cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Brain-Spleen Inflammatory Coupling: A Literature Review.

Recent evidence suggests a link between brain injury and the autonomic release of pro-inflammatory cytokines by resident macrophages in the spleen. This phenomenon, termed “brainspleen inflammatory coupling,” has garnered attention from scientific and medical communities interested in developing novel treatments for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Cholinergic stimulation of the α7-subunit nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7NAchR) on splenic macrophages has been shown to inhibit their release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This inhibition, mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system, has been shown to improve outcomes in animal models of sepsis, stroke, and TBI. As evidence of a beneficial role of splenic inhibition grows, new treatment strategies might be applied to many medical conditions involving neuroinflammation, a process that contributes to further neurological deterioration.
Disputed Ownership: Parties, Issues, and Traits in the Minds of Voters

Is party “ownership” of issues and traits manifest in the minds of voters in ways that could generate the oft-hypothesized implications for mass and elite electoral behavior? We specify two ways in which it may be: party reputations refer to the association of a trait or issue with a party; candidate stereotyping requires that party labels prompt differential assignment of attributes or competencies to candidates. We develop a quantitative measure of both ownership types, and apply it to issues and traits. New national survey data provide the first evidence that party reputation ownership exists for issues and traits. New experimental tests reveal evidence of candidate stereotyping for issues, but not traits. Voters associate some traits more with one party, but may not assign them to candidates based upon party label, demonstrating a key difference in the nature and likely implications of issue and trait ownership.
The Parasite in the House: “Exotic” Inventories and Domestic Performance in Volpone

This essay explores the performative nature of probate inventories in the early modern period through a reading of Mosca's “taking an inventory” in the final act of Volpone. I argue that the capacious divide between the items listed and the domestic subject, or interior, with which we associate them, is not between intact subjects and objects, but rather between raw materials, physical and rhetorical, which are stitched together through the performance of the inventory, in an exercise of oeconomia, or “management of the household.” Jonson deftly exploits the overlap between the probate inventory and the commonplace book, as storage systems of material possessions and rhetorical copia, respectively, in order to emphasize how both contribute to managing flows of words, desires, bodies, and things in the household. In Jonson's play, the rhetorical motives of copia combine with the experiential mobility of the inventory to define relationships within the domestic space. In the process, Volpone radically desta...
Evidence for opposing roles of Celsr3 and Vangl2 in glutamatergic synapse formation

The signaling mechanisms that choreograph the assembly of the highly asymmetric pre- and postsynaptic structures are still poorly defined. Using synaptosome fractionation, immunostaining, and coimmunoprecipitation, we found that Celsr3 and Vangl2, core components of the planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway, are localized at developing glutamatergic synapses and interact with key synaptic proteins. Pyramidal neurons from the hippocampus of Celsr3 knockout mice exhibit loss of ∼50% of glutamatergic synapses, but not inhibitory synapses, in culture. Wnts are known regulators of synapse formation, and our data reveal that Wnt5a inhibits glutamatergic synapses formed via Celsr3. To avoid affecting earlier developmental processes, such as axon guidance, we conditionally knocked out Celsr3 in the hippocampus 1 week after birth. The CA1 neurons that lost Celsr3 also showed a loss of ∼50% of glutamatergic synapses in vivo without affecting the inhibitory synapses assessed by miniature excitatory postsynaptic current (mEPSC) and electron microscopy. These animals displayed deficits in hippocampus-dependent behaviors in adulthood, including spatial learning and memory and fear conditioning. In contrast to Celsr3 conditional knockouts, we found that the conditional knockout of Vangl2 in the hippocampus 1 week after birth led to a large increase in synaptic density, as evaluated by mEPSC frequency and spine density. PCP signaling is mediated by multiple core components with antagonizing functions. Our results document the opposing roles of Celsr3 and Vangl2 in glutamatergic synapse formation.
No Thermalization without Correlations

The proof of the long-standing conjecture is presented that Markovian quantum master equations are at odds with quantum thermodynamics under conventional assumptions of fluctuation-dissipation theorems (implying a translation invariant dissipation). Specifically, except for identified systems, persistent system-bath correlations of at least one kind, spatial or temporal, are obligatory for thermalization. A systematic procedure is proposed to construct translation invariant bath models producing steady states that well approximate thermal states. A quantum optical scheme for the laboratory assessment of the developed procedure is outlined.
A Fall Detector Based on Ultra-Wideband Radar Sensing

Falls in the elderly have been recognized worldwide as a major public health problem. Nevertheless, falls cannot be detected efficiently yet, due to open issues on both sensing and processing sides. The most promising sensing approaches raise concerns for privacy issues (e.g., video-based approaches) or low acceptability rate (e.g., wearable approaches); whereas on the processing side, the commonly used methodologies are based on supervised techniques trained with both positive (falls) and negative (ADL-Activity of Daily Living) samples, both simulated by healthy young subjects. As a result of such a training protocol, fall detectors inevitably exhibit lower performance when used in real-world situations, in which monitored subjects are older adults. The aim of this study is to investigate a fully privacy-preserving and high-acceptance sensing technology, i.e. ultra-wideband radar sensor, together with a novelty detection methodology based exclusively on real ADL data from monitored elderly subject. The use of the UWB novelty detection methodology allowed to significantly improve detection performance in comparison to traditional supervised approaches.
ASEAN’s Limitations in Conflict Resolution

Looking at the overall political and security conditions of ASEAN, we can surmise that although major conflicts of interests or values that could lead to war between ASEAN countries could be few, all potential and existing problems reflected the fact that ASEAN has deep limitations in solving its internal conflicts. This chapter addresses some of the limitations that have confined or imprisoned ASEAN in solving conflicts among her member countries. This has caused ASEAN to seek help from mechanisms/powers and agents outside the region to settle their own conflicts. This certainly reduces the potentials of ASEAN in solving its internal conflicts. The first part of the chapter addresses the constraints of ASEAN on regional conflict resolution and prevention and the latter part includes recommendations on overcoming those constraints.
Review: Little if any advantage exists for using regular vs as-needed inhaled short-acting β2-agonists in asthma

Source Citation Walters EH, Walters J. Inhaled short acting beta2-agonist use in asthma: regular vs as needed treatment. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;(4):CD001285 (latest version 7 Aug 1999). 1...
An Eulerian Framework for Event-Based Pattern Verification

AbstractWhen consulting a forecast, users often ask some variant of the following questions: Will an event of interest occur? If so, when will it occur? How long will it last? How intense will it be? Standard verification measures often do not directly communicate the ability of a forecast to answer these questions. Instead, quantitative scores typically address them indirectly or in some combined form. A more direct performance measure grew from what started as a project for a high-school intern. The challenge was to evaluate aspects of forecast quality from a set of convection-allowing (1.67 km) precipitation forecasts over Florida. Although the output was highly detailed, evaluation became manageable by simply adding a series of static landmarks with range rings and radials. Using the “targets” as a guide, the student and the two authors successfully obtained quantitative estimates of model tendencies that had heretofore only been reported anecdotally. What follows is a description of the method as wel...
Intravenous miR-144 inhibits tumor growth in diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocellular carcinoma in mice:

Previous in vitro studies have demonstrated that miR-144 inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. We have shown that miR-144, injected intravenously, is taken up by the liver and induces endogenous hepatic synthesis of miR-144. We hypothesized that administered miR-144 has tumor-suppressive effects on liver tumor development in vivo. The effects of miR-144 on tumorigenesis and tumor growth were tested in a diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocellular carcinoma mouse model. MiR-144 injection had no effect on body weight but significantly reduced diethylnitrosamine-induced liver enlargement compared with scrambled microRNA. MiR-144 had no effect on diethylnitrosamine-induced liver tumor number but reduced the tumor size above 50%, as evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging (scrambled microRNA 23.07 ± 5.67 vs miR-144 10.38 ± 2.62, p < 0.05) and histological analysis (scrambled microRNA 30.75 ± 5.41 vs miR-144 15.20 ± 3.41, p < 0.05). The levels of miR-144 was suppressed in tumor tissue compared with non-tumor tissue in all treatment groups (diethylnitrosamine-phosphate-buffered saline non-tumor 1.05 ± 0.09 vs tumor 0.54 ± 0.08, p < 0.01; diethylnitrosamine-scrambled microRNA non-tumor 1.23 ± 0.33 vs tumor 0.44 ± 0.10, p < 0.05; diethylnitrosamine-miR-144 non-tumor 54.72 ± 11.80 vs tumor 11.66 ± 2.75, p < 0.01), but injection of miR-144 greatly increased miR-144 levels both in tumor and non-tumor tissues. Mechanistic studies showed that miR-144 targets epidermal growth factor receptor and inhibits the downstream Src/AKT signaling pathway which has previously been implicated in hepatocellular carcinoma tumorigenesis. Exogenously delivered miR-144 may be a therapeutic strategy to suppress tumor growth in hepatocellular carcinoma.
More Refined Issues in Rotation and the Use of Oblique Factors

The last chapter has “blocked in” the main concepts in simple structure rotation: the calculation of transformation and shift matrices; the reasons in the model for freedom for oblique factors and reference vectors; and the use of automatic and visual Rotoplot rotation programs. But it has by no means exhausted the conceptual intricacies, or completed the necessary formulas, or reached out into the tactical skills needed to discover simple structure with greatest precision.
Long-term outcomes of liver transplantation (LT) for the treatment of neuroendocrine liver metastases (NELM): The Mayo Clinic experience.

355Background: In this study, we sought to determine the prognostic factors impacting survival of patients with NELM who underwent LT at Mayo Clinic. Methods: We performed a three-site retrospectiv...
CONCLUDING REMARKS ON FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE INTEGRATED MECHANISM OF INTESTINAL ABSORPTION

Publisher Summary This chapter presents some remarks on factors involved in the integrated mechanism of intestinal absorption. The lumen of the small intestine provides a very large surface through which the body is exposed to the environment. This organ has to fulfill two significant functions. One relates to the nutrition of the body and the other to the maintenance of the body's homeostasis. The absorption of the nutrients is clearly the principal function of the intestine. It is found that as many nutrients are polar substances, which do not pass readily through the lipid membrane of their cells, the epithelial cells developed specific transport receptors carriers, which facilitates the passage of hydrophilic molecules. Although the carrier-system promotes a directional lumen-to-blood flow, the permeability is a two-way process, and consequently there is a continuous outflow of nutrients from the blood into the lumen of the intestine. In view of the very large surface of the intestine, such continuous out flux could result in the loss of larger quantities of nutrients, thereby dangerously disturbing the homeostasis in the body. One significant aspect of the integrated process of intestinal absorption is the rate of blood flow through the intestine.
Recombinant DNA — an introduction

Recombinant DNA is not something that has been invented in the last 10 years by scientists. Recombination has probably been around as long as DNA has been around, and occurs naturally in vivo at a fairly high frequency. However, there are limitations to the recombination that occurs in vivo. First, it usually, although not always, occurs only between molecules that are strongly homologous to one another. Therefore recombination in vivo only offers limited scope for diversified genetic information.
Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adolescents

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impaired social-communicative abilities, as well as restricted or repetitive behavior, unusual sensitivity to environmental stimuli, and in some cases severe challenging behavior. This chapter considers the rising prevalence rates of ASD and recent changes to the DSM-5. In addition, three broad theoretical or biological perspectives including behavioral, relationship-based, and biomedical or complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM) are reviewed. The best available evidence to date suggests treatments derived from the field of applied behavior analysis can produce benefit for a range of areas (e.g., employment, sexuality education, social skills, etc.). For this reason, antecedent- and consequent-based interventions are recommended and should ideally be used simultaneously. Although available evidence is compelling, the preponderance of evidence supporting this approach has been generated for younger children on the autism spectrum. In addition, stereotypic and other maladaptive behaviors remain the most challenging targets to alter. Although psychopharmacological treatments are available to address associated behaviors (e.g., inattention, aggression, etc.), they often are prescribed “off label” and often result in significant side effects.
Membrane Turnover in Rod Outer Segments: Changing Patterns of Shedding after Extended Periods of Constant Light and Darkness

The suggestion of Bairati and Orzalesi (1) that the dense bodies in the pigment epithelium resembled fragments of outer segment material was experimentally established in the autoradiographic studies of Young and Bok (2). The latter investigators followed packets of radioactive outer segment membranes as they were shed from the outer segment tips and phagocytized by the pigment epithelium. Their studies clearly demonstrated that the dense bodies were of rod origin and pointed to an important role for the pigment epithelium in the rod outer segment renewal process.
Socio-cognitive traits and entrepreneurship: The moderating role of economic institutions

Abstract We examine how country-level institutional context moderates the relationship between three socio-cognitive traits—entrepreneurial self-efficacy, alertness to new business opportunities, and fear of failure—and opportunity entrepreneurship. To do this, we blend social cognitive theory (SCT) with institutional theory to develop a multi-level model of entrepreneurial entry. We merge data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) surveys and the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index for 45 countries from 2002 to 2012. Our results, which are based on a multi-level fixed-effects model, suggest that entrepreneurs' self-efficacy and alertness to new opportunities promote opportunity entrepreneurship while fear of failure discourages it. However, the strength of these relationships depends on the institutional context, with entrepreneurial self-efficacy and alertness substantially more likely to lead to new opportunity-driven ventures in countries with higher levels of economic freedom. These results provide suggestive evidence that economic freedom not only channels individual effort to productive entrepreneurial activities, but also affects the extent to which individuals' socio-cognitive resources are likely to mobilized and lead to high-growth entrepreneurship.
Simulation of Quantum Walks via Hamiltonian Reduction

We utilize dimensionality reduction to model and simulate continuous time quantum walks on a multi-partite graph, verifying that they produce a quadratic speedup over classical walks. We also discuss the applicability of dimensionality reduction as a modelling tool to experiments run on quantum hardware.
Contextualizing the nature of trauma in the juvenile justice trajectories of girls.

The proportion of girls involved in the juvenile justice system has steadily increased over the last few decades. Previous research has indicated that the presence of girls in the juvenile justice ...
Research on APF Improved Control Strategy Under Three-phase Voltage Distortion

At present, the most commonly used harmonic current detection algorithms are the p-q algorithm and the ip-i q algorithm based on the instantaneous reactive power theory. The premise of using the above algorithms is that the three-phase voltage is the ideal sinusoidal voltage. However, harmonic pollution distorts the voltage of the power grid to different degrees, which will affect the detection accuracy and compensation effect of APF. This paper presents a current detection algorithm based on positive sequence fundamental wave extractor, which can avoid the detection of positive sequence fundamental wave voltage of power grid, and can effectively avoid the shortcomings of p-q algorithm and ip-iq algorithm without using PLL, complex coordinate transformation and low-pass filter. In the current control algorithm, according to the characteristic that the gain of the generalized integrator is infinite when resonance occurs, the sinusoidal and cosine instructions can be tracked without static difference, this paper which is based on the generalized integrator adaptively adjusts the coefficients of the generalized integrator to improve the robustness of the current controller. Finally, the simulation model is established by MATLAB, and the simulation results show that the improved harmonic current detection algorithm and control algorithm are advanced and effective.
The effect of presenting relative calorie information on calories ordered.

Abstract In this research, we tested the effect of a novel method of presenting calorie information—highlighting relative differences in calories among ingredients. We conducted an online hypothetical food choice experiment where 633 participants selected the ingredients for a sandwich from five categories: meat/protein, cheese, spread/dressing, bread, and vegetables. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of four calorie information conditions: 1) a condition in which no information about calories was provided, 2) a condition in which calorie information was provided for each ingredient, 3) a condition in which calorie information was presented relative to the highest calorie item, and 4) a condition in which calorie information was presented relative to the lowest calorie item. Participants in the high- and low-calorie reference conditions ordered between 32 and 36 fewer calories per sandwich than participants in the no-calorie information control condition (p ≤ 0.04). Calories ordered by participants in the per-item calorie condition were not significantly different than the control. Presenting relative calorie or other nutritional information to make health-related trade-offs more salient may guide consumers to make healthier choices.
Intrauterine infection and neonatal pulmonary outcomes

There is no consensus about the relationships between chorioamnionitis and 3 pulmonary outcomes of concern for preterm infants: respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia/sepsis, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.Intrauterine infection increases the risk of neonatal infection including sepsis/pneumonia, also increases the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, but may reduce the incidence and severity of respiratory distress syndrome.In recent years, translational research with various animal models has been helpful to answer basic questions about the effect of antenatal inflammation on maturation and development of the fetal lung and immune system.Although the mechanisms are not entirely clear, chorioamnionitis predisposes infants to premature birth, neonatal sepsis, and other adverse outcomes.In this article, we reviewed the relationship of intrauterine infection and neonatal pulmonary morbidity. Key words: Intrauterine infection; Fetal inflammatory response syndrome; Neonatal sepsis; Pneumonia; Respiratory distress syndrome; Bronchopulmonary
“Tears on the Flowers” Worldwide Natural Experiments of Art Healing

Creative Arts Educ Ther (2020) 6(1):6–12 DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2020/6/19 “Tears on the Flowers” Worldwide Natural Experiments of Art Healing “花溅泪” 全球艺术疗愈的自发性实验 Shaun McNiff Lesley University, USA Abstract This is an introductory article to the special issue of the journal dealing with COVID-19. It explores how the pandemic underscores the interdependence of the world community and the role of artistic expression as a spontaneous response to the crisis. The global presentation of these creations on the Internet offers an unprecedented natural experiment which invites close examination of the nature of art healing and its life-affirming role in transforming a threat to all people. The expressions offer what the author, an originator of art-based research, decribes as “art evidence” which speaks convincingly for itself. Artistic expression is presented as an eco-system of reciprocal relations that makes new life during difficult times. Keywords: natural experiments, neidan (inner alchemy), art healing, art evidence, coronavirus, ­COVID-19, Internet, interdependence, formative tendency, eco-system of creation 摘要 这是CAET期刊新冠疫情（COVID-19）特刊的导言。文章探讨了这次全球性流行病如何突显国际社会相互依存的重要性以及艺术表达作为一种自发性回应危机的方式发挥的作用。全球各地在互联网上展示作品，前所未有地提供了一次自发性实验的机会，促使人们仔细审视艺术疗愈的本质，以及它在全人类面临威胁时鼓舞人心的作用。作者开创了基于艺术的研究方法，这些表达方式体现了本人所描述的 "艺术实证”，作品本身极具说服力。人们通过艺术表达呈显出一种互惠关系的生态系统，在艰难时期创造了新的生活方式。 关键词： 自发性实验，内丹（内在炼金术），艺术疗愈，艺术实证，冠状病毒，新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19），互联网，相互依存，形成倾向，创作生态系统
Atomically precise vanadium-oxide clusters

Polyoxovanadate (POV) clusters are an important subclass of polyoxometalates with a broad range of molecular compositions and physicochemical properties. One relatively underdeveloped application of these polynuclear assemblies involves their use as atomically precise, homogenous molecular models for bulk metal oxides. Given the structural and electronic similarities of POVs and extended vanadium oxide materials, as well as the relative ease of modifying the homogenous congeners, investigation of the chemical and physical properties of pristine and modified cluster complexes presents a method toward understanding the influence of structural modifications (e.g. crystal structure/phase, chemical makeup of surface ligands, elemental dopants) on the properties of extended solids. This review summarises recent advances in the use of POV clusters as atomically precise models for bulk metal oxides, with particular focus on the assembly of vanadium oxide clusters and the consequences of altering the molecular composition of the assembly via organofunctionalization and the incorporation of elemental “dopants”.
Optimal Guidance and Control of a Low-Altitude Skid-to-Turn Vehicle

The problem of optimal guidance of a low-altitude skid-to-turn vehicle is considered. In particular, the skid-to-turn vehicle is both guided and controlled using a recently developed computational ...
Out-of-distribution Prediction with Invariant Risk Minimization: The Limitation and An Effective Fix

This work considers the out-of-distribution (OOD) prediction problem where (1)~the training data are from multiple domains and (2)~the test domain is unseen in the training. DNNs fail in OOD prediction because they are prone to pick up spurious correlations. Recently, Invariant Risk Minimization (IRM) is proposed to address this issue. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated in the colored MNIST experiment. Nevertheless, we find that the performance of IRM can be dramatically degraded under \emph{strong Λ spuriousness} -- when the spurious correlation between the spurious features and the class label is strong due to the strong causal influence of their common cause, the domain label, on both of them (see Fig. 1). In this work, we try to answer the questions: why does IRM fail in the aforementioned setting? Why does IRM work for the original colored MNIST dataset? Then, we propose a simple and effective approach to fix the problem of IRM. We combine IRM with conditional distribution matching to avoid a specific type of spurious correlation under strong Λ spuriousness. Empirically, we design a series of semi synthetic datasets -- the colored MNIST plus, which exposes the problems of IRM and demonstrates the efficacy of the proposed method.
How Does the Incentive Effect of the Charitable Deduction Vary Across Charities

We examine how taxes affect donations given to nonprofit organizations and how this varies across nonprofit types. Most prior studies constrained tax price elasticities to be constant across nonprofits, primarily because the data do not provide donations by nonprofit type. Using nonprofit-level data and average marginal tax rates that vary across years and states, we estimate tax price elasticities by nonprofit type. We find an aggregate public charity elasticity of approximately -1.0 and a private foundation elasticity of approximately -2.0. These results suggest that the cost of the charitable contribution deduction is roughly proportional to its benefit for public charities, but that the deduction stimulates significant giving for private foundations. When we partition our elasticities across 24 public charity types, we find significant elasticities of -1.0 or larger for six types. This result suggests that the effect of the charitable contribution deduction varies significantly across nonprofit types.
The Altrose Group of Substances

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the sugars and their derivatives that have the altrose or a closely related configuration that include the aldohexoses D-altrose and L-altrose, the ketohexoses D-allulose and L-allulose, and a ketoheptose, sedoheptulose; also two 6-desoxyaltroses and two naturally-occurring 2,6-didesoxyaltroses, digitoxose and cymarose; and finally, the disaccharides neolactose and celtrobiose, which are 4-β-D-galactopyranosido- D-altrose and 4-D-ghcopyranosido-D-altrose, respectively. To separate the two acids, it is converted to calcium salts, and most of the calcium D-altronate is recovered as the characteristic hydrate containing three and one-half molecules of the water of crystallization. The mother liquor is freed from calcium ions by the addition of oxalic acid and evaporated to syrup from which the D-allono-γ-lactone is crystallized. Small additional amounts of the two compounds are obtained by the further treatment of the mother liquors.
Factors affecting the antimicrobial activity of phenols.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses factors affecting the antimicrobial activity of phenols. The research that has been done with phenols can be divided into two broad areas. First, workers have endeavored to find more active inhibitors by making substitutions on the molecule, and second, investigators have studied the factors that may increase or decrease the inhibitory activity of these compounds. Unjustified stress on phenol coefficients has also resulted in the neglect of the factors affecting the antimicrobial activity of phenols. Bacteria exhibit a relationship between sensitivity to heat and phenol. If the environmental temperature can be increased simultaneously with the addition of the phenol, the inhibitor will function more effectively. Phenols are most effective in an acid environment and their antibacterial activity decreases as the pH becomes more alkaline. Phenol, cresols, and chlorophenols exhibit reduced activity in alkaline solutions, and other workers have reported similar results with n-butylphenol and dinitrophenol.
Mechanisms of metal-dependent hydrolases in metabolism

The metal-dependent hydrolase class of enzymes uses one or more metal ion cofactors in combination with amino acid side chains to catalyze hydrolysis of a wide variety of biologically important substrates, including carbohydrates, peptides/proteins, nucleotides, phosphodiesters and xenobiotics. The most common metal ion cofactor(s) used by these enzymes is Zn 2 + followed by Fe 2 + , Mn 2 + and Ni 2 + . A number of properties make metal ions well suited to serve as cofactors for catalyzing hydrolytic reactions, including their strong Lewis acidity, flexible coordination numbers and geometries, and fast ligand exchange rates. Together these properties allow metal ions to accelerate hydrolysis of substrates by providing and/or enhancing the reactivity of the water nucleophile and stabilizing reaction intermediates. Additionally, key active site amino acid side chains function as general acid-base catalysts (GABC) to facilitate proton transfer reactions and/or to serve as electrostatic catalysts to stabilize reaction intermediates. The two most commonly observed themes for protein side chain participation are the use of a single bifunctional GABC ( i.e. Glu/Asp), or the use of a pair of GABC ( i.e. Glu/Asp and His) to accelerate the hydrolytic reaction. These different roles for metal ions and amino acid side chains will be discussed in the context of specific enzyme mechanisms.
Enzyme activity in cryobiological systems: III. Low-temperature properties of honeybee glyceraldehydephosphate dehydrogenase☆

Abstract Certain properties of honeybee and rabbit muscle GPDHs have been examined in vitro. While incubation of rabbit muscle GPDH at 0 °C in the presence of 4 m m ATP results in its dissociation, the enzyme from honeybees retains its native tetrameric structure. Furthermore all adenine nucleotides tested caused some inactivation of rabbit muscle GPDH but had either only a slight effect or none at all on the honeybee enzyme. However, both enzymes are competitively inhibited by ATP, ADP, and AMP and 3′,5′-AMP. In the absence of ammonium sulfate and ATP, honeybee GPDH was partially inactivated at 0 °C while the rabbit muscle enzyme was not affected. Inactivation of honeybee GPDH could be presented by low concentrations of ammonium sulfate. The honeybee enzyme retains essentially full activity over the pH range 6.5–8.0 when incubated with 10 m m ATP at 0 °C, while the rabbit muscle enzyme has been shown to be completely inactivated over this pH range in the presence of 2 m m ATP at 0 °C. On the basis of studies with adenine nucleotides it is concluded that insect GPDHs probably have evolved a capability for catalytic function at low temperature while retaining the ability to have this function controlled by these compounds.
Leaping the language gap: strategies for preschool and head start teachers

Strategies that promote the development of language skills are recognized as important in early childhood education. For early childhood centers and care providers, there are also additional concerns that interventions which meet these developmental needs are both time and cost effective. This pilot study investigates the effect of indirect language stimulation (ILS) techniques on the receptive and expressive oral language of 4-year-olds, using techniques that can be easily taught to teachers and implemented in the classroom. Two preschool teachers in a southwest rural community in the United States were randomly assigned for instruction over a 6-month period on effective ways of integrating ILS techniques into their regular classroom instruction. Students were assessed with the PPVT-4 (receptive language) and the EVT-2 (expressive language) to determine the effect these techniques had on their English language vocabulary. Results indicate that students in classrooms where teachers received the professional development (n = 31) had significantly higher growth in expressive language scores (p = .012) than students in comparison classrooms (n = 34). This study suggests that a low-cost 2-day training intervention can be beneficial for preschool teachers and their 4-year-old students’ language acquisition.
Anterior maxilla alveolar ridge dimension and morphology measurement by cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) for immediate implant treatment planning

Implants have been widely used to restore missing teeth. Limited information on applied anatomy at the anterior maxilla compromises the clinical outcome for implant placement in this region. In the current study, Cone Beam Computerized Tomography (CBCT) was used to measure alveolar ridge and buccal undercut dimension at the anterior maxilla to help develop treatment planning for immediate implant placement. CBCT scans were screened to include 51 subjects with full dentition at right maxilla. Measurements were taken at the cross sectional views in the middle of the maxillary right central incisor, lateral incisor, and canine regions. Alveolar height was measured from the alveolar crest to floor of nasal fossa. Alveolar width was measured from the buccal to palatal cortical plate at the coronal, middle, and apical third of the distance from the alveolar crest to floor of the nasal fossa. Buccal undercut location was measured from where the buccal cortical plate started dipping to a line extending at the alveolar crest that was perpendicular to the long axis of the alveolar ridge. The buccal undercut depth was measured from the deepest point of the undercut at the buccal plate to a line tangent to the buccal plate paralleling the long axis of ridge. Alveolar width increased from coronal to apical direction for each tooth. Mean alveolar widths (mm) were: central incisor, 9.55; lateral incisor, 8.30; canine, 9.62. The lateral incisor had a significantly smaller alveolar width than the other anterior teeth. No significant difference in ridge height was noted among the teeth. Undercut locations from the alveolar crest (mm) were: central incisor, 5.84; lateral incisor, 3.59; canine, 5.11. Undercut depths (mm) were: central incisor, 0.76; lateral incisor, 0.87; canine, 0.73. The percentages of teeth with buccal undercuts were: central incisor, 41 %, lateral incisor, 77 %, and canine 33 %. Male demonstrate significant larger ridge width compared with females for all three teeth. At anterior maxilla, the lateral incisor has the thinnest alveolar bone, and most frequently exhibits a buccal undercut which is the closest to alveolar ridge compared with other maxillary anterior teeth.
An MRP System for Surgical Linen Management at a Large Hospital

Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) has been used extensively in manufacturing and other industries to improve on-time delivery and to reduce costs. In this paper, we illustrate how an MRP-type system was developed to monitor surgical linen at a large teaching hospital. We also describe a bar-code scanning ‘tag and recapture’ study to estimate total inventory. The hospital implemented several changes based upon our recommendations that resulted in time savings and a smoother flow of materials throughout the surgical linen supply chain.
Empirical studies of the value of algorithm animation in algorithm understanding

We present a series of studies on using algorithm animation to teach computer algorithms. These studies are organized into three components: eliciting students' preferences, developing algorithm animation guidelines, and evaluating the effects of using algorithm animation in the classroom. Many systems for creating computer animations have been designed. These systems reflect the designers' confidence that visual representation is a valuable technique for conveying conceptual knowledge. However, little formal experimentation has been carried out to determine whether such animations are beneficial in teaching the algorithms presented. In addition, formal guidelines have not been developed for either design or use of these animations. This work addresses both concerns. We found that student preference for animation does not predict student performance on a post-test to measure learning. We examined several types of labeling (data, steps, actions) and found a variety of effects. One of these effects was that a text description of the algorithm increased accuracy on conceptual questions. Also, students are more accurate on a post-test if they are allowed to design their own data sets than if they use experimenter-defined data sets. Finally, use of the animations was evaluated in a classroom-type setting. All students were given a lecture on an algorithm. Adding a laboratory in which the subject controlled the animation and data sets led to more accurate performance than a lecture only or than a lecture with experimenter-preprepared data sets. This work has implications for the design and use of animated algorithms in teaching computer algorithms and for the design of laboratory experiences for beginning computer science courses.
Debunking the myths of career success: It all comes down to attitude, aptitude, abilities and awareness

Purpose – Offers tools and techniques to choose a career wisely. Design/methodology/approach – Outlines the importance of attitude, aptitude, abilities and awareness. Findings – Advances the view that career success is sometimes easier to achieve in smaller companies than in big ones. Practical implications – Argues that the tools and techniques adopted by leaders to advance their careers can be applied in any industry and in any size of organization. Social implications – Suggests that leaders can provide meaning to their lives by choosing their careers carefully. Originality/value – Debunks some of the myths of career development.
High performance double-gate device technology challenges and opportunities

The double-gate FET is widely recognized as the prime candidate for the ultimate scaling of FETs to the shortest channel length. From the device integration point of view, the attainment of low extrinsic resistance, carrier transport in the double-gated thin silicon channel and threshold voltage control, remained significant obstacles to high-performance double-gate CMOS structures. We report how these issues were addressed to achieve world-record double-gate device performance. The second gate in a double-gate device can be utilized for low-power and mixed-signal applications. The flexibility of individually controlling the two gates provides opportunities for overall system performance improvement. Ultra-low voltage operation of double-gate CMOS inverters was demonstrated. Finally, we discuss the migration of existing circuit/layout designs to double-gate device technology.
Alfred Maudslay and the Maya: A Biography

Alfred Maudslay and the Maya:. Biography. Ian Graham. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002. 323 pp. 83 illustrations and maps. Notes and references. Index.
Are leg electromyogram profiles symmetrical

Electromyographic (EMG) patterns reflect function of the neuromuscular system. Abnormality of a given pattern may be established by comparison with that of the contralateral (presumably normal) limb if one ensures a difference beyond normal degrees of symmetry. We studied EMG patterns in six homologous knee muscles during freely selected, slow, and fast gaits in normal subjects. EMG signals were electronically conditioned to produce linear envelopes; envelopes from at least eight cycles from each subject at each speed were ensemble averaged. Grand ensemble averages for each muscle and speed were assembled from all subjects for right and left muscles. Transformed correlation coefficients (r′) and variance ratios established the degree of similarity. All muscles exhibited a fair degree of symmetry (mean r′ = 0.797 − 0.953), but we saw exceptions. On rare occasion, muscles repeatedly exhibited monophasic signals on one side and biphasic on the other. With increasing speed, signals generally became more repeatable, but we occasionally saw monophasic patterns becoming biphasic or vice versa. Considerable caution is essential before presuming any given pattern is abnormal. To ensure that a given pattern is abnormal one could establish that the pattern lies outside some statistical limits for normal population pattern controlled for speed and outside statistical limits for normal symmetry. Alternatively, one could determine the level of statistical differences in EMG patterns associated with distinct differences in level of functional performance between normal subjects and patients.
Catalytic deoxygenation of triglycerides and fatty acids to hydrocarbons over carbon-supported nickel

Abstract The catalytic deoxygenation of triglycerides and fatty acids to hydrocarbons through decarboxylation/decarbonylation (deCO x ) has been investigated in a semi-batch autoclave over 20 wt.% Ni/C and 5 wt.% Pd/C catalysts. The boiling point distribution plots of the reaction products show that 20 wt.% Ni/C tends to yield lighter products in the C10–C17 range than 5 wt.% Pd/C, a fact which may be exploited for fuel blending purposes. Differences in the performance of these two catalysts may be attributed to the higher acidity of the Ni-based formulation, which favors the adsorption of carbonaceous species and the occurrence of cracking reactions. The effect of the gas employed (N 2 , 10% H 2 /N 2 or H 2 ) was also examined and while the presence of hydrogen resulted in improved catalytic performance, the optimum hydrogen partial pressure was found to depend on the catalyst used. For triglyceride deoxygenation, analysis of the reaction mixture at different reaction times indicates that the reaction proceeds through the deCO x of fatty acid intermediates.
The Menger-like property of the tree-width of infinite graphs

Abstract The tree-width of a (possibly infinite) graph G is the minimum n such that G may be decomposed into a “tree-structure” of pieces each with at most n + 1 vertices. We prove that if G has tree-width n, then G can be decomposed in such a way that for every k ≥ 0 and any two pieces P and Q of this “tree-structure” either there are k disjoint paths between P and Q, or there is a third piece R between P and Q with at most k − 1 vertices. Our proof makes use of a finite version of this result proved by the second author and a compactness argument.
The effect of source animal age upon the in vivo remodeling characteristics of an extracellular matrix scaffold.

Biologic scaffolds composed of mammalian extracellular matrix (ECM) are routinely used for the repair and reconstruction of injured or missing tissues in a variety of pre-clinical and clinical applications. However, the structural and functional outcomes have varied considerably. An important variable of xenogeneic biologic scaffolds is the age of the animal from which the ECM is derived. The present study compared the in vivo host response and remodeling outcomes of biologic scaffolds composed of small intestinal submucosa (SIS)-ECM harvested from pigs that differed only in age. Results showed that there are distinct differences in the remodeling characteristics as a consequence of source animal age. Scaffolds derived from younger animals were associated with a more constructive, site appropriate, tissue remodeling response than scaffolds derived from older animals. Furthermore, the constructive remodeling response was associated with a dominant M2 macrophage response.
Parental occupational exposures and risk of childhood cancer: A review

We reviewed the literature in order to summarize the present knowledge on the association between parental occupational exposures to chemicals and the risk of childhood malignancy. The 32 studies pertaining to this topic were evaluated by considering various study qualities such as sample size, specificity of outcome, confounding, exposure specificity, and control selection. When evaluating the findings from any epidemiologic study, the potential sources of bias have to be considered. The selection of subjects, misclassification of exposure or outcome, and confounding from extraneous factors can contribute to a biased estimate of effect. Studies done to minimize these potential biases will be more valid, and these studies should be given the most weight when parental occupational exposures are evaluated as risk factors for childhood malignancy. We conclude that the preponderance of evidence supports the hypothesis that occupational exposure of parents to chemicals increases the risk of childhood malignancy. The parental occupational exposures implicated in childhood malignancy risk are exposure to chemicals including paints, petroleum products, solvents (especially chlorinated hydrocarbons) and pesticides, and exposure to metals. The available data do not allow the identification of specific etiologic agents within these categories of compounds. Future epidemiologic and toxicologic studies should be designed to pursue these leads.
Increasing dissolution rates and gastrointestinal absorption of drugs via solid solutions and eutectic mixtures I. Theoretical considerations and discussion of the literature

The theoretical aspects of solid solutions and eutectic mixtures as well as their application to pharmaceutical systems are discussed. A mechanism is considered by which such solid systems may enhance dissolution rates and, in turn, the gastrointestinal absorption rate and availability of poorly soluble drugs. A degree of ambiguity exists in the literature published to date in this area. This report proposes that results previously attributed to eutectic mixtures are properly explained by the existence of solid solutions. The sulfathiazole–urea and chloramphenicol-urea systems are examined in detail.
Velasco Ibarra and ‘La Revolución Gloriosa’: The Social Production of a Populist Leader in Ecuador in the 1940s*

This article is a study of the emergence of a populist leader. By combining an analysis of the social creation of the populist leader Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra in ‘La Revolucion Gloriosa’ (or the May Revolution), with a study of his discourse, this paper explains why Velasco Ibarra became the central political figure in Ecuador in the mid-1940s.
Probabilistic elasto-plasticity: formulation in 1D

A second-order exact expression for the evolution of probability density function of stress is derived for general, one-dimensional (1-D) elastic–plastic constitutive rate equations with uncertain material parameters. The Eulerian–Lagrangian (EL) form of Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov (FPK) equation is used for this purpose. It is also shown that by using EL form of FPK, the so called “closure problem” associated with regular perturbation methods used so far, is resolved too. The use of EL form of FPK also replaces repetitive and computationally expensive deterministic elastic–plastic computations associated with Monte Carlo technique. The derived general expressions are specialized to the particular cases of point location scale linear elastic and elastic–plastic constitutive equations, related to associated Drucker–Prager with linear hardening. In a companion paper, the solution of FPK equations for 1D is presented, discussed and illustrated through a number of examples.