cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Transformation of Europe in US Legal Academia and its Legacy in the Field of Private Law

The rise of EU law in US legal scholarship – from international lawyers' pet project to new fuel for comparative constitutional scholarship, and then on to self-contained subject matter with an independent raison d'etre – is closely tied to the professional itinerary of Joseph Weiler. Under the auspices of Eric Stein and Peter Hay, EEC law developed as a discipline at the University of Michigan, and the collaboration between US legal academia and the European University Institute (EUI) grew in quality and intensity. The year 1984 saw the birth of a massive research project sponsored by the EUI and the Ford Foundation, named “Integration through Law.” According to the vision of senior coauthor Mauro Cappelletti, the project was to map the budding European legal integration onto the lessons of a mature American federalism. The blueprint of the project had a one-way direction, portraying the United States as a source of “experience” and Europe as wide-eyed youth in need of inspiring examples. Joseph Weiler’s take on the project, however, was quite different. He was determined to avoid the trap of ephemeral similitude. Having identified a bed-rock of analogies, he then set out to unearth the specific dynamics that had enabled Europe's legal change. Weiler’s own contribution to Integration through Law, focused as it was on Europe’s institutional uniqueness, found its natural sequel in The Transformation. This article explained Europe in terms remarkably intelligible to US lawyers, but avoided any direct reference to US federalism. This was, familiarly enough, a constitutional project based on a court-led orchestration of federal and state powers. Yet its internal analytics, shaped by the logic of free trade and by technocratic opacity, were sufficiently rich and peculiar to dispel any off-putting deja vu effect.
Imperial and National Translations of Jang Bahadur's Visit to Europe

(2010). Imperial and National Translations of Jang Bahadur's Visit to Europe. South Asian Review: Vol. 31, Postcolonial Considerations, pp. 165-185.
Imaginary Places: Museum Visitor Perceptions of Habitat Dioramas

This chapter considers the critique of habitat dioramas as a representational strategy through which anthropocentric cultural norms are implicitly conveyed. Responding to Donna Haraway’s exceptional deconstruction of dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History (in her essay Teddy Bear Patriarchy), a visitor study was conducted at the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Canada), using a visitor-employed photography interview technique, to test visitor perceptions of a similarly staged lion habitat diorama. The chapter concludes with discussion of drawing together critical and instrumental approaches in the applied research informing the development of educational exhibitions such as dioramas.
Analysis of the decision making process of flight instructors at the Brazilian air force academy (AFA)

Motivation - Discusses the human judgment in decision making, through the analysis of the flight instructor's accuracy at the Brazilian Air Force Academy, when attributing grades to the cadets in flight training. Research approach - It is possible to increase elements to the studies of the Naturalistic Decision Making confronting the attributed grades in flight with those obtained by the cadets in an aptitude test for the military pilotage. Research limitations/Implications - This is ongoing work. A deeper exam of the psychological questions would possibly bring new insights to this study. Originality/Value - Taking grades obtained by the cadets in the aptitude test, a regression model was generated and it served as base for the verification of the accuracy of the instructors' judgment. This analysis means a positive referential in the validation of the NDM, as well as their unfolding in the aviation, the Aeronautical Decision Making - ADM. Take away message - The results of this work are elucidating in subjects of interface man-computers.
Two-Dimensional Butler Matrix Concept for Planar Array

A new concept of the two-dimensional (2-D) Butler Matrix (BM) is proposed for 2-D beam steering of a 2-D planar array. An example of a $\pmb{16\times 16}$ BM for a $\pmb{4\times 4}$ planar array is presented. All phase-delay values of the phase shifters in the proposed BM can be calculated merely from traditional $\pmb{4\times 4}$ BM by summation according to their positions. All the crossovers can be avoided by using a double-layer microstrip structure in a back-to-back configuration. Furthermore, all ports can be arranged in the required locations that can straightforwardly connect to the corresponding array elements. An example of 2.4 GHz applications is fabricated and measured, which exhibited satisfying performances of matching, isolation, equal power division, and progressive phase differences in a more than 10% relative bandwidth.
Doing Justice to Stories: On Ethics and Politics of Digital Storytelling

Researchers and activists are increasingly drawing on the practice of collecting, archiving, and sharing stories to advance social justice, especially given the low cost and accessibility of digital technologies. These practices differ in their aims and scope yet they share a common conviction: that digital storytelling is empowering especially when curating and disseminating life stories of marginalized groups. In this paper, I question this conviction and ask: is it possible that such practices take away from what is found to be meaningful and worthwhile in practices of storytelling and listening, and, if so, how? To answer this question, I argue for a renewed attentiveness to story scenes, highlighting the inherently relational nature of storytelling and listening. I examine this relational nature through a fictional account that exemplifies storied encounters and demonstrates the ethical issues they entail through three themes—reciprocity, responsiveness, and communion—borne out of the plurality of philosophical positions on what it means to relate to another. I explain each of these themes as a starting point for thinking through how digital storytelling may be just, with implications for participatory methods in science and technology studies, design studies, and human-computer interaction inclusive of participatory design, co-design, ethnographic research, and participatory action research.
Two-dimensional stratigraphic forward modeling, reconstructing high-relief clinoforms in the northern Taranaki Basin

Clinoforms, the basic large-scale architectural form within which sediments are stored and eventually fed down depositional dip in clastic wedges, exist in many shapes and sizes. Understanding how they form, evolve, and degrade is critical to understanding how transport mechanisms affect the shelf margin and sediment partitioning and distribution, and their implications on the presence of a working petroleum system. The Neogene stratigraphic succession of the Taranaki Basin in New Zealand contains clinoform packages that display a variety of architectures well imaged on seismic data. Quantitative characterization of this interval was performed to unravel the processes by which clinoforms evolve under the influence of tectonic- and isostatic-driven subsidence, sea-level change, and sediment supply fluctuations. Nine different clinoform packages were identified on the basis of changes in their seismic stratigraphic characteristics. Two-dimensional stratigraphic forward modeling was used to conduct a sensitivity analysis and determine the relative importance of different geologic controls on their genesis. Our results show that during the early to late Pliocene, clinoform architectures were influenced by the opening of a back-arc rifting structure in the Taranaki Basin (northern graben), which controlled sediment redistribution and partitioning. At the same time, a drop in global sea level allowed sediment bypass to distal parts of the basin. During the late Pliocene, changes in the Australian–Pacific subduction zone forced rapid uplifting of the Southern Alps, generating a significant increase in sediment supply. Model simulations suggest that clinoform architectures during the late Pliocene were controlled by this increase in sediment supply and associated loading.
Workload Transition, Cognitive Load States, and Adaptive Autonomous Transportation

Abstract The chapter aims at analyzing the impact of workload transitions on behavior and prefrontal brain activity to test the hypothesis that workload transitions are characterized by cognitive disruption and dissatisfaction. For this purpose, this hypothesis was tested and results were recorded.
Consent biometrics

Biometrics identifies/verifies a person using his/her physiological or behavioral characteristics. It is becoming an important ally for law enforcement and homeland security. However, there are some safety and privacy concerns: biometrics guarded system can be accessed when users are under threaten, reluctant or even unconscious states. In this paper, we propose a new concept, consent biometrics, which incorporates a consent signature based on human behavioral information. The proposed consent biometrics allows users to register their consent signature. When performing identification, the consent biometrics system will measure whether users consent to access the biometric system as well as perform biometrics identity match. In this way, the consent biometrics system can enhance the security, protect users from unauthorized access to the biometric system and discourage criminals to harm/threaten biometric users to some extent. We also propose two schemes that can realize the consent biometrics idea, and present example designs using face recognition and iris recognition as examples of these two schemes, respectively. The experimental results show that consent biometrics cannot only detect the willingness of users, but also achieve high recognition accuracy.
Six Days, Seven Nights: The Transcriptional Speed of Seed Development.

The development of the seed is a complex dance of cell division and differentiation, including transcriptional and genomic repatterning. Measuring gene expression by high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is routine in laboratories, and numerous seed transcriptomes and microarrays have long been
Application of an Antibiotic Spectrum Index in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Antimicrobial stewardship programs typically use days of therapy to assess antimicrobial use. However, this metric does not account for the antimicrobial spectrum of activity. We applied an antibiotic spectrum index to a population of very-low-birth-weight infants to assess its utility to evaluate the impact of antimicrobial stewardship interventions.
Foreign Body Ingestion and Aspiration

Ingestion of foreign objects and substances is a danger to children once they become mobile in their environment through crawling and before they develop the knowledge to avoid putting non-food objects in their mouths. Some ingestions cause serious and lasting damage to the aerodigestive tract.
Evaluación de la escala Vasograde como predictor de Isquemia Cerebral Tardía en pacientes con Hemorragia Subaracnoídea Aneurismática en Hospital Carlos Van Buren de Valparaíso

Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of VASOGRADE classification as a predictor of Delayed Cerebral Ischemia at the admission of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Methods: Descriptive study of 59 patients admitted at Carlos Van Buren Hospital in 2014 for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Nine patients were excluded; 7 by derivation to another centres and 2 by death at acute period. They were classified in 3 groups VASOGRADE GREEN, YELLOW and RED based on characteristics of modified Fisher and initial WFNS. We calculated and compared the Odds Ratio between results of Delayed Cerebral Isquemia by every category of VASOGRADE of this study with the results of Delayed Cerebral Isquemia of the original article of VASOGRADE. Results: The risk of Delayed cerebral schemia was higher in the Green category of this study than the original article (Odds ratio (OR), 1,3; 95% CI, 0,02-14,3). On the other hand the Yellow group of this study also had a higher risk than the yellow group of the original article (OR, 2,8; 95% CI, 1,12-6,86). The Red group had a large higher risk than the original Red group (OR, 16,6; 95% CI, 2,2-733,8). Conclusions: The VASOGRADE scale has been validated recently. It is a a tool that allows to stratify the risk of Delayed cerebral ischemia in an effective way. The VASOGRADE scaleis easy to apply and effective for predicting Delayed Cerebral Ischemia.
Associations of Social Determinants of Health and Self-Reported Visual Difficulty: Analysis of the 2016 National Health Interview Survey

Purpose: To determine the association of selected social determinants of health (SDH) assessed by the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) among adults with visual difficulty.Methods: Data from adults 18 years of age and older relevant to self-reported visual difficulty were extracted from the 2016 NHIS dataset. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine associations between self-reported visual difficulty and key social determinants of health identified by the Kaiser Family Foundation and American College of Physicians. Outcomes were reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results: Self-reported visual difficulty was significantly associated with lower educational attainment (OR 1.54; 95% CI, 1.30-1.81), having healthcare coverage through Medicaid (OR 1.44; 95% CI, 1.23-1.67), food insecurity (OR 1.75; 95% CI, 1.54-1.99), problems with paying medical bills (OR 1.60; 95% CI, 1.40-1.83), trouble finding a doctor (OR 1.49; 95% CI, 1.19-1.86), cost-related medication underuse (OR 1.72; 95% CI, 1.54-1.93), and identification as a non-heterosexual male (OR 1.82; 95% CI, 1.21-2.73). Those who were employed were at lower risk of visual difficulty compared to those who were looking for work or not working (OR 0.79; 95% CI, 0.71-0.89).Conclusion: A subset of SDH as evaluated by the NHIS are positively associated with self-reported visual difficulty. If validated, these results could inform future public health interventions that may reduce the incidence and burden of visual difficulty.
WordWars: A Dataset to Examine the Natural Selection of Words

There is a growing body of work on how word meaning changes over time: mutation. In contrast, there is very little work on how different words compete to represent the same meaning, and how the degree of success of words in that competition changes over time: natural selection. We present a new dataset, WordWars, with historical frequency data from the early 1800s to the early 2000s for monosemous English words in over 5000 synsets. We explore three broad questions with the dataset: (1) what is the degree to which predominant words in these synsets have changed, (2) how do prominent word features such as frequency, length, and concreteness impact natural selection, and (3) what are the differences between the predominant words of the 2000s and the predominant words of early 1800s. We show that close to one third of the synsets undergo a change in the predominant word in this time period. Manual annotation of these pairs shows that about 15% of these are orthographic variations, 25% involve affix changes, and 60% have completely different roots. We find that frequency, length, and concreteness all impact natural selection, albeit in different ways.
Trees, assemblies, chains, and windows

Abstract For describing grammatical organization, metaphors based on a variety of source domains – including trees, networks, chains, paths, and windows – all appear to have some validity. In Cognitive Grammar, they pertain to facets of assemblies, where semantic and phonological structures are connected by relations of symbolization, composition, and categorization. Assemblies have a temporal dimension; consisting in sequenced processing activity that runs concurrently on different time scales, they involve both seriality and hierarchy. In their hierarchical aspect, they are comparable to constituency trees, and in their connections, to dependency trees. Assembly elements, which can be characterized at any level of specificity, are connected in both syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations. A person’s linguistic ability comprises a vast assembly of conventional units, a portion of which are activated as part of the transient assembly constituting a particular expression. Lexicon and grammar effect the implementation of semantic functions – affective, interactive, descriptive, and discursive – which emerge with varying degrees of salience depending on their symbolization by segmental, prosodic, and other means. Assemblies thus make possible a unified approach to processing, structure, function, and use.
A Suggested Reading List for Residential Life and Housing Research

As college campuses continue to house more students, build additional facilities and offer a variety of programmatic options to residents, the literature becomes equally expansive. A vast array of options exist, but the following references were selected because of the robust review of research they provide, the practical nature of the content, the exploration of various residential life models and facilities, or to increase an understanding of the value that intentional programmes add to students’ residential experiences. The selected references are also predominantly books. I would encourage readers to subscribe to the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO‑I) journal, which regularly publishes the latest and most relevant research globally in the field. A brief introduction to the selected literature is provided.
Numerical analysis of ballistic impact performance of two ceramic-based armor structures

Abstract This paper investigates ballistic performance of two different ceramic-based armor designs using finite element analysis. The first design is a bi-layer armor consists of a ceramic front layer and a Kevlar-29 composite backing layer. The second design consists of a ceramic filled honeycomb front layer and a Kevlar-29 composite backing layer. 3D finite element models are developed with the commercial software Abaqus/Explicit. The models are validated by comparing against experimental results from different sources. Both single-hit and double-hit impacts were carried out using an ogival-nosed hardened steel 4340 projectile of mass 5.5 g. The ballistic performances of the two designs are compared in terms of penetration mechanisms and ballistic resistance. It was found that the presence of honeycomb in the second armor design has a significant effect on its ballistic performance. The cell walls interrupted the stress wave propagation and confined the fracture in a local area. The ballistic limit of the second armor design in a single-hit impact decreased significantly but the resistance to a second hit did not decrease.
Diabetes and liver cancer risk: A stronger effect in Whites than Blacks?

Abstract Background Both diabetes and liver cancer are overrepresented among African Americans, but limited information is available on the interrelationship of these two diseases among African Americans. We examined the association of diabetes with the incidence of liver cancer and whether this varied by participant self-reported race/ethnicity. Methods Using the Southern Community Cohort Study, we conducted a cancer follow up (2002–2016) of a cohort of mostly low-income participants aged 40–79 with diabetes (n = 15,879) and without diabetes (n = 59,077) at study baseline. Cox regression was used to compute Hazard Ratios (HR) and 95% CIs for the risk of incident liver cancer. Results With 790,132 person years of follow up, 320 incident cases of liver cancer were identified. In analyses controlling for age, sex, race, BMI, current and former smoking, total alcohol consumption, family history of liver cancer, any hepatitis infection, hyperlipidemia and socioeconomic factors, the association between diabetes and risk of liver cancer differed significantly (pinteraction = 0.0001) between participants identifying as Black/African American (AA) or White/European American (EA). Diabetes was associated with 5.3-fold increased cancer risk among EAs (HR 5.4, 95% CI 3.2–9.3) vs an 80% increase (HR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3–2.5) among AAs. Furthermore, controlling for diabetes greatly attenuated the higher risk of liver cancer among AAs; indeed, while the cancer risk among those without diabetes was twice as high among AAs than EAs (HR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.4–2.9), no excess in AAs was observed among those with diabetes (HR = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.4–1.1). Conclusion While liver cancer risk in general is greater in AAs than EAs and diabetes increases this risk in both racial/ethnic groups, diabetes appears to impact liver cancer to a much greater extent among EAs. The findings raise the possibility of racially different mechanisms and impacts of diabetes on this often fatal cancer among AAs and EAs.
Cyclospora cayetanensis: a Review of the Genome

Cyclospora cayetanensis is one of 18 currently recognized species of Cyclospora. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions have long been used in the study of plant genomics and evolution. Van der Heijden and colleagues attempted to use the ITS-1 region to subtype Histomonas meleagridis but like many found the A/T rich fluorograms too complex to discern meaningful patterns. Of the four future directions John Barta proposed for the classification of protozoan parasites, two are especially applicable to C. cayetanensis. First, there is an overemphasis on species of medical and veterinary importance. Thus, it is essential that other Cyclospora species are collected, examined, and sequenced so as to further resolve this genus's phylogenetic place. Second, sole reliance on the 18S rRNA is not prudent and other genes should also be examined. It has also been suggested that looking at other genomes within the organism would be wise. The similarity of C. cayetanensis to other coccidia, coupled with its maddening differences, drives us to devise and try new methods of sequence analysis, even to examine our assumptions regarding taxonomic organization. The study of C. cayetanensis vividly illustrates and thus reminds us of the interdependence between ecology, epidemiology, and genomics. Knowledge of the ecology of C. cayetanensis would also reveal the conditions leading to oocyst infectivity, which would enable epidemiologists to formulate public health recommendations to interrupt disease transmission.
Educational Theory and Classroom Behavior.

Teachers make assumptions about education that are expressed in their classroom behavior. Many teachers are not aware that their behavior is directly related to their assumptions and some are unaware of the assumptions they make. Attempts to help teachers shape their behavior in the classroom starts with encouraging them to identify the assumptions they make about education in general and about schools, teachers, learning and students in particular. The teacher who is aware of the assumptions he makes can then explore the classroom behavior that is consistent with those assumptions. When discussing assumptions and the related behavior with others, the teacher soon realizes that others have made differ-
Markers of Rubella Virus Strains in RK13 Cell Culture

Abstract When tested on RK13 cell cultures, strains of rubella virus could be differentiated by their ability to form small or large plaques. Large plaques were produced by the HPV-77 and Cendehill strains, and also by a laboratory stock strain (West Point), after only 14 passages in RK13 culture. Five wild-type rubella viruses, isolated and passaged only a few times in African green monkey kidney tissue culture, grew well in RK13 cell culture, but they were sensitive to agar inhibitors and, therefore, formed small plaques. On the other hand, RA27/3, an attenuated strain grown in WI-38 human fibroblast cells, developed low titers in RK13 cells and also produced small plaques. We concluded that the morphological differences between small-plaque and large-plaque viruses depended on their sensitivity to agar inhibitors and on the pH of the medium during plaque formation.
Stabilisation policies in developing countries after the 2007-08 food crisis.

Conventional best practice advice for risk management strategies tends to focus on long-run agricultural development, trade liberalisation, the provision of safety nets and private market solutions to risk. However, if world price spikes like those observed in 2008 are an infrequent but real event, policy recommendations need to take into account the greater prevalence of market failures in many developing countries and associated underdevelopment of marketing institutions. While policy should rely on liberal trade in most years, a short-run stocks policy may be a viable option, due to delays in import arrival, imperfect information on the harvest, and inter-seasonal price dynamics. Moreover, trade policy adjustments are likely to be perceived as necessary when infrequent world price spikes reoccur. The challenge to implementing such policies lies in ensuring consistent, predictable and transparent governance so that interventions make outcomes better, not worse.
Structured comparative analysis of systems logs to diagnose performance problems

Diagnosis and correction of performance issues in modern, large-scale distributed systems can be a daunting task, since a single developer is unlikely to be familiar with the entire system and it is hard to characterize the behavior of a software system without completely understanding its internal components. This paper describes DISTALYZER, an automated tool to support developer investigation of performance issues in distributed systems. We aim to leverage the vast log data available from large scale systems, while reducing the level of knowledge required for a developer to use our tool. Specifically, given two sets of logs, one with good and one with bad performance, DISTALYZER uses machine learning techniques to compare system behaviors extracted from the logs and automatically infer the strongest associations between system components and performance. The tool outputs a set of inter-related event occurrences and variable values that exhibit the largest divergence across the logs sets and most directly affect the overall performance of the system. These patterns are presented to the developer for inspection, to help them understand which system component(s) likely contain the root cause of the observed performance issue, thus alleviating the need for many human hours of manual inspection. We demonstrate the generality and effectiveness of DISTALYZER on three real distributed systems by showing how it discovers and highlights the root cause of six performance issues across the systems. DISTALYZER has broad applicability to other systems since it is dependent only on the logs for input, and not on the source code.
Teaching the Ethics of Free Improvisation

The factors that motivate some improvising musicians to teach include the music’s profound ethical dimensions, the ideal that egalitarianism should be a core principle in music-making, and the belief that this music enables the musician’s full self to flower. Using an ethnographic approach, this essay argues that pedagogies, as cultural systems, encompass ambiguity, so that improvisers’ ideals work irregularly in an educational setting. The MECA improvisation ensemble, a group for middle and high school students in Houston, Texas, was a voluntary organization that attracted members from a variety of backgrounds. Its leader, an improviser, utilized traditional teaching dynamics, but the alternative arts setting and the premises of free improvisation enabled the students to cross barriers within the city and between each other.
Species Differences in Serum Paraoxonase Correlate with Sensitivity to Paraoxon Toxicity

Paraoxon (diethyl-p-nitrophenylphosphate) is the active metabolite of parathion (diethyl-p-nitrophenylphosphorothioate), a widely used organo-phosphorus insecticide. After activation of parathion by the cytochrome P450 system, the paraoxon is hydrolyzed by a serum enzyme, paraoxonase (EC 3.1.1.2), to generate p-nitrophenol and diethylphosphoric acid (Zech and Zurcher, 1974). Measurement of paraoxonase activity in sera from human subjects of European origin (i.e. Caucasian) has revealed a bimodal or trimodal distribution (Mueller et al. 1983; Eckerson et al. 1983). Cn the basis of enzymatic tests, humans can be divided into three serum paraoxonase phenotypes: A (low activity), AB (intermediate activity), and B (high activity), with about 50% of the studied populations of European origin displaying low activity (Eckerson et al. 1983).
4D computed tomography reconstruction from few-projection data via temporal non-local regularization

4D computed tomography (4D-CT) is an important modality in medical imaging due to its ability to resolve patient anatomy motion in each respiratory phase. Conventionally 4D-CT is accomplished by performing the reconstruction for each phase independently as in a CT reconstruction problem. We propose a new 4D-CT reconstruction algorithm that explicitly takes into account the temporal regularization in a non-local fashion. By imposing a regularization of a temporal nonlocal means (TNLM) form, 4D-CT images at all phases can be reconstructed simultaneously based on extremely under-sampled x-ray projections. Our algorithm is validated in one digital NCAT thorax phantom and two real patient cases. It is found that our TNLM algorithm is capable of reconstructing the 4D-CT images with great accuracy. The experiments also show that our approach outperforms standard 4D-CT reconstruction methods with spatial regularization of total variation or tight frames.
On decoupling control of uncertain and multivariable systems with time delays

This paper deals with multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) systems with time delays and in the presence of significant process uncertainties both internal and external. A predictive active disturbance rejection control (PADRC) design, combined with a decoupler, is proposed. The decoupler is designed to reduce the interaction among the loops based on the knowledge of process dynamics. The remaining interaction due to the imperfection of the decoupler, together with the internal and external uncertainties in the process, which could be quite significant, is then dealt with by an independent PADRC controller for each loop. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated in simulation studies using two well-known processes in chemical industry: the Wood and Berry system as well as the Vinante and Luyben system.
Cellular and Molecular Analysis of Molluscan Circadian Pacemakers

A detailed understanding of how cells and tissues generate 24-hour periodicities remains one of the great challenges to contemporary cell and molecular science. Nonetheless, there has been near spectacular progress in the past 5 years in our knowledge about the molecular and cellular machinery responsible for generating circadian rhythms. This progress has come about in large part through the use of molecular genetic approaches in mature (e.g.Drosophila Neurospora) and new (e.g.Arabidopsismouse) chronobiological model systems.
Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis for Nuclear Criticality Safety Using KENO in the SCALE Code System

Sensitivity and uncertainty methods have been developed to aid in the establishment of areas of applicability and validation of computer codes and nuclear data for nuclear criticality safety studies. A key component in this work is the generation of sensitivity and uncertainty parameters for typically several hundred benchmarks experiments used in validation exercises. Previously, only one-dimensional sensitivity tools were available for this task, which necessitated the remodeling of multidimensional inputs in order for such an analysis to be performed. This paper describes the development of the SEN3 Monte Carlo based sensitivity analysis sequence for SCALE.
Protection of ischemic preconditioning is dependent upon a critical timing sequence of protein kinase C activation.

Abstract The protection of ischemic preconditioning (PC) appears to be triggered by activation of receptors which couple to protein kinase C (PKC) during the brief ischemia. Previous experiments, however, suggest that phosphorylation of PKC's substrates is not required for the myocytes to enter the preconditioned state. Because of the fundamental importance of this observation, the present study was designed to stringently test when phosphorylation must occur during a PC protocol. We used an in vitro rabbit heart which permitted precise control of the timing of exposure to staurosporine (STA), a reversible blocker of PKC's kinase activity. In control hearts a 30-min regional coronary occlusion followed by 2 h of reperfusion resulted in 31.4±1.5% infarction of the region at risk, and STA (100 n m ) had little effect. PC with 5 min of global ischemia and 10 min of reperfusion reduced infarction to 11.4% ( P v control). STA starting 5 min before and ending 5 min after the 5-min PC ischemia did not block protection (14.1±1.7% infarction, P v control). When the PC protocol was changed to 5 min ischemia/20 min reperfusion, STA still could not block protection even though the infusion continued for 15 min after the PC ischemia. However, when a 15-min STA infusion was initiated 5 min before the 30-min ischemic period, PC's protection was totally blocked. Moreover this late infusion of STA continued to block protection even when the PC stimulus was amplified by three cycles of 5-min ischemia/10-min reperfusion. These observations indicate that kinase activity is not required to put the rabbit heart into a preconditioned state suggesting that some process upstream of PKC's kinase is responsible for the triggering and memory of PC.
Structure of hydrated Na+ ions around a region of A- or B-DNA helix.

A molecular-dynamics simulation was used to carry out an introductory study of the hydration of a section of a rigid single A- or B-DNA helix with one Na+ counterion per nucleotide. Four Na+ ions and four nucleotides and periodic boundary conditions were used to mimic an infinite helix. The atoms of the helix and the Na+ ions were assumed to be Lennard-Jones spheres that also carried charges. Stillinger four-point charge model water molecules were used. We carried out five calculations, for 26 and 46 water molecules in B-DNA and 20, 32, and 46 in A-DNA fragments. The arrangements of the Na+ ions are found to have some similarities to those obtained by Clementi and Corongiu. In the calculations with 46 water molecules, we found that two Na+ ions can be bridged by about two water molecules and form a hydrated bound pair, which in turn forms a bridge between the guanine N7 and a near phosphate group. These bound pairs may be important in stabilizing the helix structure of DNA molecules.
Anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies are associated with the development of postoperative fistulas following ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

Although serologic testing for perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (pANCA) and anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibodies (ASCA) is reportedly useful in distinguishing ulcerative colitis (UC) from Crohn’s disease (CD), there are few and conflicting reports assessing their utility in predicting post-operative complications after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). We examined the associations between postoperative complications such as pouchitis or fistulas and pANCA and ASCA antibodies in a group of patients who underwent IPAA for UC. We conducted a retrospective chart review of 34 patients initially diagnosed with UC (four of these patients had a diagnosis of indeterminate colitis) who underwent IPAA by a single surgeon, and who had pANCA and ASCA antibody levels measured during their clinical course. Study patients were assigned to four groups based on the pattern of antibody reactivity: pANCA+/ASCA- (16 patients), pANCA-/ASCA+ (nine patients), pANCA+/ASCA+ (five patients), and pANCA-/ASCA- (four patients). The median length of follow-up was 16 months (3–144 months). None of the patients (0 of 16) who were pANCA+/ASCA- had their preoperative diagnosis of UC changed after a median follow-up of 14 months (3–118 months). Of the nine patients with a preoperative diagnosis of UC who were pANCA-/ASCA+, four patients (44%) had their diagnosis changed postoperatively to CD based on clinical findings, with a median follow-up: 15 months (5–98 months). Of 16 patients who underwent IPAA and who were pANCA+/ASCA-, 15 of 16 (93.75%), were free of fistulas postoperatively, with a median follow-up of 14 months (3–118 months). Of nine patients with a preoperative diagnosis of UC who underwent IPAA and who were pANCA-/ASCA+, four of nine (44%; p=0.04) developed fistulas postoperatively, with a median length of follow-up of 55 months (15–67 months). No relationship between serologic profiles or antibody titer levels and the development of pouchitis was identified. In a cohort of patients undergoing IPAA for UC, serologic profiles may be useful in identifying patients at risk of postoperative fistula formation. Patients who were pANCA-/ASCA+ were at increased risk for the development of fistulas postoperatively compared to patients who were pANCA+/ASCA-, and were also more likely to have their diagnosis changed postoperatively to CD. A larger study is needed to validate these observations.
Solid state optical limiting materials based on phthalocyanine-containing polymers and organically-modified sol-gels

We demonstrate optical limiting in phthalocyanine doped solid host materials such as poly- (methylmethacrylate) and organically modified sol-gels. It is shown that the nanosecond nonlinear absorptive properties and the excited-state properties, such as the triplet-triplet absorption spectrum and the triplet quantum yields, of the metallophthalocyanines in these solid hosts are very similar to those in solutions. The key figures-of-merit for these materials suggest potential for the realization of high-performance solid-state optical limiters based on phthalocyanines.
Fracture mechanisms of a coarse-grained, transparent MgAl2O4 at elevated temperatures

The fracture of a transparent, large-grain-sized MgAl2O4 spinel has been studied through temperatures of 1400°C. Fracture toughness values, falling between about 1.3 and 2.3 MPa.m12;1/2, behaved sigmoidally with temperature, with a lower shelf transition appearing near 800°C. Rising R-curves, displaying a run-arrest character, were found at both the lowest and the highest temperatures, while only minimal values of dKR/dΔa were produced at intermediate temperatures of 800°C. This fracture character is ascribed largely to finite concentrations of a residual LiF pressing aid identified on the fracture surface, while additional influences associated with the lower shelf region at the highest temperatures may include the increased fraction of intergranular crack path and the onset of plasticity. This cubic monolithic ceramic displayed strong nonlinear fracture behavior in both temperature regimes. In both cases the fracture character is linked directly to an active toughening mechanism in the wake region, which depends upon crack face bridging.
Determination of DR β1 alleles of DR4/Dw subtypes of oligonucleotide probing

The extensive Dw polymorphism of HLA-D has, to date, been defined using cumbersome and lengthy techniques involving T-cell proliferative reactions. These techniques have not necessarily provided information about the genotype at any single locus of HLA-D because the products of more than a single locus of HLA-D (e.g., DR beta 1 and DR beta 2 of the DR2 haplotypes and in some cases DQ) can contribute to T-cell proliferation and thus to assignment of Dw phenotype. We have recently reported that DR beta 1 alleles relating to the Dw polymorphism can vary by only a single, or a very few, nucleotide differences; the products of this locus are recognized in allo- and restricted responses. Given the importance of defining this polymorphism, we have used specific oligonucleotides as hybridization probes to differentiate between these very closely related alleles. This approach provides the basis for a rapid method for HLA-D typing which, as additional sequence information becomes available, will likely be generally applicable. In addition, oligonucleotide probing allows definition of a gene transcript from an individual locus of HLA-D rather than the phenotype results provided by Dw typing.
Some Physical Properties of Milk. V. Effects of Age on the Viscosity of Pasteurized Fractions of Milk

Summary The relationship between changes in viscosity and age after pasteurizing has been studied for (1) separated milk, (2) "wheys" obtained by centrifuging out as sediments all or part of the caseinate-complex, and (3) fractions of this sediment resuspended in water. Aliquots of wheys and of resuspended sediments were pasteurized at 61.7° C. for 30min. Viscosities were measured at 4° C. after storage for various times at 2–4° C. For pasteurized wheys the increase of viscosity with age was less, as a larger fraction of the caseinate sediment had been removed. The resuspended sediment fractions all increased in viscosity with age. The major part of each increase was recovery from decreases in viscosity on pasteurization.
Early response of canine temporomandibular joint tissues to arthroscopically guided neodymium: YAG laser wounds.

Abstract A neodymium yittrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser inserted through an operating arthroscope was used to introduce applied energy to synovial tissues, articular discs, and bone in the temporomandibular joint of mongrel dogs. Arthroscopic inspection of the wounds was performed at 1 and 2 weeks postoperatively. The animals were killed and the temporomandibular joints were examined grossly and histologically to determine the extent of injury and healing. The results show that laser wounds of bone and articular disc undergo no repair, whereas laser wounds of symovium show rapid repair. Laser damage to condylar marrow under an articular disc wound was unexpectedly found.
Antenna array excitation for maximum gain

Antenna array excitation producing maximum gain is found. It is shown that the synthesis of an array to give the maximum gain is particularly simple when the synthesis functions form an orthogonal set over the visible radiation zone.
Experimental candidal arthritis in the rabbit.

Inoculation of approximately 1 × 108 yeast phase C. albicans into the supra-patellar bursae of rabbits produced an interesting septic synovitis. Effusions began to develop in the second week after inoculation, and were maximal in the third and fourth week, subsiding to a chronic synovial pannus with cartilage destruction and repair by 8 weeks. Synovial fluid cultures became negative at the time of maximal purulent effusion. Although marked delayed sensitivity skin reactions developed during the course of the arthritis, inoculation of the opposite knee when skin sensitivity was present failed to accelerate the experimental arthritis.
A Feature-Based Learning Framework for Accurate Prostate Localization in CT Images

Automatic segmentation of prostate in computed tomography (CT) images plays an important role in medical image analysis and image-guided radiation therapy. It remains as a challenging problem mainly due to three issues: 1) the image contrast between the prostate and its surrounding tissues is low in prostate CT images and no obvious boundaries can be observed; 2) the unpredictable prostate motion causes large position variations of the prostate in the treatment images scanned at different treatment days; and 3) the uncertainty of the existence of bowel gas in treatment images significantly changes the image appearance even for images taken from the same patient. To address these issues, in this paper we propose a feature-based learning framework for accurate prostate localization in CT images. The main contributions of the proposed method lie in the following aspects. 1) Anatomical features are extracted from input images and adopted as signatures for each voxel. The most robust and informative features are identified by the feature selection process to help localize the prostate. 2) Regions with salient features but irrelevant to the localization of prostate, such as regions filled with bowel gas, are automatically filtered out by the proposed method. 3) An online update mechanism is adopted to adaptively combine both population information and patient-specific information to localize the prostate. The proposed method is evaluated on a CT prostate dataset of 24 patients to localize the prostate, where each patient has more than 10 longitudinal images scanned at different treatment times. It is also compared with several state-of-the-art prostate localization algorithms in CT images, and the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves the highest localization accuracy among all the methods under comparison.
Apolipoprotein A-I mimetic 4F alters the function of human monocyte-derived macrophages

HDL and its major protein component apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) exert anti-inflammatory effects, inhibit monocyte chemotaxis/adhesion, and reduce vascular macrophage content in inflammatory conditions. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the apoA-I mimetic 4F modulates the function of monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) by regulating the expression of key cell surface receptors on MDMs. Primary human monocytes and THP-1 cells were treated with 4F, apoA-I, or vehicle for 7 days and analyzed for expression of cell surface markers, adhesion to human endothelial cells, phagocytic function, cholesterol efflux capacity, and lipid raft organization. 4F and apoA-I treatment decreased the expression of HLA-DR, CD86, CD11b, CD11c, CD14, and Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) compared with control cells, suggesting the induction of monocyte differentiation. Both treatments abolished LPS-induced mRNA for monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1), regulated on activation, normal T-expressed and presumably secreted (RANTES), IL-6, and TNF-α but significantly upregulated LPS-induced IL-10 expression. Moreover, 4F and apoA-I induced a 90% reduction in the expression of CD49d, a ligand for the VCAM-1 receptor, with a concurrent decrease in monocyte adhesion (55% reduction) to human endothelial cells and transendothelial migration (34 and 27% for 4F and apoA-I treatments) compared with vehicle treatment. In addition, phagocytosis of dextran-FITC beads was inhibited by 4F and apoA-I, a response associated with reduced expression of CD32. Finally, 4F and apoA-I stimulated cholesterol efflux from MDMs, leading to cholesterol depletion and disruption of lipid rafts. These data provide evidence that 4F, similar to apoA-I, induces profound functional changes in MDMs, possibly due to differentiation to an anti-inflammatory phenotype.