cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
TAPHONOMY AND BIOLOGICAL AFFINITY OF THREE-DIMENSIONALLY PHOSPHATIZED BROMALITES FROM THE MIDDLE ORDOVICIAN WINNESHIEK LAGERSTÄTTE, NORTHEASTERN IOWA, USA

The Winneshiek Lagerstatte occurs within an Ordovician meteorite impact structure beneath part of the city of Decorah, Iowa. The Lagerstatte has yielded an atypical marine fauna including phyllocarid crustaceans, eurypterids, conodonts, linguloid brachiopods, and jawless fish. Associated with these taxa are vermiform fossils: elongate, morphologically variable, and often three-dimensionally preserved bromalites of uncertain organisms. The preservational state of these bromalites is significantly different from that of other components of the Winneshiek biota. Here we present a compositional and microstructural analysis of the vermiform fossils in order to elucidate their taphonomy and biological affinities. The majority of studied specimens are preserved three-dimensionally and composed of calcium phosphate, while a minority are preserved as carbonaceous compressions. Winneshiek bromalites exhibit important similarities to examples documented from both older and younger sediments. They provide independent evidence of predation in the Winneshiek assemblage during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.
Innovation diffusion within large environmental NGOs through informal network agents

The Sustainable Development Goals present opportunities for environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to address new challenges. Such innovation requires dynamism and adaptability that large ENGOs may lack, and flatter organizational structures common to large ENGOs may limit the efficacy of top-down diffusion of innovative ideas or approaches. Instead, diffusion may occur through informal networks. We conducted a network experiment to estimate the role of informal boundary spanners—individuals who cross internal organizational boundaries (for example, departmental or geographic) via their informal social networks—for diffusing innovations in a large ENGO. We find they are four times more likely to diffuse innovations than non-boundary spanners, although organizational positions (for example, formal organizational hierarchy) can moderate this behaviour. We also find evidence they play a role in changing attitudes in favour of the innovation. These findings highlight how informal boundary spanners can drive organization-wide diffusion of innovations in ENGOs to strengthen capacity to address pressing sustainability challenges.
Nonlinear image interpolation via deep neural network

Model-based approaches toward image interpolation attempt to predict unknown pixels at the high-resolution (HR) from a given low-resolution (LR) image. In the past decade, various adaptive image interpolation methods have been develop aiming at better recovering important image structures such as edges and textures. However, those methods are all based on an implicit assumption about the linear relationship between LR and HR pixels partially due to the difficulty with modeling nonlinear relationship. In this paper, we propose to take an explicit learning-based approach toward modeling the nonlinear relationship between LR an HR pixels. A six-layer convolutional neural network with rectified linear units (ReLU) is presented and trained to learn the targeted nonlinear mapping from training data for image interpolation. Our experimental results have shown the proposed learning-based approach is often capable of achieving superior performance both subjectively and objectively to existing model-based methods.
Operation for Acute Aortic Dissection in the Octogenarian Patient

Acute aortic dissection is a lethal disease. Based on classic studies from the 1950s, ascending aortic dissection has a mortality rate that increases on an hourly basis, and is fatal in over 90% of patients at one month if untreated1. However, recent reports on mortality with maximal antihypertensive therapy reveal improvements with medical therapy. Survival in patients who survive the initial event and present to the hospital has been reported as high as 70% at two years2.
Comparing Triggering Policies for Social Behaviors

Instructional efficacy of automated Conversational Agents designed to help small groups of students achieve higher learning outcomes can be improved by the use of social interaction strategies. These strategies help the tutor agent manage the attention of the students while delivering useful instructional content. Two technical challenges involving the use of social interaction strategies include determining the appropriate policy for triggering these strategies and regulating the amount of social behavior performed by the tutor. In this paper, a comparison of six different triggering policies is presented. We find that a triggering policy learnt from human behavior in combination with a filter that keeps the amount of social behavior comparable to that performed by human tutors offers the most effective solution to the these challenges.
Stairway to Heaven: Accumulation of Roundoff Error

Martin Gardner’s popular “Mathematical Games” column appeared monthly in Scientific American from January 1957 through December 1981. During those 25 years he entertained his readers with discussions of such topics as how to fold adding machine tape into hexaflexagons, John Conway’s Game of Life, and the discoveries of the mysterious numerologist Dr. Matrix. He inspired a generation of budding engineers, scientists, and mathematicians.
A Node Stability Index-Based Connected Dominating Set Algorithm for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

We propose a Node Stability Index (NSI)-based algorithm to determine stable connected dominating sets (CDS) for Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). The NSI of a node is defined as the sum of the predicted Link Expiration Times (LETs) of the links with its neighbor nodes. The NSI-CDS algorithm prefers to include (to the CDS) covered nodes that have the largest NSI value, computed based on the sum of the LETs of the uncovered neighbors. The NSI-CDS has been observed to have significantly longer lifetime than the maximum density-based CDS (MaxD-CDS) and the ID-based CDS (ID-CDS). The tradeoff is a modest increase in the CDS Node Size which however contributes significantly to the robustness of the CDS as well as to a lower hop count per path, especially in high-density networks.
Applications of robustness measures in signal detection

In this paper we have reviewed a new approach toward robust signal detection which is based on geometric concepts. By providing a quantitative measure of robustness, this approach can be an attractive alternative to employing classical saddlepoint techniques since important limitations associated with such techniques can be circumvented.
Culture, Religion, and Education: A Multicultural Analysis of Amartya Sen’s Identity and Violence

This paper discusses two aspects of Amartya Sen’s multicultural thesis that are problematic. First, this paper contends that Sen’s cultural pluralism may not fully account for the importance that particular people attach to culture. This paper does not rehearse multicultural critiques of liberalism. Instead, it argues that liberalism and proper respect for culture should, on the whole, be coincident. Second, this paper assesses Sen’s arguments against religious schooling in the United Kingdom and argues that such schooling is not as problematic as Sen contends.
Heterogeneity in human prothrombin: analysis of cause

Two fractions of human prothrombin can be isolated from single donor plasma by the technique of heparin-agarose chromatography in (sodium) citrate buffer, pH 7.5, as previously reported for pooled plasma. The two fractions, designated H-II1 and H-II2, are found in a ratio of approximately 4:1. Both forms comigrate in sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis; however, under nondenaturing electrophoretic conditions, each fraction migrates as a discrete entity with a different mobility. The larger fraction (H-II1) has a faster mobility towards the anode. Isoelectric focusing in urea of H-II1 reveals that it has two components, a minor component with a pl of 5.25 (H-II1a) and a major component with a pl of 5.40 (H-II1b). H-II2 has a pl of 5.6 H-II1 and H-II2 possess the same amino terminal residue (alanine, 0.87-0.92 mole/mole) and the same number of gamma -carboxyglutamic acid residues (9.8-10.5). Their amino acid composition is indistinguishable. However, the two fractions of prothrombin differ in their content of neutral sugar and of sialic acid residues. Removal of sialic acid with neuraminidase abolishes the electrophoretic heterogeneity. Thus, the charge heterogneity of the three variants of prothrombin found in normal human plasma appears to result exclusively from differences in the number of sialic acid residues attached to the protein moiety of the molecule.
Insights into β-ketoacyl-chain recognition for β-ketoacyl-ACP utilizing AHL synthases

Beta-ketoacyl-ACP utilizing enzymes in fatty acid, polyketide and acyl-homoserine lactone biosynthetic pathways are important targets for developing antimicrobial, anticancer and antiparasitic compounds. Published reports on successful isolation of beta-ketoacyl-ACPs in a laboratory remain scarce to date and thus most beta-ketoacyl-ACP utilizing enzymes are routinely characterized using small molecule substrates in lieu of the bonafide 3-oxoacyl-ACPs. We report the systematic investigation into the electronic, geometric and spatial aspects of beta-ketoacyl-chain recognition to develop 3-oxoacyl-ACP substrate mimics for two beta-ketoacyl-ACP utilizing quorum signal synthases.
Company Type 4: Athletes

Athletes include people who run companies to satisfy their needs to compete against others and/or themselves, and excel. There are three major subtypes. Bar raisers are the typical athletes who want to constantly improve their performance compared to some metrics. Adventurers use their firms to try new and risky things in life, and derive great pleasure in taking great risks and doing things few people or firms do. Self-validators run firms to demonstrate their skills and abilities in certain dimensions. This type is characterized by its fierce competitive nature and risk taking attitudes. Practitioners do not take money seriously and simply use it as a metric to interpret outcomes.
MedGen: NCBI's Portal to Information on Medical Conditions with a Genetic Component.

MedGen serves as a portal to information on genetic aspects of human health and disease. Created and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), it aggregates clinically...
The COVID-19 Drug and Gene Set Library.

Summary In a short period, many research publications that report sets of experimentally validated drugs as potential COVID-19 therapies have emerged. To organize this accumulating knowledge, we developed the COVID-19 Drug and Gene Set Library ( https://amp.pharm.mssm.edu/covid19/ ), a collection of drug and gene sets related to COVID-19 research from multiple sources. The platform enables users to view, download, analyze, visualize, and contribute drug and gene sets related to COVID-19 research. To evaluate the content of the library, we compared the results from six in vitro drug screens for COVID-19 repurposing candidates. Surprisingly, we observe low overlap across screens while highlighting overlapping candidates that should receive more attention as potential therapeutics for COVID-19. Overall, the COVID-19 Drug and Gene Set Library can be used to identify community consensus, make researchers and clinicians aware of new potential therapies, enable machine-learning applications, and facilitate the research community to work together toward a cure.
Design-Based Inference for Spatial Experiments with Interference

We consider design-based causal inference in settings where randomized treatments have effects that bleed out into space in complex ways that overlap and in violation of the standard "no interference" assumption for many causal inference methods. We define a spatial "average marginalized response," which characterizes how, in expectation, units of observation that are a specified distance from an intervention point are affected by treatments at that point, averaging over effects emanating from other intervention points. We establish conditions for non-parametric identification, asymptotic distributions of estimators, and recovery of structural effects. We propose methods for both sample-theoretic and permutation-based inference. We provide illustrations using randomized field experiments on forest conservation and health.
Virtuous globalization, the three-zeros policy, and China’s choice

Economic globalization is generally desirable and beneficial to a great extent, but not necessarily virtuous. Modern history has proven time and again that economic globalization may go astray if r...
Questions for Conversational Preaching

This essay considers the role of questions within sermons, in dialogue, with efforts to develop an ethos of conversational preaching. Questions reveal much about who preachers are, how they relate ...
The Phenomenology of Moral Normativity

ABSTRACTThis symposium collects together five essays reflecting on The Phenomenology of Moral Normativity by William H. Smith. This work is an original monograph bridging the phenomenological tradition and contemporary moral theory in an attempt to articulate a phenomenological theory of moral normativity. The first piece in the symposium, by Smith, offers a precis of the book’s argumentative structure, including its central theses, methodological commitments, and pluralistic orientation. The next three pieces provide critical assessments of the book’s major narrative turns: Therese Cory writes in defense of moral realism and the third-person perspective, in response to Smith’s use of Korsgaard in the opening chapters of his book; Apple Igrek wonders whether the post-modern radicality of Levinas’s ethics have been compromised by Smith’s appropriation of Levinas; and Matthew Rellihan contends that Smith’s purported phenomenological theory of morality is inconsistent with a rigorous application of the pheno...
The macroeconomics of delayed exchange-rate unification : theory and evidence from Tanzania

Parallel exchange-rate markets have often been dismissed by authorities as a nuisance or as the domain of a small group of economic saboteurs. Using Tanzania as a case study, the authors argue instead that these markets played a central macroeconomic role in the 1970s and 1980s. They provide a rigorous macroeconomic analysis of the parallel foreign-exchange market and its fiscal implications. First, they investigate the evolution of that market in Tanzania from the mid-1960s to 1990. That period stretched from the adoption of exchange controls to macroeconomic collapse and then to subsequent reforms in the mid- to late 1980s. A reduced -form econometric equation (of a Dornbusch stock-flow model type) indicates that both trade and financial portfolio factors were important in determining the parallel premium, with trade determinants the parallel premium, with trade determinants dominating in the long run, as theory suggests. Then they investigate the fiscal impact of the parallel exchange-rate premium, an issue emphasized in the literature on exchange-rate unification. They construct a counterfactual simulation of fiscal and balance-of-payments flows under alternative assumptions about the indexing of those flows to the parallel and official exchange rate. They find that a more aggressive move toward exchange-rate unification would have already delivered a fiscal bonus by the mid-1980s. Accordingly, unification of the exchange rate would have reduced monetary growth and inflationary pressures. So, contrary to conventional advice often given in Africa and elsewhere, the case of Tanzania suggests that from a fiscal viewpoint there was no economic rationale for gradualism in exchange-rate unification and delay of a move toward convertibility.
Male beetles attracted by females mounting

Intrasexual mounting is performed by males and females of many taxa1, and female–female mounting occurs in insects, lizards, birds and mammals1,2. Although the adoption by females of other male-like characters, such as mimicry of male colour patterns3,4,5, is known to be advantageous, the benefits of female–female mounting have remained mysterious. Here we describe a pattern of female–female mounting in the beetle Diaprepes abbreviatus (Curculionidae) and demonstrate that it conveys a possible evolutionary advantage by providing a greater opportunity for the females to mate with larger males. This explanation may also apply to female intrasexual mounting in several other insect species.
The Argentine Banking Crisis of 1980

This paper discusses the crisis of the Argentine financial system that began in 1980, which led to bank failures and significant changes in the system. The analysis--which emphasizes the role of the regulatory framework--suggests that elements exogenous to the financial system, such as changes in the exchange rate regime, had a major role in determining the extent of the crisis. While Central Bank measures succeeded in containing the crisis, some of them (e.g., interest rate controls) contributed to the shrinking of the real size of the financial system and caused a sizable wealth redistribution.
Studies on the identification and origin of ethanol in mammalian tissues.

Abstract Ethanol has been identified as a normal trace constituent of mammalian tissue by criteria which include the reduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in the presence of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase and a tissue sublimate containing volatile substituents of the tissue; chromatographic identification of ethyl dinitrobenzoate after reaction of the sublimate with 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl chloride; and gas-liquid chromatography of benzoate derivatives prepared from tissue sublimates. Ethanol-14C is formed from sodium pyruvate-2-14C during incubation with liver slices under anaerobic conditions. Its formation is linear for the first hour and is dependent on the presence of low concentrations of pyruvate. The ability of pyruvate dehydrogenase isolated from pig heart to catalyze the formation of ethanol from pyruvate when coupled to an alcohol dehydrogenase-reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide system has been investigated. Formation of ethanol requires, in addition to pyruvate dehydrogenase, pyruvate, NADH, thiamine pyrosphosphate, and Mg++. It is inhibited by semicarbazide and sodium bisulfite. The results support the view that the pyruvate dehydrogenase system produces free acetaldehyde which can be reduced to ethanol in the mammal.
Intrinsically bent DNA flanks both sides of an RNA polymerase I transcription start site. Both regions display novel electrophoretic mobility.

Abstract We have identified two intrinsically bent regions of DNA which flank the transcription start site of the rRNA gene from Physarum polycephalum. DNA fragments from both regions were analyzed by circular permutation polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assay and computer modeling. Both types of analysis indicate that one fragment contains a relatively simple bend centered about 160 base pairs (bp) upstream of the transcription start site while the other fragment contains multiple bends, the most prominent of which is centered about 150 bp downstream of the start site. According to both gel mobilities and computer modeling we estimate that the net bending in each is about 45 degrees. These fragments were studied in detail by varying parameters of electrophoresis that are known to affect bending. Previous work indicates that anomalous mobility should decrease when temperature or ethidium bromide concentration is increased, whereas anomalous mobility should increase when polyacrylamide gel percentage is increased. The anomalous mobility of both fragments decreases as temperature is raised from 4 to 65 degrees C, although the bent structure centered at -160 bp is more temperature labile than the bend at +150 bp. Strikingly different behavior was observed for the two fragments as the polyacrylamide concentrations was varied. As polyacrylamide concentrations are increased from 6 to 10%, the anomalous mobility of the bend centered at -160 bp increases while that of the bend centered at +150 bp decreases. The bend centered at +150 bp is "straightened" at all ethidium concentrations tested. In sharp contrast and unexpectedly, the anomalous migration of the bend centered at -160 bp increases dramatically in 0.1 micrograms/ml ethidium bromide. Many of the mobility differences we observe suggest that the two regions studied represent structurally distinct forms of bent DNA. The location of these strongly bent regions on either side of a RNA polymerase I transcription start site suggests important roles for such structures in chromatin structure and transcription initiation.
Iron intake, hemoglobin, and physical growth during the first two years of life.

The variety of infant diets given subjects in this group during the first year all provide iron in amounts of 0.5 mg/kg/day or more except in one of the 59 children. This level of dietary iron intake was adequate to meet iron requirements for hemoglobin synthesis and to prevent development of hematologic or clinical evidence of iron deficiency. Food intake adequate to support rapid growth rates contains enough iron to support the needed relative acceleration of hemoglobin synthesis. Lower intakes of iron are associated with higher percentage utilization in hemoglobin synthesis and higher intakes result in lower utilization. Supplementation of diets with iron in several forms occurred in 25% of the group without hematologic evidence of response as compared with the group dependent on dietary iron alone.
Red clover coumarate 3′-hydroxylase (CYP98A44) is capable of hydroxylating p-coumaroyl-shikimate but not p-coumaroyl-malate: implications for the biosynthesis of phaselic acid

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) leaves accumulate several μmol of phaselic acid [2-O-caffeoyl-l-malate] per gram fresh weight. Post-harvest oxidation of such o-diphenols to o-quinones by endogenous polyphenol oxidases (PPO) prevents breakdown of forage protein during storage. Forages like alfalfa (Medicago sativa) lack both foliar PPO activity and o-diphenols. Consequently, breakdown of their protein upon harvest and storage results in economic losses and release of excess nitrogen into the environment. Understanding how red clover synthesizes o-diphenols such as phaselic acid will help in the development of forages utilizing this natural system of protein protection. We have proposed biosynthetic pathways in red clover for phaselic acid that involve a specific hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:malate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase. It is unclear whether the transfer reaction to malate to form phaselic acid involves caffeic acid or p-coumaric acid and subsequent hydroxylation of the resulting p-coumaroyl-malate. The latter would require a coumarate 3′-hydroxylase (C3′H) capable of hydroxylating p-coumaroyl-malate, an activity not previously described. Here, a cytochrome P450 C3′H (CYP98A44) was identified and its gene cloned from red clover. CYP98A44 shares 96 and 79% amino acid identity with Medicago truncatula and Arabidopsis thaliana C3′H proteins that are capable of hydroxylating p-coumaroyl-shikimate and have been implicated in monolignol biosynthesis. CYP98A44 mRNA is expressed in stems and flowers and to a lesser extent in leaves. Immune serum raised against CYP98A44 recognizes a membrane-associated protein in red clover stems and leaves and cross-reacts with C3′H proteins from other species. CYP98A44 expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is capable of hydroxylating p-coumaroyl-shikimate, but not p-coumaroyl-malate. This finding indicates that in red clover, phaselic acid is likely formed by transfer of a caffeoyl moiety to malic acid, although the existence of a second C3′H capable of hydroxylating p-coumaroyl-malate cannot be definitively ruled out.
“Who Are You Trying To Be?”: Identity Gaps Within Intraracial Encounters

This study employs the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) to explain and describe the interpenetration of personal, enacted, and relational frames of identity within the context of interracial communication encounters. Specific examples, derived from focus group discussions, of personal-relational and personal-enacted-relational identity gaps experienced by Blacks and Hispanics are presented. The article concludes with a discussion of the conditions under which satisfying communication is achievable in difficult situations requiring the negotiation of ethnicity.
Prevention and Treatment of Intestinal Failure-Associated Liver Disease in Children

Intestinal failure-associated liver disease (IFALD), a serious complication occurring in infants, children, and adults exposed to long-term parenteral nutrition (PN), causes a wide-spectrum of disease, ranging from cholestasis and steatosis to fibrosis and eventually cirrhosis. Known host risk factors for IFALD include low birth weight, prematurity, short bowel syndrome, and recurrent sepsis. The literature suggests that components of PN may also play a part of the multifactorial pathophysiology. Because some intravenous lipid emulsions (ILEs) may contribute to inflammation and interfere with bile excretion, treatment with ILE minimization and/or ILEs composed primarily of omega-3 fatty acids can be helpful, but requires careful monitoring for growth failure and essential fatty acid deficiency (EFAD). Data from randomized controlled trials are awaited to support widespread use of these approaches. Other IFALD treatments include cycling PN, ursodeoxycholic acid, sepsis prevention, photoprotection, and polyvinylchloride-free tubing. Management and prevention of IFALD remains a clinical challenge.
Mindreading: Judgments About Intentionality and Motives in Dispositional Inference

Judgments about the intentionality of other people's behavior are central to social perception. Perceivers typically explain a target person's intentional behavior in terms of the target's motives. In turn, inferences about motive often inform trait inferences about the target. In comparison to past theories, this multiple inference model portrays perceivers as interested in the specific beliefs and motives of others, rather than viewing perceivers as focusing on abstract causal reasoning. The model is applied to the literatures on attitude, morality, and ability attribution. In contrast to intentional behavior, perceivers explain a target person's involuntary, unintentional behavior by using a simpler process of global causal attribution.
Left ventricular distensibility and passive elastic stiffness in atrial septal defect

Diminished left ventricular distensibility has been postulated as a cause of left ventricular failure in atrial septal defect. To evaluate this hypothesis the indexes of left ventricular compliance and stiffness were estimated in 15 patients with atrial septal defect and the results compared with those in 10 normal subjects. Age, peak left ventricular systolic pressure, end-diastolic pressure, ejection fraction and cardiac index did not differ significantly between groups. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume for the atrial septal defect group was significantly less than that for the control group (mean +/- SD, 61 +/- 9 ml/m2 versus 73 +/- 13, p less than 0.05) in keeping with previous studies. The slope of the log pressure-volume relation was significantly greater in the group with atrial septal defect than in the normal group (0.056 +/- 0.010 versus 0.044 +/- 0.008, p less than 0.01), consistent with increased chamber stiffness. For a group of six patients with atrial septal defect and elevated left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, normalized compliance was significantly less than that in the control group (0.017 +/- 0.001 versus 0.036 +/- 0.007, p less than 0.02). The slope k of the elastic stiffness-stress relation for the total group with atrial septal defect was significantly greater than that of the normal group (21.0 +/- 2.3 versus 18.1 +/- 2.3, p less than 0.01). An index of muscle fiber stretch (dV/VdP x end-diastolic stress x 100) was significantly less in the atrial septal defect group than in the control group (74 +/- 24 versus 106 +/- 22, p less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Minireview: The Roles of Small RNA Pathways in Reproductive Medicine

The discovery of small noncoding RNA, including P-element-induced wimpy testis-interacting RNA, small interfering RNA, and microRNA, has energized research in reproductive medicine. In the two decades since the identification of small RNA, first in Caenorhabditis elegans and then in other animals, scientists in many disciplines have made significant progress in elucidating their biology. A powerful battery of tools, including knockout mice and small RNA mimics and antagonists, has facilitated investigation into the functional roles and therapeutic potential of these small RNA pathways. Current data indicate that small RNA play significant roles in normal development and physiology and pathological conditions of the reproductive tracts of females and males. Biologically plausible mRNA targets for these microRNA are aggressively being discovered. The next phase of research will focus on elucidating the clinical utility of small RNA-selective agonists and antagonists.
African-American Mysteries

Abstract African Americans who have spent formative years in the United States have a viewpoint grounded in a specific culture. This paper defines “African American mystery” as crime or detective fiction written by African Americans. African American mystery novels have grown in number and diversity over time. As the audience has grown, publishers and reviewers have given more attention to the genre. While the stories are not necessarily about race, they are richly imbued with African American culture and themes. An overview of review sources, an annotated bibliography of four essential background sources, a classified list of African American mystery novels, and a list of award-winning African American mysteries are included.
Correlation between lipid partition coefficients and surface permeation in Schistosoma japonicum

Comparison of transintegumental membrane permeability and partition coefficients of selected nonelectrolytes was attempted to correlate the parameters of lipid solubility, hydrophilicity, and membrane permeation in male and female schistosomes (parasites of the portal venous tributaries of man). Surface permation (measured by the triple isotope technique) and octanol/water partition coefficients were determined for 17 compounds (acetamide, aminopyrine, antipyrine, benzyl alcohol, butanol, caffeine, ethanol, ethylene glycol, glycerol, inosine, mannitol, methanol, polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol, sucrose, thiourea, and urea).
BOUNDARIES OF NETWORK TIES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: HOW LARGE IS TOO LARGE?

External environments can require entrepreneurs to adjust and maintain network ties to cope with environmental changes and turbulence. Although network ties can help entrepreneurs gain resources and support, researchers are becoming aware of some negative aspects of networks, such as information redundancy. We used relative weight analysis and identified that environmental munificence and uncertainty influence the size of one's network. In addition, we surveyed 44 entrepreneurial founders of firms in the bio-technology industry regarding their network composition, including number of ties and firm performance. We found that environmental factors led to increases in both business and social network size. In addition, we identified an optimal number of network ties prior to tie-additions becoming negatively related to firm performance.
Increased Apoptosis in Metastatic Human Colonic Adenocarcinomas

Recent work suggests that apoptosis is disrupted during the progression of many solid tumors. Isogenic metastatic colon adenocarcinoma cells displayed significantly higher levels of staurosporine-induced apoptosis compared to their nonmetastatic counterparts in vitro. In addition, analysis of 15 matched primary tumors and liver metastases demonstrated that the levels of apoptosis were significantly higher in the metastases, and this increased cell death was associated with significantly lower levels of Bcl-2 protein expression. Our data demonstrate that the molecular events associated with acquisition of the metastatic phenotype sensitize colon cancer cells to some pro-apoptotic stimuli.
Assessing the relative contribution of individual risk factors on surgical outcome for gastric bypass surgery: a baseline probability analysis.

Background. Multiple regression is the best technique for the simultaneous analysis of the contributions of multiple risk factors to a surgical outcome. A probability analysis is used to determine the relative contribution of individual factors to the overall outcome being assessed. We used these techniques to determine which of the potential risk factors had the greatest impact on adverse outcomes following gastric bypass surgery. Methods. Records from 1067 consecutive patients undergoing Roux-Y gastric bypass at the UCLA Medical Center from December 1993 until June 2000 were reviewed. Major complications were used as the dependent variable in a multivariate logistic regression analysis, and 10 risk factors served as the independent variables. Based on the analysis, an average (i.e., baseline) patient was defined. Variations in the preoperative risk factors were then analyzed individually and in various combinations and their effect on the predicted probability for complication development was assessed. Results. The overall major complication rate in this series was 5.8%. The average patient was defined as a 334-pound woman who was 42.3 years of age. For this patient, the predicted complication rate by probability analysis was 3.9%. The greatest increase in the anticipated complication rate was attributable to revisional procedures that increased the rate to 6.5%. Many patients have a combination of risk factors; to this end, a 62-year-old, male patient with a 2SD increase in weight (i.e., 464 pounds) who was undergoing a revision operation and had a history of smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and sleep apnea had a predicted complication rate of 33.7%. Conclusion. Probability analysis is a useful tool for determining the relative contribution of individual and combinations of risk factors for predicting the outcomes for surgical procedures. The four most influential factors for predicting a complication after gastric bypass surgery were; (1) male gender, (2) revisional surgery, (3) increasing age, and (4) increasing weight. These factors increased the predicted complication rate by 56, 67, 28 and 28%, respectively.
High-frequency diffraction corrections to backscattering cross sections from a rough three-dimensional surface

Diffraction corrections to scalar wave fields at perfectly free and rigid rough surfaces were derived by two iterations of the corresponding integral equations. These diffraction corrections to the pressure or normal velocity (which, in the geometrical optics limit, are doubled at perfectly rigid and free surfaces, respectively) were obtained with an accuracy of approximately 1k(2), where k is the wave number of incidence radiation. Based on these corrections to the surface fields, the backscattering cross sections at normal incidence from the statistically rough Gaussian surfaces were derived. It was found that for the gentle roughness, diffraction results in effective "smoothing" of roughness for rigid and free surfaces and increasing of the backscattering cross sections, but for a rigid surface with steep roughness, the "fictitious" surface can be more rough than the real one, and the diffraction corrections become negative.
Reduction of Chemical Reaction Mechanism for Halide-Assisted Silicon Carbide Epitaxial Film Deposition

Simulation of gas-phase and surface chemistry is an essential part in numerical study of chemical vapor deposition for film growth. When integrated with a model for transport processes such as gas flow, heat transfer, and mass transfer, it allows the prediction of gas-phase composition, film deposition rate, and film uniformity. For halide-assisted chemical vapor deposition of silicon carbide film growth, three-dimensional simulation of the deposition process can be time-consuming due to the large number of chemical reactions involved. In this study, a simplified chemical reaction mechanism was developed for silicon carbide growth with silicon tetrachloride and propane as precursors. After model validation, the reduced reaction steps were implemented into a three-dimensional simulation of halide-assisted chemical vapor deposition to predict the distributions of gas velocity, temperature, concentration of the intermediate reactants, and film deposition rate. Specifically, the effects of deposition pressure...
Hepatotoxicity with Telithromycin; Sirolimus-Associated Pneumonitis; Erythema Nodosum Associated with Vaginal Ring Contraceptive; Respiratory Failure with a Single Dose of Quetiapine; Pantoprazole-Induced Thrombocytopenia in Two Patients; Pharmacist Counseling CAN Prevent Adverse Drug Events; Symposium on Anaphylaxis:

TELITHROMYCIN A 46-year-old man was given telithromycin (Ketek) for an ear and sinus infection. By the second day of therapy, the gentleman developed malaise and dark urine. The next day, he sought medical attention as he was slightly jaundiced and complained of fatigue, anorexia, and mild pruritus. He was taking no other medications, prescription or OTC, and had no significant medical history. He was not a drug abuser and did not use alcohol. Laboratory analysis revealed the following increased liver function tests (LFTs): alanine aminotransferase (ALT) 948 units/L (normal, 0 to 40 units/L); aspartate aminotransferase 200 units/L (0 to 40 units/L); alkaline phosphatase 291 units/L (0 to 40 units/L); total bilirubin 3.8 mg/dL (0.3 to 1 mg/dL). Serologic tests for the various forms of hepatitis, mononucleosis, and autoimmune diseases were all negative. Because of these increased LFTs, the telithromycin was stopped after 3 days of therapy. The patient began to feel better, and within 2 weeks the transaminase levels fell to half of their peak levels. The ALT was normal by week-8.
Benzene emission comparisons by gas chromatography of leaded versus unleaded and “gasohol” versus straight-hydrocarbon fuel vapors

It has been theorized that the removal of lead in fuels may result in an increase of fuel volatility. In addition, alcohols added to fuels (“gasohols”) increase volatility. Consequently, benzene emissions in unleaded and gasohol vapors may be increasing. Flame ionization detection gas chromatography was used to analyze benzene concentrations in fuel vapors. Results indicated that leaded fuels emitted more benzene than unleaded fuels. Though benzene concentrations varied for unleaded vapors, leaded gasohol fuels had higher benzene levels than their straight-hydrocarbon counterparts. These higher benzene emission levels may be an indication that volatility increases in leaded and some gasohol brands.
Conquering the complexity of p53

New evidence from a Trp53 'knock-in' mouse model suggests that p53-dependent cell cycle checkpoint control accompanied by maintenance of genome stability is important for keeping tumor growth in check.
Frying stability of high-oleate and regular soybean oil blends

The objective of this work was to study the frying stability of soybean oil (SBO) with reduced linoleate (18∶2) and linolenate (18∶3) and elevated oleate (18∶1) contents. High-oleate SBO [HO SBO, 79% oleic acid (OA)] and a control (conventional SBO, 21.5% OA) were tested as is, as well as blended in different ratios to make three blended oils containing 36.9, 50.7, and 64.7% OA, abbreviated as 37%OA, 51%OA, and 65%OA, respectively. In addition, a low-linolenate (LL) SBO containing 1.4% 18∶3 and 25.3% 18∶1 was tested. Bread cubes (8.19 cm3) were fried in each of 18 oils (6 treatments×3 replicates). We hypothesized that stability indicators would be indirectly related to the total 18∶2 plus 18∶3 percentages and/or the calculated oxidizability. In general, the results were fairly predictable based on total 18∶2 and 18∶3 concentrations. The overall frying stability of the six oil treatments, from the best to the poorest, was: 79%OA, 65%OA, 51%OA, LL≥37%OA, and the control, with respective total compositions for 18∶2 plus 18∶3 of 10.3, 23.6, 36.3, 59.6, 48.9, and 62.8%. The greatly reduced concentration of 18∶3 in the LL SBO made it more stable than the 37%OA, even though the combined composition of 18∶2 and 18∶3 of LL was greater than that of the 37%OA. Blending conventional SBO with HO SBO had a profound effect on the oxidative stability index and color of the blended oils, but the values were not linearly predictable by the percentage of control in the blended oil. Other stability indices, including calculated oxidizability, calculated iodine value, conjugated dienoic acid value, and viscosity, changed in linear response to an increased proportion of the control in the blends.
Individual differences on the Word Association Implications Test: incidental learning of schemata

Abstract To operationalize one aspect of psychological-mindedness, the Word Association Implications Test (WAIT) measures people's ability ‘to read between the lines’ of target persons' word associations. This study sought (a) to replicate earlier research showing that performance on the WAIT is related to the incidental learning of stimulus-response (clue) schemata while judging word association protocols; and (b) to compare subjects at the various WAIT performance levels with subjects for whom the schemata task measured intentional learning (a normative comparison group). Two-hundred and ninety-three undergraduates took the WAIT and schematic knowledge task; 33 others took the latter after having WAIT judgments made for them. Results replicated the earlier relation between the two tasks and showed that poor WAIT judges were inferior to the norm group whereas good WAIT judges exceeded the norm group's schematic knowledge. When added to past research on training effects, the results suggest that subjects are more successful in reading between the lines if they discover the schemata for themselves: it is a process of the learner more than of the teacher.
The Northwestern Twin Chorionicity Study: I. Discordant inflammatory findings that are related to chorionicity in presenting versus nonpresenting twins.

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between chorionicity and discordant chorioamnionitis and funisitis in twin gestations. Study Design: This was a retrospective analysis of 1156 twin placentas with a standardized diagnosis of chorionicity, chorioamnionitis, and funisitis for comparison between presenting and nonpresenting twins with dichorionic-separate, dichorionic-fused, and monochorionic placentas. Results: Frequencies of chorioamnionitis in the nonpresenting twin were significantly lower in dichorionic placentas (odds ratio, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.3, 0.6, in dichorionic-separate placentas; odds ratio, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3, 0.8, in dichorionic-fused placentas) compared with monochorionic placentas. The frequency of advanced inflammation (ie, chorioamnionitis with funisitis) was significantly lower in the nonpresenting twin than in the presenting twin, but only in dichorionic-separate placentas (odds ratio, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1, 0.4). Conclusion: Dichorionic placentas confer significant protection against the spread of chorioamnionitis from the presenting to the nonpresenting gestational sac. In the more advanced process that involves the umbilical cord, only the subset of separate dichorionic placentas confers this protective effect against the spread of inflammation. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002;186:1041-5.)
The gulf between correctness and understanding

The traditional preoccupation with `correctness' and `clarity' in technical writing frequently goes hand in hand with a neglect of the reader's point of view which results in publications of such poor quality that instead of admiring them one should consider them unacceptable. Robert Pirsig's `Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' includes an exploration of this problem and a reexamination of the relationship between `objectivity' and quality.
Intelligible character and the reciprocity thesis 1

This paper surveys some themes of Allison's Kant's Theory of Freedom, and then raises a problem for his presentation of Kant's Reciprocity Thesis. Allison argues that a transcendentally free agent is bound to the moral law as follows. Rational agents fall under a justification requirement, and when transcendental freedom is added to the concept of rational agency, the justification requirement extends to the choice of fundamental maxims. Since facts about one's nature cannot justify the adoption of fundamental maxims, all that remains are considerations that anyone can recognize as valid. Thus a transcendentally free agent must conform to unconditional laws. The problem is that it is unclear how a transcendentally free agent can make a reasoned choice of fundamental principles; but if it can, why can't it choose the Principle of Happiness? I suggest that a stronger version of this argument results from adopting a richer notion of a transcendentally free agent as an autonomous sovereign will with an intere...
Inner-Ciity Children's Graphics Call for Social Justice

In a graduate literacy course, the author as the teacher educator conceptualized “Visual Literacy” into the course. The in-service and pre-service teachers from the inner-city schools in Georgia and Virginia invited the struggling writers to create graphic novels by envisioning life activities, using drawings, and invented spellings as well as conventional words to tell their family stories. This paradigm shift from print-based curriculum to multimodal transmediation opened an alternate pathway to literacy, and the children became enthusiastically engaged. Their graphic novels vivified their life experiences, alleviated their pent-up emotions, and made their struggles visible and their inner voices audible. “Visual Literacy” enabled them to transcend the hardships that confronted them and ushered them into academic success. Keywords: envision, multimode, transmediation, visual literacy, graphic novel, critical literacy
Must Surprise Snowstorms be a Surprise

Today, even with state-of-the-art observational, data assimilation, and modeling systems run routinely on supercomputers, there are often surprises in the prediction of snowstorms, especially the “big ones,” affecting coastal regions of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. Little did the author know that lessons from Fred Sanders’ synoptic meteorology class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1967) would later (late 1980s) inspire him to pursue practical issues of predictability in the context of the development of ensemble prediction systems, strategies, and applications for providing information on the inevitable case-dependent uncertainties in forecasts. This paper is a brief qualitative and somewhat colloquial overview, based upon this author’s personal involvement and experiences, intended to highlight some basic aspects of the source and nature of uncertainties in forecasts and to illustrate the sort of value added information ensembles can provide in dealing with uncertainties in predictions of East Coast snowstorms.