cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling Involving Nonlinear Plasma and Tissue Binding: Application to Prednisolone and Prednisone in Rats.

The pharmacokinetics (PK) of prednisolone (PNL) exhibit nonlinearity related to plasma protein binding, tissue binding, metabolic interconversion with prednisone (PN), and renal elimination. Blood and 11 tissues were collected from male Wistar rats after steady-state (SS) infusion and after subcutaneous (SC) boluses of 50 mg/kg of PNL. Concentrations of PNL and PN were measured by LC-MS/MS. Plasma and tissue profiles were described using a complex PBPK model. Concentrations of PN and PNL were in rapid equilibrium in plasma and tissues. The tissue partition coefficients (Kp) of PNL calculated from most SC-dosed tissue and plasma areas were similar to steady-state (SS) infusion and in silico values. The blood-to-plasma ratio of PNL was 0.71 with similar RBC and unbound plasma concentrations. Plasma protein binding (60 to 90%) was related to corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) saturation. Tissue distribution was nonlinear. The equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) of PNL shared by all tissues was 3.01 ng/mL with the highest binding in muscle, followed by liver, heart, intestine, bone, and the lowest in skin, spleen, fat, kidney, lung and brain. Fat and bone distribution assumed access only to interstitial space. Brain PNL concentrations (Kp= 0.05) were low owing to presumed P-glycoprotein-mediated efflux. Clearances of CBG-free PNL were 1789 from liver and 191.2 mL/hr from kidney. The PN/PNL ratio was nonlinear for plasma, spleen, heart, intestine, bone, fat, and linear for the remaining tissues. Our PBPK model with multiple complexities well described the PK profiles of PNL and PN in blood, plasma and diverse tissues. Significance Statement As steroids such as prednisolone and prednisone have similar and complex PK properties in various species, receptors in most tissues, and multiple therapeutic and adverse actions, this PBPK model may provide greater insights into the pharmacodynamic complexities of corticosteroids. The complex properties of these compounds required innovative PBPK modeling approaches that may be instructive for other therapeutic agents.
Head Start children’s science experiences in the home and community

Abstract Families make important contributions to children’s learning across multiple developmental domains by providing quality educational experiences in the home and community. Until now, it was unknown what resources low-income families provide at home and in their communities to support early childhood science education and how families’ own self-efficacy and beliefs about science and background characteristics relate to the opportunities they provide. The present study interviewed 300 parents, diverse in race/ethnicity, of Head Start children ages 4–5 years about the opportunities they provided in their home and community to support early science learning. In addition, families completed the Attitudes Toward Science Survey to identify their self-efficacy and beliefs about science. Results identified wide variation in the resources families provided in the home (e.g., toys, books, technology) and in the community (e.g., visits to park, nature center, zoo); families with more positive beliefs and higher self-efficacy for science were more likely to offer materials at home and access community resources to support science learning. In addition, child gender, family ethnicity and home language explained some of the variation in family supports for science. Implications of this work point to important investments in science education to be made by schools which leverage what families do at home.
Making the elusive more tangible: remote tools & techniques for teaching web development to screen reader users

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the lack of accessible tech skills training for screen reader users. To address this gap, we developed remote tools and techniques to support screen reader users in learning web development. In this paper, we describe our design and implementation of a free, remote web development workshop, designed to introduce 12 screen reader users to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. We taught the workshop remotely using synchronous lectures followed by 1-on-1 time with teaching assistants (TAs), and included a resource-rich website, tactile diagrams, and discussion forum. We evaluated the impact of the workshop, as well as techniques and tools using pre- and post-workshop surveys, observational field notes, exit interviews, and unit quizzes. At the end of the workshop, all students demonstrated their knowledge of web development basics by creating and publishing their own websites; showed an increase in self-efficacy; and maintained a high level of interest in the subject. Participating in this workshop benefited our TAs who reported increased confidence in understanding accessibility concepts, increased interest in pursuing work related to accessibility, and plans to apply what they learned. Based on these findings, we recommend techniques and tools to support remote screen reader users learning web development; and suggestions for engaging with post-secondary institutions to pair service learning with tech skills training. We close with recommendations for implementing and adapting the workshop using our open-educational materials.
The Story is in the Structure: A Multi-Case Study of Instructional Design Teams

Although instructional designers are experienced and positioned to be leaders in online learning (Shaw, 2012), it was not previously known how organizational structures influenced their ability to act as leaders in their institutions. This problem warranted a deep exploration of the organizational structures for instructional design teams in higher education. This qualitative, multi-case study consisted of 3 individual universities each with a different organizational structure profile. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and document analysis with participants in 3 key roles at each institution: dedicated instructional designer, online faculty member, and online learning administrator. The research culminated in within-case analyses of each institution and a comparative case analysis of all 3 studied institutions. The results of the study revealed that the organizational structure that most positively influenced instructional design leadership was a centralized instructional design team with academic reporting lines. The results also showed that decentralized instructional designers experienced significant disempowerment, role misperception, and challenges in advocacy and leadership, while instructional designers with administrative reporting lines experienced a high level of role misperception specifically related to technology support. Positional parity between dedicated instructional designers and faculty, in conjunction with implementation of the recommended organizational structure, was found to be critical to empowering designers to be partners and leaders.
Clinicians as Advocacy Allies for People with ASD

Engaging in effective advocacy—communicating an individual’s limitations, needs, desires, or priorities to decision-makers in ways that can favorably influence legal entitlements or the delivery of services and supports—is typically one of the most difficult tasks facing people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. Yet clinicians are often ill-prepared to help them navigate the myriad challenges that effective advocacy entails. Since the outcome of medical treatments and the success of advocacy efforts are so closely intertwined, it is helpful for clinicians to envision themselves not merely as service providers but also as “advocacy allies.” This chapter describes practical ways in which clinicians can fulfill this important role. In clinical settings, understanding the limitations of the medical model can help clinicians strengthen the therapeutic alliance and improve their patients’ or clients’ self-advocacy skills. Supported Decision-Making (SDM) can be a particularly useful tool for giving people with ASD a meaningful “voice” in their own treatment. Outside clinical settings, individuals with ASD and their families often face considerable difficulty enforcing their legal rights. Here again, clinicians can play a vital supporting role if they understand how legal adjudicators will evaluate the documentation and testimony they are often asked to provide. The discussion concludes by listing additional resources upon which clinicians can draw to become more effective advocacy allies.
The Personal Is Pedagogy

In this chapter, we (two scholars of Color) critically reflect on our time teaching diversity required courses to predominantly white pre-service teachers at a predominately white institution (PWI). We frame our reflections using Critical Race Theory (CRT), which situates our experiences as data (i.e., experiential knowledge) from which to develop praxis that holds us, educators, accountable to CRT’s call for transformative, social justice education. More specifically, we describe how our professional endeavors teaching adult English language courses internationally and personal experiences as people from transnational families informed our experiences as teacher educators in local university spaces. These unique and informed perspectives significantly shaped the curriculum and pedagogy in ways that align with traditions of radical transformation and resistance.
Conceptualizing customer relationship management using a descriptive approach

This article presents a descriptive discourse of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), its origin and perceived similarity to Relationship Marketing (RM) using extant marketing literature. It aimed at providing a contrasting clarification between CRM and RM with a view of determining whether or not both concepts are the same. It highlighted some notable differences between the two concepts by exploring key theoretical underpinnings based on the works of marketing scholars, and key CRM processes were also identified as conceptualized from the reviews. The different ways by which organizations and its customers perceive value were critically analysed. The findings suggested that CRM is still regarded as an elusive marketing concept which defies a concrete definition. Though, recently, there are attempts to provide a common definition of the concept. The findings showed that CRM is an old marketing ideology which is being clothed with new connotations and that; CRM and RM are like two inseparable Siamese-twins. Although, one is merely an extended version of the other nevertheless, both concepts hinges upon building strong and lasting relationships between business organizations and stakeholders in order to seek customers' loyalty and continuous patronage. Both business managers and practitioners are expected to benefit from the discussions as it exposes the dichotomy of opinions on CRM and RM. Marketing researchers can now begin to employ ways of adopting CRM processes not only to keep existing customers satisfied but also to attract new ones.
Transient Temperature Near a Void in a Material Heated by a Moving Laser Beam

Thermal methods in nondestructive testing utilize the fact that the thermal properties of a defect differ from those of the host material so that temperature distortions result when the material is heated. If the temperature distortions are measured (e.g., by an infrared camera), the data can be analyzed.to possibly locate and/or size the defect. Heating materials having defects has been accomplished in the past by using heat sources such as halogen lamps, hot air, or pulsed lasers.
Cerebrospinal fluid Aβ42, phosphorylated Tau181, and resting-state functional connectivity.

Importance Resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging has great potential for characterizing pathophysiological changes during the preclinical phase of Alzheimer disease. Objective To assess the relationship between default mode network integrity and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer disease pathology in cognitively normal older individuals. Design, Setting, and Participants Cross-sectional cohort study at The Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, among 207 older adults with normal cognition (Clinical Dementia Rating, 0). Main Outcomes and Measures Resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging measures of default mode network integrity. Results Decreased cerebrospinal fluid Aβ42 and increased cerebrospinal fluid phosphorylated tau181were independently associated with reduced default mode network integrity, with the most prominent decreases in functional connectivity observed between the posterior cingulate and medial temporal regions. Observed reductions in functional connectivity were unattributable to age or structural atrophy in the posterior cingulate and medial temporal areas. Similar resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging findings in relation to cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers were obtained using region-of-interest analyses and voxelwise correlation mapping. Conclusions and Relevance Both Aβ and tau pathology affect default mode network integrity before clinical onset of Alzheimer disease.
Studies on IgA and IgG Monoclonal Proteins Derived from a Single Patient I. Evidence for Shared Individually Specific Antigenic Determinants

The serum from a patient (GR) with multiple myeloma was shown to contain two unique homogenous bands by cellulose acetate electrophoresis. These components were further identified as a monoclonal IgG2k and a monoclonal IgAk. Rabbit antisera directed against IgG (GR) and IgA (GR) monomer were absorbed to render them specific for individual antigenic (ind) determinants. Both proteins were capable of inhibiting the reaction between labeled protein and its homologous ind antiserum in the radioimmunoassay indicating that both immunoglobulins shared ind determinants. In addition, the determinants shared between the two proteins appear to be identical. The potential sharing of any two heavy chain constant genes among all heavy chain constant genes is discussed.
Shocks and the Hugoniot Locus

We now return to the nonlinear system ut + f(u) x = 0, where u(itx,t}) ∈ ℝ m . As before we assume strict hyperbolicity, so that f′{u)} has disctinct real eigenvalues λ1(u) <…< λ m (u) and hence linearly independent eigenvectors. We choose a particular basis for these eigenvectors, {r p {u)}p=1 m , usually chosen to be normalized in some manner, e.g. ∥r(itu})∥ ≡ 1.
The Decline of Daily Newspapers and the Third-Person Effect†

Objective In this article, we investigate the third-person effect within the context of the decision by the New Orleans Times-Picayune in September 2012 to end daily print circulation in favor of a three-day-per-week publication schedule and online news offerings. Methods We utilize original survey data based on 1,043 telephone interviews with respondents living in the greater New Orleans area, including 530 landline respondents selected via random digit dialing and 513 respondents randomly selected from available cellular telephone blocks. Results We find evidence of a third-person effect on judgments about changes at The Times-Picayune. New Orleans area residents worry that the decline of information will negatively affect the ability of others to keep up with the news. We also show that the effects are contingent upon physical location. The greater the distance from New Orleans, the more pronounced concerns are about the effect of the loss of this daily information source on others in the community. Conclusions To date, third-person effects have generally been studied within the context of enduring and established forms of communication, especially those viewed as having potential negative effects—politically biased messages, other forms of propaganda, and communication that could harm reputations. In this article, we extend this work to show third-person effects persist within the context of declining news coverage.
The effects of deletion of the amino-terminal helix on troponin C function and stability

Troponin C has a 14-residue alpha-helix at the extreme amino terminus (the N-helix) which is absent in calmodulin. To learn the significance of this region in troponin C, residues 1-14 were deleted using site-directed mutagenesis. Analysis of the mutant troponin C (delta 14-TnC) showed that deletion of the N-helix did not alter the secondary structure of troponin C. Like wild type troponin C, it exhibited Ca(2+)-dependent conformational changes based on electrophoretic mobility and increases in alpha-helix content. The thermal stability of delta 14-TnC, however, was 20 degrees C lower than wild type troponin C in the presence or absence of divalent cations because of destabilization of the amino-terminal domain. To determine the functional consequences of the deletion, its ability to relieve troponin I and IT inhibition of the actomyosin ATPase was assayed. The results show that the mutant could relieve troponin I inhibition in the presence and absence of Ca2+ but could relieve troponin IT inhibition only to 45-50% of the wild type level, even at high concentrations. Also, the calcium affinity of the low affinity sites is reduced as evidence by the 2.4-2.8-fold increase in Ca2+ concentration required to achieve half-maximal activation of the MgATPase and calcium titration of the metal-induced conformation monitored by far UV circular dichroism measurements. In addition, the N-helix is required for the full conformational change to take place upon the binding of Ca2+, but not Mg2+, to the high affinity sites. The results indicate that the N-helix of troponin C is important for the stability of troponin C and may play a vital role in the Ca(2+)-switching mechanism.
Inactivation of splicing factors in HeLa cells subjected to heat shock.

The nuclear extracts from HeLa cells subjected to heat shock at 43 or 46 degrees C for 2 h were unable to splice pre-mRNA in vitro. Analysis of snRNPs in the extracts revealed that the U4.U5.U6 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle (snRNP) complex was disrupted at both temperatures while U1 and U2 snRNPs remained unaffected at 43 degrees C but were disrupted to certain extent during heat shock at 46 degrees C. During splicing reaction, the extract from cells heat shocked at 43 degrees C formed intermediate splicing complexes alpha and beta but was unable to form a functional spliceosome, complex gamma. Addition of fractions from a normal nuclear extract restored splicing activity only in the extract from cells subjected to heat shock at 43 degrees C. Using this complementation assay, we have partially purified the factor(s) inactivated at this temperature. The purified factor(s) was essentially devoid of snRNAs and snRNPs and resistant to micrococcal nuclease, indicating that the factor(s) inactivated by in vivo heat shock at 43 degrees C is a protein. We have also subjected the nuclear extracts from normal HeLa cells to in vitro heat treatment at 43 or 46 degrees C. The results indicate that during in vitro heat treatment of the extracts the damage to splicing machinery is more extensive than that during in vivo heat shock. These experiments also suggest that the factor(s) inactivated by heat shock at 43 degrees C is different from previously identified thermolabile splicing factors.
Clonal architecture of the mouse retina.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the recent findings on the role that lineage plays in the establishment of important quantitative features in the mouse retina. The chapter choses to use endogenous cell markers to study retinal development from its inception. Only a subset of the retinal progenitor cells contains the endogenous marker. This is accomplished by making chimeric mice that are a mixture of marked and unmarked cells. Two embryos at the 8-cell stage are pushed together in vitro and the combined embryo is then transplanted into the uterus of a pseudopregnant female. The study of chimeric retinas has yielded insight on the early development of retina. The close match in chimerism ratios between right and left retinas is significant and supports the idea that both retinas originate from a common population of progenitors. It was able to estimate the numbers of progenitor cells that contribute to the formation of the retina and the approximate time at which this small group is isolated from surrounding prosencephalic cell fields. These cells undergo at least five rounds of division before the first retinal neurons are generated. The mouse retina is not built from the center outward. There is simultaneous expansion and differentiation in all parts of the retina and as a result clones are not arranged in wedges. Instead, the mouse retina is a patchwork of clones that do not differ greatly in size from center to periphery. The most consistent radial feature in mouse retina is a raphe left at the line of fusion of the margins of the ventral fissure.
Transfer RNA Is the Source of Extracellular Isopentenyladenine in a Ti-Plasmidless Strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Even in the absence of the classical Ti plasmid-encoded cytokinin biosynthetic genes ipt and tzs, Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains still release significant amounts of the cytokinin isopentenyladenine (iP) into the culture medium (R.W. Kaiss-Chapman and R.O. Morris [1977] Biochem Biophys Res Commun 76: 453-459). A potential source of the iP is isopentenylated transfer RNA (tRNA), which, in turn, is synthesized by the activity of tRNA:isopentenyltransferase encoded by the bacterial miaA gene. To determine whether secreted iP had its origin in isopentenylated tRNA, a miaA- deletion/insertion mutant was prepared and reconstructed in Agrobacterium tumefaciens in vivo. The mutant no longer possessed tRNA:isopentenylation activity and no longer released iP into the extracellular medium. Transfer RNA therefore makes a small but significant contribution to the total amount of cytokinin normally secreted by Agrobacterium strains. tRNA-mediated synthesis may also account for cytokinin production by other plant-associated bacteria, such as Rhizobia, that have been reported to secrete similarly low levels of nonhydroxylated cytokinins.
Modeling the climatology of equatorial plasma bubbles observed by DMSP

[1] Space environmental sensors on polar-orbiting Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft occasionally encounter plasma density depletions when they cross the geomagnetic equator in the evening sector. These equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) are observed around the times and locations when equatorial spread F and radio scintillation phenomena tend to occur. The solar cycle, seasonal, and longitudinal variations in the observed frequency of these depletions (determined over the past 19 years) are indeed similar to those of scintillation. To test our understanding of EPB formation, we simulated the observations using PBMOD, a suite of first-principle models of the ambient ionosphere and EPB formation, driven by climatological models for its input parameters such as the plasma drift velocity. Maps of the model calculations of EPB frequencies at 840 km as functions of season and longitude exhibit patterns similar to the DMSP observations, including the expected peaks in EPB frequency near the equinoxes, an additional winter peak in the American sector, a summer peak in the Pacific sector, and the proper trends with solar cycle phase. Adjusting the model to reproduce the DMSP EPB occurrence frequencies in detail will allow us to fine tune PBMOD and provides a means for using the DMSP data to enhance the empirical drivers for the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) mission.
Quantitative 45Ca autoradiography of human bone.

Skeletal metabolism of radiocalcium is complex. Autoradiographic studies in experimental animals have shown that injected 45Ca is taken up focally in areas of new bone formation, on all bone surfaces as part of a short-term exchange process which is kinetically measured as part of the miscible calcium pool, and diffusely throughout fully mineralized bone as part of a long-term exchange process.1 Since the residence time of a 45Ca atom involved in long-term exchange is longer than the duration of kinetic studies, this process cannot be kinetically resolved from uptake due to bone formation.1 With the exception of measurements of the long-term exchange rate in 1 terminally ill person,2 no 45Ca autoradiographic studies of human bone have been made and, consequently, no information exists about the morphologic distribution of 45Ca in human bone. This information would be useful in the evaluation of the results of kinetic data from man. Large intraspecies differences in the rate and time constants of short-term3 and long-term exchange2 have been shown to exist between experimental animals. Since the 45Ca skeletal accretion rate of these animals is much higher than that of man,1 it is likely that quantitative differences of other parameters between experimental animals and man are also present. Also, uptake of 45Ca might be affected by abnormalities of morphology and mineralization which are present in older human bone4 but not in the bone of the animals that have been studied autoradiographically. In order to evaluate these points, we have made quantitative autoradiographic studies on bone from 7 patients with terminal illness who were given 45CaCl2 shortly before death.
Approximate inference and interval probabilities

This work presents results of research to develop of approximate inference formulas in the context of the calculus of evidence of Dempster-Shafer and the theory of interval probabilities. These formulas generalize the probabilistic domain the well-known relations between the truth values of the antecedent and the consequent propositions of a classical implication P → Q.
Complicating Commitment: Free Resources, Power Shifts, and the Fiscal Politics of Preventive War

This paper argues that the construction of sustainable peace settlements among great powers rests on a self-enforcing international bargain that impedes rapid shifts in the global distribution of military power and a series of stable fiscal bargains within great powers that both generate sufficient revenues to preserve a military deterrent and prevent programs of rapid armaments expansion. It examines how free resources— public property, natural resource wealth, international transfers, and sovereign lending—insulate governments from having to renegotiate the basic fiscal contract with society and can, as a consequence, create the domestic political capacity to sustain arms races and shift regional and global military balances to their advantage. These claims are examined by comparing the origins of World War I and the Cold War. The reexamination of World War I challenges the prevailing historical consensus by arguing that the primary cause of war lies within Russia rather than Germany. A discussion of early stages of the Cold War shows how the Truman and Eisenhower administrations both considered launching preventive war to solve the same fiscal dilemma faced by German leaders in July 1914.
Amiloride-sensitive rheogenic Na+ transport in rabbit blastocyst

FLUID and solutes accumulate in the blastocyst just before implantation by transport mechanisms associated with the trophectoderm1–3. This structure is a simple squamous epithelium that surrounds the embryo, and it is the first tissue to develop in the mammalian embryo4. We describe here electrophysiological experiments which demonstrate changes in transport functions of this epithelium in the rabbit a few hours before, the expected time of implantation. At this time fluid is accumulating rapidly in the blastocoele5. The following results show that between 6 and 7-d post-coitum (p.c.) a transtrophectodermal, rheogenic, amiloride-sensitive Na+ transport system develops. The term ‘rheogenic’ characterises non-neutral or current-generating transport process, as opposed to the term ‘electrogenic’ which is more general and characterises any process (diffusion potentials, electrokinetic phenomena, and/or rheogenic transport) which results in a change in potential across an epithelium6.
Quality and Quantity: The Quest for Biological Regeneration in Twentieth-Century France

1. Introduction 2. Degeneration and regeneration 3. From puericulture to eugenics 4. The French eugenics society to 1920 5. Postwar eugenics and social hygiene 6. The campaign for a premarital exam 7. French eugenics in the thirties 8. Eugenics, race and blood 9. Race and immigration 10. Vichy and after 11. Conclusion Notes.
Kinematics and motor activity during tethered walking and turning in the cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis

When insects turn from walking straight, their legs have to follow different motor patterns. In order to examine such pattern change precisely, we stimulated single antenna of an insect, thereby initiating its turning behavior, tethered over a lightly oiled glass plate. The resulting behavior included asymmetrical movements of prothoracic and mesothoracic legs. The mesothoracic leg on the inside of the turn (in the apparent direction of turning) extended the coxa-trochanter and femur-tibia joints during swing rather than during stance as in walking, while the outside mesothoracic leg kept a slow walking pattern. Electromyograms in mesothoracic legs revealed consistent changes in the motor neuron activity controlling extension of the coxa-trochanter and femur-tibia joints. In tethered walking, depressor trochanter activity consistently preceded slow extensor tibia activity. This pattern was reversed in the inside mesothoracic leg during turning. Also for turning, extensor and depressor motor neurons of the inside legs were activated in swing phase instead of stance. Turning was also examined in free ranging animals. Although more variable, some trials resembled the pattern generated by tethered animals. The distinct inter-joint and inter-leg coordination between tethered turning and walking, therefore, provides a good model to further study the neural control of changing locomotion patterns.
Systematics of defect structures in glasses with ionic substitutions

Abstract The effects of various ionic substitutions on defect structures in glass were investigated in soda-lime-silica systems. It is shown that detailed measurements of flaw characteristics provide a useful tool for investigating subtle internal energy variations in this solid. Influences of specific ions were quantitatively studied by determining the parameters of flaw length ( F 1 ), and flaw number ( F n ). Flaws produced on freshly broken surfaces under controlled loading conditions, were shown to be a direct indication of the stress response of the glass network. Relative bond strength and rigidity or brittleness of the structures varied with the ionic field strengths of added cations. Alkali ions in the form of oxides, were substituted for sodium and alkaline earth ions for calcium. Other additions and substitutional ions were also studied in detail. In general, the changes in flaw parameters were found to agree with theoretical predictions of internal energy changes based on the manner in which the ion entered the network, that is, as a lattice modifier, interstitial or network former. In specific systems, the variations in flaw length and flaw numbers were tentatively explained by changes in defect concentration and free volume as the ions were substituted.
Analytic solutions for linearly tapered directional couplers

Analytic solutions are presented for the mode amplitudes in two-mode couplers which have a constant coupling coefficient and propagation coefficients that vary linearly. The solutions are obtained in terms of parabolic cylinder functions which reduce, asymptotically toward the ends of the coupler, to simpler forms in elementary functions. These lead to a simple analytic expression for the coupler efficiency, and also to quantitative criteria for the coupler length.
The Mural Paintings of Berzé-la-Ville in the Context of the First Crusade and the Reconquista

The programme of mural paintings in the Cluniac chapel of Berze-la-Ville in Burgundy has a highly peculiar iconography. The present article argues that Abbot Hugh of Cluny (1049-1109) designed the programme, and makes the case that many of the unusual iconographical choices were due to his desire to make a particular statement about the First Crusade and the Reconquista. The question of Cluniac attitudes towards Christian-Muslim warfare has been the subject of numerous discussions, but remains murky due to shortage of evidence. The present article attempts to interpret the programme of Berze-la-Ville as a new source to shed light on the matter. The paintings are not a typical example of crusader propaganda in that they do not argue in favour of the crusading movement, but underscore those aspects of Christian belief that it appeared to discount or discard, particularly the need to evangelise non-Christians and the superiority of monastic profession over any other. The article attempts to demonstrate that the programme functions as a self-affirmation of Cluny in the face of rapid changes and implicit challenges, not only from crusaders and their supporters, but also from the reforming papacy.
The effects of ethanol on the hematotoxicity of environmental and pharmaceutical agents

Abstract This investigation represents an initial evaluation of the effects of ethanol on the responses of normal human and sheep erythrocytes (in vitro) to six known oxidant stressor agents (i.e. chlorite, copper, nitrite, carbaryl, α‐naphthol, and menadione). The results indicated that the ethanol incubation treatment (5%) enhanced the occurrence of oxidant stress in five of the six agents with the erythrocytes using increased methemoglobin and reduced glutathione as metabolic indicators of stress. Carbaryl was the only agent whose toxicity was not modified by the ethanol treatment.
Gender role and feminism revisited : A follow-up study

In this follow-up to our earlier study (Toller, Suter, & Trautman, Gender role identity and attitudes towards feminism, Sex Roles, 51, 85–90, 2004) we examine the interrelationships among gender role, support for feminism, and willingness to self-label as feminist. Ten percent of college students previously surveyed participated in qualitative interviews, which elicited characterizations of feminists, whether students self-identified as feminist, suggestions for garnering support for feminism, and for interpretation of the initial study’s findings. Students were asked to speculate why we found that highly masculine men and highly feminine women were neither likely to self-identify as feminist nor to support the feminist movement and why more feminine men and more masculine women were found to be more willing to self-label as feminist and more likely to support the feminist movement.
Simulation of Performance Deterioration in Eroded Compressors

A simple model was developed to simulate axial flow compressor performance deterioration due to blade erosion. The simulation at both design and off-design conditions is based on a mean line row by row model, which incorporates the effects of blade roughness and tip clearance. The results indicate that the increased roughness reduces the pressure ratio as well as the adiabatic efficiency of the compressor at all speeds with the largest influence at 100% speed. Increased tip clearance has a more pronounced effect on the compressor adiabatic efficiency and a lesser effect on the pressure ratio. According to the obtained results the loss in compressor performance due to erosion increases with increased blade loading.Copyright © 1996 by ASME
Design, development, and evaluation of visual aids for communicating prescription drug instructions to nonliterate patients in rural Cameroon

In this study, culturally sensitive visual aids designed to help convey drug information to nonliterate female adults who had a prescription for a solid oral dosage form of antibiotic medications were developed and evaluated. The researchers conceptualized the educational messages while a local artist produced the visual aids. Seventy-eight female ambulatory patients were evaluated for comprehension and compliance with antibiotic prescription instructions. The study was conducted in three health centers in Cameroon, West Africa and followed a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up format for three groups: two experimental, and one control. All participants were randomly assigned to either experimental or control groups, 26 patients to each group. Subjects in the experimental groups received visual aids alone or visual aids plus an Advanced Organizer. A comparison of the three groups showed that subjects in the experimental groups scored significantly higher than the control group in both the comprehension and compliance measures.
A Chinese hamster ovary leucyl-tRNA synthetase mutant with a uniquely altered high molecular weight leucyl-tRNA synthetase complex.

The Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell culture temperature-sensitive mutant ts025Cl with a defect in leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS) does not have an inherently more thermolabile LeuRS, but instead the mutation causes the complete loss of the LeuRS high molecular weight complexes which are present in normal wild-type cells. The mutant cell LeuRS has a single 8 S enzyme form which corresponds hydrodynamically to the 8 S free form of wild-type enzyme. Both 8 S forms have the same thermostability and the same Km for leucine, indicating that there is no inherent defect in the catalytic activity of the enzyme. The temperature-sensitive phenotype can be explained by the lack of thermostable high molecular weight forms of LeuRS.
Who really pays for health insurance? The incidence of employer-provided health insurance with sticky nominal wages.

This paper addresses two seeming paradoxes in the realm of employer-provided health insurance: First, businesses consistently claim that they bear the burden of the insurance they provide for employees, despite theory and empirical evidence indicating that workers bear the full incidence. Second, benefit generosity and the percentage of premiums paid by employers have decreased in recent decades, despite the preferential tax treatment of employer-paid benefits relative to wages—trends unexplained by the standard incidence model. This paper offers a revised incidence model based on nominal wage rigidity, in an attempt to explain these paradoxes. The model predicts that when the nominal wage constraint binds, some of the burden of increasing insurance premiums will fall on firms, particularly small companies with low-wage employees. In response, firms will reduce employment, decrease benefit generosity, and require larger employee premium contributions. Using Current Population Survey data from 2000–2001, I find evidence for this kind of wage rigidity and its associated impact on the employment and premium contributions of low-wage insured workers during a period of rapid premium growth.
Phosphoinositides in Ca2+ Signaling and Plasma Membrane Biogenesis: Roles for Electrostatic Interactions

Phosphoinositides are implicated in a wide range of cellular pathways, both at the plasma membrane and at other organelles. During IgE receptor activation in mast cells, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) synthesized by PIP5-kinase Igamma at the plasma membrane is hydrolyzed by phospholipase Cgamma to produce inositol 1,4,5- trisphosphate, which initiates store-operated Ca2+ influx (SOCE). In contrast, PIP2 synthesized by another isoform, PIP5-kinase Ialpha, regulates SOCE in these cells in an apparently bimodal manner: It promotes the interaction between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ sensor STIM1 and the Ca2+ channel protein Orai1/CRACM1, yet it plays a net negative role in SOCE, possibly by inhibiting Orai1/CRACM1 gating. Functional coupling between STIM1 and Orai1/CRACM1 involves electrostatic interactions: Coupling is blocked by positively charged sphingosine derivatives at the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane, and also by mutation of six acidic amino acid residues in the coiled-coil C-terminus of Orai1/CRACM1. We hypothesize that PIP2 participates in this electrostatic coupling.Phosphoinositol 4-phosphate participates in ER-to-plasma membrane biogenic trafficking, and it is synthesized from phosphatidylinositol (PI) at the cytoplasmic face of the ER by PI4-kinase IIIalpha. We find that expression of the polybasic MARCKS effector domain in the lumen of the ER reduces PI4P content in the Golgi complex and inhibits ER-to-plasma membrane protein trafficking in parallel with this inhibition. We hypothesize that ER-targeted MARCKS effector domain traps PI at the luminal face by an electrostatic interaction to inhibit PI4P synthesis and thereby ER-to-plasma membrane trafficking. These results highlight the importance of negatively charged phosphoinositides in multiple cellular pathways and point to the roles of electrostatic interactions in regulating these processes.
On the consistency of XML DTDs

DTD has been widely used as the schema language for XML documents. A DTD describes the structure of a collection of similar XML documents. The consistency problem of XML DTDs concerns the question that given a DTD D, if there exists any finite XML document that conforms to D. This issue is important because one wants to know whether a DTD specification is meaningful. In this paper, we formalize the notion of the consistency of DTDs, identify a sufficient and necessary condition for a DTD to be consistent, and propose a linear algorithm, DTDCon, for the consistency checking problem.
Predicting carcinogenicity of petroleum distillation fractions using a modified Salmonella mutagenicity assay

The Ames Salmonella/microsomal activation mutagenesis assay has been modified to improve sensitivity and reproducibility to complex mixtures derived from the refining and processing of petroleum. Oil samples were dissolved in cyclohexane and subsequently extracted with dimethyl sulfoxide to produce aqueous compatible solutions which readily interact with tester bacteria. Also, the liver homogenate (S-9) and NADP cofactor concentrations were increased and hamster rather than rat liver S-9 was used. The initial slope of the dose response curve relating mutagenicity (revertants per plate) to the dose of extract added was used as an index of mutagenic activity, this slope was obtained through a computerized curve fitting procedure. The modified assay was used to rank 18 oil samples for mutagenic activity, this ranking correlates highly (r = 0.92) with potency rankings of the same samples previously determined from dermal carcinogenicity bioassays. Sensitivity and reproducibility of the assay are sufficient to permit routine use for detecting potential carcinogenic activity of individual refinery streams and blends which contain components boiling above 500°F.
Pharmacokinetics, cerebrospinal fluid concentration, and safety of intravenous rifampin in pediatric patients undergoing shunt placements.

The objectives of this study were to characterize the pharmacokinetics and determine the cerebrospinal fluid concentrations and safety of intravenous rifampin in pediatric patients undergoing shunt placement. Nine patients (mean age 5.6 y) received a single dose of rifampin, 20 mg.kg-1, administered intravenously 1 h prior to surgery. The peak serum concentrations ranged from 13.5-26.7 micrograms.ml-1; cerebrospinal fluid concentrations ranged from 0.12-3.0 (mean: 1.4) micrograms.ml-1. The mean total clearance, apparent distribution volume, and elimination half-life were 0.29 l.kg-1.h-1, 1.11.kg-1, and 2.8 h. The concentrations of rifampin achieved in the cerebrospinal fluid exceeded the minimum inhibitory concentrations by 100- to 1000-fold against Staphylococcus epidermidis. However, 5 of 9 patients developed cutaneous reactions during intravenous rifampin prophylactic therapy. Because of the high frequency of adverse effects and more than adequate rifampin concentrations achieved in the cerebrospinal fluid, rifampin doses lower than that used in this study may be evaluated in future studies.
Living among stories: everyday life at a South Western bank

Purpose – This paper aims to problematize the idea that organizations can be understood as written text. Most of the work done in narrative analysis for organizational studies (OS) relies on an interpretation of narrative which is anchored to the formalist/structuralist tradition. The aim is to review the exiting literature and propose an alternative understanding of the phenomena. In particular, the paper will argue that text analysis should be complemented with analysis of the experience of the people involved in the studied processes. The reductionist character of structural analysis cannot fit the complexity and uniqueness of the everyday life in organizations.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is ethnographic research methodology. Data were collected during long unstructured interviews and daily informal conversations. Brochures, newsletter publications from the bank and archival information were also analyzed.Findings – Storytelling in the bank studied shows a constant movement between two p...
Ground-state density profile of the weakly interacting Bose and Fermi gases confined in an arbitrary potential well.

A theory is developed for the nonuniform ground-state density profile of weakly interacting quantum gases confined within an arbitrary potential well. Both Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac cases are considered. This problem is of interest in connection with magnetically confined spin-aligned atomic hydrogen (${\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}}$) and deuterium (${\mathrm{D}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}}$). The approach is based on a macroscopic formulation involving the principle of constancy of the chemical potential throughout the system. The main input is the internal chemical potential for which we use a local-density approximation (LDA). In turn we use for the LDA internal chemical potential standard results for the uniform interacting quantum gases. It is shown that generally, the systems mentioned develop macroscopically sharp surfaces (again, while in the gas phase). Density profiles are analytically calculated for the ideal Fermi gas and the leading-order weakly interacting Bose gas for the case of an arbitrary, symmetric power-law potential well. We also calculate the density profile including the next-highest-order correction in the interparticle interaction in the Bose case and the leading-order correction in the interparticle interaction in the Fermi case. The accuracy of the LDA density profiles is assessed. Numerical results are given appropriate for ${\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}}$ and ${\mathrm{D}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}}$. For weakly interacting ${\mathrm{D}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\downarrow}}}$ a notable contrast between the case of single hyperfine level occupation and the case of occupation of the lowest three hyperfine levels is pointed out.