cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessing and Improving Learning in Business Schools: Direct and Indirect Measures of Learning

Institutions of higher education are scrambling to make program changes to improve the quality of learning and assessment of learning in the face of pressure from multiple constituencies. Business educators are incorporating various active learning techniques to enhance learning and application of skills and knowledge to real-world situations. Educators are also experimenting with new assessment techniques to meet assurance of learning standards. The authors compared perceptions of learning (indirect) to actual learning (direct) after completion of a management project with a real-world organization. The results support the use of management projects as a pedagogical tool for enhancing learning in business curricula and suggest actual learning may exceed perceptions of learning.
Public Reception, Politics, and Propaganda in Torrejón's loa to La púrpura de la rosa, the First New World Opera

When Tomas de Torrejon y Velasco composed and staged a revised version of Calderon’s first opera La purpura de la rosa (Lima, 1701), he almost certainly did so for political reasons. Indeed, it can be said that this opera has clear propagandist implications because the entire loa, or overture, was composed to glorify the new French monarchy in Spain and the New World, and to persuade Hispanic audiences to welcome their new Bourbon King, Felipe V. By recontextualizing the loa within Torrejon’s time and analyzing the various ideological pressures that inform its composition, one can see how this innovative musical and dramatic experiment renders a poignant sense of the economics and politics of 1701 Lima. At the same time it provides an intimate perspective on how propaganda was used as an effective device of royal authority. (CMG)
Prostaglandin E2 Promotes the Survival of Bone Marrow-Derived Dendritic Cells

Since dendritic cells (DC) participate in both innate and adaptive immunity, their survival and expansion is tightly controlled. Little is known about the mechanisms of DC apoptosis. PGE2, an arachidonic acid metabolite, plays an essential role in DC migration. We propose a novel function for PGE2 as a DC survival factor. Our studies demonstrate that PGE2 protects DC in vitro against apoptosis induced by withdrawal of growth factors or ceramide. DC matured in conditions that inhibit endogenous PGE2 release are highly susceptible to apoptosis and exogenous PGE2 re-establishes the more resistant phenotype. The antiapoptotic effect is mediated through EP-2/EP-4 receptors and involves the PI3K → Akt pathway. PGE2 leads to increased phosphorylation of Akt, protection against mitochondrial membrane compromise, and decreased caspase 3 activity. Macroarray data indicate that PGE2 leads to the down-regulation of a number of proapoptotic molecules, i.e., BAD, several caspases, and granzyme B. In vivo, higher numbers of immature and Ag-loaded CFSE-labeled DC are present in the draining lymph nodes of mice inoculated with PGE2 receptor agonists, compared with animals treated with ibuprofen or controls injected with PBS. This suggests that PGE2 acts as an endogenous antiapoptotic factor for DC and raises the possibility of using PGE2 agonists to increase the survival of Ag-loaded DC following in vivo administration.
Surgical outcome in occipital lobe epilepsy: Implications for pathophysiology

Medically refractory occipital lobe epilepsies are increasingly treated with surgery, but outcome and its relationship to etiology, pathological substrate, occipital lobe location, surgical approach, and electroclinical features have not been systematically investigated in a substantial group of patients. Thirty-five patients who underwent surgery for intractable occipital lobe seizures were retrospectively evaluated. Outcome and occipital lobe location were analyzed with respect to surgical procedure, pathology, clinical seizure characteristics, seizure onset and termination locations, and localization of interictal spikes. Most patients had developmental abnormalities (14) or tumors (13, all gliomas). Developmental abnormalities consisted of focal cortical dysplasia (5), heterotopia (2), hamartoma (3), cortical duplication (1), polymicrogyria (1), Sturge-Weber syndrome (1), and tuberous sclerosis (1). There was 1 patient with a vascular abnormality, 1 with chronic inflammatory changes, 4 with gliosis, 1 with cerebral ossification, and 1 with normal pathology. Developmental abnormalities had significantly worse outcome (45% excellent/good) than tumors (85% excellent/good). In the developmental group, low-grade focal cortical dysplasias had better outcome than heterotopia and hamartoma regardless of type of surgical procedure. Pathological groups did not significantly differ with respect to location within the occipital lobe (overall medial [50%] or lateral [38%]); clinical seizure characteristics referable to specific lobe (occipital [14%], temporal [34%], frontal [23%], more than one type [29%]); electroencephalographic localization (to occipital [17%], temporal [27%], or other/multifocal locations [56%]); or intracranial ictal onset or termination location. Electroclinical variables were also unrelated to the occipital lobe location of abnormality. Surgical outcome was not predicted by surgical approach (lesion excision with margins or lobectomy). The main pathological substrates of uncontrolled occipital lobe epilepsy are gliomas and developmental abnormalities. Whereas resection of occipital lobe tumors associated with chronic epilepsy produces nearly uniform seizure control, outcome after resection of occipital lobe developmental abnormalities is less uniform.
A unified approach to robust, regression-based specification tests

This paper develops a general approach to robust, regression-based specification tests for (possibly) dynamic econometric models. A useful feature of the proposed tests is that, in addition to estimation under the null hypothesis, computation requires only a matrix linear least-squares regression and then an ordinary least-squares regression similar to those employed in popular nonrobust tests. For the leading cases of conditional mean and/or conditional variance tests, the proposed statistics are robust to departures from distributional assumptions that are not being tested, while maintaining asymptotic efficiency under ideal conditions. Moreover, the statistics can be computed using any √T-consistent estimator, resulting in significant simplifications in some otherwise difficult contexts. Among the examples covered are conditional mean tests for models estimated by weighted nonlinear least squares under misspecification of the conditional variance, tests of jointly parameterized conditional means and variances estimated by quasi-maximum likelihood under nonnormality, and some robust specification tests for a dynamic linear model estimated by two-stage least squares.
Photoperiodic Control of Body Weight and Energy Metabolism in Syrian Hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus): Role of Pineal Gland, Melatonin, Gonads, and Diet

The effects of photoperiod and the pineal hormone melatonin on the regulation of body weight and energy metabolism were examined in Syrian hamsters, Mesocricetus auratus. Short photoperiod-housed female and male hamsters showed increases in body weight gain, feed efficiency, carcass lipid, brown adipose tissue mass, and thermogenic capacity. These effects of short photoperiods were mimicked by afternoon melatonin injections to hamsters in long-day photoperiods and were exaggerated in hamsters fed high fat diets. To determine the role of the gonads in these effects, ovariectomized hamsters were treated similarly and found to exhibit changes in body weight and energy metabolism that were 80–90% of those in gonadally intact hamsters. The role of the pineal gland in short photoperiod-induced body weight gain was examined in shampinealectomized and pinealectomized hamsters. Short photoperiod-induced increases in body weight were seen in both pinealectomized and sham-pinealectomized hamsters. Thus, pinealectomy...
Effect of Nanostructure on the Thermal Oxidation of Atomized Iron

The effect of nanostructure on the thermal oxidation of atomized iron has been investigated. Above 500°C atomized iron is oxidized in the presence of air. However, when iron is compacted with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) this oxidation is shifted by more than 100°C. Iron is protected by the nanostructure environment A large number of compositions of atomic ratios of iron and MWCNT have been examined in this study to understand the effect in detail. The effect of nanostructure in the thermal oxidation of iron is interpreted as due to iron atom experiencing extensive overlap and confinement effect. causing spin transfer. Based on theoretical calculations reported in the literature this confinement effect of iron is suggested to produce a transformation from 3d64s2 to an effective configuration of 3d84s0 producing spintronics effect.
French Cuisine in the Classroom: Using Culture to Enhance Language Proficiency.

French cuisine offers a valuable resource for creating culture-based contexts for language use in the classroom. Situating a food in its historical and social context prior to tasting, following up the experience with a detailed discussion of student reactions, and comparing the situation to other aspects of French or American eating habitspermit learners to appreciate more fully the important sensory differences between cultures. This article presents numerous suggestions and ideas for exercises incorporating food-related activities in the French class.
TCAD-based statistical analysis and modeling of gate line-edge roughness effect on nanoscale MOS transistor performance and scaling

The effects of line edge roughness (LER) of nanometer scale gate pattern on the MOS transistor parameter fluctuations and their technology scaling are investigated using the simplified modeling and statistical analysis based on two-dimensional technology CAD (TCAD) tools. From the simple statistical analysis, it is shown that the gate patterns without appropriate LER may cause severe device parameter and performance fluctuations in highly scaled nanometer technologies, resulting in a negative average threshold voltages shift, a subthreshold slope degradation, an unrealistic effective channel length extraction and an exponential increase in off-state leakage current due to LER-induced inhomogeneous channel potential. The characteristics of the average off-state leakage current and the threshold voltage uncertainty as a function of technology scaling provide a useful guideline for advanced gate patterning process and demand much tighter control of LER less than 3-5 nm for a successful CMOS scaling into deep nanometer scale physical gate length regime below 50 nm.
The platysma myocutaneous flap: underused alternative for head and neck reconstruction.

Objectives The use, advantages, and disadvantages of the platysma flap were assessed. Study Design Retrospective review of the medical records of patients undergoing platysma flap reconstruction of the upper aerodigestive tract from 1987 to 2001. Methods Information regarding the tumor, surgical procedure, flap design, and outcome emphasizing complications and function was extracted. Associations between putative risk factors for flap failure and outcome were assessed using the χ2 test. Results Thirty-four patients underwent reconstruction with platysma flaps. Surgical defects included the oropharynx, oral cavity, and hypopharynx. Nine patients had had prior radiation therapy and all had some dissection of the ipsilateral neck. There were 5 postoperative fistulas (15%), flap desquamation was noted in 6 cases (18%), and 2 patients experienced loss of the distal skin closing the donor site. Complications were not associated with prior radiation. Hospital stay ranged from 5 to 21 days (mean, 10 d). There were no returns to the operating room or need for additional reconstruction. All but 1 patient resumed a normal diet within 3 months of surgery. There were no recurrences of cancer in the dissected neck regions. Conclusions The platysma flap is simple and versatile with properties similar to the radial forearm free flap. The rate of complications is similar to other published series, and problems encountered were manageable using conservative methods with excellent functional and cosmetic outcomes. These facts support the contention that the platysma myocutaneous flap can serve as a viable alternative to free tissue transfer and has advantages over pectoralis major pedicled flaps for reconstruction of many head and neck defects.
Thyroid hormone administration in vivo regulates the activity of hepatic glycogen phosphorylase phosphatase.

hort term (48 h) administration in vivo of either T4 or T3, but not the biologically inactive D-isomer of T3, was associated with a decrease in basal glycogen phosphorylase a activity and an increase in phosphorylase a phosphatase activity of rat hepatocytes. This influence of thyroid hormones on hepatic phosphorylase a and phosphorylase phosphatase activities was shown to be dose dependent. As little as 0.0025 mg T3/kg BW administered in vivo at 48, 24, and 3 h before liver excision increased the phosphatase activity by 20%. The administration of 0.25 mg T3/kg BW on the same schedule increased the phosphatase activity by nearly 100%.
Another look at web-enabled instrument monitoring and control

Web-enabled user interfaces for the control and monitoring of instruments and telescopes have a checkered history. However, the remarkable interactive speed and quality of Google Maps and Google Suggests have led us, like others, to take another look at implementing services over the Web. The so-called AJAX mechanism enables simple, lightweight, efficient, and responsive interfaces in nearly any modern Web browser. We discuss methods, security, and other implementation issues for sample interfaces that include telescope monitoring, instrument control, and weather station information.
Directional Color Filter Array interpolation based on multiscale color gradients

Single sensor digital cameras capture one color value for every pixel location. The remaining two color channel values need to be estimated to obtain a complete color image. This process is called demosaicing or Color Filter Array (CFA) interpolation. We propose a directional approach to the CFA interpolation problem that makes use of multiscale color gradients. The relationship between color gradients on different scales is used to generate signals in vertical and horizontal directions. We determine how much each direction should contribute to the green channel interpolation based on these signals. The proposed method is easy to implement since it is noniterative and threshold free. Experiments on test images show that it offers superior objective and subjective interpolation quality.
Biodegradation of triclosan by a wastewater microorganism

Triclosan, a synthetic antimicrobial agent, has been considered as an emerging environmental contaminant. Here we reported a triclosan-degrading wastewater bacterial isolate, Sphingopyxis strain KCY1, capable of dechlorinating triclosan with a stoichiometric release of chloride. The stain can degrade diphenyl ether but not 2,4,4'-tribromodiphenyl ether and 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether, despite all these three compounds are structurally similar to triclosan. While strain KCY1 was unable to grow on triclosan and catechol, it could grow with glucose, sodium succinate, sodium acetate, and phenol. When grown with complex nutrient medium containing a trace amount of triclosan (as low as 5 μg/L), the strain could retain its degradation ability toward triclosan. The maximum-specific triclosan degradation rate (q(m)) and the half-velocity constant (K(m)) are 0.13 mg-triclosan/mg-protein/day and 2.8 mg-triclosan/L, respectively. As triclosan degradation progressed, five metabolites were identified and these metabolites continue to transform into non-chlorinated end products, which was supported by a sharp drop in androgenic potential. The activity of catechol 2,3-dioxygenase in the cell extract was detected. No triclosan degradation was observed in the presence of 3-fluorocatechol, an inhibitor of meta-cleavage enzyme, suggesting that triclosan degradation proceed via meta-cleavage pathway. Based on all the observations, a degradation pathway for triclosan by strain KCY1 was proposed.
Chemisorptive electron emission and atomic force microscopy as probes of plastic deformation during fracture at a metal/glass interface

We examine the use of chemisorptive emission (electron emission accompanying the adsorption of a reactive gas on a metal surface) and atomic force microscopy as measures of plastic deformation during fracture along a metallic Mg/glass interface. Localized ductile deformation in the metallic phase enhances the fracture energy, exposes metallic Mg to the reactive O2 atmosphere, and produces intense emissions. The number of electrons emitted following fracture in low-pressure oxygen atmospheres is strongly correlated with the total energy expended during failure (peel energy). The presence of localized ductile deformation is verified by atomic force microscopy (AFM): voids are observed on surfaces yielding significant cmissions and enhanced fracture energies. These voids are not observed on samples yielding the lowest peel energies and emission intensities, i.e., where the contribution of deformation to the peel energy is negligible. Quantitative use of roughness data derived from the AFM images is, however, problematic. The potential for chemisorptive electron emission as a probe of deformation along interfaces involving Mg, Ti, Zr, and Al is promising.
Expression of angiogenic factors vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-8/CXCL8 is highly responsive to ambient glutamine availability: Role of nuclear factor-κB and activating protein-1

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-8/CXCL8 (IL-8) are prominent pro-angiogenic and pro-metastatic proteins that represent negative prognostic factors in many types of cancer. Hypoxia is thought to be the primary environmental cause of VEGF and IL-8 expression in solid tumors. We hypothesized that a lack of nutrients other than oxygen could stimulate the expression of these factors and previously demonstrated that expression of VEGF and IL-8 is responsive to amino acid deprivation. In the present study, we examined the effect of glutamine availability on the expression of these factors as well as the role of transcription factors NFkappaB and activating protein-1 (AP-1) in the response of TSE human breast carcinoma cells to glutamine deprivation. VEGF and IL-8 secretion and mRNA levels were dramatically induced by glutamine deprivation. mRNA stabilization contributed to this response. Glutamine deprivation increased NFkappaB (p65/p50) and AP-1 (Fra-1/c-Jun+JunD) DNA-binding activities. Blocking NFkappaB and AP-1 activation with curcumin as well as expression of dominant inhibitors, inhibitor of nuclear factor-kappaB (IkappaB) super repressor (IkappaBM), and a mutant form of c-Fos (A-Fos) demonstrated that the activation of NFkappaB and AP-1 transcription factors was necessary for the induction of IL-8 expression but dispensable for the induction of VEGF expression. A macro-array containing 111 NFkappaB target genes identified a total of 17 that were up-regulated 2-fold or more in response to glutamine deprivation. These included growth regulated oncogene alpha (GROalpha/GRO1/CXCL1), another neutrophil chemoattractant implicated in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis.
Extreme hypoxemic tolerance and blood oxygen depletion in diving elephant seals

Species that maintain aerobic metabolism when the oxygen (O2) supply is limited represent ideal models to examine the mechanisms underlying tolerance to hypoxia. The repetitive, long dives of north...
Segmental vascular resistance during pulsatile and steady perfusion in 3- to 5-wk-old rabbit lungs

To determine the mechanisms by which pulsatile perfusion reduces vascular resistance in isolated lungs, we compared the effects of pulsatile versus steady perfusion on total and segmental vascular resistance in isolated lungs of 3- to 5-wk-old rabbits. Lungs were perfused alternately with steady and pulsatile flow for 45-min periods at a constant total arteriovenous pressure drop. Blood flow was adjusted to keep mean pulmonary arterial pressure at 20 cmH2O, when left atrial and airway pressures were 8 and 6 cmH2O, respectively. We partitioned the pulmonary circulation into three longitudinal vascular segments, i.e., arteries, microvessels, and veins, by measuring pressures in 20- to 50-microns-diameter subpleural arterioles and venules by the micropipette servo-nulling method. We found that in the isolated, perfused 3- to 5-wk-old rabbit lung, in which arteries and veins are the main sites of resistance, pulsatile flow results in a 20-36% reduction in total vascular resistance, mainly due to a reduction in arterial and venous resistances. The decrease in total vascular resistance was similar in lungs that were untreated or treated with papaverine, indicating that the effect of pulsatile flow was not due to active vasomotion. The reduction in arterial resistance was greater than that in veins (31-55 vs. 19-22%), especially when pulse amplitude was high (5-10 vs. 20-30 cmH2O). Total vascular resistance was also lower after 45 min of pulsatile perfusion with a pulse rate of 200 pulses/min than 80 pulses/min (0.126 +/- 0.04 vs. 0.154 +/- 0.059 cmH2O.min.ml-1.kg).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Production of β-Lipoprotein by Intestine in the Rat

Abstract Evidence for the production of circulating β-lipoprotein and endogenous triglycerides by the intestine was obtained from an examination of intestinal lymph in control rats and in rats fed orotic acid as 2% of the diet. The lipoproteins in lymph were characterized by immunochemical methods, electrophoresis, preparative ultracentrifugation, and lipid analysis. In control rats on a fat-free diet, intestinal lymph contained higher concentrations of β-lipoprotein and triglycerides than did plasma, whereas the lymph concentration of α-lipoprotein was lower than in plasma. In rats fed orotic acid the intestinal lymph content of β-lipoprotein and triglycerides was as high as in the controls, although the plasma concentrations of both β-lipoprotein and triglycerides were less than 5% of normal. In control as well as in orotic acid-fed rats, all intestinal lymph β-lipoprotein and 95% of lymph total fatty acids were recovered in a very low density lipoprotein fraction (density less than 1.006 g per ml) with pre-β electrophoretic mobility. α-Lipoprotein was found in the fraction of density greater than 1.006 g per ml and in the very low density lipoprotein after partial delipidation. Data from the present experiments and earlier experiments with Triton WR-1339 indicate that on a fat-free diet approximately 10% of the plasma triglyceride is derived from the intestine and reaches the blood via lymph in association with very low density lipoprotein. Chylomicrons appeared in the lymph of orotic acid-fed as well as control rats following a fat meal. Previous work has shown that the livers of orotic acid-fed rats are unable to produce β-lipoprotein or to release triglycerides into the circulation. Thus when β-lipoprotein is produced by the intestine but not by the liver, normal transport of exogenous as well as endogenous triglycerides is observed from the intestine into lymph but not from the liver into blood.
Age at diagnosis does not adversely affect outcome in patients with Hodgkin's Disease (HD) after autologous transplantation

e19507 Background: Age at diagnosis is a poor prognostic factor for overall survival after standard therapy for HD. Whether older age is a prognostic factor for outcome after autologous transplantation is not known. We sought to evaluate the effect of older age at diagnosis on transplant outcome. Patients and Methods: All patients with HD undergoing autologous transplantation with BEAM conditioning (BCNU, Etoposide, Cytarabine, and Melphalan) between January 1996 and December 2007 were included in this study. During these 12 years, 248 patients (103 males) underwent autologous transplantation. Seventy two patients (29%) were older than 40 years of age at the time of initial diagnosis. Median age at transplantation was 31 years (range 11–74). At transplantation, 63 (25%) were in complete remission (CR); 148 (60%) were in partial remission (PR); and 37 (15%) had stable (SD) or progressive disease (PD). Forty-six patients (19%) had received more than 3 courses of chemotherapy prior to transplantation. LDH wa...
Mental Rotation of Objects in an Airport Security Setting

The role of mental rotation in the airport security screening task was examined. 13 participants were asked to detect a handgun which was shown embedded in an x-ray image similar to what a baggage screener would see. The weapon was shown to the participant in 8 different rotations for 2 different perspectives (facing right or left for each rotation). The results of the experiment produced the classic inverted V response time function curve. The data suggest that mental rotation can be applied to complex stimuli found in detection task such as the airport security domain.
Abstract 73: Evaluation of bead-based assays of inflammation markers for epidemiologic studies.

Given finite sample availability in epidemiologic studies, minimizing assay volumes is an important consideration in studies of biomarker-disease relationships. Consequently, there is great interest in multiplex assays that use less volume than standard assays and provide data on multiple markers in one assay. This is particularly true for markers of inflammation, a key factor in cancer and other age-related diseases. Therefore, we conducted pilot studies of three bead-based, multiplex, inflammatory marker panels at three laboratories. The first pilot evaluated assay reproducibility by calculating the coefficient of variation (CV) using 12 blinded replicate samples, and the second evaluated the role of delayed processing using samples from 12 participants who had one-third of their sample processed immediately after blood draw, and one-third each processed 24 and 48 hours later. Minimum criteria for an analyte to pass the pilots were: (1) >50% of samples had levels above the limit of detection (LOD), (2) a CV ≤20%, and (3) an intraclass correlation across processing times >0.80. For Panel 1, 200uL of plasma was used to assess 10 biomarkers in 2007. For Panel 2, 50uL of plasma was used to assess 17 markers in 2011. For Panel 3, 250uL of plasma was used to assess 12 markers in 2012. More than half of the biomarkers in two of the panels (1 and 3) had >50% of samples with levels less than the LOD; in Panel 2 29% of biomarkers had >50% of samples below the LOD. Of the biomarkers with more than half the samples above the LOD, all had CVs <20%. Overall, 3 (30%) of markers passed the LOD and CV criteria in Panel 1, 12 (71%) passed in Panel 2, and 4 (33%) passed in Panel 3. Among these, none of the markers in Panels 1 and 3 and 7 markers in Panel 2 were stable with delayed processing, resulting in an overall pass rate of 0% in Panels 1 and 3 and 41% in Panel 2. Further, for Panel 2, we observed that the correlation between the multiplex and the standard ELISA for IL-6 was only 0.25. Our results suggest that assessing inflammatory markers on bead-based multiplex platforms may not be appropriate for epidemiologic studies, possibly reflecting poor assay optimization for specific biomarkers and thus lowered overall assay sensitivity and specificity. Citation Format: Elizabeth M. Poole, Mary K. Townsend, A Heather Eliassen, Janine Neville-Golden, Shelley S. Tworoger. Evaluation of bead-based assays of inflammation markers for epidemiologic studies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Post-GWAS Horizons in Molecular Epidemiology: Digging Deeper into the Environment; 2012 Nov 11-14; Hollywood, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2012;21(11 Suppl):Abstract nr 73.
Music in the Early Years: Pathways into the Social World.

Two assumptions that underlie much research in early childhood music education are that music is a social endeavor and musical participation is beneficial to children’s overall social development. As members of cultural and social groups, young children engage with music in a multitude of ways and with different companions. This article examines young children’s musical engagement from a social perspective, integrating research from a wide range of fields and theoretical orientations. The first section brings forward a discussion on the nature of social interactions with an emphasis on three building blocks of social cognition and their relationships to musical experiences of young children. Studies on rhythmic entrainment, social identity in childhood, musical play, and the effects of formal music education on children’s social development are discussed in the next sections, along with some of the caveats of current theorizing. Implications for future research and practice in music education are woven th...
Evaluation of Uncertainty in Measurement of Arsenic Content in Foods by Hydride Generator-atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

Objective To study the assessment style of uncertainty in measurement of arsenic content in foods by the hydride generator-atomic fluorescence spectrometric method. Method According to JJF 1059-1999, the mathematic model was established and the uncertainty was synthesized. Results When the content of arsenic in foods was 0.22 mg/kg, the combined uncertainty was 0.008 mg/kg, and the expanded uncertainty was 0.02 mg/kg. Conclusions The judging process of this method is clear and rational, without missing and repeating any main influential factors, so that it is applicable to assess the uncertainty in measurement by the method of hydride generator-atomic fluorescence spectrometry.
Detecting Photosynthesis Fluorescence under Natural Sunlight Based on Fraunhofer Line

The amount of chlorophyll fluorescence emitted by a leaf or canopy under natural sunlight is difficult to quantify because the signal is obscured by the reflected light.Firstly,the principle and method of separating the fluorescence emissive signal from canopy radiance spectrum based on Fraunhofer line was introduced.Secondly,the Solar Fraunhofer line was linked to the molecular oxygen absorption by the terrestrial atmosphere at 688nm and 760nm.The two Fraunhofer lines at 688nm and 760nm are obvious in the radiance spectra by ASD FieldSpec Pro NIR spectrometer,which largely overlap the chlorophyll fluorescence emission spectrum of leaves.Therefore,the two Fraunhofer lines at 688nm and 760nm could be selected to detect the emissive fluorescence.Thirdly,the statistical correlative coefficients(R~2) between PAR and emissive fluorescence of winter wheat and Parthenocissus tricuspidata at 688nm and 760nm reach 0.9.The emissive fluorescence of winter wheat at 688nm equals to that at 760nm,the emissive fluorescence of Parthenocissus tricuspidata at 688nm is 3 times larger than that at 760nm.Compared with canopy reflectance spectrum,fluorescence spectrum is more sensitive to species and plant stress conditions.Finally,the emissive fluorescence at 688nm and 760nm was related to F_v/F_m by a OS1-FL modulated chlorophyll fluorometer,the correlative coefficients are highly significant at 0.999 confident level,which means that the emissive fluorescence calculated from the two Fraunhofer lines at 688nm and 760nm could replace the modulated chlorophyll fluorometer method and be applied to airborne remote sensing.
Adrenergic receptor research: recent developments.

Adrenaline was discovered in 1895 as a component of adrenal medullary extracts possessing a vasopressor effect [1]. Soon after its discovery, it was recognized that adrenaline can produce a variety of biological effects, both stimulatory and inhibitory [2]. The discovery in 1906 by Dale of the selective antagonism of pressor responses to adrenaline by ergot alkaloids [3] led to the concept of dual, stimulatory and inhibitory, catecholamine receptors. This concept was further developed by Ahlquist [4] who was the first to classify adrenergic receptors based on pharmacological specificity rather than response type. Ahlquist’s classification of α- and β-adrenergic receptors has stood the test of time and has proved to be a remarkably fertile concept. From a practical point of view, it has laid the ground for the development of new classes of therapeutic agents: the use of β-adrenergic antagonists in hypertension, coronary disease, and many other disorders makes these compounds the most widely used therapeutic agents, as recognized by the Nobel prize awarded to Sir James Black, the discoverer of propranolol [5]. Interestingly, the discovery of β-blocking agents was also the trigger for major theoretical advances, as it rekindled interest in Ahlquist’s dormant concept.
Interrater reliability of ratings of delusions and bizarre delusions.

Objective : The authors evaluated the interrater reliability of ratings of bizarre delusions, addressing limitations of previous studies. Method : Fifty randomly selected psychiatrists rated bizarre delusions in 30 case vignettes adapted from a previous study by Spitzer and associates. Estimates of reliability were obtained for definitions of bizarre delusions in the DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and draft DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia and for the clinicians grouped according to their current and previous experience with psychotic patients. Results: The kappas for ratings of bizarre delusions according to the different definitions and among clinicians with different levels of experience were in the moderate to fair range. Conclusions: The reliability of ratings of bizarre delusions appears to be less than satisfactory for clinical practice, and the increased weight given to this symptom in modern diagnostic systems does not seem justifiable.
Resveratrol and Inflammatory-Autoimmune Diseases

Studies have shown that consistent consumption of resveratrol, a plant compound found in red wine, red grapes, and nuts, is linked to increased longevity, decreased inflammation, anticancer effects, and protection from neurodegenerative diseases. The present chapter focuses upon resveratrol and cell signaling and transcriptional activities of immune cells during inflammatory and autoimmune responses. The emphasis in this chapter is on resveratrol's actions through the aryl hydrocarbon and estrogen receptors, which are transcription factors, and SIRT1, which is a protein deacetylase. The outcome of resveratrol's effect on these cellular factors is beneficial modulation of inflammatory and autoimmune responses.
Neural networks for learning inverse kinematics of redundant manipulators

Summary form only given, as follows. A feedforward neural network was used to solve the problem of inverse kinematics for the redundant robots. A learning algorithm was also developed for the training of the network. The convergence of the training process was guaranteed according to Liapunov's stability theory. Moreover, the speed of training can be increased by increasing a learning rate parameter. Simulation was done to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed network. >
The role of stretch-activated ion channels in acute respiratory distress syndrome: finally a new target?

Mechanical ventilation (MV) and oxygen therapy (hyperoxia; HO) comprise the cornerstones of life-saving interventions for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Unfortunately, th...
Two volatile-phase alcohols inhibit growth of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, causative agent of white-nose syndrome in bats.

In North America, Pseudogymnoascus destructans infects hibernating bats within caves and other hibernacula causing high mortalities. We have sought a potential fumigation strategy that can be deplo...
Evaluation of the diagnostic efficacy of two cone beam computed tomography protocols in reliably detecting the location of the inferior alveolar nerve canal

Objectives:Reliable three-dimensional localization of the inferior alveolar nerve canal (IANC) is valuable for a variety of dentoalveolar procedures. Although conventional CBCT offers three-dimensional information at a reasonably low dose, it is still a significant amount of radiation. In this ex vivo study, we evaluated the ability of a 180° rotational CBCT acquisition protocol with lower number of basis projections to create a CBCT data set for reliable localization of the IANC compared with a conventional 360° rotational CBCT acquisition.Methods:50 dry human skulls were imaged using 180° and 360° rotational CBCT protocols. Measurements of the IANC throughout its course in the mandible were carried out. Two raters evaluated the measurements and rated the scans based on their ability to visualize the IANC, and the measurements were carried out.Results:The IANC length measurements for the 180° and 360° protocols were identical. There was no difference between evaluations by the two raters for the two prot...
Skull Base Reconstruction Following Resection of Skull Base Chordomas and Chondrosarcomas

Abstract Resection of skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas can create large dural defects that involve multiple cisterns or the third ventricle leading to high-flow cerebrospinal fluid leaks. Reconstruction of the skull base is essential to an uncomplicated postoperative course. In general, small dural defects can be repaired successfully with multilayer graft in at least 90% of cases. However, repair of larger defects with high-flow cerebrospinal fluid leakage, or of defects in the petroclival area, is more challenging and often requires a local or regional pedicled vascularized graft. When these are unavailable, free microvascular tissue transfer is an option. In this chapter, we discuss all available options to reconstruct skull base defects following endoscopic endonasal or open resection of petroclival chordomas and chondrosarcomas.
Let no man deceive you by any means

“‘Let no man deceive you by any means’: Billy Budd and interpretive tragedy” argues that although Vere's dreadful and necessarily tragic decision occupies the central position in the plot, the association of Claggart with the phrase mystery of iniquity – an allusion to 2 Thessalonians – is the culminating moment in the novel's obsession with the madness and tragedy of interpretation. More specifically, the idea of the mystery of iniquity is fundamental to Melville's tragic view of life. In Paul's letter, the mystery of iniquity refers to the radical deceit unleashed by God upon the world before the return of Christ, a force that makes humans particularly susceptible to delusion. Associating Claggart with the mystery of iniquity ironically seduces readers with its explanatory appeal, thereby diverting them from the phrase's implication that textuality, interpretation, and meaning necessarily participate in representational uncertainty.
Genomic Landscapes and Strategies for Sequencing the Human Genome

This is an exciting and bewildering time for those of us engaged in sequencing the human genome. It is clear that the big push to get the job done is now upon us, but it is not clear how best to accomplish the task. It is also unclear what “sequencing the genome” really means. One could idealize an end product consisting of 24 very long contiguous stretches of sequence, one for each of the 22 autosomal chromosomes, X, and Y. But no one thinks this will happen. At the other extreme, the sequence could consist of short, say, 10 kb stretches of nucleotides that collectively cover about 90% of the genome but that are not mapped with regard to chromosomal location or gene content. As far as I know, no one would consider this a reasonable end point either. Therefore, the sequence will be something in between. But what?
UV Spectroscopy by Electron Impact for Planetary Astronomy and Astrophysics

The objectives of UV emission spectroscopy by electron impact carried out over the past 20 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have been: 1) to measure electron impact emission cross sections (0-2keV) and fluorescence spectra (50-1200nm) for important atoms and molecules of planetary atmospheres, stellar atmospheres and the interstellar medium (ISM) for modeling remote sensing observations of EUVE, FUSE, HST, HUT, Galileo, Cassini and many other spacecraft, 2) to emphasize UV transitions of species of Jovian planetary systems, Herbig-Haro objects and comets: H, H2, N2, SO2, O, CO and O2, and 3) to develop collision strengths in analytical form for UV radiative processes for electron energy loss transport codes. A specialized review is given of our twenty year laboratory program to provide accurate UV emission cross sections for these species. The five sets of high spectral resolution apparatus that have been developed at JPL for this experimental program provided results to the astronomy community from the extreme ultraviolet beginning at 50 nm to the visible at 600 nm.
Evaporation and Mass Transfer Fundamentals

This chapter introduces fundamental mass transfer concepts through the modeling of the evaporation process that takes place at the free surface of a mug of coffee. An evaporative heat transfer coefficient, hevap, is defined that can be included in any of the transient numerical simulations from earlier chapters (i.e., lumped 1-node, few node, multi-node). Evaporation is driven by concentration gradients, not a temperature difference, and defining an evaporation coefficient this way allows direct comparison of the relative effects of evaporation, convection, and radiation on the cooling of the free surface. As will become apparent, this approach makes sense only for cases when the liquid surface temperature differs significantly from ambient. The case where the coffee reaches thermal equilibrium with the environment and the slower evaporation continues is treated differently, and it will be seen that the coffee attains a temperature below ambient, a form of evaporative cooling.
Computer Enhanced Chemical Education: Any Computer Can be Used

During my formative years as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry, I had heard a great deal about computers in Chemistry. Under the influence of Peter Lykos and Audrey Companion, OCPE, CONDUIT, NCECS, and later PLATO, became familiar names; I had also heard of Harrison Shull, Joe Lagowski, Al Lata, Ron Crain, Ron Collins and Stan Smith, among others. Yet, except for occasional contact at a professional meeting, I did not know these men, and I had not seen, first hand, examples of their work.
Remedying Education with Personalized Homework: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in India

Can Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enabled personalization remedy the educational production in resource-strapped schooling systems? We conduct a randomized field experiment on a group of residential schools in Hyderabad India to examine this question. In a school setting, students first learn concepts through class room instructions and then reinforce their learning by doing homework. In our experiment, students were first taught different topics in mathematics through classroom instructions, and then a randomly selected one half of them were assigned computer-generated adaptive homework (CGAHW) and the other half were offered paper-based traditional homework (PBTHW). In a PBTHW, a pre-decided fixed number of easy and hard questions were offered from different topics. In a CGAHW, first half of the total questions were offered in the easy category, and based on a student’s performance on these questions, later questions were adaptively generated such that: (1) more questions were offered on the topics in which student incorrectly answered questions and (2) hard questions on a topic were offered when the student correctly answered easy questions on that topic. Thus, while all PBTHW students received the same number of easy and hard questions on different topics, CGAHW students received different numbers and difficulty levels of questions on different topics based on their individual learning needs. A total of 50 homework in each category were offered to students between October 2014 and April 2015, and their learning was assessed in two standardized exams offered in this period.We found that CGAHW students on average obtained lower homework scores than PBTHW students, but they obtained 4.28 percent higher scores in exams than PBTHW students. Lower homework scores could be attributed to students receiving more questions in their weak areas in CGAHW. However, by doing more questions in their weak areas and less in their strong areas, students achieved personalized learning in CGAHW, and hence obtained higher exam scores. To provide evidence that personalized learning in CGAHW resulted in improvement in their exam scores, we show that students that were offered higher levels of personalization in CGAHW, obtained higher exam scores. To further understand the differential effect of CGAHW on students of different abilities, we categorized students in low, medium, and high categories of ability based on their mathematics scores in standardized exams at the beginning of experiment. We found that personalized learning through CGAHW helped the students in low and medium ability categories but not in high ability category. Overall, we developed and deployed an adaptive homework generation application in a field set up to show how ICT-enabled personalized learning could improve educational production with existing school resources.
Local and Global Electric Field Asymmetry in Photosynthetic Reaction Centers

The origin of unidirectional electron transfer in photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) has been widely discussed. Despite the high level of structural similarity between the two branches of pigments that participate in the initial electron transfer steps of photosynthesis, electron transfer only occurs along one branch. One possible explanation for this functional asymmetry is the differences in the electrostatic environment between the active and the inactive branches arising from the charges and dipoles of the organized protein structure. We present an analysis of electric fields in the RC of the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides using the intrinsic carbonyl groups of the pigments as vibrational reporters whose vibrational frequency shifts can be converted into electric fields based on the vibrational Stark effect and also provide Stark effect data for plant pigments that can be used in future studies. The carbonyl stretches of the isolated pigments show pronounced Stark effects. We use these data, solvatochromism, molecular dynamics simulations, and data in the literature from IR and Raman spectra to evaluate differences in fields at symmetry-related positions, in particular at the 9-keto and 2-acetyl positions of the pigments involved in primary charge separation.
A history of modern Italy. Transformation and continuity, 1796 to the present

With this latest publication, Anthony L Cardoza offers a survey of Italian history in the last 200 years-plus ‘designed to serve as a foundational text in courses at the advanced undergraduate leve...
The abnormal Papanicolaou smear

Despite its limitations, the Pap smear is a widely accepted, powerful screening technique for cellular abnormalities of the cervix. Abnormal Pap smears are found in 1% to 5% of the screened population, depending on the population characteristics. It is therefore important for all clinicians caring for women to be familiar with the principles of Pap smear screening, its strengths and weaknesses, the terminology used to interpret results, and the options for appropriate response to an abnormal smear. High-grade lesions require colposcopic examination and treatment; low-grade lesions require colposcopic examination and either treatment or close follow-up; atypical smears require some response, either repeated cytology or further investigation; glandular lesions require colposcopic examination and investigation of the endocervix. A tremendous amount of research is going on to assess the safest, most cost-effective approach to the detection, evaluation, and management of cervical epithelial lesions. It can be expected, therefore, that these recommendations will change over the next several years. All physicians providing health care for women should keep abreast of these changes.