cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Juan C. Onetti: el poder de las imágenes

?Como leer una literatura que hace de la experiencia visual su principio constitutivo? ?Que postulacion de la realidad deja suponer el encuentro de la escritura y la imagen? Mas precisamente, ?que procedimientos interpretativos requeriria una escritura que al ofrecerse como "vision" mas o menos mediada de un paisaje exterior desdibuja las fronteras entre lo referencial y lo imaginario? Siguiendo los lineamientos teoricos de la hermeneutica critica (Ricoeur), metodo que toma en consideracion la subjetividad y dimension ontologica comprometida en la interpretacion y la complementa con el analisis estructural de los textos, este trabajo analiza la funcionalidad de la imagen en la poetica de Juan C. Onetti (1909-1994). Dos de sus cuentos, "Historia del caballero de la rosa y de la virgen encinta que vino de Liliput" (1956) y "El album" (1953), permitiran examinar la operatividad del prejuicio en relacion a las expectativas de sentido abiertas por la imagen y el concepto de mimesis en una trama narrativa donde la enunciacion importa mas que el enunciado.
Missing the Mark: Inaccuracy of administrative data in identification of hospitalized patients with pneumonia and results of a systematic clinical reclassification process on readmission rates

Objective: Pneumonia readmissions carry financial ramifications under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP). As readmission determination utilizes administrative data, healthcare systems should evaluate accuracy of pneumonia diagnoses. We sought to develop a systemic process for pneumonia classification review and determine potential effects on pneumonia readmissions in a tertiary academic medical center in the United States. Methods: We performed independent reviews of all pneumonia discharges within 48 hours of discharge over a one-year period. We reclassified all pneumonia discharges into four categories based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reference standard. Secondary review of discordant classifications was performed by discharging providers to determine final diagnosis. The primary outcome was readmission rate within 30 days by pneumonia clinical classification category. Results: Two hundred seventy-eight discharges were reviewed, with overall readmission rate of 18.0%. Independent review confirmed 191 cases (68.7%) as definite or probable pneumonia, while 87 cases (31.3%) were classified as either probably not or not pneumonia. Readmission rates differed significantly between cases reviewed as pneumonia vs. those reviewed as unlikely to be pneumonia (14.1% vs. 26.4%, p < .02). Discharging attending physicians agreed with independent reviewers in 58/87 cases (66.6%), attenuating readmission differences (rate 16.8% for those finalized as pneumonia vs. 22.4% for another diagnosis, p = .32). Pneumonia readmissions were reduced by 1.2% using the classification standard. Conclusions: Complex conditions such as pneumonia may be inaccurately diagnosed in many patients, potentially affecting penalties associated with readmission rates. Therefore, it is imperative that healthcare systems adopt systematic review processes to standardize diagnoses and improve comparative administrative data.
Zugriff auf Wortbedeutungen

Wie auf lexikalische Bedeutungen Zugriff genommen wird, hangt von verschiedenen Variablen ab, einschlieslich der Eingangsmodalitat, morphosyntaktischer Strukturen, perzeptueller Merkmale und Abstraktheitsgrad. Sensorische und kategorienspezifische Storungen konnen durch Kaskadenprozesse innerhalb eines modalitatsunabhangigen lexikalisch-konzeptuellen Systems vorhergesagt werden. Lexikalische Bedeutungen sind dezentralisiert reprasentiert. Auch wenn die Bedeutung primar perzeptueller Natur ist, konzeptuelle Mediationsprozesse sind offensichtlich stets beim semantischen Zugriff beteiligt. Welche corticalen Areale aktiviert werden, hangt von Berechnungskosten und der Art des mit der lexikalischen Einheit assoziierten Inhalts ab. Die fMRT-Daten verdeutlichen, dass das Broca-Areal dann aktiviert wird, wenn der Zugriff auf idiomatische Phrasen hohere Berechnungskosten erfordert. Weiterhin stellt die „Geschwind-Region“ (Gyrus supramarginalis und Gyrus angularis) die Schaltstelle zwischen prafrontalen und temporookzipitalen Regionen dar und tragt entscheidend zu der Integration multi-sensorischer Erfahrung bei. Diese Region, die aus evolutionarer Sicht relativ jung zu sein scheint, ist vermutlich insbesondere an Prozessen beteiligt, die Aufmerksamkeit und Bewusstsein erfordern.
Extrathymically Generated Regulatory T Cells Establish a Niche for Intestinal Border-Dwelling Bacteria and Affect Physiologic Metabolite Balance

The mammalian gut microbiota provides essential metabolites to the host and promotes the differentiation and accumulation of extrathymically generated regulatory T (pTreg) cells. To explore the impact of these cells on intestinal microbial communities, we assessed the composition of the microbiota in pTreg cell-deficient and -sufficient mice. pTreg cell deficiency led to heightened type 2 immune responses triggered by microbial exposure, which disrupted the niche of border-dwelling bacteria early during colonization. Moreover, impaired pTreg cell generation led to pervasive changes in metabolite profiles, altered features of the intestinal epithelium, and reduced body weight in the presence of commensal microbes. Absence of a single species of bacteria depleted in pTreg cell-deficient animals, Mucispirillum schaedleri, partially accounted for the sequelae of pTreg cell deficiency. These observations suggest that pTreg cells modulate the metabolic function of the intestinal microbiota by restraining immune defense mechanisms that may disrupt a particular bacterial niche.
An Introduction to Politics: An Integrated and Informal Strategy:

This column examines ways of teaching gifted students the meaning of politics. The author focuses on the verbiage of politics and methods for understanding, discussing, and role-playing politics.
Role of Contextual Control in Second Language Performance

Transfer of training from an instructional environment to a natural environment may bring about ineffective language performance by bilingual individuals. In that regard, this study was designed to demonstrate the effect of such a transition on individuals' language performance. A series of Japanese and English words were used as sample and comparisons in a matching procedure. Differential conditioning was implemented in the presence two types of contextual stimuli. After three sets of relations were established, the physical configuration of the contextual stimuli was changed to more subtle appearances, and the number of variations in the contextual stimuli was increased. Measures of percent correct and response latency were used to show the negative influence on second language performance. Percent correct responses decreased with the subtle contextual stimuli for 11 out of 14 participants, and average response latency increased with the increased number of variations in the last phase. These findings indicate that the change in environmental stimuli will be a significant participatory factor in training of second languages.
In Vivo NMR Methods, Overview of Techniques

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is arguably one of the most versatile techniques in use in biomedical research today. However, it was not until the mid-1970s that the first applications of NMR in studies of living biological systems were reported and the term in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was coined. Today, MRS is being used in a wide range of studies of biological processes in systems as diverse as a single cell, isolated perfused organs, and living animals and humans. Several different NMR-sensitive nuclei can be used in the study of biological systems, and the most common are 1 H, 13 C, 31 P, and 19 F. It is also possible to combine MRS with different NMR-based methods, particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to acquire anatomic, metabolic, physiological, and functional information in the same scan session, providing uniquely multivariate information for biological and medical research and applications. The chapter provides an overview of in vivo MRS concepts and demonstrates the potential utility of the approach in biomedical and clinical research.
Toward Simulated Audition in Open Environments

This paper considers the problem of hearing in the broadest possible terms. What kind of information is available in sound about events in the environment? What kind of cognitive mechanisms could extract this information? To address such global problems, we think it is essential to construct simulations of auditory processing, but to evaluate progress, real-world audition is difficult to deal with. To test the simulations, it is useful to develop artificial auditory environments that are simplified, yet retain certain critical properties of natural auditory environments, such as the property of openness. In this paper, we shall schematize the general properties of auditory environments and some major classes of information about time that are relevant for perception. Our theme is that to understand auditory cognition, we not only need to understand auditory processing mechanisms, we also need a clear idea of the problems that must be solved by an auditory system. If the task can be clearly defined, some hypotheses can be formulated about the global dynamic properties of neural systems that are potentially capable of performing these tasks. These systems may then serve as a starting point for developing models of neural mechanisms.
Catalysis of disulfide bond formation and isomerization in Escherichia coli.

Publisher Summary This chapter deals with folding catalysts, in particular with catalysts that are essential for disulfide bond formation in Escherichia coli. Nevertheless, some of these catalysts contain chaperone activity, demonstrating that these two activities are sometimes found within the same protein molecule. The folding of proteins into their three-dimensional structure is essential for their biological function. For proteins that contain disulfide bonds, formation of these bonds is often an important step in the folding reaction. DsbA is identified by the use of a disulfide indicator protein, MalF-fi-galactosidase. This fusion protein lacks fl-galactosidase activity when present in a wild-type E. coli background that is competent in forming disulfides. Despite their common structures, thioredoxin and DsbA fulfill different functions and exist in different cellular compartments. While thioredoxin acts as a reductant of disulfide bonds in the cytosol introduces disulfide bonds into newly synthesized proteins during their translocation to the periplasm. The small equilibrium constant of DsbA with glutathione demonstrates that the disulfide bond formed by DsbA is highly unstable. The stability of a particular disulfide bond corresponds to the extent to which a protein is stabilized by this bond. In other words, the more stable the disulfide bond, the more stable the protein conformation.
Colloidal Metal Films as a New Substrate for Enhanced Spectroscopy of Biomolecules

Recently we introduced a new substrate which provides an enhancement of both Raman scattering and fluorescence from adsorbed molecules [1]. Enhancement was tested with several nucleotides, as well as with an avidin/biotin complex. This system consists of silver or gold particles covalently attached to a glass substrate. Other substrates, such as silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, tin oxide and germanium, have been shown to form colloidal metal films. These films are formed by self-assembly of metal particles from a colloidal suspension onto substrates derivatized with mercaptosilanes. The films were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The advantages of these films relative to other substrates commonly used for enhanced spectroscopies (roughened metal surfaces, colloidal suspensions, island films, etc.) are their stability, reproducibility and greater enhancement. For example, the enhancement of the Raman spectrum of adenine on a silver colloidal film was almost an order of magnitude larger than in an aggregated citrate silver colloid. Moreover, the aggregation state of these films can be controlled prior to their preparation. Because these films are very stable in different environments, they provide a unique possibility for studying fundamental properties of plasmon resonances in small metal particles as a function of the dielectric medium. From a practical point of view, these highly reproducible and stable films offer the potential for development of quantitative analytical methods based on surface-enhanced spectroscopy.
TMEM106B drives lung cancer metastasis by inducing TFEB-dependent lysosome synthesis and secretion of cathepsins

Metastatic lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide, therefore necessitating novel approaches to identify specific genetic drivers for lung cancer progression and metastasis. We recently performed an in vivo gain-of-function genetic screen to identify driver genes of lung cancer metastasis. In the study reported here, we identify TMEM106B as a primary robust driver of lung cancer metastasis. Ectopic expression of TMEM106B could significantly promote the synthesis of enlarged vesicular lysosomes that are laden with elevated levels of active cathepsins. In a TFEB-dependent manner, TMEM106B could modulate the expression of lysosomal genes of the coordinated lysosomal expression and regulation (CLEAR) pathway in lung cancer cells and patient samples. We also demonstrate that TMEM106B-induced lysosomes undergo calcium-dependent exocytosis, thereby releasing active lysosomal cathepsins necessary for TMEM106B-mediated cancer cell invasion and metastasis in vivo, which could be therapeutically prevented by pharmacological inhibition of cathepsins. Further, in TCGA LUAD data sets, 19% of patients show elevated expression of TMEM106B, which predicts for poor disease-free and overall-survival.
Time Perspective, Health, and Risk Taking

Over 15 million minutes ago, in the slower days of the early 1970s (Glieck, 1999), a remarkable experiment on time press and helping behavior was conducted by social psychologists John Darley and Dan Batson (1973). They observed how individual Princeton seminary students behaved in preparation for giving a speech on the parable of the Good Samaritan. The speech was to be given in a building across campus and would be evaluated by the seminarians’ supervisors. As each student completed his preparation, he was told that: (a) He was late for his presentation, that he had been expected a few minutes ago; (b) he had plenty of time before his presentation, but that he might as well head on over; or (c) an in-between time message, that he was on time and should head over now. The researchers were curious about the effect, if any, of this manipulation of time press on helping behavior among those whose religious preparation and assumed altruistic inclination may have predisposed them to helping others.
Experimental and theoretical investigation of heat transfer in platform bed during polymer extrusion based additive manufacturing

Abstract Heat transfer plays a key role in polymer extrusion based additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Measurement and modeling of how temperature distribution on the platform bed changes with time during the dispensing of a polymer filament is of particular interest, as it determines the effectiveness of merging with neighboring filaments, and therefore, the properties of the built part. This paper reports infrared thermography based measurement of temperature field on the platform bed as a function of time during filament dispense and comparison with an analytical model based on moving heat source theory. Measurements identify two key heat transfer processes that influence temperature distribution on the bed. Data show that diffusion of thermal energy deposited on the bed with the filament and heat transfer from the hot nozzle tip both influence the temperature distribution on the bed. The relative contributions of these two sources of temperature rise on the bed are measured for different values of key process parameters. Measurement of temperature rise due to diffusion of thermal energy deposited on the bed is found to be in excellent agreement with an analytical model based on moving heat source theory. Evolution of the temperature field after completion of rastering of a line is measured. These data play a critical role in determining how effectively a filament merges with neighboring filaments. By identifying the key heat transfer processes that determine the temperature field on the platform bed, this work contributes towards thermal optimization of polymer-based additive manufacturing.
Secondary amyloidosis associated with heroin use and recurrent infections - A case report.

Abstract A 49-year-old lady with history of polysubstance use disorder, recurrent cutaneous abscesses, spinal diskitis and septic thrombophlebitis presented to the emergency room with complaints of intermittent fevers, worsening right hip pain and bilateral lower extremity edema. A month before the presentation, she had left another hospital against medical advice after being diagnosed with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and right hip septic arthritis. Post discharge, she was off antibiotics, but continued heroin and methamphetamine use. On admission, she had right hip chronic osteomyelitis and was also in acute renal failure with evidence of nephrotic range proteinuria. Her renal biopsy subsequently revealed acute tubular necrosis and secondary (AA) amyloidosis with the classic apple green birefringence and positive immunohistochemical stain for serum amyloid A protein. Secondary amyloidosis, where there is deposition of fibrils composed of fragments of the acute phase reactant - serum amyloid A protein, often complicates chronic diseases with ongoing or recurring inflammation like spondyloarthropathies, inflammatory bowel disease and heredofamilial periodic fever syndromes. Epidemiological studies now indicate that chronic inflammation as noted in illicit drug users, especially heroin users is on the rise as the etiology for AA amyloidosis in some parts of the developed world. The most common organ system involved in AA amyloidosis is the kidney. Given the opioid epidemic, clinicians are more likely to encounter similar cases of secondary amyloidosis.
Pulmonary Function after Proton Therapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma.

Abstract Purpose: Acute and late toxicity from chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiation therapy can cause significant morbidity among survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), including pulmonary dy...
Differential effect of grape seed extract and its active constituent procyanidin B2 3,3″‐di‐O‐gallate against prostate cancer stem cells

The present study aimed to determine whether grape seed extract (GSE) procyanidin mix, and its active constituent procyanidin B2 3,3″-di-O-gallate (B2G2) have the potential to target cancer stem cells (CSCs) in prostate cancer (PCa). The CSC populations were isolated and purified based on CD44+ -α2β1high surface markers in PCa cell lines LNCaP, C4-2B, 22Rv1, PC3, and DU145, and then subjected to prostasphere formation assays in the absence or presence of GSE or B2G2. Results indicated that at lower doses (<15 μg) , the GSE procyanidin mix produced activity in unsorted prostate cancer antigen (PCA) cells, but not in sorted; however, multiple treatments with low dose GSE over a course of time inhibited sphere formation by sorted PCA CSCs. Importantly, B2G2 demonstrated significant potential to target both unsorted and sorted CSCs at lower doses. As formation of spheroids, under specific in vitro conditions, is a measure of stemness, these results indicated the potential of both GSE and B2G2 to target the self-renewal of CSC in PCa cell lines, though B2G2 was more potent in its efficacy. Subsequent mechanistic studies revealed that both GSE procyanidins and B2G2 strongly decreased the constitutive as well as Jagged1 (Notch1 ligand)-induced activated Notch1 pathway. In totality, these in vitro studies warrant extensive dose-profiling-based assessments in vivo settings to conclusively determine the impact on CSC pool kinetics on the efficacy of both GSE and B2G2 to target PCa growth as well as tumor relapse.
Ocean Acoustic Tomography

The possible use of long-range acoustic propagation as a tool for measuring oceanographic processes has tantalized the oceanographic community for 15 years. During this period a growing number of oceanographers joined teams to acoustically measure the fields of sound speed and water velocity (currents) on subocean-basin scales and to infer from those measurements temperature, vorticity, and heat content.
Connecting Physics and Medicine: Engaging Students Online and in the Classroom

Undergraduate courses outside a student’s major can be a challenge for instructors and students alike. At the same time, they are an opportunity to provide valuable insights with new perspectives that instructors or students would not otherwise be exposed to. We reformed the curriculum and pedagogy of our undergraduate physics courses geared toward life science and in particular, pre-health students. What had been lecture-centered courses a few years ago have been transitioned to active learning courses with curriculum highlighting biomedical applications of physics. The courses use pre-class videos featuring biomedical experts discussing how physics is relevant to their work. Students make connections between physics and its biomedical application through pre-instructional reading and post instruction biomedically authentic homework assignments. Classroom work is centered on concepts students struggle with and features clicker questions, group discussions, lab activities, and full course student projects. The curriculum is designed to help physics instructors without an extensive biomedical background to teach a course that is relevant and more engaging to pre-health students. Student surveys and interviews show that students see the active engagement curriculum as an improvement over traditional physics instruction.
Self-reported sleep quality is associated with gut microbiome composition in young, healthy individuals: a pilot study.

Abstract Objectives The microbiota-gut-brain axis is an intricate communication network that is emerging as a key modulator of psychological and physiological wellbeing. Recent pioneering work in the field has suggested a possible link between gut microbiome composition with sleep, an evolutionarily conserved behavior demonstrated to play a critical role in health. This study is the first to address relationships between self-reported sleep habits and gut microbiome composition in young, healthy individuals. Methods A total of 28 young, healthy subjects (17 males/11 females; 29.8 ± 10.4 years) that were free of metabolic or cardiovascular disease, and that did not take sleep medication or antibiotics within the past six months were included in the study. Relationships between self-reported sleep quality, obtained using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), with microbial diversity (Shannon Index), the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio, and select bacterial taxa were assessed. Results Alpha diversity (r = −0.50) and F/B ratio (r = −0.47) were inversely associated (P Conclusions In young healthy individuals, self-reported sleep quality was positively associated with microbial diversity. We also observed a positive association between sleep quality with F/B ratio, seemingly due to a greater relative abundance of Blautia and Ruminococcus (Firmicutes) and lower proportions of Prevotella (Bacteroidetes) in individuals reporting superior sleep quality. Future studies are encouraged to evaluate mechanistic links between the gut microbiome with sleep, as well as the health implications of this relationship.
Common Pitfalls in Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology : A Case-Based Approach

Clinical case studies are fundamental in cementing theoretical training, especially for neurological disorders where diagnosis can be difficult. This book describes a variety of clinical scenarios associated with either the misdiagnosis or incorrect management of cognitive and behavioral neurological syndromes, identifying common pitfalls, which are discussed in detail. Each case emphasizes the importance of information derived from the patient's history and physical examination in forming a correct diagnosis. Focusing on disorders and presentations that are a frequent source of confusion, key diagnostic principles are illustrated clearly. Questions to the reader move the narrative along logically, whilst highlighting specific aspects of clinical presentation that lead to the correct diagnosis. Videos of patients connect readers to the cases and demonstrate how to avoid diagnostic pitfalls. An online version of the book can be accessed on Cambridge Core, via the code printed on the inside of the cover.
The volume of singular Kähler-Einstein Fano varieties

We show that the anti-canonical volume of an -dimensional Kahler–Einstein -Fano variety is bounded from above by certain invariants of the local singularities, namely for ideals and the normalized volume function for real valuations. This refines a recent result by Fujita. As an application, we get sharp volume upper bounds for Kahler–Einstein Fano varieties with quotient singularities. Based on very recent results by Li and the author, we show that a Fano manifold is K-semistable if and only if a de Fernex–Ein–Mustaţa type inequality holds on its affine cone.
"Girls Gone Wild" and Rape Law: Revising The Contractual Concept of Consent and Ensuring an Unbiased Application of "Reasonable Doubt" When the Victim is Non-Traditional

The proposed continuum-based idea of consent honors women's autonomy: an autonomy that should be assumed in all sexual endeavors, while at the same time protecting women from predators. Unlike the current consent standard, this proposed standard is intent on preventing the risk that women will be punished for their sexual choices. The non-traditional rape victims, prostitutes, and women engaged in multi-partner sexual activities used as examples in this article are but a few examples of the myriad of women who are indelibly disadvantaged by the judgments judges and juries make about their sexual choices in the adjudication of rape cases. The continuum-based idea of consent also moves away from the pattern of treating sexual encounters as business transactions in which a purported contract cannot be breached by a woman without penalty. While it is abundantly clear that tackling the judicial system alone will not solve this problem, the judicial system, nonetheless, serves as an important site of reform. Along with the reformation of the judicial system into a gender bias-free system, there is, of course, an immense need to implement educational programs regarding the importance of respecting women's autonomy and choices in all aspects of our society.
The Impact of Social Support on Treatment Participation and Completion in a Disability Prevention Intervention for Older Adults.

Objectives: This study evaluates the role of emotional and instrumental social support on treatment participation and completion using the Positive Minds-Strong Bodies (PMSB) disability prevention ...
The Effect of Fantasy Context on Moral Action and Judgment

Research suggests individuals import real-world facts into fictional worlds based on the type of fact and fictional context. We examined the importation of real-world morality across fictional cont...
Social Organization of Suffering and Justice-Seeking in a Tragic Day Care Fire Disaster

In 2009 a fire destroyed a day care center in Mexico, killing 49 children and leaving 100 others with serious injuries. This chapter explores how suffering and the search for justice and closure have produced a social movement of interconnected subgroups of parents and caretakers. These new social groups collaborate and at times compete due to their myriad definitions and concepts of justice. In various combinations, parents and caretakers in four self-defined groups seek justice through legal consequences for day care owners plus regulators and politicians: seeing that it never happens again; demanding compensation; assuring that their surviving children are healthy and taken care of; and expressing their loss or anger. How their suffering translates into these objectives must be understood in a context in which the new Mexican multi-party system is figuring out how to handle major problems like this so that citizens feel closure. The single party system always had answers for such problems—send the perpetrators to another state or off to an ambassadorial post. While it appears that the social movement approach has seen some success in the case of the 2009 fire and in other applications, it also holds limitations in that it reminds individuals of their suffering and grief and may limit progress in constructing a new well-being.
Linearly Bounded Reformulations of Conjunctive Databases

Database reformulation is the process of rewriting the data and rules of a deductive database in a functionally equivalent manner. We focus on the problem of automatically reformulating a database in a way that reduces query processing time while satisfying strong storage space constraints. In previous work we have investigated database reformulation for the case of unary databases. In this paper we extend this work to arbitrary arity, while concentrating on databases with conjunctive rules. The main result of the paper is that the database reformulation problem is decidable for conjunctive databases.
Catalytic selenols couple the redox cycles of metallothionein and glutathione.

Co-ordination of zinc to the thiol group of cysteine allows mobilization of zinc through oxidation of its ligand. This molecular property links the binding and release of zinc in metallothionein (MT) to the cellular redox state [Maret W. & Vallee B.L. (1998) Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 95, 3483-3488]. Biological disulfides such as glutathione disulfide (GSSG) oxidize MT with concomitant release of zinc, while glutathione (GSH) reduces the oxidized protein to thionein, which then binds to available zinc. Neither of these two redox processes is very efficient, even at high concentrations of GSSG or GSH. However, the GSH/GSSG redox pair can efficiently couple with the MT/thionein system in the presence of a selenium compound that has the capacity to form a catalytic selenol(ate). This coupling provides a very effective means of modulating oxidation and reduction. Remarkably, selenium compounds catalyze the oxidation of MT even under overall reducing conditions such as those prevailing in the cytosol. In this manner, the binding and release of zinc from zinc-thiolate co-ordination sites is linked to redox catalysis by selenium compounds, changes in the glutathione redox state, and the availability of either a zinc donor or a zinc acceptor. The results also suggest that the pharmacological actions of selenium compounds in cancer prevention and other antiviral and anti-inflammatory therapeutic applications, as well as unknown functions of selenium-containing proteins, may relate to coupling between the thiol redox state and the zinc state.
From East to West: The Evolution of China’s FDI Preferential Policies

Since 1978, China has gradually opened up and has successfully used its foreign direct investment (FDI) preferential policies to steer FDI into its desired locations and industries in order to facilitate its uneven development strategy. The unbalanced strategy initially gave development priority to China’s eastern coastal region in hopes of establishing viable and strong economic “engines” along the coast and thus spreading out positive effects into its vast interior areas. China’s FDI favored policies, reflecting this strategy, were accordingly skewed to the eastern region in the first 20 years, from 1978 to 1997. This uneven growth distribution has been clearly manifested by the disproportionate FDI concentration in China’s coastal area. It is estimated that over 85% of FDI in the period of 1978-1998 has been located in the eastern coastal region while merely 3% in the western area.
Absorption coefficient at 10.6 μm in CdTe modulator crystals

The bulk and surface absorption coefficients of CdTe modulator crystals at 10.6 μm were compared with those of single-crystal KCl and NaCl which served to calibrate the laser calorimeter. High-resistivity (>107 ohm/cm) CdTe crystals exhibited a bulk absorption coefficient of 0.0014 cm−1.
On embedding rings into a star-related network

Abstract It is shown that, in the star graph, it is always possible to form a Hamiltonian path between two nodes as long as the distance between them is odd. This result leads to the proof of Hamiltonicity for the clustered-star graph. The results can readily be used in optimal embedding of a linear array of processors (or a ring) in the star graph. The embedding problem is also solved when one or more processors are faulty in the network. The length of the linear array and the ring in this case is shown to be ( n !− m !) where m is the dimension of the smallest star graph which contains all the faulty processors.
Health care access and utilization among pregnant adolescents.

Purpose: To assess access to and use of health care by adolescents prior to their becoming pregnant. Methods: An interviewer-administered questionnaire was completed by all pregnant adolescents ( n = 65) entering the Rochester Adolescent Maternity Program (RAMP) between January and June 1994. Questions addressed access and utilization issues including routine care and other services used, and existence of a regular source of care prior to pregnancy. Results: Sixty-one adolescents (94%) completed questionnaires. Almost all (93%) had made a doctor or clinic visit, and 77% had had a checkup in the prior year. Most had Medicaid (85%) or private insurance (13%). The median number of visits to a regular source of care was 2.0 (range 0–10). Most frequently reported sources of regular care were hospital clinics (43%), community health centers (26%), and private physician offices (15%). Two-thirds (66%) reported having used multiple sources of care. Of those who used other sources in addition to a primary care source, 40% used reproductive health clinics. Adolescents whose primary care source was a traditional physician's office were more likely to also use reproductive health clinics than those who reported using more comprehensive primary care sources. Conclusions: Most pregnant adolescents in this sample had previously used routine primary care, usually in hospital clinics or health centers. Many of these adolescents also use multiple sources of care, most often for reproductive services. Access to reproductive health services does not seem to have been a problem for these adolescents prior to their pregnancies.
Quality of oil from damaged soybeans

Various processing steps were explored in an at-tempt to improve the quality of oil from field- and storage-damaged soybeans. A crude soybean oil (5.7% free fatty acid) commercially extracted from damaged soybeans was degummed in the laboratory with different reagents: water, phosphoric acid, and acetic anhydride. Two alkali strengths, each at 0.1 and 0.5% excess, were used to refine each degummed oil. After vacuum bleaching (0.5% activated earth) and deodorization (210 C, 3 hr), these oils were un-acceptable as salad oils. A flavor score of 6.0 or higher characterizes a satisfactory oil. Scores of water and phosphoric acid degummed oils ranged from 4.5 to 5.1, while acetic anhydride degummed oils aver-aged 5.6. Flavor evaluations of (phosphoric acid de-gummed) single- and double-refined oils (210 C deodorization) showed that the latter were signifi-cantly better. Flavor scores increased from 5.0 to about 6.0. To study the effects of deodorization tem-perature, the crude commercial oil was alkali-refined, water-washed and bleached with 0.5% activated earth, but the degumming step was omitted. Flavor evalua-tion of oil deodorized at 210, 230, and 260 C showed that each temperature increment raised flavor scores significantly. Further evaluations of specially proc-essed oils (water, phosphoric acid, and acetic anhy-dride degummed oils given single and double refinings and deodorized at 260 C) showed that deodorization temperature is the most important factor affecting the initial quality of oil from damaged beans. Flavor evaluations showed that hydrogenation and hydro-genation-winterization treatments produced oils of high initial quality, but with poorer keeping proper-ties than oils from normal beans. No evidence was found implicating nonhydratable phosphatides in the oil flavor problem. Iron had a deleterious effect in oils not treated with citric acid during deodorization.
Significance: recognizing the value of research across national and linguistic boundaries

Internationalization of educational publishing promises fresh perspectives and new solutions—but not if US-based editors, reviewers, and readers fail to recognize the significance of research conducted outside the USA. This essay explores the concept of “significance” in the context of peer review of journal articles, and explains why US-based reviewers easily miss the social importance and the intellectual interest of research conducted elsewhere. It points to several steps that can be taken to increase publication of the full global range of educational scholarship.
Thermal-hydraulic analysis for the upgraded MIT nuclear research reactor

The thermal-hydraulic analysis performed for a planned upgrade of the MIT Research Reactor from 5 to 6-7 MW using the existing heat removal equipment is reported. This upgrade is one of several options under consideration for the relicensing of the MIT Research Reactor in 1999. Included in this paper is a description of the calculations of thermal-hydraulic limits which include limiting safety system settings (LSSS) and safety limits (SL). The LSSS and SL were respectively chosen to avoid onset of nucleate boiling and flow instability during steady-state operation. These analyses were performed using the MULti-CHannel-II or MULCH-II code which was developed and benchmarked at MIT for design and safety analysis of the MIT Research Reactor.
Diagnosing Engineering Information Interoperability: Recognizing the Value of Standards-Based PLM — Part 1

The notion of an open standards-based product lifecycle management (PLM) framework is gaining momentum. In this paper, we describe the idea of a standards-based collective product model (CPM) and its interaction with domain models native to typical engineering tools. A critical hurdle in the development of the CPM from domain models is assessing the compatibility of information in these native models to its corresponding standards-based representation. To address this, we use the concept of “degree-of-openness” of engineering information. This concept comprises three metrics, namely compatibility, coverage and completeness that are used to evaluate the interoperability of information in tool-specific models with its corresponding standards-based representation. We also demonstrate GT-Diagnostics, a prototype tool that evaluates these metrics. Using electrical and mechanical CAD examples, we illustrate the value of these metrics in understanding the relative interoperability of information for engineering and business decision making. Results indicate that the metrics help to identify the sources of incompatibility of information and the areas of possible improvement in the compared schemas.© 2005 ASME
Index sets for ω‐languages

An ω-language is a set of infinite sequences (words) on a countable language, and corresponds to a set of real numbers in a natural way. Languages may be described by logical formulas in the arithmetical hierarchy and also may be described as the set of words accepted by some type of automata or Turing machine. Certain families of languages, such as the languages, may enumerated as P0, P1, … and then an index set associated to a given property R (such as finiteness) of languages is just the set of e such that Pe has the property. The complexity of index sets for 7 types of languages is determined for various properties related to the size of the language.
Association between the Angiotensin Type 2 Receptor (AT2) Genotype and Congenital Urinary Tract Anomalies (CUTA) in Mice and Men. • 1704

Association between the Angiotensin Type 2 Receptor (AT2) Genotype and Congenital Urinary Tract Anomalies (CUTA) in Mice and Men. • 1704
Does BMI affect the accuracy of preoperative axillary ultrasound in breast cancer patients

Obesity affects 36 % of American women and is a well-documented breast cancer risk factor. Preoperative axillary ultrasound (AUS) is used routinely for axillary staging in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients; However, the impact of obesity on the usefulness of AUS is unknown. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of body mass index (BMI) on the performance of AUS. From our prospective breast surgery database, we identified 1,510 consecutive invasive breast cancers in patients undergoing primary surgery, including axillary operation, from January 2010 to July 2013. Preoperative AUS was performed in 1,375 cases (91 %). We analyzed patient, pathology and imaging data. Median BMI was 27.4 and 479 patients (36 %) were classified as obese (BMI ≥ 30). Most tumors were T1 (71 %) and estrogen receptor-positive (87 %). AUS was suspicious in 401 (29 %) patients, of whom 374 had ultrasound-guided lymph node fine-needle aspiration (FNA). Overall, 124 patients (33.2 %) were FNA positive. FNA identified disease preoperatively in 35.8 % of node-positive obese patients. For all BMI categories (normal, overweight, obese), AUS was predictive of pathologic nodal status (p < 0.0001). AUS sensitivity did not differ across BMI categories, while specificity and accuracy were better for overweight (p = 0.001 and 0.008, respectively) and obese (p = 0.007 and 0.02, respectively) patients, than for normal-BMI patients. Despite theoretical concern regarding both potential technical challenges and obesity-related lymph node alterations, the sensitivity of preoperative AUS for detecting nodal metastasis was similar in obese and non-obese patients, while specificity was better in obese patients. Preoperative AUS is valuable for preoperative nodal staging of obese breast cancer patients.
Real-world application and validation of vehicle-mounted pavement inspection system

Pavement condition surveys are typically done manually by inspection teams. They can be expensive and can take several months to complete. This paper considers a vehicle-mounted pavement inspection system that aims to be more affordable and faster than manual surveys. The system is comprised of a vehicle outfitted with a multi-modal sensor array that includes accelerometers, microphones, radar, tire pressure, and video. In a first step, each channel is processed individually to extract parameters related to friction, roughness, and distress. The second step applies data fusion concepts to combine all sensor data into a single pavement condition value. This paper elaborates on the system and describes a real-world field test. The primary contribution is a proof-of-concept for the system by comparing field test results to those from a conventional manual survey.
Digging Deep: Exploring College Students' Knowledge of Macroevolutionary Time.

Some ability to comprehend deep time is a prerequisite for understanding macroevolution. This study examines students' knowledge of deep time in the context of seven major historical and evolutionary events (e.g., the age of the Earth, the emergence of life, the appearance of a pre-modern human, Homo habilis). The subjects were 126 students recruited from psychology, education, and biology classes at two universities. They were assigned to stronger and weaker background groups based on their college-level biology coursework. Subjects provided startlingly large time ranges for all questions, ranging over several orders of magnitude (e.g., from 1,000 to 600 billion years ago for when most dinosaurs became extinct), coupled with the strong tendency to underestimate how long ago the events occurred. Converting absolute time estimates to relative time estimates allowed subjects' knowledge of the spacing of the events to be examined and also provided a clearer picture of their patterns of over and underestimation. The results of this study suggest that many students are without an effective conceptual framework to make sense of very large time frames. Although there were no consistent differences in the accuracy of students' responses as a function of their biology background, the weaker background students showed greater variability, providing more time estimates at both the low and high extremes. We describe a pedagogical strategy that uses a relative approach presenting major evolutionary events as they unfolded in time and advocate a tool from professional practice to depict events in time and space. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 311–332, 2009
Isosteres of natural phosphates. 5. The preparation of phosphotidylcholine, phosphotidylethanolamine and phosphotidylglycerol

Isosteric phosphonate analogues of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol have been prepared in which the normal oxygen atom of the phosphate ester linkage in the glycerol backbone of the molecule has been replaced by a methylene group. These have been prepared by the coupling of the previously reported phosphotidic acid (isosteric analogue of phosphatidic acid) with the appropriate protected hydroxyl compound mediated by trichloroacetonitrile. In all cases, racemic materials have been isolated: for the analogue of phosphatidylglycerol, a mixture of two enantiomeric pairs is isolated.
Soil cultivation effects on sediment and phosphorus mobilization in surface runoff from three contrasting soil types in England

Abstract To encourage the adoption of best management practices in a priority catchment (Hampshire Avon) in south-west England suffering from diffuse pollution, field demonstration areas were established over a 2-year period on three major soil types (a Chalk soil with an 8° slope, a Greensand soil on a 5° slope and an underdrained Clay soil with a 1° slope). Within each demonstration area, three replicate runoff plots measuring 15 m long and 2 m wide and each containing a tramline were established to monitor the effectiveness of cultivation date (early versus late) and cultivation method (traditional versus reduced) on suspended sediment and P mobilization in surface runoff. Reduced cultivation consisted of heavy discing (5–8 cm depth) instead of ploughing (20–25 cm depth). Soil cultivation effects were variable and site specific depending on weather, inherent soil susceptibility to structural degradation and management. Surface sealing of the Greensand soil, tramline compaction on the Chalk soil and direction of drilling on the Clay soil were key contributing factors. Late cultivation increased surface runoff up to 5-fold and mobilization of sediment and P by up to an order of magnitude compared to early drilling using traditional cultivation techniques. Concentrations of sediment and P in runoff from the Greensand and Chalk soils were consistently lower when the soil was minimally tilled than ploughed, even though a range of soil physical measurements indicated greater soil consolidation where the soil was not inverted. The benefits of reduced cultivation were attributed to better surface cover and a firmer surface for tractor wheelings. Early drilling, timeliness of cultivation to avoid soil compaction, better tramline management and reduced cultivation techniques would help reduce agriculture's impact on water quality in the catchment area.