cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sphingolipids as mediators of effects of platelet-derived growth factor in vascular smooth muscle cells.

The role of sphingolipids in mediating the action of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been investigated in the vascular smooth muscle-derived A7r5 cell line. L-Cycloserine (2 mM), an inhibitor of sphingolipid synthesis, caused time-dependent inhibition of [3H]serine incorporation into [3H]sphingomyelin in A7r5 cells. PDGF-AB (10 ng/ml), PDGF-BB (10 ng/ml), or sphingosine (10 microM) independently stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA in A7r5 cells. L-Cycloserine (2 mM) inhibited stimulation of DNA synthesis by both PDGF-AB and PDGF-BB. L-Cycloserine (2 mM, 16 h) did not affect the ability of PDGF or sphingosine to increase intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) in A7r5 cells loaded with the fluorescent indicator fura 2. Measurement of adenine nucleotide levels in A7r5 cell extracts by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography indicated that treatment with L-cycloserine did not adversely affect cellular metabolism. To determine directly whether PDGF activates sphingolipid metabolism, A7r5 cells were labeled with [3H]serine for 48 h and then treated with PDGF-AB (10 ng/ml) for 1 h. Sphingolipids were separated by thin-layer chromatography and quantified by liquid scintillation counting. PDGF-AB stimulated an increase in [3H]sphingosine from 25.5 +/- 3.0 to 37.5 +/- 4.1 counts.min-1 (cpm).micrograms protein-1 and a concomitant decrease in [3H]ceramide from 24.3 +/- 3.2 to 18.5 +/- 2.9 cpm/micrograms protein. These data suggest that the PDGF-stimulated increase in [Ca2+]i is not sufficient for induction of DNA synthesis and that mitogenic effects of PDGF in vascular smooth muscle cells are mediated by sphingolipid metabolism.
Unresectable Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Eight Years Later

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, and is considered uniformly fatal when patients present with unresectable, advanced-stage disease at the time of diagnosis. Long-term survival of patients with advanced-stage pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains rare, despite advances in adjuvant chemoradiation protocols. A 73-year-old male presented to our emergency department with abdominal pain and a history of biopsy-proven, stage III pancreatic adenocarcinoma. His initial staging CT scan and trans-duodenal ultrasound had demonstrated a stage IIa (T3, N0, Mx) lesion. On surgical exploration, he was up-staged to stage III (T4, N0, Mx), noting encasement of the superior mesenteric vessels and involvement of the portal vein. He underwent palliative choledochojejunostomy and was treated with 4 months of oxaliplatin and capecitabine, with concurrent radiation therapy (50.4 Gy), followed by 4 months of gemcitabine. After 7 months, the patient withdrew from therapy due to treatment intolerance. He then turned to self-medication with non-traditional herbal therapies. After 3 years of surveillance, he was lost to follow-up until presenting to our facility with abdominal pain 8 years after his initial diagnosis. On diagnostic CT scan during his current presentation for abdominal pain, he was found to have no evidence of pancreatic cancer. Based on our review of the literature, we present the longest known survival of a patient with surgically unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Further study of this patient’s phenotypic or genotypic characteristics may provide insight into better therapeutic agents, or a predictive subset of patients who will benefit from specific chemotherapeutic options. World J Oncol. 2016;7(1):17-20 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/wjon957w
Does Bilateral Transverse Cerebral Venous Sinus Stenosis (TSS) Really Exist in Patients without Increased Intracranial Pressure (ICP)? (P07.263)

Objective: To identify patients with asymptomatic TSS and normal ICP and describe their characteristics. Background TSS is common among patients with elevated ICP, particularly those with idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Although it is believed that TSS exists in the general population, and is not specific to elevated ICP, the prevalence of TSS among individuals with normal ICP is unclear. Design/Methods: Among 240 adult patients who underwent standardized brain MRI/MRV with contrast at our institution between 09/2009 and 09/2011, 50 had TSS. Medical records were reviewed for symptoms of increased ICP, evidence of papilledema, CSF constituents and opening pressure (OP) and reason for brain imaging. We identified 5/50 (10%) well-documented patients without papilledema and CSF-OP ≤25 cmH 2 O, and 2/50 without measured ICP, but who had no papilledema or other symptoms of increased ICP. Imaging was re-interpreted by a neuroradiologist to assess for signs suggestive of elevated ICP and to characterize the stenoses further. Results: All patients were women (5 African-American, 2 Caucasian, mean age: 41, mean BMI: 37.1). CSF contents were normal but OP were at the upper limit of normal (22, 23, 24, 24, 25cm H 2 O). Indications for MRI/MRV included pituitary abnormality (1), migraine (4), and anomalous-appearing optic nerves (2). All had bilateral TSS. Six had a short TSS and empty sella; one had a long TSS but no empty sella; one had flattening of the globes; two had dilated optic nerve sheaths. None had bony changes. Conclusions: Asymptomatic bilateral TSS does exist in patients with ICP ≤25cmH 2 O, but is likely uncommon. Interestingly, CSF-OP was at the upper limit of normal in our patients, who also had other radiologic signs suggestive (but not specific) of chronically-raised ICP. Findings of bilateral TSS on brain imaging should probably prompt further investigations for raised ICP. Disclosure: Dr. Kelly has nothing to disclose. Dr. Saindane has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bruce has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ridha has nothing to disclose. Dr. Riggeal has nothing to disclose. Dr. Newman has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec. Dr. Biousse has nothing to disclose.
Early Season Introduction, Population Increase, and Movement of the Filth Fly Parasite Muscidifurax zaraptor (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)

The pteromalid wasp Muscidifurax zaraptor Kogan & Legner, a solitary pupal parasite of house flies and stable flies, was released in May adjacent to three populations of freeze-killed house fly pupae. Additional populations of freeze killed pupae were placed 5, 10, and 15 m from the three release locations in the four cardinal directions. After 4 wk, levels of parasitism ranged from 40 to 49% 15 m from the release point at all three locations. Hosts placed out 2 wk after the parasites were placed in the field were heavily parasitized after 1 wk of exposure, suggesting that parasites were still moving from the release point or that the parasites were remaining at the sites of host exposure. Hosts placed out 4 wk after the releases had lower levels of parasitism than those exposed in weeks 0 and 2; this suggests that some of the parasites had left the area or had died. High levels of parasitism in hosts placed out in week 6 were attributed to parasitism by progeny of parasites initially released. The study suggests that M. zaraptor readily searches at least 15 m from a release point and parasitizes available hosts when encountered, and that when released in the center of a pen, movement away from release point is essentially uniform, at least over short distances.
The Sovereignty of God in Modern Islamic Thought

The sovereignty of God and related ideas have had a prominent place in Islamist discourses. Key figures like Mawdudi of Pakistan and Qutb of Egypt have argued that anything less than exclusive submission to God's law, and all that it necessitates in religious and political terms, is idolatry. Yet the idea of the sovereignty of God has been invoked by many more people than the Islamists, and it has meant quite different things in different quarters. Focusing on South Asia, this paper seeks to shed some new light on the provenance of this idea, on how and to what purpose it has been deployed in religious and political argument, and what the debates on it might tell us about rival conceptions of Islam.
Effect of hydrocortisone on blood pooling due to cobra venom.

SummaryHydrocortisone reduces the rate at which blood is pooled following injection of cobra venom. It appears that the action of this substance is not directly upon the vessel itself but an intermediate mechanism is required.
The Reader as Authorial Figure in Scientific Debate

ABSTRACTIn 1651, Alexander Ross published an attack on Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Bacon's Natural History and William Harvey's De generatione. Ross's work, Arcana Microcosmi, defended Aristotelian natural philosophy against the ‘new philosophy’ that figures like Bacon, Harvey and Browne represented. Though Ross's attacks on these authors make up no more than half of the treatise’s contents, the book’s paratextual materials emphasise scientific debate. While Ross's authorial approach advocates reading exclusively ancient authorities for the sake of glossing and transmitting their knowledge to a wider public, in order to argue against the new philosophy Ross must engage with its textual production. Furthermore, his works advertise their focus on Bacon, Harvey and Browne, which would have attracted a readership drawn to new scientific approaches to knowledge formation. Ross's polemic represents an effort to model his devotion to ancient authority while also generating a reading public that would ...
Genetic and phenotypic parameters for dietary selection of mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. vaseyana

The heritability of diet selection for mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. vaseyana [Rydb] Beetle) by grazing sheep was estimated from fecal samples collected from 549 Rambouillet ewes. Fecal samples were collected in September and October during 1996 and 1997 from free-grazing ewes on intermountain sagebrush-bunchgrass rangelands at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in Idaho. The total number of fecal samples was 1,949. Fecal samples were evaluated for composition of big sagebrush by near-infrared spectroscopy. Percentage of sagebrush in the diet was less in September than in October (21.6 vs 31.7%, respectively). Single-trait and bivariate derivative-free REML analyses were performed to genetically compare percentage of sagebrush in the diet in September and October. Heritability estimates were similar between September and October measurements (0.25 and 0.28, respectively). The genetic correlation between September and October percentages of sagebrush in the diet was high (0.91), implying that there is strong genetic similarity between September and October measurements and that an annual measurement may be sufficient for selection. These results contribute to a greater understanding of dietary preferences in freely grazing sheep, and suggest opportunities to improve production efficiency and forage management through selection for dietary preferences.
Diuretic Renography in the Evaluation of Neonatal Hydronephrosis: is it Reliable?

Arguments against the use of diuretic renography in the assessment of newborn hydronephrosis include immature function of neonatal kidneys, previously reported poor diuretic response and nonreproducible drainage patterns. To address these concerns we reviewed the initial and followup renal scans of 17 neonates with hydronephrosis without ureterectasis diagnosed by perinatal ultrasonography. All patients were evaluated with an initial diuretic renal scan up to the age of 28 days, and all had normal cystograms. A total of 19 dilated kidneys was studied of which 13 ultimately required pyeloplasty and 6 were managed nonsurgically. Patient study parameters included age and weight at the time of each renal scan, side of hydronephrosis, differential function of each kidney, pre-diuretic and post-diuretic urine output, and drainage half-time of each kidney. The diuretic renal scans followed a standardized protocol. There was no statistically significant difference between neonatal and followup differential function (p > 0.05), and the correlation coefficient was highly significant (r = 0.968). Comparison of response to diuretic stimulation (ml./kg. per minute) revealed no statistically significant difference as the patients aged with brisk urine output 3 to 5 times greater than previously reported. The distribution and mean drainage half-times for normal nonhydronephrotic kidneys were similar when comparing those performed as neonates and at followup. Hydronephrotic kidneys managed nonsurgically maintained almost identical patterns. Those repaired surgically demonstrated appropriate improvement in drainage but function remained unchanged. These results refute each of the criticisms against the use of diuretic renography to evaluate neonatal hydronephrosis and demonstrate its reliability in neonates.
Small- and Medium-sized MNCs, Industrial Clusters and Globalization: The Japanese Experience

While Japan’ s big enterprises such as Toyota, Toshiba, Matsushita, and Sony are household names throughout the world, the Japanese economy is crowded with a large number of unknown small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For instance, the latter category of enterprises (defined as those with less than 300 employees) accounted for 95.9 per cent of the total number of establishments in manufacturing, contributing to 51.3 per cent of the total value of shipments and 55.9 per cent of total value-added in 1994 (Small and Medium Business Agency, 1997). SMEs are often described as Kagemusha or ‘shadow samurai’ in Japan. Without them, Japan’ s large business sector would not have developed such formidable competitiveness in the global market. Many industries exhibit close symbiotic relationships between the two sectors.
Choline Catabolism in Burkholderia thailandensis Is Regulated by Multiple Glutamine Amidotransferase 1-Containing AraC Family Transcriptional Regulators.

ABSTRACT Burkholderia thailandensis is a soil-dwelling bacterium that shares many metabolic pathways with the ecologically similar, but evolutionarily distant, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Among the diverse nutrients it can utilize is choline, metabolizable to the osmoprotectant glycine betaine and subsequently catabolized as a source of carbon and nitrogen, similar to P. aeruginosa. Orthologs of genes in the choline catabolic pathway in these two bacteria showed distinct differences in gene arrangement as well as an additional orthologous transcriptional regulator in B. thailandensis. In this study, we showed that multiple glutamine amidotransferase 1 (GATase 1)-containing AraC family transcription regulators (GATRs) are involved in regulation of the B. thailandensis choline catabolic pathway ( gbdR1 , gbdR2 , and souR ). Using genetic analyses and sequencing the transcriptome in the presence and absence of choline, we identified the likely regulons of gbdR1 ( BTH_II1869 ) and gbdR2 ( BTH_II0968 ). We also identified a functional ortholog for P. aeruginosa souR , a GATR that regulates the metabolism of sarcosine to glycine. GbdR1 is absolutely required for expression of the choline catabolic locus, similar to P. aeruginosa GbdR, while GbdR2 is important to increase expression of the catabolic locus. Additionally, the B. thailandensis SouR ortholog ( BTH_II0994 ) is required for catabolism of choline and its metabolites as carbon sources, whereas in P. aeruginosa, SouR function can by bypassed by GbdR. The strategy employed by B. thailandensis represents a distinct regulatory solution to control choline catabolism and thus provides both an evolutionary counterpoint and an experimental system to analyze the acquisition and regulation of this pathway during environmental growth and infection. IMPORTANCE Many proteobacteria that occupy similar environmental niches have horizontally acquired orthologous genes for metabolism of compounds useful in their shared environment. The arrangement and differential regulation of these components can help us understand both the evolution of these systems and the potential roles these pathways have in the biology of each bacterium. Here, we describe the transcriptome response of Burkholderia thailandensis to the eukaryote-enriched molecule choline, identify the regulatory pathway governing choline catabolism, and compare the pathway to that previously described for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These data support a multitiered regulatory network in B. thailandensis, with conserved orthologs in the select agents Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei, as well as the opportunistic lung pathogens in the Burkholderia cepacia clade.
Facial image and object constancy: a clinical experience and a developmental inference

This report is derived from analytic data in the case of a young woman with a concurrent neurologic deficit, prosopagnosia. The condition consists of an inability to recognize or evoke the facial images of the most familiar persons in one's life. With this disability, will there be a corresponding dysfunction in the psychologic structuralization comprising object constancy? The clinical material presented indicates a lack of object constancy in this patient, as well as a corresponding developmental fixation at the rapprochement level of separation-individuation. Reconstruction of the patient's childhood appears to corroborate these findings.
The consequences of support for international courts

In this book, we have shown that a rich relationship exists between domestic law and international courts. Originators of new international courts seek to design the courts in their own legal image, while joiners of pre-existing courts seek out adjudicating institutions that operate with familiar legal rules and principles. Domestic legal traditions influence states' willingness to support international courts and shape the design of states' commitments to courts as well. However, what difference do states' commitments to international courts make? Are international courts effective forums for conflict management? Do they alter states' domestic behavior, such as human rights practices? Our theory suggests that international courts are not equally effective adjudicators for all states. Because the originators of new courts design them in their own legal image, this creates greater efficacy for member states with domestic legal traditions similar to the court's originating states. The World Court, for example, was designed according to civil law principles. As we demonstrated in the previous two chapters, this design feature resulted in greater support for the Court by states with civil legal traditions. This natural alliance of civil law states to the World Court should also enhance the Court's efficacy when managing conflicts between civil law states. In those instances, the adjudicator is better able to create focal points, provide information, and correlate the disputants' strategies.
Random and Cohen Reals

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on facts in common between the random and Cohen extensions. Continuum Hypothesis can be violated by adding Cohen generic reals and by adding random reals. These generic extensions are similar in many respects but differ greatly in their effects on measure and category. The chapter presents a unified treatment of both extensions simultaneously. Their properties can actually be derived from some abstract properties shared by the ideal of meagre sets and the ideal of null set. The chapter presents results that also apply to the extensions arising from any other ideals that share these properties.
GG-03 STAT1-STAT4 association with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Background Signal Transduction and Activation of Transcription (STAT) transcription factors are evolutionarily ancient, mediating signals from the cytoplasm to the nucleus in eukaryotic life for the past 400 million years. The STAT protein sits quiescent in the cytoplasm until phosphorylated whereupon it dimerizes with another STAT protein. The phosphorylated STAT dimer is then transported to the nucleus and becomes a transcription factor activating or suppressing gene expression. The STAT1–STAT4 locus has powerful common variant associations with SLE risk with odds ratio = 1.5 and p –20 in all human ancestries and also has an association, though not necessarily identical to SLE, with rheumatoid arthritis, primary biliary cirrhosis, Behcet’s Disease, Sjogren’s syndrome, progressive systemic sclerosis, and type I diabetes. Methods Genome wide association studies of SLE, Bayesian and frequentist fine mapping methods, DNA affinity purification assays, and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Results We are attempting to identify the causal variants and determine the mechanism for SLE disease risk at this locus. Our data suggest that the risk haplotype alters the expression of mRNA from both STAT1 and STAT4. Application of frequentist and Bayesian methods restrict the plausibly causal variants to four possibilities in introns 4 and 5 of STAT4 under the assumption that the association observed across human ancestries is being driven by the same causal variants. Three of these four polymorphisms are predicted to alter the binding of a specific transcription factor, leading to the hypothesis that the same transcription factor is operating at multiple sites in a risk haplotype. We have data suggesting differential and allele preferential binding of the transcription factor at one variant with evaluation of the others in process. This may possibly be the first discovered example of the phenomenon of multiple transcription factor binding on multiple variants of a risk haplotype. Conclusion In general, genome wide association studies (GWASs) provide powerful evidence of the presence of a genetic variation altering phenotype risk without revealing what the specific responsible variant is among those in a statistical dead heat for causation, in which cell type(s) or stage(s) of differentiation in which the risk difference is relevant, or what the molecular mechanism might be. We have work underway to reveal these details for lupus loci, initially concentrating on IRF5 , STAT1-STAT4 , and ETS1 . The STAT1-STAT4 association with SLE can be isolated to involve only a few variants, which are predicted to have curiously similar transcription factor binding behaviour.
Lab lit revealed

Robert P Crease talks to the founder of LabLit.com – a website devoted to literature about laboratories.
Efficacy of single-agent decitabine in relapsed and refractory acute myeloid leukemia

Improving therapy for relapsed/refractory AML remains a challenge. We performed a retrospective analysis of outcomes following decitabine treatment in 34 patients with relapsed/refractory AML (median age, 62; median Charlson comorbidity score, 6). Decitabine, 20 mg/m2 daily, was given in 5- (25%) or 10-day (75%) cycles. Overall response rate (OR) was 30% with 21% complete remission and 9% partial remission rate. Patients with therapy-related myeloid neoplasm (t-MN) and secondary AML had a significantly higher OR compared to those with de novo AML (70 vs. 30%; p = .02). Median overall survival of all patients was 8.5 months. Median survival in patients with t-MN or secondary AML was 12.4 months compared to 8 months in those with de novo AML (p = .20). Fifteen (44%) patients proceeded to hematopoietic stem cell transplant. These data support using 10-day treatment cycles of decitabine in patients with relapsed/refractory AML, particularly for those with secondary or therapy-related AML.
Active Surveillance for Localized Prostate Cancer: No Increased Mortality, but Higher Rates of Clinical Progression.

This landmark study compared active surveillance with radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy for patients with T1c or T2 prostate cancer. The benefits of active surveillance include avoiding radical therapy in one-half of the patients, with no effect on disease-specific survival or all-cause survival. The potential harms include a greater risk of metastatic disease (three additional cases per 1,000 person-years, corresponding to three additional cases for 100 men followed up for 10 years) and a greater likelihood of clinical progression.
Beyond Hurston and Wright; Toward West and Walker

The dominance of Zora Neale Hurston’s anthropological fieldwork and Richard Wright’s proletarian fiction in popular conceptions of the FWP have helped restrict and distort the Project’s legacy in black writing. As a more compelling lens through which to assess the FWP’s influence on postwar writing that grapples with black history and identity, this chapter explores the work of former federal writers Dorothy West and Margaret Walker. In recent years, both West’s The Living Is Easy (1948) and Walker’s Jubilee (1966) have been claimed by feminist scholars but these texts also merit a re-reading within the context of the FWP—specifically how these writers employed the folklore, ethnography, and personal narratives in their fiction. Both writers open a critical space in which to examine other black writers whose work complicates the established literary-historical boundaries of black fiction.
Raspberry Pi as a Platform for the Internet of Things Projects: Experiences and Lessons

The Internet of Things (IoT) represents a new computing paradigm that may soon add a new dimension to the skillset expected from a well-rounded computing professional. Computer Science education is addressing these demands by adding IoT-centric courses to the curriculum and including relevant content into a broad range of existing courses. This paper presents the experience of incorporating IoT projects into an existing Systems Programming course. We examine several suitable hardware platforms, provide a sampling of student projects implemented using the Raspberry Pi with a variety of sensors, and discuss a number of lessons learned that could benefit other educators planning to incorporate the IoT material into their coursework.
The Impact of Population Bottlenecks on the Social Lives of Microbes

Microbes often live in association with dense multicellular aggregates, especially biofilms, and the construction of these aggregates typically requires microbial cells to produce public goods, such as enzymes and signaling molecules. Public-goods producers are, in turn, vulnerable to exploitation by free-rider cells that consume the public goods without paying for their production costs. The cell population of a biofilm or other microbial aggregates are expected to pass through bottlenecks due to a wide range of factors, such as antibiotic treatments and dispersal. The goal of this article is to make the case for the relevance of population bottlenecks at shaping the social interactions within microbial aggregates. The effect of bottlenecks on microbial aggregates is complex in that bottlenecks can favor producers under certain circumstances, but not in others. The concept of the Volunteer’s Dilemma from game theory will be used to motivate the hypothesis that this partly occurs because of how bottlenecks alter the risk of being a producer in a microbial aggregate. Finally, the role of bottlenecks in the microbial world impacts key issues in evolutionary biology, including the importance of ecology at shaping social evolution, and the evolution of multicellularity from unicellular ancestors.
EICOSANOID ACTIONS IN INSECT IMMUNOLOGY

In this chapter we review eicosanoid actions in insect immunity. Eicosanoids are oxygenated metabolites of arachidonic acid and two other C20 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Groups of eicosanoids include prostaglandins, lipoxygenase products and epoxyeicosatrienoic acids. These compounds are most well studied in the context of biomedicine; however, we now know eicosanoids act in insect immune defense reactions. These include the cellular mechanisms responsible for clearing bacterial infection from hemolymph circulation and in microaggregation and nodulation reactions. Eicosanoids also act in plasmatocyte spreading and hemocyte migration toward a chemical source. Various eicosanoids act in insect defenses against bacteria, fungi, protozoan and parasitoid challenge. The most recent data indicate eicosanoids act in insect defenses against viral infection. With a view to a coming generation of insect scientists, we lift up insect–virus interactions and mechanisms of eicosanoid actions as two of the visible frontiers of insect immunology.
In Situ Biotransformation of Contaminants in Sediments

Challenges to sediment remediation include not only the sheer scope of contamination but also technical limitations and escalating costs associated with cleanup. The development of in situ sediment remediation technologies, mirroring the development of successful in situ groundwater remediation approaches, has recently been identified as a priority research need (SERDP and ESTCP, 2004) and could result in treatments that are more effective compared to traditional methods. Implementation of technically feasible and cost-efficient in situ remediation approaches, such as in situ biotransformation, provides numerous potential advantages which could contribute to successful contaminated sediment management. Most notably, in situ biotransformation can directly reduce contaminant concentrations and/or toxicity. When occurring naturally, in situ biotransformations could serve as a key component for management strategies based on monitored natural recovery (MNR) and could potentially be incorporated into capping and combined remedy designs. In other scenarios, engineering may be required to stimulate particular microbial populations and/or manipulate environmental conditions to optimize biotransformation (and biodegradation) activity.
THE CHALLENGE OF TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT BELOW 0.3 K IN VERY HIGH MAGNETIC FIELDS

Recent experiments on exotic heavy Fermion superconductors, superconducting organic conductors, metal-to-insulator transitions in solids, and on the two-dimensional electron gas in semiconductor devices (quantum Hall effect) have needed a combination of low temperatures (T < 0.3 K) and very high magnetic fields (B ≤ 23 T). The low temperatures are achieved with 3 He–4 He dilution refrigeration, and the high fields are obtained with resistive water-cooled Bitter solenoids powered by large DC generators. In the range 23 ≤ B ≤ 30 T a hybrid magnet arrangement consisting of a superconducting outer solenoid and Bitter inner solenoid is used. Detailed studies of the temperature dependence of the properties of the systems under investigation have made necessary increasing accuracy in temperature determination to distinguish between sometimes subtle differences in theoretical predictions. Two principal difficulties which arise in these investigations are: heating due to changes and fluctuations in the magnet current, and a strong magnetic field dependence of most temperature sensors below 1.0 K. These two factors combine to change both the temperature of the system under investigation and the calibration of thermometer. Present methods of temperature determination (vapor pressure, paramagnetic salts, calibrated resistors, capacitive transfer standards) will be discussed, and plans for primary thermodynamic thermometers with known magnetic field dependence will also be presented.
Oil Reservoir Porosity Prediction Using a Neural Network Ensemble Approach

The problem of parameter prediction in a hydrocarbon reservoir is typically accomplished by an interpreter using sparse well information and seismic data. The resulting maps may contain varying levels of uncertainty depending on the experience of the interpreter and the availability and quality of seismic and well data.
Family-based treatment: Where are we and where should we be going to improve recovery in child and adolescent eating disorders.

Objective Family therapy has long been advocated as an effective intervention for eating disorders. A specific form of family therapy, one that utilizes family resources, has proven especially effective for adolescents with anorexia or bulimia nervosa (AN and BN). First developed in London, a behaviorally focused adaptation, called family-based treatment (FBT), has been manualized and systematically studied in six randomized clinical trials for adolescent AN and two for adolescent BN. Method This Commentary focuses on manualized FBT; what we know, what we do not know (yet), and what we hope for. Results We do know that efficacy data for FBT, especially adolescent AN, are quite robust, even though remission rates remain elusive for more than half of all cases. While preliminary, moderators of FBT for adolescent AN have been identified and could aid us in determining the most (or least) responsive patient groups. And weight gain (∼2.5kg) by week four has been confirmed as an early predictor of remission at end-of-treatment. What we do not know, yet, is whether specific adaptations to manualized FBT will confer improved remission rates. Discussion Finally, and in terms of what is hoped for, we highlight the promise of improved access, dissemination, and implementation of FBT.
The tortoise and the hare: A race between native tree species and the invasive Chinese tallow

Abstract Species-specific growth rate and its response to interspecific competition can determine the winners and losers in forest stand development following disturbance. In the southeastern US, Chinese tallow [Triadica sebifera (L.) Small], a non-native, fast-growing, invasive tree readily displaces native species. However, its rapid early height growth may not compensate for its shorter ultimate stature and earlier senescence when competing with fast growing native tree species of larger stature and longer lifespans. In this study, we compared the growth and competitiveness of Chinese tallow to two native species, slash pine (Pinus elliottii Englem.) and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.), using two datasets representing different spatial scales. Plot data from Parris Island, South Carolina obtained by conducting stem analyses, were used to determine height and diameter growth patterns in relation to age and competition. Landscape-scale data from the U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program were used to determine the relationship of relative importance value (rIV) and periodic annual DBH increment along a competition gradient. We found that Chinese tallow displayed faster diameter and height growth initially, but slowed down considerably after eight years, compared to slash pine. Slash pine was the least tolerant of competition among the three species, and competition had less effect on the growth of Chinese tallow and sweetgum. Our findings suggest that stand-replacing disturbance favors the rapid growth of Chinese tallow for the first decade, even under intense competition. Further, the establishment of native tree species would require effective control of Chinese tallow immediately following disturbance. Efforts to manage Chinese tallow while promoting the growth of native trees may include site preparation to reduce initial abundance of this invasive species, artificial regeneration of native species to provide them ‘head-start’ during the first few years of growth, and release treatments early in stand development to reduce competition for native species.
Radio Frequency Propagation Close to the Human Ear and Accurate Ear Canal Models

Radio frequency wave propagation near the surface of a human body is highly sensitive to a number of items, including skin geometry, material composition, and proximity to internal air-filled cavities. This study develops an anatomically realistic model of a human ear canal that is integrated into a full-body computational phantom to address this final factor and examines, through numerical simulation, the impact of this level of detail on the power transmission of two-port and larger networks operating near or on the human body in the UHF band. Numerical results are validated with experimental measurements.
Parent and Child Experiences of Parental Work–Family Conflict and Satisfaction with Work and Family:

This study examined the relationship between parent and young adult child perceptions of parental work–family conflict and work and family satisfaction. Data were collected from 112 parent–child dy...
Picking 'winners' in space: Impact of spatial targeting on firm performance in China

This paper examines the spatial patterns of China's industrial encouragement policy and its distributional impact on firm productivity. To this end, I develop separate proxies to measure three popular policy instruments (subsidies, tax holidays, and preferential access to loans). I first show that China's industrial support policies tend to exhibit a prominent spatial feature of targeting firms located in lagging cities with lower density. Taking into account potential endogeneity of industrial policy, unobserved heterogeneity and firm dynamics, quantile regression techniques show that more intense industrial support leads to: (a) a reduction in the productivity of lower‐performing firms, especially in denser cities; and (b) a small productivity gain for better performing firms but only in denser cities. Counterfactual analysis further reveals that pursuing an alternative, space‐neutral industrial encouragement policy would increase average productivity by 14–16%, in aggregate, but also contribute to significantly higher regional inequality.
Phase I study of proton therapy in adjuvant pancreatic cancer (PROTON-PANC).

TPS4663Background: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC) has a poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of 10%. The current standard of care for patients with resectable disease is surgical resection ...
GUT Baryogenesis With Primordial Black Holes

In models of baryogenesis based on grand unified theories (GUTs), the baryon asymmetry of the Universe is generated through the $CP$ and baryon number violating, out-of-equilibrium decays of very massive gauge or Higgs bosons in the very early Universe. Recent constraints on the scale of inflation and the subsequent temperature of reheating, however, have put pressure on many such models. In this paper, we consider the role that primordial black holes may have played in the process of GUT baryogenesis. Through Hawking evaporation, black holes can efficiently generate GUT Higgs or gauge bosons, regardless of the masses of these particles or the temperature of the early Universe. Furthermore, in significant regions of parameter space, the black holes evaporate after the electroweak phase transition, naturally evading the problem of sphaleron washout that is normally encountered in GUT models based on $SU(5)$. We identify a wide range of scenarios in which black holes could facilitate the generation of the baryon asymmetry through the production and decays of GUT bosons.
The Impact of No-Loan Program Participation on the Likelihood of Graduate School Enrollment Among Low-Income, First-Generation Students

Previous research shows that low-income and first-generation college students are less likely to obtain the benefits associated with attending graduate school. No-loan programs, which typically adm...
Transverse mode analysis for free-space laser beams using Bayesian analysis

Reliable and rapid assessment of the transverse mode quality of a free-space laser beam has a wide range of applications in laser development, research, and utilization. It has become even more important with recent advances in developing orbital angular momentum photon beams across a broad spectral region. In this work, a general modal analysis method for a free-space multimode laser beam has been developed based on Bayesian analysis. After transforming mode decomposition into a linear system problem, a Gaussian probabilistic model is used to find a closed-form solution. The method is found to be robust with the presence of Gaussian noise. Prior knowledge about the mode content can be incorporated into the method to improve the solution for situations when coherent disturbances or contamination are present in the laser beam. This method can be used to analyze the mode content for laser beams in different bases, such as Hermite–Gaussian (HG) modes and Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) modes. Three applications of this method are presented: a detailed modal analysis of the beam image from the incoherent intensity addition of HG modes and two examples of mode decomposition using the complex wavefront from the coherent superposition of HG and LG modes. The feasibility of this method is demonstrated using various simulation results. Based on digital images of a laser beam recorded without complex wavelength-limiting optics, in principle, this method can be used in a wide wavelength range from infrared to ultraviolet, and possibly x ray.
Responsible innovation in scientific practice: prospects, tensions and the long game

Welcome to the first entirely open access volume and issue of the Journal of Responsible Innovation!One of the hallmarks of responsible innovation is its attempt to generally encompass multiple sit...
The waning of major war : theories and debates

Introduction, Raimo Vayrynen, Waning of Major War: Contending Views 1. Paul W. Schroeder, Debating the Waning of Major War 2. John Mueller, Does War Still Exist? 3. Marie T. Henehen and John Vasquez, The Changing Probability of Interstate War, 1816-1992 4. Peter Wallensteen, Major War is Not Waning, Yet 5. Martin van Creveld, The Decline of Major War: Nuclear Weapons and International Law 6. T.V. Paul, Does the Risk of Nuclear War Belong to History? 7. Kalevi J. Holsti, The Changing International System and the Decline of Major War 8. Patrick M. Morgan, Multilateral Institutions and Major War 9. Hendrik Spruyt, Normative Transformations in International Relations and the Waning of Major War 10. William R. Thompson, Democratic Peace, Civil Society, and Major War 11. Raimo Vayrynen, Capitalism, Peace, and War Raimo Vayrynen, Conclusion
Properties of the Eliassen-Palm Flux for Planetary Scale Motions.

In an investigation of the properties of the quasi-geostrophic Eliassen-Palm (EP) flux for planetary-scale motions, particular attention is given to the relation between the EP flux divergence and the meridional flux of eddy potential vorticity, and the relations between the EP flux, group velocity, and the zonal mean refractive index in the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin-Jeffreys limit. This latter diagnostic has appeared in a number of different forms as that quantity whose gradient determines the refraction of group velocity paths or EP flux trajectories. The question is considered which, if any, of these forms holds for planetary scale motions. In this investigation, a planetary-scale motion is formally defined to be one for which Burger's (1958) quasigeostrophic theory is appropriate.
Structural properties of bovine brain S-100 protein.

Abstract The S-100 protein was purified from bovine brain by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex, and gel filtration through Sephadex G-100. Aggregation by disulfide bond formation results in the appearance of more than one peak of the S-100 protein on DEAE-Sephadex and Sephadex G-100. Aggregation can be reversed by incubation with 0.01 m 2-mercaptoethanol for 1 hour at 60°. At least one sulfhydryl group is exposed to Ellman's reagent by calcium or, less effectively, by magnesium and strontium. The protein contains three subunits. One of these can be separated from the other two by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex in 8 m urea. The separated subunit has the only tryptophan in the S-100 protein and does not contain arginine. The amino acid composition suggests the other two subunits are different. When the lysines of these two subunits are blocked by maleylation, trypsin cleaves only at the two arginines in these two subunits. Only two fragments of 2000 and 5000 molecular weight result, suggesting the two subunits are structurally similar.
The relationship between dietary ω-3 and ω-6 intake and colorectal cancer (LB350)

The purpose of this study was to investigate any relationship between dietary ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acid intake and the prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) and systematic inflammation, as measured by...
On some language parameters of autistic echolalia.

This study investigated whether the processes involved in autistic echolalia include anything beyond rote mechanical parroting. The results confirmed the position that this study's autistic child recognized certain grammatical relations in his sentence repetitions. This finding is in accord with Slobin (1971) and others who suggest that recognition of syntactical structures and meaning play important roles in memory for speech.
Does the emperor of CPR wear clothes

(2004). DOES THE EMPEROR OF CPR WEAR CLOTHES? Prehospital Emergency Care: Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 339-340.
Counting to Nowhere: Social Media Adoption and Use as an Opportunity for Public Scholarship and Engagement

Counting social media site users is popular yet fraught with challenges. Scholars can help illuminate public discussion of social media use. An open access journal like Social Media + Society provi...
DTN Routing with Probabilistic Trajectory Prediction

Many real-world DTN application involve vehicles that do not have a purely random mobility pattern. In most cases nodes follow a predefined trajectory in space that may deviate from the norm due to environment factors or random events. In this paper we propose a DTN routing scheme for applications where the node trajectory and the contact schedule can be predicted probabilistically. We describe a technique for contact estimation for mobile nodes that uses a Time Homogeneous Semi Markov model. With this method a node computes contact profiles describing the probabilities of contacts per time unit, and uses them to select the next hop such that the delivery ratio is improved. We develop the Trajectory Prediction DTN Routing algorithm and we analyze its performance with simulations.
Synthesis of hydroxyapatite films on porous Al2O3 substrate for hard tissue prosthetics

Previous studies have shown that the porous hydroxyapatite (HA) is bioactive which can be used as a bone substitute in hard tissue prosthetics. However, as a result of its low mechanical strength, its applications are limited particularly in substitution for structural bones. To improve the mechanical properties of HA while maintaining its bioactivity, we have developed several synthesis routes by which a bioactive and strong HA composite can be processed. A thin film of hydroxyapatite has been successfully coated onto a highly porous substrate of alumina by using several solution techniques. The coated HA has been found to bond strongly to the substrate through interface diffusion. The coating has also been found to be microstructurally and chemically uniform on the surfaces of the interconnected pores in the matrix of the substrate. The mechanical property testing results have shown that the strength of the HA-coated composite has been significantly improved. The compressive strength of the HA composite has reached 10 MPa, a value ten times higher than that of porous HA. These results indicate a high potential for structural bone substitutes in the hard tissue prosthetics.