cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identification of Proteins Differentially Expressed in Quiescent and Proliferatively Senescent Fibroblast Cultures

We have examined the differential expression of proteins in quiescent (nongrowing) early versus late population doubling level (PDL) WI-38 human diploid fibroblasts. Age-associated changes in gene expression at the level of both secreted and total cellular protein were identified using high-resolution, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by N-terminal sequencing or Western blot analysis. A comparison of secreted proteins revealed the senescence-specific absence of all forms of EPC-1, a protein associated with early PDL cells in the G0 state. This comparison also revealed the absence of a processed (cleaved) form of alpha I (type III) procollagen in senescent cells, suggesting a distinctive remodeling of the extracellular matrix. A comparison of total cellular protein between early passage and proliferatively aged fibroblasts identified an altered form of the enzyme ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase in senescent cells, a result that could explain the increase in ubiquitinated proteins in these cells. These findings further elucidate the phenotype of fibroblasts aged in vitro and support the concept that senescent cells are arrested in a state fundamentally different from that of G0 early PDL cells.
Research NoteSole Entrant, Co-optor, or Component Supplier: Optimal End-Product Strategies for Manufacturers of Proprietary Component Brands

We propose the optimal strategies in the end-product market for manufacturers of proprietary component brands, MPCBs for short. MPCBs can pursue one of three end-product roles: sole entrant, as with 3Com that, until recently, offered its Palm operating system only as part of its own Palm handheld devices; co-optor, as with Canon, whose specialty motors go into its own and HP laser printers; component supplier, as with Intel, which has refrained from making its own PCs. Applying extant theoretical and modeling perspectives, especially from branding, spatial competition, and channels, we show that although each of the three roles has its unique domain of optimality, the co-optor role is the most widely optimal for the MPCB; it is profit maximizing even when the end products are strong (but not perfect) substitutes, an alternative component is available and the downstream market is saturated. Optimal prices under the co-optor role are higher than under the other roles. We provide an illustrative application of the model to three real-world settings.
Patterns of muscarinic cholinergic binding in the striatum and their relation to dopamine islands and striosomes.

The distribution of muscarinic cholinergic binding sites in the striatum was studied in relation to the locations of other neurochemical markers in the developing rat, cat, ferret, and human. In addition, patterns of striatal muscarinic binding were studied in the adult cat. Receptor binding autoradiography was carried out with tritiated propylbenzilylcholine mustard ([3H]-PrBCM), an irreversible muscarinic antagonist, and subsequent serial section analyses involved comparisons among patterns of muscarinic binding, catecholamine histofluorescence, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) staining, Nissl staining, and cell labeling with [3H]-thymidine. Muscarinic binding in the immature striatum was characterized by local patchiness as well as regional density gradients in all species, with the most complex patterns appearing in the human. Patches of dense muscarinic binding were shown to lie in register with fluorescent dopamine islands (rat, cat, ferret), with AChE-positive patches (all species), and with clusters of neurons pulse-labeled by exposure to [3H]-thymidine on embryonic day 27 (ferret). At the developmental stages examined, the [3H]-PrBCM-positive patches were roughly aligned with regions of weak Nissl staining (cat, human). Striatal [3H]-PrBCM binding in the adult cat was dense, and though it usually appeared nearly homogeneous, in some sections patches of elevated binding were present. These had as counterparts, in neighboring sections, AChE-poor striosomes. We conclude that during development muscarinic cholinergic function is compartmentalized in the striatum in association with dopamine-containing afferents, and that this compartmentalization may persist to some degree in the adult.
The Expanding Genetic Toolbox of the Wasp Nasonia vitripennis and Its Relatives

The parasitoid wasp Nasonia represents a genus of four species that is emerging as a powerful genetic model system that has made and will continue to make important contributions to our understanding of evolutionary biology, development, ecology, and behavior. Particularly powerful are the haplodiploid genetics of the system, which allow some of the advantages of microbial genetics to be applied to a complex multicellular eukaryote. In addition, fertile, viable hybrids can be made among the four species in the genus. This makes Nasonia exceptionally well suited for evolutionary genetics approaches, especially when combined with its haploid genetics and tractability in the laboratory. These features are complemented by an expanding array of genomic, transcriptomic, and functional resources, the application of which has already made Nasonia an important model system in such emerging fields as evolutionary developmental biology and microbiomics. This article describes the genetic and genomic advantages of Nasonia wasps and the resources available for their genetic analysis.
Assessment of Public Health Risks Associated with Atmospheric Exposure to PM2.5 in Washington, DC, USA

In this research, we investigated the public health risks associated with atmospheric exposure to PM2.5 for different subpopulations (black, white, Hispanic, youth, adults, and elderly) in the Washington, DC area. Washington, DC has long been considered a non-healthy place to live according to the American Lung Association due to its poor air quality. This recognition clearly includes the negative PM-related human health effects within the region. Specifically, DC fine particulate matter (PM2.5) [or particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm] poses notable health risks to subpopulations having an annual mean value of 16.70 μg/m3 during the years 1999–2004, exceeding the EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 15 μg/m3. Incessant exposure to significant levels of PM has previously been linked to deleterious health effects, such as heart and lung diseases. The environmental quality and public health statistics of Washington, DC indicate the need for higher-resolution measurements of emissions, both spatially and temporally, and increased analysis of PM-related health effects. Our findings show that there are significant risks of ward-specific pediatric asthma emergency room visits (ERV). Results also illustrate lifetime excess lung cancer risks, exceeding the 1×10−6 threshold for the measured levels of particulate matter and heavy metals (chromium and arsenic) on behalf of numerous subpopulations in the DC selected wards.
Neuronally expressed stem cell factor induces neural stem cell migration to areas of brain injury

Neural stem/progenitor cell (NSPC) migration toward sites of damaged central nervous system (CNS) tissue may represent an adaptive response for the purpose of limiting and/or repairing damage. Little is known of the mechanisms responsible for this migratory response. We constructed a cDNA library of injured mouse forebrain using subtractive suppression hybridization (SSH) to identify genes that were selectively upregulated in the injured hemisphere. We demonstrate that stem cell factor (SCF) mRNA and protein are highly induced in neurons within the zone of injured brain. Additionally, the SCF receptor c-kit is expressed on NSPCs in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we demonstrate that recombinant SCF induces potent NSPC migration in vitro and in vivo through the activation of c-kit on NSPCs. These data suggest that the SCF/c-kit pathway is involved in the migration of NSPCs to sites of brain injury and that SCF may prove useful for inducing progenitor cell recruitment to specific areas of the CNS for cell-based therapeutic strategies.
Retrotranslocation of the Chaperone Calreticulin from the Endoplasmic Reticulum Lumen to the Cytosol

Polypeptide folding and quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are mediated by protein chaperones, including calreticulin (CRT). ER localization of CRT is specified by two types of targeting signals, an N-terminal hydrophobic signal sequence that directs insertion into the ER and a C-terminal KDEL sequence that is responsible for retention in the ER. CRT has been implicated in a number of cytoplasmic and nuclear processes, suggesting that there may be a pathway for generating cytosolic CRT. Here we show that CRT is fully inserted into the ER, undergoes processing by signal peptidase, and subsequently undergoes retrotranslocation to the cytoplasm. A transcription-based reporter assay revealed an important role for the C-terminal Ca(2+) binding domain in CRT retrotranslocation. Neither ubiquitylation nor proteasome activity was necessary for retrotranslocation, which indicates that the pathway is different from that used by unfolded proteins targeted for destruction. Forced expression of cytosolic CRT is sufficient to rescue a cell adhesion defect observed in mouse embryo fibroblasts from crt(-/-) mice. The ability of CRT to retrotranslocate from the ER lumen to the cytosol explains how CRT can change compartments and modulate cell adhesion, transcription, and translation.
Modifying the Classroom Environment to Increase Engagement and Decrease Disruption with Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

The goal of this study was to examine the effect of physical modifications on the academic engagement and disruptive behavior of Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing students in self-contained classrooms. Three classrooms at a school for the Deaf were modified after consultation with the classroom teachers. The modifications of the classroom environment included changes in seating arrangements, classroom organization, visual stimulation, and acoustic quality. A multiple-baseline design was used to examine the effects of the intervention on the frequency of student academic engagement and disruptive behaviors. Results show a functional relationship between the physical environment and both an increase in levels of academic engagement and a decrease in levels of disruptive behavior. Teachers maintained the majority of modifications after the study ceased. Social validity ratings by the teachers indicated high acceptability of the intervention. Limitations and practical implications for future research are discussed.
A service-based runtime environment for native applications

Unlike interpreted application programs that run within the rich runtime environment of their own interpreters, natively compiled application programs are typically thought of as executing on the barebones runtime environment provided by their own operating systems and dynamic linkers. This article presents the notion of a service-based runtime (SBRT) environment for natively compiled application programs, in which the current dynamic linker is only a core service and other extensive middleware-type services are available to the running application program. It then describes a dynamic-linker-based implementation of such an environment, called dlSBRT. dlSBRT implements a unified interface that allows it to be extensible by means of extension dynamic services. Implemented examples of such services are presented and the performance of dlSBRT, when such example services are deployed, is evaluated. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Automated robustness testing of off-the-shelf software components

Mission-critical system designers may have to use a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) approach to reduce costs and shorten development time, even though COTS software components may not specifically be designed for robust operation. Automated testing can assess component robustness without sacrificing the advantages of a COTS approach. This paper describes the Ballista methodology for scalable, portable, automated robustness testing of component interfaces. An object-oriented approach based on parameter data types rather than component functionality essentially eliminates the need for function-specific test scaffolding. A full-scale implementation that automatically tests the robustness of 233 operating system software components has been ported to ten POSIX systems. Between 42% and 63% of components tested had robustness problems, with a normalized failure rate ranging from 10% to 23% of tests conducted. Robustness testing could be used by developers to measure and improve robustness, or by consumers to compare the robustness of competing COTS component libraries.
STANDARD SCALES FOR CRISPNESS, CRACKLINESS AND CRUNCHINESS IN DRY AND WET FOODS : RELATIONSHIP WITH ACOUSTICAL DETERMINATIONS

A trained panel developed rating scales for crispness, crunchiness and crackliness for dry and wet foods based on the auditory perception of selected foods. The newly developed scales were then evaluated by 40 untrained panelists and the sound perception of standard foods was assessed through the analysis of the root mean square (RMS) of the 5-s audio waveforms and multidimensional scaling (MDS). The RMS was highly correlated to auditory sensory perception of crispness (r = 0.83 and 0.96), crunchiness (r = 0.99 and 0.99) and crackliness (r = 0.88 and 0.96) for dry and wet foods, respectively. MDS technique applied for the 40 untrained panelists was instructive in assessing auditory textural differences of naive panelists and a useful statistical instrument to graphically validate selected scales. Auditory perception of the selected foods were rated similarly using standard auditory texture scales for crispness, crunchiness and crackliness developed by the trained panel (oral evaluation) and MDS results from the untrained panel (recordings). PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Crispness, crunchiness and crackliness are not only important and useful descriptors of food texture, but are also desirable textural qualities in many foods. The lack of consistency in the procedures used for the evaluation of crunchy, crispy and crackly in sensory studies often results in confusion when training expert panels. Research will benefit textural studies through an improvement of consistent textural definitions and development of standard scales and evaluation techniques. The crispness, crunchiness and crackliness scales developed and applied in the current study represent a new potential standard frame of reference that may be used for training panelists in texture parameters related to food auditory perception. The scales may be considered illustrations demonstrating full and practical ranges for each texture attribute with regard to analyzing auditory parameters of foods and effective objective tools for assessing panelists in descriptive analysis.
Changing conceptions of teaching in medical faculty.

Background: The Association of American Medical Colleges and Howard Hughes Medical Institute have urged medical faculty to develop in themselves, and in their students, habits of critical professional inquiry, while stressing the importance of integrating formal learning with hands-on, practical experience.Aims: This study describes the impact of a year-long faculty development program on conceptions of teaching held by 16 faculty in a medical school affiliated with a large private Midwestern research university.Method: Using pre and post semi-structured interviews, researchers identified three conceptions of teaching – transmission, acquisition, and engagement – found in participants, comparing how participants’ conceptions changed by the end of the program.Results: Researchers found that 13 out of 16 (81%) faculty developed or maintained a more complex understanding of teaching by the end of the program.Conclusions: This study recommends that faculty developers (1) encourage their faculty to reflect sub...
Shielded Dual-Mode Microstrip Resonator Measurement of Uniaxial Anisotropy

An improved technique to measure uniaxial anisotropy in planar substrates is described. This technique builds on previous work performed with stripline. The improved approach offers substantially larger bandwidth, lower error, and ease of measurement. An almost complete automation of the entire calibration and measurement extraction process is described. It is also demonstrated that the horizontal (parallel to substrate surface) dielectric constant is less than the vertical dielectric constant for glass fiber weave reinforced substrates for the purposes of microstrip and stripline design. This directly conflicts with bulk measurements of dielectric constant and is believed due to microstrip horizontal electric field concentrating in the substrate surface. This is supported by measurements of a homogeneously ceramic loaded substrate showing the expected relationship. Effects of electromagnetic analysis accuracy, metal roughness, metal thickness, and edge profile (due to etching) are found to be important.
Contemporary archaeomagnetic results and the accuracy of archaeomagnetic dates

When multiple archaeomagnetic samples are collected from the same site or component, it is tempting to look for evidence of temporal differences between the collected features. This paper addresses the issue of the practical limits to confidently identifying temporal differences based on archaeomagnetic sample information. Three controlled data sets suggest that when the specimen polar projections of the samples compared have substantially overlapping ranges and when sample mean projections are less than five degrees apart, statistical comparisons do not support conclusions about probable age differences. These results suggest that temporal differences less than 50 to 100 years (depending on the rate of directional change in the geomagnetic field) between features within a site or component will be difficult to confidently identify. Additional analysis leads to the hypothesis, however, that the averaged results from sets of archaeomagnetic samples might provide the basis for making fine scale temporal distinctions between sites or components from which multiple archaeomagnetic samples have been collected.
Modified Floating Gate and IPD Profile for Better Cell Performance of Sub-50 nm NAND Flash Memory

We report a new approach to utilize oxygen implantation on the top of the floating gate (FG) to improve the cell performance of a sub-50 nm NAND flash memory cell. This method was used to form a thin oxide layer only on the top of the FG but not on the sidewalls. It also rounded the corners of the FG. As a result, the leakage current between FG and control gate (CG) was reduced without sacrificing the gate coupling ratio (GCR). With this approach we improved Vt_sat_program and Vt_sat_erase without degrading VgVt_program and VgVt_erase on real Si.
A new first kind boundary integral formulation for the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map in 2D

In this paper, we analyze the Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) operator in the periodic case as a pseudodifferential operator represented through boundary integrals. We begin with some analytical results concerning the structure of the operator. In particular we exploit the freedom available in the choice of the kernel for the boundary integral representation to introduce a new logarithmic kernel for the fundamental solution of the Laplacian on a cylinder. We then use it to develop a superalgebraically convergent numerical method to compute DtN which proves very stable even for nonsmooth and large variation curves. An important step in the proposed procedure is the inversion of an integral equation of first kind. To deal with it, we introduce an efficient FFT-based preconditioner which performs well in combination with Nystrom's method and a decomposition of the operator based on "flat geometry subtraction".
“I wld like u WMP to extend electricity 2 our village”: On Information Technology and Interest Articulation

fects of technological innovations on political communication is rendered difficult because the existence and costs of new ICT platforms are likely to be correlated with features of a political system that may independently determine political participation. Though past research has demonstrated a positive correlation between an individual’s access to ICTs and levels of political engagement (Boulianne 2009), the causal arrow has been left undetermined. To overcome these identification problems we implement an experiment in two senses.
Alcohol content of various beverages: all booze is created equal.

After consuming comparable amounts of ethanol, women have higher blood ethanol concentrations than men, even with allowance for differences in size, and are more susceptible to alcoholic liver disease. Recently, we documented significant “first pass metabolism” of ethanol due to its oxidation by gastric tissue. We report a study of the possible contribution of this metabolism to the sex-related difference in blood alcohol concentrations in 20 men and 23 women. Six in each group were alcoholics. The first pass metabolism was determined on the basis of the difference in areas under the curves of blood alcohol concentrations after intravenous and oral administration of ethanol (0.3 g per kilogram of body weight). Alcohol dehydrogenase activity was also measured in endoscopic gastric biopsies. In nonalcoholic subjects, the first pass metabolism and gastric alcohol dehydrogenase activity of the women were 23 and 59 percent, respectively, of those in the men, and there was a significant correlation (r8 = 0.659) between first pass metabolism and gastric mucosal alcohol dehydrogenase activity. In the alcoholic men, the first pass metabolism and gastric alcohol dehydrogenase activity were about half those in the nonalcoholic men; in the alcoholic women, the gastric mucosal alcohol dehydrogenase activity was even lower than in the alcoholic men, and first-pass metabolism was virtually abolished. We conclude that the increased bioavailability of ethanol resulting from decreased gastric oxidation of ethanol may contribute to the enhanced vulnerability of women to acute and chronic complications of alcoholism.
Programmable batch assembly of microparts with 100% yield

This paper demonstrates a novel method to perform micropart (370×370×150µm3) delivery to receptor sites (20×10 array) with a batch assembly process that leads to 100% yield within tens of seconds. The delivery mechanism is statistically characterized and a chemical kinetics inspired model previously proposed is extended. Based on this understanding, repeatable and programmable 100% yield assembly is achieved in open loop and feedback configurations.
A congestion-driven placement framework with local congestion prediction

In this paper, we present a novel congestion-driven placement methodology. We analyze netlist structure and perform local congestion prediction to determine the amount of white space which will be attached to each cell. We place the modified netlist using a total-wire-length-driven placer and obtain an initial legal placement. We extract the congestion information and determine the target white space distribution. Finally, we apply placement migration, an incremental placement technique, to transform the initial placement into a placement which satisfies the target white space distribution. We provide experimental data to demonstrate the effectiveness of our congestion driven placement framework. Compared with the recent academic routability-driven placer Dragon [12], we achieve significant routability improvements in much shorter cpu run time.
Online B-tree merging

Many scenarios involve merging of two B-tree indexes, both covering the same key range. Increasing demand for continuous availability and high performance requires that such merging be done online, with minimal interference to normal user transactions. In this paper we present an online B-tree merging method, in which the merging of leaf pages in two B-trees are piggybacked lazily with normal user transactions, thus making the merging I/O efficient and allowing user transactions to access only one index instead of both. The concurrency control mechanism is designed to interfere as little as possible with ongoing user transactions. Merging is made forward recoverable by following a conventional logging protocol, with a few extensions. Should a system failure occur, both indexes being merged can be recovered to a consistent state and no merging work is lost. Experiments and analysis show the I/O savings and the performance, and compare variations on the basic algorithm.
ATTITUDINAL AND PERCEPTUAL DIFFERENCES AMONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE EMPLOYEE GROUPS DURING A TIME OF CEO TRANSITION

Faculty, administrators, and college support staff at a large urban comprehensive community college were surveyed to assess attitudes and perceptions on 16 variables during a time of presidential succession. Respondents were asked to answer under posed conditions of prepermanent CEO and postpermanent CEO. The results of the survey were analyzed by means of multivariate analysis of variance and tests of paired means. Differences in perceptions among the three groups on four of the variables were attributed primarily to faculty. The tests of paired means showed differences in most of the measures for all groups when compared under pre‐ and postpermanent CEO conditions. The study provided evidence that faculty appear to be most sensitive to stable leadership. Among the three employee groups, they are less willing to take risks and most pessimistic about college effectiveness when stable leadership is missing.
Finite degenerate band edge crystals using barium titanate-alumina layers emulating uniaxial media for directive planar antennas

Electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structures have been used to realize highly directive antennas either by using them as substrates and utilizing defect resonances or as a host medium when operating near band edge frequencies. As an alternative, it was recently proposed that degenerate band edge (DBE) crystals can achieve the required resonances using fewer number of unit cells, resulting in low profile structures.
High-performance parallel accelerator for flexible and efficient run-time monitoring

This paper proposes Harmoni, a high performance hardware accelerator architecture that can support a broad range of run-time monitoring and bookkeeping functions. Unlike custom hardware, which offers very little configurability after it has been fabricated, Harmoni is highly configurable and can allow a wide range of different hardware monitoring and bookkeeping functions to be dynamically added to a processing core even after the chip has already been fabricated. The Harmoni architecture achieves much higher efficiency than software implementations and previously proposed monitoring platforms by closely matching the common characteristics of run-time monitoring functions that are based on the notion of tagging. We implemented an RTL prototype of Harmoni and evaluated it with several example monitoring functions for security and programmability. The prototype demonstrates that the architecture can support a wide range of monitoring functions with different characteristics. Harmoni takes moderate silicon area, has very high throughput, and incurs low overheads on monitored programs.
The Role of School Counselors in Meeting Students' Mental Health Needs: Examining Issues of Professional Identity

The professional identity of school counselors has evolved over time. This article traces the historical context driving this evolution, and suggests it is time for the profession to conjoin the roles of educational leader and mental health professional. This proposal is prompted by heightened awareness of unmet student mental health needs, referrals that go unmet, school counselors displaced by other mental health providers in schools, the potential loss of the unique school counselor role, and the natural link between the mental health professional role and the array of personal-social factors that impact student achievement. A conjoint professional school counselor identity that includes the roles of both educational leader and mental health professional positions school counselors to better respond to all students, including those with mental health needs. This article discusses potential roadblocks and offers suggestions for action.
Brain categorization: learning, attention, and consciousness

How do humans and animals learn to recognize objects and events? Two classical views are that exemplars or prototypes are learned. A hybrid view is that a mixture, called rule-plus-exceptions, is learned. None of these models learn their categories. A distributed ARTMAP neural network with self-supervised learning incrementally learns categories that match human learning data on a class of thirty diagnostic experiments called the 5-4 category structure. Key predictions of ART models have received behavioral, neurophysiological, and anatomical support. The ART prediction about what goes wrong during amnesic learning has also been supported: a lesion in its orienting system causes a low vigilance parameter.
Solvento iron(IV) oxo complexes in catalytic oxidations and electron transfer reactions

Iron(IV)-oxo species are powerful oxidants that are involved as intermediates in ironcatalyzed oxidations of organic substrates. This includes their role in enzymatic oxidations which provided strong incentive to generate, characterize and explore the chemistry of novel Fe(IV) compounds from the perspective or reactivity and mechanism. The simplest iron(IV) complexes that have been prepared in solution are aqueous Fe(IV)-oxo ions. Even though these species can be conveniently generated from Fe(II) precursors and oxygen atom donors, studies of the chemistry of aqueous iron(IV) are difficult because of their short lifetime, high reactivity, and sensitivity to the surroundings. Herein we describe how changes in the pH, coordinating ligands and solvent can lead to dramatic changes in the lifetime and chemistry of aqueous Fe(IV)-oxo complexes. pH-Induced Mechanistic Changeover From Hydroxyl Radicals to Iron(IV) in the Fenton Reaction A major pathway in the reaction between Fe(II) and H2O2 at pH 6-7 in noncoordinating buffers exhibits inverse kinetic dependence on [H] and leads to oxidation of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to dimethyl sulfone (DMSO2). This step regenerates Fe(II) and makes the oxidation of DMSO catalytic, a finding that strongly supports Fe(IV) as a Fenton intermediate at near-neutral pH. This Fe(IV) is a less efficient oxidant for DMSO at pH 6-7 than is (H2O)5FeO, generated by ozone oxidation of Fe(H2O)6, in acidic solutions. Large concentrations of DMSO are needed to achieve significant turnover numbers at pH≥6 owing to the rapid competing reaction between Fe(II) and Fe(IV) that leads to irreversible loss of the catalyst. At pH 6 and ≤0.02 mM Fe(II), the ratio of apparent rate constants for the reactions of Fe(IV) with DMSO and with Fe(II) is ~10. The results at pH 6-7 stand in stark
Study on the Preparation and Properties of CaZr0.9in0.1O3-α and BaCe0.85Y0.15O3-α Solid Electrolytes

CaZr0.9In0.1O3-α and BaCe0.85Y0.15O3-α two kinds of solid electrolytes were prepared, and the preparation conditions were determined. DSC-TG curves were used to illustrate the synthetic mechanism of CaZr0.9In0.1O3-α and BaCe0.85Y0.15O3-α, and XRD analyses indicate these two solid electrolytes are single phase after calcining at 1400°C for 10h. The isostatic pressing method and hot injection moulding method were used to prepare CaZr0.9In0.1O3-α and BaCe0.85Y0.15O3-α tubes. Through comparing the apparent density of sintered tubes, it is found that isostatic pressing shaping method is good for improving the compactness of CaZr0.9In0.1O3-α sintered tubes, and hot injection moulding shaping method is good for improving the compactness of BaCe0.85Y0.15O3-α sintered tubes.
Interest Abatement: A Case for Liberalization of the Rules

In this report, Gutierrez argues that the interest abatement provisions are applicable to all cases presenting equitable grounds for abatement. Congress has liberalized the rules since the Tax Reform Act of 1976 first gave the IRS limited authority to abate interest, but many situations exist that fall outside the six statutory provisions requiring or allowing the IRS to abate interest. Forty-four Tax Court cases have tested the government's interpretation of the section 6404 interest abatement rules since the 1986 Taxpayer Bill of Rights II. While Gutierrez thinks the court has generally been fair in its interpretation of the statute, many situations that merit interest abatement are outside the provisions of the statute. In the interest of fairness and equity, concludes Gutierrez, Congress needs to revisit and liberalize the interest abatement provisions of section 6404.
Graviton creation by small scale factor oscillations in an expanding universe

We treat quantum creation of gravitons by small scale factor oscillations around the average of an expanding universe. Such oscillations are predicted both by modied gravity theories with a term proportional to the square of the Ricci scalar in the gravitational action, and by semiclassical gravity in which a renormalized expectation value of a quantum matter stress tensor is the source of gravity. A perturbative method due to Birrell and Davies involving an expansion in a conformal coupling parameter is used to calculate the number density and energy density of the created gravitons. Cosmological constraints on the present graviton energy density are discussed, which indicate an upper bound of the order of 4% of the total mass-energy density of the universe. This constraint leads to an upper bound on the dimensionless amplitude of the oscillations. We also discuss decoherence of quantum systems produced by the spacetime geometry uctuations due to such a graviton bath, and nd a lower bound on the decoherence time resulting from this process.
Putting Race in Its Place: Order in Colonial and Postcolonial Peruvian Geography

This article discusses the importance of images of order within the social sciences through a close examination of a single case defined by temporal, spatial, and disciplinary boundaries the geography of Peru. A comparison of the radically different systems of geographical thought in the Spanish colonial and independent republican periods suggests that the distinct images of order in each period can best be understood, not as reflections of the underlying order of geographical phenomena on the earth's surface, but as products of the specific social, cultural, and political contexts in which these geographies developed. Summarized in the briefest terms possible, colonial orderings emphasized historicized racial differences among persons within a relatively balanced and homogeneous space, while postcolonial orderings stressed naturalized regional differences among places within a homogeneous, though covertly racialized, population. Three distinct impulses to order can be noted in both periods. The first, here termed the disciplinary impulse to order, consists of the tendency for specialists in a particular field of knowledge (in this case, geography) to discuss concepts, ideas,and evidence in a coherent and systematic fashion. The second, the administrative impulse to order, rests on the tendency of government officials (in this case, agents of the Spanish aud Peruvian states) and specialists in a field of knowledge to establish long-lasting ties with one another, so that the field is in part shaped by structures of the state. The third, here termed the hegemonic impulse, rests on the importance of snch fields of knowledge in shaping cultural debates, both by establishing certain viewpoints as unchallengeable common sense or truth and by challenging and subordinating alternative viewpoints. The disciplinary impulse to order focuses on the aspects of work within a field that are produced for other specialists in that field and received by them; the corresponding audiences for the administrative impulse are state officials, and, for the hegemonic impulse, society at large.
Importance of Accurate Measurements in Nutrition Research: Dietary Flavonoids as a Case Study

Accurate measurements of the secondary metabolites in natural products and plant foods are critical for establishing relations between diet and health. There are as many as 50,000 secondary metabolites that may influence human health. Their structural and chemical diversity presents a challenge to analytical chemistry. With respect to flavonoids, putative identification is accessible, but positive identification and quantification are limited by the lack of standards. Quantification has been tested with use of both nonspecific and specific methods. Nonspecific methods, which include antioxidant capacity methods, fail to provide information on the measured components, suffer from numerous interferences, are not equatable, and are unsuitable for health research. Specific methods, such as LC with diode array and mass spectrometric detection, require the use of internal standards and relative molar response factors. These methods are relatively expensive and require a high level of expertise and experimental verification; however, they represent the only suitable means of relating health outcomes to specific dietary components.
Feeding injury, oviposition, and nymphal survivorship of the potato leafhopper on red maple and Freeman maple clones

Feeding injury, oviposition, and nymphal survivorship of the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris), were measured among 5 red maple, Acer rubrum L., clones and 2 Freeman maple, A. × freemanii E. Murray, cultivars. Symptoms of feeding injury among the 5 red maple clones varied in severity among trees in the field. Red maple clone 56026 was the most susceptible, and red maple clones 57775 and 55410 were the most tolerant. The Freeman cultivars were most tolerant to feeding, with ‘Jeffersred’ showing no sign of insect injury. Oviposition was significantly higher on the susceptible clone 56026, but significantly lower on Jeffersred than on the other clones. Fewer nymphs became adults when reared on ‘Indian Summer’ than when reared on the other clones. Although the data showed that red maple is more susceptible to feeding injury by the potato leafhopper than Freeman maple, no clear-cut relationship exists between susceptibility to feeding injury and host acceptability for oviposition or host suitability for nymphal development. The differences among the maple clones tested in this study suggest that red maple and Freeman maple may have different mechanisms of resistance against the potato leafhopper.
Recommendations for diarrhea management during medical stability operations.

ABSTRACTTraining and planning for medical stability operations, to include humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and medical readiness training exercises, has taken on new importance for today's military forces. Deployed medical forces providing care to local populations are presented with the challenge of limited resources and complex public health needs. In this paper, we review the epidemiology of diarrhea as one of the leading causes of mortality in these settings and provide an evidence based-approach for management within the framework of military medical stability operations.
Surgeon-Level Variation in Postoperative Complications

Variation in surgical outcomes is often attributed to patient comorbidities and the severity of underlying disease, but little is known about the extent of variation in outcomes by surgeon and the surgeon factors that are associated with quality. Using the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission database, we evaluated risk-adjusted postoperative events by surgeon. Operations studied were elective laparoscopic and open colectomy procedures for colon cancer performed over a 2-year period (July 2012–September 2014). Postoperative events were defined using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Indicators. Surgeons performing fewer than ten procedures during the study period were excluded. Logistic regression and post-estimation were used to calculate an observed-to-expected (O/E) ratio of postoperative complications for each surgeon, adjusting for patient and surgeon characteristics. A total of 2525 patients underwent an elective colectomy during the study period by 276 surgeons at 44 hospitals. Postoperative complications varied more by surgeon (range 0 to 30.0 %) than by hospital (range 0 to 18.2 %). Surgeon-level use of laparoscopic surgery to perform colectomy ranged from 0 to 100 %. After risk adjustment with patient factors, surgeon experience, surgeon medical school, surgeon gender, and annual surgeon colectomy volume were not associated with postoperative complications. Surgeon use of laparoscopy was the strongest predictor of lower complications (vs fourth quartile of surgeons, first quartile OR = 0.47 (0.26–0.85); second quartile OR = 0.41 (0.22–0.73); and third quartile OR = 0.84 (0.52–1.36). Quality metrics in health care have been measured at the hospital level, but a greater quality improvement potential exists at the surgeon level. Awareness of this variation could better inform patients undergoing elective surgery and their referring physicians.
Toxicology and antioxidation ability of ginsenoside and epimedium pubescen-s incariine Astragalus Membranaceus Composite in rats

Objective To test the safety and the effect on anti-oxidation of ginsenoside and epimedium pubescens incariine Astragalus Membranaceus Composite as a kind of health food.Methods Toxicology results were obtained through acute toxicity test,micronucleus test of bone marrow cell,sperm shape abnormality test,and thirty-day feeding tests.Antioxidation indexes were through determination of MDA content,GSH-Px activity and SOD activity.Results ① The amount of 20 g/kg BW(Ginsenoside and epimedium pubescens incariine Astragalus Membranaceus Composite) was fed each time to SPF Kunming mice(female and male),no toxic phenomenon and death were found in animals within two weeks.In the experiment of micronucleus test of bone marrow cell and sperm shape abnormality test in mice,the result was negative.In the thirty-day feeding test,the following dosage was given to the experienced object:0.63 g/kg bw as the low-quantity group,1.26 g/kg bw as the middle,and 2.53 g/kg bw,the highest(25,50,100 times as recommended);After the clinical test,blood test,biochemistry test,organ weight and pharmacology test were performed for the Wistar Rats.No obvious toxic effect was observed.According to the acute toxicity standard rules,no toxic effect was found in the experienced object.② Compared with the control group,the content of MDA in the middle and high dose groups were notably lower(P0.05),the SOD and GSH-PX activity in the middle dose group significantly increased(P0.05,P0.01).Conclusion Ginsenoside and epimedium pubescens incariine Astragalus Membranaceus Composite was effective on antioxidation and could be safely used as a kind of health food.
Immunoglobulin G4-Related Disease and the Lung

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a systemic fibroinflammatory disease with protean manifestations involving virtually any organ in the body. At initial clinical presentation, 1 or multiple organs may be involved. Initial descriptions focused on pancreatic disease. It has, however, become clear that IgG4-RD can cause an immune-mediated fibroinflammatory process, commonly manifesting as mass-like lesions, in various regions of the body including the thorax where any compartment can be involved. This pathologic process is characterized by infiltration of IgG4+ plasma cells and a propensity to fibrosis leading to organ dysfunction which can be prevented by early diagnosis and corticosteroid therapy.
On the Minimum Potential Energy State and the Eddy Size–Constrained APE Density

AbstractExactly solving the absolute minimum potential energy state (Lorenz reference state) is a difficult problem because of the nonlinear nature of the equation of state of seawater. This problem has been solved recently but the algorithm comes at a high computational cost. As the first part of this study, the authors develop an algorithm that is ~103–105 times faster, making it useful for energy diagnosis in ocean models. The second part of this study shows that the global patterns of Lorenz available potential energy (APE) density are distinct from those of eddy kinetic energy (EKE). This is because the Lorenz APE density is based on the entire domainwide parcel rearrangement, while mesoscale eddies, if related to baroclinic instability, are typically generated through local parcel rearrangement approximately around the eddy size. Inspired by this contrast, this study develops a locally defined APE framework: the eddy size–constrained APE density based on the strong constraint that the parcel rearran...
Somatic Cells: Growth and Expansion Potential of T Lymphocytes

This chapter discusses the nature and underlying mechanism of replicative senescence in human T lymphocytes, a specific facet of immune system activity that seems particularly well suited to regenerative medicine approaches. All the cellular components of both the innate and adaptive immune systems, including B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, monocytes, and dendritic cells, are derived from primitive stem cells in the bone marrow. One of the aspects of T and B lymphocytes, the main players in adaptive immunity, is the presence of antigen receptors on the surface of each cell that confer the ability to recognize a specific region of a particular pathogen. Telomere length, telomerase activity, and CD28 expression in PBMC or isolated populations of T lymphocytes are increasingly being used as biomarkers of disease, immune status, and overall health. The permanent loss of CD28 expression in senescent T-cell cultures constitutes a type of biomarker used to identify senescent T lymphocytes in vivo . Flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood samples clearly demonstrates that persons aged 70–90 have high proportions of CD8 T-cells that lack CD28 expression. Senescent CD8 T-cells are also reported in the context of certain forms of cancer such as in advanced renal carcinoma, the proportion of CD8 T-cells that express has predictive value with respect to patient survival.
Linking Methods for the Zinnes–Griggs Pairwise Preference IRT Model:

Forced-choice item response theory (IRT) models are being more widely used as a way of reducing response biases in noncognitive research and operational testing contexts. As applications have incre...
Case-Based Workshop for Teaching Child Abuse Prevention to Resident Physicians.

Introduction Child abuse is a ubiquitous problem with personal, interpersonal, and social consequences. Risk factors are well established, and preventive strategies have been effective in decreasin...
Relationship between height and width of resonance peaks in a whispering gallery mode resonator immersed in water and sucrose solutions

Abstract We employed a recently developed whispering gallery mode (WGM) dip sensor made of silica to obtain spectra for many resonance peaks in water and solutions of sucrose at different concentrations and thus having different refractive indices (RI). The apparent Q factor was estimated by fitting each peak profile in the busy resonance spectrum by a Lorentzian or a sum of Lorentzians. A plot of the Q factor as a function the peak height for all the peaks analyzed indicates a straight line with a negative slope as the upper limit, for each of water and the solutions. A coupling model for a resonator and a pair of fiber tapers to feed and pick up light, developed here, supports the presence of the upper limit. We also found that the round-trip attenuation of WGM was greater than the one estimated from light absorption by water, and the difference increased with the concentration of sucrose.
III. A Case Study in Research Formulation

(1961). III. A Case Study in Research Formulation. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy: Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 272-283.
Senderos de violencia

[Estrada, Oswaldo, ed. Senderos de violencia. Latinoamerica y sus narrativas armadas. Valencia: Albatros (Serie Palabras de America), 2015. 367 pp.]