cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Human rights in the Arab countries: Rhetoric and reality

One of the ways to present an accurate picture of the human rights in the Arab countries is to compare the rhetoric of the Arab rulers about human rights and the reality of the situation in their countries. This article begins by describing the situation of human rights in the Arab world during the period from 1970 to 1990. It summarises, briefly, the main ideas and principles of human rights the Arab rulers believe in and are committed to implement. The article, then, analyses the violations of human rights; their types; and how these violations are harsh, cruel, and inhuman. The conclusion is that human rights in the Arab countries are more rhetoric than reality and it is a fact that political, religious and intellectual people in the Arab world, nowadays, have no choice but to be either in power, in prison, in exile, or silent. In every Arab country violation of human rights is a common practice. The major goal of the article is to understand what lies behind the common political rhetoric the Arab rule...
Imperiled crayfishes use hyporheic zone during seasonal drying of an intermittent stream

AbstractDespite the prevalence and importance of intermittent streams, few studies have examined their use by crayfishes. We documented persistence in an intermittent stream and use of the hyporheic zone by 2 imperiled crayfishes, Orconectes williamsi and Orconectes meeki meeki, upon stream drying. During 2005 to 2007, we monitored summer flows and crayfish densities in 10 riffles in a Missouri (US) Ozark stream to document stream drying and crayfish persistence. Stream drying variables were riffle wetted area (m2) and current velocity (m/s). Crayfish density estimates were obtained with a quadrat sampler. We sampled monthly (May–August 2006) to examine crayfish response to decreased flows, and excavated dry quadrat samples (to 30 cm depth) after surface flows ceased. Over 2 periods during summer 2007, we used baited traps in the stream and a downstream reservoir where the stream terminates to examine whether crayfish migrated from the stream to permanent water in response to drying. Riffles dried signifi...
Evolution of amitosis of the ciliate macronucleus: gain of the capacity to divide.

Ciliates exhibit nuclear dimorphism, i.e. they have a germline micronucleus and a somatic macronucleus. Macronuclei are differentiated from mitotic sisters of micronuclei. The macronuclei of "higher ciliates" are polyploid and divide acentromerically ("amitotically"); they differentiate once per life cycle. By contrast, Karyorelict (KR) ciliate macronuclei are nearly diploid and cannot divide; they must differentiate at every cell cycle. Diverse lines of evidence are presented to support the hypothesis that ancestral ciliate macronuclei were incapable of division (as in living karyorelict ciliates) and that higher ciliates gained, perhaps independently more than once, the ability to divide the macronucleus. Selective pressures that could have driven the evolution and macronuclear division and two plausible step-wise pathways for the evolution of macronuclear division are proposed. These hypotheses are relevant to our understanding of amitosis mechanisms, evolution of nuclear dimorphism, and phylogenetic classification of ciliates.
Paradoxical effects of nitrous oxide on human memory

Using the method of adjusted learning, subjects learned number-noun pairs while breathing either placebo or 30% nitrous oxide. Subjects breathing nitrous oxide required more acquisition trials to attain a learning criterion than did subjects breathing placebo. Two weeks later, half of the subjects from each group were administered either placebo or nitrous oxide and were asked to recall the noun that had accompanied each number cue. Results showed that: 1) nitrous oxide inhalation can decrease the accessibility of to-be-recalled material and 2) nitrous oxide administered during the acquisition of material can paradoxically improved the recall of that material 2 weeks later. The additional number of acquisition trials subjects received during nitrous oxide inhalation could potentially account for this paradoxical enhancement of delayed recall; however, correlational analyses suggest this was not the case. No evidence for any state-dependent effects of nitrous oxide on cued recall were found.
The continued lived experience of the unexpected death of a child.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to further examine the lived experiences of families that faced the sudden loss of a child. Six mothers that had previously participated approximately 9 years ago in the study entitled “The Lived Experience of the Unexpected Death of a Child” were interviewed. All of the mothers were Caucasian and had achieved a high school or greater level of education. Taped interviews and field notes were transcribed for data display. Together, two raters completed data reduction and coding for theme identification and categorization. Six themes were revealed that described helpful coping behaviors used by the mothers: positive beliefs, faith beliefs, everlasting love, pleasant remembrances, social engagement, and staying connected. Two themes, avoidance and rumination, described the behaviors that did not help the mothers cope with their loss. Finally, answers to the questions regarding acceptance and healing time were also revealed.
Self-trained and selfmotivated: Newspaper photojournalists strive for quality during technological challenges

A study of newspaper photojournalists indicates the perception of personal responsibility to learn multimedia skills is related to a photojournalist's perception of work quality, suggesting those who are dedicated to learning new skills also are dedicated to producing high-quality work. Survey results indicate little is being done proactively at newspapers to provide photojournalists with training in multimedia skills or to reduce uncertainty related to technological changes and industry decline. However, the results also indicate photojournalists identify strongly with organizations that give them the freedom to explore their own ways to reduce uncertainty, resulting in higher morale and organizational trust.
Probability densities for quantum-mechanical collision resonances in reactive scattering

Abstract We present contour maps of probability density |ψ| 2 for reactive compound-state resonances in two collinear reactions: H+ FH → HF + H on a model low-barrier surface and H + H 2 → H 2 + H on the Porter-Karplus surface no. 2. The maps clearly show the Fermi-resonance schizoid character of the compound states.
Mitral valve prolapse syndrome: Analysis of 62 patients aged 60 years and older

Sixty-two patients diagnosed as having mitral valve prolapse, 60 to 81 years old, presented with disabling chest pain (20), symptoms of arrhythmias including palpitations and syncope (16), or mitral regurgitation (MR) with symptoms of congestive heart failure (26). The diagnosis of MVP was made on the basis of a combination of classic auscultatory, echocardiographic and angiographic findings. Thirteen of the 20 patients with chest pain had normal coronary angiograms and 7 had significant coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients with CAD could not be differentiated by clinical presentation alone. Furthermore, the incidence and types of arrhythmias, the presence of a positive stress test, and hemodynamic findings were similar in all patients in this group whether or not CAD was present. The 16 patients with palpitations had a broad spectrum of rhythm disorders, including both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias. Two patients had prehospital "sudden death" and 2 others had systemic emboli. Twenty-one of the 26 patients with MR had valve surgery. Intraoperatively the valves were described as enlarged, floppy and with redundant leaflets. Histologic examination showed extensive "myxomatous" changes throughout the valve leaflets. Thus, mitral valve prolapse is a cause of symptomatic heart disease in the elderly. It has a predictable pattern of clinical presentation and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of older patients with disabling chest pain and arrhythmias and as the cause of progressive or severe MR.
A rose is a rose is a rose

For a few weeks in the spring of 1996, Rover cars ran a full-page colour advertisement in some of the Sunday Supplements. This advertisement featured Alma-Tadema’s celebrated painting The Roses of Heliogabalus (see the jacket of this book). In this painting, the Emperor Heliogabalus with a few of his friends loll over a banquet in a very Victorian-Roman way, idly watching some of the other guests, on a lower level, being showered by clouds of rose petals. At the top of the advertisement were the words, ‘If you’d like to know more about how we turn a long journey in a Rover 400 Saloon into a bed of roses, telephone us on...’. Alongside this statement was a small Rover badge with ‘Relax, it’s a Rover’ beneath it. Under the picture, just below the cascading roses, were the words, ‘Few places are as comfortable as a Rover 400.’
Airborne fiber control in buildings during asbestos material removal by amended water methodology

Removal of friable asbestos-containing material can cause high levels of airborne contamination. The potential efficacy of control methods recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was evaluated by examination of 503 air samples obtained in 40 removal projects in a number of locations. The EPA methodology with amended water for fiber emission control was utilized on all of the observed removal projects. The projects were also considered to be well controlled and the study cannot be considered representative of common work practices. The EPA amended water methodology, when effectively utilized and administered, can provide a high degree of contamination control. Mean fiber levels in the work area in this study (1.1 f/cm3) were well below those of dry removal (38.9 f/cm3) and control by application by untreated water (28.6 f/cm3). Airborne contamination was higher during bagging debris (3.8 f/cm3) than during material removal from structural surfaces. The range of fiber levels during removal was 0.0 to 37.0 f/cm3 and fibers were detected from initial barrier construction through final cleaning. Contamination was also occasionally detected outside work area containment barriers. Air sampling produced 0.0 counts in areas of obvious contamination by settled dust and debris. Control methodologies, respiratory protection, and decontamination are discussed.
Experimental ocular cryptococcosis in pigeons.

Infection with Cryptococcus neoformans has been related to exposure to deposits of pigeon excreta.''Although the or­ ganism has been repeatedly isolated from pi­ geon droppings and pigeon nests''''''' 16,16,19,20,22 thg p ig e o n s themselves have not been proved to be the host.''' In the past, intravenous inoculation of a 3-week-old squab with C. neoformans failed to produce infection. According to Emmons, the pigeon is not susceptible to exper­ imental exposure unless its body tempera­ ture is experimentally reduced. However, Littman has recently demonstrated the viru­ lence of C. neoformans for wild and domes­ tic pigeons when inoculated intracerebrally. In a recent communication we reported the production of progressive ocular histoplasmosis in pigeons following intraocular inoculation. This paper gives an account of the findings in pigeons when inoculated with C. neoformans directly into the anterior chamber of the eye. It should be pointed out that, in man, in­ volvement of the eye by C. neoformans usu­ ally occurs from a primary pulmonary le­ sion by hematogenous spread and in connec­ tion with cryptococcal meningitis, although there are clinical reports of cryptococcal in­ fection allegedly localized to the eye.''
Implementation of an efficient parallel BDD package

Large BDD applications push completing resources to their limits. One solution to overcoming resource limitations is to distribute the BDD data structure across multiple networked workstations. This paper presents an efficient parallel BDD package for a distributed environment such as a network of workstations (NOW) or a distributed memory parallel computer. The implementation exploits a number of different forms of parallelism that can be found in depth-first algorithms. Significant effort is made to limit the communication overhead, including a two-level distributed hash table and an uncomputed cache. The package simultaneously executes multiple threads of computation on a distributed BDD.
Higher Plasma Fractalkine Is Associated With Better 6-Month Outcome From Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose—Fractalkine (CX3CL1) is a unique chemokine that is constitutively expressed on neurons where it serves as an adhesion molecule for lymphocytes and monocytes. CX3CL1 may also be cleaved from the surface of these cells and enter the circulation to act as a traditional chemokine. CX3CL1 could thus influence the inflammatory response after stroke. We hypothesized that patients with higher plasma CX3CL1 after stroke would have a more robust inflammatory response and experience worse outcome. Methods—Plasma CX3CL1 concentrations were assessed in 85 patients who were part of a larger study evaluating immune responses after ischemic stroke; CX3CL1 values were available from Day 1 to Day 180 after stroke onset. CX3CL1 was correlated to measures of inflammation and its effect on outcome assessed. Results—At 1 day after stroke, CX3CL1 was lower in patients with severe strokes. At 180 days after stroke, CX3CL1 concentrations were lower in patients with poor outcome. The association of CX3CL1 an...
Parkinsonian features of eight pathologically diagnosed cases of diffuse lewy body disease

Premortem diagnosis of diffuse Lewy body disease (DLBD) is difficult, and knowledge of the parkinsonian features of DLBD might facilitate the diagnosis. In this study, we compared the parkinsonian syndrome of DLBD and Parkinson's disease (PD). We retrospectively reviewed the charts of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC) Brain Bank cases (1989–1993) with pathologically diagnosed DLBD or PD, and the literature on the parkinsonian features in DLBD patients presenting with parkinsonism. Parkinsonism accompanied or preceded cognitive/psychiatric changes in most CPMC cases (DLBD 100%, PD 88%). DLBD had an earlier mean age of onset than PD did (57 versus 64 years), a similar male: female ratio (1.7:1 versus 1.9:1), and similar mean disease duration (12–13 years). Cognitive/psychiatric changes were less frequent in PD than in DLBD (65 versus 100%) (p = 0.025). Rest tremor was specifically mentioned in 29% of DLBD versus 56% of PD (p = 0.10). Bradykinesia was less common in PD (56% versus 86%) (p = 0.05). All those with PD responded to L-Dopa, as did all those with DLBD who received L-Dopa. In conclusion, there are subtle differences between PD and DLBD in age of onset, frequency of cognitive/psychiatric changes, bradykinesia, and rest tremor. However, even when taken together, these cannot be used to distinguish these entities.
Malnutrition-Inflammation Modifies the Relationship of Cholesterol with Cardiovascular Disease

In moderate and severe CKD, the association of cholesterol with subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD) is weak. We examined whether malnutrition or inflammation (M-I) modifies the risk relationship between cholesterol levels and CVD events in African Americans with hypertensive CKD and a GFR between 20 and 65 ml/min per 1.73 m². We stratified 990 participants by the presence or absence of M-I, defined as body mass index 10 mg/L at baseline. The primary composite outcome included cardiovascular death or first hospitalization for coronary artery disease, stroke, or congestive heart failure occurring during a median follow-up of 77 months. Baseline total cholesterol (212 ± 48 versus 212 ± 44 mg/dl) and overall incidence of the primary CVD outcome (19 versus 21%) were similar in participants with (n = 304) and without (n = 686) M-I. In adjusted analyses, the CVD composite outcome exhibited a significantly stronger relationship with total cholesterol for participants without M-I than for participants with M-I at baseline (P < 0.02). In the non-M-I group, the cholesterol-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for CVD increased progressively across cholesterol levels: HR = 1.19 [95% CI; 0.77, 1.84] and 2.18 [1.43, 3.33] in participants with cholesterol 200 to 239 and ≥240 mg/dl, respectively (reference: cholesterol <200). In the M-I group, the corresponding HRs did not vary significantly by cholesterol level. In conclusion, the presence of M-I modifies the risk relationship between cholesterol level and CVD in African Americans with hypertensive CKD.
Should all patients with duodenal adenocarcinoma be considered for aggressive surgical resection

Abstract Background Long-term survival for duodenal adenocarcinoma is inconsistent in the literature, and the biology of duodenal adenocarcinoma is poorly understood. Methods One institution's experience with duodenal adenocarcinoma from 1984 to 2005 is reviewed. Clinicopathologic data were analyzed, and overall survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank test. Results Of the 52 patients, 35 (67%) underwent potentially curative surgery; 31 survived the postoperative period and were included in the analysis. Of these, the median survival was 34 months (range 6 to 186 months) compared with 13 months (range 1 to 24 months) for those not undergoing curative surgery ( P ≤ .001). Clinicopathologic factors favoring long-term survival were tumor size >3.5 cm ( P ≤ .001) and T-stage ≤4 ( P = .014). Conclusions Clinicopathologic factors important to survival in duodenal cancer are T4 tumor status and tumor size. Interestingly, larger tumors were less likely to be invasive, and patients with these tumors had improved survival. The biology of this cancer is poorly understood; therefore, aggressive resection for all duodenal adenocarcinomas is recommended for all patients medically fit to undergo resection.
EKG Changes After Spinal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Marked morphological electrocardiographical changes occurred in a patient whose subarachnoid hemorrhage originated in the lower spinal canal. Thus, the electrocardiogram can show the changes well known for intracranial subarachnoid hemorrhage even when the source of bleeding is in the lower spinal canal.
Circuit Model with Statistical Dependence

Guidelines are presented for structuring a reliability model where detailed failure modes are considered explicitly and where no assumption of statistical independence is made between the failure modes. An electronic circuit is considered. Part and interface characteristics, performance attribute and stress equations, and conditional reliability relationships are fitted together. Pertinent features are illustrated with examples. A composite reliability prediction equation in functional notation is presented. The required information is the same type which is used for separately treating detailed failure modes. However, this information needs to be accurate to warrant a model with statistical dependence, and this would be difficult. Numerical calculations are tedious and expensive, even where computerized. Experimental applications are necessary to determine if this detailed reliability prediction model has anything practical to offer.
NEC and ESP codes: guidelines, limitations, and EMC applications

The computer modeling and simulation of EMC programs of complex structures are addressed, using the NEC and ESP moment method codes. The rules and guidelines of modeling using the two codes are summarized. In addition, visualization and automation of the modeling process are made possible through an interface computer program GEOM developed at Arizona State University. Finally, the interference between two wire antennas mounted on a complex helicopter model is given as an example of using these codes in EMC applications. >
Recovery of acrylonitrile from charcoal tubes at low levels.

Data are presented for the recovery of acrylonitrile from charcoal tubes at levels lower than those tested in NIOSH Method S156. A 2% by volume acetone in CS2 solution is used as desorbing solvent. An injection volume of 2 µL and a 3-m long by 3.2-mm o.d. (10-ft×1/8-in) stainless steel column filled with 20% SP-1000 on 80/100 Supelcoport gives adequate resolution of the acrylonitrile. Results indicate that recoveries are adequate for sample sizes which correspond to a 15-liter sample at 0.5 and 0.25 ppm, and that acrylonitrile collected on carbon in the absence of inhibitor is stable for at least a week.
Evaluation of nebulised acetylcysteine and normal saline in the treatment of sputum retention following thoracotomy.

BACKGROUND: The use of acetylcysteine as a mucolytic agent is controversial. In 1962 it was claimed to be "the most effective agent ... for the liquefaction of ... secretions" but was subsequently taken off the market as a respirator solution. Normal saline, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly popular. A study was undertaken to determine which solution is more effective at clearing retained secretions following thoracotomy. METHODS: The study included 10 patients and was of single blind, two-way crossover design. Measurements taken before and after each treatment included sputum viscosity, difficulty of expectoration, weight of sputum expectorated, and oxygen saturation. RESULTS: Following nebulisation of acetylcysteine, sputum viscosity was reduced, difficulty of expectoration was reduced, the weight of sputum expectorated was increased, and oxygen saturation was increased. There were no changes after nebulisation of normal saline. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that, following thoracotomy, nebulised acetylcysteine reduces sputum viscosity, making expectoration easier and improving oxygenation. Nebulised normal saline has no effect.
Determination of Variation of Stimulated Salivary Flow Rates

Salivary hypofunction is associated with oral and pharyngeal disorders and requires early diagnosis and intervention. Large variability in salivary flow rates within and between individuals has been reported, which has impaired the establishment of standard values. The objective of this study was to determine variations in stimulated parotid and submandibular flow rates over 6 hours and to define salivary hypofunction. Pooled mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation values for four collection time periods were obtained from 36 healthy males and females (18 young, ages 20-38; 18 older, ages 60-77). The results demonstrated 27-44% variation in salivary flow rates over time. Overall, there were no significant age or gender differences in variability between and within salivary flow rates at all collection time periods. The results suggest that a 45% range in salivary flow rates could be considered normal salivary variation, and values below 45% of normal levels could be used to define salivary hypofunction.
One-Dimensional Stability of Viscous Strong Detonation Waves

Building on Evans-function techniques developed to study the stability of viscous shocks, we examine the stability of strong-detonation-wave solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations for reacting gas. The primary result, following [1, 17], is the calculation of a stability index whose sign determines a necessary condition for spectral stability. We show that for an ideal gas this index can be evaluated in the Zeldovich-von Neumann-Doring limit of vanishing dissipative effects. Moreover, when the heat of reaction is sufficiently small, we prove that strong detonations are spectrally stable provided that the underlying shock is stable. Finally, for completeness, we include the calculation of the stability index for a viscous shock solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for a nonreacting gas.
Personalized location recommendation on location-based social networks

Personalized location recommendation is a special topic of recommendation. It is related to human mobile behavior in the real world regarding various contexts including spatial, temporal, social, and content. The development of this topic is subject to the availability of human mobile data. The recent rapid growth of location-based social networks has alleviated such limitation, which promotes the development of various location recommendation techniques. This tutorial offers an overview, in a data mining perspective, of personalized location recommendation on location-based social networks. It introduces basic concepts, summarizes unique LBSN characteristics and research opportunities, elaborates associated challenges, reviews state-of-the-art algorithms with illustrative examples and real-world LBSN datasets, and discusses effective evaluation methods.
Estimation of multiple faults in aircraft gas-turbine engines

This paper presents estimation of multiple faults in aircraft gas-turbine engines, based on a statistical pattern recognition tool called Symbolic Dynamic Filtering (SDF). The underlying concept is built upon statistical analysis of evidences to estimate anomalies in multiple critical parameters of the engine system; it also presents a framework for sensor information fusion. The fault estimation algorithm is validated by numerical simulation on the NASA C-MAPSS test-bed of commercial aircraft engines.
Race Comparisons of the Household Dynamics of Older Adults

Longitudinal studies have suggested that households are much more fluid than was once believed. Yet our understanding of changes in household composition is based on limited sets of transitions occurring across relatively long intervals. Furthermore, we know relatively little about ethnoracial variation in household dynamics. Using data from a sample of older Floridians, the authors describe race differences in longitudinal patterns of household change that occurred during four 6-month intervals. Approximately one quarter of respondents experienced some change in composition during the 24-month study. Older African Americans lived in larger and more dynamic households and were more likely to form coresident relationships with grandchildren and nonrelatives. Age, gender, marital status, and disability were also associated with the likelihood of acquiring a new household member. Findings from this research provide additional insight into the processes through which race differences in the composition of hou...
Oxygen atom Rydberg emission in the equatorial ionosphere from radiative recombination

[1] Radiative recombination of O+ generates a variety of O-atom Rydberg levels, which then radiatively cascade to the ground state. The last two steps in the cascade produce 844.6 nm and 130.2–130.6 nm radiation in the triplet set of Rydberg levels and 777.2–777.5 nm and 135.6 nm radiation in the quintets. These four emissions are well known from ionospheric observations, and the higher members of the cascades are sometimes seen in auroral spectra but rarely in the nightglow. Sky spectra taken in 2000 at the Keck II telescope with the ESI echelle spectrograph reveal 20 members of the Rydberg transitions in the 390–930 nm region not previously observed in the nightglow. Most of these are not seen in earlier Keck spectra, taken at solar minimum. We are able to quantify the relative intensities of the emissions across the entire wavelength region using standard star spectra, allowing comparisons to be made with theoretical calculations. As the atmosphere is optically thin for the quintet transitions, corrections for radiative scattering are not necessary, and relative agreement between theory and observations is excellent. For the triplets the data agree more closely with the optically thick calculations. The relationship between the intensities of the quintet 3d-3p (926–926.6 nm) and the triplet 3p-3s (844.6 nm) multiplets is investigated and found to be linear. Accurate wavelengths are determined for the Rydberg quintets on the basis of observations with the high-resolution (∼40,000) Keck I/HIRES system. For the triplets the multiplets are incompletely resolved. Examples of spectra are presented where the 844.6 nm multiplet is the only OI Rydberg emission observed. We argue that the cause is Bowen fluorescence, a consequence of photoexcitation of the OI 3d-2p transition by H Lyman-β radiation in the geocorona. The fact that so many of the oxygen Rydberg lines have been identified in this study and that their intensities are consistent with cascade models of radiative recombination is a strong confirmation of the importance of this process in the tropical nightglow near solar maximum.
Customization of a DSP integrated circuit for a consumer product

The design of a toy doll's speech recognition and response circuitry is summarized. The digital signal processing (DSP) system used as the core of this audio processing circuitry is discussed. Hardware used and the basic DSP architecture for the audio processing are reviewed. Two systems considered (DSP with codec and custom DSP chip) are briefly outlined. The speech processing, synthesis, and recognition technologies needed for this toy are detailed. Several DSP algorithms for use with this system are reviewed. >
Evaluation of possible arrestant-aggregation pheromones in the American house dust mite, Dermatophagoides farinae Hughes (astigmata: Pyroglyphidae)

Abstract We wanted to determine if a chemical substance was responsible for cluster formation by adults of the American house dust mite, Dermatophagoides farinae Hughes, which are significant agents of dust allergy in humans. Behavioral responses to an extract of aggregated mites were compared to 30 common mite attractants identified in cuticular lipids, excretory products and mammalian skin in a refined two-choice bioassay. None of the mite-derived chemicals, including the extract, displayed significant attraction activity. Rather, the most powerful attractants were lipids derived from mammalian skins, especially long-chain saturated fatty acids, their methyl esters and cholesterol. Mammalian skin lipids serve as food attractants for house dust mites. Although the present study does not indicate that these chemicals help in cluster formation, further studies are being conducted to examine blends of these chemicals to determine if an arrestant-aggregation role exists. Clustering is most likely due to the ...
The physical properties and morphology of poly-ϵ-caprolactone polymer blends

The compatibility, morphology, and mechanical properties of poly-ϵ-caprolactone (PCL) blended with poly(vinyl chloride), nitrocellulose, and cellulose acetate butyrate are described in this study. Methods used in this investigation included differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical testing, small-angle light scattering, light microscopy and stress–strain testing. Blends of PCL with poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) are shown to be compatible in all proportions. In the PCL concentration range 40–100%, the PCL crystallizes in the form of negative spherulites. The spherulites were found to be volume filling with as much as 35% PVC. The nitrocellulose blends with PCL exhibited the glass transition behavior of a compatible system over the composition range of 50–100% PCL. At lower PCL concentrations, phase separation was apparent. The PCL crystallinity was present only in the nitrocellulose blends with more than 50% PCL, and it was in the form of rod-like super-structures. Blends of PCL with cellulose acetate butyrate were shown to be phase separated, with one phase having nearly equal proportions of the two polymers. The PCL crystallinity was in the form of negative spherulites and was formed with PCL compositions as low as 50%. Stress–strain results show polycaprolactone to be an effective plasticizer for poly(vinyl chloride) and the cellulose derivatives studied.
On the Mahalanobis-distance based penalized empirical likelihood method in high dimensions

In this paper, we consider the penalized empirical likelihood (PEL) method of Bartolucci (2007) for inference on the population mean which is a modification of the standard empirical likelihood and employs a penalty based on the Mahalanobis-distance. We derive the asymptotic distributions of the PEL ratio statistic when the dimension of the observations increases with the sample size. Finite sample properties of the method are investigated through a small simulation study.
Overexpression of SIRT1 Protein in Neurons Protects against Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis through Activation of Multiple SIRT1 Targets

Treatment of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) with resveratrol, an activator of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), reduces disease severity. This suggested that activators of SIRT1, a highly conserved NAD-dependent protein deacetylase, might have immune-modulating or neuroprotective therapeutic effects in EAE. Previously, we showed that SIRT1 expression increases in EAE, suggesting that it is an adaptive response. In this study, we investigated the potential function of SIRT1 in regulating EAE using SIRT1-overexpressing mice. The current studies examine potential neuroprotective and immunomodulatory effects of SIRT1 overexpression in chronic EAE induced by immunization of C57BL/6 mice with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide 35-55. SIRT1 suppressed EAE clinical symptoms compared with wild-type EAE mice and prevented or altered the phenotype of inflammation in spinal cords; as a result, demyelination and axonal injury were reduced. Significant neuroprotective effects were observed, with fewer apoptotic cells found in the spinal cords of SIRT1-overexpressing EAE mice associated with increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor and NAD levels. Earlier, we showed that brain-derived neurotrophic factor and NAD play crucial neuroprotective roles in EAE. These results suggest that SIRT1 reduces neuronal loss in this chronic demyelinating disease model and that this is associated with a reduction in inflammation.
The use of simulation for process improvement in a cancer treatment center

This work addresses experience with a simulation model of a full service cancer treatment center. The objective was to analyze patient flow throughout the unit, evaluate the impact of alternative floor layouts, using different scheduling options and to analyze resources and patient flow requirements of a new building. The simulation model provided strong justification to relocate the center's laboratory and pharmacy as well as identifying changes in scheduling procedures that would allow a 30% increase in patient throughput with the same resources. The new building analysis identified a waiting room area that was too small for the increased patient flow.
Solid Electrolytes - A Materials Introduction

High conductivity solid electrolytes include many different materials with diverse physical characteristics. All share a high ionic conductivity that is generally greater than 10−4 (ohm-cm)−1 at some technologically-useful temperature. This discussion briefly reviews their general physical characteristics, mechanical and chemical properties, as well as their ease of study and application in real devices.
Interspecific Competition and Hybridization between Twospotted and Carmine Spider Mites

Male spider mites of two sibling species, Tetranychus urticae and Tetranychus cinnabarinus, compete equally for and mate nonassortatively with females of either species. Fecundity in females mated interspecifically is normal but the female/male sex ratio of hybrid progeny is reduced. The ability of males to compete equally enhances the potential of hybrid sterility as a realistic genetic control method for spider mites in greenhouses.
Epidemiological Analysis of Hepatitis B during 1997-2005 in Hefei City

Objective To analyze epidemiological trend of hepatitis B in Hefei city and provide the science method for its preventive intervention.Methods The occurrence of hepatitis B in Hefei from 1997 to 2005 was studied by descriptive epidemiological method.Results 16 531 cases of hepatitis B in 9 years were reported.The average incidence of the disease was 41.93 per one hundred thousands.The incidence of hepatitis B had no obvious reduction.Most hepatitis B occurred in persons whose age between 20-44 years old,accounted for 48.65 Percent.The incidence of hepatitis B had an obvious reduction in persons whose age under 15 years old.Peasants were the main population.Conclusion The incidence of hepatitis B had no obvious reduction.We could increase the vaccination in adult to reduce the incidence of hepatitis B.
A compiler for the ibm scalable shared memory project machine — extended abstract

The IBM Scalable Shared Memory Project Machine (SSMP) is an SCOMA research prototype machine. Due to large latencies of non-local data access, the primary concerns of the compiler are locality, data layout, and scheduling of work to where data is currently located — goals that are similar to a compiler for a distributed memory machine. The presence of a global shared memory simplifies code generation for irregular computations and facilitates the use of dynamic scheduling for better load-balancing.
Continuous Production of Carbon‐Supported Cubic and Octahedral Platinum‐Based Catalysts Using Conveyor Transport System

A conveyor transport system is developed for the continuous production of carbon-supported uniform Pt nanocubes, and Pt3 Ni nanocubes and octahedra in a single-reaction system under hot carbon monoxide environment. Oleylamine is critical for the high loading and even the dispersion of Pt nanocubes on a carbon support. The metal catalyst shows high performance in electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol.
Magnetization transfer suppression in gadolinium enhancement of the child’s brain

Magnetization transfer suppression (MTS) pulse was applied to a T1-weighted sequence and compared to the same sequence without MTS in order to detect its effect on gadolinium-enhancing intracranial pathology in children.
Noise figure calculation and measurement for low-power crossed-field amplifiers

Some measurements that have been made in our laboratory indicate that it is possible to make crossed-field amplifiers with moderately low noise figures without any special noise-reduction transducers [1]. This can be compared with the situation in an O-type tube where again no effort has been made to make an especially low-noise tube. In both cases the noise figures which would be obtained are of the order of 25 dB. The measurements we have made lead us to believe that the crossed-field amplifier is not necessarily noisy and also have led us into considering possibilities of making ultra-low-noise amplifiers. This paper contains more of our measurements and also some theoretical work in which we have investigated the effect of changing the drift space between the gun and the interaction region.
Bilateral Pedicled Superficial Inferior Epigastric Artery Flap in the Treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory condition of apocrine glands that causes devastating physical and psychosocial effects.1 Also referred to as hidrosadenite phlegmoneuse, Verneuil’s disease, pyoderma fistulans significa, or acne inversa, HS is a multifocal, inflammatory condition that involves follicular, glandular, bacterial, endocrinologic, environmental, genetic, host defense, and pharmacologic factors.2 It manifests as recurrent inflammatory follicular nodules, papules, pustules, and painful abscesses with malodorous discharge.3 The most common areas affected are the axillary and inguinal areas, but other areas include the breast, lower abdomen, perineal, and perianal regions.4 Although the etiology of the condition is not exactly clear, it is a multifocal disease and has been associated with a family history of HS, cigarette smoking, and obesity3 and is more common in women than in men. Untreated HS can lead to rare complications as severe as squamous cell carcinoma.
Application of Optomecatronics Load Cell for Measuring Work Force and Efforts in Industrial Machinery

We have been working on different stages of a project and the last one was remote monitoring. Now part of a sensor application will be reviewed on a machine that can exert loads in an industrial scale. Some results obtained by this system are shown. The principle on which this research is based is the fact that any load applied to a soil or column will scroll causing deformation, with reference to a point on an unloaded item, which is the absolute reference. Optomechatronics loading lets us determine how different points deform; for example in a column a pair of optical sensors (transmitter and receiver) send signals to a DAQ NI and they are read in LABVIEW VI. They received data are written in a database for analysis. The complete design system is applied to measuring force and stress in industrial machinery.
Semiparametric regression models for spatial prediction and uncertainty quantification of soil attributes

In many studies, the distribution of soil attributes depends on both spatial location and environmental factors, and prediction and process identification are performed using existing methods such as kriging. However, it is often too restrictive to model soil attributes as dependent on a known, parametric function of environmental factors, which kriging typically assumes. This paper investigates a semiparametric approach for identifying and modeling the nonlinear relationships of spatially dependent soil constituent levels with environmental variables and obtaining point and interval predictions over a spatial region. Frequentist and Bayesian versions of the proposed method are applied to measured soil nitrogen levels throughout Florida, USA and are compared to competing models, including frequentist and Bayesian kriging, based an array of point and interval measures of out-of-sample forecast quality. The semiparametric models outperformed competing models in all cases. Bayesian semiparametric models yielded the best predictive results and provided empirical coverage probability nearly equal to nominal.
The Lower Limb Remains

The lower limb bones that have been preserved for the Shanidar Neandertals are less complete that their upper limb remains. Most of the long bones consist of diaphyses with incomplete epiphyses and most of the innominate bones and pedal remains have been extensively damaged. Yet three of the individuals—Shanidar 1, 5, and 6—retain sufficient portions of the femora, tibiae, and/or fibulae to permit reasonable estimates of the proximal and distal lower limb segments. Shanidar 1 and 3 retain significant portions of their pedal skeletons and Shanidar 2 preserves a virtually complete left tibia and fibula. Added onto these more intact pieces are numerous smaller pieces that provide morphological data. This chapter describes innominate bones, femora, patellae, tibiae, and fibulae and the pedal remains. The rather abundant though characteristically incomplete lower limb remains from the Shanidar adult Neandertals describe a pelvic and locomotor anatomy that is similar to that of other known Near Eastern and European Neandertals and contrasts in several features with that of more recent humans. However, all of these fossil and recent humans exhibit the general proportions and articular morphologies that are in agreement with their having had normal human striding bipedal gaits.
Nitrogen and phosphorus mass balance, retention and uptake in six plant species grown in stormwater bioretention microcosms

Abstract Stormwater runoff contains high levels of nutrients, and is regulated by the Federal National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) to protect surface water quality. Stormwater bioretention (BR) systems are increasingly used to address these regulations. Planted BR systems remove significantly more pollutants than unplanted systems, but most studies do not attempt to verify a pollutant mass balance and seldom evaluate differences in nutrient uptake among species. This greenhouse experiment proved that an overall 98% recovery of Total Phosphorus (TP) mass over the study period was feasible for six plant species, ensuring accuracy of measurements and analyses. Additionally, it was found that Phragmites australis, Carex praegracilis, and Carex microptera uptake significantly more TP and Total Nitrogen (TN) mass into harvestable tissue than Typha latifolia, Scirpus validus, and Scirpus acutus. These results confirm that species selection can optimize nutrient retention and recovery from stormwater and decrease pollutant discharge to surface waters.
E-selectin Targeting PEGylated-thioaptamer Prevents Breast Cancer Metastases

E-selectin is an adhesion molecule expressed on the luminal surface of inflamed blood vessels that mediates hematogenous metastasis by assisting shear-resistant adhesion of circulating tumor cells to the vessel surface under dynamic blood flow. Previously, we developed an E-selectin antagonistic thioaptamer (ESTA) for the prevention of hematogenous metastasis through the blockade of CD44high breast cancer cells (BCa) adhesion to E-selectin-expressing premetastatic endothelial niche. The current study focuses on developing a PEGylated E-selectin targeting thioaptamer with improved pharmaceutical properties. A serial deletion of stem-loops reveled that loop-1 and -2 (ESTA7) are the minimally effective backbone structure necessary to obtain inhibition of the E-selectin/CD44 interaction and shear resistant adhesion of CD44high BCa to E-selectin-expressing human endothelial cells (HMVECs) at a level equal to ESTA. Chemical conjugation of methoxy-polyethylene-glycol (PEG) at the sizes of 5 and 10 kDa did not interfere with ESTA7-mediated shear-resistant adhesion. However, in vivo study demonstrated that only 10 kDa PEG-conjugated ESTA7 (ESTA7-p10) retains the activity to inhibit metastases at a level equal to parental ESTA. Additionally, a single intravenous injection of ESTA7-p10 inhibited the development of lung, brain, and bone metastases of MDA-MB-231, through the blockade of E-selectin. Moreover, PEGylation led to an extension of elimination half-life and increase of AUC, resulting in superior inhibition of metastasis development compared to parental ESTA with a longer interval between dosing in a spontaneous metastasis model. Lastly, repeated intravenous administration of ESTA7-p10 was tolerated in mice, highlighting the potential prophylactic application of ESTA7-p10 for metastasis prevention.
Higher modes of continental Rayleigh waves

ABSTRACT A long dispersive train of waves corresponding to higher modes of the Rayleigh-wave equation (including Sezawa9s M 2 wave) for the continental crust-mantle system is positively identified, apparently for the first time. Observed particle motion is elliptical and retrograde, in agreement with theory. Although several theoretical studies have been published in which progressive elliptical particle motion was found, all of these involved values of the elastic constants unsuitable for the present problem. The beginnings of the short-period branches of the higher modes can account for the high-frequency longitudinal and vertical components of the continental surface-wave phase Lg. The large amplitudes and the peculiar appearance of Rg appear to depend on the broad flat minimum of the group velocity curve of the lowest or Rayleigh mode.
Looting, the Antiquities Trade, and Competing Valuations of the Past

Looting and spoliation of archaeological sites represent a known crisis in many parts of the world, and it is widely acknowledged that despite what we know about the scale of site destruction, the ...