfer enhancement for the entire two-pass channel.
Microwedge indentation of the thin film fine line—I. Mechanics

Analytical calculations of mechanics for strain energy release rate, bending strain and phase angle are reported for a new procedure to test thin film mechanical properties. In the Microwedge Indentation Test (MWIT), a symmetric wedge-shaped probe extends fully across a wide thin film interconnect line, so that analysis under the assumption of plane strain is appropriate. As the indentation proceeds, an interfacial crack between the interconnect line and the substrate develops if the interface is weak. From this, adhesion can be calculated. Eventually, the interfacial crack becomes long enough that buckling ensues, giving rise to large thin film bending strains. Consequently the phase angle changes continuously from 53 to −37°. Depending on whether spallation occurs by fracture in the center of the beam or at the end of the beam at the interfacial crack tip, a thin film critical bending strain or grain boundary fracture toughness may be determined.
Approximation methods to calculate straggling functions

Abstract The Fermi-Virtual-Photon (FVP) method produces fairly accurate energy loss spectra, which can be used to calculate straggling functions (frequently called “Landau functions”) for the simulation of the ionization in TPCs. In this paper I want to show its differences from Landau-type calculations.
Promoting accountability in mental health services: the negotiated mandate.

A Community mental health model is described in which neighborhood-based programs are emphasized. The rationale for such a model is that its programs are more likely to be responsive to local needs than are those of a more centralized system. Resulting problems of coordination are discussed.
Hypothesis: hyperhomocysteinemia is an indicator of oxidant stress.

Elevated plasma homocysteine levels are associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis and thrombosis, as well as a variety of other pathologies such as birth defects, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, osteoporosis, diabetes and renal disease. Homocysteine metabolism is catalyzed by a number of enzymes that require B-vitamins as cofactors, and homocysteine levels are particularly responsive to folate status. The predictive power of plasma homocysteine level as a risk factor for atherothrombotic orders raised the appealing hypothesis that reduction of homocysteine levels by vitamin supplementation might result in a commensurate reduction is the risk of atherothrombotic events. Unfortunately, most clinical trials failed to show a significant benefit of vitamin supplementation on cardiovascular events, in spite of significant lowering of plasma homocysteine levels. Thus, it is not clear whether homocysteine actually plays a causal role in many pathologies with which it is associated, or whether it is instead a marker for some other underlying mechanism. A large body of data links hyperhomocysteinemia and folate status with oxidant stress. In this article I review data that suggests that homocysteine not only promotes cellular and protein injury via oxidant mechanisms, but is also a marker for the presence of pathological oxidant stress. Thus, it is possible that hyperhomocysteinemia is not a common primary cause of atherothrombotic disorders in the general population, but rather a marker of systemic or endothelial oxidant stress that is a major mediator of these disorders.
Dexmedetomidine for sedation during electroencephalographic analysis in children with autism, pervasive developmental disorders, and seizure disorders

Abstract Study Objective To assess the efficacy of dexmedetomidine in providing sedation during electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis in children with autism, seizure disorders, or pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). Design Retrospective chart review. Setting University medical center. Measurements The charts of 42 children, aged two to 11 years, who received dexmedetomidine for sedation during EEG analysis, were studied. Information collected included route of administration of dexmedetomidine (oral and/or intravenous [IV]), loading dose, and infusion rate. Heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and level of sedation were monitored every 5 minutes, and oxygen saturation was monitored continuously during the procedure. Interventions (administration of fluid or use of an anticholinergic agent) for hypotension or bradycardia were identified. Main Results 18 children received oral dexmedetomidine (range, 2.9-4.4 μ g/kg) before placement of an IV. Forty patients received an IV loading dose of dexmedetomidine (2.1 ± 0.8 μ g/kg), which was given in increments of 0.5 to one μ g/kg every three to 5 minutes until a sedation score of 3 to 4 was achieved. Effective sedation was eventually achieved in all patients. An IV infusion of dexmedetomidine was started (1.5 ± 0.2 μ g kg −1 hr −1 ) in all patients. During performance of the EEG, adjustments in the infusion rate (increase or decrease) or additional bolus doses were necessary in 25 patients. No significant hemodynamic or respiratory effects were noted. Conclusions Dexmedetomidine provides effective sedation during EEG analysis in children with autism or PDD.
A 2.5-Watt Monolithic TV Sound System with Refined DC Volume Control

TV sound ICs incorporating dc volume controls have been available for several years but because of certain performance limitations, some TV manufacturers have chosen to bypass this portion of the circuit in spite of its cost savings.
Acclimation responses of mature Abies amabilis sun foliage to shading.

This paper addresses two main questions. First, can evergreen foliage that has been structurally determined as sun foliage acclimate physiologically when it is shaded? Second, is this acclimation independent of the foliage ageing process and source-sink relations? To investigate these questions, a shading and debudding experiment was established using paired branches on opengrown Abies amabilis trees. For each tree, one branch was either shaded, debudded, or both, from before budbreak until the end of summer, while the other branch functioned as a control. Foliage samples were measured both prior to and during treatment for photosynthesis at light saturation (A max), dark respiration, nitrogen content, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll-to-nitrogen ratio and chlorophyll a:b ratio. All age classes of foliage responded similarly during the treatment, although pre-treatment values differed between age classes. Within 1 month after the treatment began, A max was lower in shaded foliage and remained lower throughout the treatment period. For debudded branches, A max was lower than the controls only during active shoot elongation. At the end of the treatments in September, A max in shade-treated sun foliage matched the rates in the true shade-formed foliage, but nitrogen remained significantly higher. By 1.5 months after treatment, chlorophyll content in shaded foliage was higher than in controls, and the chlorophyll a:b ratio was lower for the shaded foliage. On debudded branches, chlorophyll content and chlorophyll a:b ratio were similar to the values in control samples. Shading lowered the rate of nitrogen accumulation within a branch, while removing debudding decreased the amount of sequestered N that was exported from the older foliage to supply new growth. By September, chlorophyll content in shade-treated foliage was higher than that in the control sun foliage or in true shade foliage. The chlorophyll increase as a result of shading was unexpected. However, the chlorophyll-to-nitrogen ratio was identical for the shade-treated sun foliage and the true shade foliage while being significantly lower than the control sun foliage. It appears that acclimation to shading in mature foliage involves a reallocation of nitrogen within the leaf into thylakoid proteins. A redistribution of resources (nitrogen) among leaves is secondary and appears to function on a slower time scale than reallocation within the leaf. Thus, A. amabilis foliage that is structurally determined as sun foliage can acclimate to shade within a few months; this process is most likely independent of ageing and is only slightly affected by source-sink relations within a branch.
Elastic Electron Scattering from Tritium and Helium-3

The mirror nuclei of tritium and helium-3 have been studied by the method of elastic electron scattering. Absolute cross sections have been measured for incident electron energies in the range 110-680 MeV at scattering angles lying between 40 and 135\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} in this energy range. The data have been interpreted in a straightforward manner and form factors are given for the distributions of charge and magnetic moment in the two nuclei over a range of four-momentum transfer squared 1.0-8.0 ${\mathrm{F}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. Model-independent radii of the charge and magnetic-moment distributions are given and an attempt is made to deduce form factors describing the spatial distribution of the protons in tritium and helium-3.
EFFECTS OF RESPONSE CARDS ON STUDENT PARTICIPATION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: A SYSTEMATIC REPLICATION WITH INNER-CITY STUDENTS DURING WHOLE-CLASS SCIENCE INSTRUCTION

We evaluated the use of response cards during science instruction in a fifth-grade inner-city classroom. The experiment consisted of two methods of student participation—hand raising and write-on response cards—alternated in an ABAB design. During hand raising, the teacher called upon 1 student who had raised his or her hand in response to the teacher's question. During the response-card condition, each student was provided with a laminated board on which to write one- or two-word answers in response to each question asked by the teacher. Frequency of active student response was 14 times higher with response cards than with hand raising. All 22 students scored higher on next-day quizzes and on 2-week review tests that followed instruction with response cards than they did on quizzes and tests that covered facts and concepts taught with the hand-raising procedure.
Violence, Oppression, and Double Standards in Three Colombian Films

This article compares three Colombian films that tell distinct stories of violence, personal and political oppression, and double standards. The films Confesion a Laura ( Confessing to Laura , Jaime Osorio, 1991), La Primera Noche ( The First Night , Luis Alberto Restrepo, 2003) and El Rey ( The King , Jose Antonio Dorado, 2004) each highlight the characters’ struggles in the Colombian socio-political landscape. Each film’s content and themes do not merely offer representations of national culture, but also provide a way in which to discuss the political and social struggles of Colombia. The directors explore these stories of violence and socio-political struggle through the use of mis-en-scene, cinematography, sound, and editing.
Stability at a local maximum in higher dimensional anti-deSitter space and applications to supergravity☆

The stability of anti-deSitter background solutions of gravity/scalar systems with respect to small fluetuations of the scalar fields is analyzed. As in the four dimensional case, one finds stability even about a local maximum provided that the effective scalar field masses are not “too tachyonic,” and for sufficiently low mass there are two possible boundary conditions that allow a well-defined and conserved energy. Unlike the d = 4 case only one boundary condition is applicable to the known gauged supergravity theories in d = 5 and d = 7. For d = 7 the stability criterion is satisfied while for d = 5 stability is marginal.
Health risks of high-Btu gas pipeline and electric power transmission systems

The Institute of Gas Technology (IGT) has determined the health risks associated with transmission systems for electric power and high-Btu gas. These preliminary estimates were made in an independently-funded R&D study in which the gas system was found to have one-third the health risk of the electric system.1 Most of these risks are associated with construction of the systems and transportation of the required construction materials. The systems have a capacity of 650 billion Btu/day, are 500 miles long, operate at 80% capacity factors, and have a 30-yr lifetime.
Building Staff Capacity to Evaluate in Museum Education

AbstractFor years, museums of all varieties, including art museums, science centers, history museums, zoos, and aquariums, have conducted education evaluation. However, museums are all too often faced with the challenge of allocating staff time, expertise, and other resources toward conducting evaluation, particularly evaluation that moves beyond program satisfaction and measures the degree of learning occurring in the educational experiences. The John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois acknowledged this challenge and addressed it head on through a new approach within its education division. The aquarium adopted an empowerment evaluation1 philosophy that enabled a diverse cadre of museum educators with varying degrees of evaluation experience to not only participate in the evaluation process, but to be an integral driver of it. The following case study details the premise of empowerment evaluation and how it was applied at this one museum while highlighting the potential applications toward other muse...
Autocrine regulation of norepinephrine transporter expression.

Abstract Thenorepinephrine transporter (NET) is a neurotransmitter scavenger and site of drug action in noradrenergic neurons. The aim of this study was to identify mechanisms that regulate NET expression during the development of quail (q) sympathetic neuroblasts, which develop from neural crest stem cells. Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) cause an increase of qNET mRNA levels in neural crest cells. When combined, the growth factors are additive in increasing qNET mRNA levels. Both NT-3 and TGF-β1 are synthesized by neural crest cells. Onset of NET expression precedes the onset of neural crest stem cell emigration from the neural tube. In older embryos, qNET is expressed by several crest-derived and noncrest tissues. The data show that qNET expression in presumptive sympathetic neurons is initiated early in embryonic development by growth factors that are produced by neural crest cells themselves. Moreover, the results support our previous observations that norepinephrine transport contributes to the regulation of the differentiation of neural crest stem cells into sympathetic neurons.