cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PRENATAL EXPOSURE TO AMPHETAMINES: Risks and Adverse Outcomes in Pregnancy

Based on findings in humans and the confirmation of prenatal exposures in animals, amphetamines and methamphetamines increase the risk of an adverse outcome when abused during pregnancy. Clefting, cardiac anomalies, and fetal growth reduction deficits that have been seen in infants exposed to amphetamines during pregnancy have all been reproduced in animal studies involving prenatal exposures to amphetamines. The differential effects of amphetamines between genetic strains of mice and between species demonstrate that pharmacokinetics and the genetic disposition of the mother and developing embryo can have an enormous influence on enhancing or reducing these potential risks. The effects of prenatal exposure to amphetamines in producing altered behavior in humans appear less compelling when one considers other confounding variables of human environment, genetics, and polydrug abuse. In view of the animal data concerning altered behavior and learning tasks in comparison with learning deficits observed in humans, the influence of the confounding variables in humans may serve to increase the sensitivity of the developing embryo/fetus to prenatal exposure to amphetamines. These factors and others may predispose the developing conceptus to the damaging effects of amphetamines by actually lowering the threshold of susceptibility at the sites where damage occurs. Knowledge of the effects of prenatal exposure of the fetus and the mother to designer amphetamines is lacking. Based on the few studies in which designer drugs have been examined in animal models, more questions are raised than answered. Possible reasons why no malformations or significant fetal effects were found in the study by St. Omer include the genetic strain of rat used, the conservative exposure profile, or the fact that the placenta metabolized MDMA before reaching the embryo. These questions underscore the need for further investigations concerning the prenatal exposure effects of designer compounds and the effects of amphetamine and methamphetamine in general.
Management as a Calling: A Blueprint for Management Education in the 21st Century

Business’s capacity to transform society is only as great as the schools that train its future leaders. This demands that business schools reform their vision to promote values of business serving society in order for students to see business as a true calling rather than simply a career. Here is a blueprint for management education in the 21st century that teaches students that they will possess awesome power as business leaders, and with that power comes great responsibility and an obligation to create benefit for all of society.
Polycomb- and Methylation-Independent Roles of EZH2 as a Transcription Activator.

Enhancer of Zeste 2 (EZH2) is the enzymatic subunit of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), which catalyzes histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) at target promoters for gene silencing. Here, we report that EZH2 activates androgen receptor (AR) gene transcription through direct occupancy at its promoter. Importantly, this activating role of EZH2 is independent of PRC2 and its methyltransferase activities. Genome-wide assays revealed extensive EZH2 occupancy at promoters marked by either H3K27ac or H3K27me3, leading to gene activation or repression, respectively. Last, we demonstrate enhanced efficacy of enzymatic EZH2 inhibitors when used in combination with AR antagonists in blocking the dual roles of EZH2 and suppressing prostate cancer progression in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our study reports EZH2 as a transcriptional activator, a key target of which is AR, and suggests a drug-combinatory approach to treat advanced prostate cancer.
Adversarial Exploitation of Emergent Dynamics in Smart Cities

We investigate the paradigm of adversarial attacks that target the emergent dynamics of Complex Adaptive Smart Cities (CASCs). To facilitate the analysis of such attacks, we develop quantitative definitions and metrics of attack, vulnerability, and resilience in the context of CASC security. Furthermore, we propose multiple schemes for classification of attack surfaces and vectors in CASC, complemented with examples of practical attacks. Building on this foundation, we propose a framework based on reinforcement learning for simulation and analysis of such attacks on CASC, and demonstrate its performance through two real-world case studies of targeting power grids and traffic management systems. We also remark on future research directions in analysis and design of secure smart cities and complex adaptive systems.
CYSTATHIONINE γ-LYASE DEFICIENCY ENHANCES AIRWAY REACTIVITY AND VIRAL-INDUCED DISEASE IN MICE EXPOSED TO SIDE-STREAM TOBACCO SMOKE

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is a known risk factor for severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections, yet the mechanisms of ETS/RSV comorbidity are largely unknown. Cystathionine γ-lyase regulates important physiological functions of the respiratory tract. We used mice genetically deficient in the cystathionine γ-lyase enzyme (CSE), the major H2S-generating enzyme in the lung to determine the contribution of H2S to airway disease in response to side-stream tobacco smoke (TS), and to TS/RSV co-exposure. Following a 2-week period of exposure to TS, CSE-deficient mice (KO) showed a dramatic increase in airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) to methacholine challenge, and greater airway cellular inflammation, compared with wild-type (WT) mice. TS-exposed CSE KO mice that were subsequently infected with RSV exhibited a more severe clinical disease, airway obstruction and AHR, enhanced viral replication, and lung inflammation, compared with TS-exposed RSV-infected WT mice. TS-exposed RSV-infected CSE KO mice had also a significant increase in the number of neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and increased levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. This study demonstrates the critical contribution of the H2S-generating pathway to airway reactivity and disease following exposure to ETS alone or in combination with RSV infection.
A case of recurrent epilepsy-associated rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor with anaplastic transformation in the absence of therapy.

Rosette-forming glioneuronal tumor (RGNT) most commonly occurs adjacent to the fourth ventricle and therefore rarely presents with epilepsy. Recent reports describe RGNT occurrence in other anatomical locations with considerable morphologic and genetic overlap with the epilepsy-associated dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNET). Examples of RGNT or DNET with anaplastic change are rare, and typically occur in the setting of radiation treatment. We present the case of a 5-year-old girl with seizures, who underwent near total resection of a cystic temporal lobe lesion. Pathology showed morphologic and immunohistochemical features of RGNT, albeit with focally overlapping DNET-like patterns. Resections of residual or recurrent tumor were performed 1 year and 5 years after the initial resection, but no adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy was given. Ten years after the initial resection, surveillance imaging identified new and enhancing nodules, leading to another gross total resection. This specimen showed areas similar to the original tumor, but also high-grade foci with oligodendroglial morphology, increased cellularity, palisading necrosis, microvascular proliferation, and up to 13 mitotic figures per 10 high power fields. Ancillary studies the status by sequencing showed wild-type of the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1), IDH2, and human histone 3.3 (H3F3A) genes, and BRAF studies were negative for mutation or rearrangement. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) showed codeletion of 1p and 19q limited to the high-grade regions. By immunohistochemistry there was loss of nuclear alpha-thalassemia mental retardation syndrome, X-linked (ATRX) expression only in the high-grade region. Next-generation sequencing showed an fibroblast growth factor receptor receptor 1 (FGFR1) kinase domain internal tandem duplication in three resection specimens. ATRX mutation in the high-grade tumor was confirmed by sequencing which showed a frameshift mutation (p.R1427fs), while the apparent 1p/19q-codeletion by FISH was due to loss of chromosome arm 1p and only partial loss of 19q. Exceptional features of this case include the temporal lobe location, 1p/19q loss by FISH without true whole-arm codeletion, and anaplastic transformation associated with ATRX mutation without radiation or chemotherapy.
Effective and Efficient Data Cleaning for Entity Matching

As a key data-integration step, entity matching (EM) identifies tuples referring to the same real-world entities in disparate data sources. In many cases, the EM quality can be improved by repairing incorrect values in the data; at the same time, it is well known that the time costs of data cleaning by human experts could be prohibitive. In this paper, we focus on the time-consuming human-in-the-loop data-cleaning problem for relational EM, by recommending to human experts a time-efficient order in which values of attributes could be cleaned in the given data. Our proposed domain-independent cleaning framework aims to save human users' time, by guiding them in cleaning the EM inputs in an attribute order that is as conducive to maximizing EM accuracy as possible within a given constraint on the time they spend on cleaning. In guiding the cleaning process, our attribute-recommendation methods discover and take advantage of information provided by the data, and also use feedback from the EM engine. Our preliminary experimental results suggest that the proposed approach leads to measurable speedup, for a variety of time constraints, in the improvement of EM accuracy over the baseline approach, in which domain experts choose the sequence in which to clean the attributes of the inputs.
Abstract P1-18-20: Breast cancer with HER2 FISH test result in group 2: Should HER2 test be repeated?

Introduction: Interpretation of HER2 result in breast cancer patients with monosomy of CEP17 has been controversial due to the loss of CEP17 signals and the subsequent relatively increased HER2/CEP17 ratio. HER2 FISH group 2 (HER2 Methods: We retrospectively reviewed HER2 FISH cases performed at our institution from 2012 to 2017 and identified 23 of 3554 (0.6%) breast cancer cases with at least one time HER2 FISH result fell into group 2 category. A chart review for clinicopathological characteristics and biomarker status was performed in all 23 cases. The HER2 IHC and FISH tests were repeated for cases with available alternative tumor samples. Final HER2 interpretation was modified by following 2018 ASCO/CAP guidelines. Results: Patients’ age ranged from 26-67. These tumors were predominantly ductal (n = 17, 74%), high grade (n = 13, 57%), ER positive (n = 17, 74%), and equivocal HER2 (2+) by IHC (n = 15, 60%). These HER2 FISH group 2 cases were from 18 primary tumors and 5 metastatic/recurrent tumors. All 23 cases (100%) were considered HER2 amplified according to 2013 ASCO/CAP guidelines, only 2/23 (9%) can be interpreted as HER2+ in conjunction with their corresponding IHC result according to 2018 ASCO/CAP guidelines. The corresponding primary tumors for the 5 metastatic/recurrent group 2 tumors were 2 HER2+ and 3 HER2-. Repeat HER2 tests were performed in 15 of 18 group 2 primary tumors; the concordance rates between initial and repeat tests were 27% (4/15) for the HER2 FISH group category and 73% (11/15) for the final HER2 results. Three (20%) cases changed from HER2- (group 2 and IHC 2+) to HER2+ (group 1 [HER2/CEP17 ratio ≥ 2 and HER2 ≥ 4] and IHC 2+); one case changed from HER2+ (group 2 and IHC 3+) to HER2- (group 5 [HER2/CEP17 ratio Conclusion: Breast cancer with a group 2 HER2 FISH result represents heterogeneous populations of tumor cells being originated de novo or preferentially selected secondary to chemotherapy, and leading to challenges in HER2 interpretation. Repeat HER2 IHC and FISH test on alternative samples either different tumor block of the same biopsy or tumor from excision may assist in final classification to guide treatment decision. Citation Format: Hui Chen, Minhua Wang, Hongxia Sun, Jun Gu, Zhenya Tang, Guilin Tang, Steven Sfamenos, Melissa Robinson, Aysegul Sahin. Breast cancer with HER2 FISH test result in group 2: Should HER2 test be repeated? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-18-20.
Healthcare information on YouTube: Pregnancy and COVID-19.

Objective We aimed to analyze Turkish language videos on YouTube about Coronavirus and pregnancy. Methods YouTube was searched for the following keywords: "Coronavirus, gebelik," "Coronavirus, Hamilelik," "COVID-19, gebelik" and "COVID-19, hamilelik". All ranking data for each video was recorded, video sources and target audiences were analyzed. Videos were designated as "informative, "misleading" "personal experience" and "news update." The usefulness of the videos were analyzed by DISCERN score and the quality of the content was calculated by MICI score. Results Seventy-six videos had a total of 1.494.860 views, with 40.849 likes and 575 dislikes. The source of information in informative videos was physicians (73%), and news agencies (20%), and the majority of these targeted patients. The DISCERN score of videos was 2.9 ± 1, 1.6 ± 0.9, and 1.9 ± 0.9 respectively for respectively for the informative group, personal experience group, and news update group. The mean MICI score for informative videos was low and calculated as 5.3 ± 2.8. Conclusion YouTube videos are easily accessible sources of COVID-19 information for pregnant women. The present study demonstrated that videos about pregnancy and COVID-19 have high view rates, but are generally low in quality and trustworthiness.
Increasing Engagement in eHealth Interventions Using Personalization and Implementation Intentions

Approximately one in five adults in the United States have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness, but less than half received treatment in this past year [1]. An interdisciplinary team at the University of Virginia aims to reduce this gap in mental health coverage through its freely accessible online research platform, the MindTrails Project. The MindTrails Calm Thinking study evaluates cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I), an intervention that aims to reframe the thinking patterns of highly anxious individuals when they respond to ambiguous situations that they might interpret as stressful. MindTrails is experiencing a high attrition (dropout) rate, which is common to eHealth interventions. In response to this, our project utilized two novel approaches to online anxiety interventions to improve engagement and retention: (1) personalization of training content and (2) implementation intentions and goal setting. We designed a prototype for a new mobile interface that engages users with a journal to record implementation intentions and goals. Users also have the ability to choose the domain of anxiety (e.g., relationships, health) that they would like to work on. To further incorporate these psychological principles into the MindTrails program, suggestions for future work are also discussed. We hypothesize that, with its new user-centered mobile interface, the Calm Thinking mobile application will further connect users with an evidence-based mental health intervention and increase the efficacy of the program.
Stunted from the start: Early life weather conditions and child undernutrition in Ethiopia

This paper examines the relationship between weather conditions and child nutrition in Ethiopia. We link data from four rounds of the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey to high-resolution climate data to measure exposure to rainfall and temperature in utero and during early life. We then estimate a set of multivariate regression models to understand how weather conditions impact child stunting, an indicator of sustained early life undernutrition. We find that greater rainfall during the rainy seasons in early life is associated with greater height for age. In addition, higher temperatures in utero, particularly during the first and third trimesters, and more rainfall during the third trimester, are positively associated with severe stunting, though stunting decreases with temperature in early life. We find potential evidence for a number of pathways underlying the weather-child nutrition relationship including agricultural livelihoods, heat stress, infectious disease transmission, and women's time use during pregnancy. These findings illuminate the complex pathways through which climate change may influence child health and should motivate additional research focused on identifying the causal mechanisms underlying these links.
Postoperative Complications in Obese Patients After Tracheostomy.

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of varying classes of obesity in patients undergoing tracheostomy and the associated complication rates as compared with nonobese patients.Study DesignA retrosp...
Playing pool on the beta-plane: how weak initial perturbations predetermine the long-term evolution of coherent vortices

This study explores the long-term impact of a weak initial departure from circular symmetry in coherent equivalent-barotropic vortices on their dynamics and evolution. An algorithm is developed which makes it possible to construct models of vortices that initially propagate with prescribed velocity. These solutions are used as the initial conditions for a series of numerical simulations. Simulations indicate that seemingly minor perturbations of dipolar form can control the propagation of vortices for extended periods, during which they translate over distances greatly exceeding their size. The numerical results are contrasted with the linear model, which assumes that the non-axisymmetric component of circulation in the vortex interior is relatively weak. The linear solutions reflect the self-propagation tendencies of coherent vortices to a much lesser degree, which underscores the role of fundamentally nonlinear mechanisms at play. The remarkable ability of quasi-monopolar vortices to retain the memory of weak initial perturbations helps to rationalize the wide range of the observed propagation velocities of coherent long-lived vortices in the ocean.
Nuclear Hotlines: Origins, Evolution, Applications

Soviet and American leaders learned during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 that inadequate communication raised perilous risks and dangers in the nuclear age. The US–Soviet Hotline was cre...
Compliance Then and Now

This paper considers the past, present, and future of organizational compliance. The paper identifies compliance in its modern form as the product of conscious design -- the application of learned principles of internal control in which compliance itself is conceived as a topic of analysis. It grounds the development of modern compliance in the burgeoning of the administrative state and the transition from judging to administration – the progressive displacement of judges from their traditional roles of interpreting the law, conducting trials, determining liability, and assigning penalties. Although compliance in its modern form experienced its greatest early development in the United States, it is now a worldwide phenomenon. The paper argues that the modern form of compliance is a product of two vectors of public policy: one moving from the bottom up, as policymakers apply lessons learned from experience to the formulation of compliance strategies for the future, and one moving from the top down, as policymakers enlist general principles and ideas in the design of concrete programs.
Stories of the Dear Lord, First Part: The Separation of Hand from Spirit

This chapter begins the author’s study of Rilke’s Stories of God, a collection of stories written for children around 1900. In one of the stories, God has an argument with his hands while they are making the human being. Human beings are set free in creation before God can get a good look at them, which results in our being “stuck in the seventh day,” which means we are not able to do true creative labor. This is another iteration of the problem posed by the book, which is how to reconcile spirit, or the unconscious, with the hands. In this chapter the value of storytelling is at issue, and the way that the stories spread throughout the community—like a contagion—is analyzed in detail.
A tale of two presidencies: Trump and Biden on the National Mall

The 2020 U.S. presidential campaign was about much more than an electoral contest between Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden. Instead, this election cycle revealed two opposing views of the U.S. p...
Interdependence, Dyadic Exchanges, and Adaptive Selling: Extending the Contingency Framework

This paper extends Weitz's (1981) contingency framework by addressing interdependence as a construct influencing dyadic exchanges and the adaptive behavior of salespeople. In particular, the authors propose that the degree of perceived interdependence by each actor in a buyer-seller relationship not only acts as an antecedent to Weitz's (1981) customer-salesperson relationship variables, but also moderates the practice of adaptive behavior undertaken during such encounters by affecting the knowledge structure of the sales-person.
Efficacy of Intrastriatal Transplants: Role of Trophic Factors

The dopaminergic (DA) substantia nigra-ventral tegmental area (SN-VTA) projection to the caudate-putamen (striatum) is critical in the control of motor behavior. Clinically, Parkinson’s disease reflects a massive degeneration of the nigrostriatal system (Bernheimer et al., 1973). The replacement of the system by intrastriatal transplants of fetal midbrain suspensions has resulted in improvements in some patients (Sladek and Shoulson, 1988; Lindvall et al., 1989; Freed et al., 1990). In experimental animals, it has been shown that fetal midbrain cells survive transplantation, extend processes and synthesize DA (Perlow et al., 1979; Bjorklund et al., 1980, 1983a, 1983b). Such transplants ameliorate certain deficits associated with the loss of DA input to the striatum (Bjorklund et al., 1987; Yurek and Sladek, 1990). Similar transplants reverse motor abnormalities produced by unilateral denervation (Perlow et al, 1979; Bjorklund et al, 1980, 1983a, 1983b) including apomorphine or amphetamine-induced rotation behavior. Transplants of adrenal medulla have also been shown to ameliorate some behavioral deficits (Allen et al., 1989; Hansen et al., 1989; Lieberman et al., 1989).
Revolution and threat perception: Iran and the Middle East

The issue of misperception is at the heart of one of the key debates in the international relations literature about revolution and its effects on the international system. Establishing that a misperception occurred, and then led to a certain foreign policy action, is almost inevitably subjective. But one potential plausibility probe is to look to the consistency of the policies of status-quo powers toward a revolutionary state as one indicator of the importance of misperception in their policies. If the status-quo leaders overestimate the threat of revolutionary ‘export’, it is logical to assume that the specific actions of the revolutionary state itself would not matter that much to them. They would be fixed in their perceptions of the hostility of the new revolutionary regime, no matter what it did. Their policies toward it would be consistent over time. If, however, the status-quo leaders’ policies toward the revolutionary state changed over time, in reaction to both the behavior of the revolutionary state and the reverberations of the revolution in their own societies, the argument that the threats from the revolutionary state toward the status-quo states were real would receive at least partial support. This article uses the reactions to the Iranian Revolution in Iraq and Saudi Arabia as a preliminary test.
Probabilistic Approximation of Some NP Optimization Problems by Finite-State Machines

We introduce a subclass of NP optimization problems which contains, e.g., Bin Covering and Bin Packing. For each problem in this subclass we prove that with probability tending to 1 as the number of input items tends to infinity, the problem is approximable up to any given constant factor e > 0 by a finite-state machine. More precisely, let II be a problem in our subclass of NP optimization problems, and let I be an input represented by a sequence of n independent identically distributed random variables with a fixed distribution. Then for any e > 0 there exists a finite-state machine which does the following: On a random input I the finite-state machine produces a feasible solution whose objective value M(I) satisfies $$P\left( {\frac{{|Opt(I) - M(I)|}}{{\max \{ Opt(I),M(I)\} }} \geqslant \varepsilon } \right) \leqslant K\exp ( - hn)$$ when n is large enough. Here K and h are positive constants.
Cosmic Rays, Cosmic Magnetic Fields, and Magnetic Monopoles

Observations and models of galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields lead to the conclusion that monopoles of mass ≲ 1015 GeV are accelerated in these fields to relativistic velocities. We explore the possible signatures of a cosmic flux of relativistic monopoles impinging on the earth.
VETOT, Volume Estimation and Tracking Over Time: Framework and Validation

We have implemented an effective and publicly available tool, VETOT, to track and quantify the evolution of tumors and organs over time. VETOT includes a framework both for registration and segmentation. We have evaluated the accuracy and reliability of different level set segmentation methods in order to validate this part of our software and evaluate its usability. In addition to the registration and segmentation frameworks, our program allows the creation of inter- and intra-patient atlases based on a common coordinate system defined by the landmarks selected during the registration process. Based on the National Library of Medicine’s Insight toolkit, this free software is extensible and provides an intuitive interface that allows very fast processing with minimum training. This paper details VETOT and our level set segmentation evaluation.
Reconsidering the Role of Absentee Herd Owners: A View from Mongolia

Since the privatization of livestock in 1992, rates of absentee ownership of livestock have increased sharply in Mongolia. Unlike other documented instances of absentee herding in pastoral societies, absentee herd ownership has few detrimental ecological or social impacts in Mongolia. Rather, the relationship between absentee herd owners and herders may be viewed as a revitalized institution, with links to customary patterns of urban-rural exchange, emerging to meet the needs of both herders and town-dwellers during the transition from a socialist planned economy to a free market economy. Absentee herding in Mongolia differs from absentee and contract herding accounts from Africa and the Middle East in its continuing emphasis on subsistence rather than speculative investment and accumulation. Other important distinctions include: (1) absentee owners and herders are usually kin or friends; (2) herders tend their own private herds in addition to absenteeowned animals;(3)few ethnic, caste, or class differences existbetween herders and absentee herd owners; and (4) herders from all wealth strata tend absentee-owned animals. Policies to restrict or regulate absentee livestock ownership must be carefully considered in the Mongolian context, making clear distinctions between informal, mutually beneficial subsistence-driven arrangements among kin and friends, and more formal investment-driven contracts between businesses or investors and herders.
Innocent Defendants: Divergent Case Outcomes and What They Teach Us

Why are some innocent defendants convicted and spend years in prison before exoneration ("erroneous convictions"), while others are released before trial or are acquitted on the basis of their factual innocence ("near misses")? What factors could have predicted these dramatically divergent outcomes? The authors seek to answer these questions using advanced statistical and comparative social science methodologies. This chapter reports the results from a large scale empirical research project that compares case outcomes following the indictment of 460 factually innocent defendants for a violent felony. Two hundred of these cases ended in a near miss, and the remaining 260 defendants were erroneously convicted. The authors conclude that a number of variables, including the age and criminal history of the defendant, the punitiveness of the state, Brady violations, forensic error, a weak defense and weak prosecution case, a family defense witness, a non-intentional misidentification, and lying by a non-eyewitness, can predict case outcome. Moreover, these individual factors are connected and exacerbated by tunnel vision, which prevents the system from self-correcting once an error is made and leads to general system failure. The authors conclude by suggesting reforms that will allow the legal community to improve its ability to justly adjudicate cases of innocent defendants in the future.
A geometric approach in the study of traveling waves for some classes of non-monotone reaction–diffusion systems

Abstract In this paper we further extend a recently developed method to investigate the existence of traveling waves solutions and their minimum wave speed for non-monotone reaction–diffusion systems. Our approach consists of two steps. First we develop a geometrical shooting argument, with the aid of the theorem of homotopy invariance on the fundamental group, to obtain the positive semi-traveling wave solutions for a large class of reaction–diffusion systems, including the models of predator–prey interaction (for both predator-independent/dependent functional responses), the models of combustion, Belousov–Zhabotinskii reaction, SI-type of disease transmission, and the model of biological flow reactor in chemostat. Next, we apply the results obtained from the first step to some models, such as the Beddinton–DeAngelis model and the model of biolocal flow reactor, to show the convergence of these semi-traveling wave solutions to an interior equilibrium point by the construction of a Lyapunov-type function, or the convergence of semi-traveling waves to another boundary equilibrium point by the further analysis of the asymptotical behavior of semi-traveling wave solutions.
Image-based spectral reflectance reconstruction using the matrix R method

The ultimate goal of spectral imaging is to achieve high spectral accuracy, so that the spectral information can be used to calculate colorimetrically accurate images for any combination of illuminant and observer. A new spectral reconstruction method, called the matrix R method, was developed to reconstruct spectral reflectance factor accurately while simultaneously achieving high colorimetric performance for a defined illuminant and observer. The method combines the benefits of both colorimetric and spectral transformations. Tristimulus values were predicted by a colorimetric transformation from multi-channel camera signals, while spectral reflectance factor was estimated by a spectral transformation from the same signals. The method reconstructed reflectance factor by combining the fundamental stimulus from the predicted tristimulus values with the metameric black from the estimated spectral reflectance, based on the Wyszecki hypothesis. The experimental results verified the new method as a promising technique for building a spectral image database. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 343–351, 2007
Seismological determinations of the subcrustal continental lithosphere

Abstract The distinction between lithospheric and asthenospheric parts of the suboceanic upper mantle is well understood. The velocity and anelasticity of the asthenosphere are readily determined to be less than that of the overlying lithosphere. We therefore use similar criteria to define the less well understood continental lithosphere. A simple conductive cooling model is consistent with seismological results for oceanic regions, but the generation of continental plates does not appear to be related to any single process. Stable shields, aseismic platforms, rift zones or basins, mountain regions and subduction zones all have different deep structure, and there is no simple model which explains trends in thickness — even within a given region. Various seismological techniques have been used to determine the structure of the continental lithosphere: these include refraction profiles, surface waves, anelasticity, body waves and travel-time anomalies. In a few cases similar results come from independent techniques, but in others the estimates are in controversy. A few generaliztions can be made: Basins, rift valleys and alpine regions all have resasonablu well developed low velocity zones (LVZ) beginning at depths less than 100 km. Aseismic platforms may have LVZ's, but in some regions (e.g., eastern Australia) the implications from different studies are inconsistent. Results from Precambrian shield regions indicate that subcrustal velocities are high, and that if an LVZ exists, it is at most a moderate one starting at a depth possibly much greater than 100 km. Japan has an anomalous structure; the subcrustal velocites are low and show no decrease with depth, but a Q reversal at about 65 km may indicate the base of the continental lithosphere. The results for shield regions and for Japan raise questions concerning the validity of the assumption that the LVZ always represents the asthenosphere.
Air pollution, climate, socioeconomic status and total mortality in the United States.

Abstract This study examines the relative effects of air pollution, climate, and socioeconomic status (SES) on total mortality rate for 49 cities in the United States during the period 1968–1970 by using the multivariate regression model. Socioeconomic variables explain a greater percentage of the variation in the total mortality than do air pollution and climate variables. The results showed that excess mortality was associated with concentrations of benzene-soluble organic matter (BSO) and, to a lesser extent, total suspended particulates (TSP). It seemed likely that TSP and BSO were acting as a substitute for one another, without causal relationship. These findings have provided some limited conclusions; and more refined research is proposed.
Regulation of synthesis of the acetohydroxy acid synthase I isoenzyme in Escherichia coli K-12

Abstract We studied derivatives of Escherichia coli K-12 expressing only one of the three acetohydroxy acid synthases, acetohydroxy acid synthase I (the ilvB gene product), to gain insight into the mechanism of synthesis of this isoenzyme. We found that acetohydroxy acid synthase I is regulated by a multivalent control requiring leucine and valine. In fact, a starvation of each of these two amino acids causes a derepressed synthesis of acetohydroxy acid synthase I, while a starvation of isoleucine has no effect. Derepressed synthesis of this enzyme also occurs when cells are grown in the presence of α-ketobutyrate, unless the three branched-chain amino acids are also present. Additional studies with α-aminobutyric acid, an inhibitor of valyl-tRNA Val synthesis, show that valine must be charged to tRNA to participate in this regulatory system.
Changes in sample collection and analytical techniques and effects on retrospective comparability of low-level concentrations of trace elements in ground water

Abstract Ground-water sampling techniques were modified to reduce random low-level contamination during collection of filtered water samples for determination of trace-element concentrations. The modified sampling techniques were first used in New Jersey by the US Geological Survey in 1994 along with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis to determine the concentrations of 18 trace elements at the one microgram-per-liter (μg/L) level in the oxic water of the unconfined sand and gravel Kirkwood–Cohansey aquifer system. The revised technique tested included a combination of the following: collection of samples (1) with flow rates of about 2 L per minute, (2) through acid-washed single-use disposable tubing and (3) a single-use disposable 0.45-μm pore size capsule filter, (4) contained within portable glove boxes, (5) in a dedicated clean sampling van, (6) only after turbidity stabilized at values less than 2 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), when possible. Quality-assurance data, obtained from equipment blanks and split samples, indicated that trace element concentrations, with the exception of iron, chromium, aluminum, and zinc, measured in the samples collected in 1994 were not subject to random contamination at 1 μg/L. Results from samples collected in 1994 were compared to those from samples collected in 1991 from the same 12 PVC-cased observation wells using the available sampling and analytical techniques at that time. Concentrations of copper, lead, manganese and zinc were statistically significantly lower in samples collected in 1994 than in 1991. Sampling techniques used in 1994 likely provided trace-element data that represented concentrations in the aquifer with less bias than data from 1991 when samples were collected without the same degree of attention to sample handling.
ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF ALLYL MONOSULFIDE AND ALLYL ALCOHOL FROM ALLIUM.

Abstract It is known that sulfur compounds are the characteristic volatile constituents of Allium mainly responsible for odor and flavor. There is controversy in the literature concerning the production of allyl monosulfide by the alliums. Allyl alcohol has not been reported in Allium . Infrared spectra and relative retention volumes (gas-liquid chromatography) of synthetic allyl monosulfide and allyl alcohol were used in this study to confirm the production of these compounds by Allium . Species studied were Allium sativum L. (garlic) and A. ampeloprasum L. (great-headed garlic).
Engineered G-protein Coupled Receptors are Powerful Tools to Investigate Biological Processes and Behaviors

Understanding how discreet tissues and neuronal circuits function in relation to the whole organism to regulate physiological processes and behaviors is a fundamental goal of modern biological science. Powerful and important new tools in this discovery process are modified G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) known as ‘Receptors Activated Solely by Synthetic Ligands (RASSLs),’ and ‘Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by a Designer Drug (DREADDs).’ Collectively, these are GPCRs modified either through rational design or directed molecular evolution, that do not respond to native ligand, but functionally respond only to synthetic ligands. Importantly, the utility of these receptors is not limited to examination of the role of GPCR-coupled effector signal transduction pathways. Due to the near ubiquitous expression of GPCRs throughout an organism, this technology, combined with whole animal transgenics to selectively target expression, has the ability to regulate activity of discreet tissues and neuronal circuits through effector pathway modulation to study function and behavior throughout the organism. Advantages over other systems currently used to modify in vivo function include the ability to rapidly, selectively and reversibly manipulate defined signal transduction pathways both in short term and long term studies, and no need for specialized equipment due to convenient systemic treatment with activating ligand.
Pressure Ionization and Line Merging in Strongly Coupled Plasmas Produced by 100-fs Laser Pulses

Time- and space-resolved extreme ultraviolet spectra of carbon plasmas, created with 100-fs laser pulses, are obtained with the novel technique of picosecond jitter-free streak-camera averaging. Spectroscopic diagnostics indicate electron densities and temperatures evolving from ${10}^{23}$ to ${10}^{21}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ and 80 to 50 eV, respectively, implying less than one particle in a Debye sphere at early times. The emission reveals conditions of extreme pressure ionization and line merging. Comparisons of the experimental spectra with numerical simulations validate the use of the Inglis-Teller limit for line merging, and confirm that pressure ionization models based on the Debye-Huckel potential are inapplicable in such strongly coupled plasmas.
Squamous-Cell Carcinoma Developing After an Ileoanal Pouch Procedure: Report of a Case

This study was designed to report a new variant of a rare but serious complication of restorative proctocolectomy. We present a 47-year-old female who underwent restorative proctocolectomy after 16 years of disease. Twenty-five years after her pouch procedure, she underwent pouchoscopy for fever and poor pouch function. A suspicious mass was biopsied and pathology indicated squamous metaplasia. On referral, a mass could be palpated above the anorectal ring. Biopsy of the mass was read as invasive squamous carcinoma in the background of normal intestinal mucosa. This represents the twelfth reported case of carcinoma arising in a pouch, but the first report of a squamous carcinoma, as all previous reports had been of adenocarcinoma. The patient has undergone chemoradiation. Response to therapy, functional status, and biopsy after treatment will determine whether the patient will be able to salvage the pouch. Diligence and vigilance with regard to active follow-up, and a high index of suspicion, are required to prevent this from becoming a more frequently seen problem.
THE RECOVERY OF WATER-DAMAGED BOOKS AT THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA

A large medical library which owns an important rare book collection was threatened with a major disaster by the combination of an unusually heavy rainfall and a defective roof. Through the assistance and advice of many individuals and government agencies, the destruction of a major portion of the library was averted. The steps taken to salvage the over 4,000 water-damaged books, to protect the rest of the collection, to process the dried books, and to determine the most appropriate methods for their repair are all described. The technical innovations in the treatment of water-damaged books, especially the process of vacuum freeze-drying, are responsible for the complete recovery of 99.08% of the waterdamaged collection.
Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective

van Fraassen, Bas C., Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 416, £30 (cloth). Philosophers of science began publishing articles with the ph...
A Review of Camera Viewpoint Automation in Robotic and Laparoscopic Surgery

Complex teleoperative tasks, such as surgery, generally require human control. However, teleoperating a robot using indirect visual information poses many technical challenges because the user is expected to control the movement(s) of the camera(s) in addition to the robot’s arms and other elements. For humans, camera positioning is difficult, error-prone, and a drain on the user’s available resources and attention. This paper reviews the state of the art of autonomous camera control with a focus on surgical applications. We also propose potential avenues of research in this field that will support the transition from direct slaved control to truly autonomous robotic camera systems.
Effects of expectation on the brain metabolic responses to methylphenidate and to its placebo in non-drug abusing subjects.

Abstract The response to drugs is affected by expectation, which in turn is sensitive to prior drug experiences. Here, we evaluate the effects of expectation on the responses to intravenous methylphenidate (0.5 mg/kg) in fifteen subjects who had minimal experience with stimulant drugs. We used positron emission tomography to measure brain glucose metabolism, which we used as a marker of brain function and tested them under four randomized conditions (1) expecting placebo and receiving placebo; (2) expecting placebo and receiving methylphenidate; (3) expecting methylphenidate and receiving methylphenidate; (4) expecting methylphenidate and receiving placebo. We show that methylphenidate-induced decreases in striatum were greater when subjects expected to receive methylphenidate than when they were not expecting it. We also show that the subjects' expectations affected their responses to placebo. That is, when subjects expected to receive methylphenidate but received placebo there were significant increases in ventral cingulate gyrus (BA 25) and nucleus accumbens (regions involved with emotional reactivity and reward). The effect was largest in subjects who, because of experimental randomization, had not experienced methylphenidate. Because subjects were told that methylphenidate could be experienced as pleasant, unpleasant or devoid of subjective effects these results suggest the involvement of the ventral cingulate and of the nucleus accumbens in processing expectation for “uncertain drug effects”. Thus, the state of expectation needs to be considered as a variable modulating the reinforcing and therapeutic effects of drugs even in subjects who have no prior experience with the drug.
Medications development: Successes and challenges

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded a medications program that has concentrated on the development of medications for opiate and cocaine dependence. Levomethadyl acetate (LAAM) and buprenorphine and buprenorphine/naloxone sublingual tablets were developed in conjunction with pharmaceutical partners and approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The remaining challenges for medications development for opiate dependence involves Phase IV studies in special populations, for example, pregnant opiate-dependent patients, and to translate neuroscience-based findings into treatments. Several marketed medications have shown initial efficacy to reduce cocaine use in well-controlled clinical trials. Disulfiram has been shown to reduce cocaine use in several clinical trials, while baclofen, modafinil, naltrexone, ondansetron, tiagabine, and topiramate have shown preliminary efficacy in initial clinical studies. Confirmatory studies of many of these medications is underway. More recently, the NIDA medications program has evaluated medications for their ability to reduce methamphetamine use. To date, no medications tested have shown efficacy to reduce methamphetamine use. Both marketed medications and investigational agents will be tested. Finally, NIDA has begun to test medications for efficacy to reduce cannabis use. Initial studies are underway. Both agonist and antagonist approaches will be evaluated. Additionally, medications will be tested in cannabis-dependent patients for the management of insomnia, withdrawal, and concurrent depression.
Edema surrounding calcified intracranial cysticerci: clinical manifestations, natural history, and treatment

Calcified granulomas are the most common radiological finding in neurocysticercosis (10–20% of endemic populations). A small proportion serves as foci of seizure activity, which results in large numbers of persons with epilepsy. Calcified granulomas are not all the same. Some demonstrate blood–brain barrier dysfunction (magnetic resonance imaging enhancement) most likely due to the presence of inflammation, visualizable scolices, and/or gliosis. About half the patients with a recent history of seizures, positive serology, and only calcified lesions develop perilesional edema at the time of a seizure recurrence. The natural history, treatment, and pathophysiology of this phenomenon are not well studied. Episodes are usually associated with seizures or other neurological manifestations, resolve by 4–6 weeks, sometimes occur repeatedly, and usually involve a subset of the same calcifications. Treatment is supportive. Histopathological examination of one calcification associated with multiple perilesional edema episodes revealed significant inflammation and supports the concept that perilesional edema is inflammatory in nature. This most likely is due to host responses to released or newly recognized parasite antigen and/or upregulation of the host immune response. Immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory agents may be useful in prevention and/or treatment of this phenomenon.