cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Military conquest and sovereign debt: Chile, Peru and the London bond market, 1876–1890

As a result of the War of the Pacific (1879–1883), Chile conquered Peruvian and Bolivian territories rich in nitrates and guano. We conduct econometric tests for structural breaks in the time series of the government bonds for Chile and Peru between 1876 and 1890 in order to examine the effects of the changes in resource endowments on the investors’ perceptions of the risk premia of Chilean and Peruvian securities. Our results reveal that investors were extremely pessimistic about the prospects of Chilean, and especially Peruvian debt prior to the war. Early Chilean victories that anticipated the transfer of the richly endowed provinces to Chile caused significant increases in the price of Chilean securities. But such was the low regard with which investors viewed the Peruvian government that the fall of Lima caused an increase in the price of Peruvian bonds on the hope that Chile would assume some of the responsibility for them. Endowments, reputations, and the countries’ financial conditions figure prominently as the driving forces behind the investors’ behavior.
Economic Measurements of Polysilicon for the Photovoltaic Industry: Market Competition and Manufacturing Competitiveness

Several economic metrics are presented for polysilicon in the solar photovoltaics (PV) industry. The overall level of market competition through exploration of the Herfindahl–Hirschman index and consolidation for the current polysilicon industry is quantified. In addition, for several international manufacturing locations, the most recent results in bottoms-up manufacturing cost and price modeling are shown for Siemens hydrochlorination (solar-grade), Siemens hyperpure, and fluidized bed reactor production of polysilicon. Finally, the entry barrier, which is defined as the upfront capital requirements to become a competitively sized facility, is quantified for today's polysilicon industry.
Hypocalcemic hypercalciuria during vitamin D and dihydrotachysterol therapy of hypoparathyroidism.

Hypocalcemic hypercalciuria during vitamin D and dihydrotachysterol therapy is reported in 10 patients with postoperative and idiopathic hypoparathyroidism. This phenomenon was not observed in 6 patients with pseudohypoparathyroidism. A direct effect of vitamin D and dihydrotachystcrol in decreasing tubular reabsorption of calcium is the most likely cause of such hypercalciuria and may represent a fourth action of vitamin D. In view of the common occurrence of hypocalcemic hypercalciuria, the presence of calcium in the urine (Sulkowitch test) cannot be regarded as a reliable guide to the therapy of hypoparathyroidism.
Hierarchical spacetime control

Specifying the motion of an animated linked figure such that it achieves given tasks (e.g., throwing a ball into a basket) and performs the tasks in a realistic fashion (e.g., gracefully, and following physical laws such as gravity) has been an elusive goal for computer animators. The spacetime constraints paradigm has been shown to be a valuable approach to this problem, but it suffers from computational complexity growth as creatures and tasks approach those one would like to animate. The complexity is shown to be, in part, due to the choice of finite basis with which to represent the trajectories of the generalized degrees of freedom. This paper describes new features to the spacetime constraints paradigm to address this problem.The functions through time of the generalized degrees of freedom are reformulated in a hierarchical wavelet representation. This provides a means to automatically add detailed motion only where it is required, thus minimizing the number of discrete variables. In addition the wavelet basis is shown to lead to better conditioned systems of equations and thus faster convergence.
Chemical Differentiation of Nervous and Hormonal Pancreatic Secretion

We have previously presented data to show that the secretion of pancreatic juice is continuous1 and can be clearly demonstrated in dogs if the use of ether anesthesia is avoided. We suggested then that a continuous phase of secretion is produced by means other than secretin. We are now presenting observations concerning the mechanism of secretion and the composition of pancreatic juice produced by various means. Our data confirm the observations of J. Mellanby,2 who came to conclusions very similar to ours. As new observations we offer those on spontaneous secretion, on the uncomplicated action of pilocarpin, together with more extensive analytical data including comparison with blood.To obtain juice under conditions of complete exclusion of secretin action, the entire small intestine was removed under amytal or avertin anesthesia after tying off the pylorus. This was accompanied by loss of blood (in the intestine) and considerable shock. In some cases no flow was found, while in others a slow steady secr...
Organ growth in Rett syndrome: a postmortem examination analysis.

Abstract Rett syndrome is a disorder of unknown etiology in females that manifests as severe mental and motor retardation during the first years of life. A postnatal pattern of altered growth is its earliest clinical expression. Head growth decelerates during the first year of age and is followed by a decline in somatic (height/weight) growth. The decreased occipitofrontal circumference (OFC) is reflected in decreased brain size, and measurements of the dendrites of cortical neurons suggest that a developmental and growth arrest have occurred. To further document growth in Rett syndrome, measurements of organ weights, as recorded in 39 postmortem examination studies were compared with normal organ weights for females of comparable age and height. These organ weights suggest that the pattern of growth failure in Rett syndrome, as compared with other forms of mental handicap, such as Down syndrome and Turner's syndrome, may be unique. In Rett syndrome the rate of brain growth, as derived from OFC, decelerates after birth. The increment in normal brain weight after 4 years of age, the age of the first postmortem examinations, is not observed in the Rett brain. The heart, kidneys, liver, and spleen grow at the normally defined rate until 8-12 years of age, when their growth rate decelerates, but their growth continues achieving organ weights that are appropriate for the height of the female. Adrenal weights are normal. These observations suggest that despite a generalized decreased growth in Rett syndrome the brain may be preferentially affected in this syndrome.
Boundary layers in finite thermoelasticity

In this paper, we study inhomogeneous deformations within the context of finite thermoelasticity with a view towards highlighting the developments of “boundary layer” like structures. We find that such structures manifest themselves by virtue of the material's ability to shear soften or shear stiffen. When the material moduli depend both on the temperature and the stretch, their effects can either reinforce or mitigate one another, thereby leading to the accentuation or annihilation of the boundary layer structure.
Multiple regulators control expression of the Entner-Doudoroff aldolase (Eda) of Escherichia coli.

The Escherichia coli eda gene, which encodes the Entner-Doudoroff aldolase, is central to the catabolism of several sugar acids. Here, we show that Eda synthesis is induced by growth on gluconate, glucuronate, or methyl-β-d-glucuronide; phosphate limitation; and carbon starvation. Transcription of eda initiates from three promoters, designated P1, P2, and P4, each of which is responsible for induction under different growth conditions. P1 controls eda induction on gluconate and is regulated by GntR. P2 controls eda induction on glucuronate and galacturonate and is regulated by KdgR. P4 is active under conditions of phosphate starvation and is directly controlled by PhoB. In addition, CsrA activates Eda synthesis, apparently by an indirect mechanism that may be involved in the modest changes in expression level that are associated with carbon starvation. The complex regulation of eda is discussed with respect to its several physiological roles, which apparently accommodate not only sugar acid catabolism but also detoxification of metabolites that could accumulate during starvation-induced stress.
Kernels for the Investigation of Localized Spatiotemporal Transitions of Drought with Support Vector Machines

We present and discuss several spatiotemporal kernels designed to mine real-life and simulated data in support of drought prediction. We implement and empirically validate these kernels for support vector machines. Issues related to the nature of geographic data such as autocorrelation and directionality are investigated.
An Experimental Study on User Satisfaction and Comparison Shopping Agents for Product Evaluation

Comparison-shopping agents (CSA) are intelligent agents designed to find product information based on the search criteria specified by customers. This research evaluated the effects of CSA on customers’ purchasing decisions. The determinants of user satisfaction are analyzed by comparing two different technologies, CSA and search engines, in a particular task of finding relevant information for purchasing books. Information quality and system quality were the two dependent variables in the research model. The independent variable was information search technology: a search engine or a CSA. Two experimental groups were used. The first group used a search engine and the second group used comparison-shopping agents during the experiment to purchase books. First group was not allowed to use any comparison-shopping agent. The sample size was 57 and 53 respectively for each group. Sample was randomly selected among students and faculty members of a Mexican university. Data analysis are conducted using t-test.
The Adaptability of Area-Probability Sampling to Public Opinion Measurement

Recent years have seen an increasing interest in probability sampling, and some proponents of the method have urged its use in public opinion surveys. This article reports on a comparative study of area-probability and quota sampling, undertaken to determine the adaptability of the former method to opinion research. The authors' general conclusion is that while probability sampling is sound in theory, its practicability for opinion measurement is open to question. The call-back problem and the dangers of repeated interviewing of the same individuals are cited as particularly difficult aspects of the method. Dr. Haner is Associate Professor of Psychology at Grinnell College. Dr. Meier of the University of Iowa directed the study.
Opportunistic source coding for data gathering in wireless sensor networks

We propose a jointly opportunistic source coding and opportunistic routing (OSCOR) protocol for correlated data gathering in wireless sensor networks. OSCOR improves data gathering efficiency by exploiting opportunistic data compression and cooperative diversity associated with wireless broadcast advantage. The design of OSCOR involves several challenging issues across different network protocol layers. At the MAC layer, sensor nodes need to coordinate wireless transmission and packet forwarding to exploit multiuser diversity in packet reception. At the network layer, in order to achieve high diversity and compression gains, routing must be based on a metric that is dependent on not only link-quality but also compression opportunities. At the application layer, sensor nodes need a distributed source coding algorithm that has low coordination overhead and does not require the source distributions to be known. OSCOR provides practical solutions to these challenges incorporating a slightly modified 802.11 MAC, a distributed source coding scheme based on network coding and Lempel-Ziv coding, and a node compression ratio dependent metric combined with a modified Dijkstra's algorithm for path selection. We evaluate the performance of OSCOR through simulations, and show that OSCOR can potentially reduce power consumption by over 30% compared with an existing greedy scheme, routing driven compression, in a 4 x 4 grid network.
Is Technical Analysis Profitable forIndividual Currency Traders

In this article, the authors examine whether technical currency trading by individual currency traders is profitable. The results show technical analysis is negatively associated with performance. Furthermore, the technical trading model developed adequately describes the cross-section of returns for individual currency traders. This result arises because individual currency traders use well-known technical indicators to trade currencies, which implies that such currency traders suffer from reduced performance.
What constitutes adequate surgical therapy for benign nodular goiter

Background It is our hypothesis that the extent of thyroid resection for benign nodular thyroid disease (NTD) should be based on the extent of disease. Methods Patients operated on for benign NTD from 1990 through 2007 were divided into 3 groups: those who underwent lobectomy for unilateral NTD (Group 1); near-total or total thyroidectomy for bilateral NTD (Group 2); and reoperation for NTD initially treated at other institutions (Group 3). The incidence of recurrence was determined for Groups 1 and 2 and the timing of diagnosis was compared to Group 3. Potential risk factors for recurrent disease were examined. Results Five hundred forty-five patients were operated on for benign NTD. Contralateral disease was excluded in Group 1 patients using ultrasound (47.7%) and/or intraoperative palpation (100%). Five (1.9%) of 260 patients in Group 1 and 1 (0.4%) of 248 patients in Group 2 developed recurrent NTD after 7 ± 4 (median = 8) and 4 y compared to a mean 19 ± 11 (median = 20) y for the 37 patients in Group 3 following 1 to 3 previous thyroidectomies. Recurrent disease was diagnosed by physical exam in 24 (55.8%) and imaging in 19 (44.2%) patients. Thyroid hormone was required for postsurgical hypothyroidism in 70 (26.9%) patients in Group 1. Conclusion Thyroid lobectomy is optimal therapy when benign NTD is limited to 1 lobe, as evidenced by a 2% recurrence rate and maintenance of euthyroidism in 73% of patients. When NTD is bilateral, total thyroidectomy is indicated to eliminate recurrence, underscoring the importance of routine preoperative ultrasound.
A 0.2°/hr Micro-Gyroscope with Automatic CMOS Mode Matching

A 3V CMOS IC and interface architecture for automatic mode matching of a high-Q silicon tuning-fork gyroscope is presented. Using this scheme, the frequencies of the drive and sense resonant modes of the gyroscope are automatically matched to yield an effective Q of 36,000 in the sense mode. The angular rate sensor yields a bias drift of 0.27deg/hr and a scale factor of 88mV/deg/s. The IC consumes 6mW and has an area of 2.25 mm2.
Device mismatch in BiCMOS technologies

Device mismatch is fundamental to precision analog design. However, the geometric and bias dependency is often misunderstood and simplistic models lead to overdesign. This paper provides an overview of the physical basis behind mismatch for devices used in BiCMOS technologies. This model is then used to demonstrate some non-obvious effects in circuit application.
Thymic Size and Lymphocyte Restoration in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection after 48 Weeks of Zidovudine, Lamivudine, and Ritonavir Therapy

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with progressive loss of circulating CD4 + lymphocytes. Treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has led to increases in CD4 + T lymphocytes of naive (CD45RA + 62L + ) and memory (CD45R0 + RA - ) phenotypes. Thymic computerized tomography scans were obtained on 30 individuals with HIV disease to investigate the role of the thymus in cellular restoration after 48 weeks of HAART. Individuals with abundant thymic tissue had higher naive CD4 + T lymphocyte counts at weeks 2-24 after therapy than individuals with minimal thymic tissue. Individuals with abundant thymic tissue had significantly larger increases in naive CD4 + cells during the first 4 weeks of therapy. These individuals were also more likely to experience viral rebound despite comparable initial declines in plasma HIV-1 RNA. These findings suggest that there is a complex relationship among the thymus, viral replication, and lymphocyte restoration after application of HAART in HIV disease.
Resolving motion ambiguities

We address the problem of optical flow reconstruction and in particular the problem of resolving ambiguities near edges. They occur due to (i) the aperture problem and (ii) the occlusion problem, where pixels on both sides of an intensity edge are assigned the same velocity estimates (and confidence). However, these measurements are correct for just one side of the edge (the non occluded one). Our approach is to introduce an uncertainty field with respect to the estimates and confidence measures. We note that the confidence measures are large at intensity edges and larger at the convex sides of the edges, i.e. inside corners, than at the concave side. We resolve the ambiguities through local interactions via coupled Markov random fields (MRF). The result is the detection of motion for regions of images with large global convexity.
Structure and function of endosomes in plant cells

Endosomes are a heterogeneous collection of organelles that function in the sorting and delivery of internalized material from the cell surface and the transport of materials from the Golgi to the lysosome or vacuole. Plant endosomes have some unique features, with an organization distinct from that of yeast or animal cells. Two clearly defined endosomal compartments have been studied in plant cells, the trans-Golgi network (equivalent to the early endosome) and the multivesicular body (equivalent to the late endosome), with additional endosome types (recycling endosome, late prevacuolar compartment) also a possibility. A model has been proposed in which the trans-Golgi network matures into a multivesicular body, which then fuses with the vacuole to release its cargo. In addition to basic trafficking functions, endosomes in plant cells are known to function in maintenance of cell polarity by polar localization of hormone transporters and in signaling pathways after internalization of ligand-bound receptors. These signaling functions are exemplified by the BRI1 brassinosteroid hormone receptor and by receptors for pathogen elicitors that activate defense responses. After endocytosis of these receptors from the plasma membrane, endosomes act as a signaling platform, thus playing an essential role in plant growth, development and defense responses. Here we describe the key features of plant endosomes and their differences from those of other organisms and discuss the role of these organelles in cell polarity and signaling pathways.
High Performance P-doped InAs Tunnel Injection Quantum Dash Lasers on InP

We have investigated the molecular beam epitaxial growth and characteristics of p-doped InAs tunnel injection quantum dash lasers on InP (001) substrates. Significantly improved photoluminescence intensity and narrow linewidth (~ 50 meV) are measured from multiple InAs quantum dash layers grown under optimized conditions. The lasers are characterized by very large T0 (204 K), large modulation bandwidth (f-3B = 12 GHz), and near-zero alpha-parameter and very low chirp (~ 0.3 Aring)
Multiperm: shuffling multiple sequence alignments while approximately preserving dinucleotide frequencies.

Assessing the statistical significance of structured RNA predicted from multiple sequence alignments relies on the existence of a good null model. We present here a random shuffling algorithm, Multiperm, that preserves not only the gap and local conservation structure in alignments of arbitrarily many sequences, but also the approximate dinucleotide frequencies. No shuffling algorithm that simultaneously preserves these three characteristics of a multiple (beyond pairwise) alignment has been available to date. As one benchmark, we show that it produces shuffled exonic sequences having folding free energy closer to native sequences than shuffled alignments that do not preserve dinucleotide frequencies. Availability: The Multiperm GNU C++ source code is available at http://www.anandam.name/multiperm Contact: anandam@u.washington.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Determinants of Patient Satisfaction and Willingness to Return With Emergency Care

Abstract Study objective: To identify emergency department process of care measures that are significantly associated with satisfaction and willingness to return. Methods: Patient satisfaction and willingness to return at 5 urban, teaching hospital EDs were assessed. Baseline questionnaire, chart review, and 10-day follow-up telephone interviews were performed, and 38 process of care measures and 30 patient characteristic were collected for each respondent. Overall satisfaction was modeled with ordinal logistic regression. Willingness to return was modeled with logistic regression. Results: During a 1-month study period, 2,899 (84% of eligible) on-site questionnaires were completed. Telephone interviews were completed by 2,333 patients (80% of patients who completed a questionnaire). Patient-reported problems that were highly correlated with satisfaction included help not received when needed (odds ratio [OR] 0.345; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.261 to 0.456), poor explanation of causes of problem (OR 0.434; 95% CI 0.345 to 0.546), not told about potential wait time (OR 0.479; 95% CI 0.399 to 0.577), not told when to resume normal activities (OR 0.691; 95% CI 0.531 to 0.901), poor explanation of test results (OR 0.647; 95% CI 0.495 to 0.845), and not told when to return to the ED (OR 0.656; 95% CI 0.494 to 0.871). Other process of care measures correlated with satisfaction include nonacute triage status (OR 0.701, 95% CI 0.578 to 0.851) and number of treatments in the ED (OR 1.164 per treatment; 95% CI 1.073 to 1.263). Patient characteristics that significantly predicted less satisfaction included younger age and black race. Determinants of willingness to return include poor explanation of causes of problem (OR 0.328; 95% CI 0.217 to 0.495), unable to leave a message for family (OR 0.391; 95% CI 0.226 to 0.677), not told about potential wait time (OR 0.561; 95% CI 0.381 to 0.825), poor explanation of test results (OR 0.541; 95% CI 0.347 to 0.846), and help not received when needed (OR 0.537; 95% CI 0.340 to 0.846). Patients with a chief complaint of hand laceration were less willing to return compared with a reference population of patients with abdominal pain. Willingness to return is strongly predicted by overall satisfaction (OR 2.601; 95% CI 2.292 to 2.951). Conclusion: These data identify specific process of care measures that are determinants of patient satisfaction and willingness to return. Efforts to increase patient satisfaction and willingness to return should focus on improving ED performance on these identified process measures. [Sun BC, Adams J, Orav EJ, Rucker DW, Brennan TA, Burstin HR. Determinants of patient satisfaction and willingness to return with emergency care. Ann Emerg Med. May 2000;35:426-434.]
Atomistic Finite Deformation Simulations: A Discussion on Length Scale Effects in Relation to Mechanical Stresses

In this study, atomistic finite deformation calculations employing the Embedded Atom Method show three items of interest related to continuum field theory. First, a spatial size scale effect on the yield stress is found. In these calculations, mechanical yield point occurred from dislocation initiation at the edge of the numerical specimens. The spatial size scale continued to affect the plastic response up to strains of 30 percent in simple shear for nickel oriented at . The second point is related to the continuum mechanics observation about oscillating global shear stress under simple shear conditions is shown to dampen as the spatial size scale increases. As the spatial length scale increases, the continuum rotational effect coupled with the increase in dislocation population reduces the oscillatory behavior. This confirms the notion proposed by Bammann and Aifantis (1987) in that when more dislocations are initiated with different orientations of the Burger's vectors then the oscillations decrease. Finally, a length scale bridging idea is proposed by relating a continuum single degree offreedom loss coefficient, which relates the plastic energy to the total strain energy, to varying sizes of blocks of atoms. This study illustrates the usefulness of employing the Embedded Atom Method to study mechanisms related to continuum mechanics quantities.
Integrating Professional Management into a Family Owned Business

Under which conditions can professional knowledge and values be integrated successfully into the organization and management of a family firm?
Random Walks to Identify Anomalous Free-Form Spatial Scan Windows

Often, it is required to identify anomalous windows over a spatial region that reflect unusual rate of occurrence of a specific event of interest. A spatial scan statistic-based approach essentially considers a scan window and computes the statistic of a parameter(s) of interest, and identifies anomalous windows by moving the scan window in the region. While this approach has been successfully employed in identifying anomalous windows, earlier proposals adopting spatial scan statistic suffer from two limitations: (1) In general, the scan window should be of a regular shape (e.g., circle, rectangle, cylinder). Thus, most approaches are capable of identifying anomalous windows of fixed shapes only. However, the region of anomaly, in general, is not necessarily of a regular shape. Recent proposals to identify windows of irregular shapes identify windows much larger than the true anomalies or penalize large-sized windows. (2) These techniques take into account autocorrelation among spatial data but not spatial heterogeneity. As a result, they often result in inaccurate anomalous windows. To address these limitations, in this paper, we propose a random-walk-based Free-Form Spatial Scan Statistic (FS3). We construct a weighted Delaunay nearest neighbor (WDNN) graph to capture both spatial autocorrelation and heterogeneity. We then use random walks to identify natural free-form scan windows that are not restricted to a predefined shape. We use spatial scan statistics to identify anomalous windows and prove that they are not random but indeed are formed as a result of an anomaly. Application of FS3 on real data sets has shown that it can identify more refined anomalous windows with better likelihood ratio of it being an anomaly than those identified by earlier spatial scan statistic approaches.
Initial in Situ Measurements of Perennial Meltwater Storage in the Greenland Firn Aquifer

A perennial storage of water in a firn aquifer was discovered in southeast Greenland in 2011. We present the first in situ measurements of the aquifer, including densities and temperatures. Water was present at depths between approx. 12 and 37m and amounted to 18.7 +/- 0.9 kg in the extracted core. The water filled the firn to capacity at approx. 35m. Measurements show the aquifer temperature remained at the melting point, representing a large heat reservoir within the firn. Using model results of liquid water extent and aquifer surface depth from radar measurements, we extend our in situ measurements to the Greenland ice sheet. The estimated water volume is 140 +/- 20 Gt, representing approx. 0.4mm of sea level rise (SLR). It is unknown if the aquifer temporary buffers SLR or contributes to SLR through drainage and/or ice dynamics.
Lawyers as Transaction Cost Engineers

Recognition that organizational and transactional structure can be understood as mechanisms that economize on information, bargaining, and agency costs has given rise to a large and important literature that explains the existence and efficiency of particular institutional arrangements by reference to the transaction cost properties of the activity involved. The question, then, is what mechanisms drive the transaction cost economizing process itself. One might simply rely on the assumption of competition. But it would be strange if an economic orientation that focused on market imperfections to explain observed patterns of organizing economic activity fell back on the invisible hand (and the institutionless features) of market driven selection to explain the mechanisms of transaction cost economizing. This paper examines the role of business lawyers as transaction cost engineers whose function is to act as organizational intermediaries, designing transaction cost efficient structures through which to carry out productive activities.
Oxidants differentially regulate the heat shock response

Cells, animals, and humans respond to hyperthermia through the synthesis of a family of proteins termed heat shock proteins (HSPs). Because hyperthermic stress may also result in mitochondrial uncoupling and the generation of reactive oxygen species, we wondered whether oxidant stress was sufficient to increase cellular levels of HSP70. HSP70 was detected in cells heated or treated with menadione but not in those treated with hydrogen perioxide or xanthine/xanthine oxidase. We speculate that oxidant stress from menadione exposure is qualitatively different from exposure from hydrogen peroxide or xanthine/xanthine oxidase.
Irradiation of the potential cancer stem cell niches in the adult brain improves progression-free survival of patients with malignant glioma

Glioblastoma is the most common brain tumor in adults. The mechanisms leading to glioblastoma are not well understood but animal studies support that inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in neural stem cells (NSC) is required and sufficient to induce glial cancers. This suggests that the NSC niches in the brain may harbor cancer stem cells (CSCs), Thus providing novel therapy targets. We hypothesize that higher radiation doses to these NSC niches improve patient survival by eradicating CSCs. 55 adult patients with Grade 3 or Grade 4 glial cancer treated with radiotherapy at UCLA between February of 2003 and May of 2009 were included in this retrospective study. Using radiation planning software and patient radiological records, the SVZ and SGL were reconstructed for each of these patients and dosimetry data for these structures was calculated. Using Kaplan-Meier analysis we show that patients whose bilateral subventricular zone (SVZ) received greater than the median SVZ dose (= 43 Gy) had a significant improvement in progression-free survival if compared to patients who received less than the median dose (15.0 vs 7.2 months PFS; P = 0.028). Furthermore, a mean dose >43 Gy to the bilateral SVZ yielded a hazard ratio of 0.73 (P = 0.019). Importantly, similarly analyzing total prescription dose failed to illustrate a statistically significant impact. Our study leads us to hypothesize that in glioma targeted radiotherapy of the stem cell niches in the adult brain could yield significant benefits over radiotherapy of the primary tumor mass alone and that damage caused by smaller fractions of radiation maybe less efficiently detected by the DNA repair mechanisms in CSCs.
A nonconvex optimization framework for low rank matrix estimation

We study the estimation of low rank matrices via nonconvex optimization. Compared with convex relaxation, nonconvex optimization exhibits superior empirical performance for large scale instances of low rank matrix estimation. However, the understanding of its theoretical guarantees are limited. In this paper, we define the notion of projected oracle divergence based on which we establish sufficient conditions for the success of nonconvex optimization. We illustrate the consequences of this general framework for matrix sensing. In particular, we prove that a broad class of nonconvex optimization algorithms, including alternating minimization and gradient-type methods, geometrically converge to the global optimum and exactly recover the true low rank matrices under standard conditions.
A Role for IFITM Proteins in Restriction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

The interferon (IFN)-induced transmembrane (IFITM) proteins are critical mediators of the host antiviral response. Here, we expand the role of IFITM proteins to host defense against intracellular bacterial infection by demonstrating that they restrict Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) intracellular growth. Simultaneous knockdown of IFITM1, IFITM2, and IFITM3 by RNAi significantly enhances MTb growth in human monocytic and alveolar/epithelial cells, whereas individual overexpression of each IFITM impairs MTb growth in these cell types. Furthermore, MTb infection, Toll-like receptor 2 and 4 ligands, and several proinflammatory cytokines induce IFITM1-3 gene expression in human myeloid cells. We find that IFITM3 co-localizes with early and, in particular, late MTb phagosomes, and overexpression of IFITM3 enhances endosomal acidification in MTb-infected monocytic cells. These findings provide evidence that the antiviral IFITMs participate in the restriction of mycobacterial growth, and they implicate IFITM-mediated endosomal maturation in its antimycobacterial activity.
Metabolic acid-base influences on renal thiazide receptor density

The renal responses to metabolic acidosis/alkalosis involve changes in the proximal tubule, loop of Henle, and collecting ducts. We tested for acid- or base-induced changes in the distal convoluted...
Integration of the head and trunk segmentation systems controls cephalic furrow formation in Drosophila

Genetic and molecular analyses of patterning of the Drosophila embryo have shown that the process of segmentation of the head is fundamentally different from the process of segmentation of the trunk. The cephalic furrow (CF), one of the first morphological manifestations of the patterning process, forms at the juxtaposition of these two patterning systems. We report here that the initial step in CF formation is a change in shape and apical positioning of a single row of cells. The anteroposterior position of these initiator cells may be defined by the overlapping expression of the head gap gene buttonhead (btd) and the primary pair-rule gene even-skipped (eve). Re-examination of the btd and eve phenotypes in live embryos indicated that both genes are required for CF formation. Further, Eve expression in initiator cells was found to be dependent upon btd activity. The control of eve expression by btd in these cells is the first indication of a new level of integrated regulation that interfaces the head and trunk segmentation systems. In conjunction with previous data on the btd and eve embryonic phenotypes, our results suggest that interaction between these two genes both controls initiation of a specific morphogenetic movement that separates two morphogenetic fields and contributes to patterning the hinge region that demarcates the procephalon from the segmented germ band.
All that Glitters Is Not Gold

Millions of people visit millions of Web pages each day and are treated to an amazing array of on line features and functions. Perhaps the most powerful feature is sheer information propagation. There is no better way to “get the word out” than by using the World Wide Web or by delivering it using e-mail. Health care is certainly no exception—it, too, is an industry that wants to get its message out. In fact, medicine is probably one of the most frequently visited topics on the Internet, with one in three Americans in 1999 using the Internet to obtain medical information.1 At present, however, there is no means of assuring that what is presented on health-related Internet sites is scientifically valid. In addition to a large number of misleading Web pages, the Internet is host to a number of evil entities, such as viruses, hackers, and computer crashes. Villains, con artists, and stalkers find a home on the Web as well. All that glitters on the World Wide Web is not gold, and some suggestions for protecting yourself are presented in this chapter.
AtKC1 and CIPK23 Synergistically Modulate AKT1-Mediated Low-Potassium Stress Responses in Arabidopsis

In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the Shaker K(+) channel AKT1 conducts K(+) uptake in root cells, and its activity is regulated by CBL1/9-CIPK23 complexes as well as by the AtKC1 channel subunit. CIPK23 and AtKC1 are both involved in the AKT1-mediated low-K(+) (LK) response; however, the relationship between them remains unclear. In this study, we screened suppressors of low-K(+) sensitive [lks1 (cipk23)] and isolated the suppressor of lks1 (sls1) mutant, which suppressed the leaf chlorosis phenotype of lks1 under LK conditions. Map-based cloning revealed a point mutation in AtKC1 of sls1 that led to an amino acid substitution (G322D) in the S6 region of AtKC1. The G322D substitution generated a gain-of-function mutation, AtKC1(D), that enhanced K(+) uptake capacity and LK tolerance in Arabidopsis. Structural prediction suggested that glycine-322 is highly conserved in K(+) channels and may function as the gating hinge of plant Shaker K(+) channels. Electrophysiological analyses revealed that, compared with wild-type AtKC1, AtKC1(D) showed enhanced inhibition of AKT1 activity and strongly reduced K(+) leakage through AKT1 under LK conditions. In addition, phenotype analysis revealed distinct phenotypes of lks1 and atkc1 mutants in different LK assays, but the lks1 atkc1 double mutant always showed a LK-sensitive phenotype similar to that of akt1 This study revealed a link between CIPK-mediated activation and AtKC1-mediated modification in AKT1 regulation. CIPK23 and AtKC1 exhibit distinct effects; however, they act synergistically and balance K(+) uptake/leakage to modulate AKT1-mediated LK responses in Arabidopsis.
Tylenol®/Codeine (McNeil)

Acetaminophen is a non-narcotic analgesic and antipyretic. Codeine is a narcotic with analgesic and antitussive action.
Linear Viscoelasticity and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy of Polyether–Ester–Sulfonate Copolymer Ionomers

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and linear viscoelasticity (LVE) were used to characterize amorphous copolyester ionomers synthesized via condensation of sulfonated phthalates with m...
Reaction of folic acid with single-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract The oxygen-containing functional groups on oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are used to covalently bond folic acid molecules to the SWNTs. Infrared spectroscopy confirms intact molecular binding to the SWNTs through the formation of an amide bond between a carboxylic acid group on an SWNT and the primary amine group of folic acid. The folic acid-functionalized SWNTs are readily dispersible in water and phosphate-buffered saline, and the dispersions are stable for a period of two weeks or longer. These folic acid-functionalized SWNTs offer potential for use as biocompatible SWNTs.
Treating Persistent Henoch-Schonlein Purpura Nephritis by Injecting Methylprednisolone into Intra-Renal Capsule in Children

Objective To evaluate the results of treating the persistent Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis(HSPN) by injecting methylprednisolone into intra-renal capsule in children.Methods Twenty-two patients(aged from 6 to 13 years) with persistent HSPN were randomly divided into 3 groups.Group I was treated with prednisone;group Ⅱ was treated with high dosage methylprednisolone by venous injection,while group Ⅲ was treated by injecting methylprednisolone into intra-renal capsule.The 24 h urinary protein excretion,the levels of serum albumin and creatinine,or the blood cholesterole in children with persistent HSPN were detected at the beginning,4 weeks and 8 weeks of the study.The blood pressure,body weight were detected in the study duration.Results The values of 24 h urinary protein excretion were(2.35±1.09),(0.97±0.37),and(0.99±0.52) g(P0.01) in patients in 3 groups at 4 weeks.At 8 weeks,the values of 24 h urinary protein excretion were(2.13±1.68),(1.57±0.89) and(0.19±0.11) g(P0.05) in the patients in three groups.The level of serum albumin and the blood cholesterole came back normal at the end of the study in group Ⅲ patients.Conclusion The urinary protein excretion can be decreased in children with persistent HSPN by injecting methylprednisolone into intra-renal.
[Treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease].

The overall goal of all therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer s disease (AD) is the optimisation of the adaptive functions and quality of life of these patients. The general strategy for the use of pharmacological interventions in the treatment of neuropsychiatric manifestations of AD includes the following: 1) An exhaustive evaluation of the psychiatric symptomatology; 2) Establish a hierachy of the simptoms to treat based on their severity of symptoms and on their impact on the caregiver; 3) The identification of an adequate agent based on the type of symptoms and subject s characteristics; 4) The initial use of low doses with gradual titration, and 5) Changing one drug at a time. Regarding psychotic symptons, the introduction of new agents (e.g., risperidone) has replaced the use of traditional treatments (e.g., thioridazine) in patients with AD. The presence of psychomotor agitation and aggression can be treated with great variety of drugs, such as antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and sedatives. Selective serotonine re uptake inhibitors are the treatment of choice for depressive symptomatology. The cholinesterase inhibitors have shown to be useful in the treatment of hallucinations, anxiety and apathy.
Long-Term Pioglitazone Treatment for Patients With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND The metabolic defects of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and prediabetes or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) seem to be specifically targeted by pioglitazone. However, information about its long-term use in this population is limited. OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy and safety of long-term pioglitazone treatment in patients with NASH and prediabetes or T2DM. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00994682). SETTING University hospital. PARTICIPANTS Patients (n = 101) with prediabetes or T2DM and biopsy-proven NASH were recruited from the general population and outpatient clinics. INTERVENTION All patients were prescribed a hypocaloric diet (500-kcal/d deficit from weight-maintaining caloric intake) and then randomly assigned to pioglitazone, 45 mg/d, or placebo for 18 months, followed by an 18-month open-label phase with pioglitazone treatment. MEASUREMENTS The primary outcome was a reduction of at least 2 points in the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score in 2 histologic categories without worsening of fibrosis. Secondary outcomes included other histologic outcomes, hepatic triglyceride content measured by magnetic resonance and proton spectroscopy, and metabolic parameters. RESULTS Among patients randomly assigned to pioglitazone, 58% achieved the primary outcome (treatment difference, 41 percentage points [95% CI, 23 to 59 percentage points]) and 51% had resolution of NASH (treatment difference, 32 percentage points [CI, 13 to 51 percentage points]) (P < 0.001 for each). Pioglitazone treatment also was associated with improvement in individual histologic scores, including the fibrosis score (treatment difference, -0.5 [CI, -0.9 to 0.0]; P = 0.039); reduced hepatic triglyceride content from 19% to 7% (treatment difference, -7 percentage points [CI, -10 to -4 percentage points]; P < 0.001); and improved adipose tissue, hepatic, and muscle insulin sensitivity (P < 0.001 vs. placebo for all). All 18-month metabolic and histologic improvements persisted over 36 months of therapy. The overall rate of adverse events did not differ between groups, although weight gain was greater with pioglitazone (2.5 kg vs. placebo). LIMITATION Single-center study. CONCLUSION Long-term pioglitazone treatment is safe and effective in patients with prediabetes or T2DM and NASH. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE Burroughs Wellcome Fund and American Diabetes Association.
‘I leave a page half-writ’

According to Foucault, the twentieth century has continued unabated the nineteenth’s obsession with constructing the truth of sex. For us, as for the Victorians, sex must yield stable, basic truths about ourselves, our identities. We, too, turn practices into narratives, transitory acts into whole truths. Foucault’s oft-discussed example, the creation of the homosexual as an essential, defined, limited — and, in a homophobic society, limiting — identity, has its parallel today in the continuing struggle to define or normalize — by which we control the meaning of — lesbian or gay experience.1 This intervention to free forms of sexuality made invisible by the heterosexual, married norm has, however, a price: in the name of escaping their repression and gaining our freedom, it oversimplifies the rhetorical strategies of those nineteenth-century women and men who simultaneously participated in and resisted the dominant cultural discourses and practices. This essay explores some of these complex strategies for narrating desire by reading the tactical deployment of sexuality in the texts and experience (constructed for us through texts) of ‘Michael Field’, the pseudonym of two late Victorian women who loved each other and collaborated on poetry and drama. In their 1893 book of verse, Underneath the Bough, the two poets have anticipated the desire of both Victorian and modern critics to put their poetry into narratives of sexuality, the compulsion to turn sex into discourse (to use Foucault’s phrase), on the one hand, and have both participated in and resisted that play, on the other. Their evasive strategy depends upon their awareness of what we would now call ‘reader-response’ — the reader’s desire to turn parts into wholes, a sequence of lyrics into narrative, to ‘fill in’ an ‘incomplete’ text with interpretation.
CHAPTER 13 – Herbicides and Plants

This chapter reviews the environmental, chemical, and physiological factors that affect herbicide activity and selectivity. Many aspects of application are involved in successful spraying, including forward speed, pressure, and nozzle tip orifice size, as well as the importance of herbicide drift and volatility. The effects of moisture, temperature, and light on herbicide action are also covered.
Juan Luis Vives as the "Second Quintilian": Transforming Liberal Arts Learning into Christian Piety

For centuries, Christian teachers have looked to the ancient Roman rhetorician Quintilian (35–96 CE) for instructional guidance concerning the liberal arts, reading his Institutio Oratoria for its recognized wisdom. Given its all-embracing system of formative instruction, emphasizing the creation of the “vir bonus dicendi peritus,” Quintilian’s opus attracted the interest of Christians committed to virtue, regardless of the incongruities between pagan and religious ideals; and from the fifth century until the Renaissance, the educational views and methods of the Institutio greatly influenced Western thinking. As W. Martin Bloomer perceptively declares, “The treatise has an unrivaled importance for the legacy of educational thinking.” One of the most notable Renaissance scholars to be inspired by this ancient proponent of liberal learning and pedagogy was Juan Luis Vives (1492–1540), who became one of the leading humanists of Northern Europe. Quintilian’s sway upon Vives’s own thinking and writing proved to be so prominent and consequential that his contemporaries described him as “the second Quintilian.” Vives adapted many of the educational concepts and practices of his Roman guide for a distinctly Christian purpose, namely the cultivation of piety; and his innovative didactic appropriations, largely overlooked, warrant further consideration.