cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ivan Karamazov and the religious literature of medieval Rus

This article explores the role of translation of medieval and religious literature in Fedor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. In the chapters “Rebellion” and “The Grand Inquisitor”, Ivan Karamaz...
Novel Changes in Resident Education during a Pandemic: Strategies and Approaches to Maximize Residency Education and Safety

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a reduction in surgical and clinical volume, which has altered the traditional training experience of the otolaryngology resident. Objective To describe the strategies we utilized to maximize resident education as well as ensure patient and staff safety during the pandemic. Methods We developed a system that emphasized three key elements. First and foremost, patient care remained the core priority. Next, clinical duties were restructured to avoid unnecessary exposure of residents. The third component was ensuring continuation of resident education and maximizing learning experiences. Results To implement these key elements, our residency divided up our five hospitals into three functional groups based on geographical location and clinical volume. Each team works for three days at their assigned location before being replaced by the next three-person team at our two busiest sites. Resident teams are kept completely separate from each other, so that they do not interact with those working at other sites. Conclusions Despite the daily challenges encountered as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, our otolaryngology residency program has been able to establish a suitable balance between maintenance of resident safety and well-being without compromise to patient care.
Perspectives on Colon Cancer Screening—A Physician Panel Discussion for Preclinical Medical Students

Introduction Colon cancer is the third most common cancer in the US, and the survival rate improves drastically with early detection. It is important for medical students to understand screening op...
La Peste y el Distanciamiento en "El ganso de oro" de Lope de Vega

A pesar de la amenaza generalizada de peste durante el Siglo de Oro, el contagio rara vez se escenificaba en las comedias. El ganso de oro de Lope de Vega sirve como una notable excepcion a esa tendencia. En su mezcla de generos, del pastoril a la comedia palatina con una fuerte dosis de magia, la comedia nos proporciona una aproximacion a la vida durante semejante tiempo de pestilencia. La crisis sanitaria actual de la COVID-19 sugiere una nueva lectura de la obra, poco estudiada anteriormente. Este articulo repasa el papel clave de la peste en El ganso de oro para destacar su tema principal: el distanciamiento, entendido a base de manifestaciones fisicas, sociales y emocionales.
The Current State of Transgender Care

The care of transgender patients is a growing need in the United States and around the world. The transgender population is expanding, and our global community is more accepting of transgender people. Nevertheless, healthcare disparities exist for this group, and medical education lags behind cultural change. Physicians in many fields including urology are playing catch up.
FBAdTracker: An Interactive Data Collection and Analysis Tool for Facebook Advertisements.

The growing use of social media has led to drastic changes in our decision-making. Especially, Facebook offers marketing API which promotes business to target potential groups who are likely to consume their items. However, this service can be abused by malicious advertisers who attempt to deceive people by disinformation such as propaganda and divisive opinion. To counter this problem, we introduce a new application named FBAdTracker. The purpose of this application is to provide an integrated data collection and analysis system for current research on fact-checking related to Facebook advertisements. Our system is capable of monitoring up-to-date Facebook ads and analyzing ads retrieved from Facebook Ads Library.
Unwatched Pollution: The Effect of Intermittent Monitoring on Air Quality

Intermittent monitoring of environmental standards may induce strategic changes in polluting activities. This paper documents local strategic responses to a cyclical, once-every-six-day air quality monitoring schedule under the federal Clean Air Act. Using satellite data of monitored areas, I show that air quality is significantly worse on unmonitored days. This effect is explained by short-term suppression of pollution on monitored days, especially during high-pollution periods when the city's noncompliance risk is high. Cities' use of air quality warnings increases on monitored days, which suggests local governments' role in coordinating emission reductions.
Fungal Infections in Liver Transplant Recipients

Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are one of the most feared complications associated with liver transplantation, with high rates of morbidity and mortality. We discuss the most common invasive fungal infections in the setting of liver transplant, including Candida, Aspergillus, and Cryptococcal infections, and some less frequent but devastating mold infections. Further, we evaluate the use of prophylaxis to prevent invasive fungal infection in this population as a promising mechanism to reduce risks to patients after liver transplant.
A Multi-Hypothesis Approach to Pose Ambiguity in Object-Based SLAM.

In object-based Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), 6D object poses offer a compact representation of landmark geometry useful for downstream planning and manipulation tasks. However, measurement ambiguity then arises as objects may possess complete or partial object shape symmetries (e.g., due to occlusion), making it difficult or impossible to generate a single consistent object pose estimate. One idea is to generate multiple pose candidates to counteract measurement ambiguity. In this paper, we develop a novel approach that enables an object-based SLAM system to reason about multiple pose hypotheses for an object, and synthesize this locally ambiguous information into a globally consistent robot and landmark pose estimation formulation. In particular, we (1) present a learned pose estimation network that provides multiple hypotheses about the 6D pose of an object; (2) by treating the output of our network as components of a mixture model, we incorporate pose predictions into a SLAM system, which, over successive observations, recovers a globally consistent set of robot and object (landmark) pose estimates. We evaluate our approach on the popular YCB-Video Dataset and a simulated video featuring YCB objects. Experiments demonstrate that our approach is effective in improving the robustness of object-based SLAM in the face of object pose ambiguity.
Insomnia severity and its correlates among English as a second language (ESL) college students.

Little is known about insomnia characteristics among the English as a second language (ESL) student population. This study compared insomnia severity between ESL students and English native-speakin...
Evaluating the impact of ideation and actualization of multidisciplinary research

Global events in the past year has made prescient a long-standing debate on the definition and suitability of impact and novelty as criteria for publication in selective journals. Reflecting on this issue, Prof Andrea Armani and Prof Jerry Lee argue that rigour and reproducibility is, in fact, more crucial. Global events in the past year has made prescient a long-standing debate on the definition and suitability of impact and novelty as criteria for publication in selective journals. Reflecting on this issue, Prof Andrea Armani and Prof Jerry Lee argue that rigour and reproducibility is, in fact, more crucial.
The Sonnet as Mirror: Metapoetry and Self-Referentiality in Lope deVega's Rimas'

The poetry of Lope de Vega has been most frequently studied for its amorous, spiritual, or autobiographical aspects. There has also been some interesting criticism done on Lope's general views of poet­ ics, theory, and language, yet there has been considerably less work which directly points to the metapoetic and self-referential aspects of Lope's poetry.1 To understand what makes such aspects metapoetic or self-refer­ ential, it is necessary to arrive at a practical definition of metapoetry. For this study, metapoetry is to be understood as lyrical works that refer in some way to their existence as artistic constructs and those which in­ clude an evaluation or examination of poetry —be it Lope's or someone else's. Insightful in examining the varieties of metapoetry is the relatively recent work on Spanish metapoetry by Leopoldo Sanchez Torre, La poesia en el espejo del poema. His definition of metapoetry includes not only the break between text and textual commentary, but also an examination of the multifaceted roles of the metapoem as a personal poetics or literary criticism: "La metapoesia, independientemente del elemento del proceso poetico en el que se focalice su reflexion sobre la poesia, no solo puede manifestarse como indagacion leorica sobre la poesia, sino tambien, muchas veces, como exposition de una poetica personal, como manifiesto o declaration de principios, como critica literaria o como autocritica" (137).2 In this essay, I will examine nine of Lope de Vega's sonnets which contain and express the very reason for their construction as poetry, taken from his initial poetry collection, the Rimas of 1602. The most frequent self-referential type of sonnet in this collection is
Laser light absorption and harmonic generation due to self-generated magnetic fields

It is shown that self-generated magnetic fields can play a significant role in laser light absorption. Even normally incident light will then be resonantly absorbed. Computer simulations and theoretical estimates for this absorption and the concomitant harmonic generation are given for parameters characteristic of some recent experiments.
Variations in properties of Nocardia asteroides resulting from growth in the cell wall-deficient state.

Abstract Several revertants possessing a cell wall were obtained from L-forms of Nocardia asteroides 10905. These L-form revertants differed from the parent in respect to colonial and cellular morphology, pigmentation, metabolic, capacities, cell wall structure, and mycolic acid composition. These data suggest a possible mechanism for the taxonomic heterogeneity and phenotypic diversity observed among N. asteroides strains.
Dynamic cryptographic hash functions

This dissertation introduces a new type of cryptographic hash function, the dynamic cryptographic hash function. Dynamic cryptographic hash functions differ from traditional hash functions because they require a second parameter, the security parameter. The security parameter controls both the method used to calculate a digest and the size of the digest produced. Dynamic cryptographic hash functions are motivated by the need for a hash function that can match the level of expected security of the protocols in conjunction with which they are used. The properties that dictate the security of a dynamic cryptographic hash function are explored. The traditional properties of preimage resistance, second preimage resistance, and collision resistance are modified to accommodate the security parameter and expanded into dynamic versions that dictate a dynamic cryptographic hash function must be secure even if the attacker is able to choose a different security parameter. Two additional properties are defined, security parameter collision resistance and digest resistance . These properties ensure that two digests created from the same message using different security parameters are unrelated. Finally, the dynamic cryptographic hash function construction is presented, which creates a dynamic cryptographic hash function from a traditional compression function. The construction is able to create digests larger than the compression function's output.
The anus in the newborn.

The size of the anus is defined in newborns of varying weights. A plea is made for proper examination of the anus at birth.
Climate Change and Animals

Climate change is already having adverse effects on animal life, and those effects are likely to prove devastating in the future. Nonetheless, the relevant harms to animals have yet to become a serious part of the analysis of climate change policy. Even if animals and species are valued solely by reference to human preferences, inclusion of their welfare dramatically increases the argument for aggressive responses to climate change. We estimate that, even under conservative assumptions about valuation, losses to nonhuman life might run into the hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Whatever the precise figure, the general conclusion is clear: An appreciation of the likely loss of animal life leads to a massive increase in the assessment of the overall damage and cost of climate change.
COENZYME Q IN DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

Summary The effect of hexahydrocoenzyme Q4 (CoQ) has been studied in 4 cases of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, including a pair of identical twins. CoQ was given by the oral route in doses increasing from 50 mg to 1 g daily. In the case of the twins one received CoQ, whereas the other was given corn oil as a control. During a period of treatment of more than one year no improvement in muscular strength was observed. On the contrary, there was a steady progression of the disease in 3 of the 4 cases, with an identical clinical course in the twins. No overall consistent decrease in CPK or aldolase activities was observed during the period of treatment, but there was a statistically significant decrease of CPK and aldolase for one boy. The absence of overall beneficial changes during this particular trial might have been because (a) hexahydrocoenzyme Q4 is intrinsically inactive in Duchenne dystrophy; (b) the dose level was too low; (c) the disease in these particular boys was too advanced. Besides these limitations, this trial also does not exclude the possibility that other homologs of the coenzyme Q group may have therapeutic benefit in human muscular dystrophy.
Alveolar hypoxia, differential effects of pulmonary arteries of varied size.

SummaryMice were kept in a 12% oxygen environment for 12–24 days. The necropsy findings were compared with findings in nonhypoxic polycythemic and normovolemic controls. The 25 hypoxic and 21 polycythemic mice developed an increased right ventricular weight. Quantitative histologic analysis demonstrated that hypoxia but not polycythemia led to a marked medial hyperplasia in small pulmonary arteries, a small hyperplasia in intermediate sized arteries and no change in the largest muscular pulmonary arteries.
Executive function late effects in survivors of pediatric brain tumors and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Background: Survivors of pediatric brain tumors (BT) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at risk for neurocognitive late effects related to executive function. Procedure: Survivors of BT (48) and ALL (50) completed neurocognitive assessment. Executive function was compared to estimated IQ and population norms by diagnostic group. Results: Both BT and ALL demonstrated relative executive function weaknesses. As a group, BT survivors demonstrated weaker executive functioning than expected for age. Those BT survivors with deficits exhibited a profile suggestive of global executive dysfunction, while affected ALL survivors tended to demonstrate specific rapid naming deficits. Conclusion: Findings suggest that pediatric BT and ALL survivors may exhibit different profiles of executive function late effects, which may necessitate distinct intervention plans.
Stratification of Expert vs Novice Laparoscopists Using the Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Surgery (BLUS) Curriculum at a Single Institution.

Abstract Purpose To assess determinants of performance applying the tasks of the Basic Laparoscopic Urologic Surgery (BLUS) skills curriculum administered at a single institution. Methods After obtaining institutional review board approval, fourth-year medical students, urology residents (postgraduate year 1-5), and staff attending surgeons from an academic institution were recruited. Participants were grouped by level of experience and evaluated on 4 different BLUS modules testing fundamental laparoscopic techniques from September 2012 to September 2013. Task completion time (TCT) and missed objectives were compared with previous laparoscopic experience, amount of endourological training, and scores obtained through the EDGE simulator. Results TCTs among the participants were slower and accrued greater errors in the novice group ( n = 10) than in the intermediate-level ( n = 9) and expert-level ( n = 9) groups. Completion times on the peg transfer were 213.4, 128.1, and 108.7 seconds (p R 2 = 0.39 was seen, signifying a relationship between number of laparoscopic cases and TCT outcomes. Conclusion Performance on the EDGE simulator device during the BLUS modules significantly correlated with the amount of laparoscopic experience. Increase in the years of experience and number of laparoscopic cases led to faster and more accurate TCTs.
Flickering contrast in TEM images of tweed microstructures in an aged 53Cu-45Mn-2Al alloy

Explication de cet effet de contraste inhabituelle dans l'alliage soumis a un traitement thermique en solution a 800 C pendant 2 heures. Cet effet serait probablement du a une petite distorsion de reseau dans des regions localisees de la microstructure
Derivation of some modern arc magmas by melting of young subducted lithosphere

MOST volcanic rocks in modern island and continental arcs are probably derived from melting of the mantle wedge, induced by hydrous fluids released during dehydration reactions in the subducted lithosphere1. Arc tholeiitic and calc-alkaline basaltic magmas are produced by partial melting of the mantle, and then evolve by crystal fractionation (with or without assimilation and magma mixing) to more silicic magmas2—basalt, andesite, dacite and rhyolite suites. Although most arc magmas are generated by these petrogenetic processes, rocks with the geochemical characteristics of melts derived directly from the subducted lithosphere are present in some modern arcs where relatively young and hot lithosphere is being subducted. These andesites, dacites and sodic rhyolites (dacites seem to be the most common products) or their intrusive equivalents (tonalites and trondhjemites) are usually not associated with parental basaltic magmas3. Here we show that the trace-element geochemistry of these magmas (termed 'adakites') is consistent with a derivation by partial melting of the subducted slab, and in particular that subducting lithosphere younger than 25 Myr seems to be required for slab melting to occur.
Noninvasive evaluation of intracardiac pressures using doppler ultrasound: A case study of panvalvular regurgitation

Doppler velocity signals from regurgitant valve flow can be used to calculate pressure gradients across incompetent valves by a modification of the Bernoulli equation. Analysis of these gradients provides clinically useful, noninvasive information about cardiac chamber pressures. This study presents an unusual case of cardiomyopathy with panvafvular regurgitation which demonstrates the major methods of pressure analysis using Doppler signals from regurgitant valves.
On the probability of an undetected surface-breaking crack

Surface-breaking fatigue cracks are common defects in metal components subjected to cyclic loads. Such cracks tend to propagate in stress flelds that are below the critical stress level for static loading. An important part of a damage tolerant design philosophy is the requirement that surface-breaking cracks should be detectable before they reach a critical depth. In this paper, we consider a surface-breaking crack in a two-dimensional geometry, whose original depth is deflned by a probability density function. The increase of the crack depth with number of cycles is governed by Paris law, and the detectability depends on a probability of crack detection (POD). Based on this information we determine the probability that the crack depth will have exceeded a prescribed critical value at a specifled number of cycles.
Effect of protease inhibitors on pulmonary bioavailability of therapeutic proteins and peptides in the rat.

Abstract The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of protease inhibitors on the pulmonary absorption of therapeutic peptides and proteins with varying molecular weights. Dry powder formulations of leuprolide (1.2 kD), salmon calcitonin (3.4 kD), human insulin (5.8 kD), human leptin (16.0 kD), and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) (36.5 kD) were prepared with or without protease inhibitors; aprotinin and bestatin. The formulations were administered intrapulmonary to anesthetized rats. The pharmacokinetics of these proteins were assessed by measuring serum drug concentrations. In addition, in vitro stability of these proteins in rat lung homogenate was assessed using the trifluoroacetic acid method. Bioavailability of leuprolide following pulmonary administration was 75% higher compared to subcutaneously administered leuprolide. Protease inhibitors had little or no effect on the pulmonary bioavailability of leuprolide. However, protease inhibitors (1 mg/kg) increased the bioavailability of calcitonin by more than 50%. Similarly, the bioavailabilities of leptin and HCG in the presence of bestatin were increased by 1.9 and 2.1-fold, respectively. Leuprolide was stable both in the lung cytosol and subcellular pellets with about 10% degradation at the end of the study period (4 h). In contrast, calcitonin, insulin, leptin and HCG were significantly degraded in the lung cytosol and subcellular pellets. Presence of protease inhibitors in formulation could improve the stability of protein drugs. The results of this study demonstrate that the pulmonary absorption of proteins may be enhanced by the selection of optimal concentration and type of protease inhibitor.
Dietary preference behavior in rats fed bitter tasting quinine and sucrose octa acetate adulterated diets

Abstract Rats were fed a bitter and presumably toxic quinine adulterated diet and a more bitter, but non-toxic sucrose octa acetate (SOA) adulterated diet. In two-diet preference tests the animals initially preferred the quinine diet over the SOA diet. After being fed only the SOA diet for four days the rats switched their preference to this diet during a subsequent two-diet preference test. In 10 day single diet tests the rats ate significantly more of the SOA diet than of the quinine diet. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the toxic effects of quinine result in the formation of a conditioned taste aversion to the diet, and indicate that rats can distinguish between two bitter diets and develop a preference for the more bitter, but non-toxic one.
Invariance of domain and eigenvalues for perturbations of densely defined linear maximal monotone operators

Let be a real reflexive Banach space with dual . Let be densely defined linear maximal monotone. Let be maximal monotone with and and bounded, demicontinuous and of type w.r.t. . An invariance of domain result is established for the sum . An eigenvalue problem of the type is also solved, where is now maximal monotone and strongly quasibounded with and is like above. The recent topological degree theory of the authors is used, utilizing the graph norm topology on along with the methodology of Berkovits and Mustonen and recent invariance of domain and eigenvalue results by Kartsatos and Skrypnik. The results are original even in the case Possible applications to time-dependent problems are also included.
A Bayesian analysis of simulation algorithms for inference in belief networks

A belief network is a graphical representation of the underlying probabilistic relationships in a complex system. Belief networks have been employed as a representation of uncertain relationships in computer-based diagnostic systems. These diagnostic systems provide assistance by assigning likelihoods to alternative explanatory hypotheses in response to a set of findings or observations. Approximation algorithms have been used to compute likelihoods of hypotheses in large networks. We analyze the performance of leading Monte Carlo approximation algorithms for computing posterior probabilities in belief networks. The analysis differs from earlier attempts to characterize the behavior of simulation algorithms in our explicit use of Bayesian statistics: We update a probability distribution over target probabilities of interest with information from randomized trials. For real ϵ, δ < 1 and for a probabilistic inference Pr[x|e], the output of an inference approximation algorithm in an (ϵ, δ)-estimate of Pr[x|e] if with probability at least 1 – δ the output is within relative error ϵ of Pr[x|e]. We construct a stopping rule for the number of simulations required by logic sampling, randomized approximation schemes, and likelihood weighting to provide (ϵ, δ)-estimates of Pr[x|e]. With Probability 1 – δ, the stopping rule is optimal in the sense that the algorithm performs the minimum number of required simulations. We prove that our stopping rules are insensitive to the prior probability distribution on Pr[x|e]. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Using Landsat data to estimate evapotranspiration of winter wheat

An evapotranspiration (ET) model that accurately estimates daily water use and soil moisture on a regional basis is required for many agricultural and hydrological studies. The model should use meterological data that are readily available and crop information that is responsive to the changing vigor of the plants.
Effects of self-pollination and maternal resources on reproduction and offspring performance in the wild lupine, Lupinus perennis (Fabaceae)

We examined the effects of self-pollination and resource addition to maternal plants of Wild Lupine on seed production in the field, and on offspring performance in the greenhouse. Although 24% of flowers set fruits when open-pollinated, only 11% of flowers set fruits when self-pollinated. Self-pollination significantly reduced fruit and seed production per inflorescence and increased aborted seeds per fruit. Resource addition to maternal plants significantly increased fruit and seed number in the field. Moreover, selfed plants exhibited greater variability in seed production in the absence of resource addition to the maternal plant. We planted a total of 1,306 of the seeds from this experiment in the greenhouse. While self-pollination did not affect the proportion of seeds emerging, it slowed seedling emergence by 5–10%, and reduced offspring biomass by 25–35%. Interestingly, resource addition to the maternal plants significantly decreased proportion of seedlings surviving after 5 months. Moreover, offspring from maternal plants with resource addition expressed more inbreeding depression in the seedling stage compared to offspring from maternal plants without resource addition, for which more inbreeding depression occurred during seed maturation and emergence. These results indicate that conservation efforts using benign environments to increase number of seeds or offspring may face compensating reductions in survivorship at other life stages.
Single (Primitive) Ventricle

Single ventricle is that condition in which both atrioventricular (A-V) orifices enter a common ventricular sinus, from which the arterial trunks emerge with their coni. The following types of single ventricle were found: (1) with regular (noninverted) transposition in levocardia; (2) with inverted transposition in levocardia; (3) with normal position of arterial trunks in levocardia; (4) in dextrocardia, and (5) in mesocardia. This entity is differentiated from common ventricle which is basically a heart with a large ventricular septal defect. Single ventricle does not include mitral and tricuspid atresia by definition, nor does it include straddling tricuspid orifice, in which two distinct ventricles are present. The concept of single ventricle herein defined differs from de la Cruz and Miller's concept of double-inlet left ventricle which includes straddling tricuspid orifice. Embryologically in single ventricle we are dealing with persistence of the primitive state of the bulboventricular loop, due to a lack of expansion of the atrial canal to the right during the process of absorption of the bulbus.
Update on the Vitamin D and OmegA-3 trial (VITAL)

Despite continued appreciation of the potential role of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), there remain no completed large-scale, randomized trials of these agents for the primary prevention of cancer or CVD in a population that has not been selected on the basis of elevated risk. The VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) is a 2×2 factorial randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the benefits and risks of vitamin D (vitamin D3 [cholecalciferol], 2000 IU/d) and marine omega-3 fatty acids (Omacor(®) fish oil, a 1 g/d) in the primary prevention of cancer and CVD among 25,875 men and women, aged ≥50 and ≥55 years, respectively. Randomization began in November 2011 and was completed in March 2014. This report will describe the rationale for the trial and currently available randomized trial data, summarize related ongoing large-scale trials, and provide a brief overview of study design, and an update on randomization milestones, racial/ethnic diversity, biorepository activities, in-depth phenotyping of a subcohort, and ancillary studies.
Energetics and diffusional properties of He in BCC Mo: An empirical potential for molecular dynamics simulations

Abstract This paper presents an interatomic potential for modeling He defects and bubbles in body-centered-cubic (BCC) Mo. We utilize three existing frameworks: the Finnis–Sinclair (FS) potential for Mo–Mo, the Effective-Medium-Theory (EMT) for He–Mo, and the Hartree–Fock-Dispersion (HFD) potential for He–He interactions. The energetics of He defects and the diffusivity of He interstitial given by this potential agree well with ab initio calculations and experimental measurements. Furthermore, in agreement with theoretical prediction, it is shown that the introduction of He gas suppresses the surface diffusivity of BCC Mo, which decays exponentially with increasing He pressure acting on the free surface. The decay constant, correlated with the characteristic interaction volume for He–Mo, is close to the atomic volume of BCC Mo. This suppression effect is important to understand the mobility of small He bubbles.
Robust and optimum designs of non-linearly tapered slow light couplers

In this work, optimum and robust designs of non-linearly tapered slow light couplers are explored. An optimum design yields a set of design parameters that would result in the best transmission. A robust design yields a set of design parameters that would result in good coupling and low transmission variation in the presence of random fabrication errors. It is shown that the uncertainties in the flat dispersion region affect device transmission more strongly than uncertainties in the linear dispersion region of the coupler. Therefore, moderate-length couplers with relatively longer linear dispersion regions yield more robust performance.
Stereo- and regio-selectivity of diethylaminosulfur trifluoride as a fluorinating reagent for methyl glycosides

Abstract Methyl glycopyranosides reacted with diethylaminosulfur trifluoride (DAST) in the absence of solvent to yield methyl dideoxy-difluoro and deoxy-fluoro glycopyranosides. Methyl α- d -glycopyranosides produced 6-deoxy-6-fluoro- and 4,6-dideoxy-4,6-difluoro derivatives with Walden inversion at C-4. Methyl β- d -glucopyranoside also produced a 3,6-dideoxy-3,6-difluoro derivative, with Walden inversion at C-3. Methyl 6- O -trityl-α- d -glucopyranoside, reacted with DAST to yield the corresponding 4-deoxy-4-fluorogalactopyranoside derivative.
Gamma ray bursts: a review of recent high-precision measurements.

Recent measurements and discoveries in gamma ray bursts and transients are reviewed including observations of the red shifted annihilation line in two kinds of slow transients (in 'classical' gamma ray bursts and in the unique 1979 March 5th event); of red shifted nuclear lines in a slow transient and in one gamma ray burst; and of the positions of precise source locations of gamma ray bursts and of the March 5th event, within the supernova remnant N49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Top-of-atmosphere flux retrievals from CERES using artificial neural networks

The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments on the Terra spacecraft provide accurate shortwave (SW), longwave (LW) and window (WN) region top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance measurements from which TOA radiative flux values are obtained by applying Angular Distribution Models (ADMs). These models are developed empirically as functions of the surface and cloud properties provided by coincident high-resolution imager measurements over CERES field-of-view. However, approximately 5.6% of the CERES/Terra footprints lack sufficient imager information for a reliable scene identification. To avoid any systematic biases in regional mean radiative fluxes, it is important to provide TOA fluxes for these footprints. For this purpose, we apply a feedforward error-backpropagation Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique to reproduce CERES/Terra ADMs relying only on CERES measurements. All-sky ANN-based angular distribution models are developed for 10 surface types separately for shortwave, longwave and window TOA flux retrievals. To optimize the ANN performance, we use a partially connected first hidden neuron layer and compact training sets with reduced data noise. We demonstrate the performance of the ANN-based ADMs by comparing TOA fluxes inferred from ANN and CERES anisotropic factors. The global annual average bias in ANN-derived fluxes relative to CERES is less than 0.5% for all ANN scene types. The maximum bias occurs over sea ice and permanent snow surfaces. For all surface types, instantaneous ANN-derived TOA fluxes are self-consistent in viewing zenith angle to within 9% for shortwave, 3.5% and 3% longwave daytime and nighttime, respectively.
Cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 is upregulated by hypoxia via an ARNT dependent pathway

Expression of cyclin dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p27(Kip1), which blocks cell cycle progression from G(1) to S phase, can be regulated via multiple mechanisms including transcription, protein degradation, and translation. Recently, it was shown that p27(Kip1) plays an important role in the cellular response to hypoxia. However, the mechanisms involved in the hypoxia-induced regulation of p27(Kip1) expression are still not clear. In this study, we compare the expression of p27(Kip1) in two related murine hepatoma cell lines, Hepa-1 and c4. Hepa-1 produces functional aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT). c4 cells are derived from Hepa-1, but are ARNT deficient. Interestingly, we observed cell line-dependent effects of hypoxia on the expression of p27(Kip1). The level of p27(Kip1) protein in Hepa-1 cells is enhanced by hypoxia, but is reduced by hypoxia in c4 cells. Further investigation demonstrated that hypoxia-induced, ARNT-mediated, transactivation of the p27(Kip1) gene in Hepa-1 cells is responsible for the increase in p27(Kip1) protein. Once c4 cells were stably transfected with the wild type ARNT gene, a hypoxia-induced increase in p27(Kip1) mRNA was observed and reduction of p27(Kip1) protein caused by hypoxia was blocked. Hence, our data indicate that ARNT is involved in transcriptional upregulation of the p27(Kip1) gene under hypoxic conditions.
Structure–Property Relationships in Phosphonate-Derivatized, RuII Polypyridyl Dyes on Metal Oxide Surfaces in an Aqueous Environment

The performance of dye-sensitized solar and photoelectrochemical cells is strongly dependent on the light absorption and electron transfer events at the semiconductor–small molecule interface. These processes as well as photo/electrochemical stability are dictated not only by the properties of the chromophore and metal oxide but also by the structure of the dye molecule, the number of surface binding groups, and their mode of binding to the surface. In this article, we report the photophysical and electrochemical properties of a series of six phosphonate-derivatized [Ru(bpy)3]2+ complexes in aqueous solution and bound to ZrO2 and TiO2 surfaces. A decrease in injection yield and cross surface electron-transfer rate with increased number of diphosphonated ligands was observed. Additional phosphonate groups for surface binding did impart increased electrochemical and photostability. All complexes exhibit similar back-electron-transfer kinetics, suggesting an electron-transfer process rate-limited by electron...
The effect of graded resistance exercise on fibromyalgia symptoms and muscle bioenergetics: a pilot study.

Introduction The fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome is a chronic pain disorder that primarily affects middle-aged women. Individuals with FM generally report a broad spectrum of symptoms, with the main features including diffuse musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, stiffness, disordered sleep, and the presence of multiple “tender points” at anatomically distinct sites. The primary mechanisms underlying the expression of these symptoms have not been identified. In view of the significance of musculoskeletal tender points as a criterion in clinical diagnosis, attention has focused in the past on skeletal muscle function in the phenomenology of FM. However, contemporary evidence for the role of skeletal muscle in the pathogenesis of FM is inconclusive.
A phase II trial of trastuzumab plus weekly ixabepilone and carboplatin in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer: an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Trial

The epothilone B analogue, ixabepilone, binds to β-tubulin, is effective for taxane-refractory metastatic breast cancer (MBC), and may be given every 3 weeks or weekly. We evaluated the efficacy of weekly ixabepilone (I) plus trastuzumab (T) and carboplatin (C) as first line therapy in HER2 + MBC. Patients with HER2+ (3+ by IHC or FISH amplified) MBC received I (15 mg/m2 IV) and C (area under the curve, AUC = 2 IV) on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle for a maximum of 6 cycles, plus weekly T (4 mg/kg loading dose then 2 mg/kg IV) during chemotherapy then every 3 weeks (6 mg/kg IV) until disease progression. The primary objective was to determine whether the combination was associated with a response rate (RR) of at least 75%. Fifty-nine patients were treated, and 39 had HER2 overexpression confirmed in a central lab (cHER2+). For all treated patients, objective response occurred in 26 patients (44%; 95% CI 31–58%), median time to progression was 8.2 months (95% CI 6.3–9.9), and median overall survival was 34.7 months (95% CI 25.7 to [not reached]). Results were comparable for cHer2+ cancers. Grade 3–4 adverse events included neutropenia (49%), thrombocytopenia (14%), fatigue (12%), nausea (7%), diarrhea (7%), and neuropathy (7%). One patient died from treatment complications during cycle 1. Weekly ixabepilone and carboplatin plus trastuzumab have an acceptable toxicity profile, but are not likely to be associated with an RR of 75% in HER2+ MBC. Efficacy appears comparable to paclitaxel, carboplatin, and trastuzumab.
Purification and characterization of a glycoside hydrolase family 43 β-xylosidase from Geobacillus thermoleovorans IT-08.

The gene encoding a glycoside hydrolase family 43 beta-xylosidase (GbtXyl43A) from the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus thermoleovorans strain IT-08 was synthesized and cloned with a C-terminal His-tag into a pET29b expression vector. The recombinant gene product termed GbtXyl43A was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to apparent homogeneity. Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters were obtained for the artificial substrates p-nitrophenyl-beta-D: -xylopyranose (4NPX) and p-nitrophenyl-alpha-L: -arabinofuranose (4NPA), and it was found that the ratio k (cat)/K (m) 4NPA/k (cat)/K (m) 4NPX was approximately 7, indicting greater catalytic efficiency for 4NP hydrolysis from the arabinofuranose aglycon moiety. Substrate inhibition was observed for the substrates 4-methylumbelliferyl xylopyranoside (muX) and the arabinofuranoside cogener (muA), and the ratio k (cat)/K (m) muA/k (cat)/K (m) muX was approximately 5. The enzyme was competitively inhibited by monosaccharides, with an arabinose K (i) of 6.8 +/- 0.62 mM and xylose K (i) of 76 +/- 8.5 mM. The pH maxima was 5.0, and the enzyme was not thermally stable above 54 degrees C, with a t (1/2) of 35 min at 57.5 degrees C. GbtXyl43A showed a broad substrate specificity for hydrolysis of xylooligosaccharides up to the highest degree of polymerization tested (xylopentaose), and also released xylose from birch and beechwood arabinoxylan.
Problems of selection and phytogeny, terms and methods of behaviorism

We have had a grand tour of operant behaviorism ranging over evolutionary time and the breadth of human cultures. It has included both verbal and nonverbal behavior, and it has visited both their public and their private domains. To test my understanding of some of the issues discussed and to offer what I hope will be constructive contributions to the treatments, I here address to Professor Skinner several questions and comments on some of the topics stopped at along the way (I will treat his responses as my souvenirs of the trip).
Cost‐benefit analysis: a disparagement of its misuse and misexplanation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to argue that when managing strategically, a library administrator might want to use cost‐benefit analysis to justify spending and, consequently, would need to understand this methodology.Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses and gives examples to illustrate how others have needed a better knowledge of cost‐benefit analysis.Findings – It is helpful for library managers to have a proper knowledge of cost‐benefit analysis.Practical implications – This provides one methodology that librarians should consider when contemplating what purchases to make.Original/value – This paper will help librarians better manage their libraries by making them aware of cost‐benefit analysis.
CONTROLLED GENE EXPRESSION IN MAMMALIAN CELLS VIA A REGULATORY CASCADE INVOLVING THE TETRACYCLINE TRANSACTIVATOR AND LAC REPRESSOR

Regulatory cascades or regulons control pathways at multiple points or multiple genes by one initial signal. In this paper, we describe the construction of an artificial regulatory cascade in CHO cells, which responded to various concentrations of tetracycline (Tc) and/or IPTG. The system consists of the constitutively produced transactivator (TTA) of the Tc operon (tet), which induced the expression of a lacI gene controlled by tet operator (tetO) and upstream CMV promoter (p*CMV) sequences. LacI repressed the activity of a cat gene by binding to lacO sites in its upstream RSV promoter (pRSV) region. However, this repression could be alleviated by exposure to Tc or IPTG, which inhibited the binding activities of TTA and LacI, respectively. Hence, treatment with either Tc or IPTG led to a tenfold increase in CAT activity. After the withdrawal of the inducer, cat expression reverted to basal levels. Regulation by Tc showed a phenotypic lag, and full induction was reached after 192 h, whereas IPTG addition led to full induction within 24 h. When cells were treated with both Tc and IPTG, full induction of cat was reached in 24 h and maintained thereafter while in the presence of Tc alone. This suggests that regulation by Tc is fast and that the phenotypic lag may be due to slow turnover of the LacI repressor. This TTA/lacI regulatory system may serve as an example in which cat expression was used as a reporter. The data indicate that regulatory cascades regulated at multiple points can be constructed with any cloned gene in mammalian cells.
C‐methylation: An artifact in peptides derivatized for sequencing by mass spectrometry

The extent of C-methylation, an artifact of the permethylation procedure used to derivatize peptides for mass spectrometric sequencing, was investigated by mass spectrometry. Ten glycine-containing peptides were N-acetylated and then permethylated by the Hakomori method and analyzed by chemical ionization and, in some cases, by electron ionization mass spectrometry. A comparative study was made of the tripeptides Gly Pro Ala and Ala Pro Gly, derivatized by three permethylation procedures. The results show that while C-methylation occurs primarily at glycine, other amino acids (Gln, Glu, Met, Tyr) are also C-methylated, but to a lesser degree. The extent to which C-methylation occurs varies widely and depends on residue position and on the identity of neighboring residues. Such artifacts could lead to serious errors in peptide sequences determined by mass spectrometry, especially when mixtures of peptides are analyzed.
“Hot Coal Gas” Desulfurization by Perovskite-type Sorbents

We have evaluated the performance of perovskite-based sorbents for hot coal gas desulfurization. These sorbents (LaMnO3, LaCoO3, LaFeO3, and La2CuO4) were tested in a fixed-bed reactor and characterized by X-ray diffraction studies and BET surface area measurements. The results indicate a high initial sulfur removal capacity for the perovskites (0.15−0.34 g of H2S/g of sorbent) but poor regenerability. The analysis of spent and regenerated sorbents has revealed complete segregation of the A-site and B-site elements following sulfidation in the case of LaMnO3 and LaCoO3. No such segregation was observed in the case of LaFeO3, while an intermediate behavior was exhibited by La2CuO4. The BET measurements indicate a substantial loss of surface area following the first cycle of sulfidation and regeneration, which is in part responsible for the poor performance of the sorbents in successive cycles.
On the translating damping caused by a thin viscous fluid layer between a translating string and a translating rigid surface

Abstract A vibrating, translating string is coupled to a translating rigid surface through a fluid film at the interface. The coupling is modelled as a translating, distributed damping and investigated through the waves propagating in the fluid-string coupled system. An approximate method, similar to the method of slowly varying parameters, gives explicit predictions of the stability boundary in parameter space and of responses of the possibly unstable modes near the stability boundary. The translating damping destabilizes waves propagating in the direction of damping propagation when the mean film speed relative to the string exceeds the wave speed in the string without fluid coupling. Through the same excitation mechanism, the maximum stable speed of a shell rotating on a stationary shaft is shown to be twice the critical rotation speed of the shell in the absence of the fluid coupling.
Mechanisms of Strand Replacement Synthesis for Plasmid DNA Transferred by Conjugation

A single strand of plasmid DNA is transferred during conjugation. We examined the mechanism of complementary strand synthesis in recipient cells following conjugative mobilization of derivatives of the IncQ plasmid R1162. A system for electroporation of donor cells, followed by immediate mating, was used to eliminate plasmid-specific replicative functions. Under these conditions, Escherichia coli recipients provided a robust mechanism for initiation of complementary strand synthesis on transferred DNA. In contrast, plasmid functions were important for efficient strand replacement in recipient cells of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The mobilizing vector for R1162 transfer, the IncP1 plasmid R751, encodes a DNA primase with low specificity for initiation. This protein increased the frequency of transfer of R751 into Salmonella, but despite its low specificity, it was inactive on the R1162 derivatives. The R751 primase was slightly inhibitory for the transfer of both R751 and R1162 into E. coli. The results show that there is a chromosomally encoded mechanism for complementary strand synthesis of incoming transferred DNA in E. coli, while plasmid-specific mechanisms for this synthesis are important in Salmonella.