cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the modelling of continuous emulsion polymerization using a population balance with instantaneous radical termination

Abstract An analytical solution of a population balance is used to mathematically describe continuous emulsion polymerization. Steady state performance is examined. The assumption of instantaneous free radical termination within particles is made. The desorption mechanism is included. Particle size distribution information is obtained, and the effect of the desorption mechanism is noted. A desorption rate constant is calculated when the model is fit to data found in the literature.
Unconventional detection methods for microfluidic devices

The direction of modern analytical techniques is to push for lower detection limits, improved selectivity and sensitivity, faster analysis time, higher throughput, and more inexpensive analysis systems with ever-decreasing sample volumes. These very ambitious goals are exacerbated by the need to reduce the overall size of the device and the instrumentation - the quest for functional micrototal analysis systems epitomizes this. Microfluidic devices fabricated in glass, and more recently, in a variety of polymers, brings us a step closer to being able to achieve these stringent goals and to realize the economical fabrication of sophisticated instrumentation. However, this places a significant burden on the detection systems associated with microchip-based analysis systems. There is a need for a universal detector that can efficiently detect sample analytes in real time and with minimal sample manipulation steps, such as lengthy labeling protocols. This review highlights the advances in uncommon or less frequently used detection methods associated with microfluidic devices. As a result, the three most common methods - LIF, electrochemical, and mass spectrometric techniques - are omitted in order to focus on the more esoteric detection methods reported in the literature over the last 2 years.
Geology of the sea floor east of Guadalupe Island

Abstract A gently rolling surface of very soft folded sediment lies at the anomalously shallow deep-sea depth of 1900 fathoms east of Guadalupe Island. Sub-bottom echoes occur at a uniform depth of 6–8 metres over most of the area and photographs reveal organisms vigorously reworking much of the upper ten centimetres of sediment. At present, the region is surrounded by a deeper sea floor and cannot receive bottom-transported sediment. The origin of this anticlinorium is indeterminate. Geomagnetic profiles reveal north-south anomalies which are typical of the oceanic crust of the northeastern Pacific Ocean basin and which parallel the folds though are not necessarily related to them. Large tectonic features surround the area such as volcanoes, ridges, basins and deeps. Compared to these features, it is relatively deformed and appears to have a normal oceanic crust because it has (1) a long depositional history, (2) north-south magnetic anomalies and (3) a normal thickness.
Requirements for Cell Cycle Arrest by p16INK4a

Abstract Analysis of tumor-derived mutations has led to the suggestion that p16 INK4a , cyclin D1, cdk4, and the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) are components of a regulatory pathway that is inactivated in most tumor cells. Cell cycle arrest induced by p16 INK4a , an inhibitor of cyclin D–dependent kinases, requires pRB, and it has been proposed that this G1 arrest is mediated by pRB–E2F repressor complexes. By comparing the properties of primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts specifically lacking pRB-family members, we find that pRB is insufficient for a p16 INK4a -induced arrest. In addition to pRB, a second function provided by either p107 or p130, two pRB-related proteins, is required for p16 INK4a to block DNA synthesis. We infer that p16 INK4a -induced arrest is not mediated exclusively by pRB, but depends on the nonredundant functions of at least two pRB-family members.
A New Ti-5Ag Alloy for Customized Prostheses by Three-dimensional Printing (3DP™)

Three important considerations in the fabrication of customized cranio-maxillofacial prostheses are geometric precision, material strength, and biocompatibility. Three-dimensional printing (3DP™) is a rapid part-fabrication process that can produce complex parts with high precision. The aim of this study was to design, synthesize by 3DP™, and characterize a new Ti-5Ag (wt%) alloy. Silver nitrate was found to be an appropriate inorganic binder for the Ti powder-based skeleton, and the optimum sintering parameters for full densification were determined. The hardness of the Ti-5Ag alloy was shown to be much higher than that of a pure titanium sample. Potentiodynamic measurements, carried out in saline solution at body temperature, showed that the Ti-5Ag alloy had good passivation behavior, similar to that of pure titanium. It is concluded that the Ti-Ag system may be suitable for fabrication of customized prostheses by 3DP™.
Ab initio study of atomic structure and Schottky barrier height at the GaAs / Ni 0.5 Pt 0.5 Ge interface

We report a study of the atomic and electronic structures of GaAs(001)/NiPtGe(001) interfaces. By using density functional theory, we study the dependence of the Schottky barrier on the interface stoichiometry. The calculated $p$-type Schottky barrier heights vary by as much as 0.18 eV around the average value of 0.5 eV, which corresponds to a strongly pinned interface. We relate the As-Ge bonds at the interface with a strong Fermi level pinning.
Closed Boundary Offset From the Medial Axis

Closed boundary orthogonal offset has been a default function in many CAD systems and has applications in manufacturing engineering such as toolpath generation and computer science fields such as image processing. Most current solutions to this function are limited to the single boundary inputs composed of linear segments and circular arcs. This paper describes a novel method to generate the approximate offsets of closed boundaries directly from the associated medial axis. The method accepts both single boundaries and multi-connected boundaries as input. The local and global intersection problems are entirely avoided. An extended discrete medial axis transform construction algorithm for multi-connected boundaries is introduced. The associated tree structure storing the medial axis data is generated along with the medial axis. The discrete characteristic of the medial axis construction method also gives the offset method the advantageous potential to handle B-spline inputs.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Reliability and precision of a new thoracic electrical bioimpedance monitor in a lower body negative pressure model.

Objective: To evaluate the reliability and precision of measurement in a new thoracic electrical bioimpedance (TEB) monitor. Design: Prospective clinical trial using healthy volunteers. Setting: Military tertiary care teaching hospital. Subjects: Seventy-five healthy adult volunteers taking no medications. Interventions: Induction of severe preload reduction using a standardized lower-body negative pressure protocol. Measurement of hemodynamic variables using a TEB monitor before, during, and immediately after application of negative pressure. Measurements and Results: Seventy-five subjects were enrolled and completed the study. Pulse, blood pressure, stroke index, cardiac index, systolic time ratios (STR), and index of contractility were obtained on all subjects undergoing monitoring with the lower body negative pressure (LBNP) device. Hemodynamic measurements were recorded at 15-sec intervals during incremental application of 0, −10, −20, −40, and −60 mm Hg pressure for 10 mins at each pressure. Maximal tolerated LBNP produced reductions in cardiac, stroke, and contractility indices of 50%, 65%, and 45%, respectively. Pulse and STRs increased 44% and 113%, respectively. The precision of measurement (mean ± 2 SD) for TEB-derived cardiac and stroke index was 16% and 10%, respectively. Repeatability of measurement was assessed by measuring hemodynamic changes after the abrupt cessation of maximal LBNP. There were significant increases in stroke index (p .05). Regression equations were applied to scattergram plots of stroke index vs. STRs and index of contractility vs. body mass. The use of these plots allowed elimination of values that appeared to be spurious (stroke index vs. STRs) and also raised the question whether the Sramek-Bernstein equation (stroke volume = left ventricular ejection time × volume of electrically participating tissue × dZ/dt/Zo) fully explained all the factors affecting the TEB waveform. Conclusions: This new monitor appears to overcome many of the signal processing problems encountered with previous devices. The results clearly demonstrate that accurate and reliable measurement of bioimpedance waveforms is possible and suggest that the monitor is capable of generating precise hemodynamic data across a wide spectrum of hemodynamic alterations. However, the evidence also indicates that new algorithms may be needed to more fully explain the multiple factors affecting this waveform.
Effects of cytochrome p450 inhibition by cimetidine on the warm hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

Background Cimetidine is an H2-antagonist with cytochrome P450 (P450) inhibitory activity. Recent studies showed that cimetidine improves warm ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in isolated rat heart and rabbit lung and in primary cultures of rat proximal tubule epithelial cells by inhibiting P450-mediated reactive oxygen species generation. Here, we studied the effects of cimetidine on the warm IR injury in the liver. Methods Three groups of rats were treated with a single i.p. dose (0.6 mmol/kg) of cimetidine or ranitidine (an H2 antagonist without a significant P450 inhibitory activity) or with saline 1.5 h before surgery. Livers were then subjected to 1 h of in vivo ischemia, followed by 1 h of ex vivo reperfusion using a physiologic buffer in a recirculating manner. A fourth group of animals, receiving saline pretreatment underwent sham operation instead of ischemia. Perfusate and bile samples were collected during the reperfusion, and the liver tissue was collected at the end of reperfusion period for measurement of various biochemical markers. Results Warm IR resulted in a significant increase in the perfusate concentrations of liver enzymes (3- to 4.5-fold) and hepatic concentrations of lipid hydroperoxides (2-fold). Whereas the glutathione concentrations in the liver tissue were not affected by IR injury, the injury caused a significant decrease (∼40%) in the biliary glutathione excretion. Cimetidine treatment completely or partially reversed all the IR-mediated changes, while ranitidine was ineffective. The protective effects of cimetidine were associated with a 60% decline in the microsomal CYP2C11 activity. Conclusions Whereas cimetidine, an H2 blocker with substantial P450 inhibitory activity, is protective in warm IR injury, ranitidine, a similar drug with no significant P450 inhibitory activity, is devoid of any protective effects. Therefore, P450 inhibition appears to be the underlying mechanism in the protective effects of cimetidine in this model of IR injury.
Treatment of Carotid Artery Disease: Endarterectomy or Angioplasty?

The management of carotid stenosis has enjoyed renewed interest in the neurological community in recent years due to the advent of endovascular approaches. In concert, progress in medical treatment of these patients has rekindled the debate regarding the best management of carotid stenosis overall, both for symptomatic and asymptomatic disease. For symptomatic carotid stenosis, the major decision required is choosing the type of intervention best suited for individual patients: carotid endarterectomy versus carotid artery stenting. For patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis, intensive medical management has evolved significantly over the past decade to decrease the risk of ischemic stroke to match surgical intervention under most circumstances. This review will examine the supporting evidence for each intervention, and discuss the recent advances in medical and endovascular therapy that provide the data for a new era in clinical decision making.
Submission to the DTA2012 Special Issue: Approximating Time Delays in Solving Continuous-Time Dynamic User Equilibria

We develop an approximation scheme, called “pseudo-derivative (PD)” to solving the dynamic user equilibrium (DUE) problem. The PD approximation can convert time-varying, state dependent delays usually involved in DUE to a constant time delay. We study the properties of the proposed PD and the resulting approximate DUE (ADUE) problem after applying the approximation. Some issues of the ADUE, such as the possible violation of the flow conservation at network nodes are also discussed and resolved. It turns out that the original DUE problem can be solved iteratively with an ADUE solved in each iteration. Numerical results are shown on a small test network and the Sioux Falls network. The results show that the iterative algorithm can converge to some reasonable solution, although a formal convergence proof result is not established in the paper.
Structure constants of the fractional supersymmetry chiral algebras

Abstract The fractional supersymmetry chiral algebras, A (K) , in two-dimensional conformal field theory are extended Virasoro algebras with fractional-spin currents J(K). We show that associativity and closure of A (K) determines its structure constants in the case that the Virasoro algebra is extended by precisely one current. We compute the structure constants of the A (K) algebras explicitly and we show that correlators of J(K)'s satisfy non-abelian braiding relations.
The effect of treatment with single and split doses of spirohydantoin mustard on the growth delay on 9L rat brain tumor multicellular spheroids

Abstract The effects of single and split doses of spirohydantoin mustard on the growth delay and cell survival of 9L rat brain tumor multicellular spheroids have been investigated. Treatment with 10–25 μM concentrations of spirohydantoin mustard inhibited the growth of spheroids. Growth delay increased rapidly when assayed during the first 6–10 days after treatment, after which a decrease in delay was observed. Plots of the values for the inflection points from growth curves vs drug concentration were linear, and growth delay correlated well with cell survival. There was less growth delay caused by treating spheroids with two 10 μM concentrations of spirohydantoin mustard than with a single 20 μM concentration. When a 2 or 4 hr time interval was allowed between treatment with 10 μM concentrations of spirohydantoin mustard the delay observed was greater than that obtained with the split dose control. When the resolution of the growth delay assay is considered, the split dose effect can be explained by the existence of a 5μM threshold before any growth delay is observed. Nonetheless, the finding that spheroids treated on the split dose protocol recover from drug damage may have implications for the design of clinical protocols.
Lake Trout, Sea Lampreys, and Overfishing in the Upper Great Lakes: A Review and Reanalysis

Abstract To assess the role of commercial fishing in the destruction of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior in the 1940s and 1950s, we reviewed the literature and analyzed catch and effort data for U.S. waters by regression analysis. There is abundant evidence of the effect of the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus in the destruction of lake trout, but some have claimed that fishing also was influential. We considered that a persistent, significant decrease in catch per unit of effort before and in the first few years after the sea lamprey was first found in a lake would be evidence of overfishing. We found no convincing evidence of overfishing in Lakes Huron and Michigan. Lake trout probably were overfished in Lake Superior before the sea lamprey became a major influence. We conclude that statements that lake trout were destroyed in Lake Huron or Lake Michigan by a combination of overfishing and the sea lamprey are not justified. The same claim applied simply to the Great L...
Probabilistic Entailment In Stochastic Decision Theory

ABSTRACT This paper solves the problem of probabilistic entailment in stochastic decision theory according to the principle of maximum entropy. The recursive computation of entropy within the tree structure reduces this problem to an assignment of uniform probability distributionson the missing information. 1 INTRODUCTION Many expert systems applications deal with uncertain information. For example, many of an expert system's rules provided by theconsulted human experts or data collected from the environment are corrupted and not known with certainty. It is therefore necessaryto define a probability distribution on these rules or data to associate a measure of confidence or trust with them. Unfortunately, this probability distribution is not always complete and, in many cases, it is necessary to provide a best estimate, in some sense, of the missingprobabilities. The above problem is often referred to as probabilistic entailment. This paper discusses the probabilistic entailment problem
Customization Decisions Regarding Performance Management Systems of Multinational Companies An Empirical View of Eastern European Firms

Performance management (PM) is an important human resource (HR) process for the global organization. There is yet no theoretical framework for identifying the factors that affect customization decisions to standardize or localize PM systems of multinational companies (MNCs). Our purpose is to ascertain the extent of customization of PM systems in MNCs and identify factors that influence customization decisions. We hypothesized that customization of a PM system is a function of global integration, cultural distance and the upstream/downstream nature of PM activities moderated by contextual enterprise variables. A survey was conducted among senior HR practitioners working for the 100 largest companies (by number of employees) in Bulgaria and Romania. Results from a response sample of 97 Bulgarian and Romanian companies indicate that MNCs are already aware of the need for cultural localization of their PM systems and that global integration strategy and specific cultural dimensions — power distance and mascu...
Activity‐based environmental inventory allocation

Summary This article presents a generic method to assist product and process designers in measuring resource use and environmental discharges based on the relationships between process flow inputs and outputs and their activity levels. It combines activity-based costing from conventional accounting with life-cycle inventories. The method is demonstrated on four electronic assembly product and process designs. The demonstration exhibits the disaggregation and allocation of costs and effluents from various manufacturing operations. This activity-based environmental allocation approach may be integrated with inventory analysis-the first step in full and streamlined life-cycle assessments, design for environment evaluation methods, environmental management activities, and new production planning models that consider environmental impacts.
Young Children's Thinking in Relation to Texts: A Comparison With Older Children

Abstract This study investigated the thinking in which young children engage in relation to authentic literature as expressed in their unassisted retellings. Young children (ages 5 and 6) were read a narrative text and then engaged in an oral, dictated retelling. For comparison, a group of older children (grade 6) were also read a narrative and then engaged in a written retelling. Retellings were examined for evidence of thinking processes, which were tallied for both groups. There were no significant differences in the lengths of the retellings by older and younger children, and few significant differences in the amount or types of thinking. Older children tended to provide summaries of paragraphs and single sentences, while younger children provided more summaries of paragraphs and multiple paragraphs. Some differences in the types of thinking also were observed, such as the use of text illustrations and drawing inferences of text events and actions; these were used to a greater extent by younger, not o...
Estimating Market Growth for New Products: An Analogical Diffusion Model Approach

Abstract There has been a lot of interest in diffusion models as a basis for prelaunch estimates of the sales of new products, and indeed there have been several models developed that have achieved fairly good acceptance by new product managers. One of the limitations of such models, however, has been the requirement that a sales history for the new product, even a short one from a test market, for example, be available to derive the parameters of the model. For some types of products—consumer durables, services, industrial products, for example— a sales history isn't available. In this article, Professor Robert Thomas suggests some steps toward the development of models that incorporate the attractive features of diffusion models. His approach is to use, in a systematic way, the sales histories of products that can be considered to have analogous features from a buyer's point of view. He illustrates the approach by forecasting the sales of a new service.
Exploring a feminist routine activities approach to explaining sexual assault

Routine activities theory has generally focused on macro-level data, and has ignored sexual violence. Although virtually all researchers in this area have built offender motivation into the theory, and have treated it simply as a “given,” few have tried to explain it. Feminist theory on campus sexual assaults, however, not only explains offender motivation but also discusses how women are viewed by offenders as “suitable targets.” In this study, two hypotheses on lifestyle are tested and supported by a local victimization survey of 288 undergraduate women: women who go out drinking more often and women who are friends of motivated offenders (men who get women drunk in order to have sex with them) are more likely than other women to be sexually victimized.
A vector product formulation of special relativity and electromagnetism

The vector product method developed in previous articles for space rotations and Lorentz transformations is extended to the cases of four-vectors, anti-symmetric tensors, and their transformations in Minkowski space. The electromagnetic fields are expressed in “six-vector” form using the notationH +iE, and this vector form is shown to be relativistically invariant. The wave equations of electromagnetism are derived using these vector products. The following three equations are deduced, which summarize electrodynamics in a compact form: (1) Maxwell's four equations expressed as one, (2) the scalar and vector potential wave equations combined into one relation, and (3) the wave equations for the electric and magnetic fields and the continuity equation combined together. Space inversion, time reversal, and magnetic monopoles are also treated.
Satellite sensing capabilities for surface temperature and meteorological parameters over the ocean

Remote meteorological measurements over the oceans have been used extensively for weather forecasting, ship safety, and global-scale studies of climate and sea conditions. A review is conducted regarding the satellite-sensing capabilities for sea-surface temperature and tropospheric marine meteorological mesurements. The tropospheric measurements are concerned with vertical temperature profiles, integrated water vapor and liquid water, rain, aerosols and surface winds. Attention is also given to several environmental-monitoring applications where satellite sensed synoptic data might be combined with ground and airborne chemical measurements to provide improved assessments of regional and global ennvironmental quality and climatology. Special emphasis is given to current satellite measurement accuracies (errors) and to programs involving U.S. technology. Aspects of sea-surface temperature are treated in detail in connection with extensive studies concentrated in this area.
Effects of mixed reinforcement contingencies on adults' control of children's behavior

Two severely retarded boys, each a member of a different play group, experienced three regimes of reinforcement from adults [contingent, noncontingent, and mixed (contingent and noncontingent)]. The agent of contingent reinforcement acquired stimulus control of the subjects' behavior; the noncontingent agent did not. The agent of the mixed schedule of reinforcement did not gain control, but aspects of his behavior came to function as cues. The mixed adult's withholding reinforcement in the absence of the target behavior (cooperative play) evoked cooperative play, whereas his presenting free reinforcement resulted in the subjects' remaining in their inactive, baseline positions.
The entropy of the rotational conformations of (poly)isoprene molecules and its relationship to rubber elasticity and temperature increase for moderate tensile or compressive strains

Molecular networks comprised of crosslinked cis-1,4 polyisoprene, often referred to as “natural rubber,” are one of the most common systems for the study of rubber elasticity. Under moderate tensile or compressive strain, network chains begin to assume straighter paths, as local molecular kinks are removed. Isoprene units along the chain backbone are mechanically forced from their equilibrium distributions of 18 possible rotational states into a smaller subset of states, restricted to more linear conformations with the greatest end-to-end distances. There are two consequences to this change: both the configurational entropy and average internal energy decrease. We find that the change in entropy, and resulting change in free energy, gives rise to an elastic force. We derive an expression for a chain extension force constant that we have incorporated in an explicit, three-dimensional meso-scale network simulation code. Using this force model, our simulations predict a macroscopic stress-strain relationship that closely matches published experimental values. We also predict a slight increase in temperature resulting from the change in average internal energy in the affected isoprene units that is consistent with experiments.
Colloidal Silver Nanoparticles Generated in the Presence of Protective Cationic Polyelectrolytes

Colloidal Silver Nanoparticles Generated in the Presence of Protective Cationic Polyelectrolytes
Associations of motor co-ordination and attention with motor-perceptual development in 3-year-old preterm and full-term children who needed neonatal intensive care.

Background Children who have needed neonatal intensive care (NIC) are considered to be at risk for deficits such as developmental co-ordination disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. By assessing motor-perceptual development, motor co-ordination and attention already at 3 years of age, it might be possible to identify such deficits earlier than they are today. Aim To investigate the motor-perceptual development in a group of 202 NIC children but had no major impairments, to describe associations of deficits in co-ordination and attention with motor-perceptual delays, and to estimate the prevalence of NIC children with combined deficits together with a motor-perceptual delay. Method Co-ordination and attention in children born very preterm (n = 57), moderately preterm (n = 75) and full-term (n = 70) were observed according to a model for Combined Assessment of Motor Performance and Behaviour while they were assessed using a developmental scale, Motor-Perceptual Development, 0–7 years, MPU. Results In two out of 14 MPU areas, a larger proportion of very preterm than of moderately preterm and full-term children had marked developmental delay. Overall, the proportion of NIC children having a motor-perceptual delay increased with increasing incoordination and especially increasing lack of attention. Twenty-one (11%) of the NIC children had different motor-perceptual delays combined with pronounced incoordination and pronounced lack of attention. Conclusion Deficits in co-ordination and attention were associated with motor-perceptual delays in areas important for daily living and development of academic skills. Therefore, to find children at risk for developmental co-ordination disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, assessments of co-ordination and attention should be added to assessments of motor-perceptual development in 3-year-old NIC children.
Effect of chronic adrenalectomy on neuron loss and distribution of sulfated glycoprotein-2 in the dentate gyrus of prepubertal rats.

Abstract This study extends the unexpected finding of Sloviter et al. (Science, 1989, 243: 535–538) that adrenalectomy (ADX) of young rats causes a loss of granule neurons in the dentate gyrus. In particular, we determined how the vulnerability of dentate granule neurons to the cytocidal effect of ADX is related to the completeness of the ADX and whether sulfated glycoprotein-2, a putative component of programmed cell death, is associated with the death of granule neurons after ADX. We report that 4 months after bilateral ADX of young (150–175 g) rats only ADX rats that had attenuated weight gain and less than 2 ng/ml of serum corticosterone lost granule neurons; whereas as little as 15 ng/ml of serum corticosterone was sufficient to protect granule neurons from cell death. In addition, by immunocytochemistry, SGP-2 was distributed as punctate deposits throughout the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus and in glial cells juxtaposed to surviving neurons in the dentate of ADX rats with a granule cell loss. However, immunoreactivity for SGP-2 was not found in granule neurons that exhibited morphological signs of cellular generation after ADX.
Oxidant reduction and biodegradability improvement of paper mill effluent by irradiation

Abstract Paper mill bleach processing wastewaters represent a large input of hazardous compounds to the environment and these compounds are usually non-biodegradable. A preliminary study using a 5000 Ci 60 Co gamma radiation source as a surrogate for electron beam irradiation, potentially an emerging technology for wastewater treatment, to treat a paper mill bleach effluent showed that for an absorbed dose of 800 krads, chemical oxygen demand (COD) was reduced by 13.5% and 5 day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 ) was increased 58.6%. These changes altered the value of COD/BOD 5 from 14 to 5. For the same dose, the absorbable organic halogen (AOX) was reduced 76.2%. These results suggested the possibility of using the electron beam process to detoxify paper mill effluent thereby generating a more biodegradable wastewater.
Loss of CD28 expression on T lymphocytes: A marker of replicative senescence

Abstract The CD28 molecule, a disulfide-linked homodimer expressed on peripheral T cells and thymocytes, mediates an essential costimulatory signal following engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR). Increased proportions of CD28 — T cells have been observed during aging and in situations of chronic immune stimulation, but the origin and functional characteristics of these cells have been unclear. T cells which reach replicative senescence in culture after multiple rounds of cell division have shortened telomeres, respond poorly to stress stimuli, and no longer express CD28, suggesting that CD28 — T cells observed in vivo may be the progeny of memory cells which have been repeatedly stimulated. This review describes the features of Tcell replicative senescence, presents several possible mechanisms for the generation of senescent T cells in vivo, and proposes that replicative senescence may explain immune exhaustion.
Chromostereoscopic CRT-Based Display

A chromostereoscopic display consists of a single flat image in which the depth information has been encoded into color. The image is viewed through a pair of chromostereoscopic spectacles, each lens of which consists of one or more superchromatic prisms. The superchromatic prisms are designed to maximize the chromatic dispersion so that different colored objects are given different amounts of horizontal parallax while minimizing the amount of angular deviation of the line of sight so that colors with median wavelengths appear at the plane of the screen. Our purpose in this work was to investigate the possibility of CRT-based chromostereoscopic display. We were particularly interested in how many depth levels we could distinguish and the effect of RGB color combinations. Four types of experiments were conducted: 1) depth effect for nonoverlapping objects of different colors in an image; 2) depth effect for overlapping objects of different colors; 3) the depth effect produced by gradually modifying the shading of a single object from red to blue; and 4) relative depth position of the base phosphor colors and color combinations.
A bile business

Thousands of bears are being kept in appalling conditions to supply traditional Chinese medicine. Thankfully, there's a plan to save them, says Marc Bekoff
Early verification of myocardial ischemia with a novel biomarker of acute tissue damage: C-reactive protein fractional forms.

Abstract Background We evaluated the utility of an independent biomarker of early ischemic cellular damage—circulating fractional forms of C-reactive protein (fracCRP), to verify the diagnostic relevance of low Troponin I (TnI) values within the context of a workup for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). Methods On a semi-preparative scale, the molecular characteristics of fracCRP were established by electron microscopy and Western Blot, using isolates captured from patient serum on phosphorylcholine beads and purified by size exclusion high-pressure liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC). Captured on an analytical scale, the diagnostic utility of fracCRP was evaluated in first-draw plasma specimens (total CRP not exceeding 6 mg/l) recovered from 300 cardiac emergency patients with final discharge diagnoses of ACS ruled out (N = 132) or ruled in (N = 168). Results At a cutoff value chosen for 97.7% test specificity, the test metric (fracCRP × TnI) identified in the first blood draw 39.9% of all emergency patients ultimately diagnosed with ACS, and 17.9% of ultimately diagnosed patients who arrived with TnI values within the normal reference range (0.01–0.04 ng/ml). Conclusions These findings suggest that the fracCRP test metric could serve as a rule-in test for ACS in a significant proportion of low to moderate risk emergency patients.
Early Identification of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Youth: Universal Screening versus Teacher-Referral Identification

Universal screening is one strategy to enhance the early identification of behavioral and emotional problems among youth. Although it appears to be effective, it is unclear if universal screening is more or less effective than current teacher referral practices. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a teacher-rated, universal screener and typical teacher-referral methods in identifying youth at risk for emotional and behavioral problems. Results indicated that of the 24 students identified as at-risk by the universal screening measure, only 11 were previously identified through current teacher referral practices — highlighting the potential benefit of universal screening to enhance early identification. Furthermore, results indicated that academic achievement and student engagement outcomes were significantly correlated with at-risk status by identification method. The strengths and limitations of this study, as well as implications for practice, are discussed.
The BCG controversy.

Tuberculosis can be entirely eliminated, and has been in certain areas, by tuberculin testing, x-raying reactors, and isolation of open cases. BCG would interfere with such programs and might add the danger of large numbers of subclinical tuberculosis among the population at large. Any favorable report of BCG vaccination can be surpassed by reports with the use of accepted methods. For the present I believe we should leave the use of BCG vaccine in the hands of the public health departments, where its use can be controlled, and the results from it properly evaluated. I stress again the urgent need of more alternate-case control studies. Without them we cannot ever know with certainty whether BCG has any value at all.
RESERVOIR CALCULI: A COMPARISON OF RESERVOIRS CONSTRUCTED FROM STOMACH AND OTHER ENTERIC SEGMENTS

AbstractPurpose: The intestinal augmented bladder has an increased propensity to form urinary calculi. Predisposing risk factors include chronic bacteriuria, urinary stasis and mucus production. Gastric reservoirs have negligible mucus production and the ability to acidify the urine. We determined whether they also have a decreased incidence of stones.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of all patients undergoing augmentation cyptoplasty (215) or creation of a freestanding reservoir (44) between May 1976 and March 1996. Of these cases 83 were augmented with stomach and 179 were constructed from other intestinal segments, (that is ileal, ileocecal, sigmoid and/or a combination of these). Presenting diagnosis, patient age, gender, additional surgical procedures, interval to stone formation and calculous composition were recorded. Patients were excluded from study when there was less than 1 year of followup, as were those with renal or pre-augmentation bladder calculi.Results: Ston...
What Do Mothers Make Adolescents Feel Guilty About? Incidents, Reactions, and Relation to Depression

We found mothers’ history of depression and symptoms of depression among their adolescent children were both associated with the type of events that mothers made adolescents feel guilty about and with the mothers’ reactions to those events. Adolescents (20 male, 23 female) described incidents in which their mothers made them feel guilty and what happened afterward. Offspring of mothers with (versus without) a history of depression more often reported guilt when not at fault and over failing to meet maternal needs; reactions did not resolve matters and involved unregulated maternal emotions. Adolescents of mothers without a depression history more often felt guilty about specific events (e.g., breaking rules, bad grades) and reactions resulted in closure (through discipline, apologies, or forgiveness). Adolescents’ depressive symptoms were more severe when incidents were unresolved and involved maternal emotions and less severe when incidents were specific. In addition, maternal use of self-serving forms of guilt induction related to adolescent and parent depression.
Gliarin and macrolin, two novel intermediate filament proteins specifically expressed in sets and subsets of glial cells in leech central nervous system.

Using monoclonal antibodies, we have identified two novel intermediate filament (IF) proteins, Gliarin and Macrolin, which are specifically expressed in the central nervous system of an invertebrate. The two proteins both contain the coiled-coil rod domain typical of the superfamily of IF proteins flanked by unique N- and C-terminal domains. Gliarin was found in all glial cells including macro- and microglial cells, whereas Macrolin was expressed in only a single pair of giant connective glial cells. The identification of Macrolin and Gliarin together with the characterization of the strictly neuronal IF protein Filarin in leech central nervous system demonstrate that multiple neuron- and glial-specific IFs are not unique to the vertebrate nervous system but are also found in invertebrates. Interestingly, phylogenetic analysis based on maximum parsimony indicated that the presence of neuron- and glial cell–specific IFs in coelomate protostomes as well as in vertebrates is not of monophyletic origin, but rather represents convergent evolution and appears to have arisen independently. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 40: 244–253, 1999
Chebyshev-filtered subspace iteration method free of sparse diagonalization for solving the Kohn-Sham equation

First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations for the electronic structure problem require a solution of the Kohn-Sham equation, which requires one to solve a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. Solving the eigenvalue problem is usually the most expensive part in DFT calculations. Sparse iterative diagonalization methods that compute explicit eigenvectors can quickly become prohibitive for large scale problems. The Chebyshev-filtered subspace iteration (CheFSI) method avoids most of the explicit computation of eigenvectors and results in a significant speedup over iterative diagonalization methods for the DFT self-consistent field (SCF) calculations. However, the original formulation of the CheFSI method utilizes a sparse iterative diagonalization at the first SCF step to provide initial vectors for subspace filtering at latter SCF steps. This diagonalization is expensive for large scale problems. We develop a new initial filtering step to avoid completely this diagonalization, thus making the CheFSI method free of sparse iterative diagonalizations at all SCF steps. Our new approach saves memory usage and can be two to three times faster than the original CheFSI method.
Electric force microscopy as a probe of active and passive elements of integrated circuits

Integrated circuit (IC) device structures and metal interconnects have been investigated with atomic force microscopy (AFM). Tapping mode AFM was used to acquire topographical data. The focus of this paper is on the electrostatic interaction between a metallized AFM tip and the sample surface in noncontact mode. By varying the tip potential to minimize the electrostatic force between the tip and the surface, we were able to quantitatively probe voltages in metal interconnects and planar resistors, as well as image pn junctions and trapped charges.
Reasons for Women’s Entry into Sex Work: A Case Study of Kolkata, India

Several studies have cited economic hardships or poverty as the main reason for women’s entry into sex work in India. While this may be true, it is still a vague reason. For better understanding and to develop meaningful intervention, we need to dig deeper and find more specific reasons for women’s entry into sex work. In addition, while most studies conducted among sex workers in India rely on survey-based approaches to explore women’s reasons for entry into sex work, there have been no studies to date which have used cultural biography to examine how sex work becomes a livelihood option for women in Indian society. Based on the analysis of the 46 short-life portraits and three life-history interviews collected from ‘flying’ or mobile female sex workers over a period of 7 months (December 2009–July 2010) in Kolkata, India, this paper examines the socio-cultural and economic factors that influence women’s decisions to enter into sex work. This study found that women choose sex work vis-a-vis other employment opportunities because it provides them with more freedom and autonomy over their bodies, higher earnings, flexible hours of work, and much flexibility to manage their dual responsibilities of a nurturer and provider. Because of this complex structure of causation, HIV prevention programs must address the larger issues of workplace sexual harassment, minimum living wage and child day care policy to disincentivize women’s entry into the sex industry.
A relationship between the Laplace, Poisson, and Hilbert (Stieltjes) transforms

The Poisson transform of the one-sided Laplace transform of a causal function is shown to be related to a one-sided Hilbert transform of the same function. Corollaries are indicated and applications are pointed out.
Persistence Length of Human Cardiac α-Tropomyosin Measured by Single Molecule Direct Probe Microscopy

α-Tropomyosin (αTm) is the predominant tropomyosin isoform in adult human heart and constitutes a major component in Ca2+-regulated systolic contraction of cardiac muscle. We present here the first direct probe images of WT human cardiac αTm by atomic force microscopy, and quantify its mechanical flexibility with three independent analysis methods. Single molecules of bacterially-expressed human cardiac αTm were imaged on poly-lysine coated mica and their contours were analyzed. Analysis of tangent-angle (θ(s)) correlation along molecular contours, second moment of tangent angles ( ), and end-to-end length (Le-e) distributions respectively yielded values of persistence length (Lp) of 41–46 nm, 40–45 nm, and 42–52 nm, corresponding to 1–1.3 molecular contour lengths (Lc). We also demonstrate that a sufficiently large population, with at least 100 molecules, is required for a reliable Lp measurement of αTm in single molecule studies. Our estimate that Lp for αTm is only slightly longer than Lc is consistent with a previous study showing there is little spread of cooperative activation into near-neighbor regulatory units of cardiac thin filaments. The Lp determined here for human cardiac αTm perhaps represents an evolutionarily tuned optimum between Ca2+ sensitivity and cooperativity in cardiac thin filaments and likely constitutes an essential parameter for normal function in the human heart.
Immortalized suprachiasmatic nucleus cells express components of multiple circadian regulatory pathways

We undertook an extensive antigenic characterization of the SCN 2.2 cell line in order to further evaluate whether the line expresses components of circadian regulatory pathways common to the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the central circadian clock in mammals. We found that differentiated SCN 2.2 cultures expressed a broad range of putative clock genes, as well as components of daytime, nighttime, and crepuscular circadian regulatory pathways found within the SCN in vivo. The line also exhibits several antigens that are highly expressed in a circadian pattern and/or differentially localized in the SCN relative to other hypothalamic regions. Expression of a broad complement of circadian regulatory proteins and putative clock genes further support growing evidence in recent reports that the SCN 2.2 cell line is an appropriate model for investigating the regulation of central mammalian pacemaker.
From conceptual to perceptual reality: trust in digital repositories

Purpose – Digital repositories offer a great benefit to people in a variety of settings, especially since an ever‐increasing amount of information is being gathered, transmitted, and preserved through various technologies. The purpose of this paper is to underscore trust as a critical element in the infrastructure of digital repositories and to look more closely at trusted digital repositories from the perspective of the user communities for which they are designed.Design/methodology/approach – The paper looks to the literature in reviewing the concept of trust and its role in an online environment. Attention is then paid to trusted digital repositories, with close examination of the user communities’ perceptions of trust and the impact of these perceptions. Special attention is given to users within the academic community.Findings – While digital repositories may be trustworthy because of adherence to technological standards, accepted practices, and mechanisms for authenticating the authorship and accura...
The State and Collective Disorders: The Los Angeles Riot/Protest of April, 1992

This article develops a theory of State response to collective disorders on two levels. First, it examines how government agencies must seek both to be accountable and to maintain administrative capacity, but increasing accountability may reduce capacity. Second, it explores a riot situation, where a public safety agency must solve three problems related to capacity : strategy (force versus diplomacy), command (level, location, and unity), and preparation. Failure to solve these problems will render the State unable to limit the size and scope of collective disorders. In examining the response by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to the April, 1992 riots, the authors discover that many of the more serious problems encountered by the LAPD, such as chaos in a field command post, occurred before the riot expanded to a broad geographic scope