cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Administrative Law as Pragmatism

Abstract This article argues that administrative law in the United States should be largely pragmatic in orientation, and that pragmatism provides the best normative framework for judicial decision-making in American administrative jurisprudence for administrators and judges. Just as considerations of context and consequence are critical to the administrative process, so too should they be integrated into the process of administrative adjudication. The article reviews a series of classic administrative law cases and describes how pragmatism provides the most appropriate normative framework for understanding the administrative law process in the United States.
Non perturbative calculation of the imaginary part of vacuum polarization

Abstract We derive a formula for the unitarity relation of the vacuum polarization which includes arbitrary number of soft photons in the vertex functions intermediate states. This quasi-elastic approximation has a spectral form, the soft photon contribution appearing as a broadened delta function. An interpolating formula for the vertices is given which incorporates the asymptotic behavior found by many authors.
Bulk CO2 Removal Achieved Through Membrane Separation

A pilot CO/sub 2/ recovery system was installed in a major west Texas field to confirm the operation and performance of commercial-size coated hollow-fiver membrane gas separators. Data were gathered to verify predicted membrane performance on the basis of earlier demonstration tests. Such parameters as feed pressure, temperature, and CO/sub 2/ content in the feed gas were evaluated. Removal of CO/sub 2/ from a casinghead gas stream containing 40 to 80 vol % CO/sub 2/ was successfully demonstrated with minimum pretreatment of the feed gas. The data taken compared favorably with predicted performance curves based on earlier demonstration unit results.
Evaluation of mucosal eosinophils in the pediatric colon.

To evaluate the clinical significance of colonic eosinophilia, we conducted a retrospective study of all children older than 1 year evaluated at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh from January 1999 to June 2001 with a description of colonic eosinophilia in the pathology report. Medical records were reviewed. Diagnoses were confirmed by contacting the patients. Histological slides (HE mean age, 135.2 +/- 55.4 months). Their final diagnoses were inflammatory bowel disease in 32% (group A), irritable bowel syndrome in 33% (group B), food allergies in 10% (group C), and other diagnoses in 25% (group D). The maximal eosinophil count per crypt area was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in group A vs groups B, C, and D (34.8 +/- 17.1 vs 21.3 +/- 8.8, 25.4 +/- 16.7, and 24.2 +/- 9.7, respectively). The total cellularity of the lamina propria was considered high only in group A (P < 0.05 vs groups B and C). A mostly equal vertical distribution of eosinophils throughout the lamina propria was found significantly more frequently in group A vs groups C (P = 0.04) and D (P = 0.007). We conclude that children with inflammatory bowel disease have an equal distribution of eosinophils throughout the lamina propria, with intraepithelial and intracryptal eosinophils and with a higher overall total cellularity. In irritable bowel syndrome and patients with a variety of other diagnoses, including allergies, the distribution is mostly superficial, with a lower total cellularity.
Generative engineering databases - Toward expert systems

Engineering data management, incorporating concepts of optimization with data representation, is receiving increasing attention as the amount and complexity of information necessary for performing engineering operations increases and the need to coordinate its representation and use increases. Research in this area promises advantages for a wide variety of engineering applications, particularly those which seek to use data in innovative ways in the engineering process. This paper presents a framework for a comprehensive, relational database management system that combines a knowledge base of design constraints with a database of engineering data items in order to achieve a 'generative database' - one which automatically generates new engineering design data according to the design constraints stored in the knowledge base. The representation requires a database that is able to store all of the data normally associated with engineering design and to accurately represent the interactions between constraints and the stored data while guaranteeing its integrity. The representation also requires a knowledge base that is able to store all the constraints imposed upon the engineering design process.
Complex glycosphingolipids with blood-group a specificity

The oligosaccharide chains present in blood-group ABH glycoproteins and glycolipids of glandular epithelial tissue exhibit a considerable degree of heterogeneity with respect to length of carbohydrate chains and degree of branching [l-6] . The sizes of the largest blood-group-active oligosaccharide chains from horse gastric mucosa are in the range of 812 sugar residues [7] , whereas those from hog gastric mucosa [I ,3,8] and human cyst fluid [2,4] are closer to 16-l 8 residues or even larger [2] . Glycolipids of unusual complexity with 30-50 sugar residues have recently been isolated from human erythrocyte membrane by Gardas and Koscielak [9,10]. So far the existence of glycolipids of comparable carbohydrate structures in glandular epithelial tissue have not been reported. In this report we describe the isolation and characterization of two blood-group A-active glycolipids, the carbohydrate portions of which consist of 12 and 18 sugar residues.
Use of problem-based learning in staff training and development

Problem-based learning (PBL) began in the late 1960s.[1][1] PBL is an instructional method characterized by the use of patient cases as a context for students to learn problem-solving skills and to acquire new knowledge. The basic five steps of the PBL process include (1) encountering the problem, (
The factors affecting a family's plan to change its financial situation

This study investigates the factors involved in changing a family's financial situation for 485 Midwestern households. High income families and those with high home equity levels have a smaller gap between their standards and levels of consumption. High income families are more satisfied with their financial situations than low income families. Those families with a large gap between their standards and levels of consumption are more dissatisfied with their financial situations. Older heads of households have higher satisfaction with their financial situations and are less likely to plan to change them. Large families are less satisfied with their financial situations than small families and are more likely to plan to change them.
Adjuvant radiation therapy and chondroid chordoma subtype are associated with a lower tumor recurrence rate of cranial chordoma

Cranial chordomas are rare tumors that have been difficult to study given their low prevalence. Individual case series with decades of data collection provide some insight into the pathobiology of this tumor and its responses to treatment. This meta-analysis is an attempt to aggregate the sum experiences and present a comprehensive review of their findings. We performed a comprehensive review of studies published in English language literature and found a total of over 2,000 patients treated for cranial chordoma. Patient information was then extracted from each paper and aggregated into a comprehensive database. The tumor recurrences in these patients were then stratified according to age ( 21 years), histological findings (chondroid vs. typical) and treatment (surgery and radiation vs. surgery only). Data was analyzed via Pearson chi-square and t-test. A total of 464 non-duplicated patients from 121 articles treated for cranial chordoma met the inclusion criteria. The recurrence rate among all patients was 68% (314 patients) with an average disease-free interval of 45 months (median, 23 months). The mean follow-up time was 39 months (median, 27 months). The patients in younger group, patients with chordoma with chondroid histologic type, and patients who received surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy had significantly lower recurrence rate than their respective counterparts. The results of our systematic analysis provide useful data for practitioners in objectively summarizing the tumor recurrence in patients with cranial chordomas. Our data suggests that younger patients with chondroid type cranial chordoma treated with both surgery and radiation may have improved rates of tumor recurrence in the treatment of these tumors.
Morphology development for three-component emulsion polymers: Theory and experiments

Three-component emulsion polymer systems constitute an overall four-component system from a morphological viewpoint. The aqueous phase is always the continuous phase within which 22 distinct and thermodynamically stable particle morphologies may exist. Six uniquely different categories of particles compose this morphological menu and may be identified as core–shell–shell, hemicore, hemishell, trisectional, “snowman,” and cored hemisphere. Extension of previously published free-energy thermodynamic analyses of two component emulsion polymers has resulted in the ability to predict the most likely equilibrium morphology to be found for three-component particles. Predictions have been carried out for each possible three-component combination of poly(methyl methacrylate), polystyrene, poly(dimethyl siloxane), and polycarbonate. The results show that in nearly every instance two or three different morphologies are computed to possess nearly equivalent free energies, whereas all other possibilities would result in much higher free energies. This indicates that more precise knowledge of all interfacial tensions is required when considering three-component systems than was found to be generally needed for two-component systems. Experiments were carried out for each polymer combination using a very surface-active emulsifier (sodium lauryl sulfate) and, separately, a weakly surface-active emulsifier (natural pectin). For this choice of polymers and emulsifiers, only three of the six unique morphological categories were found experimentally. In all cases, the thermodynamic analysis predicted the experimentally determined morphology to possess the lowest or next to lowest free energy. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Nitric oxide synthase is not essential for Drosophila development

Nitric oxide (NO) is a key regulator of diverse biological processes, including the modulation of blood vessel tone [1]. Nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which oxidizes arginine to produce NO and citrulline [2], is found in organisms from bacteria to humans. Despite the impact of NO on physiology, mice lacking all three mammalian NOS isoforms develop to term and are viable [3]. There is a single NOS ortholog encoded in the Drosophila genome (Nos). Regulski et al. [4] described a mutation in a conserved residue that abrogates NOS activity, and reported that this lesion confers lethality (NosC). However, two lines of evidence led us to believe that this lethality could be due to a closely associated mutation rather than the lesion in Nos itself. First, the lethality was not rescued by reintroduction of NOS. Second, while the authors convincingly demonstrate that they have generated a mutation in the Nos gene that inactivates the enzyme, they do so for only one of the 17 alleles that they assign to the Nos complementation group. Beginning with a stock of NosC provided by Regulski et al. [4], we isolated recombinant chromosomes in which we separated the lethal lesion from the point mutation in NosC. Additionally, we generated a deletion that removes significant portions of the Nos coding sequences, including those responsible for synthesis of NO, and found it to be homozygous viable. Both our deletion and NosC eliminate NOS enzymatic activity without affecting Drosophila development, and without obviously compromising the health of the flies.
Systemic Acaricidal Effects of Sevin in Poultry

A bioassay technique was developed using a rodent mite as the test organism. With this technique the true systemic nature of acaricidal action of orally administered Sevin® (1-naphthyl N -methylcarbamate) in poultry was demonstrated. The systemic activity lasted for only 1 to 3 days after treatment. Sevin was demonstrated in blood of treated birds by qualitative chromatographic analyses. Poultry tissues were quantitatively analyzed of Sevin following oral treatment of birds with Sevin. The maximum residue found in any tissue taken 24 hours after treatment of a bird at the rate of 150 mg. Sevin per kg. body weight was 4.1 p.p.m. in the gizzard. No detectable residues were found in tissues from identically treated birds sacrificed 5 days after treatment.
Development of K-12 Teaching Modules by Undergraduate Researchers Amidst Their Own Professional Growth as Research Participants

The author has been successful with Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site for the past 15 years attracting funding from the National Science Foundation for the intense 10-week summer research program for undergraduate students in the field of additive manufacturing and its variety of applications in many disciplines. In the current site, a novel undertaking was initiated by asking REU participants, who are junior and senior year undergraduate standing at the time of participation, to come up with ways they can communicate their research to K-12 students and provide teachers a tool for teaching some concepts in the area of their research. Seven modules have been developed by the seven participants and the modules have been found to be very attractive to the teachers in K-12. The paper presents the inner workings of the undergraduate participants getting out of their comfort zones from research to pedagogy about their own work, especially when we need such role models for our children in K-12. It is also exciting to see teachers willing to take REU participants’ finished modules for potential use in their classrooms.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Thin film chemical sensors based on p-CuO/n-ZnO heterocontacts

Abstract Previous work on bulk ceramic heterocontacts (n-ZnO/p-CuO) has indicated significant sensitivity to the presence of specific adsorbed chemical species. Here, these results are extended to thin film heterostructures fabricated via chemical solution methods. It is expected that thin film sensor architectures will possess significant advantages over their bulk counterparts. In this study, the desired properties of porosity and crystallinity have been optimized with respect to pyrolysis temperature for each ZnO and CuO sol–gel process. The results of microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that an optimal balance of these two properties is achieved at a pyrolysis temperature of 250 °C. The CuO films were seen to possess a level of porosity significantly higher than that seen in the ZnO films, making them an ideal candidate for the top layer in a planar thin film heterostructure. Results of current–voltage measurements conducted in 4000 ppm hydrogen have confirmed that the inherent porosity of the CuO films led to an enhanced sensor response in CuO on ZnO heterostructures. Lastly, the fabrication and structural characterization of a mixed solution type heterostructure has been detailed. Atomic force microscopy and XRD data indicated the presence of ZnO pillars dispersed among a matrix of CuO.
Movement patterns of the round stingray Urobatis halleri(Cooper) near a thermal outfall

Fine-scale movements and site fidelity of round stingrays Urobatis halleri at Seal Beach California, U.S.A., were examined using acoustic telemetry. Actively tracked fish generally exhibited limited nearshore movement, with greater distances travelled at night when the tide was ebbing than during the day with ebbing tides. Increases in round stingray activity were associated with increases in ambient temperature. Passively tracked fish showed seasonal patterns in their presence at Seal Beach. Males left Seal Beach during the autumn, returned the following spring, and remained in the area until the following autumn. Females spent far less time at Seal Beach, remaining in the area for a few weeks during June and July. Passively tracked round stingrays were recorded more often in the warm waters of the San Gabriel River mouth (the location of a thermal outfall from an electric-generating station) than adjacent beaches, with fish often returning to Seal Beach after periods of absence. Anthropogenic effects resulting from coastal development may have created environmental conditions (i.e. warmer water and finer sediments) that influence the movements and site fidelity of round stingrays.
FK506 is neuroprotective in a model of antiretroviral toxic neuropathy

Antiretroviral toxic neuropathy is the most common neurological complication of human immunodeficiency virus infection. This painful neuropathy not only affects the quality of life of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients but also severely limits viral suppression strategies. We have developed an in vitro model of this toxic neuropathy to better understand the mechanism of neurotoxicity and to test potential neuroprotective compounds. We show that among the dideoxynucleosides, ddC appears to be the most neurotoxic, followed by ddI and then d4T. This reflects their potency in causing neuropathy. AZT, which does not cause a peripheral neuropathy in patients, does not cause significant neurotoxicity in our model. Furthermore, in this model, we show that the immunophilin ligand FK506 but not cyclosporin A prevents the development of neurotoxicity by ddC, as judged by amelioration of ddC-induced "neuritic pruning," neuronal mitochondrial depolarization, and neuronal necrotic death. This finding suggests a calcineurin-independent mechanism of neuroprotection. As calcineurin inhibition underlies the immunosuppressive properties of these clinically used immunophilin ligands, this holds promise for the neuroprotective efficacy of nonimmunosuppressive analogs of FK506 in the prevention or treatment of antiretroviral toxic neuropathy.
Some behavioral differences between wild and domestic Norway rats: Gnawing and platform jumping

Thirty-six wild and 36 domestic Norway rats were compared in two experiments that were designed to investigate behaviors associated with gnawing and platform jumping. Domestic rats exhibited more “spontaneous” gnawing than their wild counterparts. Both stocks increased gnawing activity to gain access to a narrow tunnel. When confined in the tunnel, wild rats were more likely to gnaw their way back to the horne cage. Platform jumping was confined almost exclusively to the wild stock. These findings are discussed in terms of domestication and its effect on the behavior of the Norway rat.
Cognitive Dissonance and Impression Management Explanations for Effort Justification

When individuals expend effort for a task that turns out to be boring or trivial they often justify their effort by enhancing the ratings of the task. The present experiment attempted to differentiate between two explanations for this process of effort justification: dissonance and impression management. Subjects completed either a simple (low effort) or difficult (high effort) number-circling task for an experimenter who was either friendly and pleasant (high attractiveness) or rude and unpleasant (low attractiveness). Contrary to impression management theory, and as predicted by cognitive dissonance theory, effort justification occurred only in the presence of the unattractive experimenter.
Zero forcing number, path cover number, and maximum nullity of cacti

The zero forcing number of a graph is the minimum size of a zero forcing set. This parameter is useful in the minimum rank/maximum nullity problem, as it gives an upper bound to the maximum nullity. The path cover number of a graph is the minimum size of a path cover. Results for comparing the parameters are presented, with equality of zero forcing number and path cover number shown for all cacti and equality of zero forcing number and maximum nullity for a subset of cacti. (A cactus is a graph where each edge is in at most one cycle.)
The importance of the number of different agents in a heterogeneous asset-pricing model

Abstract Models with heterogeneous agents and incomplete markets often only have two types of agents to limit the computational complexity. The question arises whether equilibrium models with a realistic number of types have the same implications as models with a small number of types. In the asset-pricing model considered in this paper, several properties depend crucially on the number of types. For example, in the economy with only two types interest rates respond to `idiosyncratic’ income shocks which makes it easier to smooth consumption. Moreover these effects can be so strong that it is possible that a relaxation of the borrowing constraint reduces an agent's utility. Average interest rates on the other hand are not very sensitive to the number of types.
Tests of Variance Equality When Distributions Differ in Form and Location

Type I error rates and power were estimated for ten tests of variance equality under various combinations of the following factors: similar and dissimilar distributional forms, equal and unequal means, and equal and unequal sample sizes. The results indicated that four tests had appropriate Type I error rates for most of the distribution combinations. Of these tests, O'Brien's test tended to be most powerful with equal-sized samples and with an indirect relationship between sample sizes and population variances. Using the Welch-James statistic with O'Brien's r(.5) statistic as the dependent variable tended to lead to the most powerful test when the sample sizes and population variances had a direct relationship.
IκB Kinase Regulates Social Defeat Stress-Induced Synaptic and Behavioral Plasticity

The neurobiological underpinnings of mood and anxiety disorders have been linked to the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a region important in processing the rewarding and emotional salience of stimuli. Using chronic social defeat stress, an animal model of mood and anxiety disorders, we investigated whether alterations in synaptic plasticity are responsible for the long-lasting behavioral symptoms induced by this form of stress. We hypothesized that chronic social defeat stress alters synaptic strength or connectivity of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in the NAc to induce social avoidance. To test this, we analyzed the synaptic profile of MSNs via confocal imaging of Lucifer-yellow-filled cells, ultrastructural analysis of the postsynaptic density, and electrophysiological recordings of miniature EPSCs (mEPSCs) in mice after social defeat. We found that NAc MSNs have more stubby spine structures with smaller postsynaptic densities and an increase in the frequency of mEPSCs after social defeat. In parallel to these structural changes, we observed significant increases in IκB kinase (IKK) in the NAc after social defeat, a molecular pathway that has been shown to regulate neuronal morphology. Indeed, we find using viral-mediated gene transfer of dominant-negative and constitutively active IKK mutants that activation of IKK signaling pathways during social defeat is both necessary and sufficient to induce synaptic alterations and behavioral effects of the stress. These studies establish a causal role for IKK in regulating stress-induced adaptive plasticity and may present a novel target for drug development in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders in humans.
Reactions of the ruthenium silylene derivative [(η5-C5Me5)(PMe3)2RuSiPh2(NCMe)]BPh4 with alcohols, ketones and acetic acid

Abstract The cationic ruthenium silylene complex [Cp*(PMe3)2RuSiPh2(NCMe)]+BPh4− (1, Cp* = η5-C5Me5) reacts with alcohols (MeOH, EtOH and tBuOH) to produce the ruthenium acetonitrile complex [Cp*(PMe3)2Ru(NCMe)]+BPh4− (2) and the corresponding alkoxysilanes HSiPh2OR (R = Me, Et, tBu). At low temperature (−60°C), an intermediate (3) was observed in the reaction involving ethanol (by 1H NMR spectroscopy). This intermediate gives rise to a RuH hydride signal (δ 11.08), which appears as a triplet (2JPRuH = 11 Hz). This species may therefore be cis-[Cp*(PMe3)2Ru(H)SiPh2OEt]BPh4, however, the very low 2JPRuH coupling constant suggests a structure involving an η2-H-SiPh2OEt ligand. The mechanism of these reactions is suggested to consist of dissociative loss of acetonitrile to produce the base-free silylene complex [Cp*(PMe3)2RuSiPh2]+, which adds alcohol across the double bond to form 3. The observed silane products are then formed via reductive elimination from ruthenium. The enolizable ketones MeCOMe and MeCOPh react with 1 in a similar fashion to give 2 and the silyl enol ethers HSiPh2 (OCRCH2) (R = Me, Ph). Acetic acid reacts with 1 to afford 2 and HSiPh2(OOCMe).
Stimulus variation and dimensional contrast

In two experiments, a maintained generalization procedure was employed to examine stimulus control of pigeons’ responses to a visual wavelength continuum. For both experiments, pigeons’ responses were periodically reinforced during wavelength values from one end of a continuum, while responses during other stimulus values were extinguished. In Experiment 1, the set of positive stimulus values remained constant, while the spacing of the set of negative stimuli varied. In Experiment 2, the set of negative stimulus values remained constant, while the spacing of positive stimuli varied. Positive dimensional contrast effects were obtained in both experiments. In general, the results indicated that variation in the spacing of negative stimuli had little effect on positive dimensional contrast. However, variation in the spacing of positive stimuli produced changes in the peak of the dimensional contrast gradient, without apparent change in the magnitude of the effect.
Potentiation of kainic acid epileptogenicity and sparing from neuronal damage by an NMDA receptor antagonist.

Abstract The time course and severity of the excitotoxic syndrome induced in rats by s.c. injection of 10 mg/kg kainic acid (KA) was modified by pretreatment with MK801, a non-competitive inhibitor of the NMDA receptor, at doses of 0.1,1 and 10 mg/kg. A dose-dependent increase in the severity of the KA-induced electrographic (EEG) manifestations of epilepsy was seen after MK801. This consisted of an earlier appearance and higher number of EEG seizures, longer time spent in seizures, and an earlier onset of status epilepticus. In contrast, behavioral seizures were increased only in the 0. 1 mg/kg MK801 group, but abolished by higher doses. On the contrary, wet dog shakes were progressively reduced with increasing doses of MK801. Four of the 9 animals receiving KA-only group and 3 of the 10 animals in the 1 and 10 mg MK801 groups were sacrificed 5 days after KA. The brain of the KA-only rats presented diffuse gross and microscopic evidence of hemorrhagic necrosis and neuronal damage; the MK801 rats showed only minimal neuronal loss in the CA3 hippocampal sector. This study demonstrates that neuronal damage and epileptiform activity can be dissociated. Furthermore, it confirms the protective effect of MK801 against neuronal damage caused by multiple factors. Lastly, it emphasizes the need for EEG monitoring in order to accurately assess any epileptic/antiepileptic effect.
A Method for Biotin Labeling of Biologically Active Oligogalacturonides Using a Chemically Stable Hydrazide Linkage

Oligogalacturonides (oligomers of α-1,4-d-galacturonic acid) with degrees of polymerization (DP) between 8 and 16 were labeled with biotin using a rapid and simple two-reaction protocol that yields a stable oligogalacturonide derivative. In the first reaction biotin-x-hydrazide was coupled to the anomeric carbon of the reducing galacturonic acid residue by a hydrazone linkage. Carbohydrate–hydrazone linkages such as these have been widely used to label a variety of biomolecules. However, we show herein that the oligogalacturonide–hydrazone linkage is hydrolyzed in water. In the second reaction the hydrazone linkage was reduced with sodium cyanoborohydride to form a stable hydrazide. The stability of hydrazide-linked oligogalacturonides was confirmed using high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC). The biotin and uronic acid content of the HPAEC fractions was determined using quantitative colorimetric microplate assays. Electrospray mass spectrometry and1H NMR spectroscopy were used to confirm the structure of the HPAEC-purified biotin-derivatized oligogalacturonides. Biotin-derivatized oligogalacturonides will be useful in studies of the biological functions of oligogalacturonides.
The significance of song variation in a population of Darwin's finches

Males of Geospiza conirostris, the large cactus finch, on Isla Genovesa, Galapagos, sing a single, precisely copied song. There are two song types in the population, and these are sub-divided into 3 and 5 discrete song sub-types respectively. Adult males sing only one song sub-type throughout life. Sons sing the same song sub-type as their fathers' and do not copy the songs of either natal or breeding territory neighbours. Significantly more of the males holding territories with neighbours of unlike (heterotypic) song type obtain a female than males in territories with no heterotypic neighbour. Pairs in territories with a heterotypic neighbour fledge significantly more young than do pairs in territories with no heterotypic neighbour. Significantly more of those young born on territories with a heterotypic neighbour, that survive to become adults, obtain a mate, than do those surviving young born on territories with no heterotypic neighbour. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the relative greater importance of song for species recognition in this population has made it advantageous for males to have a single, short, distinct, precisely copied and stable song. The necessity for recognizing both song types as conspecific has produced a unique mating pattern which favours pairs in territories with a heterotypic song neighbour. This allows young to associate visual and auditory cues of father and neighbouring male during the short period of imprinting. A small effective population size, combined with the observation that no female has been known to mate with a male of the same song sub-type as her father's, suggests a possible kin recognition system to avoid inbreeding.
The role of the interleukin-1-receptor antagonist in blocking inflammation mediated by interleukin-1.

Approaches involving the blockade of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) are entering mainstream clinical medicine: antibodies against TNF-α and soluble...
A parallel database-driven protocol verification system prototype

SUMMARY Protocol verification systems test the specification of communication protocols. A prototype of a protocol verification system based on parallel database primitives for a hypercube multicomputer is described. Using the described prototype, two conventional protocols are verified. To evaluate the performance of verification systems, a synthetic protocol that is to be used as a benchmark is proposed. Extensions to and properties of the synthetic protocol are described. Using this protocol, the performance of the developed verification system is evaluated.
Identifying Barriers Preventing Latina Women from Accessing WIC Online Health Information

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a program for low-income women and children under age five. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to accessing online WIC resources among Latina WIC clients. Five focus groups were conducted with Spanish-speaking participants recruited from a single WIC clinic. Two key themes emerged relating to barriers in accessing WIC’s online resources. The first theme, access issues, included three subthemes: lack of computer/Internet resources; family barriers to computer use; and computer literacy. The second theme, perceived value of the website, included three subthemes: limited time savings; preference for on-site education; and knowledge about the website. This is the first study to evaluate barriers to accessing online resources among Latina women in the WIC program. WIC sites attempting to increase utilization of online resources may be more successful if they serve clients with easy access to a computer with Internet access. They may also consider strategies to increase the value of the online resources, as compared to their current services offered to clients in a face-to-face setting.
Enhanced $J/\psi$ production in deconfined quark matter

In high energy heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, each central event will contain multiple pairs of heavy quarks. If a region of deconfined quarks and gluons is formed, a mechanism for additional formation of heavy quarkonium bound states will be activated. This is a result of the mobility of heavy quarks in the deconfined region, such that bound states can be formed from a quark and an antiquark that were originally produced in separate incoherent interactions. Model estimates of this effect for $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ production at RHIC indicate that significant enhancements are to be expected. Experimental observation of such enhanced production would provide evidence for deconfinement unlikely to be compatible with competing scenarios.
Implied Volatility and Market Factor Sensitivities: The Case of REITs Added to the S&P 500 Index

This article examines 1) whether the relationship between the implied volatility measure, VIX, and REIT price volatility changes once a REIT is added to the S&P 500 and 2) whether the sensitivity to broad market risk factors and REIT returns change as a result of the addition. Relative to a 300-a-day period before each REIT was added to the index, results indicate that the VIX conveys information regarding the short-term price volatility for the REITs in the sample and that the sample returns become significantly more sensitive to the Fama and French and Carhart factors. Moreover, the explanatory power of the model increases, on average, from a little less than 17% for the period before the REIT is added to almost 60% once added.
Progressive compression and transmission of arbitrary triangular meshes

The recent growth in the size and availability of large triangular surface models has generated interest in compact multi-resolution progressive representation and data transmission. An ongoing challenge is to design an efficient data structure that encompasses both compactness of geometric representations and visual quality of progressive representations.In this paper we introduce a topological layering based data-structure and an encoding scheme to build a compact progressive representation of an arbitrary triangular mesh (a 2D simplicial complex in 3D) with attached attribute data. This compact representation is composed of multiple levels of detail that can be progressively transmitted and displayed. The global topology, which is the number of holes and connected components, can be flexibly changed among successive levels while still achieving guaranteed size of the coarsest level mesh for very complex models. The flexibility in our encoding scheme also allows topology preserving progressivity.
Fluorescence Behavior of Low Molar Mass and Polymer Liquid Crystals in Ordered Solid Films

Fluorescent low-molar-mass and polymeric materials capable of freezing nematic and chiral-nematic liquid-crystalline mesomorphism in a vitreous state were synthesized for the investigation of light absorption, steady-state fluorescence, and decay dynamics via single photon counting, all at room temperature. Monomer (i.e., isolated chromophore) emission was established as the sole decay pathway for singly dispersed chromophores in dilute solution. For chromophores constrained on a cyclohexane ring or a polymethacrylate chain, monomer emission was identified as the predominant decay pathway in dilute solutions. Furthermore, deviation from a single-exponential decay is accompanied by some loss of quantum yield to intramolecular processes. Emission from vitrified films exhibited a red shift of no more than 30 nm and a peak broadening by less than 10 nm compared to dilute solutions of the same compounds. The limited extent of bathochromic shift was considered to have arisen from a microenvironmental effect. The decay dynamics was found to be similar to that in dilute solutions, with a greater loss in quantum yield to both intra- and intermolecular processes existing in solid films. At modest values of order parameter, 0.4-0.6, vitrified nematic and chiral-nematic films produced a fluorescence anisotropy of 0.42 and a dissymmetry factor of 0.25, respectively. The observed degrees of polarization were found to agree fairly well with the theories governing linearly and circularly polarized fluorescence from uniaxially and helically arranged chromophores.
Splenic Infarction from Cholesterol Embolization following Cardiopulmonary Bypass

The authors report a case of symptomatic splenic infarction secondary to cholesterol embolization after coronary artery bypass grafting in a 59-year-old woman. The patient was treated with urgent splenectomy, which was curative. The diagnosis, investigations and management of the condition are discussed.
SIMULTANEOUS TALKING IN CONVERSATION AND SEX OF SPEAKERS

Simultaneous talking in group discussion was observed in three settings, a high school discussion group, a university faculty office, and the cafeteria of a university student union. Each instance of a listener's talking before a speaker had finished was classified as in agreement with the speaker, in disagreement with the speaker, or as irrelevant to the speaker's statement. Simultaneous talking occurred on about 19% of all utterances. Listeners were more likely to talk simultaneously when the speaker was a woman, and men much more likely to talk when a woman was speaking. Female listeners were more likely to show agreement with male speakers, while both men and women were more likely to show disagreement with female speakers. It was concluded that an analysis of types of simultaneous talking may provide a useful index of dominance.
Identification of TRIM27 as a Novel Degradation Target of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 ICP0

The herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) immediate early protein ICP0 performs many functions during infection, including transactivation of viral gene expression, suppression of innate immune responses, and modification and eviction of histones from viral chromatin. Although these functions of ICP0 have been characterized, the detailed mechanisms underlying ICP0's complex role during infection warrant further investigation. We thus undertook an unbiased proteomic approach to identifying viral and cellular proteins that interact with ICP0 in the infected cell. Cellular candidates resulting from our analysis included the ubiquitin-specific protease USP7, the transcriptional repressor TRIM27, DNA repair proteins NBN and MRE11A, regulators of apoptosis, including BIRC6, and the proteasome. We also identified two HSV-1 early proteins involved in nucleotide metabolism, UL39 and UL50, as novel candidate interactors of ICP0. Because TRIM27 was the most statistically significant cellular candidate, we investigated the relationship between TRIM27 and ICP0. We observed rapid, ICP0-dependent loss of TRIM27 during HSV-1 infection. TRIM27 protein levels were restored by disrupting the RING domain of ICP0 or by inhibiting the proteasome, arguing that TRIM27 is a novel degradation target of ICP0. A mutant ICP0 lacking E3 ligase activity interacted with endogenous TRIM27 during infection as demonstrated by reciprocal coimmunoprecipitation and supported by immunofluorescence data. Surprisingly, ICP0-null mutant virus yields decreased upon TRIM27 depletion, arguing that TRIM27 has a positive effect on infection despite being targeted for degradation. These results illustrate a complex interaction between TRIM27 and viral infection with potential positive or negative effects of TRIM27 on HSV under different infection conditions. IMPORTANCE During productive infection, a virus must simultaneously redirect multiple cellular pathways to replicate itself while evading detection by the host's defenses. To orchestrate such complex regulation, viruses, including herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), rely on multifunctional proteins such as the E3 ubiquitin ligase ICP0. This protein regulates various cellular pathways concurrently by targeting a diverse set of cellular factors for degradation. While some of these targets have been previously identified and characterized, we undertook a proteomic screen to identify additional targets of this activity to further characterize ICP0's role during infection. We describe a set of candidate interacting proteins of ICP0 identified through this approach and our characterization of the most statistically significant result, the cellular transcriptional repressor TRIM27. We present TRIM27 as a novel degradation target of ICP0 and describe the relationship of these two proteins during infection.
Analysis of Impact of Microfinance Services on Business Performance of Small Scale Women Entrepreneurs in Enugu State, Nigeria

This study analyzed access to microfinance services and its impact on performance of small scale women business entrepreneurs in Enugu State, Nigeria between January and December 2012. 71 beneficiaries and 50 non beneficiaries of microfinance services operating different business enterprises were randomly selected from nine local government areas in the State. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaire and analyzed by the use of descriptive statistical tools such as means and percentages. The Double-Difference (DD) Estimator is used to estimate changes in income from before to after benefiting from services between microfinance beneficiaries and non beneficiaries. Results show that the respondents were aged 37.4 years on the average while over 66% of them were married and about 95% had one form of formal education or the other. All the microfinance service beneficiaries accessed credit and deposit services while none received insurance services. The average income of beneficiaries and non beneficiaries before the study (baseline) were N162,480.00 and N163,572.00 respectively. The income of beneficiaries grew by about 46.67% (from N162,480.00 to N238,480.42 as against that of non beneficiaries which grew by only 11.6% from N163,572.00 to N182,546.35. There was a significant difference between the growth in incomes of the two groups at the 0.05 level. It is recommended that training as one of the core services of microfinance institutions should be vigorously implemented so as to improve the performance of the client entrepreneurs.
Fine Pointing Performance of the STEREO Observatories

STEREO is the third mission in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes Program. The two-year mission employs two nearly identical spacecraft that provide the first stereoscopic measurements to study the Sun and its coronal mass ejections. The sun-pointed imaging instruments require very tight pointing of their boresights and small jitter; roll requirements are significantly relaxed. In this paper, we describe the STEREO pointing requirements, and provide an overview of the Guidance and Control system. We then discuss the on-orbit pointing performance of each of the observatories including describing some of the differences between the performances of the two.
Differential Roles of Unsaturated and Saturated Fatty Acids on Autophagy and Apoptosis in Hepatocytes

Fatty acid-induced lipotoxicity plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic liver disease. Saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids have differential effects on cell death and steatosis, but the mechanisms responsible for these differences are not known. Using cultured HepG2 cells and primary mouse hepatocytes, we found that unsaturated and saturated fatty acids differentially regulate autophagy and apoptosis. The unsaturated fatty acid, oleic acid, promoted the formation of triglyceride-enriched lipid droplets and induced autophagy but had a minimal effect on apoptosis. In contrast, the saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid, was poorly converted into triglyceride-enriched lipid droplets, suppressed autophagy, and significantly induced apoptosis. Subsequent studies revealed that palmitic acid-induced apoptosis suppressed autophagy by inducing caspase-dependent Beclin 1 cleavage, indicating cross-talk between apoptosis and autophagy. Moreover, our data suggest that the formation of triglyceride-enriched lipid droplets and induction of autophagy are protective mechanisms against fatty acid-induced lipotoxicity. In line with our in vitro findings, we found that high-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis was associated with autophagy in the mouse liver. Potential modulation of autophagy may be a novel approach that has therapeutic benefits for obesity-induced steatosis and liver injury.
Quality of radiotherapy reporting in randomized controlled trials of Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a systematic review.

Purpose Standards for the reporting of radiotherapy details in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are lacking. Although radiotherapy (RT) is an important component of curative therapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), we postulated that RT reporting may be inadequate in Phase III HL and NHL trials. Methods and Materials We searched PubMed and the Cochrane registry for reports of RCTs involving RT and either HL or NHL published between 1998 and 2007. We screened 133 titles and abstracts to identify relevant studies. We included a total of 61 reports. We assessed these reports for the presence of six quality measures: target volume, radiation dose, fractionation, radiation prescription, quality assurance (QA) process use, and adherence to QA ( i.e., reporting of major or minor deviations). Results Of 61 reports, 23 (38%) described the target volume. Of the 42 reports involving involved-field RT alone, only 8 (19%) adequately described the target volume. The radiation dose and fractionation was described in most reports (54 reports [89%] and 39 reports [64%], respectively). Thirteen reports specified the RT prescription point (21%). Only 12 reports (20%) described using a RT QA process, and 7 reports (11%) described adherence to the QA process. Conclusion Reporting of RT in HL and NHL RCTs is deficient. Because the interpretation, replication, and application of RCT results depend on adequate description and QA of therapeutic interventions, consensus standards for RT reporting should be developed and integrated into the peer-review process.
On laminated composite plates with integrated sensors and actuators

Theoretical formulations, the Navier solutions and finite element models based on the classical and shear deformation plate theories are presented for the analysis of laminated composite plates with integrated sensors and actuators and subjected to both mechanical and electrical loadings. A simple negative velocity feed back control algorithm coupling the direct and converse piezoelectric effects is used to actively control the dynamic response of an integrated structure through closed loop control. The paper contains a detailed theoretical formulation, derivation of the Navier solutions of simply supported rectangular laminates, and displacement finite element models.