cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessing quality of clearcut habitats for amphibians: Effects on abundances versus vital rates in the southern toad (Bufo terrestris)

Forest clearcutting is a form of habitat alteration that drastically alters the landscape and may contribute to declines in amphibian populations. Indeed, many studies have documented decreases in amphibian abundances and species richness in clearcuts. The development of effective conservation strategies to reduce the effects of timber harvesting has been hindered by lack of knowledge of the mechanisms underlying these changes in abundance. To better understand the potentially negative consequences of forest clearcutting, we used field enclosures in forested and clearcut habitats to examine changes in the survival and growth of juvenile southern toads (Bufo terrestris) over a two-month period. We also conducted a comparative monitoring study using drift fences and pitfall traps in forests and clearcuts to determine the effect of clearcutting on the abundance of juvenile southern toads. We found no significant effect of habitat on the number of juvenile southern toads captured in forests or clearcuts. In contrast, the average survival of toads in clearcut enclosures was significantly reduced compared to that of toads in forested enclosures (17 ± 5% versus 61 ± 3%). Toads surviving in clearcuts were also significantly smaller than those surviving in forested enclosures (27.9 ± 0.1 mm versus 30.3 ± 0.8 mm SVL). Our results highlight the difficulty in interpreting abundance patterns as a sole metric for habitat comparison. Because there is much interest in studying the effects of habitat alteration on amphibian populations, we recommend that future studies place more emphasis on determining changes in vital rates of populations following habitat alteration.
New stack capacitor for dynamic data storage in polysilicon active matrix arrays

A stack capacitor for dynamic circuits employing self-aligned polysilicon thin-film transistors (TFTs) is proposed. Through circuit layout without deviation in processing, a thin-oxide capacitor can be fabricated directly underneath the conventional planar thick-oxide capacitor to form a sandwiched stack capacitor. Due to the addition of the thin-oxide capacitor with high unit capacitance, significant savings in chip area can be achieved. The stack capacitor structure has been successfully demonstrated in polysilicon linear arrays for printer applications. Improved data retention and decreased feedthrough voltage, characteristic of higher storage capacitance, are demonstrated. >
W. Raymond Wood, A Celebration

In 2004 the late Stanley A. Ahler and I organized and co-chaired a Symposium in Honor of W. Raymond Wood at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Montreal, Canada. We subsequently edited a volume published by University of Utah Press in 2007 that stems from this conference, is dedicated to Ray Wood, and is entitled, Plains Village Archaeology: Bison-hunting Farmers in the Central and Northern Plains. The Montreal symposium covered other facets too of Ray's storied career without addressing all of them. Stimulated by this symposium, three contributions that reflect on Ray's life and his impact on the profession of anthropology, and on the authors themselves, follow this, the merest of introductions to Ray and a backdrop for these three papers. As both a former editor of this journal and one who has been privileged to have had Ray as a mentor throughout my professional career, I regard the papers by R. Bruce McMillan, C. Vance Haynes, and Teresita Majewski as exemplary writings. These three are long-time friends and colleagues of Ray who also have had laudatory careers. Each provides a unique yet complementary perspective: Bruce McMillan on Ray as the consummate interdisciplinary scholar and innovative organizer of Quaternary research whose programs in various guises continue to this day; Vance Haynes' personal tribute to Rayon making research productive and too much fun not to do; and Terry Majewski on Ray's vision and impact on historical studies in archaeology, the methodological foundations of historical archaeology as a discipline unto itself, but most essential the timeless qualities Ray brings to teaching. Plains scholars should peruse and return to these three papers periodically whenever they want a sense of how one person can make a difference to our profession and more importantly to people generally. Ray Wood embodies Plains archaeology and anthropology at their best. Certainly what has attracted me and countless others extends well beyond his scholarship, enviable though it is. Rather it is the unvarnished joy Ray has in living, respect for others, and his self-deprecating and entirely genuine sense of humor that draws people in. Once there, there is no escape. With Ray, you don't become a passing acquaintance but a friend for life.
Truncation and smoothing for relative (C, 1) limits

0. Introduction. 1. Notations. 2. Truncation sequences. 3. Some properries of truncation sequences. 4. Some eramples. 5. Stability and condensation 6. The smoothing theorem. 7. Relativization. 8. Relative truncation sequences. 9. Some properties of relalive truncalion sequences. 10. Some examples of relative truncalion sequences. 11, Relative stability and relative smoothness. 12. Upper smoothing. 13. Lower smooting; the relative smoothing theorem. 14. Essential sequences. 15. Examples and applications.
X-RAY DIFFRACTION STUDY OF CALCULUS OF THE MINIATURE PIG.

Abstract Human oral calculus consists of hydroxylapatite primarily, with lesser amounts of Whitlockite, octocalcium phosphate and Brushite. Traces of other substances have been reported only as occasional constituents. Miniature swine have been made available for research purposes and appear well suited for dental research. They frequently possess large amounts of supragingival calculus but have no persisting pattern of periodontitis. X-ray diffraction and X-ray spectrographic analyses of samples of calculus from miniature swine indicated calcite (rhombohedral CaCO3) as the principal constituent and a marked difference from human calculus in the Ca P ratio due to the reduced amount of phosphorus present.
Withdrawal of support in intracerebral hemorrhage may lead to self-fulfilling prophecies

Background: Withdrawal of support in patients with severe brain injury invariably leads to death. Preconceived notions about futility of care in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) may prompt withdrawal of support, and modeling outcome in patient populations in whom withdrawal of support occurs may lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. Methods: Subjects included consecutive patients with supratentorial ICH. Radiographic characteristics of the hemorrhage, clinical variables, and neurologic outcome were assessed. Attitudes about futility of care were examined among members of the departments of neurology and neurologic surgery through a written survey and case presentations. Results: There were 87 patients with supratentorial ICH; overall mortality was 34.5% (30/87). Mortality was 66.7% (18/27) in patients with Glasgow Coma Score ≤8 and ICH volume >60 cm 3 . Medical support was withdrawn in 76.7% (23/30) of patients who died. Inclusion of a variable to account for the withdrawal of support in a model predicting outcome negated the predictive value of all other variables. Patients undergoing surgical decompression were unlikely to have support withdrawn, and surgery was less likely to be performed in older patients ( p p = 0.04). Survey results suggested that practitioners tend to be overly pessimistic in prognosticating outcome based upon data available at the time of presentation. Conclusions: The most important prognostic variable in determining outcome after ICH is the level of medical support provided. Withdrawal of support in patients felt likely to have a “poor outcome” biases predictive models and leads to self-fulfilling prophecies. Our data show that individual patients in traditionally “poor outcome” categories can have a reasonable neurologic outcome when treated aggressively.
Friction in faulted rock at high temperature and pressure

Abstract Two hundred observations of frictional behavior of seven low-porosity silicate rocks were made at temperatures to 700°C and pressures from 2.5 to 6 kbar. For all rocks except one, peridotite, stick-slip occurred at low temperature and gave way to stable sliding at some high temperature, different for each rock. These differences could be related to the presence or absence of minerals such as amphibole, mica, or serpentine. Up to some temperature, depending on rock type, the friction stress was relatively unaffected by temperature. The shear stress decreased at higher temperature, and in some cases such decrease was related to the coincidence of fracture and friction strength. While somewhat dependent on rock type, the friction stress for the seven rocks studied was about the same, within 10–15%. Up to 265°C, water had little effect on the frictional behavior of faulted granite at 3 kbar effective pressure. The frictional stresses measured in the laboratory were significantly higher than estimated for natural faults. This difference could be accounted for by high pore pressure or weak alteration materials in the natural fault zone.
Characterization of in vitro transcription initiation and termination sites in Col E1 DNA

Overlapping restriction fragments from the region between the single Eco R1 site and the origin of replication of the plasmid, Col E1, have been utilised as templates in an in vitro transcription assay using E. coli RNA polymerase. Transcription towards the single Eco R1 site is initiated at a point 415 bp to the origin side of that site. In vivo, transcription starting at this point probably produces the mRNA for the colicin immunity protein. Transcription away from the Eco R1 site is initiated at a point 140 bp to the origin side of that site and terminated 30 bp further on. This terminator is probably the point at which transcription of the colicin gene is terminated in vivo. DNA sequence analysis in both these regions demonstrated several similarities to other prokaryotic regulatory regions. 50% homology between the putative immunity promoter and other prokaryotic promoters is apparent, so are similarities in AT-content. Upstream of the ATG start codon the sequence PuPuTTTPuPu and a termination codon (TAA) appear; both are typical of prokaryotic ribosome binding sites. The colicin terminator demonstrated similarities to other rho-independent prokaryotic terminators: a GC-rich region with termination in an adjacent AT-rich region containing T clusters on the non-coding strand. The possible role of initiation upstream from the colicin terminator is discussed.
An analogue polarization follower for measuring the Faraday rotation of satellite signals

Conventional methods for measuring polarization angles, as they are employed in measuring the Faraday rotation of satellite signals, determine the time elapsed between two zeros of the polarization fading. The instrumentation described in this paper, however, makes continuous measurement and recording possible by application of a fast electronic scanning and orientation method to the steerable polarization pattern of a crossed-dipole antenna. The information obtained by the intersection of the incident polarization and the pattern scan controls a servo system that in turn steers the system pattern in order to follow the incident polarization angle. System function, theory of operation, and test recordings that are obtained from v.h.f. satellite signals are presented and discussed.
Studies on anti-eluate sera. I. The production of antiglobulin (Coombs) sera in rabbits by the use of antibodies eluted from sensitized red blood cells.

Summary 1 Rabbits were successfully immunized with eluates prepared from human red blood cells. 2 The presence of demonstrable antibody activity in the eluate was not a prerequisite to provoking an immune response in rabbits. 3 Immune responses were obtained with eluates from red cells whose sensitization appeared to be non-gamma globulin in type as well as from gamma globulin sensitized cells. 4 Weak but definite immune responses were obtained with eluates from normal red cells. 5 Broad cross-reactivity was observed among the various anti-eluate antisera when tested against a panel of cells whose sensitization covered the range of gamma globulin, mixed and non-gamma globulin types. Resume 1 °Des lapins ont ete immunises avec des eluats prepares a partir d'erythrocytes humains. 2 °Il n'est pas indispensable que l'activite de l'anticorps soit mise en evidence dans 1'eluat pour provoquer une reponse immunitaire chez le lapin. 3 °La reponse immunitaire a ete obtenue a partir d'eluats d'erythrocytes traites, aussi bien par des substances sensibilisantes de type non gamma-globuliniques que par des substances sensibilisantes de type gamma-globuliniques. 4 °Les auteurs ont observe des reponses immunitaires faibles, mais certaines a partir d'eluats d'erythrocytes normaux non traites. 5 °Apres avoir teste les differents anti-sera anti-eluat avec differentes categories d'erythrocytes traites par des substances sensibilisantes de type gamma-globulinique, mixtes et non gamma-globuliniques, les auteurs ont observe de nombreuses reactions croisees entre les differents anti-sera. Zusammenfassung 1 Es gelang mit Eluaten, die von menschlichen Erythrozyten gewonnen worden waren, Kaninchen mit Erfolg zu immunisieren. 2 Obschon in einigen Eluaten die Antikorperaktivitat nicht nachweisbar war, gelang es trotzdem mit diesen Eluaten, Kaninchen zu immunisieren. 3 Die Antikorperbildung bei den Kaninchen wurde mit Eluaten beobachtet, die von Erythrozyten stammten, die mit Antikorpern vom Gammaglobulintypus und solchen vom «Nicht-Gammaglobulin»-Typus sensibilisiert worden waren. 4 Selbst mit Eluaten von nicht sensibilisierten Erythrozyten wurde eine schwache, aber deutliche Antikorperbildung beobachtet. 5 Die einzelnen Anti-Eluat-Kaninchenseren reagierten mit Erythrozyten, welche mit Antikorpern vom Gammaglobulintypus, vom «Mischtypus» und vom «Nicht-Gammaglobulin»-Typus sensibilisiert worden waren.
Treatment of nocturnal eating syndrome and sleep-related eating disorder with topiramate.

Abstract Background : Sleep-related eating disorder (SRED) and nocturnal eating syndrome (NES) combine features of sleep disorders and eating disorders. Treatment of these nocturnal eating behaviors has been directed towards underlying identifiable sleep or eating disorders using dopaminergic or opioid agonists, as well as anorectic agents, at times with the addition of sedatives. Methods : Two patients with SRED and two with NES, who had failed multiple previous trials of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy, were treated in a naturalistic, open-label fashion with topiramate at night. Reduction in nocturnal eating was graded based on self-report. Weight was computed at the outset of, and during, topiramate treatment. Results : One patient with NES had a complete elimination of nocturnal eating with topiramate, two patients (one with NES, one with SRED) had a marked response, and one patient (with SRED) had a moderate response. Mean dose was 218 mg, though three patients noted an improvement at 100 mg. Notable weight loss was observed in all patients (mean of 11.1 kg). Benefits of topiramate treatment have been maintained for a mean period of 8.5 months. Conclusions : Topiramate may be of benefit for patients with NES or SRED in reducing nocturnal eating, improving nocturnal sleep, and producing weight loss.
Comparison of Haemophilus parasuis reference strains and field isolates by using random amplified polymorphic DNA and protein profiles.

Background Haemophilus parasuis is the causative agent of Glasser’s disease and is a pathogen of swine in high-health status herds. Reports on serotyping of field strains from outbreaks describe that approximately 30% of them are nontypeable and therefore cannot be traced. Molecular typing methods have been used as alternatives to serotyping. This study was done to compare random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiles and whole cell protein (WCP) lysate profiles as methods for distinguishing H. parasuis reference strains and field isolates.
Long-Term Followup of Visual Internal Urethrotomy for Management of Short (Less Than 1 Cm) Penile Urethral Strictures Following Hypospadias Repair

Purpose: We reviewed the results of direct vision urethrotomy for short (less than 1 cm) penile urethral strictures following hypospadias surgery.Materials and Methods: Patients with less than 1 cm anterior penile urethral strictures located proximal to the meatus underwent direct vision urethrotomy. Based on the type of initial urethroplasty patients were randomly divided into treatment with direct vision urethrotomy vs direct vision urethrotomy plus clean intermittent catheterization for 3 months. Success was defined as absent obstructive voiding symptoms and a normal urine flow 2 years following the last patient instrumentation.Results: Of patients with urethral strictures following hypospadias repair 44% (32) had previously undergone tubularized graft urethroplasty and 56% (40) had previously undergone flap urethroplasty, including a tubularized island flap in 18, an onlay flap in 11 and urethral plate urethroplasty in 11. Direct vision urethrotomy alone was performed in 51% of patients (37), and dire...
You can take the Genome out of the Organism, but can you take the Organism out of the Environment?

In a debate held on July 28th in Cincinnati, a new chapter in the nature versus nurture saga was initiated. The premise under discussion was whether nonfamilial, i.e. sporadic, Alzheimer disease (AD) is primarily a genetic disorder. The participants took the position that either A) genetic factors are largely responsible for the so-called sporadic cases of AD or B) environmental factors contribute to the development of sporadic AD. The argument that genetic factors result in sporadic AD was based on population based studies such as the Nun study and twin studies. The participants correctly point out the more than passing role of the APOE-e4 in the development of Alzheimer disease. In addition, a wide variety of genes and chromosomal loci have been implicated in the development of Alzheimer disease. However, although twin studies, for example, indicate a heritability of greater than 60% it is not 100%. The typical argument employed to explain this type of discrepancy is that when age corrected we get much closer since one of the siblings may die of other causes before having the “opportunity” to develop Alzheimer disease. While admitting that diet and other health related activities may influence the development of Alzheimer disease they maintain their position that non-familial Alzheimer disease is largely the result of genetics. On the other hand, the other participants argue that non-genetic factors play an important role in nonfamilial Alzheimer disease. Some of the possible factors include viruses, dietary components and metals. The unifying feature is postulated to be inflammation resulting from any of these insults. Special attention was paid to the role of aluminum, which has long been conjectured to facilitate the development of Alzheimer disease. In addition, the role of diet and especially dietary fats were discussed. With the increasing evidence of oxidative stress in the etiology of Alzheimer disease, the authors also consider the role of trace metal deposition through dietary exposure. Finally, increasing evidence in a number of chronic conditions has implicated bacterial and viral pathogens as underlying components in disease etiology. HSV-1 has been implicated as a potential underlying component in Alzheimer disease. Thus, these authors hold that environmental concerns play a large role in the development of Alzheimer disease and moreover are more tractable to intervention that are genetic predispositions. So, what can we take away from this? It is clear that genetic predisposition is important in the development of disease and that the development of disease can be modified by controlling external influences, i.e. cholesterol uptake. However, the important issue from the perspective of the prospective patient, current patient, or family members is what can we predict about the natural history of the individual. The studies listed
Treatment with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in chronic kidney disease patients with cancer

Treatment of anemia remains an important component in the care of patients with nondialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs) remains a key anemia treatment strategy in this patient population. However, anemia management in this group can become more complicated by prior or current history of malignancy. There has been a great deal of work both scientifically and in clinical trials in oncology that have revealed certain concerns and risks of ESA use in patients with cancer. In this review, we will bring together knowledge from nephrology and oncology literature to help nephrologists understand the implications for ESA treatment when CKD/ESRD is complicated by cancer. We also suggest an approach to the management of anemia in this patient group with active or previous malignancy.
Novel fumarate hydratase mutation in a family with atypical uterine leiomyomas and hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer.

Objective To describe a novel mutation in the fumarate hydratase (FH) gene in a family with atypical uterine leiomyomas. Design Case report and review of the literature. Setting Academic community hospital. Patient(s) Three sisters who presented as nulligravidas aged 27–30 years with large atypical uterine leiomyomas. Intervention(s) Abdominal myomectomy, robotic myomectomy, hysterectomy, gene sequencing. Main Outcome Measure(s) Identification of a family with hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC) syndrome and a novel mutation in the FH gene. Result(s) Two of the three sisters tested positive for a novel FH mutation p.Leu99Glufsx6. The eldest sister was clinically diagnosed with HLRCC. The patients' father also carries the same mutation in the FH gene. The patients and their father are now undergoing yearly screening for renal cancer. Conclusion(s) Patients with HLRCC are at risk for developing renal cancer as well as losing their fertility via early hysterectomy. Physicians must be aware of this condition and refer at-risk individuals for genetic testing.
2010 Special Issue: Social robots are psychological agents for infants: A test of gaze following

Gaze following is a key component of human social cognition. Gaze following directs attention to areas of high information value and accelerates social, causal, and cultural learning. An issue for both robotic and infant learning is whose gaze to follow. The hypothesis tested in this study is that infants use information derived from an entity's interactions with other agents as evidence about whether that entity is a perceiver. A robot was programmed so that it could engage in communicative, imitative exchanges with an adult experimenter. Infants who saw the robot act in this social-communicative fashion were more likely to follow its line of regard than those without such experience. Infants use prior experience with the robot's interactions as evidence that the robot is a psychological agent that can see. Infants want to look at what the robot is seeing, and thus shift their visual attention to the external target.
Texture synthesis by non-parametric sampling

A non-parametric method for texture synthesis is proposed. The texture synthesis process grows a new image outward from an initial seed, one pixel at a time. A Markov random field model is assumed, and the conditional distribution of a pixel given all its neighbors synthesized so far is estimated by querying the sample image and finding all similar neighborhoods. The degree of randomness is controlled by a single perceptually intuitive parameter. The method aims at preserving as much local structure as possible and produces good results for a wide variety of synthetic and real-world textures.
Pericardial involvement as an initial presentation of anaplastic large cell lymphoma

Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a CD30-positive neoplasm of either T-cell or null-cell lineage accounting for 2% to 8% of all lymphomas.[1][1] Most frequently, patients with ALCL present with advanced disease with extranodal involvement.[2][2] The central nervous system (CNS) (30%),
Variable heavy tails in internet traffic

This paper studies tails of the size distribution of Internet data flows and their "heaviness". Data analysis motivates the concepts of moderate, far and extreme tails for understanding the richness of information available in the data. The data analysis also motivates a notion of "variable tail index", which leads to a generalization of existing theory for heavy-tail durations leading to long-range dependence.
Earthquake-Induced Deformation Analysis of a Bridge Approach Embankment in Missouri

Earthquake-induced deformations for a bridge approach earth embankment are predicted using a calibrated numerical model. The constitutive soil model is a modified hyperbolic model that uses Masing rules and incremental pore pressure relations. The model was calibrated using both laboratory and field data. A shaking table physical model was used to verify the numerical simulation. Additionally, the upper San Fernando dam was modeled to reproduce the deformations in the 1971 earthquake. The subsurface and embankment soil conditions were characterized using field and laboratory methods. The model developed was used to predict the earthquake-induced deformations of an approach embankment to Bridge A1466 in the NMSZ near Hayti, Missouri, where strong earthquakes M > 7.0 are anticipated in the next 50 years.
Scaffolding problem solving with annotated, worked-out examples to promote deep learning

This study compares the relative utility of an intelligent tutoring system that uses procedure-based hints to a version that uses worked-out examples for learning college level physics. In order to test which strategy produced better gains in competence, two versions of Andes were used: one offered participants graded hints and the other offered annotated, worked-out examples in response to their help requests. We found that providing examples was at least as effective as the hint sequences and was more efficient in terms of the number of problems it took to obtain the same level of mastery.
Designing air-core photonic-bandgap fibers free of surface modes

It is known that the coupling of core modes to surface modes in air-core photonic-bandgap fiber (PBF) can give rise to large propagation losses. Using computer simulations, we analyze the relationship between the air-core geometry and the presence or absence of the surface modes in air-core PBFs with a triangular hole pattern. We identify ranges of core radii for which the fiber supports no surface modes over the entire wavelength range of the bandgap, i.e., only core modes are present. In particular, for a hole radius /spl rho/=0.47/spl Lambda/, where /spl Lambda/ is the hole spacing, the core supports a single mode and no surface modes for core radii between 0.8/spl Lambda/ and 1.1/spl Lambda/. The absence of surface modes suggests that fibers within this range of configurations should exhibit a very low propagation loss. We also show that the existence of surface modes can be predicted quite simply from a study of the bulk modes alone, which is much simpler and faster than carrying out a full analysis of the defect modes.
Conserving Nature, but to What end? Conservation Policies and the Unanticipated Ecologies They Support

The author examines various cases of conservation policies in practice, and the implication of those practices in terms of the ecologies they support, showing, in the end, that the “nature” being p...
Rotationally invariant and rotationally robust codes for the AWGN and the noncoherent channel

The paper investigates the design and robustness of rotationally invariant (RI) codes. First, RI codes are extended to the case of serially concatenated (SC) trellis-coded modulation (TCM) and several high-rate powerful RI-SCTCM codes are designed over 8-phase-shift keying and 16-quadrature amplitude modulation alphabets. The investigation continues by considering more realistic channels that introduce cycle slips during phase estimation, and thus rotate only part of the transmitted codeword. It is proven that RI codes with small state space are robust in these channels, even when traditional coherent decoders are utilized. Furthermore, it is demonstrated through simulations that the addition of a simple stopping criterion to the coherent iterative decoding algorithm is sufficient for robustness of the more powerful RI-SCTCM codes when partial codeword rotations are considered. Finally, it is investigated whether RI codes are useful for transmission in the noncoherent channel. It is proved that RI codes are as good as any other good codes for this channel when the phase dynamics are low, and optimal decoding is performed. However, it is shown that for a certain class of receivers, RI codes are also robust to partial phase rotations in this channel.
Cancer in older adults: the oncologist's bread and butter.

The US population is aging. From the year 2000 to 2030, the US population age 65 and older is anticipated to double in size, in part due to aging of the baby boomer population, as well as rises in life expectancy.1 These shifts in demographics are going to have significant implications for oncologists since approximately 60% of cancer diagnoses and 70% of cancer mortalities occur in older adults. The number of older adults with cancer and the number of cancer survivors are on the rise; however, there is an anticipated shortage of healthcare professionals to care for these older adults.2,3 Oncologists will likely need to take an expanded role in providing primary care and attending to the cancer survivorship issues pertinent to older adults. Although oncologists did not primarily train in geriatrics, the oncologists’ daily “bread and butter” will be the care of geriatric patients. There are several unique factors to consider when caring for older adults. First, the biology of cancer may vary by age and this may influence the treatment choices and outcomes.4,5 Secondly, age related declines in physiology may impact an older patient’s ability to tolerate therapy. Specific attention to age related declines in renal function, bone marrow reserve, and the predisposition for GI side effects such as diarrhea and dehydration need to be considered.6,7 As importantly, is the consideration of factors other than chronological age8, such as functional status, comorbid medical conditions, psychological state, and social support which may impact the ability to deliver cancer therapy. Finally, the preferences and goals of treatment9 from the perspective older and younger patients may differ and need to be explored on an individual basis. In this special edition of Seminars in Oncology, we have assembled a panel of experts in cancer and aging who have reviewed the available evidence based literature regarding the treatment of common malignancies in older adults, including lung, breast, prostate, colon, and ovarian cancer. In addition, we will highlight several topics that are especially pertinent to the care of older adults with cancer including: assessing decision making capacity and maximizing communication, cancer therapy and osteoporosis, the cognitive impact of hormonal therapy, and managing fatigue in older adults with cancer. We hope that this special edition will aid the practicing oncologist in their day to day, “bread and butter” management of cancer in older adults.
Discourse Options and the Development of Pragmatic Competence by Classroom Learners of German: The Case of Address Forms

This study examines the microgenetic development of second-person pronoun use in a German-American telecollaborative partnership. We discuss the sociopragmatic ambiguity of informal (T) and formal (V) pronouns of address (realised as du and Sie in German), and the precise issues that these pronouns present for American classroom learners of European languages. Tracing the history of particular learners' pronoun use over time, the study demonstrates that (a) electronically enabled interaction with expert-speaking German peers is a context in which learners experience both explicit assistance and opportunities to observe appropriate pronoun use, and (b) pragmatic awareness in this domain is reflected in learner performance that develops toward approximation of the expert norm for interaction among peers.
Resource placement in torus-based networks

This paper investigates methods to locate system resources, such as expensive hardware or software modules, to provide the most effective cost/performance trade-offs in a torus parallel machine. This paper contains some solutions to perfect distance-t and perfectiquasi-perfect j-adjacency placement in a k-ary n-cube and a torus using Lee distance error-correcting codes. It also presents generalized resource placement (j-adjacency with distance-t placement) methods based on the concept of covering radius of Lee distance codes.
An internally-standardized assay for amphotericin B in tissues and plasma.

Abstract A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with p -nitrophenol as internal standard is described for the rapid analysis of amphotericin B recovered by methanolic extraction from tissues and plasma. Programmed, gradient elution of the ODS column was used with detection by tungsten light at 388 nm. Standard curves were derived based on the peak height ratios. The lowest reproducible limit of the assay was 0.04 μg/ml with plasma. The extraction and chromatographic procedures recovered 53–71% of the amphotericin B from each of these sources. The coefficient of variation of the recovery ratios was less than 18% from plasma over a range of concentrations of amphotericin B from 0.08 to 10.0 μg/ml. Recovery from tissues, studied over a narrower concentration range, showed a similar degree of precision. Variations in precolumns apparently resulting in selective binding of the amphotericin B were found to have a systematic but important influence on recovery efficiency. No substances were detected which interfered with the assay procedures as described. By incorporating an internal standard we have enhanced the reliability and flexibility of the HPLC assay for amphotericin B especially for assay of tissues.
Heart failure in diabetic patients: Utility of β-blockade

Abstract Background: Congestive heart failure (CHF) occurs with increased frequency in patients with diabetes and carries a higher risk of morbidity and mortality compared with nondiabetic persons. Diabetic patients are more likely to suffer from CHF and its consequences because of hypertensive and ischemic heart disease and diabetic cardiomyopathy. Methods: Intensive combination therapy, directed at the different aspects of the pathophysiology of CHF in diabetes patients, results in improved outcomes. Improvement of glycemia, reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, tight control of blood pressure, and antiplatelet therapy have been all shown to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with CHF in diabetic patients. β-blockade added to angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition has become an increasingly integral component of CHF therapy. Results: Improved outcome with β-blockade treatment is due to decreased incidence of both sudden death and pump failure and is of particular benefit to diabetic patients during and after myocardial infarctions complicated by systolic dysfunction. Conclusions: Based on retrospective analysis, β-blocking agents with vasodilating properties may provide additional benefits in diabetic patients because they may improve insulin sensitivity and vasorelaxation.
Letter Regarding Article by Gammie et al, “Influence of Hospital Procedural Volume on Care Process and Mortality for Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery for Mitral Regurgitation”

To the Editor: We read with interest the article by Gammie et al1 in the February issue of Circulation . The authors elegantly emphasize the known volume-outcome2 effect and inverse relationship …
Disorders of the cerebellum: ataxia, dysmetria of thought, and the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome

Many diseases involve the cerebellum and produce ataxia, which is characterized by incoordination of balance, gait, extremity and eye movements, and dysarthria. Cerebellar lesions do not always manifest with ataxic motor syndromes, however. The cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS) includes impairments in executive, visual-spatial, and linguistic abilities, with affective disturbance ranging from emotional blunting and depression, to disinhibition and psychotic features. The cognitive and psychiatric components of the CCAS, together with the ataxic motor disability of cerebellar disorders, are conceptualized within the dysmetria of thought hypothesis. This concept holds that a universal cerebellar transform facilitates automatic modulation of behavior around a homeostatic baseline, and the behavior being modulated is determined by the specificity of anatomic subcircuits, or loops, within the cerebrocerebellar system. Damage to the cerebellar component of the distributed neural circuit subserving sensorimotor, cognitive, and emotional processing disrupts the universal cerebellar transform, leading to the universal cerebellar impairment affecting the lesioned domain. The universal cerebellar impairment manifests as ataxia when the sensorimotor cerebellum is involved and as the CCAS when pathology is in the lateral hemisphere of the posterior cerebellum (involved in cognitive processing) or in the vermis (limbic cerebellum). Cognitive and emotional disorders may accompany cerebellar diseases or be their principal clinical presentation, and this has significance for the diagnosis and management of patients with cerebellar dysfunction.
The toxic and hematologic effects of interleukin-1 alpha administered in a phase I trial to patients with advanced malignancies.

PURPOSEA phase I trial was undertaken because interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) possesses antiproliferative, immunostimulatory, antiinfection, myeloprotective, and myelorestorative properties that could be beneficial in cancer treatment.PATIENTS AND METHODSIn this phase I trial, IL-1 alpha was administered intravenously (IV) during a 15-minute period daily for 7 days to patients with advanced solid malignancies.RESULTSThe maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) of IL-1 alpha alone was 0.3 microgram/kg. A second group of patients received indomethacin plus IL-1 alpha based on preclinical studies, which indicated that indomethacin could abrogate IL-1 alpha-induced hypotension; however, the MTD of IL-1 alpha plus indomethacin was 0.1 microgram/kg lower than IL-1 alpha alone. Fever, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, and myalgia were common but were not dose-limiting. Hypotension resulted from a marked decrease in systemic vascular resistance and required pressors at 0.3 and 1.0 micrograms/kg IL-1 alpha. Dose-limiting t...
Podcasting: A Decade in the Life of a “New” Audio Medium: Introduction

Podcasting came of age in 2005, a full decade ago. The roots of podcasting date back to 2000, though, when software developer Dave Winer published RSS 0.92, a new version of the RSS (Rich Site Summ...
Enzyme‐Mediated Modification of Single‐Domain Antibodies for Imaging Modalities with Different Characteristics

Antibodies are currently the fastest-growing class of therapeutics. Although naked antibodies have proven valuable as pharmaceutical agents, they have some limitations, such as low tissue penetration and a long circulatory half-life. They have been conjugated to toxic payloads, PEGs, or radioisotopes to increase and optimize their therapeutic efficacy. Although nonspecific conjugation is suitable for most in vitro applications, it has become evident that site specifically modified antibodies may have advantages for in vivo applications. Herein we describe a novel approach in which the antibody fragment is tagged with two handles: one for the introduction of a fluorophore or (18)F isotope, and the second for further modification of the fragment with a PEG moiety or a second antibody fragment to tune its circulatory half-life or its avidity. Such constructs, which recognize Class II MHC products and CD11b, showed high avidity and specificity. They were used to image cancers and could detect small tumors.
Lymphangiomatous Lesions of the Gastrointestinal Tract: A Clinicopathologic Study and Comparison Between Adults and Children.

Objectives: Lymphangiomatous lesions involving the gastrointestinal (GI) tract remain incompletely characterized, and their clinical and histopathologic features have not been systematically evaluated. The distinction between a primary lymphatic malformation (lymphangioma) and a dilation of existing lymphatics (lymphangiectasia) is of clinical significance, since lymphangiectasia may occur in the setting of lymphatic obstruction due to an unsampled malignancy. We describe clinical and morphologic features of lymphangiomas of the GI tract in adult and pediatric populations and contrast them with lymphangiectasia. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of adult and pediatric lymphangiomas and lymphangiectasia involving the GI tract. Results: Thirty-six cases of lymphangioma and lymphangiectasia were retrieved, and clinical presentation and histologic features were compared. Lymphangiomas had distinct clinical presentations in adults and children, with adult lesions being more frequently asymptomatic and more frequently involving the superficial mucosal layers of the GI tract. Microscopically, lymphangiomas mostly consisted of confluent dilated spaces with a smooth muscle component. This appearance differed from lymphangiectasia, which lacked a complete distinct endothelial or smooth muscle lining and diffusely involved the mucosa and submucosa. Conclusions: Morphologic features of GI tract lymphangiomas can be reliably distinguished from lymphangiectasia by clinical and pathologic characteristics.
Beyond SES: System Affect Among Resource-Rich Nonvoters

Resource theories provide the enduring portrait of the typical nonvoter - disinterested, undermobilized, and lacking key participatory assets including education, interest and political sophistication. This paper attempts to better understand those nonvoters missed by current models; those whose resources and engagement should suffice to vote but who still avoid electoral politics. I develop a theory under which, for some, the decision to opt out is governed by disgust - a discrete aversive emotion distinct from anger, anxiety or apathy - toward prevailing norms and institutions of the political system, a behavior I call “principled abstention.” I then use 2008 survey data to better understand nonvoters’ attitudes toward the American political system, with special attention to the resource rich. I find resource-rich nonvoters report slightly more positive political and participatory norms than resource-deprived nonvoters, yet still they fall short of the attitudes of similarly situated voters. I conclude by proposing experimental protocols to test my hypotheses.
Demanding or Deferring? The Economic Value of Communication with Attitude

This paper investigates why natural language communication is systematically found to promote coordination better than intention signaling. We hypothesize that, when communicating with natural language, people both use and respond to intentions and attitudes, where attitude indicates the strength of desire to have their intentions followed. We test our hypothesis using controlled laboratory experiments. We find (i) free-form messages do include both intentions and attitudes; (ii) people respond both to intentions and attitudes when making decisions; and (iii) the use of attitude significantly improves coordination.
Sex pheromones of noctuid moths. XV. Timing of development of pheromone-responsiveness and other indicators of reproductive age in males of eight species.

Three indicators of reproductive maturity—sperm storage, sex pheromone responsiveness, and mating—were examined for males of the following 8 species of the family Noctuidae: subfamily Plusiinae; Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), Autographa californica (Speyer), Pseudoplusia includens (Walker), and Rachiplusia ou (Guenee) ; subfamily Amphipyrinae; Prodenia ornithogalli Guenee and Spodoptera exigua (Hubner) ; subfamily Heliothinae; Heliothis zea (Boddie) and H. virescens (F.). On an average, for the 8 species, movement of sperm bundles from the testes into the ductus ejaculatorius duplex occurred about 1.3 days before the systems for pheromone responsiveness or mating had matured. The 2 last-mentioned systems matured about the same time. In 5 of the species, more than ⅔ of the males contained sperm in the ductus ejaculatorius duplex at the time of emergence from the pupa.
Manipulating optical reflections using engineered nanoscale metasurfaces

We propose a comprehensive scheme for the efficient design of graded optical metasurfaces capable of rerouting the impinging energy at will in a flexible way. We show that carefully designed conjoined optical nanoelements may be used as basic building blocks to arbitrarily shape the reflected phase front, while providing large controllability and low loss over deeply subwavelength thicknesses. The metasurface elements are designed using transmission line concepts combined with nanocircuit theory, and they can be realized with conventional lithographic techniques. Based on these concepts, we put forward a fast and accurate analytical model to design the optical analog of reflectarrays for light bending, steering, and focusing. The proposed designs show large efficiency over a broad angular spectrum, accompanied by broad bandwidths of operation. Our technique may lead to significant advances in the field of planarized nanophotonics and light manipulation over a surface, with potential applications in light trapping and efficient photonic couplers.
Hydrolysis time as a factor affecting the nutritive value of feather meal and feather meal-blood meal combinations for growing calves

The objectives of this research were to determine 1) the effects of hydrolysis time on feather meal (FTH) protein digestion and ruminal escape and 2) whether adding blood meal (BM) to FTH evoked a complementary response in animal performance. A lamb digestion trial was conducted to estimate true protein digestibility of soybean meal (SBM), BM, and FTH hydrolyzed for 10, 12, 15, or 18 min. Ruminal escape was estimated in situ. Two 94-d growth trials were conducted using 60 growing calves (226 kg) per trial to evaluate urea, FTH, BM, and 87.5:12.5, 75:25, and 50:50 combinations (CP percentage basis) of FTH:BM. There were small numerical differences in estimated escape of protein from the rumen and DM and protein digestibilities due to hydrolysis time. True protein digestibility of the 10- and 18-min samples was 5% higher (P less than .05) than for the 12- or 15-min FTH samples. In the growth trial, the slope-ratio technique showed that the most efficiently used protein supplement was 100% BM (protein efficiency = 2.45 +/- .19). No differences (P = .30) in protein efficiency were observed among supplements containing various combinations of FTH:BM. There was a quadratic (P less than .01) response to the level of BM, indicating a complementary effect. The largest complementary effect occurred at the 12.5% level of the BM addition. There were no nutritionally important effects of hydrolysis time between 10 and 18 min. Furthermore, supplements can be formulated more economically using small amounts of BM with FTH without compromising biological efficiency.