cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Radiolsotopes as metabolic labels for Glossina (Diptera: Glossinidae). I. Laboratory determination of the relationship between radioisotope metabolism, respiration and temperature

The turnover of the radioisotope 137Cs is shown to be of a one-component nature and to be positively correlated with temperature for males of both Glossina morsitans Westw. and G. pallidipes Aust. A direct correlation with oxygen consumption is also demonstrated, and the relation for both species may be described by the same regression line. The feasibility of using 137Cs as a metabolic label for tsetse is therefore confirmed, and it is suggested that the predictive nature of the relationship between radioisotope turnover and metabolism may extend beyond closely related species.
Plenoptic camera range finding

The ability of the plenoptic camera to perform ranging has been recognized since the camera's inception. It is possible to think of the range finding operation performed by the camera alternatively in terms of “depth from parallax,” “depth from defocus,” or even “depth through refocusing.” Each of these conceptions of the problem leads to a different approach, often yielding varying results in terms of performance and efficiency. However, each is subject to the same fundamental limitations. This research attempts to formulate this theoretical limit on ranging performance. In the process, it also provides a spatial domain explanation of “light field spreading,” a sampling phenomenon of importance for both image formation and ranging, which has elsewhere been explained in the frequency domain under the assumption of band limitedness. Finally, the research describes implementations of rangefinding procedures, and provides some results for a sample plenoptic camera.
Regulation of very low density lipoprotein apo B metabolism by dietary fat saturation and chain length in the guinea pig.

Studies investigated the effects of dietary fatty acid composition and saturation on the regulation of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) apo B flux, clearance, and conversion to low density lipoprotein (LDL) in guinea pigs fed semipurified diets containing 15% (w/w) corn oil (CO), lard (LA), or palm kernel oil (PK). Plasma cholesterol levels were highest with dietary PK (3.1±1.0 mmol/L) followed by LA (2.4±0.4 mmol/L) and CO (1.6±0.4 mmol/L) intake. VLDL particles were larger (P<0.05) in the LA (78±7 nm) and PK (69±10 nm) groups compared to animals fed CO (49±5 nm). VLDL-apo B fractional catabolic rates (FCR) were highest in guinea pigs fed the LA diet (P<0.05) and VLDL apo B flux, estimated from VLDL 125I-apo B turnover kinetics, were higher in LA compared to PK or CO fed guinea pigs. In the case of PK consumption, the kinetic estimates of VLDL apo B flux significantly underestimated rates compared to direct VLDL apo B secretion measurements and LDL turnover analyses. These data demonstrate that differences in the composition and amount of saturated fatty acids have differential effects on VLDL apo B flux, catabolism, and conversion to LDL which, together with changes in LDL receptor-mediated catabolism, determine plasma LDL cholesterol levels in guinea pigs. The data also indicate that kinetic analysis of VLDL metabolism in PK fed animals is inaccurate possibly due to the presence of a small, nonequilibrating pool of newly synthesized VLDL which is rapidly converted to LDL.
Selective recognition and cleavage of RNA loop structures by Ni(II).Xaa-Gly-His metallopeptides.

The recognition and cleavage of tRNAPhe and the TAR RNA of HIV-1 by metallopeptides of the general form Ni(II)·Xaa-Gly-His (where Xaa is Gly, Lys, or Arg) were investigated. The results of RNA clea...
Investigating the brachistochrone with a multistage Monte Carlo method

Abstract Multistage Monte Carlo methods are capable of producing approximate solutions to the classical brachistochrone problem. The history and formulation of the classical brachistochrone problem is briefly discussed, and a mathematical programming problem for an approximate brachistochrone problem is derived. Multistage Monte Carlo methods are outlined, and an ANSI-standard C language program which implements a multistage Monte Carlo solution to this mathematical programming problem is presented. Experimental results for ten-segment and twenty-segment brachistochrones are tabulated, and extensions and opportunities for further investigations are suggested
Fitting Oval Pegs Into Round Holes: Tensions in Evaluating and Publishing Qualitative Research in Top-Tier North American Journals

A study of qualitative researchers who have submitted and/or published their research in top-tier North American organizational and management journals reveals the evaluative criteria-in-use at the...
China's Relations with the PLO

(1977). China's Relations with the PLO. Journal of Palestine Studies: Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 123-154.
SU-E-J-228: Dose Accumulation Studies with a Dynamic Physical Anthropomorphic Phantom and An External Surrogate-Based Motion Model

Purpose: To estimate the dose delivered to a physical anthropomorphic phantom based on: 1) CT scans representing each phase of respiration; and 2) 3D images generated from a respiratory motion model and an external surrogate signal. OSLDs are used to measure doses delivered to the phantom. Methods: A commercially available physical phantom was modified, replacing the lung system with foam rubber of lung-equivalent density and placing a tumor made of bolus within the lung. A wooden diaphragm driven by a programmable motor compressed the foam with a realistic breathing pattern based on patient measurements. CT scans of the phantom were taken at several phases of a breathing cycle, and the dose delivered by a nine-field treatment at each phase was calculated with Monte Carlo. Dose distributions at each phase were mapped to a reference phase with vectors from deformable image registration performed on the original CT images. A second estimate of the delivered dose was performed replacing the CT scans and associated vectors with images and deformations generated by a motion model. Finally, with a one-field treatment plan, the estimated delivered dose was compared to measurements with OSLDs placed in the phantom. Results: The estimated dose delivered to the tumor using CT scans agreed with the estimate using model-generated images, and the difference in the D95 for the two approaches was less than 2%. This demonstrates that images generated by the motion model can be used for dose estimates. Dose measured with OSLDs at nine points within the tumor and foam lung of the phantom agreed with predictions within measurement uncertainties. Conclusion: The images generated from a motion model based on an external surrogate trace can be used to estimate dose delivered during treatment. Dose estimates were validated with measurements.
Assessment of pharmacy students' perceived business management knowledge: Would exclusion of business management topics be detrimental to pharmacy curricula?

Abstract Objective To assess the effect of didactic business management material on students' pre- and postcourse self-perceived level of knowledge on 17 pharmacy business management topics, including inventory, personnel, and cash flow management. Methods A pre- and posttest 17-question survey design was used at two different US pharmacy schools to evaluate the study's primary objective. Students were asked to rate on a 5-point scale their current knowledge of a given business management topic (1 = Limited, 2 = Somewhat Limited, 3 = Adequate, 4 = Somewhat Extensive, 5 = Extensive). Results Overall, including both institutions, every business management knowledge–dependent variable measured significantly improved between pre- and postsurvey measurement ( p Conclusion Didactic business management material significantly improved students' self-perceived knowledge of business management topics. Most concerning was that students' precourse mean knowledge level of the given business management topics was limited to somewhat limited. Schools and colleges of pharmacy, especially those newly developing, should evaluate their curriculum to ensure business management is sufficiently covered so as to meet current Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education standards as well as to not disadvantage their graduates in today's unstable economy.
Aseptic rearing of the codling moth on synthetic diets: ascorbic acid and fatty acid requirements.

The codling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella (L.), was reared aseptically from newly hatched larvae to adults for 3 successive generations on a synthetic diet containing casein, 2 amino acids, salts, sucrose, vitamins, safflower oil, cholesterol, agar, and water. Growth and development on this diet were comparable to that attained on immature apples. Elimination of ascorbic acid from the diet resulted in 86% lanai death, mostly first and second instar, and no development to the adult stage. The minimum dietary requirement for ascorbic acid under the reported rearing conditions was between 0.4 and 0.8 g per 100g diet. Linoleic acid was shown to be an indispensable dietary nutrient; linoleic acid had the same effect as linoleic acid. Diets deficient in both fatty acids resulted in failure of adults to emerge from their pupal cases. Palmitic, stearic, oleic, and methyl arachidonic acids showed no essential fatty acid activity. Five successive generations were reared in the laboratory on a semisynthetic diet with 55-65% of the larvae developing to normal adult moths. Larval development adult fecundity, and egg viability appeared comparable to that attained for insects reared on immature apples.
Violence, Ethics, and Divine Honor in Modern Jewish Thought

Although little analyzed, the concept of divine honor or glory (kavod shamayim) has been central to formulations of classical Jewish thought and ethics. In the aftermath of the 1994 Hebron massacre, Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg deployed the concept of divine honor as a religious sanction for murder. His tract Barukh Ha-Gever treats attrocity as a mystical technique for the attainment of unmediated, ecstatic, and personal experience of the divine. This article examines the genealogy of Ginsburg's anarchic ideology, which it contrasts with that of Rabbi Abraham Issac Kook and the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, two important twentieth-century Jewish thinkers for whom divine honor was also central, but whose vision for that honor was antithetical to the quest for unmediated divine experience, or to acts that violate religious law and human dignity. This article assays a phenomenology of divine honor and its relationship to violence in modem times.
Demographic Change and Ethnically Motivated Crime: The Impact of Immigration on Anti-Hispanic Hate Crime in the United States:

In recent years, Hispanic immigration to the United States has become a politically charged public issue, with significant consequences for immigration policies, communities, individual immigrants,...
Straddling the Border: Immigration Policy and the INS

Straddling the Border: Immigration Policy and the INS. By Lisa Magana. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003. 132p. 16.95 paper.In this book, Lisa Magana provides a concise and thoughtful analysis of the immigration policy process from inside the bureaucratic agency formerly responsible for its implementation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Using a combination of interviews with high- and low-level INS representatives and immigration advocates, government policy evaluations, immigrant surveys, and intensive field study, Magana shows the disconnect that often exists between congressional immigration mandates and their actual implementation in INS district offices.
Annual temperature and the prevalence of frequent ear infections in childhood.

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to determine if changes in annual temperature influence the prevalence of frequent otitis media (FOM) and respiratory allergy in children. Methods Annual prevalence data for FOM (defined as 3 or more ear infections per year), respiratory allergy, and seizures (nonrespiratory, control condition) in children were extracted from the National Health Interview Survey for 1998 to 2006. Average US annual temperatures for the same period were recorded from the Environmental Protection Agency. Complex samples logistic regression analyses were performed to identify possible correlations between annual temperature and each of the 3 disease conditions, controlling for age and sex. Results A total of 113 067 children were studied (mean age, 8.6 years; 51.1% girls). Overall prevalences (±95% confidence interval) were 6.3% ± 0.2%, 11.8% ± 0.2%, and 0.7% ± 0.1% for FOM, respiratory allergy, and seizures (nonrespiratory, control condition), respectively. Average annual temperatures ranged from 53.64°F to 55.09°F. Regression analysis found that annual temperature did not influence the prevalence of FOM (P = .681); male sex and younger age were associated with a higher prevalence of FOM (P = .025 and P Conclusions Changes in average annual temperature do not appear to influence the prevalence of otitis media or respiratory allergy. This negative finding suggests that although global warming continues to affect our environment, childhood otolaryngologic disease prevalence may not be directly influenced.
Beyond Weak and Strong: Rethinking the State in Comparative Policy History

Most public problems can be approached in many ways. Urban noise, the honking of car horns, for example, could be tackled by building effective mass transit and discouraging automobile use, by forbidding the use of horns within city limits and fining violators, by encouraging harmonious social circumstances, or at least stress-reduction education programs, to make drivers less aggressive, by developing horns that target sound waves only at offending motorists, or by encouraging everyone to wear noise-reduction earphones. The problem of sexually transmitted diseases can be solved by encouraging chastity and fidelity as virtues, by strictly criminalizing transmission, or by prescribing antibiotics after the fact. Such varying approaches are qualitatively different. They do not just reflect distinct degrees of statutory intervention. States that adopt divergent solutions may, in a similar fashion, be fundamentally different from one another, not just stronger or weaker versions of an abstract ideal of public authority.
Compounds with antibacterial activity that enhance DNA cleavage by bacterial DNA topoisomerase I

Objectives DNA topoisomerases utilize a covalent complex formed after DNA cleavage as an intermediate in the interconversion of topological forms via DNA cleavage and religation. Many anticancer and antibacterial therapeutic agents are effective because they stabilize or increase the level of the covalent topoisomerase-DNA complex formed by type IIA or type IB topoisomerases. Our goal is to identify small molecules that can enhance DNA cleavage by type IA DNA topoisomerase. Compounds that act in this mechanism against type IA topoisomerase have not been identified previously and could be leads for development of a new class of antibacterial agents. Methods High throughput screening was carried out to select small molecules that induce the SOS response of Escherichia coli, overexpressing recombinant Yersinia pestis topoisomerase I. The initial hit compounds were further tested for inhibition of bacterial growth and bacterial topoisomerase I activity. Results Three compounds with antibacterial activity that enhance the cleavage activity of bacterial topoisomerase I were identified. Conclusions Small molecules that can enhance the DNA cleavage activity of type IA DNA topoisomerase can be identified and may provide leads for development of novel antibacterial compounds.
The Xenopus cdc2 protein is a component of MPF, a cytoplasmic regulator of mitosis

In Xenopus, a cytoplasmic agent known as MPF induces entry into mitosis. In fission yeast, genetic studies have shown that the cdc2 kinase regulates mitotic initiation. The 13 kd product of the suc1 gene interacts with the cdc2 kinase in yeast cells. We show that the yeast suc1 gene product (p13) is a potent inhibitor of MPF in cell-free extracts from Xenopus eggs. p13 appears to exert its antagonistic effect by binding directly to MPF. MPF activity is quantitatively depleted by chromatography on a p13 affinity column. Concomitantly, the Xenopus counterpart of the yeast cdc2 protein is adsorbed to the column. A 42 kd protein also binds specifically to the p13 affinity matrix. These findings suggest that the Xenopus cdc2 protein and the 42 kd protein are components of MPF.
Guidelines for Clinical Practice: Applications for Primary Care

Practice guidelines can make considerable contributions to several areas of health care delivery. Perhaps their greatest promise lies in the area of assessing and improving the quality of health care and health outcomes; secondarily, they may help to rationalize the overall use of health services and thus be a partial means to controlling the use of services and costs of care. Work at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States has (a) suggested eight characteristics of good guidelines; (b) building on those, pointed the way to methods for developing and assessing guidelines; and (c) shown how sound and realistic guidelines can contribute to better ways to measure and improve the quality of primary medical care. This paper discusses four questions: (1) what are guidelines, and how might they relate to or be of benefit to primary care and family medicine? (2) What criteria or principles should be used to create good practice guidelines? (3) What problems or pitfalls need to be anticipated in developing and disseminating guidelines? (4) In what ways can guidelines help improve the quality of health care, especially through quality assurance and improvement and utilization and cost management? Practice guidelines will not be a quick or painless strategy for improving the quality and value of health care, but unprecedented opportunities lie ahead for physicians in primary care.
Effect of Complement CR1 on Brain Amyloid Burden During Aging and Its Modification by APOE Genotype

Background The rs3818361 single nucleotide polymorphism in complement component (3b/4b) receptor-1 ( CR1 ) is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although this novel variant is associated with a small effect size and is unlikely to be useful as a predictor of AD risk, it might provide insights into AD pathogenesis. We examined the association between rs3818361 and brain amyloid deposition in nondemented older individuals. Methods We used 11 C-Pittsburgh Compound-B positron emission tomography to quantify brain amyloid burden in 57 nondemented older individuals (mean age 78.5 years) in the neuroimaging substudy of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. In a replication study, we analyzed 11 C-Pittsburgh Compound-B positron emission tomography data from 22 cognitively normal older individuals (mean age 77.1 years) in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative dataset. Results Risk allele carriers of rs3818361 have lower brain amyloid burden relative to noncarriers. There is a strikingly greater variability in brain amyloid deposition in the noncarrier group relative to risk carriers, an effect explained partly by APOE genotype. In noncarriers of the CR1 risk allele, APOE e4 individuals showed significantly higher brain amyloid burden relative to APOE e4 noncarriers. We also independently replicate our observation of lower brain amyloid burden in risk allele carriers of rs3818361 in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative sample. Conclusions Our findings suggest complex mechanisms underlying the interaction of CR1 , APOE , and brain amyloid pathways in AD. Our results are relevant to treatments targeting brain Aβ in nondemented individuals at risk for AD and suggest that clinical outcomes of such treatments might be influenced by complex gene-gene interactions.
Comparing two approaches to dynamic, distributed constraint satisfaction

It is now fairly well understood that a vast number of AI problems can be formulated as Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) and striking improvements have been made in solving them using both centralized and distributed methods. However, many real world problems change over time and very little work has been done in developing methods, particularly distributed ones, for solving problems which exhibit this behavior.This paper presents two new protocols for solving dynamic, distributed constraint satisfaction problems which are based on the classic Distributed Breakout Algorithm (DBA) and the Asynchronous Partial Overlay (APO) algorithm. These two new algorithms are compared on a broad class of problems varying the problems' overall difficulty as well as the rate at which they change over time. The results indicate that neither of the algorithms complete dominates the other on all problem types, but that depending on environmental conditions and the needs of the user, one method may be preferable over the other.
Astrology as Text and Drama

R. S. Perinbanayagm. The Karmic Theater: Self, Society, and Astrology in Jaffna. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1982. 212 pp. $22.50 (cloth).
Studying control of selective perception using T-world and TEA

The author hypothesizes that selective perception allows more accurate solutions to visual tasks to be found in less wall-clock time than non-selective techniques. The best way to assess the practical truth of this hypothesis is by studying, designing and building complete vision systems-the issues are fundamentally systems issues. On the other hand, special-case systems are not convincing: he presents the T-world problem as an abstraction of an interesting class of real-world vision problems. T-world has enough structure to support basic study of fundamental tradeoffs inherent in selective computer perception. The complete system is called TEA-1: it is a purposive and sufficing vision system that solves a version of the T-world problem. TEA-1 is a fully implemented system, and extensive experiments in the laboratory and simulation have explored the key factors that make the selective perception approach appealing, analyzing how each factor affects the overall performance of TEA-1 when solving a set of automatically generated (in simulation) T-world domains and tasks. >
Geology and Structural Control of Geothermal System at Roosevelt Hot Springs KGRA, Beaver County, Utah: ABSTRACT

The Roosevelt Hot Springs KGRA is located in the Basin and Range province along the western flank of the Mineral Mountains. It is within the Wah Wah-Tusher mineral belt which has been the locus for rhyolitic intrusive and extrusive activity through Tertiary and into Quaternary time. The area is just east of the Sevier (Cretaceous) thrust belt and is near the margin of the Intermountain seismic belt. Geologic mapping has identified three metamorphic and plutonic units of Precambrian age, nine intrusive phases of the Tertiary Mineral Mountains pluton, three Pleistocene rhyolitic extrusive phases, and siliceous hot spring deposits of relatively recent age. Cuttings from exploration holes indicate that the Precambrian and Tertiary crystalline rocks host the present geothermal system. The structure of the area is dominated by low-angle normal faults (denudation faults) which dip to the west. The hanging wall of the principal denudation fault was intensely brecciated during the fault episode forming steep fault zones which generally strike northwest. Both these low- and high-angle fault zones show the development of intense, silicified mylonites. Adjacent to these mylonite zones, the crystalline rocks are highly fractured. East-west and northeast-trending high-angle faults cut the denudation faults and channel much of the recent hot-spring activity. The geothermal system is a high-temperature, water-dominated resource which is probably related to an igneous heat source. The low primary permeability of the reservoir rocks and the location of the geothermal field indicate structural control of the system. The reservoir geometries and permeabilities result from the intersections of the principal fault systems. End_of_Article - Last_Page 836------------
Ready to Rumble: How Team Personality Composition and Task Conflict Interact to Improve Performance

Although prior work has proposed a number of conditions under which task conflict in teams may improve performance, composition variables have been left unexplored. Given the effects of personality traits on team processes and outcomes demonstrated in prior work, investigating whether specific personality compositions influence the effect of task conflict on team performance is critical to researchers' understanding of conflict in teams. Our results indicate that team-level averages of both openness to experience and emotional stability function as moderators of the relationship between task conflict and team performance. Specifically, task conflict had a positive impact on performance in teams with high levels of openness or emotional stability; in contrast, task conflict had a negative impact on performance in teams with low levels of openness or emotional stability. Thus, when task conflict emerges, teams composed of members who are open minded or emotionally stable are best able to leverage conflict to improve performance. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Cardiovascular action of adenosine and other nucleosides.

SummaryThe cardiovascular effects of adenosine and other nucleosides were studied in dogs. Adenosine produced hypotension and negative chronotropic and inotropic effects of short duration. Quantitative dose-effect relationships were obtained in each case. Other nucleosides tested exhibited no significant cardiovascular actions in vivo.
Defibrillatory effects of low sodium solutions on ventricular fibrillation in isolated hearts of rabbits.

Isolated hearts in ventricular fibrillation can be defibrillated without interfering with the conduction of normal impulses arriving from the atria by the perfusion of solutions containing only about half of the normal sodium content. Reversion to a sinus rhythm occurs without a pause. The action of these solutions, which closely resembles that of normal solutions containing an excess of KCl or procaine, supports the hypothesis that these agents defibrillate by interfering with the entrance of sodium ions in the rising phase of the action potential. Defibrillation by this mechanism would be possible if ventricular fibrillation were the result of the discharge of premature impulses having a low safety factor of propagation from one or more ectopic foci.
Risky Undertakings: The Employment Decision-Making of Women Lawyers and Accountants

This study uses the concept of risk avoidance to analyze responses from in-depth interviews with a group of women lawyers and accountants about their employment decision-making in order to provide a deeper understanding of why and how some women come to choose government employment over private-sector employment. An analysis of interviews reveals that some women perceived work-family conflict, economic precariousness, and fewer protections against employers' arbitrary decision-making as potential risks associated with private-sector employment. To reduce these risks, some women "chose" to work in government rather than in the private sector. This study contributes to existing literature by identifying risk avoidance in employment decision-making as a response to work-family conflict and social class constraints and by illustrating why and how this risk avoidance occurs among some women in elite white-collar professions. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs110233
Class II transactivator (CIITA) promoter methylation does not correlate with silencing of CIITA transcription in trophoblasts.

Abstract Trophoblast cells are unique because they do not express major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigens, either constitutively or after exposure to interferon-γ (IFN-γ). The absence of MHC class II antigens on trophoblasts is thought to play a critical role in preventing rejection of the fetus by the maternal immune system. The inability of trophoblasts to express MHC class II genes is primarily due to lack of the class II transactivator (CIITA), a transacting factor that is required for constitutive and IFN-γ-inducible MHC class II transcription. We, therefore, investigated the silencing of CIITA expression in trophoblasts. In transient transfection assays, transcription from the IFN-γ-responsive CIITA type IV promoter was upregulated by IFN-γ in trophoblasts, which suggests that CIITA is silenced by an epigenetic mechanism in these cells. Polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated that the CIITA type IV promoter is methylated in both the human choriocarcinoma cell lines JEG-3 and...
Fibroblasts: modulating the rhythm of the heart.

Cardiac fibroblasts have been implicated in arrhythmia initiation and maintenance affecting electrical propagation through slow, discontinuous conduction. Fibroblasts are unexcitable cells, their resting membrane potential is more depolarized than that of myocytes and their membrane resistance is higher. These characteristics suggest that, if coupled to myocytes, fibroblasts may function as current sinks and/or sources for electrical charge and as shortand long-range conductors. Abnormal accumulation of fibroblasts occurs in the heart under pathological conditions and ageing, which may alter normal cardiac function. Most clinical, experimental and numerical studies have regarded fibroblasts and fibrosis as electrically insulating obstacles. However, recent suggest that when coupled to cardiac myocytes, fibroblasts could influence impulse propagation not only by acting as passive transducers but also by influencing excitability of neighbouring myocytes (Miragoli et al. 2007). Compared to the atria and ventricles, the sinoatrial (SA) node contains a relatively higher amount of fibroblasts, which can be electrically coupled to pacemaker cells. Electrical coupling through gap junctions in the SA node is important for achieving pacemaker synchronization (Jalife, 1984). Pacemaker cells in the intact SA node beat at a common frequency but when isolated they show large variations in intrinsic beating frequency. Functional electrical coupling of SA nodal pacemaker cells through connexins forming gap junctions has been demonstrated in several species. However, the connexin isotypes expressed in the SA node vary somewhat depending on the species. Cx43, the most abundant connexin in the heart, has also been found in the SA node of rabbit, hamster and guinea pig although it is less abundant than other connexins. Interestingly, Cx43 was not detected in rat, cow or human nodal tissue. Recently, Kreuzberg et al. (2005) demonstrated that the mouse SA node expresses Cx30.2. Further studies using Cx30.2-knock-out mice suggest that Cx30.2 provides higher intercellular resistance and slower conductance due to a relatively small unitary conductance (∼9 pS). Nevertheless, the role of gap junctions in heterocellular tissue in the SA node remains unknown. The study by Fahrenbach et al. (2007) provides indirect evidence toward addressing this question. They investigated the mechanism through which non-excitable cells influence the spontaneous activity of pacemaker cells using heterocellular monolayers of HL-1 cells, a cell line derived from murine atrial myocyte tumour lineage AT-1, and fibroblasts that were isolated from neonatal rat and mouse ventricular tissue. The influence of fibroblasts on frequency of spontaneous activity, conduction velocity and interbeat interval variability were studied by co-culturing fibroblasts and myocytes at varying ratios.
Reduction of the Spinup Time for Evaporation and Precipitation in a Spectral Model

Abstract A dynamic relaxation technique is examined to update a spectral model. The technique consists of constraining selected time dependent model variables towards their predetermined space–time estimates, while the remaining variables evolve unconstrained. The scheme involves gradual assimilation of data and thus is essentially free from data insertion shocks generally associated with data assimilation schemes. The scheme can also be used to update the model variables consistent with the observed estimates of diabatic forcings. The spectral formulation is particularly suited to relax the current estimates of model variables towards their observed estimates scale-by-scale. The scheme has been applied to initialize model variables by relaxing vorticity, divergence and total mass (surface pressure) fields through one to three observation periods using an 11-layer model with T-42 spectral resolution. In addition, the moisture field and diabatic heating rates have been relaxed consistent with the observed ...
11B NMR studies of the thermal decomposition of ammoniaborane in solution

Abstract Heating solutions of NH3BH3 in aprotic solvents above approximately 80 °C resulted in three types of chemical reactions. In etheral solvents NH3BH3 underwent stepwise hydrogen-loss decomposition leading to cyclotriborazane and borazine along with other minor products. In pyridine solution base displacement led to pyridineborane. In acetonitrile both products of hydrogen-loss decomposition and either hydrogenation or hydroboration were identified. 11B NMR spectra peak areas showed that the maximum yields of cyclotriborazane formed in 0.15 M NH3BH3 in diglyme at 130 °C.
Am I My Brother's Keeper? The Reality, Tragedy, and Future of Collective Security

This paper is an inquiry into the nature, purposes, and future of the UN collective security regime. For some writers, the Security Council is a collective security regime that guarantees protection against aggression. For others, globalization and the rise of human rights are engendering a process of humanizing international law, which is placing the rights and dignity of individuals ahead of the interests of states. Consequently, the purposes of the Security Council are argued to be evolving towards prioritizing human security over state sovereignty. As part of this narrative, the Responsibility to Protect is portrayed as a stride towards establishing the protection of human security as the primary purpose of the Security Council. This paper challenges these claims about the Security Council. It examines the drafting history of the UN Charter and finds that the Security Council was designed as a great power concert, not as a collective security regime. The primary purpose of this concert was to promote great power peace, and not to protect states against aggression. This paper also argues that, despite the heralding of an “age of human rights,” the Security Council remains committed to maintaining peace between the great powers, and to not preventing mass atrocities. The Responsibility to Protect, while signifying acceptance of the legitimacy of UN intervention to prevent atrocities, does not indicate the transformation of the nature or purposes of the Security Council. Finally, as global power shifts from an American-led order towards an international system in which non-western powers will exercise considerable influence, this paper predicts that, given the adherence of these rising powers to a state-centric legal order, it is unlikely that the principal purpose of the Security Council will evolve into the protection of human security.More broadly, this paper offers a reflection on the values underlying international law in the field of international security. Many scholars of international law perceive the field as being driven by a cosmopolitan ethos that advances universal humanitarian values in an effort to promote the emergence of a global community of humankind. This paper, however, paints an image of a system driven by contradictory impulses that seek to manage political pluralism in a society of states, while simultaneously, aspiring to promote universal humanitarian values. This paper suggests that managing political pluralism and maintaining minimum order, as opposed to upholding justice and universal values, is the dominant ethic of the legal and institutional architecture of the existing UN security regime.
Ultrasonic treatment of polycarbonate/carbon nanotubes composites

Abstract A twin-screw extruder having an ultrasonic treatment zone in the barrel was used to prepare polycarbonate (PC)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) composites. The effect of molecular weight of PC, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) concentration and ultrasonic amplitude on processing characteristics, electrical, morphological, rheological and mechanical properties of PC filled with 0.2–1.5 wt% CNTs was investigated. Ultrasonic treatment showed significant effects on improving the dispersion and distribution of CNTs especially in low molecular weight PC (LPC). The electrical and rheological percolation thresholds of low and high molecular weight PCs obtained by fitting the experimental data to classic percolation theory were significantly decreased after ultrasonic treatment. Specifically, the electrical percolation threshold of LPC/CNTs composites decreased from 0.176 vol% (0.30 wt%) for untreated samples to 0.088 vol% (0.15 wt%) for treated samples at an amplitude of 13 μm. To the best of our knowledge, this obtained value is the lowest percolation threshold, so far, achieved in melt processed PC/CNTs composites. The mechanism for the decrease of rheological and electrical percolation thresholds after ultrasonic treatment was proposed. Also, some improvements in mechanical properties (including the Young's modulus and elongation at break) of PC/CNTs composites after ultrasonic treatment at an amplitude of 13 μm were observed. The ultrasonic extrusion technology is shown to be a suitable method for manufacturing high quality products at lower CNTs concentration.
Criminal Justice System and Addiction Treatment

In the United Sates, over 8 million adults and 650,000 youth are under some form of criminal justice supervision. Substance abuse is four times greater in the offender population than in the general population; 37% of offenders are estimated to have a substance abuse disorder. In addition, criminal offenders are more likely to be cigarette smokers, suffer from psychiatric conditions, have sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDs, and have other infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and hepatitis. A recent study concluded that 58% of county jail inmates had a lifetime history of drug dependence and 51% met criteria for current dependence, suggesting a large need for substance abuse services in facilities that are not equipped to offer such services. However, the criminal justice system has been slow to adopt evidence-based practices to treat drug dependence, such as pharmacotherapies. The largest growing segment of the criminal justice population is community corrections, which is comprised of programs such as drug court and Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities. These programs divert drug- and alcohol-dependent offenders from jail or prison and provide intensive case management and treatment. However, among prisons and jails, less than 10% of the eligible inmate population receives drug treatment services. Research is urgently needed to improve both access to and quality of drug treatment services for individuals under criminal justice supervision.
An updated research on three therapeutically-used Peruvian lagoons by using physical techniques

Herein, we determine the elemental, structural and mineralogical characterization of samples collected in three Peruvian lagoons; likewise, we investigate the physical and chemical properties of their fractions, both clay and magnetic. These lagoons are located in the Chilca District, Cate Province, southern Lima Region, Peru; their morphology has been altered since we carried out a previous study five years ago. The physical analytical techniques we used were energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF); X-ray diffractometry (XRD); and transmission Msbauer spectroscopy (TMS), at room and liquid-helium temperatures, and at low and high velocities. The results indicate that dolomite is the main clayey phase presenting structural sites occupied by Fe +2 and Fe +3 cations; the mineralogy of the magnetic fraction shows the presence of hematite and magnetite.
Solubilization by Cosolvents II: Phenytoin in Binary and Ternary Solvents

The solubility of the poorly water-soluble drug phenytoin in binary and ternary mixtures of cosolvents and water has been found to be adequately described by the log&-linear solubility equation, log(Sm/Sw) = Σin=1 (σj fj), where Sm is the solubility of the drug in the solvent mixture, Sw is the solubility of drug in water, fi is the volume fraction of cosolvent and σi is the slope. The rank order of the slopes of the solubilization curves appears to parallel the polarity of the cosolvent. For most of the cosolvents tested, some degree of deviation from ideal solubilizing behavior exists. The amount of deviation depends upon both the type and amount of cosolvent used. The largest deviation is seen when higher volume fractions (0.7#x2013;0.9) of cosolvent are used and was greater for ethanol-water systems than the glycol-water systems. The same reasons for nonideal solubility seen in the binary solvent mixtures may be responsible for the nonideality seen in the ternary solvent systems. In spite of the curvature seen in these plots, the log&-linear solubility equation can be very useful in estimating the solubility of a drug in water-cosolvent mixtures. If the solubility of the drug in water and pure cosolvent is known, the solubility in water&-cosolvent mixtures can be estimated by plotting these two points on semi-log paper and connecting them with a straight line.
Positive themes in LGBT self-identities in Spanish-speaking countries.

Positive self-identity is an important component of well-being. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual (LGBT)-identified individuals in Spanish-speaking countries, forming and main...
The integration management technology of the measuring data of ships shock trial

The underwater explosions trial of ships is an important method of the research on the ship anti-shock technology,and the acquirement of the measuring data is an important target and the key part of the trial.The great integration of ships shock trial brings the great integration of management of the measuring data.The characteristic of the measuring data was analyzed and the management requirement of the data was given in this paper for the purpose of efficient use and management of the measuring data.And then,the integration management technology of the measuring data of ships shock trial was researched fully from such aspects as the measuring points number,the information elements of the data,the conversion of the data,the compositive input and output of the data.The research of this paper will give support to the development of the ships shock trial measuring data management system.
FlatCam: Thin, Lensless Cameras Using Coded Aperture and Computation

FlatCam is a thin form-factor lensless camera that consists of a coded mask placed on top of a bare, conventional sensor array. Unlike a traditional, lens-based camera, where an image of the scene is directly recorded on the sensor pixels, each pixel in FlatCam records a linear combination of light from multiple scene elements. A computational algorithm is then used to demultiplex the recorded measurements and reconstruct an image of the scene. FlatCam is an instance of a coded aperture imaging system; however, unlike the vast majority of related work, we place the coded mask extremely close to the image sensor that enables thin and flat form-factor imaging devices. We employ a separable mask to ensure that both calibration and image reconstruction are scalable in terms of memory requirements and computational complexity. We demonstrate the potential of the FlatCam design using two prototypes: one at visible wavelengths and one at infrared wavelengths.
Production of intonation and contrastive stress in esophageal and tracheoesophageal speech

Abstract: Acoustical investigations of intonation and contrastive stress patterns produced by laryngectomized patients using esophageal and tracheoesophageal speech were completed. High-quality tape recordings of sentences spoken by four normal, four esophageal, and three tracheoesophageal speakers were subjected to fundamental frequency, duration and intensity analysis. Results indicated that some esophageal and tracheoesophageal speakers were able to manipulate, at comparable relative magnitudes, the same acoustic properties normal speakers use to produce intonation and contrastive stress patterns.
Thermo-mechanical deformation evolution in polycrystalline Ni-based superalloys by a hierarchical crystal plasticity model

A hierarchical plasticity constitutive model is employed to comprehend the fundamental relations between microstructural morphology, crystal orientations, deformation mechanisms and the mechanical response over a wide range of operating temperatures for polycrystalline nickel-based superalloys. A parametrically homogenised, crystal plasticity constitutive law accounting for the variation in the subgrain-scale morphology allows for efficient modelling at the polycrystalline scale with information from the lower scales. This framework incorporates the effects of non-Schmid mechanisms, anti-phase boundary shearing and geometric features of the substructure. A major outcome of this study is the observation that at elevated temperatures, a slip mode transition occurs from the octahedral slip systems to cube slip systems that induces a reversal of many critical mechanical properties. The polycrystalline microstructure is significantly weakened, and plastic deformation completely shifts to grains for which the o...
Trends of and factors associated with live-birth and abortion rates among HIV-positive and HIV-negative women

Background Little is known about fertility choices and pregnancy outcome rates among HIV-infected women in the current combination antiretroviral treatment era. Objective We sought to describe trends and factors associated with live-birth and abortion rates among HIV-positive and high-risk HIV-negative women enrolled in the Women's Interagency HIV Study in the United States. Study Design We analyzed longitudinal data collected from Oct. 1, 1994, through Sept. 30, 2012, through the Women's Interagency HIV Study. Age-adjusted rates per 100 person-years live births and induced abortions were calculated by HIV serostatus over 4 time periods. Poisson mixed effects models containing variables associated with live births and abortions in bivariable analyses ( P Results There were 1356 pregnancies among 2414 women. Among HIV-positive women, age-adjusted rates of live birth increased from 1994 through 1997 to 2006 through 2012 (2.85-7.27/100 person-years, P trend P trend = .09). Significantly lower live-birth rates occurred among HIV-positive compared to HIV-negative women in 1994 through 1997 and 1997 through 2001, however rates were similar during 2002 through 2005 and 2006 through 2012. Higher CD4 + T cells/mm 3 (≥350 adjusted incidence rate ratio, 1.39 [95% CI 1.03-1.89] vs + T-cell count, combination antiretroviral treatment use, and viral load were not associated with abortion rates. Conclusion Unlike earlier periods (pre-2001) when live-birth rates were lower among HIV-positive women, rates are now similar to HIV-negative women, potentially due to improved health status and combination antiretroviral treatment. Abortion rates remain unchanged, illuminating a need to improve contraceptive services.
Health Care in South Africa

The South African health care system is embedded in a background of racial subordination and sexual violence against girls and women and of hierarchical male authority from youth to adulthood. Low wages, unemployment, urban overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, malnutrition, crime, and violence have contributed to economic and health inequality. With more health-insured whites than blacks and the proportion of gross national product spent on health care slowly increasing, two-thirds of health expenditures have been consumed by the private sector at a time when the cost of health insurance has risen to more than 3 times the rate of the consumer price index.