cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of pentagastrin on adult rat duodenal cells in culture.

Gastrin and its synthetic derivative, pentagastrin, trophically stimulate gastrointestinal tissue in vivo. In this investigation we tested whether the gastrointestinal hormone acts directly on duodenal cells by studying its effect on an in vitro tissue culture system. An adult rat duodenal culture line was established. Half the cultures were treated with pentagastrin daily (0.5 μg per ml) and the control cultures were treated with saline. After 3 months, the pentagastrin-treated cultures were ~ 90% epithelial cells and ~ 10% fibroblasts, whereas the control cultures constituted an epithelial-fibroblast admixture, ~ 50% of each. The epithelial cells were quite similar in structure to crypt epithelial cells, although positive identification could not be made. The pentagastrin-treated cultures had a faster doubling time, 19.5 hr, than the control cultures, 31.5 hr. This could in part be attributed to a greater percentage of proliferative cells in the hormone-treated cultures (73%) in comparison to the control cultures (36%). This latter measurement was performed by monitoring the nuclear incorporation of 3H-thymidine. These results support the contention that gastrin trophically affects duodenal tissue by acting directly on the target epithelial cells.
Environmental risk factors for inflammatory bowel diseases: Evidence based literature review.

Environmental risk factors for inflammatory bowel diseases: Evidence based literature review
Jumping for Fun? Negotiating Mobility and the Geopolitics of Foursquare

Rather than assume that there is some universal “right way” to engage social media platforms, we interrogate how the location-based social media practice known as “jumping” played out on the popula...
Post-Sling Urinary Retention in Women.

As many as 80 % of all women who complain of urine leakage will be diagnosed with stress urinary incontinence (SUI). As the population ages and SUI becomes more widespread, it is imperative to understand how to manage potential complications of the therapies used to treat this condition. As the mid-urethral sling has become the “gold standard” of SUI treatment, it is important to be aware of post-operative complications associated with this procedure. One significant complication of the MUS is subsequent urinary retention. In this review, we discuss the potential etiologies of post-sling urinary retention and outline the various modalities for achieving a timely and accurate diagnosis. We also emphasize the applications of various diagnostic tools, such as urodynamics, when evaluating patients with post-sling urinary retention. Lastly, various treatments for this complication are discussed. This chapter serves as a comprehensive overview of how to approach post-sling urinary retention, underlining the recent academic research contributions that have enhanced our understanding of how to manage this condition.
Severe Noncardiac Chest Pain Responds to Interdisciplinary Chronic Pain Rehabilitation.

Cambell et al 1 recently reviewed the causes, differential diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of non-cardiac chest pain (NCCP) in a comprehensive manner, citing evidence for behavioral, psychotherapeutic, psychopharmacological, and other approaches to the condition. In addition to these approaches, the most severe of cases may benefit from interdisciplinary chronic pain rehabilitation program (iCPRP) care. A case vignette is offered of an adult male suffering from persistent and recurrent NCCP after extensive medical evaluations and repeated acute care utilization. iCPRP care utilized physical, medical, and psychological rehabilitation approaches to properly diagnose anxiety, increase insight, improve physical endurance, and enhance overall functioning. In supplementing Cambell et al′s 1 review, consultation psychiatrists stand to benefit from awareness of iCPRPs as a clinical resource for refractory NCCP as well as other medically-unexplained and functional somatic syndromes.
The analysis of damped characteristics and location error of cable oscillation wave testing system

Compared with the traditional detection methods for linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable's partial discharge (PD), the PD detection method based on damped oscillation wave testing system (OWTS) is a new type nondestructive testing technique, which has higher convenience and validity. However, in engineering applications, the effective implementation of the test was greatly hindered by the invalid charge-discharge in the high voltage circuit of OWTS and the location error of PD. With using theoretical derivation method to analyze the principle of PD detection based on damped OWTS, the invalid mechanism for charge-discharge and the error sources of the detection system are clarified. In addition, by adopting time domain reflectometry (TDR) method to calibrate the cable length and wave velocity, the process is coupled with each other. It is very important to obtain accurate cable length and wave velocity, which can make a decisive role in realizing the pre­location of cable's PD defects based on damped OWTS. Meanwhile, by taking an operating 35-kV cable as the test case, the analysis of PD detection in the cables based on OWTS is carried out. As a result, the conclusions of the analysis are of great instructive significance to the detection and location of the cable's PD based on damped OWTS.
Prostate Cancer with F-18 Sodium Fluoride

Sodium fluoride F-18 (NaF) is a positron-emitting radiotracer used in imaging patients with suspected bone metastases. NaF PET/MRI provides numerous advantages over the conventional technetium bone scans, most importantly higher sensitivity and specificity, greater spatial resolution, and significantly shorter uptake and scan times.
Correction to: High density marker panels, SNPs prioritizing and accuracy of genomic selection.

The original version of this article [1], published on 5 January 2018, contained 3 formatting errors. In this Correction the affected parts of the article are shown. The original article has been updated.
Second Case Study: Inference of Diagnostic Rules for Breast Cancer

For this case study we used a data set that described a number of clinical cases of breast cancer diagnoses. The data were divided into two disjoint sets of malignant and benign cases. We applied the OCAT approach, as it is embedded in the RA1 heuristic (see also Chapter 4), after the data were transformed into binary ones according to the method described in Section 2.2. The following sections describe the data and inferred diagnostic rules in more detail.
Plains Indians and Resistance to “Public” Heritage Commemoration of Their Pasts

Colonialist cultures readily and even painstakingly have commemorated events from their own histories. Historic landmarks and statues mark battles where their militaries celebrated glorious victories and even where their soldiers were gallant in defeat against overwhelming odds. They also have preserved and interpreted for posterity key nonmilitary events or places in their historical master narrative. As they moved toward a postcolonial position, some have been willing to memorialize episodes and places where those they colonized valiantly resisted conquest, indeed, where the colonizer even may have committed atrocities. As Sevcenko (2004) observes:
Finding her in history: confronting the traditions of misogyny: by Rosemary Papa, Cham, Switzerland, Springer, 2017, xix +74pp., $99.99 (hardcover), ISBN 978-3-319-56610-8; $79.99 (ebook), ISBN 978-3-319-56611-5

After the defeat of the first female presidential candidate for a major party (the Democratic Party), in the United States, many U.S. American1 women became more aware of the ways in which women ar...
Effect of Rising Temperature on Lyme Disease: Ixodes scapularis Population Dynamics and Borrelia burgdorferi Transmission and Prevalence.

Warmer temperatures are expected to increase the incidence of Lyme disease through enhanced tick maturation rates and a longer season of transmission. In addition, there could be an increased risk of disease export because of infected mobile hosts, usually birds. A temperature-driven seasonal model of Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) transmission among four host types is constructed as a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The model is developed and parametrized based on a collection of lab and field studies. The model is shown to produce biologically reasonable results for both the tick vector (Ixodes scapularis) and the hosts when compared to a different set of studies. The model is used to predict the response of Lyme disease risk to a mean annual temperature increase, based on current temperature cycles in Hanover, NH. Many of the risk measures suggested by the literature are shown to change with increased mean annual temperature. The most straightforward measure of disease risk is the abundance of infected questing ticks, averaged over a year. Compared to this measure, which is difficult and resource-intensive to track in the field, all other risk measures considered underestimate the rise of risk with rise in mean annual temperature. The measure coming closest was “degree days above zero.” Disease prevalence in ticks and hosts showed less increase with rising temperature. Single field measurements at the height of transmission season did not show much change at all with rising temperature.
Integrating multiple data sources and multi-scale land-cover data to model the distribution of a declining amphibian

Abstract Determining the spatial scale at which landscape features influence population persistence is an important task for conservation planning. One challenge is that sampling biases confound factors that influence species occurrence and survey effort. Recent developments in Point Process Models (PPMs) enable researchers to disentangle the sampling process from ecological drivers of species' distributions. Land-cover change is a driver of decline for the western spadefoot (Spea hammondii), which has been extirpated from much of its range in California. Assessing this species' status requires information on the current distribution of suitable habitat within its historical range, but little is known about the effect of the landscape surrounding breeding ponds on spadefoot occurrence. Critically, surveys for western spadefoots often occur along roads, potentially biasing data used to fit species distribution models. We created PPMs integrating historical presence/non-detection and presence-only data for western spadefoots and land-cover data at multiple spatial scales to model the distribution of this species while removing the influence of sampling bias. There was spatial sampling bias in presence-only data; records were more likely to be reported near roads and urban centers and PPMs that removed sampling bias outperformed models that ignored sampling bias. The occurrence of western spadefoots was positively related to the proportion of grassland within a 2000 m buffer. The remaining habitat for western spadefoots is largely found in the foothills surrounding California's Central Valley. Our study illustrates how PPMs can improve projections of habitat suitability and our understanding of the drivers of species' distributions.
Type 6: Custodial Sexual Misconduct

Custodial and detention workers classified as Law enforcement officers work in detention facilities at all levels of government. Municipal police agencies have jails and lockups. Sheriffs and their deputies, jailors, and other detention staff are defined by statute as law enforcement officers. The federal government defines any government official engaged in detention duties as a law enforcement officer.
Aquatic Vegetation of Springs at Buffalo National River, Arkansas

The biodiversity of freshwater springs in the Arkansas Ozarks is poorly described and has received relatively little attention from researchers. Information on the biodiversity of springs is crucial for their management and conservation. This study describes the aquatic and semi-aquatic plant communities and key habitat features of several springs located at Buffalo National River, Arkansas. We report 58 taxa from among all springs, including eight genera of algae, one species of horsetail, three marchantiophytes, and one bryophyte. Among angiosperms, we found 21 species of monocots and 24 species of eudicots. Six non-native species occur among the springs and none are considered to be invasive. Data show that impounded springs tend to have higher plant diversity than springs with primarily lotic geomorphologies. Cluster analysis showed that the springs with a prominent lentic structure were most similar to each other with respect to shared taxa, while the springs with well defined, long spring-runs and no functional impoundments shared the most taxa. Geographic proximity in the watershed does not appear to play a substantial role in similarity of plant populations, indicating other factors are involved. An NMDS analysis of habitat and water chemistry data corroborated the cluster analysis and showed that habit structure plays a key role in plant community composition. Springs at Buffalo National River occurring within the Boston Mountains and Springfield Plateau appear to have lower taxonomic diversity compared to the larger springs occurring on the adjacent Salem Plateau, which is likely because of their low magnesium concentrations.
Breaking ground: Automated disturbance detection with Landsat time series captures rapid refugee settlement establishment and growth in North Uganda

Abstract Since 2015, Uganda has welcomed over 700,000 refugees from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and other East African nations, and currently hosts over 1.4 million refugees with 92% of that population living in UNHCR-managed settlements. Despite refugee settlements being essential spaces for physical protection and humanitarian aid distribution and reception, the sheer rate of refugee influx and settlement growth has introduced uncertainties around site planning, aid delivery, food security, and landscape change. For example, there is little publicly available information on settlement establishment, growth, or changes in land use/land cover for the vast majority of UNHCR-managed settlements in Uganda and around the world. To address this shortcoming, this research characterizes the spatial and temporal patterns of refugee settlement landscape dynamics using the case study of the Pagirinya Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda, Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite image time series, and BFAST, an automated land cover disturbance detection algorithm. To delineate the extent of the settlement and surrounding disturbance, a refugee settlement boundary was generated using a 2018 Landsat NDVI composite, which included land disturbed by settlement establishment and subsequent growth. Landsat time series data were sampled within this boundary to parametrize a BFAST model to detect settlement disturbance, which was deployed over 351 Landsat images from 2005 to 2018. This approach yielded sub-monthly land cover disturbances from 2016 to 2017 with an accuracy of 87.5% resulting from the rapid (within one month) settlement establishment, road construction, the spread of dwellings and other built-up infrastructure throughout the settlement, as well as the conversion of natural grassland to small-scale agriculture within the first six months after refugee settlement began. These results were generated using open-access data and open-source algorithms to pave the way for developing a near real-time satellite image-based settlement monitoring framework, which would aid refugee response and evaluation efforts that are central to Uganda's refugee hosting and settlement plans, as well as implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees.
First-generation students in rural communities: A study of effective programming components that support closing the excellence gap

Large numbers of young people from underserved populations, including first-generation, low-income, and rural, are clearly capable of high levels of achievement but are failing to do so owing to la...
Escherichia coli adenlyosuccinate synthetase: studies on substrate specificity

The state of aggregation of adenylosuccninate synthetase o (515)294^971 Fax: (515)294^)453 email: hjfromm@iastate.edu
Ferroelectric-on-Si Super-High-Frequency Fin Bulk Acoustic Resonators With Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 Nanolaminated Transducers

This letter reports, for the first time, on the ferroelectric-on-semiconductor fin bulk acoustic resonators (FoS-FinBARs) with lithographically scaled frequencies up to 18 GHz and ${k} _{eff}^{2}$ . ${Q}$ as high as 17. The FoS-FinBARs benefit from the large electromechanical coupling of the ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2) nanolaminates created by atomic layering. The ferroelectric transducer is conformally deposited on silicon fins with sub-1- $\mu \text{m}$ widths enabling excitation of super-high-frequency bulk acoustic wave resonance modes with increasing ${k} _{eff}^{2}$ at higher frequencies. FoS-FinBARs, created by a CMOS-compatible process, are presented with frequencies over 2–18 GHz, ${Q}\text{s}$ exceeding 500, and ${k} _{eff}^{2}\text{s}$ as high as 4.7%.
A Program Evaluation of State Based Grant Programs

Thirty states maintain broadband grant and loan programs as of 2020, some of which date to the mid-aughts. Much like their federal counterparts, there is limited research detailing the impacts of state broadband subsidy programs. To help bridge this gap in the literature, this paper tackles two chronically understudied areas, both of which are relevant for state and federal policymakers. First, have state-based grant programs had an impact on broadband adoption in a region? And second, have these changes spurred an appreciable economic effect on recipient communities? To answer these questions, we create a novel dataset of the publicly available grant data from state programs and their support levels. This new dataset was then connected with Federal Communications Commission Form 477 data to test the impact of grants on broadband quality. Following this, the state grant broadband database was coupled with the American Community Survey to estimate the impact of these programs on the unemployment rate and labor force participation rate.
- Erk3: Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 3 (vertebrates)

A cDNA encoding extracellular signal-regulated kinase 3 (Erk3), is isolated as an Erk1 homologue. Erk3 is 50% identical to Erk1 in the catalytic domain. The protein has been detected with antibodies, but its function is unknown. The recombinant enzyme is phosphorylated on serine residues by MAP “kinase kinase”. Thus, Erk3 may be regulated by the same wide variety of stimuli as Erk1 and Erk2. Unlike these enzymes, it does not appear to be phosphorylated on tyrosine. The catalytic domain is followed by a C-terminal region of nearly 200 amino acids. Deletion of this region does not eliminate autophosphorylation. Neither the tyrosine nor the threonine that are phosphorylated in Erk1/2, are conserved in Erk3. A protein similar to rat Erk3 has been sequenced from human HeLa cells. The kinase domain is 72% identical to that of rat Erk3, but the C-terminal domain is only 27% identical. Erk3 has substrate specificity distinct from its relatives Erk1 and Erk2, in that it does not phosphorylate either myelin basic protein or microtubule-associated protein-2. No physiological substrates have yet been identified.
Statin Therapy Reduces Oxidized Low Density Lipoprotein and Associate With Favorable Outcome in Patients After Acute Ischemic Stroke (P1.140)

OBJECTIVE: Statins are reported to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects aside from cholesterol-lowering effect. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of statin therapy on oxidized LDL (Ox-LDL) and the clinical outcome of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). METHODS: This prospective study evaluated 120 patients with AIS divided in the statin (n=55) and non-statin (n=65) groups. Ox-LDL was measured using a monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay at different time points after stroke. The patients’ clinical outcomes were analyzed and compared to those of 80 at-risk controls. RESULTS: Plasma Ox-LDL was significantly higher in stroke patients than in the controls ( p p p p =0.004) were independently associated with three-month outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Statin therapy reduces plasma Ox-LDL in patients with AIS. Plasma Ox-LDL level is a more powerful predictor of outcome than LDL concentration on admission in patients with AIS. The further study is feasible to address the correlation between reduction of Ox-LDL by statins and their impact on stroke outcome. Study Supported by: Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Research Project CMRPG880841. Disclosure: Dr. Tsai has nothing to disclose.
Astronomy Back East: The Future of the University Telescope

As telescope apertures have grown and observatories followed George Hale’s move to better sites, what will be the future of the small telescope back on the home campus? We explore how this role has developed at university telescopes, including at Appalachian State University’s Dark Sky Observatory. We discover that we, too, are looking forward to exciting new projects at a different frontier than that pushed by big glass. Technological advances in detectors and instrument control have leveled the playing field between the “left and right” coasts of the US, and given us more opportunities for research, education and public outreach back home.
Public Sector Investment in Energy: Budgetary Constraints and Trade-Offs in Pakistan

Abstract The generation, transmission and distribution of electrical power is essential for the development of an economy. Potential bottlenecks in the electricity sector can have a far reaching impact on overall economic growth. In many developing countries the public sector is the most active agent in the provision of vital energy services. This article examines Pakistan's experience with public sector investment in energy. A model of government budgetary allocations to energy is developed. In applying this model to Pakistan, the paper analyses the impact of fiscal pressures, unanticipated government expenditure, and competing priorities which have constrained the government's investment programme. The main conclusion reached in the paper is that Pakistani authorities must continue to actively encourage private sector power projects. Otherwise, the country is unlikely to be able to sustain its growth given an increasingly severe energy shortage.
Radiotherapy in the treatment of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL).

The use of radiotherapy alone to treat primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) does not produce the high local control and survival rates that it does in limited extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma outside the central nervous system (CNS). Even with doses of whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) to 40+20 Gy boost, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) reported a local control rate of 39%. Seventy-nine percent of recurrences were in the 60 Gy region. The median survival was 11.6 months. This response to local radiotherapy is quite different from the response of non-CNS Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma where doses of 30–40 and >40 Gy have a 75–90% local control rate. Neither systemic lymphoma nor PCNSL have a classic radiotherapy dose response. For PCNSL there appears to be a threshold dose that ranges in the literature between 30 and ≥50 Gy with a median of 40 Gy. Therefore, when radiotherapy is combined with chemotherapy that crosses the BBB, WBRT and/or boost doses may be able to be decreased, especially in patients achieving a complete response. Promising data from the Centre Leon Berard suggest that this is possible. When such chemotherapy was combined with intrathecal chemotherapy and 20 Gy WBRT, they obtained a 56% actuarial 5 year survival rate. Confirmation of single institution reports of favorable results such as these are needed. Cooperative group and intergroup trials are needed to define optimal therapy.
Solvent purification for residue analysis by non-distillation methods

The need for highly purified solvents for use in pesticide residue analysis has become increasingly apparent, particularly with the relatively recent introduction of new and more highly sensitive detection systems. With this increase in the need for pure solvents, several commercial firms are now supplying “high-purity” solvents produced by careful distillation of the technical grade.1 Table I lists these firms through the year 1965.
Unimpaired Lysosomal Acidification in Respiratory Epithelial Cells in Cystic Fibrosis

The mechanisms remain uncertain by which mutations in CFTR cause lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF). Teichgraber et al. recently reported increased ceramide in CF lungs, which was proposed to result from defective lysosomal acidification in airway epithelial cells and consequent impairment of pH-dependent ceramide-metabolizing enzymes (Teichgraber, V., Ulrich, M., Endlich, N., Reithmuller, J., Wilker, B., Conceicao Ce Olivereira-Munding, C., van Heeckeren, A. M., Barr, M. L., von Kurthy, G., Schmid, K. W., Weller, M., Tummler, B., Lang, F., Grassme, H., Doring, G., and Gulbins, E. (2008) Nat. Med. 14, 382–391). Here, we measured lysosomal pH in several CFTR-expressing and -deficient cell lines, freshly isolated airway epithelial cells from non-CF and CF mice and humans, and well-differentiated primary cultures of human non-CF and CF airway epithelial cells. Lysosomal pH was measured by ratio imaging using a fluorescent pH indicator consisting of 40-kDa dextran conjugated to Oregon Green 488 and tetramethylrhodamine. In all cell types, lysosomal pH was ∼4.5, unaffected by the thiazolidinone CFTR inhibitor CFTRinh-172, and increased to ∼6.5 following bafilomycin inhibition of the vacuolar proton pump. Lysosomal pH did not differ significantly in airway epithelial cells from non-CF versus CF humans or mice. Our results provide direct evidence against the conclusions of Teichgraber et al. that lysosomal acidification is CFTR-dependent, impaired in CF, or responsible for ceramide accumulation. As such, alternative mechanisms are needed to explain increased ceramide in CF airways. Non-CFTR mechanisms, such as ClC-type chloride channels, are likely involved in maintaining electroneutrality during organellar acidification.
Exixtance of equilibria for the chn-hilliard equation via local minimizers of the perimeter

In this paper we shall be interested in establishing existence of certain equilibria of the Cahn-Hiliard equation. 20 refs.
Is the chiral angle related to the vacuum charge\? A study in one dimension

A resolution of ambiguities that arise in relating the chiral angle to the vacuum charge is presented; their relationship is studied and clarified. A recently developed formulation is applied to a simple one-dimensional example with fractional charge. This example provides a setting in which the breakdown of the adiabatic approximation and the winding of the chiral angle by multiples of 2\ensuremath{\pi} can be studied. We find that the above situations do not a priori imply a change in the vacuum charge nor any ambiguity in its definition. However, a mathematical and physical criterion for the occurrence of level crossing, leading to an integer change in the charge of the vacuum, is provided. The results are given and analyzed from a physical point of view and their generality is discussed.
Development of an injectable, in situ crosslinkable, degradable polymeric carrier for osteogenic cell populations. Part 3. Proliferation and differentiation of encapsulated marrow stromal osteoblasts cultured on crosslinking poly(propylene fumarate).

Abstract This study investigated the effect of temporary encapsulation of rat marrow stromal osteoblasts in crosslinked gelatin microparticles on long-term cell proliferation and phenotypic expression for microparticles placed on crosslinking poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) composites using N-vinyl pyrollidinone (N-VP) as a crosslinking agent over a 28 day time period. Encapsulated cells (ECs) were seeded on actively crosslinking PPF composites 6 min after initiation of the crosslinking reaction, and also on fully crosslinked PPF composites and tissue culture polystyrene controls, with a cell seeding density of 5.3×104 cells/cm2. Composites prepared with three PPF:N-VP ratios were examined: 1:0.5, 1:0.1, and 1:0.05. Samples were taken at specified time points and analyzed by DNA, 3H-thymidine, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and calcium assays, and the measurements were compared with those for nonencapsulated cells (NCs). The results showed that encapsulated marrow stromal cells exhibited much higher viability, proliferation, and phenotypic expression when placed on crosslinking PPF composites than NCs. The assay results for ECs on crosslinking PPF composites were also similar to those on fully crosslinked PPF composites. The data further demonstrated that the PPF:N-VP ratio had no effect on the viability, proliferation, or phenotypic expression of the ECs. These results suggest that cells encapsulated in crosslinked gelatin microparticles may be part of an injectable, in situ crosslinkable, biodegradable polymeric composite for bone tissue engineering applications.
An interface for switching signals and a new real-time testing platform for accurate hardware-in-the-loop simulation

Testing digital control systems for power electronics applications is an intricate procedure. An effective tool for the evaluation of electric systems and drives is provided by real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation, which is being increasingly used in industrial applications. However, to be practical, the real-time simulation platform must be inexpensive and easy to set up for various tests. In this paper, virtual test bed (VTB) and its real-time extension (RTVTB), in conjunction with a custom hardware interface, are utilized to implement an affordable and versatile real-time testing platform for digital controllers. The hardware interface addresses the timing issues introduced by the presence of switching circuits in the system under test. Integrating the switching gate control signal, which comes from the hardware digital controller, requires very high time resolution. However, such high resolution is not necessary to accurately simulate the electric system under control. The proposed hardware interface separates the hardware requirements from the real-time simulation requirements in terms of time resolution, maintaining appropriate accuracy in the testing procedure.
Microwave Parametric Subharmonic Oscillators for Digital Computing

In a digital information handling system, a binary one can be represented by an RF signal of a given phase, frequency, and amplitude, and a binary zero by RF of the same frequency and amplitude but with opposite phase. The use of subharmonic oscillators to switch, store, and amplify binary information coded in this manner is reviewed. A variable capacitance subharmonic oscillator having an output frequency of 2000 mc is described, and the use of this oscillator in circuits for amplifying, scaling, and performing logic functions is discussed. The circuits described operate at pulse repetition rates exceeding 100 mc. By raising the carrier frequency to X-band, it should be possible to increase the maximum rate to a few hundred megacycles.
Creep and physical aging in a polyamideimide carbon fiber composite

Abstract The creep properties of an amorphous thermoplastic polyamideimide and its continuous carbon fiber composite have been investigated. Creep behavior in the viscoelastic (low stress) and viscoplastic (high stress) ranges was examined. The interaction of physical aging with the creep behavior of the material was found to be significant in both stress regimens. Physical aging shifted creep curves to longer times in the viscoelastic range, reducing the total amount of creep strain in both the viscoelastic and viscoplastic ranges. The amount of nonrecoverable strain produced during viscoplastic creep was highly dependent upon the amount of time a sample was held under load due to concurrent physical aging. Specimens aged significantly prior to testing showed no undue time dependence in the amount of nonrecoverable creep strain produced. The viscoplastic creep behavior was shown to be composed of instantaneous localized plastic deformation, viscous strain, stiffening due to aging, and densification due t...
Movement of amphibians through agricultural landscapes: The role of habitat on edge permeability

Abstract Long-term population persistence depends on successful dispersal and colonization. Within agricultural landscapes, dispersing individuals encounter a variety of edge types. How individuals respond to edges can dictate whether they are permeable to dispersal or act as barriers, with consequences for population connectivity. Using two amphibian species, bullfrogs ( Lithobates catesbeianus ) and Blanchard’s cricket frogs ( Acris blanchardi ), we conducted two studies to address (1) how abiotic factors influence habitat choice and (2) how habitat choice and movement behavior change based on edge type (edges were between grass–corn, grass–forest, and forest–corn habitats). In the first experiment we found that both species preferred high soil moisture environments during both the day and night; and at night neither species showed a preference for ground or canopy cover. However, during the day bullfrogs had a preference for both ground and canopy cover, while cricket frogs showed no preference. In the second experiment, we found that bullfrogs had no overall preference for one habitat type over another; they were observed traveling along the edge of two habitats. Cricket frogs, on the other hand, showed a strong aversion to forest habitat. We concluded that behavioral responses to different habitats may explain current population trends; movement along edge habitat may allow bullfrogs to readily disperse through altered landscapes whereas cricket frog declines may occur in areas experiencing reforestation due to increased isolation. Conservation practices in agricultural land will likely improve landscape connectivity for these species, especially for declining cricket frog populations.
Comparison of amino Acid polymerization in B. Subtilis and e. Coli cell-free systems; hybridization of their ribosomes.

Much of the information on cell-free protein synthesis in bacterial cells has come from the Escherichia coli system. We felt it would be desirable to use a similar system from other organisms for comparison. For this purpose we chose two organisms, Pseudomnonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis. The Pseudomnonas system has already been in use for some time and has been reported upon.' Its study was rewarding; the Pseudornonas supernatant fractions were used mostly with the more stable E. coli ribosomes, and new information on an unstable component of the supernatant was obtained. A cell-free amino acid-incorporating system from B. subtilis has been described by Taubman et al., 2 and more recently by Hirashima et al.3 This present report is largely a comparison of B. subtilis SB-19 with E. coli. Outstanding is the instability of B. subtilis ribosomes, due to a fragility of the 30S subunit. When this subunit was replaced by a 30S particle from E. coli, which readily combines with the 505 of B. subtili8,45 the activity of the hybrids formed was equal to, or sometimes better than the activity of E. coli ribosomes. In the course of this study, mutants of B. subtilis were obtained for comparison. One of Spizizen's6 mutants, 2-34, deficient in gelatinase and protease, was found to yield more stable ribosomes.
Calculation of non‐linear optical properties of pyridinium cyclopentadienylides

Finite field/PM3 calculations of the dipole moments, polarizabilities, hyperpolarizabilities, and second-order hyperpolarizabilities of pyridinium cyclopentadienylide and some nitro and amino derivatives suggest that these compounds are good candidates for non-linear optical materials.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN RIBOSOME AGGREGATION PATTERNS IN RAT LIVER HOMOGENATES AND IN ELECTRON MICROGRAPHS FOLLOWING ADMINISTRATION OF ETHIONINE.

Electron micrographs from livers of rats treated four hours previously with ethionine show a loss of the characteristic aggregation and organization of the ribo -somes. Within one and one-half hours after the administration of adenine or adenine plus methionine to the ethionine-treated animal, the ribosomes show a remarkable reassembly and reorganization into their normal configuration. These changes coincide in time with changes in the patterns of aggregation of isolated ribosome and with alterations in protein synthesis. These results indicate that, under some experimental conditions, a correspondence exists between the ribosome aggregates in the isolated cell fraction and in tissue sections examined with the electron microscope.
Does seeing more deeply into a game increase one’s chances of winning?

The substantively rational value of the games studied in this paper does not help predict subject performance in the experiment at all. An accurate model must account for the cognitive ability of the people playing the game. This paper investigates whether the variation in measured rationality bounds is correlated with the probability of winning when playing against another person in games that exceed both players’ estimated rationality bound. Does seeing deeper into a game matter when neither player can see to the end of the game? Subjects with higher measured bounds win 63 percent of the time and the larger the difference the more frequently they win.
Effects of life history variation on size and growth in stream‐dwelling Atlantic salmon

A large size variation amongst life histories for stream-dwelling Atlantic salmon Salmo salar was found and the relative effect of life histories on size varied over time. As early as December (age 0+ years), fish that later smolted at age 2+years were significantly larger than fish that did not smolt at age 2+ years. In contrast, there were no mass differences at age 0- years between fish that would mature or not at age 1+ years (October). The mass differences between smolts and non-smolts persisted until smolting, and differences between mature and immature fish first appeared in May (age 1 + years). Following September (age 1 + years), there was also a significant interaction between smolting and maturity. Previously mature and immature age 2+ year smolts were not significantly different in size, but immature age 2+ year non-smolts were much lighter than mature age 2+ year non-smolts. Based on mass differences, the apparent 'decision' to smolt occurred c. 5 months before (winter. age 0+ years) the decision to mature ( late spring, age 1 + years). In addition to strong seasonal growth variation, sizes of freshwater Atlantic salmon were largely structured by the complex interaction between smolt-age and maturity.
Hyperglycemia as An Independent Predictor of Worse Outcome in Non-diabetic Patients Presenting with Acute Ischemic Stroke

To determine if differences in outcome exist between diabetic and non-diabetic patients who present to the Emergency Department (ED) with acute ischemic stoke (AIS) and elevated blood glucose. The study population consisted of 447 consecutive patients who presented to the ED with AIS within 24 h of symptom onset and had blood glucose measured on presentation. Hyperglycemia was defined as >130 mg/dl. Outcomes studied included infarct volume, stroke severity (NIH Stroke Scale), functional impairment (modified Rankin Score), and 90-day mortality. Patients with hyperglycemia were then stratified into those with and without a prior history of diabetes mellitus (DM) for the purposes of analysis. Patients with hyperglycemia exhibited significantly greater stroke severity (P = 0.002) and greater functional impairment (P = 0.004) than those with normoglycemia. Patients with hyperglycemia were 2.3 times more likely to be dead at 90 days compared to those with normal glucose (P < 0.001). Stroke severity (P < 0.001) and functional impairment (P < 0.001) were both significantly worse in patients with hyperglycemia and no prior history of DM, when compared to patients with hyperglycemia and previously diagnosed DM. Among the patients without a prior history of DM, patients with hyperglycemia were 3.4 times more likely to die within 90 days (P < 0.001) when compared with patients with normoglycemia. In contrast, the hazard ratio was 1.6 among the patients with DM (P = 0.66). Hyperglycemia on presentation is associated with significantly poorer outcomes following AIS. Patients with hyperglycemia and no prior history of DM have a particularly poor prognosis, worse than that for patients with known diabetes and hyperglycemia.
Meson-Nucleon Scattering. I

An approximate quantum-mechanical solution of the meson-nucleon scattering problem for intermediate values of the coupling constant is presented. The particular case treated here is that of charged scalar mesons interacting with a static nucleon. In finding the cross section, attention is focused upon the matrix elements of the field and isotopic spin operators and on the equations of motion, no attempt being made to calculate explicitly the scattering state vector. It is shown that in both the weak and strong coupling limits the procedure described here gives the scattering correctly. For intermediate coupling the cross section must be found numerically. Computations have been carried out for several intermediate values of the coupling constant and the results are presented in the form of curves showing cross section vs meson energy. Since certain information about the one-nucleon problem (i.e., one real nucleon and no real mesons) is needed for these calculations, a detailed numerical solution of that problem has been carried out using the Tomonaga approximation. The relevant results of this work are presented in several graphs. Although it is not a part of the scattering problem, the calculation of the isobar separation in the strong coupling limit can be carried out so easily by the methods of this paper that a brief account of it is also given. In the appendix, a variational method of calculating the scattering-state vector for intermediate coupling is described. It is shown that this, however, fails to give the correct strong coupling limit.
Dentists’ Views on Reimbursement Arrangements Under Prepayment and Insurance Plans

A nationwide survey of 3,108 dentists showed that the respondents did not significantly prefer any one of four reimbursement arrangements. Attitudes of the dentists were found to be associated with income level and fee level, as well as geographic location. The usual and customary approach to fee reimbursement of private patients was supported by only 45% of the respondents; among these respondents, 73% preferred the same approach for reimbursement of welfare patients.
Precision Alignment of I/Q Detectors Using Fourier Transforms

Solid state microwave power devices used in phased array radars are approaching peak pulse powers that only allow characterization under pulsed conditions. This type measurement is necessary because of excessive thermal stress when the devices are operated in CW mode. Pulsed characteriztion is also desired if pulse width is less than the thermal time constant of the device. New techniques for measuring pulsed microwave S-parameters have become necessary as a result of this trend in GaAs MMIC and discrete GaAs FETs. This paper describes the coherent detection process used in a pulsed test set designed to characterize active phased array modules. Both the analytical and measurement approach to precision alignment of the I/Q detectors to achieve output errors of less than 0.1 dB and 0.1 degrees are detailed. The fundamental approach is to inject an offset frequency into the I/Q detector, digitize the results and perform FFTs on the complex time domain results yielding an image rejection value of the offset frequency. This image level is directly related to the phase and amplitude imbalance of the I/Q detector.
Lifestyle intervention and antioxidant therapy in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A randomized, controlled trial

No proven treatment exists for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children and adolescents. We sought to determine the efficacy of lifestyle intervention with or without antioxidant therapy in pediatric NAFLD. A total of 53 patients (age 5.7-18.8 years, 37 boys) were included. Lifestyle intervention consisting of a diet tailored to the patient's calorie needs, and increased physical activity was prescribed in all. Patients were concomitantly randomized to alpha-tocopherol 600 IU/day plus ascorbic acid 500 mg/day (n = 25) or placebo (n = 28), and treated for 24 months. The study was an extension of a previous study aimed at evaluating the effect of 12-month lifestyle intervention and antioxidant therapy on serum levels of aminotransferases. The primary end point of the present study was change in liver histology on repeated biopsy at 24 months. Secondary end points were changes in body weight, liver enzymes, and insulin sensitivity indices on 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test. The amount of weight lost at 24 months was similar in the placebo and antioxidant groups (−4.75 [range, −16-4.0] versus −5.5 [range, −12.2-0.4] kg, respectively, P = 0.9). A significant improvement occurred in the grade of steatosis, lobular inflammation, and hepatocyte ballooning, and in the NAFLD activity score in both groups. Levels of aminotransferases, triglycerides, cholesterol, fasting glucose, and insulin, and insulin sensitivity indices improved significantly as well. The improvement in all these parameters was not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: Lifestyle intervention with diet and increased physical activity induces weight loss and is associated with a significant improvement in liver histology and laboratory abnormalities in pediatric NAFLD. Alpha-tocopherol plus ascorbic acid does not seem to increase the efficacy of lifestyle intervention alone. (HEPATOLOGY 2008.)
Ferromagnetic Relaxation by the Exchange Interaction between Ferromagnetic Electrons and Conduction Electrons

The Hamiltonian for the exchange interaction between the ferromagnetic $d$ electrons and the conduction $s$ electrons is derived. The ferromagnetic relaxation time caused by the $s\ensuremath{-}d$ exchange interaction is calculated in a spin wave approximation. When one uses a screened value of the exchange integral ($\frac{{J}_{\mathrm{atomic}}}{30}$), the calculated relaxation time for nickel at room temperature is 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ sec as compared to the time 2.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}$ sec needed to account for the experimental line width. The exchange relaxation may be dominant in materials such as alloys which have narrower lines than nickel.
Collection Efficiency of the Aerosol Mass Spectrometer for Chamber-Generated Secondary Organic Aerosols

The collection efficiency (CE) of the aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) for chamber-generated secondary organic aerosol (SOA) at elevated mass concentrations (range: 19–207 μg m−3; average: 64 μg m−3) and under dry conditions was investigated by comparing AMS measurements to scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS), Sunset semi-continuous carbon monitor (Sunset), and gravimetric filter measurements. While SMPS and Sunset measurements are consistent with gravimetric filter measurements throughout a series of reactions with varying parent hydrocarbon/oxidant combinations, AMS CE values were highly variable ranging from unity to <15%. The majority of mass discrepancy reflected by low CE values does not appear to be due to particle losses either in the aerodynamic lens system or in the vacuum chamber as the contributions of these mechanisms to CE are low and negligible, respectively. As a result, the largest contribution to CE in the case of chamber-generated SOA appears to be due to particle bounce at the vapor...