cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
De la crítica a la reforma. Pensamiento político, económico, y visión de reino en las denuncias indianas de corrupción (s. XVII)

espanolA partir del estudio de denuncias extrajudiciales formuladas desde Lima, Puebla, Loja y Potosi contra los excesos de los virreyes, sus criados, y otras autoridades; y de tratados juridico-politicos, este articulo estudia la redefinicion de la idea de corrupcion en los reinos de indias, y contribuye al entendimiento del significado y caracteristicas de la corrupcion en el mundo hispanico del siglo XVII. Al hacerlo, revela que los individuos e instituciones de ciudades indianas fueron clave en la expansion y refinamiento del concepto “corrupcion” lo que, a su vez, llevo a un cambio en la practica y cultura politicas a nivel local-americano y de la corona. Esto se materializo en el cambio de la legislacion indiana para respaldar a los grupos locales, sancionar a quien sirvio mal, y regular las potestades y desempeno de los principales representantes de la corona en Indias. Tan importante como eso, el discurso de corrupcion generado en America incluyo la reflexion de como debia funcionar economicamente un reino indiano y a proponer reformas para controlarlo. EnglishBased on the study of extra-judicial accusations made from Lima, Puebla, Loja and Potosi against the excesses of the viceroys, their servants, and other authorities; as well as of legal and political treaties, this article studies the concept of corruption in the kingdoms of the Indies, and contributes to the understanding of the significance and characteristics of corruption in the Hispanic world in the 17th century. As a result, it is revealed that the individuals and the institutions of the cities of the Indies were key to the expansion and refinement of the concept of corruption which, at the same time, led to a change in the political practice and culture, at the local-American level and that of the crown. This was reflected in the change in the legislation of the Indies to support local groups, sanction those who did not serve well, and regulate the power and performance of the main representatives of the crown. Likewise, the discourse of corruption generated in America included the reflection on how the kingdom of the indies was supposed to work in economic terms and to propose reforms in order to control it.
Forschungsproblem und Ziel der Arbeit

Die heutige Gesellschaft ist verschiedenen Entwicklungen unterworfen. Eine davon stellt der demografische Wandel dar. Die Menschen werden heutzutage immer alter.
Differential Impact of Age Among Liver Transplant Candidates With and Without Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fastest-rising cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States and is a leading indication for liver transplantation (LT). Changes have been noted in the age of the population with chronic liver disease, but how this change affects patients with HCC is unknown. This study aims to characterize trends and transplant-associated outcomes among patients ≥65 years old listed for LT with HCC. Using the United Network for Organ Sharing database, we analyzed all patients ≥18 years old listed for LT during 2003-2017 in the United States in 2 groups (<65 or ≥65 years). Time trends between HCC and non-HCC patients were compared and stratified by disease etiology. Competing-risks and Cox proportional hazards regressions associated HCC and age with wait-list and post-LT survival. There were 161,724 LT candidates included: 14% were ≥65 years old at listing and 25% had HCC. The proportion of patients ≥65 years old rose significantly faster among those with HCC, as compared with those without HCC (Δ = 0.80; P < 0.001). Age ≥65 years was significantly associated with both wait-list mortality (adjusted subhazard ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.40-1.64) and post-LT mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.41-1.60) in the multivariate analysis. There were significant interactions between age and HCC on both wait-list (P < 0.001) and post-LT mortality (P = 0.04), suggesting that older age does not impact patients with HCC as much as patients without HCC. The proportion of older adults with HCC listed for LT has nearly tripled from 2003 to 2017, and the rapidly growing population of older adults with HCC may provide an opportunity to expand LT access without compromising outcomes.
Reinvisioning Coparent Curriculum: Meeting the Needs of a Changing Population:

The goal of this article is to provide a framework for practitioners to update their curriculum using an in-depth case study of the Parents Forever program. As new research and best practices chang...
Certification Assesses Minimal Competency for Healthcare Ethics Consultants, But What About Assessing Interpersonal Skills?

Horner et al. (2020) provide a thorough and comprehensive critical review of the HEC-C process after its first year in existence. It is helpful to step back and reflect critically on how the proces...
AI-Mediated Exchange Theory

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an ever-expanding role in sociotechnical systems, it is important to articulate the relationships between humans and AI. However, the scholarly communities studying human-AI relationships -- including but not limited to social computing, machine learning, science and technology studies, and other social sciences -- are divided by the perspectives that define them. These perspectives vary both by their focus on humans or AI, and in the micro/macro lenses through which they approach subjects. These differences inhibit the integration of findings, and thus impede science and interdisciplinarity. In this position paper, we propose the development of a framework AI-Mediated Exchange Theory (AI-MET) to bridge these divides. As an extension to Social Exchange Theory (SET) in the social sciences, AI-MET views AI as influencing human-to-human relationships via a taxonomy of mediation mechanisms. We list initial ideas of these mechanisms, and show how AI-MET can be used to help human-AI research communities speak to one another.
Effective Models for Measuring Students' Attitudes Toward the Marketing Education Program

The author used two attitude-measuring models in compare the attributes of the marketing education program, tangible or symbolic, in terms of their relative importance to students' attitudes toward the program. The data were analyzed by using multiple regression. The findings are that students' attitudes are more closely related to the program's tangible attributes than to the symbolic attributes. However, the relationship to the symbolic attributes, although secondary, is significant. The findings should facilitate in developing a promotional campaign which will incorporate and emphasize the significantly important tangible and symbolic attributes of the program. The findings also demonstrate the effectiveness of the models to measure student attitudes in any vocational area.
Effects of Online Training on Educators’ Knowledge and Use of System of Least Prompts to Support Augmentative and Alternative Communication

The present study evaluated the effects of online training on educators' knowledge and use of system of least prompts (SLP) to support the communication of individuals with autism (ASD) who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). A pre/posttest group design with switching replications was utilized. Three dependent variables: (a) knowledge of SLP, (b) planning for SLP, and (c) performance of SLP implementation during teleconference role-plays, were analyzed using a two-way mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results indicate that training was effective in increasing educators' knowledge as well as the ability to plan for SLP. Implementation of SLP also increased over time, however, data analysis did not support the conclusion that this result was directly related to the online training. Additional results suggest that the participants viewed online instruction, with teleconference role-play assessments and case study vignettes, as a socially valid activity. Participants reported learning a valuable skill and as a result of the training were more confident working with individuals who use AAC. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.
Molecular Targeting of Cancer-Associated PCNA Interactions in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Using a Cell-Penetrating Peptide.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a particularly difficult cancer to treat due to a lack of effective screening or treatment. Pancreatic cancer cells exhibit high proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression, which is associated with poor prognosis. PCNA, an important nuclear DNA replication and repair protein, regulates a myriad of proteins via the interdomain connector loop. Within this region, amino acids 126–133 are critical for PCNA interactions in cancer cells. Here, we investigate the ability of a decoy cell-penetrating peptide, R9-caPeptide, that mimics the interdomain connector loop region of PCNA to disrupt PCNA-protein interactions in pancreatic cancer cells. Our data suggest that R9-caPeptide causes dose-dependent toxicity in a panel of pancreatic cancer cell lines by inhibiting DNA replication fork progression and PCNA-regulated DNA repair, ultimately causing lethal DNA damage. Overall, these studies lay the foundation for novel therapeutic strategies that target PCNA in pancreatic cancer.
torcpy: Supporting task parallelism in Python

Abstract Task-based parallelism has been established as one of the main forms of code parallelization, where asynchronous tasks are launched and distributed across the processing units of a local machine, a cluster or a supercomputer. The tasks can be either completely decoupled, corresponding to a set of independent jobs, or be part of an iterative algorithm where the task results are processed and drive the next step. Typical use cases include the application of the same function to different data, parametric searches and algorithms used in numerical optimization and Bayesian uncertainty quantification. In this work, we introduce torcpy, a platform-agnostic adaptive load balancing library that orchestrates the asynchronous execution of tasks, expressed as callables with arguments, on both shared and distributed memory platforms. The library is implemented on top of MPI and multithreading and provides lightweight support for nested loops and map functions. Experimental results using representative applications demonstrate the flexibility and efficiency of the proposed Python package.
Distributional Robust Batch Contextual Bandits.

Policy learning using historical observational data is an important problem that has found widespread applications. Examples include selecting offers, prices, advertisements to send to customers, as well as selecting which medication to prescribe to a patient. However, existing literature rests on the crucial assumption that the future environment where the learned policy will be deployed is the same as the past environment that has generated the data--an assumption that is often false or too coarse an approximation. In this paper, we lift this assumption and aim to learn a distributional robust policy with incomplete (bandit) observational data. We propose a novel learning algorithm that is able to learn a robust policy to adversarial perturbations and unknown covariate shifts. We first present a policy evaluation procedure in the ambiguous environment and then give a performance guarantee based on the theory of uniform convergence. Additionally, we also give a heuristic algorithm to solve the distributional robust policy learning problems efficiently. Finally, we demonstrate the robustness of our methods in the synthetic and real-world datasets.
Reduced NCOR2 expression accelerates androgen deprivation therapy failure in prostate cancer

NCOR2 is frequently and significantly mutated in late stage androgen deprivation therapy resistant prostate cancer (ADT-RPCa). NCOR2 has been characterized as a transcriptional corepressor and has mechanistic links to DNA methylation, but its global functions and overall contributions to PCa progression remain enigmatic. In the current study, we utilize immunohistochemical staining of samples from over 700 PCa patients and reveal associations of reduced NCOR2 expression with correlates of aggressive primary PCa and recurrence in patients who received adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy. We mapped the dihydrotestosterone (DHT) dependent and independent effects of NCOR2 on the transcriptome, cistrome and DNA methylome in androgen sensitive (AS) and ADT-RPCa cells using the isogenic LNCaP and LNCaP-C4-2 (C4-2) cell models. Transcriptional profiling identified androgen dependent and independent regulatory roles of NCOR2, the latter of which was enhanced in the ADT-RPCa state and included neuronal differentiation. Interestingly, reduced expression of NCOR2 resulted in a striking global DNA hypermethylation pattern that significantly enriched at enhancer regions. ChIP-seq revealed that NCOR2 was more clearly associated with promoters in AS LNCaP cells, which was modestly enhanced by DHT treatment. However, in ADT-RPCa C4-2 cells, the NCOR2 cistrome was larger and more distal. Motif analyses and integration of large-scale public cistrome data revealed strong enrichment for FOXA1 in mediating NCOR2 binding, and included additional factors such as AR, E2F, TET2, MED1 and MBD2. Utilizing the CWR22 xenograft model, we demonstrate a direct role for NCOR2 in PCa progression as reduced NCOR2 expression attenuated the impact of ADT, and significantly accelerated recurrence of disease. Transcriptomic analyses in recurrent CWR22 tumors indicated NCOR2-dependent gene expression profiles during ADT that were enriched for neuroendocrine associated genes and also associated with worse survival in human patients with ADT-RPCa. DNA methylation profiles in CWR22 tumors with reduced NCOR2 expression recapitulated the hypermethylation observed in vitro, and further revealed that hypermethylation patterns are commonly associated with ADT-RPCa disease, which was also confirmed in human samples. These studies reveal robust roles for NCOR2 in regulating the PCa transcriptome and epigenome and underscore recent mutational studies linking NCOR2 loss of function to PCa disease progression.
Special Management Considerations

In this chapter, we review the topic of special management considerations for older adults with psychiatric disorders, such as wandering, use of restraints, and dangerous or assaultive behavior.
Breaking nation: Brazilian transnational children’s construction of belonging in bilingual classrooms:

This article explores Brazilian children’s belonging-making in Portuguese–English bilingual classrooms in the United States. Drawing on ethnographic data collected over fifteen months, we found tha...
Compton background suppression with a multi-element scintillation detector using high speed data acquisition and digital signal processing

A multi-element scintillation detector, consisting of eight NaI(Tl)/BGO scintillators surrounding a single NaI(Tl)/CsI(Tl) scintillator, was initially developed for locating and measuring concealed special nuclear materials that emit primarily low energy photons. Signal digitizers and LabView virtual instrument (VI) subroutines process and analyze pulses from each of the dual scintillators to suppress Compton interactions occurring in the central detector and discriminate between low and high energy photon events occurring within NaI(Tl) and CsI(Tl) crystals, respectively. Digital signal processing significantly improved the signal-to-noise ratio of the central detector and greatly reduced the analog electronic equipment required in the same time.
Data-Intensive Applications in Open Networks: Extending the Modelling, Programming and Communication Support

New requirements for extended computer support arise from various areas of advanced data-intensive applications. For example, the increased integration of data and knowledge initiated a number of database system extensions. Other requirements of new data-intensive applications lead to extended support for complex data objects. Similarly, an increasing number of data-intensive applications today is based on distributed application scenarios with locally distributed cooperation. Such applications require extended communication facilities in ‘Open Systems’ computer networking environments. In all cases, services of advanced data management functions should be offered to programmers via appropriate high-level programming language interfaces. Consequently, integrated systems realizing computer support for advanced data intensive applications include the following DBMS extensions: support for data and knowledge modelling, communication facilities for accessing remote system components in distributed systems, programming language interfaces, etc..
Thomas Aquinas on the Passions: A Study of Summa Theologiae, 1a2ae 22-48

Part I. The Passions in General: 1. The sensitive appetite 2. The definition of passion 3. The activation of passion 4. The morality of the passions Part II. Particular Passions: The Concupiscible Passions: 5. Love 6. Hatred and concupiscence 7. Pleasure 8. Sorrow Part III. Particular Passions: The Irascible Passions: 9. Hope and despair 10. Fear 11. Daring 12. Anger Epilogue: the passions, the virtues, and happiness.
Approximate solution to the Hopf Phi equation for isotropic homogeneous fluid turbulence

Consistent with the observed t to the -n decay laws for isotropic homogeneous turbulence and the form of the longitudinal correlation function f(r, t) for small r, the Hopf Phi equation is shown to be satisfied approximately by an asymptotic power series in t to the -n. This solution features a self-similar universal equilibrium functional which manifests Kolmogoroff-type scaling.
DNA replication of SV40-infected cells: VII. Formation of SV40 catenated and circular dimers

Dimeric molecules of SV40 DNA represent about 1.4% of the total closed circular viral DNA found in infected cells. The fraction of SV40 dimers observed as circular or catenated molecules depends on the length of time one labels the cells with [3H]thymidine. Long pulses (70 to 95 h) yield a dinier pool containing 10% catenated and 90% circular dimers. Shorter pulses (45 min to 4 h) result in dimer preparations having 25 to 48% catenated dimers. The appropriate pulse-chase experiments indicate that catenated dimers are synthesized with a high frequency and then decay probably to either circular dimers or monomers. The addition of cycloheximide to these infected cells results in a threefold increase in the percentage of SV40 dimeric DNA synthesized relative to the level of SV40 monomeric DNA. The fraction of catenated dimers present in these preparations is higher than in the absence of cycloheximide. These data, together with previous results Jaeniseh & Levine 1972, are consistent with the hypothesis that catenated dimers arise by replication errors which are enhanced in the presence of cycloheximide. The catenated dimers once formed are unstable. SV40 DNA synthesized in the presence of cycloheximide has a lower superhelical density than DNA synthesized in the absence of the drug. The implications of this observation are discussed.
The stereochemistry of organosulfur compounds: Part XXIII. The crystal and molecular structure of 4-amino-4′-nitrodiphenyldisulfide

Abstract The structure of 4-amino-4′-nitrodiphenyldisulfide has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Crystals are monoclinic, space group P 2 1 / c , with four molecules in a unit cell of dimensions a = 15.360(4), b = 9.023(3), c = 9.069(3) A, and β = 98.95(3)°. The structure has been solved by direct methods and refined to a final R value of 3.1%. There is definite evidence of conjugation of a quinoidal form in both the p -aminophenylsulfide and p -nitrophenylsulfide ring systems. The disulfide (SS) linkage shows little if any double bond character, and the CSSC torsion angle is 101.7°. The two CS bond lengths differ by 0.020 A and this, coupled with the apparent lack of SS double bond character, shows that there is probably no communication between the two ring systems via the disulfide bridge despite having a para π donor at one extreme and a para π acceptor at the other.
Risk factors for incident carpal tunnel syndrome: results of a prospective cohort study of newly-hired workers

Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the most costly upper extremity disorders in the working population. Past literature has shown an association between personal and work factors to a case definition of carpal tunnel syndrome but little is known about the combined effects of these factors with the development of this disorder. Few studies have examined these associations in longitudinal studies. The purpose of this paper is to identify risk factors for incident carpal tunnel syndrome in a longitudinal study of workers across a wide range of occupations.
Graphs, Networks, Extinction and Paleocommunity Food Webs

Food webs represent the trophic interactions among species in communities. Those interactions both structure and are structured by species richness, ecological diversity, and evolutionary processes. Geological and macroevolutionary timescales are therefore important to the understanding of food web dynamics, and there is a need for proper reconstruction and analysis of paleocommunity food webs. The fossil record presents many challenges, but the problem may be approached with combinatoric analysis, and graph and network theories. This paper is a brief introduction to the aspects of those disciplines relevant to the study of paleo-food webs, and explores several probabilistic and numerical approaches.
Molecular breeding of carotenoid biosynthetic pathways

The burgeoning demand for complex, biologically active molecules for medicine, materials science, consumer products, and agrochemicals is driving efforts to engineer new biosynthetic pathways into microorganisms and plants. We have applied principles of breeding, including mixing genes and modifying catalytic functions by in vitro evolution, to create new metabolic pathways for biosynthesis of natural products in Escherichia coli. We expressed shuffled phytoene desaturases in the context of a carotenoid biosynthetic pathway assembled from different bacterial species and screened the resulting library for novel carotenoids. One desaturase chimera efficiently introduced six rather than four double bonds into phytoene, to favor production of the fully conjugated carotenoid, 3,4,3',4'-tetradehydrolycopene. This new pathway was extended with a second library of shuffled lycopene cyclases to produce a variety of colored products. One of the new pathways generates the cyclic carotenoid torulene, for the first time, in E. coli. This combined approach of rational pathway assembly and molecular breeding may allow the discovery and production, in simple laboratory organisms, of new compounds that are essentially inaccessible from natural sources or by synthetic chemistry.
Fifty Days an MTurk Worker: The Social and Motivational Context for Amazon Mechanical Turk Workers

The focal article of Landers and Behrend (2015) persuasively argues that universally condemning potential convenience data sources outside of traditional industrial–organizational (I-O) samples such as college students and organization samples is misguided. This author agrees that instead we need to consider the context, strengths, and weaknesses of more recently recognized potential data sources. This commentary will focus on understanding the context of one particular potential data source, Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk; https://www.mturk.com/). While some existing research has looked at the demographic characteristics of Amazon MTurk workers and how those workers’ answers compared with more traditional samples (Casler, Bickel, & Hackett, 2013; Goodman, Cryder, & Cheema, 2013; Paolacci & Chandler, 2014), for this commentary I decided to take a primarily different tack. For the space of approximately 50 days, I acted as an MTurk worker on the site and participated in online communities at which MTurk workers congregate. The purposes of this were to experience the MTurk worker environment firsthand and observe how MTurk workers interact with each other and the site. This was done in the spirit of participant-observer research. Stanton and Rogelberg (2002) argue that online communities might be a particularly fruitful avenue for such participant-observer research within the field of I-O psychology. I am quick to note here that I don't see my efforts here as anywhere near as extensive as much of the participant-observer work of the past, and I did my time on MTurk in the spirit of such work rather than as a match for their methodological and analytical rigor. The observations I make in this commentary will be couched in my own experiences as well as the existing literature base on Amazon MTurk.
Modulation of the biologic activities of IgE-binding factors. I. Identification of glycosylation-inhibiting factor as a fragment of lipomodulin

Splenic T lymphocytes of rats treated with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) spontaneously release a lymphokine that inhibits the glycosylation of IgE-binding factors during their biosynthesis and provides the factors with biologic activity: selective suppression of the IgE response. The lymphokine, which is called glycosylation-inhibiting factor, also prevents IgE-induced increases in Fc epsilon R+ cells. The glycosylation inhibiting factor is formed by stimulation of BCG-primed spleen cells with PPD and participates in the selective formation of IgE-suppressive factors. The lymphokine is derived from OX 8+ T cells in both the CFA and BCG systems. The glycosylation-inhibiting factor is a 16,000-dalton peptide, as estimated by gel filtration, and specifically binds to monoclonal antibody against lipomodulin, a phospholipase inhibitory protein. Furthermore, "lipomodulin" was detected by radioimmunoassay in the 16,000-dalton fraction that contained glycosylation inhibiting factor. The fraction did not inhibit phospholipase A2 but after alkaline phosphatase treatment, the fraction did inhibit phospholipase A2. Furthermore, purified lipomodulin obtained from glucocorticoid-treated rabbit neutrophils had the same biologic activities as glycosylation inhibiting factors; i.e., it inhibited both protein glycosylation of IgE-binding factors and IgE-induced expression of Fc epsilon R. The results collectively indicate that glycosylation-inhibiting factor is a fragment of phosphorylated lipomodulin.
Bichromatic, phase compensating interferometer based on prism pair compressors

We present a bichromatic prism pair interferometer (BPPI) for controlling the delay between laser pulses of two different frequencies propagating collinearly in a single beam. The BPPI is especially useful when working with ultrafast laser pulses because it intrinsically allows for independent control over the second-order dispersion experienced by the differently colored pulses. We use this control to demonstrate successful precompensation for blue (λ≈390 nm) and UV (λ≈260 nm) pulses that pass through 2.2 cm of dispersive material after the interferometer. The BPPI is extremely flexible and works with all frequencies from the UV to the near-infrared. We demonstrate this by describing measurements made with BPPIs configured for three different combinations of central frequencies.
Uroporphyrin accumulation in cultured chick embryo hepatocytes: comparison of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl.

Abstract Uroporphyrin (URO) accumulation caused by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD) and 3,4,3′,4′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (TCB) in cultured chick embryo hepatocytes was found to depend on the concentration of the added polyhalogenated aromatic compound, and on either the addition of 5-aminolevulinic acid or the induction of 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase. TCDD alone did not cause more than a slight increase in uroporphyrin, whereas TCB alone caused considerable uroporphyrin accumulation associated with increased 5-aminolevulinic acid synthase activity. However, in the presence of exogenous 5-aminolevulinic acid, TCDD was more potent than TCB in causing uroporphyrin accumulation. The concentrations of TCDD or TCB which maximally induced ethoxyresorufin deethylase activity, an indicator of induced cytochrome P450 activity, were lower than those required for maximal uroporphyrin accumulation. Furthermore, ethoxyresorufin deethylase activity was found to decline at concentrations of TCDD or TCB which caused maximum uroporphyrin accumulation. Pretreatment with 3-methylcholanthrene enhanced uroporphyrin accumulation, whereas addition of inhibitors of cytochrome P450 decreased uroporphyrin accumulation. Uroporphyrin accumulation occurred without a decrease in uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase activity, and was unrelated to the degree of conversion of the polyhalogenated aromatic compounds to water-soluble metabolites. Our results indicate that URO accumulation caused by TCDD and TCB requires two separate actions; (1) induction of cytochrome P450 which occurs at low concentrations of the halogenated chemicals, and (2) increased uroporphyrinogen oxidation which is catalyzed by the induced cytochrome P450 and which occurs at higher concentrations of the halogenated chemicals.
Assessment of the Anatomical Relationship Between the Arcuate Eminence and Superior Semicircular Canal by Computed Tomography

The anatomical relationship between the arcuate eminence (AE) and the superior semicircular canal (SSC) was examined by computed tomography (CT) in 52 petrous bones of 26 patients. After acquiring volume data by multidetector CT, 1-mm thick oblique bone window images perpendicular to the SSC were obtained from the axial images. The distances between the AE and the SSC, and the SSC and the superior surface of the petrous bone were measured. The AE corresponded exactly with the SSC in only 2/52 petrous bones, and corresponded well in 7/52. The AE was lateral to the SSC in 25/52 cases, medial to the SSC in 6/52 cases, intersected in 3/52 cases, and was indiscernible in 9/52 cases. The distance between the SSC and the petrous surface was 0 mm in 45/52 petrous bones, 1 mm in 5/52, 2 mm in 1/52, and 3 mm in 1/52. The SSC typically does not correspond exactly with the AE, and is generally located just under the surface of the petrous bone. Planning of the middle cranial fossa approach requires location of the SSC by CT.
Dye structure-optical property correlations in near-infrared fluorescent core-shell silica nanoparticles

In this paper we report on dye structure–optical property correlations for a range of near-infrared emitting (NIR, 650–900 nm) fluorescent dyes in a 9–14 nm diameter core-shell silica particle architecture (C dots), including Cy5, Alexa Fluor 700, DY730, Alexa Fluor 750, and DY780. For each dye an apparent per-dye enhancement in fluorescence is observed over free dye in aqueous solution ranging from 1.2× to 6.6×, highlighting the versatility of the silica encapsulation approach. For the Cy5 and DY730 dye/particle sample pairs photobleaching was undertaken and revealed that the particles photobleach slower than the dyes. For a particular NIR dye series with identical chemical backbone, DY730, DY731, DY732, and DY734, we demonstrate that with increasing number of sulfonated substituent groups the per-dye brightness enhancement decreases. Finally, we show that in special cases, like Cy5, brightness enhancement of dyes in dots over free dye may be a combination of effects from dye conjugation chemistry and immobilization in the silica matrix. These results provide powerful design criteria for next generation optical probes for applications ranging from bioimaging to security.
Impact of simulated herbivory on Alliaria petiolata survival, growth, and reproduction

Abstract In weed biological control, insect damage to target weeds can be simulated in invaded habitats to study potential responses of the plant to introduced natural enemies. In the present study, we investigated the impact of two levels of manual flower-shoot damage (shoots cut at tip or base) on Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) survival, size, and reproduction. Experiments were conducted in 2002 and 2003 using invasive field populations of A. petiolata under naturally varying plant densities. Plant survival was recorded, and size and reproduction parameters were measured. Manual flower-shoot damage had a significant effect on plant survival. In both years, fewer plants survived in the basal-cut treatment than in either the control (un-cut) or tip-cut treatment. Plant size and reproductive output were likewise reduced in the basal-cut treatment. In both years, total seed production was significantly lower in the basal-cut treatment than either the control or tip-cut treatment. When combined, increased mortality and reduced seed production of basal-cut plants greatly reduced the contribution these plants made to the seed bank. Plant density did not affect reproduction or plant size. The impacts of cutting were consistent across years and sites with distinct biotic and abiotic conditions, and A. petiolata densities. We anticipate that herbivore damage to A. petiolata populations by introduced biological control agents will likewise remain consistent under varying biotic and abiotic conditions if the agents are equally adapted to these.
Multichannel optical interconnects for optical communication and processing at tens of Gbits/s

8x8 parallel-channeled optical interconnect systems operating at 1 Gbits/s per channel were designed and developed using complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits driven 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays and the corresponding photodetector arrays. Low operating threshold and voltage were adapted and facilitated in the design and fabrication of VCSELs and photodetectors in order to achieve the low-power consumption for the entire system. The driver and receiver circuits were fabricated on transparent sapphire substrates using 0.5-μm ultra-thin silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) technology and subsequently flip-chip bonded with corresponding VCSEL and photodetector arrays. The VCSEL transmitter and photoreceiver arrays were biased at 3.3 V and optically coupled in a free-space configuration using compound lens systems. Data communications at bandwidth up to 1.0 Gb/s for each single channel were characterized. Bit-error-rate (BER) was measured to be better than 10 -9 from the eye diagrams. Such interconnect systems were also demonstrated for optical data processing using diffractive optical elements.
Acetylcholine Transport and Drug Inhibition Kinetics in Torpedo Synaptic Vesicles

Steady-state initial velocity uptake of [3H]acetylcholine ([3H]ACh) by purified Torpedo electric organ synaptic vesicles was studied. Transport specific activity decreased at higher vesicle concentration. Michaelis-Menten type kinetics describe [3H]ACh active transport at constant vesicle concentration with no evidence of cooperativity or transporter heterogeneity. The ACh dissociation constant is about 0.3 mM, transport has a maximal velocity of about 1.6 nmol/min/mg protein, and both are dependent on the vesicle preparation. Nonradioactive ACh was a competitive inhibitor with respect to [3H]ACh. The potent transport inhibitor dl-trans-2-(4-phenylpiperidino)cyclohexanol (AH5183) is a non-competitive inhibitor with respect to [3H]ACh, with an inhibition constant of 41 +/- 7 nM. Inhibition by AH5183 is reversible. The results suggest that AH5183 does not bind to the ACh transporter recognition site on the outside of the vesicle membrane, and thus it might inhibit allosterically.
Reliability and validity of the Appraisal of Diabetes Scale

The present research evaluated the psychometric properties of a brief self-report instrument designed to assess appraisal of diabetes. Two hundred male subjects completed the Appraisal of Diabetes Scale (ADS) and provided blood samples that were subsequently assayed to provide an index of glycemic control (i.e., glycosylated hemoglobin). Subjects also completed either (a) additional measures of diabetes-related health beliefs, diabetic daily hassles, perceived stress, diabetic adherence, and psychiatric symptoms or (b) the ADS on two additional occasions. Results indicated that the ADS is an internally consistent and stable measure of diabetes-related appraisal. The validity of the measure was supported by correlational analyses which documented the relationship between the ADS and several related self-report measures.
Fabricating neuromast-inspired gel structures for membrane-based hair cell sensing

Recent research has shown that a new class of mechanical sensor, assembled from biomolecules and which features an artificial cell membrane as the sensing element, can be used to mimic basic hair cell mechanotransduction in vertebrates. The work presented in this paper is motivated by the need to increase sensor performance and stability by refining the methods used to fabricate and connect lipid-encapsulated hydrogels. Inspired by superficial neuromasts found on fish, three hydrogel materials are compared for their ability to be readily shaped into neuromast-inspired geometries and enable lipid bilayer formation using self-assembly at an oil/water interface. Agarose, polyethylene glycol (PEG, 6kg/mole), and hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) gel materials are compared. The results of this initial study determined that UV-curable gel materials such as PEG and HEMA enable more accurate shaping of the gel-needed for developing a sensor that uses a gel material both for mechanical support and membrane formation-compared to agarose. However, the lower hydrophobicity of agarose and PEG materials provide a more fluid, water-like environment for membrane formation-unlike HEMA. In working toward a neuromast-inspired design, a final experiment demonstrates that a bilayer can also be formed directly between two lipid-covered PEG surfaces. These initial results suggest that candidate gel materials with a low hydrophobicity, high fluidity, and a low modulus can be used to provide membrane support.
Electrification of Glass

REFERENCE is commonly made, in text-books of electricity, to the uncertainty of kind of the electrification produced on glass when it is rubbed with fur or flannel, opposite results being obtained with different specimens.
Anion Effects on Gas Solubility in Ionic Liquids

This work presents the results of solubility measurements for a series of gases in 1-n-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate and 1-n-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide. The gases considered include benzene, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, ethylene, ethane, oxygen, and carbon monoxide. Carbon dioxide and oxygen solubilities are also reported in methyl-tributylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide, butyl-methyl pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide, and tri-isobutyl-methyl phosphonium p-toluenesulfonate. We report the associated Henry's constants and enthalpies and entropies of absorption. In general, benzene, followed by carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, have the highest solubilities and strongest interactions with the ionic liquids, followed by ethylene and ethane. Oxygen had very low solubilities and weak interactions. Carbon monoxide had a solubility below the detection limit of our apparatus. Ionic liquids with the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ani...
Terrestrial Conditions at the Last Glacial Maximum and CLIMAP Sea-Surface Temperature Estimates: Are They Consistent?

CLIMAP (1981, “Seasonal Reconstruction of the Earth's Surface at the Last Glacial Maximum,” Geological Society of America Map and Chart Series MC-36) boundary conditions were used as inputs to the GISS general circulation model, and the last glacial maximum (LGM) climate was simulated for six model years. The simulation was compared with snow line depression and pollen-inferred temperature data at low latitudes, specifically for Hawaii, Colombia, East Africa, and New Guinea. The model does not produced as much cooling at low latitudes as is implied by the terrestrial evidence. An alternative experiment in which the CLIMAP sea-surface temperatures were uniformly lowered by 2°C produces a better fit to the land data although in Hawaii model temperatures are still too warm. The relatively warm CLIMAP tropical sea-surface temperatures also provide for only a slight decrease in the hydrologic cycle in the model, in contrast to both evidence of LGM tropical aridity and the results of the experiment with colder ocean temperatures. With the CLIMAP sea-surface temperatures, the LGM global annual mean surface air temperature is 3.6°C colder than at present; if the ocean temperatures were allowed to cool in conformity with the model's radiation balance, the LGM simulation would be 5°–6°C colder than today, and in better agreement with the tropical land evidence.
Early postmortem carcass trim effects on the tenderness of broiler breast fillets

Broiler carcasses are often trimmed during evisceration to remove damaged areas of the carcass. Because deboning before rigor mortis development can toughen meat, trimming during evisceration may toughen the meat. This study evaluated the effects of trimming on the tenderness of broiler breast meat. To evaluate the effect of wing removal on tenderness, breast halves from 2 flocks were collected after chilling at a commercial plant. One-third were untrimmed controls, one-third had small amounts of breast meat removed with wing (WMin), and one-third had large amounts of breast meat removed with wing (Wmax). Salvage fillets from the 2 flocks were also collected from the salvage table of the plant. Carcasses were also processed to evaluate the effect of breast blister trimming that removed a superficial amount of muscle tissue, half of which had breast blister trims, and half did not. All front halves or carcasses were aged until 24 h postmortem and deboned. Salvage fillets were held refrigerated until 24 h postmortem. Fillets were cooked and then sheared in 2 locations on the fillet, upper and lower, to determine if tenderness was more affected at areas close to the trim. Carcasses with wing trims had significantly higher shear values compared with the control, and shear values from the upper portion of the fillets from the WMax and WMin (nearer the trim) were significantly greater than for the lower portion. Location, however, did not affect shear values in the control carcasses. This finding indicated that tenderness of the areas nearest the trim might be affected more by the trim process. Salvage table deboning significantly increased shear values throughout the fillet. There was no significant difference in shear value due to breast blister trimming. The results of this study suggest that trimming carcasses by wing or breast fillet removal results in decreased meat tenderness.
Linkages Between the CEO and the IS Environment: An Empirical Assessment

Executive involvement in information systems IS activities has been rigorously examined as a key factor in IS performance. Logic dictates that a more involved executive generates better IS performance. Further, theory indicates that organizational positioning of the IS department management near the top executive results in a more effective IS department. The relationship between these factors and several dimensions of the IS management process is investigated to compare logical and theoretical expectations with actual practices and results in the information processing area. In a nationwide survey, senior IS managers were asked to indicate the importance to their CEOs of several dimensions of the IS process, the extent to which their CEOs are involved in IS, and how their IS performance compares to that of competitors. Findings indicate that there are a variety of differences between prescriptive theory and actual practice. Although executive activities have a significant impact on several activities associated with the IS management process, executives do not effectively pursue these activities. Moreover, executive support through financial resources appears to promote better competitive IS performance than other modes of executive involvement.
Intracranial arteriovenous malformation: Relationships between clinical and radiographic factors and ipsilateral steal severity

Intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are high flow shunts that may jeopardize the perfusion of adjacent tissue. Clinical and radiographic data from 62 patients were analyzed to determine their relationship to the severity of steal measured by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The ipsilateral steal index [ISteal(i)] was determined by dividing regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) values within hand-drawn regions of hypoperfusion in the ipsilateral hemisphere by total brain flow, which was calculated as the average rCBF of each hemisphere. Of the patients, 40% were less than 30 years of age, 45% were 30 to 50 years old, and 15% were over 50. Forty-eight per cent presented with hemorrhage and 34% presented with progressive deficits. There was angiographic steal in 37%, and postoperative hyperemic complications developed in 21%. All patients had ipsilateral regions of hypoperfusion. The ISteal(i) was less than 0.7 in 23 (37%), 0.7 to 0.8 in 20 (32%), and greater than 0.8 in 19 (31%). The ISteal(i) was significantly less severe in the patients over 50; 78% of these patients had an ISteal(i) of greater than 0.8 (P less than 0.01). A history of hemorrhage was associated with less severe steal than that in patients who had not bled (P = 0.088). Patients presenting with a history of progressive deficits had increased severity of steal compared with those without progressive deficits (P less than 0.05). A trend toward decreased severity of steal was noted in patients with unfavorable outcomes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Integrated computerized databases for medical data management beyond the bedside.

Computers are beginning to be utilized extensively for direct patient care, assisting nursing and medical staff with data collection and review at the bedside. However, most clinical data management systems are optimized for bedside patient care and offer limited resources for multi-patient data analysis. At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a network of computer systems has been developed to provide linkages between clinical, administrative and outcome data for Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) patients. Increasingly, such data is needed to evaluate the relationship between severity of illness and patient outcome and the utilization of expensive critical resources.
Nitroxide spin labeled analogs of the non-ionic detergent triton X-100

Abstract Two nitroxide spin labeled analogs of the non-ionic detergent, Triton X-100, have been synthesized. Electron spin resonance spectra of these compounds in solution, in egg lecithin multilayers, and in aqueous dispersion of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles are described.