cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Liver tumor induction in B6C3F1 mice by dichloroacetate and trichloroacetate

Male and female B6C3F1 mice were administered dichloroacetate (DCA) and trichloroacetate (TCA) in their drinking water at concentrations of 1 or 2 g/l for up to 52 weeks. Both compounds induced hepatoproliferative lesions (HPL) in male mice, including hepatocellular nodules, adenomas and hepatocellular carcinomas within 12 months. The induction of HPL by TCA was linear with dose. In contrast, the response to DCA increased sharply with the increase in concentration from 1 to 2 g/l. Suspension of DCA treatment at 37 weeks resulted in the same number of HPL at 52 weeks that would have been predicted on the basis of the total dose administered. However, none of the lesions in this treatment group progressed to hepatocellular carcinomas. Conversely, the yield of HPL at 52 weeks when TCA treatment was suspended at 37 weeks was significantly below that which would have been predicted by the total dose administered. In this case, 3 of 5 remaining lesions were hepatocellular carcinomas. Throughout active treatment DCA-treated mice displayed greatly enlarged livers characterized by a marked cytomegaly and massive accumulations of glycogen in hepatocytes throughout the liver. Areas of focal necrosis were seen throughout the liver. TCA produced small increases in cell size and much a more modest accumulation of glycogen. Focal necrotic damage did not occur in TCA-treated animals. TCA produced marked accumulations of lipofuscin in the liver. Lipofuscin accumulation was less marked with DCA. These data confirm earlier observations that DCA and TCA are capable of inducing hepatic tumors in B6C3F1 mice and argue that the mechanisms involved in tumor induction differ substantially between these two similar compounds. Tumorigenesis by DCA may depend largely on stimulation of cell division secondary to hepatotoxic damage. On the other hand, TCA appears to increase lipid peroxidation, suggesting that production of radicals may be responsible for its effects.
Stereoselectivity in a Chiral Ruthenium Ethylene Hydride Complex: Evidence of an Agostic Intermediate

Treatment of Ru(η6:η1-Me2NC6H4C6H4PCy2)Cl2 with MeLi resulted in the formation of Ru(η6:η1-Me2NC6H4C6H4PCy2)Me2, which reacted with Ph3CPF6 to form the cationic olefin hydride complex [Ru(η6:η1-Me2NC6H4C6H4PCy2)(H2CCH2)(H)]PF6. The new complexes were characterized by spectroscopy and by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The diastereomeric olefin hydride complexes were observed to exhibit two fluxional processes: a facile olefin rotation and another process that results in the exchange of the hydride and olefin protons. As the rate of diastereomer interconversion is much slower than that of olefin insertion, our studies suggest that the latter exchange takes place through an agostic species which undergoes dynamic methyl rotation.
Micromachined bolometers on polyimide

This paper presents design, fabrication and measured performance parameters of micromachined infrared detectors on polyimide substrates. The detectors are of bolometer type made of semiconducting yttrium–barium–copper oxide (YBCO) as the thermometer material and are built on a 40–50m-thick layer of polyimide (PI5878G) that serves as a flexible substrate. A thin film of Si3N4 supports the detectors. Surface micromachining is used to isolate the detectors and the supporting nitride layer from the substrate. Despite being supported by a layer of Si3N4, an average thermal conductivity of 5.61 × 10 −7 W/K, comparable to self-supporting devices on flexible substrates has been measured. This opens the possibility of placing such flexible sensors on micromachined membranes, integrated with other functions such as pressure sensing to build “Smart Skin.” Roomtemperature responsivity of 7.4 × 10 3 V/W and detectivity of 6.6 × 10 5 cm Hz 1/2 /W were demonstrated on 40m × 40m microbolometers. The effect of substrate heating was also investigated and was found not to cause cross talk between the pixels. If these sensors are to be used as part of multi-functional, flexible sensor systems, device-level vacuum packaging is necessary. This was investigated using computer simulations for structural analysis and found to be feasible. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Racial Differences In Peripheral Insulin Sensitivity And Mitochondrial Capacity In The Absence Of Obesity

Context: African-American women (AAW) have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with Caucasian women (CW). Lower insulin sensitivity has been reported in AAW, but the reasons for this racial difference and the contributions of liver versus skeletal muscle are incompletely understood. Objective: We tested the hypothesis that young, nonobese AAW manifest lower insulin sensitivity specific to skeletal muscle, not liver, and is accompanied by lower skeletal muscle mitochondrial oxidative capacity. Participants and Main Outcome Measures: Twenty-two nonobese (body mass index 22.7 ± 3.1 kg/m2) AAW and 22 matched CW (body mass index 22.7 ± 3.1 kg/m2) underwent characterization of body composition, objectively assessed habitual physical activity, and insulin sensitivity with euglycemic clamps and stable-isotope tracers. Skeletal muscle biopsies were performed for lipid content, fiber typing, and mitochondrial measurements. Results: Peripheral insulin sensitivity was 26% lower in AAW (P < .01), ...
Structure formation, melting, and optical properties of gold/DNA nanocomposites: Effects of relaxation time

We present a model for structure formation, melting, and optical properties of gold/DNA nanocomposites. These composites consist of a collection of gold nanoparticles (of radius 50 nm or less) which are bound together by links made up of DNA strands. In our structural model, the nanocomposite forms from a series of Monte Carlo steps, each involving reaction-limited cluster-cluster aggregation (RLCA) followed by dehybrid-ization of the DNA links. These links form with a probability p e f f which depends on temperature T and particle radius a. The final structure depends on the number of monomers (i.e., gold nanoparticles) N m , T, and the relaxation time. At low temperature, the model results in a RLCA cluster. But after a long enough relaxation time, the nanocomposite reduces to a compact, nonfractal cluster. We calculate the optical properties of the resulting aggregates using the discrete dipole approximation. Despite the restructuring, the melting transition (as seen in the extinction coefficient at wavelength 520 nm) remains sharp, and the melting temperature T M increases with increasing a as found in our previous percolation model. However, restructuring increases the corresponding link fraction at melting to a value well above the percolation threshold. Our calculated extinction cross section agrees qualitatively with experiments on gold/DNA composites. It also shows a characteristic "rebound effect," resulting from incomplete relaxation, which has also been seen in some experiments. We discuss briefly how our results relate to a possible sol-gel transition in these aggregates.
Medicaid managed care: Issues for beneficiaries with disabilities

Background: States are increasingly turning to managed care arrangements to control costs in their Medicaid programs. Historically, such arrangements have excluded people with disabilities who use long-term services and supports (LTSS) due to their complex needs. Now, however, some states are also moving this population to managed care. Little is known about the experiences of people with disabilities during and after this transition. Objective: To document experiences of Medicaid enrollees with disabilities using long-term services and supports during transition to Medicaid managed care in Kansas. Methods: During the spring of 2013, 105 Kansans with disabilities using Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) were surveyed via telephone or in-person as they transitioned to managed care. Qualitative data analysis of survey responses was conducted to learn more about the issues encountered by people with disabilities under Medicaid managed care. Results: Respondents encountered numerous disability-related difficulties, particularly with transportation, durable medical equipment, care coordination, communication, increased out of pocket costs, and access to care. Conclusions: As more states move people with disabilities to Medicaid managed care, it is critically important to address these identified issues for a population that often experiences substantial health disparities and a smaller margin of health. It is hoped that the early experiences reported here can inform policy-makers in other states as they contemplate and design similar programs. 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Functional architecture of auditory cortex.

Three complementary approaches demonstrate new types of organization in rodent, feline and primate auditory cortex, as well as differences in processing between auditory and visual cortex. First, connectional work reveals patterns of thalamocortical and corticocortical input unique to the auditory cortex. Second, physiological studies find multiple, interleaved auditory processing modules related to corticocortical connections and embedded in the isofrequency gradient. Third, functional analyses demonstrate independent processing streams for sound localization and identification analogous to the ‘what’ and ‘where’ streams in visual cortex, although the modular arrangements are modality-specific. Taken together, these data show that the auditory cortex has common and unique functional substrates.
The existence of polarized F-structures on volume collapsed 4-manifolds

By the work of [CG2] and [CG3], the Riemannian manifolds whose injectivity radii are small everywhere relative to the bound on sectional curvature admit positive rank F-structures. We will prove, in dimension four, that if the volumes of the manifolds are also smaller than a positive constant, then the manifolds actually admit polarized F-structures. In particular, this result implies an affirmative answer to the Gromov's Gap conjecture on vanishing minimal volume in dimension four.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘Forensic seismology and the sinking of the Kursk’”]

We thank John Northrop for his interest in our recent Eos article and for providing us with the opportunity to clarify some important points. Before commenting on the particulars of Northrop's letter, we must emphasize that we are not claiming to be the originators of a new field called forensic seismology. To the best of our knowledge, the term “forensic seismology” was coined by the British seismologist H.I.S. Thirlaway in the late 1950s to describe what is now known as verification seismology [Thirlaway, 1979]. We are merely extending this catchy phrase to include the investigation of non-nuclear, man-made seismic sources that are accidental or unanticipated.
Geometric Methods for Spectral Analysis

This paper explores a geometric framework for modeling nonstationary but slowly varying time series, based on the assumption that short-windowed power spectra capture their spectral character, and that energy transference in the frequency domain has a physical significance. The framework relies on certain notions of transportation distance and their respective geodesics to model possible nonparametric changes in the power spectral density with respect to time. We discuss the relevance of this framework to applications in spectral tracking, spectral averaging, and speech morphing.
Attenuation of racial differences in health service utilization patterns for previously uninsured children in the Delta.

: Context: A school-based health insurance program for children of the working poor was conducted in 2 isolated, rural communities in the Lower Mississippi Delta region. The larger of the 2 communities had an array of locally available health care providers, whereas the smaller community did not. In response to this lack of available care, the project designed and delivered outreach programs, including transportation to providers. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of race, age, and gender in the relationships between the utilization of care and the impact of outreach programs. Method: General estimating equation models are used to examine the response of utilization variables to race, age, gender, and community. Four years of insurance claims data are analyzed. Findings: Race is seen to be an important component of utilization. The majority of participants were African American; however, children receiving prescription services, emergency room care, routine physician visits, and hospital outpatient services were more likely to be white. Outreach programs in vision and dental services were found to eliminate racial differences and increase utilization. A relatively strong gender effect was found in prescription, wellness, vision, and dental services. Conclusions: Previous research has shown differences by race in utilization of care. Our findings show that targeted outreach programs can significantly diminish these differences. Findings also suggest that barriers to health care for poor rural children are closely linked to transportation and availability of providers, not merely to cost of care or insurance.
Telomere Maintenance through Spatial Control of Telomeric Proteins

The six human telomeric proteins TRF1, TRF2, RAP1, TIN2, POT1, and TPP1 can form a complex called the telosome/shelterin, which is required for telomere protection and length control. TPP1 has been shown to regulate both POT1 telomere localization and telosome assembly through its binding to TIN2. It remains to be determined where such interactions take place and whether cellular compartmentalization of telomeric proteins is important for telomere maintenance. We systematically investigated here the cellular localization and interactions of human telomeric proteins. Interestingly, we found TIN2, TPP1, and POT1 to localize and interact with each other in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Unexpectedly, TPP1 contains a functional nuclear export signal that directly controls the amount of TPP1 and POT1 in the nucleus. Furthermore, binding of TIN2 to TPP1 promotes the nuclear localization of TPP1 and POT1. We also found that disrupting TPP1 nuclear export could result in telomeric DNA damage response and telomere length disregulation. Our findings highlight how the coordinated interactions between TIN2, TPP1, and POT1 in the cytoplasm regulate the assembly and function of the telosome in the nucleus and indicate for the first time the importance of nuclear export and spatial control of telomeric proteins in telomere maintenance.
Intracellular pathways regulating ciliary beating of rat brain ependymal cells.

1The mammalian brain ventricles are lined with ciliated ependymal cells. As yet little is known about the mechanisms by which neurotransmitters regulate cilia beat frequency (CBF). 2Application of 5-HT to ependymal cells in cultured rat brainstem slices caused CBF to increase. 5-HT had an EC50 of 30 μM and at 100 μM attained a near-maximal CBF increase of 52.7 ± 4.1 % (mean ± s.d.) (n= 8). 3Bathing slices in Ca2+-free solution markedly reduced the 5-HT-mediated increase in CBF. Fluorescence measurements revealed that 5-HT caused a marked transient elevation in cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]c) that then slowly decreased to a plateau level. Analysis showed that the [Ca2+]c transient was due to release of Ca2+ from inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-sensitive stores; the plateau was probably due to extracellular Ca2+ influx through Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels. 4Application of ATP caused a sustained decrease in CBF. ATP had an EC50 of about 50 μM and 100 μM ATP resulted in a maximal 57.5 ± 6.5 % (n= 12) decrease in CBF. The ATP-induced decrease in CBF was unaffected by lowering extracellular [Ca2+], and no changes in [Ca2+]c were observed. Exposure of ependymal cells to forskolin caused a decrease in CBF. Ciliated ependymal cells loaded with caged cAMP exhibited a 54.3 ± 7.5 % (n= 9) decrease in CBF following uncaging. These results suggest that ATP reduces CBF by a Ca2+-independent cAMP-mediated pathway. 5Application of 5-HT and adenosine-5′-O-3-thiotriphosphate (ATP-γ-S) to acutely isolated ciliated ependymal cells resulted in CBF responses similar to those of ependymal cells in cultured slices suggesting that these neurotransmitters act directly on these cells. 6The opposite response of ciliated ependymal cells to 5-HT and ATP provides a novel mechanism for their active involvement in central nervous system signalling.
Wood CO2 efflux in a primary tropical rain forest

The balance between photosynthesis and plant respiration in tropical forests may substantially affect the global carbon cycle. Woody tissue CO2 efflux is a major component of total plant respiration, but estimates of ecosystem-scale rates are uncertain because of poor sampling in the upper canopy and across landscapes. To overcome these problems, we used a portable scaffolding tower to measure woody tissue CO2 efflux from ground level to the canopy top across a range of sites of varying slope and soil phosphorus content in a primary tropical rain forest in Costa Rica. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine whether to use surface area, volume, or biomass for modeling and extrapolating wood CO2 efflux, (2) determine if wood CO2 efflux varied seasonally, (3) identify if wood CO2 efflux varied by functional group, height in canopy, soil fertility, or slope, and (4) extrapolate wood CO2 efflux to the forest. CO2 efflux from small diameter woody tissue ( 10 cm was related to both surface area and volume. Wood CO2 efflux showed no evidence of seasonality over 2 years. CO2 efflux per unit wood surface area at 25° (FA) was highest for the N-fixing dominant tree species Pentaclethra macroloba, followed by other tree species, lianas, then palms. Small diameter FA increased steeply with increasing height, and large diameter FA increased with diameter. Soil phosphorus and slope had slight, but complex effects on FA. Wood CO2 efflux per unit ground area was 1.34±0.36 μmol m−2 s−1, or 508±135 g C m−2 yr−1. Small diameter wood, only 15% of total woody biomass, accounted for 70% of total woody tissue CO2 efflux from the forest; while lianas, only 3% of total woody biomass, contributed one-fourth of the total wood CO2 efflux.
Methane sources in arctic thermokarst lake sediments on the North Slope of Alaska

The permafrost on the North Slope of Alaska is densely populated by shallow lakes that result from thermokarst erosion. These lakes release methane (CH4) derived from a combination of ancient thermogenic pools and contemporary biogenic production. Despite the potential importance of CH4 as a greenhouse gas, the contribution of biogenic CH4 production in arctic thermokarst lakes in Alaska is not currently well understood. To further advance our knowledge of CH4 dynamics in these lakes, we focused our study on (i) the potential for microbial CH4 production in lake sediments, (ii) the role of sediment geochemistry in controlling biogenic CH4 production, and (iii) the temperature dependence of this process. Sediment cores were collected from one site in Siqlukaq Lake and two sites in Sukok Lake in late October to early November. Analyses of pore water geochemistry, sedimentary organic matter and lipid biomarkers, stable carbon isotopes, results from CH4 production experiments, and copy number of a methanogenic pathway-specific gene (mcrA) indicated the existence of different sources of CH4 in each of the lakes chosen for the study. Analysis of this integrated data set revealed that there is biological CH4 production in Siqlukaq at moderate levels, while the very low levels of CH4 detected in Sukok had a mixed origin, with little to no biological CH4 production. Furthermore, methanogenic archaea exhibited temperature-dependent use of in situ substrates for methanogenesis, and the amount of CH4 produced was directly related to the amount of labile organic matter in the sediments. This study constitutes an important first step in better understanding the actual contribution of biogenic CH4 from thermokarst lakes on the coastal plain of Alaska to the current CH4 budgets.
From retrieval to communication: the development, use, and consequences of digital documentary systems

The traditional themes of information science must be expanded in order to accommodate systematic understandings of ways to design effective documentary systems and anticipate their social consequences. The field of social informatics offers some important concepts, theories, and methods that give this kind of inquiry a sound scientific basis. Social informatics has a large research literature and some research anthologies and review articles which serve as effective entry points.
Opposite regulation of estrogen receptor-α and its variant ER-α36 by the Wilms' tumor suppressor WT1

The genomic and non-genomic signaling pathways are well-known estrogen signaling pathways. The 66-kDa estrogen receptor-α (ER-α66) is a typical ligand-inducible transcription factor that mainly mediates genomic estrogen signaling. Recently, we identified and cloned a 36-kDa variant of ER-α66, known as ER-α36. This variant lacks intrinsic transcription activity and predominantly mediates non-genomic estrogen signaling. Thus, the expression of ER-α66 and ER-α36 should be dynamically regulated and carefully coordinated to maintain a balance between genomic and non-genomic estrogen signaling. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this correlation remain poorly understood. The Wilms’ tumor suppressor gene, wt1, encodes a zinc-finger protein WT1 that functions as a dual transcription regulator to activate or suppress gene transcription. High levels of WT1 expression are associated with breast cancer malignancy. In the present study, high-passage ER-positive breast cancer MCF7 cells were found to express ER-α66 and WT1 at higher levels and ER-α36 at a very low level. Using the small hairpin RNA method, stable MCF7 cells were established that expressed knocked-down levels of WT1. The cells expressed a reduced level of ER-α66 but an increased level of ER-α36, suggesting that WT1 regulates the expression of ER-α66 and ER-α36 oppositely. Further co-transfection assays showed that all isoforms of WT1 directly activated the promoter activity of the ER-α66 gene while suppressing ER-α36 promoter activity. Our results therefore indicate that WT1 is a dual transcription factor that regulates the promoter activity of ER-α66 and ER-α36 oppositely, implicating WT1 as one of the coordinators that orchestrate genomic and non-genomic estrogen signaling.
β-Catenin Expression Enhances IL-7 Receptor Signaling in Thymocytes during Positive Selection

Differentiation of CD4+CD8+ double-positive thymocytes into CD8+ single-positive (SP) thymocytes is regulated by TCR and cytokine receptor signals. Previously, we have shown that expression of stabilized β-catenin, the major transcriptional cofactor of T cell factor, results in increase in both CD4SP and CD8SP thymocytes with a preferential effect on CD8SP thymocytes. In this report, using mice expressing stabilized β-catenin and mice with T cell specific deletion of β-catenin, we show that β-catenin expression augments IL-7Rα-chain expression and down-regulates suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 expression in thymocytes undergoing positive selection. Consequently, β-catenin expression augments IL-7R signaling in thymocytes during positive selection and promotes the development of CD8SP thymocytes.
Wind Tunnel Study of Interference Effects Relating to Aft Supersonic Ejection of a Store

Abstract : An investigation into the issues surrounding the release of a store into a supersonic wake was conducted. A 10-degree half-angle cone was used to model the carrier vehicle as well as the store. The store was 42% than the vehicle. The experiments were conducted at a freestream Mach number of 2.93 and at zero degrees angle of attack. This study analyzed the effects of a support or strut mounted under the wind tunnel model. Research was conducted on the effects of a store at various positions in the wake, as well as the effects of a rear cavity in the carrier. Real-time sequences of Schlieren images were used to obtain a visual understanding of these effects. Fast-response pressure transducers and pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) provided pressure information on the carrier vehicle and store models. Visualizations showed the strut caused the reattachment shock to move closer to the base. Transducers recorded a slight decrease in mean and an increase in standard deviation of pressure behind the strut. From a PSP profile image, the interaction of the oblique shock of the strut with the model's conical shock was found to create a vertical pressure gradient. However, base pressure was only modestly affected. The store was manually moved to various axial positions behind the vehicle. The store caused the pressure to rise as the store moved aft. At distance equal to half of the vehicle's base diameter, the store had maximum effect, causing an increase in the base's coefficient of pressure. As the store moved father aft, the store had diminishing effects. The cavity was found to have minimal effects on the flowfield. The cavity caused a drop in the vehicle's base pressure and the pressure on the store. When the store was inserted into the cavity it excited a characteristic frequency corresponding to a Strouhal number of 0.25, but when the store was removed there were no
Fundamentals and Issues in Launch Vehicle Design

The fundamentals of launch vehicle design are examined using simpli ed single-stage, two-stage, and Space Shuttle performance equations. The single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle is very sensitive to the performancecritical parameters of mass ef ciency, propulsion ef ciency, and loss management. Cost and operations coupled in the performance equation further complicates the design process. Launch vehicle design is optimized when the performance and programmaticdrivers are balanced. Programmaticdrivers include affordability, reusability, operability,abort/safety, and reliability. The issues, disciplines, and potential problems that characterize the building of a future launch system are presented. The history of the Space Shuttle is used as the benchmark example. Robustness is the key to uncoupling the design factors so that optimization can occur, but typically robust designs de ne low-performance systems. Future space launch vehiclesmust develop new technologies to reshape the design parameter sensitivities of the robustness and performance functions.
Post-market clinical research conducted by medical device manufacturers: a cross-sectional survey

Background In the US, once a medical device is made available for use, several requirements have been established by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure ongoing post-market surveillance of device safety and effectiveness. Our objective was to determine how commonly medical device manufacturers initiate post-market clinical studies or augment FDA post-market surveillance requirements for higher-risk devices that are most often approved via the FDA's pre-market approval (PMA) pathway. Methods and results We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 47 manufacturers with operations in California, Minnesota, and Massachusetts who market devices approved via the PMA pathway. Among 22 respondents (response rate =47%), nearly all self-reported conducting post-market clinical research studies, commonly between 1 and 5; only 1 respondent reported never conducting post-market clinical research studies. While manufacturers most often engaged in these studies to satisfy FDA requirements, other reasons were reported, including performance monitoring and surveillance and market acceptance initiatives. Risks of conducting and not conducting post-market clinical research studies were described through open-ended response to questions. Conclusion Medical device manufacturers commonly initiate post-market clinical studies at the request of the FDA. Clinical data from these studies should be integrated into national post-market surveillance initiatives.
Analysis of visual demands of in-vehicle text displays reveals an age-related increase in time needed to reallocate attention to the road

The purpose of this study was to evaluate age differences in the visual demands imposed by reading in-vehicle text message displays during simulated driving. Visual demand was operationalized in terms of five eye gaze data parameters. Sixteen young (mean age=20) and 16 older (mean age=77) licensed drivers served as participants. They were required to read variable length text messages from a console mounted display while driving on straight segments on a simulated rural highway. Older drivers required much more time to complete the concurrent text reading task -- especially for messages of longer lengths. As hypothesized, most of this age-difference resulted from an increase in the time spent reacquiring the road scene between successive glances to the text display. Lane keeping variability increased and driving speed decreased while reading text for older, but not younger, drivers. This pattern of findings is consistent with prior claims that driving performance in older adults is negatively influenced by problems with attention switching mechanisms. Language: en
An aquatic microfossil assemblage from Cenomanian amber of France

The ‘osseous’ amber from the Cenomanian of northwestern France contains numerous microscopic inclusions, some of which are fairly well preserved and identifiable as protists. This paper describes three cyanobacteria similar to modern Plectonema. Lyngbya, and Coelosphaeriunr, fungus-like fossils of uncertain affinities (cf. ?Candida); a colorless chrysomonad similar to Monas; a desmid identical with Closterium; and naked ciliates of uncertain affinities (cf. Cyrtolophosis). All of these fossils are in a single sample of amber from Bretagnolles (Eure Departement). This assemblage is comparable to modern limnetic microbial communities. It is typical of shallow freshwater environments in which productivity and respiration are both high. This interpretation fits paleoecological reconstructions drawn from the arthropod fossils from French amber. ***Chrysomonads, ciliates, Cretaceous, cyanobacteria, desmids, fungi, micropaleontology.
A novel expression for the mutual admittance of planar radiating elements

The mutual admittance between two identical planar radiating apertures can be expressed as the bidimensional Fourier transform of a function (defined in the wavenumbers plane), obtained by taking the inner product of the plane wave spectrum (representing the field radiated by the element) by another plane wave spectrum obtained from it by reversing the sense of propagation of each component wave. The asymptotic evaluation of the expression shows that (under certain limitations) the mutual admittance, for large spacing among the radiators, tends to be proportional to the power radiation pattern on the plane of the aperture. By using the formalism here introduced the "grating lobes series" for the driving point admittance of an element in an infinite periodic array can be simply derived from the "mutual admittances series." As a check of the theory the mutual admittance between rectangular slots, in different relative positions, has been numerically calculated.
Thermoformable Anhydride–Glycerol Modified Meat and Bone Meal Bioplastics

Meat and bone meal (MBM) can be thermally processed into bioplastics using plasticizers (e.g., glycerol), but such bioplastics have high moisture sensitivity that rapidly degrades their mechanical properties. In this study, resins obtained from controlled reaction of maleic anhydride or phthalic anhydride (PtAH) with glycerol were used in the thermal processing of modified MBM (mod-MBM) bioplastics. Such resins have good chemical interaction with proteisns and have a capacity to cross-link, which results in less mobility and out-diffusion of plasticizers from the bioplastic. The synthesized resins possessed a viscosity of about 1 Pa s at 100 °C, with an onset decomposition temperature of ~140 °C. The bioplastics were prepared by intensively mixing the resin with 60 wt% MBM in a batch compounder at 100 °C prior to thermal compaction into sheets and subsequent vacuum thermoforming. As compared with MBM plasticized with glycerol (gMBM), mod-MBM bioplastics had a nominal tensile strength of 3.7 MPa and a tensile modulus of 580 MPa that were, respectively, 4 times and 10 times greater; their strain to failure of ~1.2 % was 7 times lower. Mod-MBM bioplastics also had significantly improved water resistance such that those modified with PtAH (MBM-PtAH bioplastics) retained structural integrity after being soaked in water for more than 24 h whereas the gMBM bioplastics disintegrated in an hour. Therefore, current results clearly establish that sustainable bioplastics can be developed from biomass with enhanced properties using cost-effective conventional polymer processing routes.
Floods and armed conflict

We estimate the impact of large, catastrophic floods on internal armed conflict using global data on large floods between 1985 and 2009. The results suggest that while large floods did not ignite new conflict, they fueled existing armed conflicts. Floods and armed conflict are endogenously determined, and we show that empirically addressing this endogeneity is important. The estimated effects of floods on conflict prevalence are substantially larger in specifications that control for the endogeneity of floods, suggesting that treating natural disasters as exogenous phenomena may underestimate their impacts on sociopolitical outcomes.
Half Lives of N16, Mg27, Al28, S37, and Rh104m2

Scintillation detector studies were performed on the disintegration rate of five nuclides produced at the NRL research reactor. The nuclides together with their measured half lives are as follows:
Fascism Without Fascists? A Comparative Look at Hindutva and Zionism

This essay examines some aspects of Hindutva and Zionism, taking a comparative approach that underlines the ubiquity—i.e. the comparability—of fascisms in the articulation of modernity. It focuses ...
Enhancing personalized search and improving accuracy and performance for keyword-based xml queries

This dissertation research focuses on three aspects related to querying of XML data. The three focus areas are: (1) Improving accuracy of XML keyword queries by modeling the contexts of XML elements; (2) Enhancing XML-based personalized search by using group profiling to determine individual preferences; and (3) Improving performance of distributed XML querying by caching of frequently-used query results. For each of these three focus areas, we developed formal concepts and algorithms that lead to the improved accuracy and performance. Our contributions are as follows: (1) Improving the accuracy of XML keyword queries: We improve search accuracy by utilizing nodes’ contexts in an XML tree. Overlooking nodes’ contexts when building relationships between the nodes may lead to erroneous query results. The context of a data node is determined by its parent node. By treating each set of nodes consisting of a parent and its children data nodes as one unified entity and then determining the relationships between the different unified entities, an XML system can build much more accurate relationships between data nodes in less processing time, resulting in more accurate query results. (2) Enhancing XML-based personalized search: By pre-defining and categorizing social groups based on demographic, ethnic, cultural, religious, or other characteristics, a user profile could be inferred from the profiles of the social groups to which the user belongs. This would simplify personalized search and make its process more efficient. We implemented this approach in an XML-based recommender system. The system is able to output ranked lists of content items taking into account not only the initial preferences of the user, but also the preferences of the user’s various social groups. (3) Improving performance of distributed XML querying: Distributed XML documents are too big and complicated to be rapidly queried every time a user submits a query due to the overhead involved in decomposing the queries, sending the decomposed queries to remote site(s), and executing structural join operations to compose the results. We investigated strategies and mechanisms to tackle these problems. We then implemented these mechanisms in a query processor, and compared their performance to standard XML query processors.
Relationship of Oxidative Degradation to Toxicity in Certain Fats

Abstract SCHMITTLE et al. (1958a) described a disease caused by the feeding of a toxic feed. Wilder and Dugan (1958) reported that the disease is probably caused by a mixture of toxic materials occurring in the unsaponifiable fraction of certain fats which had been subjected to some unknown adverse and drastic treatment. The primary manifestation of the disease is hydropericardium. Occasionally exudates and muscular dystrophy have been observed. These three symptoms have been associated with vitamin E deficiencies (Bird and Culton, 1940; Ames, 1956). In a preliminary experiment (unpublished) we found that feeding lauroyl peroxide resulted in hydropericardium. These observations led us to postulate that the toxic factor is a product of fat oxidation, such as a peroxide, which in turn either could destroy dietary vitamin E, or antagonize the biochemical activity of vitamin E in the body. The following experiments did demonstrate that under the oxidizing conditions employed, fats causing …
Factors associated with the publication of scholarly articles by pharmacists.

Purpose Factors associated with the publication of scholarly articles by pharmacists were evaluated. Methods A Web-based survey was distributed to all pharmacists who published at least one scholarly article in selected pharmacy and medical journals in 2008. All scholarly works published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy , Annals of Pharmacotherapy , and Pharmacotherapy during the study period were categorized by study design using a predetermined algorithm. A secondary group of pharmacists who published in at least 1 of 10 selected medical journals during the study period was also evaluated to identify any differences between those who published in pharmacy versus medical journals. Results The final number of usable responses was 254, for an adjusted response rate of 72.9%. Factors identified as the most helpful for facilitating publication efforts included time allotment, mentorship, and collaborative efforts. “Lack of time” was reported as the most important barrier to publication. The majority of respondents (73%, n = 182) published their first article during a training program (academic program, residency, or fellowship). Of the 468 scholarly works published in the selected pharmacy journals during the study period, review articles were most common (38.7%, n = 177). Conclusion The most influential factors on the publication efforts by pharmacists were time allotment, collaboration between pharmacy colleagues and within multidisciplinary teams, and training in research methods and scientific writing. Introduction to the publication process during training programs appeared to influence future propensity toward scholarly participation. Review and descriptive articles were the most frequently published types of articles in the pharmacy literature.
The Aging Intensivist and Business Management

It was the academic year 1971/1972 and I was a straight Medicine intern at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. I had graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and had cardiology in the back of my mind for fellowship training. Fourteen members of the UC class of 106 went to Good Samaritan because of its strong teaching program in Medicine. There were ICU rotations in a 16-bed intensive care unit and patients intubated on pressure-limited ventilators. We had arterial lines connected to mercury columns and Swan-Ganz catheters connected to water columns. Unfortunately, we had no idea what we were doing in the ICU and little to no supervision of our diagnostic and therapeutic plans. The hospital had an open heart surgery program which provided expertise from anesthesia, cardiology, and cardiac surgery. The specialty of Critical Care was in the birthing process, and we all did the best we could to learn and provide good care. By the end of the year, I had a sense I wanted to work in the ICU but assumed that would happen through cardiology.
The Daubert Guidelines: Usefulness, Utilization, and Suggestions for Improving Quality Control

Federal courts and many state courts have adopted the Daubert standard for the admissibility of expert witness evidence. I briefly describe the Daubert guidelines, their utility, and current use. I also share some thoughts on the implications of the Daubert guidelines for improving peer review as a method of quality control in the courtroom, alerting the courts to factors that can threaten the internal validity of research, and increasing the frequency in which experts accurately apply valid, reliable research to support their opinions.
Book Review of Gerald Vizenor, Native Liberty: Natural Reason and Cultural Survivance (2009)

With Native Liberty, acclaimed White Earth Ojibwe novelist and literary critic Gerald Vizenor ventures deeper into American Indian law and policy than before. As the head of a recent commission tasked with drafting a new tribal constitution with the White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians, Vizenor’s views on law and policy have become that much more relevant. Native Liberty is a collection of essays and speeches, many of which touch upon Vizenor’s personal history and views as the leading theorist on American Indian literature. But it is law and policy that frequently detains Vizenor here — and his warnings, couched in the terms of a Native literary and cultural critic, are worth a great deal more than yet another gaming compact extension.
World Dividends and Tax Shocks

For a sample of 28,895 firms across 30 countries and 29 years, there is a negative relation between dividend tax rates and dividend payout. Firms increase dividend payout in response to both absolute and relative (to capital gains tax rates) decreases in dividend tax rates. This negative relation is robust to both increases and decreases and both shocks and continuous variation in dividend tax rates and affects both dividend payer status and dividend payout level. However, dividend payers do not increase dividend payout levels following decreases in dividend tax rates. The negative relation between dividend tax rates and dividend payout is stronger in countries and firms with better governance and suggests a dividend taxation elasticity of −0.45.
Writing on the edge: the poet, the printer, and the colonial frontier in Ercilla’s La Araucana (1569–1590)

It took Alonso de Ercilla (1533–1594) thirty years to finish La Araucana, a first-person narrative epic poem about the brutal war of Arauco, in southern Chile, and one of the most canonical texts of colonial Latin America. By focusing on a crucial episode of Ercilla's eyewitness account, this essay revisits a number of scholarly discussions that have been central for our understanding of the text. First, it takes into consideration previous scholarship overlooked by specialists, as well as hitherto unstudied copies of the poem, in order to offer a thorough reevaluation of the textual and editorial history of the poem. Moreover, it explores the frontier as a chronotope and as a locus of enunciation for colonial epic, a space that is also crucial for Ercilla's carefully crafted authorial persona. Finally, it interrogates the ways in which the discursive representations of colonial frontier spaces were mediated by the material practices of early modern book production, arguing for a more fruitful relation be...
Aryl Nitrenium and Oxenium Ions with Unusual High-Spin π,π* Ground States: Exploiting (Anti)Aromaticity

Nitrenium and oxenium ions are important reactive intermediates in synthetic and biological processes, and their ground electronic configurations are of great interest due to having distinct reactivities and properties. In general, the closed-shell singlet state of these intermediates usually react as electrophiles, while reactions of the triplet states of these ions react like typical diradicals (e.g., H atom abstractions). Nonsubstituted phenyl nitrenium ions (Ph-NH+) and phenyl oxenium ions (Ph-O+) have closed-shell singlet ground states with large singlet–triplet gaps resulting from a strong break in the degeneracy of the p orbitals on the formal nitrenium/oxenium center. Remarkably, we find computationally (CBS-QB3 and G4MP2) that azulenyl nitrenium and oxenium ions can have triplet ground states depending upon the attachment position on the azulene core. For instance, CBS-QB3 predicts that 1-azulenyl nitrenium ion and 1-azulenyl oxenium ion are singlet ground-state species with considerable singlet–...
Peridinin Torsional Distortion and Bond-Length Alternation Introduce Intramolecular Charge-Transfer and Correlated Triplet Pair Intermediate Excited States.

The nature of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and the mechanism of intramolecular singlet fission (SF) in peridinin remain open research questions. Obtaining an understanding of the population evolution from the bright state to dark state following a photoinduced electronic transition is critical. Unambiguously describing this evolution in peridinin, and light-harvesting carotenoids in general, has proven elusive experimentally and computationally. To offer a balanced description of the bright- and dark-state electronic structures, we here apply ab initio multireference perturbation theory quantum chemistry—the density matrix renormalization group self-consistent field and complete-active-space self-consistent field with second-order N-electron valence perturbation theory. At traditional bright- (S2) and dark-state (S1) optimized geometries, we find that an additional correlated triplet pair state and ICT state are derived from the canonical polyene Bu (S3) and 3Ag (S4) dark singlet excited states, r...
NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS FOR CONTINUOUS DEPENDENCE OF FIXED POINTS OF α-CONDENSING MAPS

This chapter describes necessary and sufficient conditions for continuous dependence of fixed points of α-condensing maps. It discusses the continuous dependence of solutions of operator equations x = Tx on T , where T is a completely continuous operator on the space of continuous functions, defined on a compact interval in R 1 , where T is causal and of fixed initial value with the sup norm. The chapter presents a sequence of such operators T k converging to T 0 where T 0 has a unique fixed point x 0 . It presents a theorem that leads to a sufficient condition for continuous dependence and whose verification does not depend on the knowledge of the fixed points x k of T k .