cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Flow characteristics of urethral catheters of the same caliber vary between manufacturers

Summary Background Clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) is frequently prescribed for bladder dysfunction, either per urethra or via a continent catheterizable channel. Small catheters may be required for infants or continent channels. Success with CIC is highly dependent upon patient and family compliance. The urinary flow rate through the catheter is an important factor, which can decrease CIC time and improve quality of life. There is little objective information regarding flow rate through urinary catheters to guide catheter recommendation or prescription. Clinically, we noted that there was a difference in flow among catheter brands, and we questioned if catheters of the same-labeled diameter exhibit the same flow characteristics, which could have implications for catheter selection. Methods Twenty-one commercially available male pediatric urinary catheters from nine brands were tested (11 straight tip, 10 coude tip). Nine of the 21 tested catheters had a hydrophilic coating. All tested catheters shared a 10F outer diameter. For each, microscopic imaging and a precision caliper were used to measure the inner diameter and tip inlet area. A hydraulic system modified from ASTM standard testing specifications was used to simulate bladder catheterization. Measurement of each catheter was repeated five times using three different static hydraulic pressures (20, 40 and 50 cmH2O). Catheter flow rate and structural measurements were identified and the fastest and slowest of the catheters are presented in the table. The variable flow rates between brands were due to the differences in catheter structural characteristics such as the inner diameter (ID) and the tip inlet area to inner lumen area ratio (AR). The maximum variation of flow rate of all tested 10F catheters was 48%, ID varied up to 22%, from 1.71 to 2.11 mm or 5.13–6.33F. AR varied up to 166%. The table delineates the fastest and slowest rates at three measured pressures. The outer diameter labeled 10F on packaging was true to size. Conclusions Based on packaging information, providers, and patients are unable to predict urinary flow through a catheter and thus use information regarding flow rate to guide catheter selection. This information cannot be calculated based on ideal flow calculations and could be listed on packaging to assist physicians and families in selecting the optimal urinary catheter for CIC. Table . Catheters listed by name, tip shape, coating characteristic, and ID. Download : Download high-res image (163KB) Download : Download full-size image Summary Figure . This chart demonstrates the flow rates of the catheters at three different pressures. The graph displays the actual flow rates compared to the ideal flow rates.
The parent advantage in fostering children's e-book comprehension

Abstract One potential advantage of e-books is that unlike traditional books, preschoolers can read independent of an adult by using the audio narration feature. However, little research has investigated whether children comprehend a story's content after using an e-book with audio narration. The current study compares preschoolers' comprehension of an e-book in three conditions: (1) parent reading, in which parents read the e-book to their children, (2) independent with audio, in which children see the e-book independently with audio narration, and (3) independent without audio, in which children see the e-book independently but do not have audio narration available. Our results suggest that children comprehend some content from e-books using audio narration, indicating that using e-books independently may be a worthwhile activity for preliterate children while caregivers are otherwise occupied. However, results also show that children recall the most information about the e-book after reading with a parent.
Engagement With Online Tobacco Marketing Among Adolescents in the United States: 2013–2014 to 2014–2015

Objective To assess changes in engagement with online tobacco and electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) marketing (online tobacco marketing) among adolescents in the United States between 2013 and 2015. Methods We assessed the prevalence of six forms of engagement with online tobacco marketing, both overall and by brand, among adolescents sampled in Wave 1 (2013-2014; n = 13651) and Wave 2 (2014-2015; n = 12172) of the nationally representative Population Assessment for Tobacco and Health Study. Engagement was analyzed by tobacco use status: non-susceptible never tobacco users; susceptible never tobacco users; ever tobacco users, but not within the past year; and past-year tobacco users. Results Among all adolescents, the estimated prevalence of engagement with at least one form of online tobacco marketing increased from 8.7% in 2013-2014 to 20.9% in 2014-2015. The estimated prevalence of engagement also increased over time across all tobacco use statuses (eg, from 10.5% to 26.6% among susceptible adolescents). Brand-specific engagement increased over time for cigarette, cigar, and e-cigarette brands. Conclusion Engagement with online tobacco marketing, both for tobacco and e-cigarettes, increased almost twofold over time. This increase emphasizes the dynamic nature of online tobacco marketing and its ability to reach youth. The Food and Drug Administration, in cooperation with social networking sites, should consider new approaches to regulate this novel form of marketing. Implications This is the first study to estimate the national prevalence of engagement with online tobacco marketing among adolescents over time. The estimated prevalence of this engagement approximately doubled between 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 among all adolescents and, notably, among adolescents at relatively low risk to initiate tobacco use. This increase in engagement could represent public health harm if it results in increased initiation and use of tobacco products. Stronger federal regulation of online tobacco marketing and tighter control of access to tobacco-related content by social media sites could reduce adolescents' exposure to and engagement with online tobacco marketing.
Nanoporous silica gel structures and evolution from reactive force field-based molecular dynamics simulations

Nanoporous silica-rich gel formed on silicate glass surfaces during dissolution in aqueous environment is critical in elucidating the corrosion mechanisms and the long-term residual dissolution behaviors. Silica gel models were created using two types of methods with reactive force field-based molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the remnant silica gels created from the ISG bulk structure have a more isolated and closed pore morphology and slightly higher glass network connectivity. This contrasts with the gel structures created by hydrogarnet defect formation that exhibit more connected pore morphologies. The remnant gel structures show lower water diffusivity which was explained by the nano-confinement effect of water molecules due to frequent interactions of water molecules with adjacent silica walls and the more isolated pore morphology in the remnant gel structures. These results reveal the complexity in terms of micro and atomic structures of these silica gels, and both structure features have impact on water transport in the gel layer hence the passivating effect that controls the long-term dissolution behavior of these glasses. Theoretical models that mimic the interfacial silica gel layers created during the dissolution of silicate glasses have been developed. The formation of these nanoporous silica gels is important in many fields, including biomaterials, catalysis, and nuclear-waste storage, and understanding their structures and properties is important for ultimately understanding how they corrode. Now, taking advantage of recent advances in computational chemistry methods, Jincheng Du and J.M. Rimsza from the University of North Texas have developed two atomistic silica gel models, one imitates the proposed experimental mechanism for gel formation by removing the dissolvable species of an International Simplified Glass, the second mimics the formation of a prevalent defect structure. Their data lead to critical insights into the silica structures formed during silicate dissolution, highlighting the importance of water diffusion, pore-connectivity, and microstructure.
The role of hiatus hernia in GERD

Increased esophageal acid exposure in gastroesophageal reflux disease has several potential causes, some related primarily to physiological dysfunction of the LES and others related to anatomic distortion of the gastroesophageal junction as occurs with hiatus hernia. One attractive feature of implicating hiatal hernias in the pathogenesis of reflux disease is that, like reflux disease, axial hernias become more common with age and obesity. However, the importance of hiatus hernia is obscured by imprecise definition and an all-or-none conceptualization that has led to wide variation in estimates of prevalence among normal or diseased populations. There are at least three potentially significant radiographic features of a hiatus hernia: axial length during distention, axial length at rest, and competence of the diaphragmatic hiatus. Although any or all of these features may be abnormal in a particular instance of hiatus hernia, each is of different functional significance. Grouping all abnormalities of the gastroesophageal junction as "hiatus hernia" without detailing the specifics of each case defies logic. Mechanistically, the gastroesophageal junction must protect against reflux both in static and dynamic conditions. During abrupt increases in intra-abdominal pressure, the crural diaphragm normally serves as a "second sphincter," and this mechanism is substantially impaired in individuals with a gaping hiatus. Large, non-reducing hernias also impair the process of esophageal emptying, thereby prolonging acid clearance time following a reflux event (especially while in the supine posture). These anatomically-determined functional impairments of the gastroesophageal junction lead to increased esophageal acid exposure. Thus, although hiatus hernia may or may not be an initiating factor at the inception of reflux disease, it clearly can act as a sustaining factor accounting for the frequently observed chronicity of the disease.
A Data-Driven Approach to Predict an Individual Customer's Call Arrival in Multichannel Customer Support Centers

The availability of big data collected by multichannel contact centers creates opportunities for businesses to more accurately predict future interactions with their customers. This paper presents a data-driven modeling approach to forecast the likelihood of a call arrival by an individual customer within the next thirty days, based on the multichannel data from contact centers. This model incorporates information related to the past Web activities of an individual customer to predict his future telephone queries. Our study relies on big datasets from contact centers of one of the largest U.S. insurance companies. Various characteristics related to the customer segment, recency and frequency of customer interactions, and cross-class features are considered. We find evidence that some of the recent web activities of a policyholder significantly increases the probability that the policyholder would make a telephone call in the next 30 days. In addition, recency and frequency of contacts impact the probability of the policyholder's call, for a specific set of reasons for past contacts.
Phenotypic variation in the group A Streptococcus due to natural mutation of the accessory protein-encoding gene rocA

Populations of a bacterial pathogen, whether recovered from a single patient or from a worldwide study, are often a heterogeneous mix of genetically and phenotypically divergent strains. Such heterogeneity is of value in changing environments and arises via mechanisms such as gene gain or gene mutation. Here, we identify an isolate of serotype M12 group A Streptococcus (GAS) (Streptococcus pyogenes) that has a natural mutation in rocA, which encodes an accessory protein to the virulence-regulating two-component system CovR/CovS (CovR/S). Disruption of RocA activity results in the differential expression of multiple GAS virulence factors, including the anti-phagocytic hyaluronic acid capsule and the chemokine protease SpyCEP. While some of our data regarding RocA-regulated genes overlaps with previous studies, which were performed with isolates of alternate GAS serotypes, some variability was also observed. Perhaps as a consequence of this alternate regulatory activity, we discovered that the contribution of RocA to the ability of the M12 isolate to survive and proliferate in human blood ex vivo is opposite that previously observed in M1, M3, and M18 GAS strains. Specifically, rocA mutation reduced, rather than enhanced, survival of the isolate. Finally, we also present data from an analysis of rocA transcription and show that rocA is transcribed in both mono- and polycistronic mRNAs. In aggregate, our data provide insight into the important regulatory role of RocA and into the mechanisms and consequences of GAS phenotypic heterogeneity.IMPORTANCE This study investigates the regulatory and phenotypic consequences of a naturally occurring mutation in a strain of the bacterial pathogen the group A Streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes). We show that this mutation, which occurs in a regulator-encoding gene, rocA, leads to altered virulence factor expression and reduces the ability of this isolate to survive in human blood. Critically, the blood survival phenotype and the assortment of genes regulated by RocA differ compared to previous studies into RocA activity. The data are consistent with there being strain- or serotype-specific variability in RocA function. Given that phenotypic variants can lead to treatment failures and escape from preventative regimes, our data provide information with regard to a mechanism of phenotypic variation in a prevalent Gram-positive pathogen.
Gender Differences in Prescription Opioid Misuse Among U.S. Black Adults.

Background: Prescription opioid misuse (POM) is a significant problem among U.S. adults, including Blacks, as indicated by past research. Despite potential gender differences in POM among Black adu...
Dextrose Prolotherapy for Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Patient-Oriented Outcomes in a Pilot-Level Quality Improvement Project.

Abstract Objectives: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a growing health problem with limited nonsurgical treatment options. Prolotherapy is an injection-based technique for chronic KOA pain; health plan...
Gastric-type adenocarcinoma of the cervix: Genomic drivers and clinical outcomes.

6030Background: Cervical Gastric-type adenocarcinoma (CGA) is a non-HPV-associated adenocarcinoma, comprising 10% of all cervical adenocarcinomas (Park et al, 2019). The optimal management approach...
Transportation Demand Analysis

This chapter provides an overview and examples of transportation demand analysis, from specification of the characteristics of the urban area in which the project is located to estimation of the vehicle volumes on individual links of the network. It describes a basis for the data selected and the methods used in Chapter 4, where a plan, design, and impact estimation procedure is conducted in the example project.
Beyond redistribution: In-stream habitat restoration increases capacity for young-of-the-year salmon and trout in the Entiat River, WA

Abstract Post-restoration effectiveness studies of fish habitat typically focus on whether observed density/abundance of fish is increased as a result of restoration. A common design for such studies is the before-after-control-impact (BACI) design, but often pre-treatment data are limited. Furthermore, studies using this design rarely examine whether an increase in density is due to an actual increase in habitat capacity for fish, or whether fish have simply moved in from nearby untreated habitats with no net gain in overall abundance in the study area. We tested a framework and associated field methodology to determine whether installation of engineered log jams (ELJs) in habitat restoration leads to an increase in habitat capacity for fish. Field surveys emphasize observations from unrestored habitat within a reach treated with ELJs compared to unrestored habitat in untreated reaches and compared to surveys in restored habitat in treated reaches. We made post-restoration fish observations in five reaches treated with ELJs in the lower river basin, and in three reaches in the upper river basin of the Entiat River, Washington, USA. Each basin segment had a different number and type of reference reach available. We observed high densities of young-of-the-year Chinook salmon and steelhead in pools created or restored by ELJs relative to unrestored habitat in the same reach. Comparison of fish density or occupancy in unrestored habitat in treated reaches vs. control reaches indicated that ELJ-restored pools added to overall habitat capacity and ELJs added to reaches in the upper basin were good analogs for natural structures, although results varied slightly between species and between the upper and lower basin segments.
Rapidly Acting Treatment in the ED for Psychiatric Patients

Psychiatric patients in the emergency department (ED) present unique and difficult challenges for the emergency medicine physician. Ostensibly, the primary role of the ED physician with regard to the psychiatric patient is to “medically clear” the patient prior to psychiatric evaluation. By “clear,” standard practice is to reasonably ensure that the patient has no medical cause for their psychiatric symptoms. Yet, the evaluation and treatment of the psychiatric patient are often not done in a linear fashion. The initial management of any psychiatric patient is to assure their safety and health, as well as the safety of others in the ED. A calm, quiet patient with a history of depression who presents to the ED with complaints of their typical depression and feeling of hopelessness may be fairly uncomplicated to evaluate. However, patients who are acutely agitated, hostile, aggressive, psychotic, altered in sensorium, or aggressively homicidal or suicidal present an entirely different challenge. Given the danger to the physician, the staff, and the patient, it is often necessary to rapidly treat a patient’s psychiatric symptoms with medications even before a full workup is completed. This chapter will review current therapies, as well as newer and investigational treatment options that are useful in the treatment of acute psychiatric symptoms.
Health-Promoting Phytonutrients Are Higher in Grass-Fed Meat and Milk

While commission reports and nutritional guidelines raise concerns about the effects of consuming red meat on human health, the impacts of how livestock are raised and finished on consumer health are generally ignored. Meat and milk, irrespective of rearing practices, provide many essential nutrients including bioavailable protein, zinc, iron, selenium, calcium, and/or B12. Emerging data indicate that when livestock are eating a diverse array of plants on pasture, additional health-promoting phytonutrients—terpenoids, phenols, carotenoids, and anti-oxidants—become concentrated in their meat and milk. Several phytochemicals found in grass-fed meat and milk are in quantities comparable to those found in plant foods known to have anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and cardioprotective effects. As meat and milk are often not considered as sources of phytochemicals, their presence has remained largely underappreciated in discussions of nutritional differences between feedlot-fed (grain-fed) and pasture-finished (grass-fed) meat and dairy, which have predominantly centered around the ω-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid. Grazing livestock on plant-species diverse pastures concentrates a wider variety and higher amounts of phytochemicals in meat and milk compared to grazing monoculture pastures, while phytochemicals often remain absent in meat and milk of grain-fed animals. The co-evolution of plants and herbivores has led to plants/crops being more productive when grazed in accordance with agroecological principles. The increased phytochemical richness of productive vegetation has potential to improve the health of animals and upscale these nutrients to also benefit human health. Several studies have found increased anti-oxidant activity in meat and milk of grass-fed vs grain-fed animals. Only a handful of studies have investigated the effects of grass-fed meat and dairy consumption on human health and show potential for anti-inflammatory effects and improved lipoprotein profiles. However, current knowledge does not allow for direct linking of livestock production practices to human health. Future research should systematically assess linkages between the phytochemical richness of livestock diets, the nutrient density of animal foods, and subsequent effects on human metabolic health. This is important given current societal concerns about red meat consumption and human health. Addressing this research gap will require greater collaborative efforts from the fields of agriculture and medicine.
Temporal Dilation of Deep LSTM for Agile Decoding of sEMG: Application in Prediction of Upper-Limb Motor Intention in NeuroRobotics

The spectrotemporal information content of surface electromyography has shown strong potential in predicting the intended motor command. During the last decade, with accelerated exploitation of powerful deep-learning techniques aligned with advancements in active prostheses and neurorobots, a great deal of interest has been drawn to the development of intelligent myoelectric prostheses with an ultimate resolution of upper-limb gestures prediction. Recent research involves Deep CNNs, RNNs, and hybrid frameworks, which have shown promising results. However, deep-learning models have almost always been challenged by the structural complexity, the large number of trainable parameters, concerns of overfitting, and prolonged training time, which complicate the practicality and limit the outcomes. In this letter, for the first time, we propose temporal-dilation in the LSTM module of a hybrid Deepnet model for sEMG-based gesture detection, hypothesizing improved accuracy and training agility. We also analyze the effect of dilation-aggressiveness. We conduct systematic and statistical analysis on the efficacy of the proposed approach in comparison to recent literature, including our previous work. this letter shows that the proposed temporally-dilated LSTM model wins over the recent deep-learning techniques in terms of accuracy, and more significantly, it reduces the training time while increasing the convergence speed, with the ultimate goal of maximizing practicality and translational value for neurorobotic systems.
Defining and Investigating Advertorial Issues

A newspaper advertisement and several advertorial executions of a real newspaper ad for diet pills were tested in a disguised study using a sample of potential consumers. Results showed little evidence for deception or for enhanced effectiveness of advertorial techniques.
Relationship between rumen ammonia levels and the microbial population and volatile fatty acid proportions in faunated and defaunated sheep.

Cheviot wethers were defaunated by using dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate and were constantly infused with urea to provide 2.87% of the daily N intake. Defaunation resulted in higher rumen dry matter and lower rumen pH. The molar per cent propionate was higher in defaunated sheep, whereas the molar per cent butyrate and acetate was lower. Apparent nitrogen digestibility, nitrogen utilization, and nitrogen balance were higher in defaunated sheep when compared with faunated animals. Urea infusion resulted in lower apparent nitrogen digestibility, nitrogen utilization, and nitrogen balance in faunated sheep, but did not affect nitrogen metabolism in defaunated sheep. Rumen ammonia-N levels in defaunated sheep were lower than those observed for faunated animals, and urea infusion into faunated sheep increased rumen ammonia-N levels to a greater extent than did the urea infusion into defaunated animals. Significant correlations were demonstrated between rumen ammonia-N levels and C2/C3, C3/C4 and C2/C4 volatile acid ratios. From this it was concluded that, as rumen ammonia-N levels increased, there was a shift from propionate to higher proportions of butyrate and acetate.
Static and Dynamic Fatigue Behavior of Glass Filament-Wound Pressure Vessels at Ambient and Cryogenic Temperatures.

Glass fibers have shown outstanding strength and strength-to-density ratio properties that make their application to pressure vessels particularly attractive. The application has been generally in the form of filament-wound glass-reinforced plastic [1]. However, after extended periods of static or dynamic loading at ambient temperatures, the rate of strength-degradation of filament-wound glass-reinforced plastic pressure vessels has been high compared with that of metallic pressure vessels [2]. Under stress, the resin matrix generally cracks or crazes [3,4] which exposes the glass fibers to atmospheric moisture causing degradation of the fibers. At cryogenic temperatures, however, the moisture problem is reduced, and an improvement in fatigue properties would be expected. Furthermore, the glass strength increases significantly as the temperature is lowered [4].
Intra-Arterial Thrombolysis for Hepatic Artery Thrombosis following Liver Transplantation

Abstract Purpose Hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) is a major cause of morbidity and death following liver transplantation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT) in liver transplant recipients with HAT. Materials and Methods Adult liver transplant recipients who underwent attempted IAT for HAT were identified. This included patients with early and late HAT (occurring less than or greater than 30 d after transplantation). Records were reviewed to determine the rates of technical success, complications, surgical revascularization, repeat liver transplantation, and ischemic cholangiopathy. Results Twenty-six patients underwent attempted thrombolysis, 13 of whom had early HAT. IAT was successfully initiated in 23 patients (88%), with a median IAT duration of 28 hours (range, 12–90 h). Recanalization was achieved in 12 patients (46%). Major complications were observed in 11 patients (42%). The early HAT group showed a trend toward increased major bleeding compared with the late HAT group (50% vs 9%; P=.07). Among 12 patients who had technically successful thrombolysis, five (42%) required surgical revascularization or repeat transplantation within 2 months. At 6 months after thrombolysis, 45% with unsuccessful recanalization avoided surgery or development of ischemic cholangiopathy, similar to the proportion in those who had successful recanalization (42%; P=.88). Conclusions Posttransplantation hepatic artery thrombolysis yields suboptimal results with a high complication rate, especially in early HAT. Even with successful restoration of flow, clinical outcomes are poor. Although thrombolysis may still be considered in view of the limited treatment options for HAT, awareness of potential complications and suboptimal success rate is essential.
The pitfalls of managing intellectual work in engineering and technology

Summary form only given. It is contended that despite persistent beliefs to the contrary, the management of innovation in most organizations, including firms in engineering and technology, appears to violate the fundamental requirements of a critical process in innovation, the creative process. That is, although it has been established that for many intellectual workers, creative activities and projects are best undertaken in settings free of many traditional organizational restrictions, actual policies and practices in the majority of organizations in the United States appear to produce rigid and inhibitive work environments. Aspects of these environments include relatively inflexible official and operative work hours and work location requirements, various forms of inappropriate deadline pressures, and too-vigilant supervision. It is argued that work hours and work location expectations are inextricably linked and produce the most suffocating of the effects on creativity. Abundant evidence of managerial policies and practices inimical to creativity and ultimately to innovation, particularly in the form of temporal locational requirements, has been found. A theory and research-based blueprint for change has been developed. >
Fast bilateral-space stereo for synthetic defocus

Given a stereo pair it is possible to recover a depth map and use that depth to render a synthetically defocused image. Though stereo algorithms are well-studied, rarely are those algorithms considered solely in the context of producing these defocused renderings. In this paper we present a technique for efficiently producing disparity maps using a novel optimization framework in which inference is performed in “bilateral-space”. Our approach produces higher-quality “defocus” results than other stereo algorithms while also being 10 – 100× faster than comparable techniques.
Interaction of oxygen and palladium on a tungsten (110) surface

The segregation of O and Pd adsorbed on a W(110) surface has been studied by LEED, Auger, TPD, and work function measurements. It was found that there is total segregation on heating to 800–850 K with no O under Pd and O forced into a (1 × 1) structure, if the resultant Pd islands are of monolayer thickness. In this case the coverages of O and Pd conform to 1.37θo + θpd = 1, indicating that there is a dead zone, whose extent scales with the area covered by oxygen. This result is very nearly that found previously for O, Cu segregation on W(110). When the amount of Pd is such that Pd multilayer islands must form, a slight amount of O is trapped under Pd islands, and the dead zone tends to get smaller or vanish. These results are explained in terms of the greater spreading pressure of Pd relative to Cu, on W(110). The segregation per se suggests that there is an effective OPd repulsion amounting to ⩽ 0.6 eV for OW = 0.6. This probably consists of a decrease in Pd binding energy in the presence of O.
Studies on reactions of illuminated chloroplasts. III. Simultaneous photoproduction and consumption of oxygen studied with oxygen isotopes.

Abstract The evolution of oxygen, as in a typical Hill reaction, during periods of net oxygen consumption by illuminated chloroplasts has been demonstrated through kinetic studies with oxygen isotopes. The ability of molecular oxygen to function as a Hill oxidant is thus confirmed.
Practical risk assessment with triangular distributions

Based on the familiar premise that risk is the product of two factors, probability and consequence (where the probability factor can be further decomposed into a threat factor and a vulnerability factor, if necessary), we determine the probability distribution of risk and show that there are four distinct parts to that distribution. We derive formulas for the probability density function and cumulative distribution function of risk, along with the expected value and variance of risk, assuming probability and consequence are independent. These results fully describe the risk, based only on the minimum value, maximum value and most likely value of each of the two risk factors. This offers a practical way to assess risk without extensive data collection or model development. Expressions for two different variability-related uncertainty measures, which we refer to as the variability interval and the vicinity of the mean, are also provided.
Simulation Estimation of Mixed Discrete Choice Models with the Use of Randomized Quasi-Monte Carlo Sequences: A Comparative Study

The overall performance of the quasi-Monte Carlo (QMC) sequences proposed by Halton and Faure, as well as their scrambled versions, are numerically compared against each other and against the Latin hypercube sampling sequence in the context of the simulated likelihood estimation of a mixed multinomial logit model of choice. In addition, the efficiency of the QMC sequences generated with and without scrambling is compared across observations, and the performance of the Box-Muller and inverse normal transform procedures is tested. Numerical experiments were performed in five dimensions with 25, 125, and 625 draws and in 10 dimensions with 100 draws. Results indicate that the Faure sequence consistently outperforms the Halton sequence and that the scrambled versions of the Faure sequence perform best overall.
Numerical modeling of laser stabilization by regenerative spectral hole burning

Abstract Regenerative transient spectral hole frequency references have provided relative optical stability, measured by the Allan deviation, on the 10−13 scale. These references are comparatively insensitive to vibration and, unlike traditional Fabry–Perot cavities, atomic references, or gated spectral holes, the reference shape and position can depend on the laser input as well as the material properties. Numerical modeling of a frequency stabilization system incorporating regenerative spectral holes has been carried out, and the importance of the specific spectral hole-burning material has been considered. It is shown that for intervals shorter than the spectral hole lifetime, the hole reference is similar to a Fabry–Perot cavity reference. For periods longer than the hole lifetime or inverse rate of spectral diffusion, the performance of the spectral hole reference can be affected by uncompensated offsets in the stabilization system caused by the environment. Quantifying each effect demonstrates which are important and determines the pathway to development of improved reference materials.
Assistance of a Different Kind: Chinese Political Warfare in Ghana, 1958–1966

The recent spotlight on Communist China's relations with African nations is not the first time it has occurred, nor will it be the last. In the 1960s, similar commentators and supposed scholars on the subject brought attention to the “Red Peril” or “Red Invasion” descending onto Africa. The past obsession was with Communist expansionism; the current one, with access to raw materials and natural resources. What past and current assessments fail to account for fully, however, is Chinese grand strategy—and one grand strategic instrument, in particular, called political warfare. Long ago discarded and ignored by the Western powers, political warfare, rightly understood, is a nonviolent instrument of grand strategy involving coordinated activities that have tangible effects on intended targets. China on the African continent used this assistance of a different kind in the past and continues to use it today. This historical case study of Chinese political warfare in Ghana sheds light on China's past operations ...
CHANGES IN STARCH DISTRIBUTION IN THE OVERWINTERING ORGANS OF TYPHA LATIFOLIA (TYPHACEAE)

Histochemical determinations for storage of carbohydrates in rhizomes, roots, and young shoots of Typha latifolia L. (Typhaceae) were conducted during the overwintering period from November to April. Early winter analysis showed that rhizomes and roots contained large amounts of starch (45.03% and 22.80% dry weight, respectively). The major storage tissue was parenchyma of the rhizome central core. From winter into spring a gradual decrease in storage starch in the rhizome and root occurred concurrently with starch accumulation near zones of rapid development in young shoots (buds), but the rhizome retained much starch (27.40%o dry weight) into the start of its 2nd yr. HIGH LEVELS of productivity have been reported in various cattail species by Bernard and Bernard (1973, 1977), Boyd (1970), Boyd and Hess (1970), McNaughton (1966), and Westlake (1965). After McNaughton (1966) implicated the underground organs of Typha latifolia as winter storage organs, Fiala (1971) related changes in growth of 1- and 2-yr clonal emergent shoots in T. latifolia to changes in rhizome biomass during the growing season (late spring to early fall). Since there was so little information relating stored energy sources to tissue localization, the present study was undertaken to determine the tissue and organ specificity and the amount of starch storage during the overwinter period (late fall to early spring) in Typha latifolia, as implicated by McNaughton (1966).
Identification of the antifungal peptide-containing symbiont of the marine sponge Theonella swinhoei as a novel δ-proteobacterium, "Candidatus Entotheonella palauensis"

The Palauan sponge Theonella swinhoei (class Demospongiae, order Lithistida, family Theonellidae) harbors filamentous bacterial symbionts that contain theopalauamide, an antifungal, bicyclic glycopeptide. In this study, the filamentous symbionts were shown to be novel bacteria belonging to the δ-subdivision of proteobacteria. The 16S rRNA gene sequence was determined using a combination of denaturing gradient-gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and specific polymerase chain-reaction (PCR) primers, and its source was confirmed by in situ hybridization. In a series of culture experiments, the filamentous bacteria were propagated in a mixed culture on agar plates. Related 16S rRNA gene sequences were isolated from related sponges with slightly different chemistry. The taxonomic status “Candidatus Entotheonella palauensis” is proposed for the theopalauamide-containing filamentous bacteria from T. swinhoei.
Micromechanics study of foam composites using digital nanospeckle photography

Foam composites are increasingly used in sandwich structures for ship construction. Typically the foam serves as the core material for a sandwich panel whose face sheets are made of fiber composites. Such a panel is light but strong when loaded transversely. Determining the mechanical properties of a composite foam is not a simple matter in that most traditional methods such as strain gauge or moire methods are not applicable. However in this paper we show that the mechanical property of foam is a function of the size of the specimen. We apply the digital speckle photography technique to map the deformation of foam composites at different length scales. Emphasis is placed on revealing the composite deformation at microscales. For this we need to use nanosized speckles for the mapping. Nanospeckles are created via a physical vacuum deposition process whereby a metal piece (either gold or copper) is vaporized to fall on the specimen surface. The speckle pattern is digitally recorded at different stages of loading either through a high resolution optical microscope or a scanning electron microscope. The specklegrams are then “compared” using an efficient algorithm using FFT. The result is a full field deformation vector map. We discovered a number of interesting deformation patterns that are unique to the material.
Early motherhood and harsh parenting: The role of human, social, and cultural capital

Abstract Objective This study examined the role of maternal human, social, and cultural capital in the relationship between early motherhood and harsh parenting behavior. Methods This study used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) Study. Harsh parenting behaviors by mothers who were 19 years or younger at birth of the focal child ( n = 598) were compared with that of adult mothers 26 years or older ( n = 1,363). Measures included: For harsh parenting behavior, three proxies were created from the Parent to Child version of the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS-PC) and self-reports of maternal spanking. For maternal human capital, education, employment, and depression were used. For maternal social capital, expected-social support, paternal support, and lone caregiver status were included. For maternal cultural capital, religious attendance and attachment to race/ethnic heritage were used. Results Multivariate analyses indicated that adolescent motherhood has a significant impact on all three harsh parenting behavior outcomes even after controlling for demographic and maternal capital characteristics. Working since the birth of the focal child, depression scores, paternal support, expected-social support, and attendance at religious services made independent contributions to the prediction of harsh parenting behavior. Conclusions Findings emphasize the importance of the prevention of adolescent motherhood and suggest intervention strategies for reducing the risk of maternal harsh parenting behavior. Further study is necessary to examine the complicated relationships among maternal capital and parenting. One method may be to focus on the development of measures of maternal capital, notably measures of expectations regarding and perceptions of received capital. Practice implications Findings from this study have implications for social work practice, particularly for the prevention of adolescent pregnancy and intervention with adolescent mothers and their children. First, the study calls for more recognition of school social work and intervention programs in school settings as important components of prevention services. Second, the importance of identifying fathers and helping them become involved and connected with their young families are highlighted. Finally, practitioners should become more aware of the role of culture in young families as the effect of cultural capital on parenting behavior becomes better understood.
Spatial Learning as an Adaptation in Hummingbirds

An ecological approach based on food distribution suggests that humming birds should more easily learn to visit a flower in a new location than to learn to return to a flower in a position just visited, for a food reward. Experimental results support this hypothesis as well as the general view that differences in learning within and among species represent adaptations.
The management of operating system state data

A new approach is proposed for the management of operating system state data. Relational database concepts are suggested for the analysis and organization of this data, and a common central service routine is described whichcould manage all shared state data. This central routine is based on the techniques currently employed by database management systems.
Effects of GDNF on 6-OHDA-induced death in a dopaminergic cell line: Modulation by inhibitors of PI3 kinase and MEK

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with the selective death of dopaminergic neurons. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) can protect dopaminergic neurons in several parkinsonian models. We used the dopaminergic cell line MN9D to explore the mechanisms underlying GDNF-mediated protection against the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). MN9D cell viability was decreased 24 hr after a 15-min exposure to 6-OHDA (50–1,000 μM) as revealed by staining with Hoechst reagent and Trypan blue. The addition of GDNF (10 ng/ml) before, during, and after exposure to 6-OHDA significantly increased the number of viable cells as assessed by Hoechst staining. In contrast, 6-OHDA-induced cell membrane damage was unaffected as measured by Trypan blue exclusion. The PI3K specific inhibitor LY294002 (10–50 μM) blocked GDNF-mediated protection against nuclear condensation, as did the MAPK kinase (MEK) inhibitor U0126 (5– 20 μM). These studies suggest that GDNF can protect dopaminergic cells against some but not all aspects of 6-OHDA-induced toxicity by acting through both PI3K and MAPK signaling pathways. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The impact of early life history on teachers' beliefs: In-school and out-of-school experiences as learners and knowers of science

This qualitative study describes the differences in the lived experiences of two elementary teachers and the impact these differences have had on their beliefs and practices as teachers of science. Although both teachers experienced traditional, textbook‐driven science instruction as students in schools, their experiences with science outside of school were markedly different. The teacher who had rich out‐of‐school experiences with science was able to embrace reform and teach from a constructivist stance in her classroom, while the other teacher was more comfortable using a traditionalist model of teaching. A discussion comparing and contrasting these findings related to current literature about teachers' beliefs, backgrounds and practices is provided. Implications for teacher educators and parents are discussed.
Marek’s disease viruses lacking either R-LORF10 or LORF4 have altered virulence in chickens

The Marek’s disease virus (MDV, Gallid herpesvirus 2) genome encodes ~110 open reading frames (ORFs). Many of these ORFs are annotated based purely on homology to other herpesvirus genes, thus, direct experiments are needed to verify the gene products, especially the hypothetical or MDV-specific ORFs, and characterize their biological function, particularly with respect to pathogenicity in chickens. Previously, a comprehensive two-hybrid assay screen revealed nine specific chicken-MDV protein–protein interactions. In order to characterize the role of hypothetical MDV proteins R-LORF10 and LORF4, which were shown to interact with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II β chain and Ii (invariant or γ) chain, respectively, recombinant MDVs derived from virulent MDV-BAC clone rMd5-B40 were generated. Recombinant MDV rMd5ΔR-LORF10 lacked part of the promoter and the first 17 amino acids in both copies of R-LORF10, and rMd5mLORF4 had point mutations in LORF4 that disrupted the start codon and introduced a premature stop codon without altering the amino acid sequence of overlapping ORF UL1, which encodes glycoprotein L (gL). Mutations in either R-LORF10 or LORF4 neither prevent MDV reconstitution from modified MDV-BACs nor significantly alter virus growth rate in vitro. However, MDV generated from rMd5ΔR-LORF10 had reduced virulence compared to the parental MDV. Surprisingly, MDV with the LORF4 mutations had significantly higher overall MD incidence as measured by mortality, tumor production, and MD symptoms in infected chickens. These results indicate R-LORF10 and LORF4 encode real products, and are involved in MDV virulence although their mechanisms, especially with respect to modulation of MHC class II cell surface expression, are not clearly understood.
Error reduction, complex systems and organizational change

With the renewed attention to error reduction and the overall performance of the U.S. health care delivery system that was stimulated by the recent release of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) report Crossing the Quality Chasm,1 the article on error reduction appearing in this issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine is particularly timely.2 I would like to offer a few comments on this article, briefly describe the IOM report, and conclude with some thoughts on organizational change.
On the inverses of certain matrices

Recursive algorithm for identification of time varying parameters of system, noting use for matrix inversion