cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nitrosoureas: Clinical and Experimental Considerations in the Treatment of Brain Tumors

The nitrosoureas have been in clinical usage in the treatment of primary and secondary brain tumors since 1969. Either as a tribute to the activity of these drugs or as an example of our ineptness in discovering other active drugs, the nitrosoureas, particularly BCNU, remain our most active agents.
The performance value of shared network caches in clustered multiprocessor workstations

This paper evaluates the benefit of adding a shared cache to the network interface as a means of improving the performance of networked workstations configured as a distributed shared memory multiprocessor. A cache on the network interface offers the potential benefits of retaining evicted processor cache lines, providing implicit prefetching, and increasing intra-cluster sharing. Using simulation, eight parallel scientific applications were used to evaluate the performance impact of a shared network cache. In each case, we examined in detail the means by which processor cache misses were satisfied. For the applications studied, we found that the network cache offers substantial performance benefit when processor caches are too small to hold the application's primary working set, or when network contention limits application performance. The expected benefits of implicit prefetching and increased intra-cluster sharing did not contribute significantly to the performance enhancement of the network cache for most applications. Finally, the advantage afforded by the network cache diminishes as processor cache size increases and network contention decreases.
Alternative foraging strategies among bears fishing for salmon: a test of the dominance hypothesis

Previous studies of bears (genus Ursus L., 1758) fishing for Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus Suckley, 1861) suggest that dominant individuals are the most efficient foragers owing to their ability to secure access to the most produc- tive locations. We tested this hypothesis by observing brown bears (Ursus arctos L., 1758) fishing for chum salmon (Onco- rhynchus keta (Walbaum in Artedi, 1792)) at McNeil River, Alaska. We did not observe strong relationships between the foraging efficiency of individual bears and the frequency with which they engaged in dominance-related behaviors (e.g., displacing competitors, stealing fish, using more popular or productive locations). Although some dominant individuals achieved high catch rates, other nondominant bears foraged with comparable or greater efficiency by developing alternative strategies adapted to specific locations. Our observations demonstrate that bears may employ a variety of fishing strategies, the success of which may be location-specific and frequency-dependent. These findings suggest that physical and cognitive skills may be as important as social dominance in determining foraging success among bears.
On the kinematics of the head using linear acceleration measurements

Abstract The paper deals with an application of the nine accelerometer scheme proposed by Padgaonkar et al. (1975) to the analysis of the head kinematics including the head angular acceleration and velocity using linear acceleration measurements. The computed results have been compared with the film analysis and with the actual measured quantities in the case of the dummy experiments. The study reveals an excellent agreement among these results and indicates the feasibility of the application of the method to biomechanical studies.
Optical and electrical properties of quarternary chalcogenides

Abstract Optical and electrical characterizations have been made on four compounds of the type Cu2ZnAIVX4VI with AIV = Si, Ge and XVI = S, Se. These compounds belong to either a tetragonal superstructure of zincblende (stannite) or to an orthorhombic superstructure of wurtzite (wurtz-stannite) where aor = 2aw, bor = aw/tr3, and cor = cw. The electrical and optical properties are found to parallel the size of the group IV or group VI atom present.
Binding of bovine brain tissue factor to concanavalin asepharose. Partial purification of coagulant, arylamidase, and alkaline phosphatase activities

Abstract Tissue factor coagulant activity is adsorbed onto concanavalin A-Sepharose from sodium deoxycholate extracts of delipidated bovine brain powders. Coagulant activity is eluted with α-methyl- d -glucoside in sodium deoxycholate with 2–25-fold purification. This material has the same coagulant specific activity as that previously prepared in this laboratory. Alkaline phosphatase and alanyl-β-naphthylamidase activities in the detergent extract also bind to concanavalin A-Sepharose and elute under the same conditions with 4- and 7-fold purification. In addition to these biological activities, the elute was composed of protein (67.7%), neutral and amino sugars and sialic acid (22.3%), phospholipid (4.5%), uronic acid (3.8%) and nucleic acid (1.7%). This preparation is slightly enriched in carbohydrates compared to previous preparations. Concanavalin A-Sepharose therefore appears to be useful material for partial purification of several mammalian plasma membrane components with retention of biological function.
On the Performance and Implementation Issues of Interleaved Single Parity Check Turbo Product Codes

In this paper, both performance and complexity aspects of two-dimensional single parity check turbo product codes (I-SPC-TPC) are investigated. Based on the proposed I-SPC-TPC coding scheme, a parallel decoding structure is developed to increase the decoding throughput with minor performance degradation compared with the serial structure. For both decoding architectures, a new helical interleaver is constructed to further improve the coding gain. In terms of decoding algorithm, the extremely simple Sign-Min decoding is alternatively derived with only three additions needed to compute each bit's extrinsic information. For performance evaluation, (16, 14, 2)2 single parity check turbo product code with code rate 0.766 over AWGN channel using QPSK modulation is considered. The simulation results using Sign-Min decoding show that it can achieve bit-error-rate of 10?5 at signal-to-noise ratio of 3.8 dB with 8 iterations. Compared to the same rate and codeword length turbo product code composed of extended Hamming codes, the considered scheme can achieve similar performance with much less complexity. Important implementation issues such as the finite precision analysis, efficient sorting circuit design and interleaver memory management are also presented.
Resource Partitioning Between Sympatric Columbian White-Tailed and Black-Tailed Deer in Western Oregon

ABSTRACT We studied resource partitioning between sympatric populations of Columbian white-tailed (CWTD; Odocoileus virginianus leucurus) and black-tailed (BWTD) deer (O. odocoileus hemionus columbianus) in western Oregon to understand potential mechanisms of coexistence. We used horseback transects to describe spatial distributions, population overlap, and habitat use for both species, and we studied diets with microhistological analysis of fecal samples. Distribution patterns indicated that white-tailed and black-tailed deer maintained spatial separation during most seasons with spatial overlap ranging from 5%–40% seasonally. Coefficients of species association were negative, suggesting a pattern of mutual avoidance. White-tailed deer were more concentrated in the southern portions of the study area, which was characterized by lower elevations, more gradual slopes, and close proximity to streams. Black-tailed deer were more wide ranging and tended to occur in the northern portions of the study area, whi...
Reduction of Colour Fading in the PNPH Test for DNA in Bovine Spermatozoa

COLORIMETRIC tests are employed routinely for estimating the deoxyribonucleie acid (DNA) content of tissues. The diphenylamine test, originally described by Dische1, or subsequent modifications of it, are the most frequently used. Other colorimetric tests include Ceriotti's indole2 and the p-nitrophenylhydrazine (PNPH) proposed by Webb and Levy3. The latter is the most sensitive, but possesses the disadvantage of rapid colour fading. In 1963 Brown et al.4 proposed a modification of the PNPH test for plant leaf tissue that is more sensitive and stabilizes the colour. This modification, applied to animal tissue, does not increase the sensitivity of the original method, but it does reduce the colour fading. Essentially this test differs from the Webb–Levy technique in the extraction procedure since iso-amyl acetate replaces the butyl acetate. This is then followed by an extraction of ethyl ether to remove residual amyl acetate. Colour is developed in n-butyl alcohol made strongly alkaline by the addition of an equal volume of 50percent sodium hydroxide.
Peripheral arterial disease, acute coronary syndromes, and early invasive management: the TACTICS TIMI 18 trial.

Background: Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) represent a high-risk patient subset in the setting of non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE ACS). The efficacy and safety of early invasive management for such patients remains unclear. Hypothesis: Early invasive management would be well tolerated and effective among patients with NSTE ACS and PAD. Methods: Patients from the Treat angina with Aggrastat and determine Cost of Therapy with an Invasive or Conservative Strategy—Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TAC-TICS-TIMI) 18 trial were stratified by the presence or absence of PAD and assessed with respect to baseline clinical factors. The outcomes of patients with PAD and NSTE ACS were examined with respect to treatment assignment to either early invasive therapy or conservative treatment of NSTE ACS. Finally, the bleeding and stroke rates of patients with PAD managed invasively were compared with patients with PAD managed conservatively. Results: Of 2,219 patients with NSTE ACS overall, 166 (7.5%) had concomitant PAD. Compared with those patients without PAD, those with PAD were older (75 vs. 62 years, p < 0.001) and were more likely to have high-risk clinical features, including prior histories of bypass surgery (39 vs. 20%, p < 0.001) or diabetes mellitus (38 vs. 27%, p = 0.002), and more ST-segment depression on their 12-lead electrocardiogram (43 vs. 29%, p < 0.001). Among such patients, early invasive management was associated with significant reductions in the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) at 30 days (11.4 vs. 2.3%, p = 0.03). At 180 days, compared with early conservative management, early invasive treatment for patients with PAD and NSTE ACS was associated with similar reductions in MI (12.7 vs. 3.5%, p = 0.04), and was also accompanied by significant reductions in risk of death(10.1 vs. 2.3%, p = 0.05). No excess in bleeding or stroke rates was noted among patients with PAD managed invasively. Conclusions: Among patients with NSTE ACS and a history of PAD, early invasive management is well tolerated and accompanied by significant reductions in morbidity and mortality when compared with a more conservative, ischemia-driven approach.
Evolution of vertebrates as viewed from the crest

The origin of vertebrates was accompanied by the advent of a novel cell type: the neural crest. Emerging from the central nervous system, these cells migrate to diverse locations and differentiate into numerous derivatives. By coupling morphological and gene regulatory information from vertebrates and other chordates, we describe how addition of the neural-crest-specification program may have enabled cells at the neural plate border to acquire multipotency and migratory ability. Analysis of the topology of the neural crest gene regulatory network can serve as a useful template for understanding vertebrate evolution, including elaboration of neural crest derivatives.
Using Goals, Feedback, Reinforcement, and a Performance Matrix to Improve Customer Service in a Large Department Store

Abstract This study employed an ABAC and multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of (B) feedback and (C) a package of feedback, goalsetting, and reinforcement (supervisor praise and an area-wide celebration as managed through a performance matrix, on a total of 14 various customer service behaviors for a total of 115 employees at a large department store. In order to develop the intervention components in a manner that linked to organizational needs, an organizational functional assessment was first conducted using the Performance Diagnostic Checklist. The study occurred over a period of approximately 15 weeks, and the interventions were applied and evaluated across three departments, including cashiers, “Hardlines” sales, and “Softlines” sales. In all cases the behaviors occurred more often during the intervention phases than during either of the two baseline phases. The percent occurrence for all behaviors was also higher during the second baseline phase than during the first baseline. However,...
Negative findings in electronic health records and biomedical ontologies: a realist approach.

Abstract Purpose A substantial fraction of the observations made by clinicians and entered into patient records are expressed by means of negation or by using terms which contain negative qualifiers (as in "absence of pulse" or "surgical procedure not performed"). This seems at first sight to present problems for ontologies, terminologies and data repositories that adhere to a realist view and thus reject any reference to putative non-existing entities. Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) and Referent Tracking (RT) are examples of such paradigms. The purpose of the research here described was to test a proposal to capture negative findings in electronic health record systems based on BFO and RT. Methods We analysed a series of negative findings encountered in 748 sentences taken from 41 patient charts. We classified the phenomena described in terms of the various top-level categories and relations defined in BFO, taking into account the role of negation in the corresponding descriptions. We also studied terms from SNOMED-CT containing one or other form of negation. We then explored ways to represent the described phenomena by means of the types of representational units available to realist ontologies such as BFO. Results We introduced a new family of ‘lacks' relations into the OBO Relation Ontology. The relation lacks_part , for example, defined in terms of the positive relation part_of , holds between a particular p and a universal u when p has no instance of u as part. Since p and u both exist, assertions involving ‘ lacks_part ' and its cognates meet the requirements of positivity. Conclusion By expanding the OBO Relation Ontology, we were able to accommodate nearly all occurrences of negative findings in the sample studied.
T cell lines established from multiple sclerosis cerebrospinal fluid T cells using human retroviruses

Abstract Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were transformed with human T cell leukemia/lymphoma virus (HTLV I and HTLV II) and the resulting cell lines characterized by cell surface phenotyping and functional assessment. The lines were predominantly of the CD4 helper/induce phenotype although the HTLV II lines contained 10–20% CD8+ cells. The lines appeared to be activated cells; the majority were TA1+, HLA-DR+, and TAC+ (CD25+). Interestingly, they were OKT10− (CD38−). Functionally, the lines contained no natural killer (NK) activity and were modestly cytotoxic in the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) assay. They were poor proliferative responders to antigens and mitogens though the HTLV II lines did respond to interleukin 2 (IL2). The HTLV I lines were either nonresponsive to or were suppressed by IL2. Early passages of two of the lines produced IL2 but this was lost as the cells were passed in culture. The cell lines were capable of either directly or indirectly suppressing pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-driven immunoglobulin production by normal B cells. In addition, the lines were capable of producing γ-interferon (IFN-γ), lymphotoxin (LT), an interleukin 1 (IL1)-like factor, glial growth promoting factor (GGPF), and IL6. The advantage of these lines over clones or cell lines developed using other techniques is their growth in the absence of feeder layers or IL2 and their ability to be cloned and to grow in culture indefinitely.
Nucleotide and Primary Sequences of a Rice Endosperm cDNA Are Extensively Homologous to Elongation Factor 1β

Abstract A rice endosperm cDNA expression library prepared with poly (A+) RNA was screened with polyclonal antibodies raised against purified 16 kD globulin. One of the three positive antigen producing clones was completely sequenced. This clone was composed of 759 bp and contained a single open reading frame encoding 192 amino acids. The 3′ untranslated region did not include a typical polyadenylation signal, AATAAA. The cDNA encodes a protein of molecular weight 21,064 with an isoelectric point of 4.3. The amino acid sequence of the rice seed cDNA shows extensive homology to elongation factor 1β′ from several sources, including human and Artemia salina. The molecular weight of rice seed EF-1β′ is smaller than the others, and it lacks a conserved phosphorylation site that has been implicated in regulating nucleotide exchange activity.
The Centroptiloides Complex of Afrotropical Small Minnow Mayflies (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae)

The Centroptiloides complex is a distinctive monophyletic grouping of Afrotropical Baetidae (Ephemeroptera) genera with single marginal intercalary veins in the forewings and 2 subparallel rows of denticles on the larval tarsal claws. The complex includes 30 nominal species in Acanthiops Waltz & McCafferty, Afroptilum Gillies, Barnumus McCafferty & Lugo-Ortiz n.gen., Centroptiloides Lestage, Dicentroptilum Wuillot & Gillies, Edmidmeatus Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty, Herbrossus McCafferty & Lugo-Ortiz n. gen., Nesoptiloides Demoulin, Peuhlella Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty n. gen., Susua Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty n. gen., and Thraulobaetodes Elouard & Hideux. Each genus is detailed and is distinguishable by autapomorphies. The concept of Afroptilum is considerably restricted. Platycloeon Gillies & Wuillot is a synonym of Acanthiops n. syn. Newly described species include Acanthiops elgonensis Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty n. sp.(Kenya), A. grijfithsi Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty n. sp. (Kenya), A. zomba Lugo-Ortiz & Mc-Cafferty n. sp. (Malawi), Afroptilum confusum Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty n. sp. (Madagascar),A. lepidum Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty n. sp. (Madagascar), Barnumus editus McCafferty Lugo-Ortiz n. sp. (South Africa), Dicentroptilummerina Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty n. sp. (Madagascar),and Herbrossus edmundsorum McCafferty & Lugo-Ortiz n. sp. (Madagascar). These include the 1st reports of Afroptilum and Dicentroptilum outside of Africa. New records for previously described species include Acanthiops tsitsa Barber-James & McCafferty (Malawi, Mozambique), Afroptilumsudafricanum (Lestage) (Lesotho), Centroptiloides bifasciata (EsbenPetersen) (Kenya, Mozambique), and Dicentroptilum papillosum Wuillot (Mozambique, South Africa). New generic assignments include Acanthiops cooperi (Gillies & Wuillot) n. comb., A. erepens (Gillies) n. comb., Peuhlella christinae (Wuillot) n. comb., and Susua niandanensis (Wuillot) n. comb. Centroptiloides bifasciata and Nesoptiloides intermedia (Demoulin) are redescribed based on new larval collections.
Pick your poison: Stimuli selection in alcohol-related implicit measures

It is common for people to report strong preferences for certain types of alcohol, often as a function of past positive or negative experiences with particular types of drinks. Despite this individual difference, implicit measures related to alcohol frequently use nomothetic approaches - i.e., use a standard set of alcohol beverage stimuli - which may not match individuals' actual drinking behavior. Moreover, this mismatch may account for some of the inconsistencies across studies using implicit measures. The present study used an idiographic variant of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in which participants (N=300) selected alcohol images that matched their drinking behavior (non-drinkers selected what they were offered most often). Results were consistent with previous research on alcohol preference: women selected more liquor and wine images, men selected more beer images; heavy episodic drinkers selected more beer and liquor images and selected fewer wine images than lighter drinkers and non-drinkers. In addition, IAT scores were sensitive to drinking levels in the expected direction and, importantly, were robust to stimuli selected. Thus, results provide initial validation of idiographic approaches to stimuli selection. Language: en
Presynaptic effects of dopexamine hydrochloride in the canine kidney.

The effects of dopexamine on the vasoconstrictor response to renal nerve stimulation and noradrenaline were determined in anesthetized dogs. Renal vasoconstriction was repeated during the sequential administration of iso-osmotic saline, dopexamine, dopexamine plus the DA1-dopamine receptor antagonist, SCH 23390, and dopexamine plus SCH 23390 and the DA2-dopamine receptor antagonist, domperidone. Renal nerve stimulation-induced vasoconstriction did not change with dopexamine or dopexamine plus SCH 23390, but increased with the addition of domperidone. Dopexamine also potentiated noradrenaline-induced vasoconstriction. Antagonists alone had no affect on the vasoconstrictor response to either stimulus. The findings suggest that the absence of an effect of dopexamine on neuronally-induced renal vasoconstriction was a consequence of a balance between its actions at presynaptic DA2-dopamine receptors (attenuated vasoconstriction) and its ability to inhibit the uptake, transporter (enhanced vasoconstriction).
Antimicrobial susceptibility of viridans group streptococci

A total of 68 viridans group streptococci, including 31 Streptococcus sanguis, 12 S. mitis, 3 S. salivarius, and 8 S. milleri from blood, and an additional 14 S. milleri from abscesses and normally sterile sites, were tested against penicillin, amoxicillin, cefazolin, ceftriaxone, meropenem, clindamycin, quinupristin/dalfopristin, rifampin, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, vancomycin, and gentamicin with the microdilution method. The susceptibility rates for S. sanguis were: penicillin, 74%; amoxicillin, 84%; ceftriaxone, 94%; clindamycin, 87%, and vancomycin, 100%. The susceptibility rates for S. mitis were: penicillin, 42%; amoxicillin, 67%; ceftriaxone, 58%; clindamycin, 100%; and vancomycin, 100%. The susceptibility rates for S. milleri were: penicillin, 100%, amoxicillin. 100%; ceftriaxone, 100%, clindamycin, 100%; and vancomycin, 100%. Two of the three isolates of S. salivarius were susceptible to penicillin, amoxicillin, and ceftriaxone; all were susceptible to clindamycin and vancomycin. Levofloxacin, quinupristin/dalfopristin, and rifampin were highly active against all isolates.
Mapping the Future Today: The Community College of Baltimore County Geospatial Applications Program.

The Geospatial Applications Program at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), located five miles west of downtown Baltimore, Maryland, provides comprehensive instruction in geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and global positioning systems (GPS). Geospatial techniques, which include computer-based mapping and remote sensing, are used for decision-making in fields such as business, marketing, homeland security, public policy, environment, engineering, public health, and criminal justice by identifying patterns between maps and data. A unique aspect of the CCBC Geospatial Applications program is the incorporation of client-based projects in all courses beyond the introductory level. The Geospatial Applications program is a statewide program that offers an associate of applied science degree for students planning to transfer to a four-year institution as well as introductory and advanced certificates. The Introduction to Geospatial Applications Certificate is designed for individu...
The Return-to-Play Incentive and the Effect of Motivation on Neuropsychological Test-Performance: Implications for Baseline Concussion Testing

Athletes may be less engaged in baseline cognitive testing in the absence of a powerful return-to-play incentive. The present study sought to evaluate whether athletes’ level of motivation (1) influences baseline test performance and (2) changes across pre- and post-injury assessments. We found a significant relationship between examiners’ ratings of athletes motivation toward testing and baseline cognitive test performance. Athletes, but not controls, demonstrated increased motivation between tests. These findings suggest that baseline test performance may underestimate true premorbid abilities for a subset of athletes.
Different Forms of Childhood Abuse and Memory.

Recently a heated controversy emerged regarding recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse, but the prevalence and nature of these memories as well as the relationship between a history of child abuse and childhood memory generally have received limited empirical examination. This study (N = 429 nonclinical participants) found that similar proportions of those reporting histories of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse reported that they had periods without memory for their abuse (19.8%, 11.5%, and 14.9%, respectively). These participants, however, appeared to be referring to both a lack of conscious access to their abuse memories as well as the intentional avoidance of the memories for some period. There was a great deal of variance found in the reported quality of general childhood memory, but this was unrelated to reporting a history of child abuse. In addition, it appears to be normative to recover previously forgotten childhood events, and this too was found to be unrelated to a history of child abuse.
Role of nuclear receptors in blastocyst implantation.

The regulation of blastocyst implantation in the uterus is orchestrated by the ovarian hormones estrogen and progesterone. These hormones act via their nuclear receptors to direct the transcriptional activity of the endometrial compartments and create a defined period in which the uterus is permissive to embryo implantation termed the “window of receptivity”. Additional members of the nuclear receptor family have also been described to have a potential role in endometrial function. Much of what we know about the function of these nuclear receptors during implantation we have learned from the use of mouse models. Transgenic murine models with targeted gene ablation have allowed us to identify a complex network of paracrine signaling between the endometrial epithelium and stroma. While some of the critical molecules have been identified, the mechanism underlying the intricate communication between endometrial compartments during the implantation window has not been fully elucidated. Defining this mechanism will help identify markers of a receptive uterine environment, ultimately providing a useful tool to help improve the fertility outlook for reproductively challenged couples. The aim of this review is to outline our current understanding of how nuclear receptors and their effector molecules regulate blastocyst implantation in the endometrium.
JB Steenkamp on the Success of Marketing Scholarship in Netherlands

One of the initiatives at Customer Needs and Solutions (CNS) is to encourage the development of top marketing scholarship in emerging markets, especially in China and India. This will not only help develop the scholars there but also help highlight critical marketing problems unique to these markets and encourage research on understudied segments (see editorial: CNS as Venture Capitalist), which can also inform and enrich marketing theory and practice in general. To this end, CNS wants to document and share the lessons learned from the Netherlands, one of the most successful transformations of marketing scholarship at the country level. Rajdeep Grewal (Raj), one of CNS’s senior editors, sat down with Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp (JB) who has personified this remarkable transformation, to reflect on this journey and share his perspectives on related issues. Excerpts of this interview are printed here, and the videotaped interview is available in the public domain.
Rein en fer à cheval et anévrysme de l'aorte abdominal inflammatoire: Une observation et revue de la littérature

L'association d'un anevrysme de l'aorte abdominale inflammatoire et d'un rein en fer a cheval est rare avec un seul cas rapporte dans la litterature. Nous presentons un cas de rein en fer a cheval associe a un anevrysme de l'aorte abdominale inflammatoire de 6 cm et a un gros anevrysme de l'artere iliaque droite de 3,6 cm repares par voie transperitoneale avec reconstruction aorto-iliaque.
The meta-ethical dimension of the problem of evil

In addition to complexity deriving from the notion of the possibility of a ‘better world,’ the anti-theist argument from evils may possess the appearance of greater effectiveness than critical analysis should recognize it. If the moral language employed in the argument is accepted according to some forms of emotive, intuitive or theonomous interpretations, the so-called problem will vanish - and the question of the existence or nonexistence of God (so far as it is thought to depend on this argument) will be found to be settled, or at least appear settled, on the grounds simply of the usages involved. If it is stated in utilitarian language, on the other hand, the problem of evil has the logical status of a genuine problem. Since we are to affirm that the question: Is it evil that there are evils? is a legitimate question, we shall do best, I believe, to interpret the question in utilitarian language. So interpreted, the problem is such that both the theist and anti-theist should have to work at proving their respective claims regarding the evils in the world. Whether either should ever succeed, it seems that the meta-ethician will profit by analyzing the language in which the attempt (more strenuous for the theist, I should think) will be made.
Volatility and Investment: Interpreting Evidence from Developing Countries

We uncover a significant negative correlation between various volatility measures and private investment in developing countries, even when adding the standard control variables. No such correlation is uncovered when the investment measure is the sum of private and public investment spending. Indeed, public investment spending is positively correlated with some ineasures of volatility. These findings suggest that the detrimental impact of volatility on investment may be easier to detect using disaggregated data. We provide several possible interpretations for our findings. Nonlinearities in preferences or budget constraints can cause volatility to have first-order negative effects on private investment.
Plasticity in ascending long propriospinal and descending supraspinal pathways in chronic cervical spinal cord injured rats.

The high clinical relevance of models of incomplete cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) creates a need to address the spontaneous neuroplasticity that underlies changes in functional activity that occur over time after SCI. There is accumulating evidence supporting long projecting propriospinal neurons as suitable targets for therapeutic intervention after SCI, but focus has remained primarily oriented toward study of descending pathways. Long ascending axons from propriospinal neurons at lower thoracic and lumbar levels that form inter enlargement pathways are involved in forelimb-hindlimb coordination during locomotion and are capable of modulating cervical motor output. Magnetic stimulation was used as a non-invasive investigational tool to assess transmission in long ascending propriospinal pathways to investigate how a unilateral cervical spinal contusion that does not directly damage this pathway might influence spinal cord plasticity. Our results show that transmission is facilitated in this pathway on the ipsilesional side as early as 1 week post-SCI. We also probed for descending magnetic motor evoked potentials and found them absent or greatly reduced on the ipsilesional side as expected. H-reflex recorded from the forelimb triceps brachii was bilaterally impaired although Hmax/Mmax was increased only on the ipsilesional side. Behaviorally, stepping recovered, but there were deficits in forelimb-hindlimb coordination as detected by BBB and CatWalk measures. In summary, results suggest that uninjured, initially latent pathways mediate recovery pointing towards functional reorganization of spinal pathways rather than axonal sprouting as a mechanism for spontaneous recovery after SCI.
Stripping Analysis of Nucleic Acids at a Heated Carbon Paste Electrode

A new electrically heated carbon paste electrode has been developed for performing adsorptive stripping measurements of trace nucleic acids. Such coupling of electrochemistry at electrically heated electrodes with adsorptive constant-current stripping chronopotentiometry offers distinct advantages for trace measurements of nucleic acids. The application of increased temperatures during the deposition step results in dramatic (4-34-fold, depending on temperature applied) enhancement of the stripping signal. Such improvement is attributed to the accumulation step at the heated electrode. Forced thermal convection near the electrode surface facilitates the use of quiescent solutions and hence of ultrasmall volumes. Using an electrode temperature of 32 degrees C and a quiescent solution during the 1-min accumulation, the response is linear over the 1-8 mg/L range tested, with a detection limit of 0.5 mg/L. Such electrode heating technology offers great promise for various applications involving thermal manipulations of nucleic acids.
Confusion and interest: The role of knowledge emotions in aesthetic experience.

What makes something confusing? Confusion is a common response to challenging, abstract, and complex works, but it has received little attention in psychology. Based on appraisal theories of emotion, I suggest that confusion and interest have different positions in a two-dimensional appraisal space: interesting things stem from appraisals of high novelty and high comprehensibility, and confusing things stem from appraisals of high novelty and low comprehensibility. Two studies—a multilevel correlational study and an experiment that manipulated comprehensibility—found support for this appraisal model. Confusion and interest are thus close relatives in the family of knowledge emotions.
Inhibition of Ribosomal Subunit Synthesis in Escherichia coli by the Vanadyl Ribonucleoside Complex

The increase in antibiotic-resistant microorganisms has driven a search for new antibiotic targets and novel antimicrobial agents. A large number of different antibiotics target bacterial ribosomal subunit formation. Several specific ribonucleases are important in the processing of rRNA during subunit biogenesis. This work demonstrates that the ribonuclease inhibitor, vanadyl ribonucleoside complex (VRC), can inhibit RNases involved in ribosomal subunit formation. The ribosomal subunit synthesis rate was significantly decreased and ribosomal RNA from the subunit precursors was degraded. VRC had no inhibitory effect on translation. VRC also potentiated the inhibitory effects of an aminoglycoside and a macrolide antibiotic.
Bordetella Species Are Distinguished by Patterns of Substantial Gene Loss and Host Adaptation

Pathogens of the bacterial genus Bordetella cause respiratory disease in humans and animals. Although virulence and host specificity vary across the genus, the genetic determinants of this diversity remain unidentified. To identify genes that may underlie key phenotypic differences between these species and clarify their evolutionary relationships, we performed a comparative analysis of genome content in 42 Bordetella strains by hybridization of genomic DNA to a microarray representing the genomes of three Bordetella species and by subtractive hybridization. Here we show that B. pertussis and B. parapertussis are predominantly differentiated from B. bronchiseptica by large, species-specific regions of difference, many of which encode or direct synthesis of surface structures, including lipopolysaccharide O antigen, which may be important determinants of host specificity. The species also exhibit sequence diversity at a number of surface protein-encoding loci, including the fimbrial major subunit gene, fim2. Gene loss, rather than gene acquisition, accompanied by the proliferation of transposons, has played a fundamental role in the evolution of the pathogenic bordetellae and may represent a conserved evolutionary mechanism among other groups of microbial pathogens.
Vortical gust boundary condition for realistic rotor wake/stator interaction noise prediction using computational aeroacoustics

In this work, the NASA Glenn Research Center Broadband Aeroacoustic Stator Simulation (BASS) code is extended for use in the prediction of noise produced by realistic three-dimensional rotor wakes impinging on a downstream stator row. In order to accurately simulate such a flow using a nonlinear time-accurate solver, the inflow and outflow boundary conditions must simultaneously maintain the desired mean flow, allow outgoing vortical, entropic, and acoustic waves to cleanly exit the domain, and accurately impose the desired incoming flow disturbances. This work validates a new method for the acoustics-free imposition of three-dimensional vortical disturbances using benchmark test cases.
Brook for GPUs: stream computing on graphics hardware

In this paper, we present Brook for GPUs, a system for general-purpose computation on programmable graphics hardware. Brook extends C to include simple data-parallel constructs, enabling the use of the GPU as a streaming co-processor. We present a compiler and runtime system that abstracts and virtualizes many aspects of graphics hardware. In addition, we present an analysis of the effectiveness of the GPU as a compute engine compared to the CPU, to determine when the GPU can outperform the CPU for a particular algorithm. We evaluate our system with five applications, the SAXPY and SGEMV BLAS operators, image segmentation, FFT, and ray tracing. For these applications, we demonstrate that our Brook implementations perform comparably to hand-written GPU code and up to seven times faster than their CPU counterparts.
Methyridine (2‐[2‐methoxyethyl]‐pyridine]) and levamisole activate different ACh receptor subtypes in nematode parasites: a new lead for levamisole‐resistance

The development of resistance to all chemotherapeutic agents increases and needs to be addressed. We are interested in resistance in parasitic nematodes to the anthelmintic levamisole. During studies on methyridine, we found that it gave us a new insight into pharmacological changes associated with levamisole resistance. Initially, electrophysiological investigation using a two-micropipette current-clamp recording technique revealed that methyridine acts as a cholinergic agonist on nematode muscle receptors (Ascaris suum). Methyridine (>30 μM) produced reversible concentration-dependent depolarizations and increases in input conductance. Mecamylamine (30 μM) and paraherquamide (0.3 μM) produced reversible antagonism of the depolarization and conductance responses to methyridine. These observations suggest that methyridine, like acetylcholine and levamisole, gates ion channels on the muscle of parasitic nematodes. The antagonistic effects of dihydro-β-erythroidine and paraherquamide on methyridine-induced contractions of A. suum muscle flaps were then examined to determine if methyridine showed subtype selectivity for N-subtype (nicotine-sensitive) or L-subtype (levamisole-sensitive) acetylcholine receptors. Dihydro-β-erythroidine weakly antagonized the effects of methyridine (but had no effect on levamisole responses). The antagonism of methyridine (pA2, 5.9) and nicotine (pA2, 6.1) by paraherquamide was similar, but was less than the antagonism of levamisole (pA2, 7.0). The antagonist profiles suggested that methyridine has a selective action on the N-subtype rather than on the L-subtype. A novel use for a larval inhibition migration assay was made using L3 larvae of Oesophagostomum dentatum. Inhibitory effects of nicotine, levamisole, pyrantel and methyridine on the migration of larvae of levamisole-sensitive (SENS) and levamisole-resistant (LEV-R) isolates were tested at different concentrations. Levamisole and pyrantel (putative L-subtype-selective agonists) concentration–response plots were displaced to the right in LEV-R isolates. Nicotine (an N-subtype-selective agonist) and methyridine produced little shift in concentration–response plots in the LEV-R isolates. Resistance dose ratios were used to calculate the relative selectivity, ρL, for the L-type receptor (levamisole ρL=1.0; pyrantel ρL=0.93; methyridine ρL=0.17; nicotine ρL=0.06). These observations reveal an N-subtype-selective action of methyridine and suggest that levamisole resistance may be associated with a loss of the L-subtype, but not the N-subtype receptors. The pharmacology of methyridine suggests an approach for the treatment of levamisole-resistant parasites. British Journal of Pharmacology (2003) 140, 1068–1076. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705528
Injury Induces Direct Lineage Segregation of Functionally Distinct Airway Basal Stem/Progenitor Cell Subpopulations

Following injury, stem cells restore normal tissue architecture by producing the proper number and proportions of differentiated cells. Current models of airway epithelial regeneration propose that distinct cytokeratin 8-expressing progenitor cells, arising from p63(+) basal stem cells, subsequently differentiate into secretory and ciliated cell lineages. We now show that immediately following injury, discrete subpopulations of p63(+) airway basal stem/progenitor cells themselves express Notch pathway components associated with either secretory or ciliated cell fate commitment. One basal cell population displays intracellular Notch2 activation and directly generates secretory cells; the other expresses c-myb and directly yields ciliated cells. Furthermore, disrupting Notch ligand activity within the basal cell population at large disrupts the normal pattern of lineage segregation. These non-cell-autonomous effects demonstrate that effective airway epithelial regeneration requires intercellular communication within the broader basal stem/progenitor cell population. These findings have broad implications for understanding epithelial regeneration and stem cell heterogeneity.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Gender, and Problem Profiles in Substance Dependent Patients

Patients with a chronic and severe substance-use disorder who also have a history of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are thought to have a unique set of problems. The present study assessed psychiatric disorders, psychosocial problems, and traumatic events with structured interviews in 747 men and 693 women enrolling in urban opioid substitution treatment programs from 1995 to 2001. Participants with versus without a history of PTSD were more likely to have a history of many other psychiatric disorders and demonstrated more current and historical medical, employment, family/social, and psychiatric problems. PTSD was generally unrelated to substance-use disorder severity or diagnoses, with the exception of an increased risk of alcohol dependence. Women were more likely than men to have experienced sexual assault, and less likely to have been physically assaulted, although these events precipitated PTSD at equivalent rates across gender. In contrast, witnessing or hearing about the death or injury of others was more likely to precipitate PTSD in women than men. Female gender, exposure to combat, sexual assault, or physical assault, and a history of major mood or anxiety disorder were the best predictors of PTSD in this group. Study limitations are noted.
Behavioral effects of deanol, of hemicholinium and of their interaction

Abstract The present experiments were designed to study behavioral effects of two chemicals, which have opposite influences on the cholinergic neurotransmitter system, and of their interaction. It has been proposed that deanol is a direct precursor of acetylcholine (ACh) in brain and may enhance cholinergic transmission, while hemicholinium-3 (HC-3) acts to decrease ACh synthesis. Rats served as subjects. Doses of the drugs were based on results of earlier experiments; all were injected cerebroventricularly. The six treatment groups were: saline only; HC-3 (10 μg); HC-3 (10 μg) + deanol (1 μg); HC-3 (10 μg) + deanol (10 μg); deanol (1 μg); and deanol (10 μg). Behaviors measured were: reactivity to visual and tactile stimuli; resistance to capture and handling, vocalization, muscular tension; reactivity to non-contingent aversive stimulation; and, shock-induced defence reaction. With the exception of the defence reaction, all behaviors showed significant effects between the various drug treatments: deanol had no significant effect on the behaviors; animals receiving HC-3 only clearly showed responses which were enhanced above the levels of any of the other treatment groups; deanol had a dose-dependent effect of suppressing HC-3 enhanced behavior. The present results are consistent with the generalization that decreased cholinergic activity is associated with hyper-reactivity, and increased cholinergic activity with hyporeactivity. They indicate that the behavioral effects of deanol are dependent upon the state of the cholinergic system, interacting in combination with HC-3 but not alone.
Specific heat in a magnetic field: A probe of the magnetic ground-state properties of heavy-fermion Ce(Ru2-xRhx)Si2-yGey.

Specific-heat data up to 12.5 T are presented for ${\mathrm{CeRu}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$, Ce(${\mathrm{Ru}}_{0.5}$${\mathrm{Rh}}_{0.5}$${)}_{2}$${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$, and ${\mathrm{CeRu}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Si}}_{1.8}$${\mathrm{Ge}}_{0.2}$. The behaviors with field of the specific heats are compared, also with susceptibility data. The possibility that the maximum in C/T, or \ensuremath{\gamma}, at ${H}_{\mathrm{metamagnetic}=8}$ T in ${\mathrm{CeRu}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$ corresponds to an increase in ${m}^{\mathrm{*}}$ at the metamagnetic transition is discussed. Similar data for ${\mathrm{CeB}}_{6}$ are compared.
The impact of defendant ethnicity on the psycholegal opinions of forensic mental health evaluators

The impact of ethnicity on clinicians' decision making has received a great deal of attention and research. Several studies have documented that client ethnicity significantly influences diagnoses, testing and assessment protocols, recommendations for treatment, and expected outcomes. However, there is limited research examining the impact of a criminal defendant's ethnicity upon forensic mental health experts. To examine this issue, the authors reviewed 816 forensic reports on competency to stand trial submitted to the Hawaii judiciary between 2007 and 2008 and compared recommendation rates across categories of defendant ethnicity. Significant differences between ethnic groups were found in recommendations of competency to stand trial. Specifically, Asian misdemeanant populations were found to be incompetent to stand trial at higher rates than other ethnic groups. These findings highlight the potential impact that ethnicity may have on clinicians' decision making in certain forensic settings.