cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Open-Label, Single-Center, Safety Dose Escalation Trial of Alefacept for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Chronic Plaque Psoriasis:

Antecedents: L'alefacept (Amevive) est une proteine de fusion LFA-3/lgG1 entierement humaine ayant un mecanisme d'action double: inhiber l'activation des cellules T et reduire leur memoire de facon selective. Le parcours posologique approuve dans le traitement des plaques de psoriasis severe a modere chez les adultes consiste en 15 mg d'alefacept par injection intramusculaire pendant 12 semaines. Dans les essais cliniques qui suivent la posologie approuvee, 33 et 57% des patients ont atteint respectivement 75% ou plus et 50% ou plus de reduction sur L'index de surface et de severite du psoriasis (PASI 75 et PASI 50), apres un traitement a l'alefacept. Objectif: Evaluer l'efficacite des, et la tolerance des patients aux, injections intramusculaires de 15 mg d'alefacept par semaine pendant 6 semaines, suivies d'injections intramusculaires de 30 mg d'alefacept par semaine pendant 6 autres semaines. Conception: Essai ouvert sur alefacept a dose croissante dans un seul centre. Patients: Patients adultes souffrant de plaques de psoriasis chroniques sur au moins 10% du corps et affichant un score PASI de 12. Intervention: Les patients ont suivi un traitement constitue d'injections intramusculaires de 15 mg d'alefacept pendant 6 semaines et d'injections intramusculaires de 30 mg d'alefacept pendant les 6 semaines suivantes; les doses ont ete interrompues lorsque la numeration des lymphocytes T-CD4 devenait inferieure a 200 cellules/mm 3 ou que des infections opportunistes survenaient. Principales questions: L'efficacite etait evaluee a la base et a la septieme semaine, ainsi que 2, 6, 12, et 24 semaines apres le traitement, au moyen de l'index PASI et de L'evaluation generale du medecin (PGA). Resultats: En tout 16 patients ont participe a l'etude. Six semaines apres le traitement, la reduction moyenne du PASI etait de 39% et a atteint les 42% a la douzieme semaine post-traitement. Les resultats PASI 90, PASI 75, et PASI 50 12 semaines apres le traitement etaient de 6% (1/16), 13% (2/16), et 38% (6/16) respectivement; PGA a indique une remission totale ou presque dans 12% (2/16) des cas 12 semaines apres le traitement. Les resultats globaux de PASI 75 et PASI 50 etaient respectivement de 19% (3/16) et de 38% (6/16). Conclusion: Un traitement constitue en 15 mg d'alefacept par injection intramusculaire pendant 6 semaines et de 30 mg d'alefacept par injection intramusculaire pendant 6 autres semaines etait bien tolere par nos patients. Il n'y a pas eu d'augmentation des cas d'infection durant l'injection de 30 mg comparativement aux injections de 15 mg. Egalement, l'augmentation de la dose d'alefacept de 15 mg a 30 mg durant les 6 dernieres semaines d'un traitement de 12 semaines ne semble pas augmenter l'efficacite du traitement selon nos donnees historiques de controle.
Speech: An Enhancement to (Technical) Writing

Industry today wants engineers who are not only technically proficient, but who also can speak and write well. The problem is that engineering students do not get many opportunities to practice these skills in their crowded curricula. The educational strategy in the following article suggests that incorporating a formal or semiformal speech into a (technical) writing assignment can improve a student's speaking and writing proficiency.
Collagen fiber orientation at the tendon to bone insertion and its influence on stress concentrations

The tendon to bone insertion serves the mechanical role of transferring loads from a relatively compliant tendon to a relatively rigid bone. The details of the mechanism of load transfer are of great importance, since current surgical procedures for tendon reattachment have high failure rates. We hypothesized that the microscopic structure of the insertion is optimized to minimize stress concentrations associated with this load transfer. To explore this, collagen fiber orientation distributions were measured in the supraspinatus tendons of rats. The angular deviation of fibers was fairly uniform across the insertion, and the mean angles of the local distributions deviated mildly from the tendon axis. To explore how these observed property distributions could influence load transfer, these distributions were used to derive material properties for an idealized two-dimensional mechanical model of an insertion. Comparison between stress concentrations in this idealized model and those in three comparison models suggests that the microstructure serves to (1) simultaneously reduce stress concentrations and material mass, and (2) shield the insertion's outward splay from the highest stresses.
Weighted bagging: a modification of AdaBoost from the perspective of importance sampling

We motivate the success of AdaBoost (ADA) in classification problems by appealing to an importance sampling perspective. Based on this insight, we propose the Weighted Bagging (WB) algorithm, a regularization method that naturally extends ADA to solve both classification and regression problems. WB uses a part of the available data to build models, and a separate part to modify the weights of observations. The method is used with categorical and regression tress and is compared with ADA, Boosting, Bagging, Random Forest and Support Vector Machine. We apply these methods to some real data sets and report some results of simulations. These applications and simulations show the effectiveness of WB.
Power and Periphery: Studies of Gender and Religion in Africa

Considering the great cultural and religious diversity of the African continent and the dynamic role of religion at all levels of African life, Africa would seem to offer fertile ground for generating studies of gender and religion. However, such is not the case. In addition to the political, cultural, and academic marginalization of Africa, there are the familiar reasons adduced in other contexts—namely that several of the earlier, classic studies of African religions were conducted by European and African scholars for whom gender was not an analyti cal category—what Ursula King calls "sexism by omission" (King 1995: 2). This paper examines practical, as well as theoretical and methodological, problems and prospects in studies of gender and religion in the vast African context. It is an overview and reflection, rather than a systematic and comprehensive survey. On an autobiographical note, I should add that my own interest in studying women and religion in Africa was not originally intentional, but emerged as I was working on new religious movements in Ni geria, and more specifically on religious pluralism in the town of Calabar. Based on this research, I published an initial study of the diversity of women's religious activities (1985). Following that I was asked to write more generally on women and religion in Africa (1994, 1995), which has led me to cast a critical eye over the literature. For obvious reasons, notably the dearth of historical and descrip tive data, there has been a tendency toward "additive" studies (e.g., Mbon 1987)—filling in the gaps created by androcentric scholarship. Sometimes these studies have adopted a sentimental and nostalgic overtone, waxing lyrical about the positive contributions of women— "the flowers in the garden"—and their important procreative and nurturing roles (Mbiti 1991; Omoyajowo 1991). The heritage of phenomenological comparativism and a predilection for the irreduc ibility of "religion" in the history of religions has not served the study of gender well, in that it has fostered a generalized, essentialized, and decontextualized view of religion. This is particularly inappropriate in the African context where indigenous notions of religion are far
Glucose-stimulated Cdc42 Signaling Is Essential for the Second Phase of Insulin Secretion *

The small Rho family GTPases Cdc42 and Rac1 have each been shown to function in insulin exocytosis and are presumed to function in actin remodeling and insulin granule mobilization. However, whether either GTPase is required for the mobilization phase of insulin release (second phase) and are linked in a common signaling pathway has remained unknown. Here we demonstrate that small interfering RNA-mediated depletion of Cdc42 from isolated islets results in the selective loss of second phase insulin release. Consistent with a role in this nutrient-dependent phase, Cdc42 activation was detected exclusively in response to D-glucose and was unresponsive to KCl or non-metabolizable glucose analogs in MIN6 beta-cells. Cdc42 activation occurred early in secretion (3 min), whereas Rac1 activation required approximately 15-20 min, suggesting Cdc42 as proximal and Rac1 as distal regulators of second-phase secretion. Importantly, Rac1 activation and function was linked in a common pathway downstream of Cdc42; Cdc42 depletion ablated glucose-induced Rac1 activation, and expression of constitutively active Rac1 in Cdc42-depleted cells functionally restored glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Occurring at a time midway between Cdc42 and Rac1 activations was the phosphorylation of p21-activated-kinase 1 (Pak1), and this phosphorylation event required Cdc42. Moreover, small interfering RNA-mediated Pak1 depletion abolished Rac1 activation and glucose-stimulated insulin release, suggesting that Pak1 may mediate the link between Cdc42 and Rac1 in this pathway. Taken together, these data substantiate the existence of a novel signaling pathway in the islet beta-cell whereby Cdc42 functions as a key proximal transmitter of the glucose signal early in stimulus-secretion coupling to support the later stage of insulin release.
Early life history patterns of Atlantic North American flatfish: Likely (and unlikely) factors controlling recruitment

Abstract Life history information for 4 families (51 species) of Atlantic North American flatfish showed that 14 species could be grouped into two categories according to life history pattern. Four high-latitude species had large eggs, long development times, and low growth parameter K. Life history traits of the other 10, lower-latitude, species displayed reverse tendencies and had relatively invariate life history traits. Where age-specific estimates of interannual recruitment variation (CVR) existed, all species showed a decline with age, but there was wide variation, suggesting controls on recruitment may operate at different stages, depending upon species type. Using latitudinal and inshore-offshore gradients in food, predation and abiotic factors, we develop hypotheses for likely controls on different species types according to their range or position within their range. With decreasing latitude, food increases in importance predation probably follows a reverse trend. Abiotic variability is highest in temperate regions and inshore. Species and locations are suggested which would provide the most rigorous tests of hypotheses of recruitment controls.
Nontraumatic avulsion of the lesser trochanter: a pathognomonic sign of metastatic disease ?

Isolated avulsion fractures of the lesser trochanter resulting from trauma are most commonly seen in adolescent athletes and are rare in adults. Standard therapy is nonsurgical with bedrest and immobilization of the leg. However, when this lesion is seen in the adult without significant trauma, it should be regarded as secondary to metastatic neoplasm until proven otherwise. Treatment should be surgical with prophylactic internal fixation of the hip to help prevent the commonly associated subtrochanteric pathologic fracture. In a patient without a known primary malignancy, biopsy should be carried out before therapy. We describe four patients with isolated avulsion fracture of the lesser trochanter due to metastatic carcinoma. Radiologists should be aware of this lesion because its presence has a decisive effect on therapy.
Profilin-1 overexpression restores adherens junctions in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells in R-cadherin-dependent manner

Profilin-1 (Pfn1), a ubiquitously expressed actin-binding protein, is downregulated in several different types of adenocarcinoma and elicits tumor-suppressive effect on breast cancer cell lines. MDA-MB-231 (MDA-231), a breast cancer cell line that displays all the characteristics of post-epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and does not form cell-cell adhesion, can be reverted to an epithelioid phenotype by Pfn1 overexpression. This morphological transition is caused by restoration of adherens junctions (AJ) requiring Pfn1's interaction with actin. Pfn1 overexpression increases the expression level of R-cadherin (a type of cadherin that is endogenously expressed in the parental cell line) and restores AJ in MDA-231 cells in R-cadherin-dependent manner. These findings highlight important role of Pfn1 in the regulation of epithelial cell-cell adhesion.
Les relations franco‐allemandes contemporaines

Friend, J.W., The Linchpin. French‐German Relations, 1950–1990 (Praeger, 1991), xxi+135pp., $40.00, ISBN 0 275 94257 0 McCarthy, P., ed. France‐Germany, 1983–1993. The Struggle to Cooperate (St Martin's Press, 1993), xi+212pp., $50.00, ISBN 0 312 08524 9
Ionic dependence of the third phase of the light-evoked response from amphibian pigment epithelium cells.

In the triphasic electrical response evoked by light from amphibian pigment epithelium cells, the amplitude of the third phase is closely related to the concentration of sodium and bicarbonate ions in the bathing solution in the eyecup. Changes in concentration of potassium, calcium, or chloride have little or no effect. The mechanism generating the third phase resists 5 × 10−3M azide and 10−4M ouabain for more than 30 min, and also has a somewhat lower temperature dependence than expected for an active transport process. A change of membrance conductance may well occur during the third phase, since procaine and pentobarbitone selectively abolish this potential. It is suggested that membrane events which underly the ion movements are initiated by, or associated with, the earlier potentials of the triphasic response sequence, which were unaffected by the ionic concentration changes
Reaction of alkali metal dibutylboron with alkyl halides in diethyl ether solution

Abstract The reaction of alkali metal dibutylboron (I), prepared by the treatment of dibutylchloroborane with sodium/potassium alloy in diethyl ether, with alkyl iodides has been studied. Very little alkylation on boron to produce dibutylalkylborane occurs in ether solution at room temperature. The alkyl iodide reacts to produce mainly alkane and alkyl dimer. The reaction is believed to occur by electron transfer from (I) to RI followed by decomposition of the RI to iodide ion and alkyl radical.
Non-Test Cubes for Test Generation Targeting Hard-to-Detect Faults

A test set includes a significant amount of information about input assignments that prevent the faults that it does not detect from being detected. The procedure described in this paper extracts this information and uses it to guide an efficient test generation process that is fundamentally different from existing processes. Even with limited computational complexity, this new process is able to generate tests for hard-to-detect transition faults that are not detected by a test set that consists of both broadside and skewed-load tests. The basic idea is the following. Let t be a test that does not detect a fault f. The procedure extracts from t a minimal subset of values that prevent f from being detected. These values are included in a partially-specified test, which is referred to as a nontest cube. In a basic step, the procedure finds a nontest cube for f based on t. It then modifies t by complementing one specified value of the nontest cube to ensure that it does not prevent f from being detected. This is repeated until a test is found or a termination condition is reached. The nontest cubes are also used for finding necessary assignments and identifying undetectable faults.
English orthography: Relation to reading experience

Children of first, third, and fifth grade reading levels were presented pseudowords, either first- or fourth-order approximations to English with one item missing. Ss were to guess the name of the missing item. Results showed a clear developmental trend: first-graders show no difference in guessing accuracy between the different orders of approximation. Third and fifth graders show a difference in accuracy between the orders of approximation. An interaction of Order of Approximation by Left-Right Accuracy was found only for the third and fifth graders. The results were interpreted to provide support for the notion that Ss will use the sequential constraints of English orthography whenever they are evident, provided that they have had sufficient experience with English.
Mechanical properties and structure of a new commercial SiC-type fibre (Tyranno)

An initial evaluation of a new titanium-doped polymer-pyrolysis SiC fibre, Tyranno (Ube Industries, Ltd) showed a narrow distribution of diameters with a mean of 8.5μm; average tensile strengthsS ⩾ 3 G Pa, nearly independent of gauge length in the 1 to 4cm range; Weibull parameterm ≅ 7.3; and mean Young's modulusĚ ≅ 170 G Pa. Heat treatment at 1300 to 1350° C in N2 appreciably reducedS, m andE; and X-ray diffraction showed that significant crystallite growth as well as some Si3N4 formation had occurred. Tyranno fibre properties are compared with those of the well-known Nicalon SiC fibre.
Margaret Mead: A Biographical Sketch

This statement provides a brief outline of some aspects of Margaret Mead's life history with the expectation that it may help readers to place the several papers in this issue in context.
Ethnic Composition of Schools and Achievement Motivation.

An investigation of the relationship between achievement motivation and ethnic composition of schools was undertaken in order to determine if the integrated experience would facilitate achievement motivation among black students. The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule was administered to male and female high school students: 20 black and 37 white students attending an ethnically mixed school, 29 students attending a segregated school with 100% black enrollment, and 49 students attending a segregated all white school. Scores on the need for achievement subscale revealed a significant interaction (p < .01) of school system by race which indicated that students in the mixed school were more similar in their scores and closer to the national norms for that subscale than students in the segregated schools. In addition there was a main effect for race (p < .0001) which indicated that black students had significantly higher scores than white students regardless of the type of school system. There was no main effect for school system. A tentative conclusion proposed that the scores of integrated black students represented more realistic aspirations than did those of segregated black students.
On the Effect of Neglecting Sensor Dynamics in Parameter Identification Problems

In this paper, we consider a deterministic parameter identification problem for a nonlinear control system subject to disturbances and with output measured by a sensor with fast dynamics. We study the effect of neglecting sensor dynamics on the set of parameter values that are consistent with the measurements. We show that when neglecting dynamics we must significantly modify the corresponding static model of the sensor in order to obtain a set of parameter values that contains the true value and is consistent with the measurements. We describe a correct model of the static sensor which is in a sense minimal.
THE NEUTRON PEAK IN THE INTERLAYER TUNNELING MODEL OF HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS

Recent neutron scattering experiments in optimally doped YBCO exhibit an unusual magnetic peak that appears only below the superconducting transition temperature. The experimental observations are explained within the context of the interlayer tunneling theory of high temperature superconductors. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
NW-nitro L-arginine benzyl ester, a potent irreversible inhibitor of endothelium dependent relaxation.

Summary In the rat aorta preparation, we have used the nitro-arginine derivative, N W -nitro L-arginine benzyl ester (NABE), as a probe to investigate the relationship between L-arginine and the endothelium derived relaxing factor (EDRF). We find NABE to be a potent endothelium dependent vasoconstrictor and inhibitor of relaxation. The effect of NABE is irreversible and not removed by subsequent washing. The vasoconstrictor effect of NABE differs from other EDRF inhibitors like N G -monomethyl L-arginine (L-NMMA) in that it is not antagonized by pre-treatment with excess L-arginine. In contrast, like other EDRF inhibitors, at high concentration NABE exhibits vasodilation which is antagonized by methylene blue. We suggest that the previous reports on the antagonism between L-arginine and the putative EDRF inhibitors like L-NMMA are due to their structural similarities rather than to externally added L-arginine acting as a substrate for EDRF synthesis.
Friction stir spot welding of hot-stamped boron steel

Hot-stamped boron steel was successfully joined via friction stir spot welding using polycrystalline cubic boron nitride tooling. The resulting microstructure, microhardness and mechanical properties are reported, including a brief look into failure mechanisms. Relationships between the unique mechanical mixing, phase transformations and failure initiation sites associated with joining martensitic steels are characterized.
Job Satisfaction among Gynecologic Oncologists Practicing in the United States

Abstract Objectives. We sought to determine whether there have been any significant changes in professional satisfaction among gynecologic oncologists over the past 30 years. Methods. We mailed surveys to all U.S. gynecologic oncologists belonging to the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists to compile data on demographics, training, motivating factors, overall professional satisfaction, and the effect of managed care. We compared these factors among oncologists who completed training in different years and among different demographic groups. We used calculated confidence intervals to determine statistical significance. Results. We surveyed 767 gynecologic oncologists and received 344 evaluable responses, representing 47% of the total eligible. Results show that neither the factor rated most important in looking for a first job nor the factor rated most important in giving job satisfaction once in a job has changed significantly among gynecologic oncologists over time. In addition, the importance placed on salary has not varied across the fellowship graduate classes, although within each class salary increased in importance from the first job to the current job. Our analysis shows that while male and female gynecologic oncologists are similar in their job satisfaction and practice patterns, men report being sued twice as often as women, and men tend to stay in their first jobs significantly longer than women. We also compare the surveyed academic gynecologic oncologists to the private gynecologic oncologists and show that while overall job satisfaction is similar, their ratings of the factors that provide job satisfaction do differ significantly. Our data show that managed care penetration has increased over time among gynecologic oncology practices and that gynecologic oncologists' job satisfaction ratings tend to decrease with the increase in managed care penetration, although not reaching statistical significance. Conclusions. Our results show that changes in practice styles since the 1960s have not affected overall job satisfaction among gynecologic oncologists. However, several trends in practice styles can be noted, including differences between sexes, academic versus private physicians, and attitudes about managed care. The survey also suggests that there is interest among gynecologic oncologists in continuing to monitor changes in patterns of practice and satisfaction.
Characterization of a nuclear localization signal in the C-terminus of the adeno-associated virus Rep68/78 proteins

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) replicates in the nucleus of infected cells, and therefore multiple nuclear import events are required for productive infection. We analyzed nuclear import of the viral Rep proteins and characterized a nuclear localization signal (NLS) in the C-terminus. We demonstrate that basic residues in this region constitute an NLS that is transferable and mediates interaction with the nuclear import receptor importin alpha in vitro. Mutant Rep proteins are predominantly cytoplasmic and are severely compromised for interactions with importin alpha, but retain their enzymatic functions in vitro. Interestingly, mutations of the NLS had significantly less effect on importin alpha interaction and replication in the context of Rep78 than when incorporated into the Rep68 protein. Together, our results demonstrate that a bipartite NLS exists in the shared part of Rep68 and Rep78, and suggest that an alternate entry mechanism may also contribute to nuclear localization of the Rep78 protein.
Induction of Urolithiasis in Single Comb White Leghorn Pullets: Effect on Glomerular Number

Urolithiasis was induced in an experimental group of Single Comb White Leghorn pullets by feeding them layer ration and exposing them to nephrotrophic Gray strain infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). Gray strain IBV was recovered from kidney and cloacal swabs for up to 26 days after exposure to the virus. Control pullets fed pullet grower ration and not exposed to Gray strain IBV did not develop urolithiasis. The experimental design did not allow differentiation between the roles of layer ration and IBV in triggering urolithiasis. Urolithiasis was associated with asymmetry in left vs. right kidney weight comparisons for individual pullets. Pullets from the urolithiasis group had 43,800 +/- 4,500 glomeruli/gram kidney weight, whereas control pullets had 68,770 +/- 3,500 glomeruli/gram kidney weight. This difference was significant (P less than .01). Total kidney weights did not differ significantly when the experimental and control pullets were compared. Comparisons of glomeruli size distributions indicated that the number of intermediate sized glomeruli (.15 to .22 mm in circumference) was significantly reduced in pullets from the urolithiasis treatment group. These observations indicate that a significant reduction in nephron number can be masked by compensatory hypertrophy of the remaining kidney tissue in pullets with urolithiasis.
Action-dependent stopping times and Markov decision process with unbounded rewards

In this paper we consider several variants of the standard successive-approximation method for (semi) Markov decision processes with unbounded rewards. Wessels and van Nunen have shown that a class of variants can be generated by randomized stopping times, where the probability of "stopping" the process at timen is independent of the actions taken up to timen. In this paper we allow the stopping time to depend on the actions as well as the states. This makes it possible to extend the class of solution techniques in such a way that properties of the reward and transition structure depending on the actions can be exploited in the development of appropriate successive-approximation methods. For a special actions-dependent stopping time the corresponding algorithm possesses the so-called "equal-row-sum" property, which can be used, for example, to transform semi-Markov decision processes into ordinary Markov decision processes. Moreover, the equal-row-sum transformation allows for good extrapolation to upper and lower bounds and elimination of non-optimal actions. In dieser Arbeit betrachten wir mehrere Varianten der Methode der sukzessiven Approximation bei (semi-) Markoffschen Enscheidungsprozessen mit unbeschrankten Ertragen. Wessels und van Nunen haben gezeigt, daβ man eine Klasse von Verfahren mit Hilfe von randomisierten Stoppzeiten erzeugen kann, wobei die Wahrscheinlichkeit, den Prozeβ zur Zeitn zu stoppen, unabhangig von den Aktionen bis zur Zeitn ist. In der vorliegenden Arbeit durfen die Stoppzeiten von den Aktionen und den Zustanden abhangen. Dadurch ist es moglich, die Klasse der Losungsverfahren so zu erweitern, daβ Eigenschaften der Ertrage und der Ubergangsstruktur, die von den Aktionen abhangen, bei der Entwicklung von Verfahren der sukzessiven Approximation berucksichtigt werden konnen. Fur eine spezielle aktions-abhangige Stoppzeit besitzt der zugehorige Algorithmus die sogenannte "equal-row-sum" Eigenschaft, die beispielsweise Anwendung findet bei der Transformation eines semi-markoffschen Entscheidungsprozesses in einen gewohnlichen Markoffschen Entscheidungsprozeβ. Daruberhinaus gestattet die equal-row-sum Eigenschaft die Konstruktion guter unterer und oberer Schranken der Wertfunktion, sowie die Elimination nicht optimaler Aktionen.
Two new“Meganthropus” mandibles from Java

There are now eleven known mandibular pieces from the Lower and Middle Pleistocene of Java, all but one being from the Sangiran site. All of these have been assigned toHomo erectus by most authorities, while others have suggested as many as four different hominoid taxa. Two of the mandibles, Sangiran 33 (Mandible H) and“Meganthropus”D (no Sangiran number yet assigned), are described here for the first time. The two new mandibles come from the Upper Pucangan Formation and date approximately 1.2–1.4 Myr. They are morphologically compatible with other“Meganthropus” mandibles described from Java. Despite attempts by numerous authorities to place all the Sangiran hominid mandibles in the species,H. erectus, the range of variation in metric and nonmetric features of the“Meganthropus” hominids is clearly beyond the know variation found inH. erectus. “Meganthropus” could represent a speciation from the well-knownH. erectus.
Absorptive Filters for Microwave Harmonic Power

Utilizing the cutoff properties of certain lossy periodic waveguide structures, low reflection absorptive filters for harmonic power at microwave frequencies have been obtained. Various approaches to specific absorptive filters are discussed, and the experimental results presented demonstrate the validity of the concepts developed. Insertion loss of up to 50 db for second harmonic power (TE10 or TE20 mode) and less than 0.1 db for the fundamental at S-band could be accomplished using a waveguide filter of eight inches length. The VSWR is of the order of 1.5 or better throughout the entire useful frequency range. The wide band performance of the filters is characterized by the fact that satisfactory operation results if the frequency of the fundamental falls within the range of dominant TE10 mode propagation in rectangular guide, excluding the extreme edges of the band.
Carbonation of Mg powder to enhance the corrosion resistance of Mg-rich primers

Abstract This paper is a continuation of our investigation into the characteristic dichotomy of Mg-rich primers between accelerated salt-fog testing and natural weathering. Our earlier study suggested that magnesium powder reacted with atmospheric CO2 to form a protective carbonate layer on its surface. In this study, magnesium powder was treated with aqueous carbonic acid to accelerate magnesium carbonate development. The treated magnesium powder was formulated into a Mg-rich primer and evaluated for its corrosion resistance. The Mg-rich primer formulated with the treated Mg powder performed better in the salt-fog test than the control primer based on untreated Mg powder.
Ultrathin parylene-C semipermeable membranes for biomedical applications

We report here an in-depth study of the permeability of ultrathin parylene-C (0.15∓0.80 µm thick) by measuring the diffusion coefficients of FITC-dextran molecules with different molecular weights (MW). As a validation, we have successfully demonstrated the application of the ultrathin semipermeable membranes in perfusion cancer cell culture. The results show that, with a combined biocompatibility and good permeability, ultrathin parylene-C can be a promising semipermeable membrane material for biomedical applications.
Time-resolved spectroscopic investigation of emission observed during damage in the bulk of fused silica and DKDP crystals

We have investigated the flash of light that accompanies laser damage using time-resolved spectroscopy. Damage events were initiated in the bulk of both fused silica and DKDP crystals with 355-nm 3-ns pulsed radiation. Spectra from the accompanying flash were recorded in the 200-500 nm wavelength range with 5-ns temporal resolution. Ten ns following damage initiation, the spectra were found to be roughly blackbody with temperatures on the order of 5000 K to 7000 K, depending on the material studied and excitation energy used. The observed temperatures and cooling rates can be related to the size and electron density of the plasma fireball that initiates the damage event.
Fabrication and wafer testing of barber-pole and exchange-biased narrow-track MR sensors

We have designed, fabricated and tested 10μm × 15μm barber-pole biased unshielded MR sensors. Results show that strong domain activities, inherent in these small elements, produce noisy MR responses without any observable biasing effects. Furthermore, we found that these domains, caused by magnetostatic effects, can be suppressed by applying an adequate longitudinal bias field. These findings lead to the fabrication of MR sensors with longitudinal exchange-biasing and transverse barber-pole biasing. These sensors produce quiet and strongly biased MR responses.
Senseless Messaging: Advertising Images of Illegal Driving and Deviant Behavior

We review messaging within automobile advertisements that normalizes and glamorizes reckless driving behavior. Our content analysis of video advertisements illustrates the use of the automobile in ways that are both illegal and dangerous. Advertisements with hazardous driving images occur more often in our sample than all other types of marketing strategies. Messages include deviance from distributional norms (atypical vehicle use); illegal or immoral driving behaviors that put others at risk; and questionable judgments on the part of manufacturers that use advertisement imagery to increase sales while assuming little of the public costs associated with accidents, injuries, and preventable fatalities on roadways.
Formation Pathway of CuInSe2 Nanocrystals for Solar Cells

Copper, indium, and gallium chalcogenide nanocrystals (binary, ternary, and quaternary) have been used to fabricate high-efficiency thin-film solar cells. These solution-based methods are being scaled-up and may serve as the basis for the next generation of low-cost solar cells. However, the formation pathway to reach stoichiometric ternary CuInSe2 or any chalcopyrite phase ternary or quaternary nanocrystal in the system has not been investigated but may be of significant importance to improving nanocrystal growth and discovering new methods of synthesis. Here, we present the results of X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, compositional analysis, IR absorption, and mass spectrometry that reveal insights into the formation pathway of CuInSe2 nanocrystals. Starting with CuCl, InCl3, and elemental Se all dissolved in oleylamine, the overall reaction that yields CuInSe2 involves the chlorination of the hydrocarbon groups of the solvent. Further, we show that the amine and alkene functional groups in oleyla...
High-frame-rate intensified fast optically shuttered TV cameras with selected imaging applications

This paper focuses on high speed electronic/electro-optic camera development by the Applied Physics Experiments and Imaging Measurements Group (P-15) of Los Alamos National Laboratory's Physics Division over the last two decades. The evolution of TV and image intensifier sensors and fast readout fast shuttered cameras are discussed. Their use in nuclear, military, and medical imaging applications are presented. Several salient characteristics and anomalies associated with single-pulse and high repetition rate performance of the cameras/sensors are included from earlier studies to emphasize their effects on radiometric accuracy of electronic framing cameras. The Group's test and evaluation capabilities for characterization of imaging type electro-optic sensors and sensor components including Focal Plane Arrays, gated Image Intensifiers, microchannel plates, and phosphors are discussed. Two new unique facilities, the High Speed Solid State Imager Test Station and the Electron Gun Vacuum Test Chamber are described. A summary of the Group's current and developmental camera designs and R&D initiatives are included.
Creating Higher Education Academic and Information Technology Resources in an International Context

A number of contemporary factors have combined to create a situation that encourages and supports international collaboration among institutions of higher education. Factors such as the globalization of the economy, the increasingly international nature of higher education, and the development of an inexpensive and virtually worldwide system of communication, the Internet, have all played their part. This paper focuses on one aspect of international collaboration—the creation and dissemination of information resources and information/educational technologies, such as software. Movements such as Open Source and Open Access have encouraged colleges and universities to consider alternatives to the dominant model for acquiring everything from college textbooks to academic computing software. Today for-profit companies supply most such resources to institutions, faculty, and students. The open source software approach is an alternative based on collaboration between both institutions and individuals, and it is...
O-Linked β-N-Acetylglucosamine : A New Piece of the Cardioprotection Puzzle?

See related article, pages 41–49 The era of research into infarct size modification began in earnest in 1986, when Murry et al unambiguously showed that the heart could be made resistant to myocardial infarction by preconditioning it with brief periods of sublethal ischemia/reperfusion.1 There was an unmet clinical need for an intervention that could protect the ischemic heart from infarction. Sparked by the hope that if its mechanism could be understood, we surely should be able to confer this profound protection to the ischemic patient. Ischemic preconditioning soon became the object of intense investigation. More than 20 years later, we still do not fully understand its mechanism, although much has been learned about it. Nor do we have an approved drug to give to patients to make their hearts resistant to infarction. The fundamental problem with such work is that one simply doesn’t know what one doesn’t know. In 1986, little was known about mitochondrial permeability transition pores or ATP-sensitive potassium channels, structures that play important roles in the preconditioning mechanism. The way science has always worked is that we attack any new phenomenon using the tools that science has provided us up to that …
Leptogenesis in the type III seesaw mechanism

It is shown that the type III seesaw mechanism proposed recently can have certain advantages over the conventional (or type I) seesaw mechanism for leptogenesis. In particular a resonant enhancement of leptogenesis via heavy quasi-Dirac right-handed neutrino pairs can occur without a special flavor form or “texture” of the mass matrices being assumed. Some of the requirements for neutrino mixing and leptogenesis are effectively decoupled.
Comparative Outcomes Between Continuous Ambulatory and Automated Peritoneal Dialysis: A Narrative Review

Automated methods for delivering peritoneal dialysis (PD) to persons with end-stage renal disease continue to gain popularity worldwide, particularly in developed countries. However, the endeavor to automate the PD process has not been advanced on the strength of high-level evidence for superiority of automated over manual methods. This article summarizes available studies that have shed light on the evidence that compares the association of treatment with continuous ambulatory PD or automated PD (APD) with clinically meaningful outcomes. Published evidence, primarily from observational studies, has been unable to demonstrate a consistent difference in residual kidney function loss rate, peritonitis rate, maintenance of euvolemia, technique survival, mortality, or health-related quality of life in individuals undergoing continuous ambulatory PD versus APD. At the same time, the future of APD technology appears ripe for further improvement, such as the incorporation of voice commands and expanded use of telemedicine. Given these considerations, it appears that patient choice should drive the decision about PD modality.
The Reliability and Validity of the Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire

The dimensionality of career indecisiveness has continually eluded researchers for several years. These measures have been either purely theoretical or purely empirical, neglecting the other domain. A relatively new instrument, the Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ), is based on a taxonomy of decision-making difficulties. This study assesses the reliability and construct validity of the CDDQ, along with differences between decided and undecided groups. The sample included 268 university students. Convergent validity was assessed using the Career Decision Scale (CDS). Discriminant validity was assessed using measures of anxiety and social desirability. The CDDQ showed convergence with the CDS, and discriminated against both anxiety and social desirability. Differences between groups were statistically significant on most decision making difficulty scales. The results provide support for the reliability and validity of the CDDQ, suggesting that this measure may be useful in attempting to unde...
A Note on the Growth of Research in Service Operations Management

We present an empirical assessment of the productivity of individuals and institutions in terms of service operations management (SOM) research. We reviewed five mainstream operations management journals over a 17-year time period to generate a sample of 463 articles related to service operations. The results indicate that SOM research has been growing and key contributions are being made by an array of researchers and institutions.
LONG-TERM FOLLOWUP OF CHILDREN TREATED WITH DEXTRANOMER/HYALURONIC ACID COPOLYMER FOR VESICOURETERAL REFLUX

Purpose: Dextranomer/hyaluronic acid copolymer is a novel substance that has favorable properties for endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteral reflux. We assess the long-term efficacy and safety of this treatment of children.Materials and Methods: Children 1 to 15 years old with grade III or greater vesicoureteral reflux were eligible for enrollment in our study. All patients received endoscopic treatment with dextranomer/hyaluronic acid copolymer and were scheduled to have a voiding cystourethrogram 3 and 12 months after implantation. Children with reflux grade III or greater after treatment received up to 2 more implantations, and those with persistent reflux were referred for open surgery. In some cases long-term clinical followup was accompanied by a late voiding cystourethrogram.Results: A total of 228 patients received endoscopic treatment. The efficacy population was comprised of 221 children, including 67 who received 2 and 8 who received 3 implantations. Endoscopic treatment was performed without c...
Carney complex: an update

Carney complex (CNC) is a rare autosomal dominant syndrome, characterized by pigmented lesions of the skin and mucosa, cardiac, cutaneous and other myxomas and multiple endocrine tumors. The disease is caused by inactivating mutations or large deletions of the PRKAR1A gene located at 17q22-24 coding for the regulatory subunit type I alpha of protein kinase A (PKA) gene. Most recently, components of the complex have been associated with defects of other PKA subunits, such as the catalytic subunits PRKACA (adrenal hyperplasia) and PRKACB (pigmented spots, myxomas, pituitary adenomas). In this report, we review CNC, its clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and molecular etiology, including PRKAR1A mutations and the newest on PRKACA and PRKACB defects especially as they pertain to adrenal tumors and Cushing's syndrome.
Famine and Fertility

This paper will be concerned with “famine” rather than “malnutrition.” “Famine,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is “a period of extreme and general scarcity of food.” The starvation is extreme, population-wide, and limited in time. Famine is an acute episode which, if continued for long enough, will terminate in death of the population. People experience a sensation of hunger, gnawing hunger, day and night. There are psychological manifestations (irritability and apathy), anti-social behavior (suspiciousness, aggressiveness, finally cannibalism), illnesses (infections, famine oedema, osteomalacia) and death (which comes sooner to men and to those at the extremes of life than to women and the middle-aged). In the newborn, there is a reduction in mean birth weight and a decrease in viability. There is finally a reduction in fertility that can become absolute. Once food becomes available, recovery in the population is rapid.
Fault-tolerant multiagent robotic formation control exploiting system symmetries

This paper extends some prior work by the authors to address general robustness of solutions in multiagent coordination control problems. In particular, it focuses on fault-tolerant formation control. In our prior work, symmetries in the system were exploited to simplify the nonlinear Lyapunov stability analysis for symmetric systems. The type of symmetry considered is a discrete symmetry where the system is composed of many repeated instances of interacting identical agents. The results are based on Lyapunov methods, and hence are of general applicability and specifically these results are applicable to both distributed as well as non-distributed coordination methods. This paper considers the same types of systems and extends the stability results to the cases of robustness of formation stability under failure of individual agents.
Review of the Year's Publications for 2008: Social Justice Education

For the last six years, Equity & Excellence in Education (EEE) has offered an annual annotated bibliographical review of the preceding year's publications in the field of social justice education. ...
On the Language of Nature in Ludwig Tieck’s Der Runenberg

In part I of the essay, I investigate Johann Gottfried Herder’s philosophy of the origin of language, arguing that Herder’s philosophy cannot philosophically justify the natural origin of linguistic expression in man without presupposing the philosophically incomprehensible concept of what Herder himself termed “the language of nature.” In essence, Herder’s philosophy of language lacks a theory of negative representation to articulate the grounds by which it can claim to understand the limits of its own linguistic representation. My stake in making this argument becomes clear in part II of the paper, which aims to show how the German early Romantic concept of allegory transcends this philosophical problem by way of understanding the essence of linguistic expression proper rather than in the praxis of reflexive language. I then turn to the subject of Germanic runes and “nature hieroglyphs” in the German early Romantic imagination to show how the Romantics saw art and language as a common praxis in their effort to engage the mystery of what is nature. In part III, I provide a close reading of Tieck’s novella in order to substantiate the former two parts of the essay. (CG)