cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Architecture to Enable Life Cycle Testing in CMPs

CMOS wear-out mechanisms such as time dependent breakdown of gate dielectrics (TDDB), hot carrier injection (HCI), negative bias temperature instability (NBTI), electro migration (EM), and stress induced voiding (SIV) are well documented in the literature. Often the onset of wear-out is gradual, with initial manifestation as delay defects that result in timing errors. This motivates the need for online testing. The combined effect of dynamic reconfiguration such as voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) and signal integrity issues coupled with aging related wear-outs complicate a priori selection of test vectors, further favoring online testing. Traditional online test techniques such as Double and Triple Modular Redundancy (DMR and TMR) pose severe area and power overheads. In this paper we propose an architecture to assist online testing in a Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) based on execution path recording. Since in practice, core utilization in CMPs is low, we can use the idle time of cores opportunistically to run test threads that mimic functional threads. The initiation, termination and comparison of test results is performed by a dedicated, simple and functionally limited small core that we call the Sentry Core (SC). The sentry core is hidden from the OS and has the ability to monitor and interrupt the general-purpose cores. Upon interrupt, the general-purpose core can send data to the sentry core. To detect errors, the SC initializes the general-purpose cores and collects signatures from hardware monitors (that compact execution traces) and compares them against duplicate test threads, obviating any need for cycle by cycle comparison. Major benefits of the proposed solution include: (1) online testing with minimal area overhead, (2) scalability, and (3) testability throughout the life cycle of a CMP. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme is capable of detecting 87% of the faults injected into the processor at an area overhead of less than 3% of the target CMP.
Structural investigations of titanium nitride films formed by plasma immersion ion implantation

Abstract Nitrogen plasma immersion ion implantation was used to convert a thermal vapour deposited titanium film on silicon (100) into titanium nitride. The nitrogen ions were implanted by applying high-voltage pulses of −45 kV amplitude in a nitrogen plasma generated by microwave excitation in the electron cyclotron resonance mode. A maximum pulse number of 720 000 was considered. Phase formation was investigated by X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction. The morphology of the films depending on the pulse number was determined by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). With increasing pulse number, corresponding to an increasing implantation dose, TiN peaks appear in XRD spectra, whereas the metal peaks become smaller and finally disappear. XTEM results show that the textured Ti layer is radiation-damaged at the Ti/Si interface if the pulse number is small. Increasing the dose results in the formation of fine crystalline and slightly elongated TiN grains. For the highest doses considered, amorphous zones in the Si bulk as well as nanocrystalline TiN regions are observed.
Modern Racism and Modern Discrimination The Effects of Race, Racial Attitudes, and Context on Simulated Hiring Decisions

Researchers in American race relations have demonstrated the ambivalence white Americans feel toward black Americans. The prejudiced white behaves positively or negatively toward blacks depending on the context of the behavior, while the less prejudiced white behaves more consistently across contexts. In this study, the ambivalence concept was used to demonstrate the construct validity of a relatively nonreactive scale of racial prejudice-the Modern Racism Scale. Eighty-one white college students were pretested on the scale and then evaluated job candidates with identical resumes (except for a picture of a black or white male) under contexts designed to elicit positive or negative discrimination by ambivalent (presumably prejudiced) subjects. As predicted, when the candidate was black, the Modern Racism Scale was negatively correlated with hiring evaluations in the negative context and positively correlated in the positive context. When the job candidate was white, context and the Modern Racism Scale were...
Compound co-occurrence and biosynthetic inference

Abstract Zavarin suggested that co-occurrence of terpenoids in plants provides an indication of likely biosynthetic relationships when enzymatic and tracer results are unavailable to determine the matter. Zavarin's proposal is here evaluated with data from another class of secondary metabolites, the glucosinolates, where biosynthetic pathways are well known. Three datasets from taxa of Cakile and Streptanthus (Cruciferae) were analyzed statistically with SPSS programs. Pair-wise comparisons of compounds tested their assignment to one of three possible categories: related by one-carbon chain extension; related by cleavage of terminal methylthio-group to produce a double bond; or no close relationship. While one dataset showed a tendency for chain-extended compounds to correlate significantly, the data exhibited no strong indication overall that co-occurring compounds were any more likely to be biosynthetically linked than not. Furthermore, contrasting positive and negative correlations for biosynthetically related pairs indicated that co-occurrence did not track mechanisms of biosynthesis. Hence, compound co-occurrence by itself provides no clear guide to biosynthetic relationships. By analogy, similar results can be expected for other classes of diverse secondary metabolites such as flavonoids and terpenoids.
Motoric emulation may contribute to perceiving imitable stimuli

First, I note three questions that need further exploration: how fast the emulator operates, compared to the real-time events it models; what exactly perceptual emulation, with no motor component, consists of; and whether images are equivalent to raw sensations. Next, I propose that Grush's framework can explain the role of motor activation in processing “imitable” stimuli.
Challenges to nature conservation with community development in central African forests

Based on field research in the Central African Republic, this article discusses several social and economic challenges to conservation programmes that include community development components. These interrelated challenges include immigration as people elsewhere are attracted to economic opportunities, the lack of tenure of land and natural resources, diversification of economic and subsistence strategies, ethnic diversity and the lack of a conservation ethic. Addressing these challenges requires fundamental socio-economic change.
Beneath the Surface: Regime Type and International Interaction, 1953-78:

The empirical finding that democracies do not fight each other has long suggested that regime type influences international behavior. In the research reported here, we demonstrate that the democratic peace is only the most visible manifestation of the impact of domestic political structure on international relations. We consider the complete range of cooperative and conflictual interaction of each state in the international system with every dyadic partner in its politically relevant international environment between 1953 and 1978. We demonstrate a strong and consistent relationship between regime type and foreign policy behavior, both at the monadic and the dyadic level. States with more democratic characteristics tend to behave more cooperatively and less conflictually in the international system; these tendencies intensify when democratic states interact with other democracies. Meanwhile, non-democracies tend to treat democracies with more conflictual and less cooperative behavior. The influence of the internal institutional structures of states on their external behavior extends well beyond decisions to go to war. The empirical findings reported herein suggest that future research will benefit from increased attention to the relationships among state structure, leaders' incentives, foreign policy behavior, and international outcomes.
A glial toxin reduces effects of goldthioglucose on the hypothalamus and area postrema

Abstract To see if DL-alpha amino adipate (DL-AA) an agent known to cause transient swelling and dysfunction of hypothalamic glia, would affect the ability of goldthioglucose (GTG) to cause hypothalamic lesions, groups of male, 100 g rats were given saline, 0.5 mg/g of DL-AA, or 0.75 mg/g of DL-AA 30 min before injection of 0.4 mg/g of GTG. The incidence of GTG lesions was significantly less in the DL-AA treated groups than in the saline treated group. Histochemical staining of brain tissue revealed the existence of a population of specialized iron-containing glia with an anatomical distribution similar to the specific areas in the hypothalamus and area postrema most sensitive to GTG. The results suggest that GTG lesion formation may result from an effect of GTG on glia.
Purification of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase from rat liver.

Abstract A procedure for the purification of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase [mevalonate:NADP + oxidoreductase (CoA-acylating); EC 1.1.1.34] from rat liver microsomes has been developed. The enzyme preparations obtained by this procedure have specific activities of 16 to 23 μmol of mevalonate formed per minute per milligram of protein. These enzyme preparations were judged to be homogeneous on the basis of comigration of enzyme activity and protein on polyacrylamide gels.
Reading Over Your Shoulder

Today, Amazon recommends books to you based on the books you've previously bought or searched for-soon, it could know exactly what paragraphs you've read. But will this help it make better recommendations? Is this customer service or an invasion of privacy? The author takes a look at recommender systems and if they truly deliver on what they promise or portend a much more error-prone method of tracking people.
Mobilized Masses and Strategic Opponents: a Resource Mobilization Analysis of the Clean Air and Nuclear Freeze Movements:

movements remains a question in considerable dispute in both the political science and sociological literatures. Traditional sociological approaches, which focus on the external conditions necessary for the development of such movements, are unable to account for variations in the fates of similar movements in similar societies.1 In the political science literature, on the other hand, the prevailing assumption that policy making is an incremental process provides no theoretically compelling rationale for why some social movements are, in fact, capable of producing "policy spirals" (Lindblom 1959; Jones 1974, 1975). A relatively new perspective in sociological research offers some promise in this regard. Resource mobilization literature stresses the
Probability density estimation using elliptical basis functions

Elliptical basis function (EBF) networks are introduced as a new nonparametric method of estimating probability density functions for process data. Unlike Parzen window density estimators that use identical hyperspherical basis functions, the EBF method uses elliptical basis functions adapted to the local character of the data. This technique overcomes the spikiness problem associated with Parzen windows, where in high dimension, they can fail to produce smooth probability density estimates. The EBF estimator produces valid density functions that converage to the underlying distribution of the data in the limit of an infinite number of training examples. A technique based on statistical cross validation is introduced for evaluating different density estimators. The criterion is a measure of how well the density estimator estimates the density of data not used in the training. The EBF density estimation method and the evaluation technique are demonstrated using several examples of fault diagnosis.
Confrontation at Lepanto: Christendom vs. Islam – By T. C. F. Hopkins

This book, written under a pseudonym by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, who is mostly known for her science‐fiction novels, is a novelistic account of the naval battle that took place in 1571 between the Ott...
Energy and switch area optimizations for FPGA global routing architectures

Low energy and small switch area usage are two important design objectives in FPGA global routing architecture design. This article presents an improved MCF model based CAD flow that performs aggressive optimizations, such as topology and wire style optimization, to reduce the energy and switch area of FPGA global routing architectures. The experiments show that when compared to traditional mesh architecture, the optimized FPGA routing architectures achieve up to 10p to 15p energy savings and up to 20p switch area savings in average for a set of seven benchmark circuits.
Long-Tern Skin Permeation Kinetics of Estradiol: (II) Kinetics of Skin Uptake, Binding, and Metabolism

AbstractThe in vitro skin permeation system developed in this laboratory was utilized to investigate the kinetics of uptake, binding, and metabolism of estradiol, the female hormone, by the hairless mouse skin. The kinetics of uptake of estradiol and its subsequent metabolism to estrone by the skin were examined by exposing one side of a freshly excised skin to an estradiol solution, while the other side of the skin was protected with an impermeable aluminum foil.The results concluded that the stratum corneum plays a rate-limiting role in the uptake and binding of estradiol and its metabolism to estrone by the skin. The mechanisms of the uptake and binding of estradiol to whole skin tissue (with stratum corneum) showed a sex dependence, with the rate higher in the female than in the male mouse. On the other hand, no sex-dependent difference was observed in the mechanism and rate of metabolism to estrone.After stripping off the rate-limiting stratum corneum, the mechanisms of the uptake, binding and metabo...
Pharmacodynamic Analysis of the Activity of Quinupristin-Dalfopristin against Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium with Differing MBCs via Time-Kill-Curve and Postantibiotic Effect Methods

Quinupristin-dalfopristin (Q-D) is a new water-soluble, semisynthetic antibiotic that is derived from natural streptogramins and that is combined in a 30:70 ratio. A number of studies have described the pharmacodynamic properties of this drug, but most have investigated only staphylococci or streptococci. We evaluated the relationship between Q-D, quinupristin (Q), and/or dalfopristin (D) susceptibility parameters and antibacterial activities against 22 clinical isolates of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREF) by using the concentration-time-kill-curve method and by measuring postantibiotic effects. Q-D, Q, and D MICs and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) ranged from 0.125 to 1 and 0.25 to 64, 8 to 512 and >512, and 2 to 8 and 8 to 512 microgram/ml, respectively. There were no significant relationships between susceptibilities to the individual components and the susceptibilities to the Q-D combination product. In the time-kill-curves studies, Q-D at a concentration of 6 microgram/ml was at least bacteriostatic against all VREF tested. There was increased activity against more susceptible isolates when the isolates were grouped either by Q-D MBCs or by Q MICs. By multivariate regression analyses, the percent change in the inoculum from that at the baseline was significantly correlated with the Q MIC (R = 0.74; P = 0.008) and the Q-D concentration-to-MBC ratio (R = 0.58; P = 0.02) and was inversely correlated with the Q-D MBC-to-MIC ratio (R = 0.68; P = 0.003). A strong correlation existed between the killing rate and the Q-D concentration-to-MBC ratio (R = 0.99; P < 0.0001). Time to 99.9% killing was best correlated with the Q-D MBC (R = 0.96; P < 0.0001). The postantibiotic effect ranged from 0.2 to 3.2 h and was highly correlated with the Q-D concentration-to-MBC ratio (R = 0.96; P < 0.0001) and was less highly correlated with the Q MIC (R = 0.42; P = 0.04). Further study of these relationships with in vitro or in vivo infection models that simulate Q-D pharmacokinetics should further define the utility of these pharmacodynamic parameters in the prediction of Q-D activity for the treatment of VREF infections in humans.
Targeting CD20 in Follicular NHL: Novel Anti-CD20 Therapies, Antibody Engineering, and the Use of Radioimmunoconjugates

Rituximab (chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody) is widely employed in the treatment of patients with B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). This agent has activity in both indolent and aggressive disease, alone and in combination with chemotherapy. Unfortunately, however, many patients develop resistant disease. Ongoing efforts to improve outcomes include changes in dose and schedule, as well as the use of other biologic agents or antibodies that may enhance activity when administered together with rituximab. A relatively new focus is the development of engineered anti-CD20 antibodies that are optimized for their capability to mediate antibody-mediated cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) or complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). Human or humanized structures have also been employed to potentially improve these attributes, as well as to improve on pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity. Other studies in NHL have clearly demonstrated that radiolabeled anti-CD20 antibodies (such as I-131 tositumomab and Y-90 ibritumomab tiuxetan) may be useful in relapsed and refractory disease, and have potential utility as part of initial treatment as well. Further studies of these modified anti-CD20 antibodies are ongoing in order to optimize their use for maximal clinical benefit.
Pre-Main Sequence and Main Sequence Rotational Evolution: Constraints on Models Derived from Observations

We describe a simple, parameterized model for the redistribution of angular momentum within the interiors of solar-type stars. Among other things, it enables us to treat: (i) the outward flow of angular momentum from the radiative interior in response to rotational deceleration of the overlying convection zone; and (ii) the reapportionment of angular momentum between the core and convective envelope during pre-main sequence evolution. By combining the model with a computation of the rate of angular momentum removal by a magnetically-coupled wind, we can trace the rotational histories of low-mass dwarf stars for a variety of initial conditions and parameter specifications. We present the results of calculations of the rotational evolution of a 1M⊙ star, from an age ≈ few × 106 years up to the age of the present-day sun. We compare these results with what is known from observations about the internal rotation of the sun and the evolution of the surface rotation of sun-like stars. Within the context of the present model, we find best agreement with the constraints imposed by observations of main sequence stars for: (i) a surface magnetic field strength which is only weakly dependent on surface angular velocity f for rapid rotation, becoming linearly-dependent on Ω for Ω ≈ Ω⊙; and (ii) a time scale for angular momentum transfer from the core to the convection zone which is relatively constant throughout the evolution, with magnitude ∼ 107 years. For the adopted description of rotational braking by a magnetized wind, only a small fraction (∼ 10–15%) of the initial angular momentum is lost during pre-main sequence evolution, with most of this loss occurring just prior to arrival on the zero-age main sequence. As a result, Ω increases during most of the process of contraction to the main sequence. The amount of spin-up and some of the details of the subsequent rotational evolution are dependent upon the prescribed core-envelope coupling time.
Explanation, Explanandum, Causality and Complexity A Consideration of Mind, Matter, Neuroscience, and Physics

Generally, attempts to avoid Cartesian dualism relating brain and mind arguably lead to epiphenomenalism or strict materialism, in part because the problem is that these explanations have predominantly focused upon the efficient causal relationship between the physical and the phenomenal. Elucidating the efficient cause of consciousness is the essence of what Chalmers (1995) referred to as neuroscience’s “hard problem.” This has not been sufficiently addressed, mostly because of the apparent degree of complexity in the systems that comprise brain-mind, compared with the complexity of cognitive constructs used to describe, explain, and account for them. This paper will posit the significance of the problems inherent to complexity that impact the “hard problem” of explaining consciousness, as well as attempt to illustrate similar, analogous problems in physics, and demonstrate how conceptions of causality can be alternatively applied to overcome these explanatory obstacles. By reconsidering the relationships between explanation and the explanandum, it may be that the whole system needs to be considered when positing an explanation at any level, and particularly so when considering formal cause. By emphasizing formal causality over efficient causality, an epistemological solution is suggested that has broad implications for both brain-mind and physics, and we posit that this solution could apply to other explanatory problems in science.
Retrograde myotomy: a variation in per oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) technique

Background Per oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has evolved as a novel therapeutic option for the treatment of esophageal motility disorders such as achalasia. The originally described dissection technique involves cutting the inner circular esophageal muscle fibers in an antegrade fashion. We have modified this technique by commencing the muscular division at the most distal aspect of the submucosal tunnel and continuing the dissection in a retrograde fashion. We present our initial series of patients performed using this modified technique.
Design Principles for Rapid Prototyping Forces Sensors Using 3-D Printing

Force sensors provide critical information about robot manipulators, manufacturing processes, and haptic interfaces. Commercial force sensors, however, are generally not adapted to specific system requirements, resulting in sensors with excess size, cost, and fragility. To overcome these issues, 3-D printers can be used to create components for the quick and inexpensive development of force sensors. Limitations of this rapid prototyping technology, however, require specialized design principles. In this paper, we discuss techniques for rapidly developing simple force sensors, including selecting and attaching metal flexures, using inexpensive and simple displacement transducers, and 3-D printing features to aid in assembly. These design methods are illustrated through the design and fabrication of a miniature force sensor for the tip of a robotic catheter system. The resulting force sensor prototype can measure forces with an accuracy of as low as 2% of the 10 N measurement range.
Where Does Fetal and Embryonic Cholesterol Originate and What Does It Do

The development of a single-celled fertilized egg, through the blastocyst stage of a ball of cells and the embryonic stage when almost all organ systems begin to develop, and finally to the fetal stage where growth and physiological maturation occurs, is a complex and multifaceted process. A change in metabolism during gestation, especially when organogenesis occurs, can lead to abnormal development and congenital defects. Although many studies have described the roles of specific proteins in development, the roles of specific lipids, such as sterols, have not been studied as intensely. Sterol's functions in development range from being a structural component of membranes to regulating the patterning of the forebrain through sonic hedgehog to regulating expression of key proteins involved in metabolic processes. This review focuses on the roles of sterols in embryonic and fetal development and metabolism. Potential sources of cholesterol for the fetus and embryo are also discussed.
The Optimal Discovery Procedure for Large-Scale Significance Testing, with Applications to Comparative Microarray Experiments

As much of the focus of genetics and molecular biology has shifted toward the systems level, it has become increasingly important to accurately extract biologically relevant signal from thousands of related measurements. The common property among these high-dimensional biological studies is that the measured features have a rich and largely unknown underlying structure. One example of much recent interest is identifying differentially expressed genes in comparative microarray experiments. We propose a new approach aimed at optimally performing many hypothesis tests in a high-dimensional study. This approach estimates the optimal discovery procedure (ODP), which has recently been introduced and theoretically shown to optimally perform multiple significance tests. Whereas existing procedures essentially use data from only one feature at a time, the ODP approach uses the relevant information from the entire data set when testing each feature. In particular, we propose a generally applicable estimate of the ODP for identifying differentially expressed genes in microarray experiments. This microarray method consistently shows favorable performance over five highly used existing methods. For example, in testing for differential expression between two breast cancer tumor types, the ODP provides increases from 72% to 185% in the number of genes called significant at a false discovery rate of 3%. Our proposed microarray method is freely available to academic users in the open-source, point-and-click EDGE software package.
Numeric, Verbal, and Visual Formats of Conveying Health Risks: Suggested Best Practices and Future Recommendations

Perception of health risk can affect medical decisions and health behavior change. Yet the concept of risk is a difficult one for the public to grasp. Whether perceptions of risk affect decisions and behaviors often relies on how messages of risk magnitudes (i.e., likelihood) are conveyed. Based on expert opinion, this article offers, when possible, best practices for conveying magnitude of health risks using numeric, verbal, and visual formats. This expert opinion is based on existing empirical evidence, review of papers and books, and consultations with experts in risk communication. This article also discusses formats to use pertaining to unique risk communication challenges (e.g., conveying small-probability events, interactions). Several recommendations are suggested for enhancing precision in perception of risk by presenting risk magnitudes numerically and visually. Overall, there are little data to suggest best practices for verbal communication of risk magnitudes. Across the 3 formats, few overall recommendations could be suggested because of 1) lack of consistency in testing formats using the same outcomes in the domain of interest, 2) lack of critical tests using randomized controlled studies pitting formats against one another, and 3) lack of theoretical progress detailing and testing mechanisms why one format should be more efficacious in a specific context to affect risk magnitudes than others. Areas of future research are provided that it is hoped will help illuminate future best practices.
ZBP2 Facilitates Binding of ZBP1 to β-Actin mRNA during Transcription

Cytoplasmic mRNA localization regulates gene expression by spatially restricting protein translation. Recent evidence has shown that nuclear proteins (such as hnRNPs) are required to form mRNPs capable of cytoplasmic localization. ZBP1 and ZBP2, two hnRNP K homology domain-containing proteins, were previously identified by their binding to the zipcode, the sequence element necessary and sufficient for -actin mRNA localization. ZBP1 colocalizes with nascent -actin mRNA in the nucleus but is predominantly a cytoplasmic protein. ZBP2, in contrast, is predominantly nuclear. We hypothesized that the two proteins cooperate to localize -actin mRNA and sought to address where and how this might occur. We demonstrate that ZBP2, a homologue of the splicing factor KSRP, binds initially to nascent -actin transcripts and facilitates the subsequent binding of the shuttling ZBP1. ZBP1 then associates with the RNA throughout the nuclear export and cytoplasmic localization process. Cells are organized into discrete compartments harboring distinct complements of proteins. There are several mechanisms to sort proteins to their proper destinations. One way is to localize mRNA to the compartment where its protein products are needed (31). This mechanism is widely used to generate cell polarity and to target cell fate determinants in various organisms. ASH1 mRNA is localized to the bud tip of
Interactive complexity control and high-speed stereo matching

The authors are concerned with the development of a novel approach to edge-based stereo matching. In the context of an incremental matching strategy the authors have replaced the traditional hierarchical (coarse-fine) matching by an approach called complexity control based matching. The implementation of this method allows the user to select interactively features which (given the context provided by previous matches) are most likely to be matched successfully. The selection is done at the resolution of the original image and utilizes a rich set of feature properties (e.g. edge strength, orientation, length, texture etc.), either alone or in logical combinations. Both feature-selection and feature-matching algorithms execute at real-time rates, and all interactions are via a stereo workstation. >
The Metabolic Progression to Type 1 Diabetes as Indicated by Serial Oral Glucose Tolerance Testing in the Diabetes Prevention Trial–Type 1

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is often first recognized when signs and symptoms occur, yet the pathogenetic development of T1D usually begins years before that. Pancreatic autoantibodies commonly become elevated long before diagnosis (1). Although data indicate that the first-phase insulin response (FPIR) is also abnormal well before diagnosis (2–5), the development and progression of metabolic abnormalities had not been well characterized until the recent performance of T1D prevention trials (6–8). The unique designs of these trials provided the opportunity to perform longitudinal studies that have yielded new insights into metabolic changes that occur during the progression to T1D. This review will describe what we have learned about the metabolic natural history of T1D from the Diabetes Prevention Trial–Type 1 (DPT-1). ### A description of DPT-1. DPT-1 included two separate trials, the parenteral and oral insulin trials (6,7). The objective of both trials was to delay or prevent the occurrence of T1D by interfering with the immunologic processes that result in the disorder. The parenteral insulin trial consisted of an intervention group that received subcutaneous ultralente insulin at a dose of 0.125 units/kg twice daily and a control group that received no insulin. The intervention group was admitted annually to a unit for 4 days during which a continuous infusion of recombinant human regular insulin was administered. The oral insulin trial included an intervention group, which received a once-daily dose of 7.5 mg recombinant human insulin crystals, and a placebo control group. In both trials, individuals were required to be nondiabetic, aged 1–45 years, and first- or second-degree relatives of T1D patients. Two phases determined further eligibility for the trials. In the screening phase, the relatives were tested for islet cell autoantibody (ICA) positivity. Those positive then participated in a risk assessment phase. This included an intravenous glucose tolerance test …
Mode competition in harmonic magnicon amplifiers

Summary form only given. A time-dependent, multimode gyrotron code has been modified to examine competition in the output cavity between the phase-synchronous operating mode and other nonsynchronous modes which interact via the conventional gyrotron interaction. Calculations have been carried out for magnicons with TM/sub 410/ and TE/sub 411/ mode output cavities and include the effect of a spread in gyro-angles in the scanning electron beam. Our results indicate that the TM/sub 410/ mode is subject to strong competition from the TM/sub 110/ mode interacting at the fundamental cyclotron harmonic, while the TE/sub 411/ mode experiences weaker competition from the TE/sub 121/ mode interacting at the second cyclotron harmonic.
Anthocyanin‐ and hydrolyzable tannin‐rich pomegranate fruit extract modulates MAPK and NF‐κB pathways and inhibits skin tumorigenesis in CD‐1 mice

Chemoprevention has come of age as an effective cancer control modality; however, the search for novel agent(s) for the armamentarium of cancer chemoprevention continues. We argue that agents capable of intervening at more than one critical pathway in the carcinogenesis process will have greater advantage over other single-target agents. Pomegranate fruit extract (PFE) derived from the tree Punica granatum possesses strong antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties. Pomegranate fruit was extracted with acetone and analyzed based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and found to contain anthocyanins, ellagitannins and hydrolyzable tannins. We evaluated whether PFE possesses antitumor-promoting effects. We first determined the effect of topical application of PFE to CD-1 mice against 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced conventional markers and other novel markers of skin tumor promotion. We found that topical application of PFE (2 mg/mouse) 30 min prior to TPA (3.2 nmole/mouse) application on mouse skin afforded significant inhibition, in a time-dependent manner, against TPA-mediated increase in skin edema and hyperplasia, epidermal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and protein expression of ODC and cyclooxygenase-2. We also found that topical application of PFE resulted in inhibition of TPA-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38 and JNK1/2, as well as activation of NF-kappaB and IKKalpha and phosphorylation and degradation of IkappaBalpha. We next assessed the effect of skin application of PFE on TPA-induced skin tumor promotion in 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-initiated CD-1 mouse. The animals pretreated with PFE showed substantially reduced tumor incidence and lower tumor body burden when assessed as total number of tumors per group, percent of mice with tumors and number of tumors per animal as compared to animals that did not receive PFE. In TPA-treated group, 100% of the mice developed tumors at 16 weeks on test, whereas at this time in PFE-treated group, only 30% mice exhibited tumors. Skin application of PFE prior to TPA application also resulted in a significant delay in latency period from 9 to 14 weeks and afforded protection when tumor data were considered in terms of tumor incidence and tumor multiplicity. The results of our study provide clear evidence that PFE possesses antiskin-tumor-promoting effects in CD-1 mouse. Because PFE is capable of inhibiting conventional as well as novel biomarkers of TPA-induced tumor promotion, it may possess chemopreventive activity in a wide range of tumor models. Thus, an in-depth study to define active agent(s) in PFE capable of affording antitumor-promoting effect is warranted.
Patching Processor Design Errors

Microprocessors can have design errors that escape the test and validation process. The cost to rectify these errors after shipping the processors can be very expensive as it may require replacing the processors and stalling the shipment. In this paper, we discuss architecture support to allow patching the design errors in the processors that have already been shipped out. A contribution of this paper is our analysis showing that a majority of errors can be detected by monitoring a subset of signals in the processors. We propose to incorporate a programmable error detector in the processor that monitors these signals to detect and initiate recovery using one of the mechanisms that we discuss. The proposed hardware units can be programmed using patches consisting of the errata signatures which the manufacturer develops and distributes when errors are discovered in the post-design phase.
The effect of chlortetracycline on faecal microbial populations in growing swine

Abstract The effect of antimicrobial use on the gastrointestinal microbiota of food animals is of increasing concern as bacteria accumulate resistance to multiple antimicrobials. Only a small fraction of the gastrointestinal microbiome is culturable, complicating characterisation of the swine gastrointestinal ecosystem. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a growth promotion dose (50 g/ton) of chlortetracycline on the phylogenetic diversity of bacteria from swine faeces using a culture-independent method. Four freshly weaned pigs were provided a grower ration of primarily corn (63.7%) and soybean meal (25.2%) for 21 days; on Day 21 for 4 weeks the diet of two pigs was medicated with 50 g/ton chlortetracycline. Faecal material was collected from each pig on Days 0, 14, 23, 28, 35, 42 and 49 for 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. UniFrac analysis of pyrosequencing data showed no significant difference in bacterial diversity based on diet and among pigs (P > 0.05) fed the low-level dose of chlortetracycline. The most abundant phyla in both treatment groups were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Spirochaetes. Higher concentrations of chlortetracycline (e.g. 200 g/ton or 400 g/ton) may be required to observe a shift in the gastrointestinal flora in swine faeces compared with the low-level dose in this study. Studies of broader scope are needed to understand thoroughly how growth-promoting antimicrobials influence the gut microflora and benefit food animal growth efficiency.
Improving socio-economic stability and natural sustainability of coral reef ecosystems through mitigation, ecotourism and education

Coral reefs and their associated ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass beds are in crisis the world over. They provide billions of dollars of ecosystem services that include fish for human food, protection from hurricane damage, and livelihoods from ecotourists that enjoy snorkelling and/or scuba diving on the coral reefs and in the mangroves. There are measures that people can take that will ensure the survival of these precious ecosystems, which will enhance the quality of not just aquatic life, but of human life as well.
Discourse on Same Sex Marriage: A Response to Kitzinger and Wilkinson

Amicus briefs are powerful tools social scientists are currently using to voice concerns regarding the socially harmful and discriminatory impact of same sex marriage bans. A debate exists in the literature over how the discourse in these briefs should be framed. Should the focus be upon social justice or mental health? The author utilizes legal analysis to illustrate that neither frame is consistent with the discourse of legal precedent that judges will use to decide same sex marriage cases. Judges are trained from the time they are law students to ignore information that is not relevant to the legal framework established by precedent. The 2007 amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court by various social scientist organizations will be used as an example of how discourses of social justice and mental health should both be included in an alternative discourse focused on evolving societal standards.
Similarity theory for local and spatially averaged momentum fluxes

Tower and aircraft data from a number of field studies are analyzed to: (1) estimate the roughness lengths for local and area-averaged momentum fluxes over various surface types; (2) examine the applicability of the ψ-stability formulations of Paulson and Dyer for momentum fluxes; (3) investigate the possibility that tower flux measurements over tall vegetation are often inadvertently made in the roughness sublayer where Monin–Obukhov (M–O) similarity theory is not valid. With tower and aircraft data, it is shown that the term ψ(zom/L) evaluated at the roughness height becomes significant with relatively large roughness length and small measurement height. The usual omission of this term in M–O theory is not justified for flux calculations over rough surfaces such as forests. In stable conditions (z/L<0.5), the Dyer ψ-stability formulation predicts the tower-based momentum fluxes reasonably well over both forest and short vegetation sites. In weakly unstable conditions (−1<z/L), the values of ψ(z/L)−ψ(zom/L) are substantially smaller than the values predicted by the Paulson ψ-stability formulation for many of the tower flux measurements over rough forest canopies, but not over short vegetation sites. To the contrary, the aircraft-based flux measurements over the same forest canopies in weakly unstable conditions yield values of ψ(z/L)−ψ(zom/L) close to the Paulson ψ-stability formulation. Some tower flux measurements over forests were likely in the roughness sublayer during the daytime while the aircraft flux measurements were in the overlying surface layer. In highly unstable conditions (−2<z/L<−1), the computed values of ψ(z/L)−ψ(zom/L) are observed to be systematically smaller than the Paulson ψ-prediction for most tower sites including those where the computed and predicted values of ψ(z/L)−ψ(zom/L) agree in weakly unstable conditions. These results may indicate the deepening of the roughness sublayer with increasing instability. Over heterogeneous surfaces, the ψ-stability function for the area-averaged fluxes is found to be larger than the Paulson prediction. The generality of this result is unknown.
Yersinia pestis YscG Protein Is a Syc-Like Chaperone That Directly Binds YscE

Pathogenic Yersinia species secrete virulence proteins, termed Yersinia outer proteins (Yops), upon contact with a eukaryotic cell. The secretion machinery is composed of 21 Yersinia secretion (Ysc) proteins. Yersinia pestis mutants defective in expression of YscG or YscE were unable to export the Yops. YscG showed structural and limited amino-acid-sequence similarities to members of the specific Yop chaperone (Syc) family of proteins. YscG specifically recognized and bound YscE; however, unlike previously characterized Syc substrates, YscE was not exported from the cell. These data suggest that YscG functions as a chaperone for YscE.
Using model membrane-inserted hydrophobic helices to study the equilibrium between transmembrane and nontransmembrane states.

The recent Journal of General Physiology perpsectives on membrane protein insertion (129:[351–377][1]) covered many valuable strategies to examine how amino acid sequence determines protein insertion into membranes and the probability that sequences form transmembrane (TM) helices. Each approach
Rodrigo's Fourteenth Chronicle: American Apocalypse

Rodrigo recounts a course of argument with his good friend and colleague Laz, who is conservative. The two agree that right-wing operatives in the United States are putting increasing pressure on communities of color by backing welfare cutbacks, restricting affirmative action, and changing voting rules so as to make it harder for minorities and the poor to cast a ballot or have it mean very much. Laz proposes an audacious explanation for these actions and suggests that these operatives have in mind a new position for Latinos in the new scheme of racial and class-based stratification that is emerging.
Human tracking using wearable sensors in the pocket

Human tracking with wearable sensors such as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is of great significance for ubiquitous computing and ambient applications. This paper proposes a novel Dead Reckoning based tracking algorithm using IMUs placed in the pocket. The contribution of our approach lies in three-folds: (1) Precise steps are detected according to people's repetitive moving patterns. (2) In each step, heading direction is estimated by the principle frequency of filtered acceleration. (3) Rather than inferring the heading direction of each step independently, we compute a vector in the IMU coordinates which can be transformed to the world coordinates to represent the heading direction, by solving an optimization problem with all historical tracking data considered. The proposed tracking algorithm is tested on a public dataset and outperforms five state-of-the-arts. We also apply it to real scenarios where our IMU tracking algorithm successfully assists visual tracking to overcome the challenging visual occlusion problems.
Psoriasiform eruptions during Kawasaki disease (KD): A distinct phenotype.

Background A psoriasis-like eruption develops in a subset of patients with Kawasaki disease (KD). Objective We sought to systematically compare KD-associated psoriasiform eruptions with classic psoriasis and the outcomes of KD in children with and without this rash. Methods This was a retrospective study of 11 KD cases with a psoriasiform eruption matched 1:2 by age, gender, and ethnicity with psoriasis-only and KD-only controls. Genotyping was performed in 10 cases for a deletion of 2 late cornified envelope (LCE) genes, LCE3C_LCE3B-del, associated with increased risk for pediatric-onset psoriasis. Results Similar to classic psoriasis, KD-associated eruptions were characterized clinically by well-demarcated, scaly pink plaques and histopathologically by intraepidermal neutrophils, suprabasilar keratin 16 expression, and increased Ki-67 expression. They showed less frequent diaper area involvement, more crust and serous exudate, and an enduring remission (91% vs 23% with confirmed resolution; P Limitations The study was limited by the small number of cases, treatment variation, and availability of skin biopsy specimens. Conclusions Although the overall clinical and histopathologic findings were similar to conventional psoriasis, this appears to be a distinct phenotype with significantly greater propensity for remission. No adverse effect on KD outcomes was noted.
THE DOMINANT IDEOLOGY AND BRAZILIAN TABLOIDS: News Content in Class-Targeted Newspapers

A content analysis of the press in a middle-sized city in Brazil finds that the news agenda and local scope of the tabloid dailies are oriented to the working classes. Working-class-oriented tabloids tend to be the strongest ideological supporters of capitalist legitimacy and continued elite control in the midst of rapid industrialization and newspaper competition in the provincial capital of Curitiba More serious papers oriented toward the middle classes tend to allow for less hegemonic points of view in the period after the end of the military dictatorship. Ideology variables are shown to be empirically powerful, second only to agenda-setting in explaining run-of-the-paper news content and second only to news values in predicting the most prominent news content for all sampled papers. Stories with dominant ideological themes are played prominently in all newspapers and, in addition, are run more frequently throughout the tabloids.
Judicial Biography and the Behavioral Persuasion

This paper appraises the relationship between judicial biography and judicial behavior research in two ways: (1) conceptually, by comparing them as modes of inquiry; and (2) empirically, by making an inventory of the behavioral content of 15. leading judicial biographies. The central theme is that judicial biographies and judicial behavior research are complementary. Conceptually, they have important common premises and problems as well as major differences. Empirically, judicial biographies also offer considerable insight into judicial behavior. Using generous standards, the inventory of 15 biographies derived 2,232 behavioral-like propositions in eight categories of behavioral research. More importantly, the biographies suggest a substantial number of hypotheses worthy of empirical investigation and validation. When viewed as case studies in judicial politics, judicial biographies thus become related to behavioral inquiry. And their strengths and weaknesses fall into place as reflecting properties generally associated with case study as a mode of political analysis.