cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Melting in multilayer adsorbed films

We present both an improved model and new experimental data concerning the problem of melting in multilayer adsorbed films. The model treats in a mutually consistent manner all interfaces in a stratified film. This results in the prediction of substrate freezing, a phenomenon thermodynamically analogous to surface melting. We also compare the free energies of stratified films to those of homogeneous films. This leads to an orderly classification of multilayer phase diagrams in the vicinity of the bulk triple point. The results of the model are compared with the experimentally known systems. Of these, only methane/graphite exhibits melting from homogeneous solid to homogeneous liquid in multilayer films. The systems Ne/graphite and Ar/graphite, studied by Zhu and Dash, exhibit surface melting and substrate freezing instead. We observe experimentally, by means of pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance, that melting in methane adsorbed on graphite extends below the film thickness at which the latent heat of melting is known to vanish. The multilayer melting curve in this system is a first-order prewetting transition, extending from triple-point dewetting at bulk coexistence down to a critical point where the latent heat vanishes at about four layers, and apparently extending to thinner films as a higher-order, two-dimensional phase transition. It would therefore seem that methane/graphite is an ideal system in which to study the evolution of melting from two dimensions to three dimensions.
Long-term efficacy and safety of questionnaire-based initiation of urgency urinary incontinence treatment

Objective The objective of the study was to determine the longer-term efficacy and safety of initiating treatment for urgency-predominant urinary incontinence (UUI) in women diagnosed using a simple questionnaire rather than an extensive evaluation. Study Design Women completing a 12 week randomized controlled trial of fesoterodine therapy for UUI diagnosed by questionnaire were invited to participate in a 9 month, open-label continuation study. UUI and voiding episodes were collected using voiding diaries. Participant satisfaction was measured by questionnaire. Safety was assessed by the measurement of postvoid residual volume and adverse event monitoring; if necessary, women underwent a specialist evaluation. The longitudinal changes in UUI and voiding episodes were evaluated using linear mixed models adjusting for baseline. Results Of the 567 women completing the randomized trial, 498 (87.8%) took at least 1 dose of medication during this open-label study. Compared with the baseline visit in the randomized trial, fesoterodine was associated with a reduction in total incontinence episodes per day and urgency incontinence episodes per day at the end of the open-label study (adjusted mean [SE], 4.6 [0.12] to 1.2 [0.13] and 3.9 [0.11] to 0.9 [0.11], respectively, P Conclusion Using a simple validated questionnaire to diagnose and initiate treatment for UUI in community-dwelling women is safe and effective, allowing timely treatment by primary care practitioners.
An Empirical Analysis of Exposure-Based Regulation to Abate Toxic Air Pollution

Abstract Title III of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments requires the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate 189 air toxics, including emissions from by-product coke ovens. Economists criticize the inefficiency of uniform standards, but Title III makes no provision for flexible regulatory instruments. Environmental health scientists suggest that population exposure, not necessarily ambient air quality, should motivate environmental air pollution policies. Using an engineering-economic model of the United States steel industry, we estimate that an exposure-based policy can achieve the same level of public health as coke oven emissions standards and can reduce compliance costs by up to 60.0%.
Slow dynamics in glassy systems

Abstract We describe similarities in the features of various glassy systems where interactions and randomness compete. For example, Coulomb glasses have a gap in their single-particle density of states centred at the Fermi energy. This gap is analogous to the hole in the distribution of local fields of spin glasses and of ordinary glasses with dipolar interactions between two-level systems. When the field or energy where these holes are centred is suddenly shifted by the application of an external field, a new hole or gap develops roughly logarithmically in time. Such slow relaxation is characteristic of glassy systems. If we assume that this logarithmic behaviour applies for small perturbations, then thermal fluctuations will lead to fluctuations in the density of states and l/f noise.
Fermented or Chemically-Treated Colostrum and Nonsalable Milk in Feeding Programs for Calves,

Abstract Nonsalable milk and colostrum were compared with milk replacer or whole milk in feeding programs for calves. In Trial 1, milk replacer, fermented colostrum, or fermented colostrum (to 14 days) followed by fermented nonsalable milk (14 to 28 days) were fed to calves once daily until weaning at 28 days of age. In Trial 2, whole milk, acidified (propionic acid) colostrum, acidified nonsalable milk, and acidified colostrum (to 14 days) followed by acidified nonsalable milk (14 to 28 days) were fed as in Trial 1. Starter was available to all calves. Few health problems were encountered in either trial, but calves accepted acidified diets less readily than whole milk, particularly during summer. Reduced acceptability was attributed to fermentation which lowered pH to approximately 4. No differences in weight gains were detected. Calves fed fermented colostrum consumed less dry matter from liquid than other calves but ate more starter, resulting in similar total intakes of dry matter for all groups. Feeding programs using both fermented or acidified colostrum and nonsalable milk are effective, but problems with intake can occur during summer feeding. A third trial compared acceptability of fresh, frozen colostrum with colostrum acidified (pH 4.6) with propionic acid, colostrum acidified (pH 3.9) with propionic and lactic acids, and the latter neutralized (pH 6.0) with sodium bicarbonate. The acid-colostrum (pH 3.9) was used to simulate the acid-feed in Trial 2 that was not accepted; calves either rejected all or a considerable portion of this feed. Refusals were minimal for calves offered other diets. Feed intakes of calves fed acid-colostrum neutralized with sodium bicarbonate were similar to those of calves fed colostrum that had been frozen.
Windows usage in a plant automation system

Abstract Current control room user interfaces were developed primarily with the process operator in mind, and concentrated on the process control aspect of the plant. Process control, however, is just one of the many aspects of total plant operation and an operator is only one of the many information users. To be truly effective and provide a return on investment, a control system interface must address the needs of a wide range of users: process operators, maintenance technicians, control engineers, supervisors, managers, each with different concerns with one or more aspects of plant-wide operations. This places new requirements on the user interface for a plant automation system. This paper explores these requirements and suggests the use of windows to satisfy user needs.
Time-delay feedback control of lathe cutting tools

For some machining operations, tool vibrations decay with time, the trivial solution is a stable equilibrium solution, and hence the machined surface is smooth. For other operating conditions, the trivial solution is unstable and the tool undergoes large oscillations called chatter, which might be periodic, quasiperiodic, or chaotic, and hence the surface finish will not be smooth. Therefore, chatter must be avoided or mitigated to maintain machining tolerances, preserve surface finish, and prevent tool breakage. Therefore, extensive research has been devoted to the understanding of the mechanisms of, modeling of, and methods of controlling machine–tool chatter. In this paper, we show that the region of linearly stable trivial solution can be widened considerably using time-delay acceleration feedback.
From objects-first to design-first with multimedia and intelligent tutoring

"Objects-first" is an increasingly popular strategy for teaching object-oriented programming by introducing the concepts of objects, classes, and instances before procedural elements of a programming language. Still, this approach emphasizes coding rather than other critical aspects of software development, notably problem-solving and design. We propose a "design-first" curriculum, which subsumes an objects-first approach into lessons that also introduce object-oriented analysis and design, using elements of UML before implementing any code. We also present CIMEL ITS, an intelligent tutoring system that uses the design-first approach to help students of various learning styles in a CS1 course. It interfaces with an IDE we have chosen specifically to support the design-first curriculum, and CIMEL, multimedia courseware which has been shown to be effective in helping students learn object-oriented programming concepts.
Bayesian semiparametric mixture Tobit models with left censoring, skewness, and covariate measurement errors

Common problems to many longitudinal HIV/AIDS, cancer, vaccine and environmental exposure studies are the presence of a lower limit of quantification of an outcome with skewness and time-varying covariates with measurement errors. There has been relatively little work published simultaneously dealing with these features of longitudinal data. In particular, left-censored data falling below a limit of detection (LOD) may sometimes have a proportion larger than expected under a usually assumed log-normal distribution. In such cases, alternative models which can account for a high proportion of censored data should be considered. In this article, we present an extension of the Tobit model that incorporates a mixture of true undetectable observations and those values from a skew-normal distribution for an outcome with possible left-censoring and skewness, and covariates with substantial measurement error. To quantify the covariate process, we offer a flexible nonparametric mixed-effects model within the Tobit framework. A Bayesian modeling approach is used to assess the simultaneous impact of left-censoring, skewness and measurement error in covariates on inference. The proposed methods are illustrated using real data from an AIDS clinical study.
Soluble metabolites in intercellular regions of squash hypocotyl tissues: Implications for exudation

Amino acids, organic acids, and sugars make up the bulk of 14C-assimilates that leach from freshly excised sections of subterranean hypocotyls of squash plants allowed to fix 14CO2 photosynthetically. Based on kinetics of leakage, it appears that metabolites are present in significant levels in intercellular regions of squash hypocotyls and that they may be the major source of hypocotyl exudates. Although the anatomical relations of epidermal cells hinder excessive metabolite losses by subterranean portions of hypocotyls, avenues of diffusion are continuous along cell walls and middle lamellae between cortical tissue and the hypocotyl surface. re]19751115
Wittgenstein and religious dogma

It is well understood that Wittgenstein defends religious faith against positivistic criticisms on the grounds of its logical independence. But exactly how are we to understand the nature of that independence? Most scholars take Wittgenstein to equate language-games with belief-systems, and thus to assert that religions are logical schemes founded on their own basic beliefs and principles of inference. By contrast, I argue that on Wittgenstein’s view, to have religious faith is to hold fast to a certain picture of the world according to which one orients one’s actions and attitudes, possibly even in dogmatic defiance of contrary evidence. Commitment to such a picture is grounded in passion, not intellection, and systematic coherence is largely irrelevant.
HIV Infection and Stage of Illness: A Comparison of Family, Friend, and Professional Social-Support Providers Over a 2-Year Period

Participants listed up to 9 social-support providers per research interval. Social-support providers were placed into 1 of 3 categories: (a) family, (b) friends, or (c) professional. Stage of illness was reported for each participant at each data-collection period. Comparisons were made between the type of social-support providers at the initial, 1-year, and 2-year time intervals. Past research conducted in large urban cities has reported differences between family and friend social-support providers; namely, family was described as non-involved or hostile. In addition, increased severity of illness was reported to decrease total number of friend social supports and to increase total number of family social supports. The current study, which was conducted with a midwestern rural and small urban population, did not find evidence to support noninvolved or hostile family or decreasing social-support systems as severity of illness increased. In fact, the current study found similar levels of family and friend social support that was maintained over the 2-year time period.
Transient response of continuous-flow stirred reactors containing heterogeneous systems for catalysis or sorption

Abstract Time domain solutions are presented for the transient response of an isothermal CFSR with one-dimensional diffusion and first-order irreversible chemical reaction in catalyst particles or liquid pools of regular geometry and with mass transfer resistance at the fluid-catalyst interface. Three different cases of feed perturbations have been considered, namely, step input, impulse input and the sudden introduction of pellets into the reactor. The solutions have been derived in a general manner, without specifying the particle shape, and are in terms of characteristic functions defined for each of the three particle geometries considered, i.e. slab with sealed edges, cylinder with sealed ends, and sphere. Asymptotic solutions suitable for large Thiele parameters (gf≥3) have also been derived and are particularly convenient when the series solutions converge slowly. Experimental verification of the exact and asymptotic solutions for a specific case of absorption and diffusion in a liquid pool is presented.
Perioperative care of the patient with renal failure.

Postoperative acute renal failure (ARF) is associated with poor clinical outcomes, particularly in patients who require renal replacement therapy. Elimination of risk factors for ARF whenever possible, as well as early diagnosis, may improve the outcome of this devastating illness. Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are at high risk for development of perioperative complications whose rates vary according to the burden of associated ailments as well as the type and emergent nature of the operation. For uremic patients undergoing surgery, a comprehensive approach is necessary to minimize morbidity and mortality imposed by numerous comorbid conditions. This article addresses the prevention of postoperative ARF and the perioperative care of patients with ESRD.
Synergistic efficacy of O6benzylguanine and 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) in a human colon cancer xenograft completely resistant to BCNU alone

The DNA repair protein O6alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (alkyltransferase) repairs cytotoxic DNA damage formed by 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU). High levels of this repair protein cause tumor drug resistance to nitrosoureas. To investigate the ability of a direct alkyltransferase inhibitor, O6-benzylguanine, to reverse the nitrosourea resistance of human colon cancer cells, we studied the VACO 6 cell line which has high alkyltransferase and is completely resistant to BCNU at maximal tolerated doses in the xenograft model. O6-Benzylguanine at 0.5 μgmL for 1 hr inactivated VACO 6 alkyltransferase by > 98% and reduced the ic50 of BCNU by 3- to 4-fold. Further analysis indicated that these two agents act in a highly synergistic fashion. In xenograft bearing athymic mice, dose-dependent depletion of hepatic and tumor alkyltransferase was noted. To maintain alkyltransferase depletion in the xenograft for at least 24 hr, two doses of 60 mgkgO6-benzylguanine were given 1 hr prior and 7 hr after BCNU. Under these conditions, VACO 6 xenografts became responsive to BCNU with significant reductions (P < 0.001) in the tumor growth rate. The combination increased toxicity to the host, reducing the maximum tolerated dose of BCNU by approximately 50%. This study provides definitive evidence that high alkyltransferase activity is responsible for BCNU resistance in human colon cancer xenografts and that with careful drug scheduling, O6-benzylguanine can sensitize a tumor which is completely unresponsive to BCNU alone. Further studies which optimize the therapeutic index of BCNU and O6-benzylguanine in vivo will define the schedule to be used in broader preclinical studies.
Latitudinal, vertical, and seasonal variations of C1‐C4 alkyl nitrates in the troposphere over the Pacific Ocean during PEM‐Tropics A and B: Oceanic and continental sources

[1] We present concentration distributions of C1-C4 alkyl nitrates observed during the NASA airborne campaigns Pacific Exploratory Mission (PEM) -Tropics A (September–October 1996) and PEM-Tropics B (March–April 1999). The total geographic range for PEM-Tropics A was 45°N–72°S latitude and 153°E–75°W longitude, and for PEM-Tropics B was 40°N–36°S latitude and 149°E–75°W longitude. The maximum altitude for these missions was 12 km. These experiments provide the most extensive set of tropospheric measurements collected to date over the tropical Pacific Ocean. We observed high methyl nitrate (MeONO2, CH3ONO2) mixing ratios (approximately 50 pptv) at low altitudes in a latitude band between 8°N to 13°S stretching across the equatorial Pacific, illustrating the oceanic source of MeONO2. This source may be associated with the high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll character of equatorial Pacific waters. We discuss MeONO2 and ethyl nitrate (EtONO2, C2H5ONO2), whose abundance is dominated by equatorial oceanic sources, 2-Propyl nitrate (2-PrONO2, 2-C3H7ONO2), which has significant oceanic and northern hemispheric (NH) sources associated with urban/industrial hydrocarbon emissions, and 2-butyl nitrate (2-BuONO2 2-C4H8ONO2), which has mostly NH sources. PEM-Tropics A and B resulted in remarkably similar equatorial mixing ratios. The excellent correlations between MeONO2 and the other alkyl nitrates in this region produced comparable correlation slopes between the two expeditions. By contrast, NH air masses influenced by urban/industrial emissions typically exhibited much lower MeONO2:EtONO2, MeONO2:2-PrONO2, and MeONO2:2-BuONO2 ratios. These relationships can be useful as a diagnostic of air mass origin. North of 10°N, the springtime PEM-Tropics B mixing ratios of C2-C4 alkyl nitrates were many-fold higher at low-mid altitudes than for late summer PEM-Tropics A, consistent with strong continental outflow of NMHC precursors during spring.
10.3.1 Applying the Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act Cycle to Develop Best Practices in Remote Online Systems Engineering Education

Systems engineering educators are inherently challenged to provide effective education to industry and government practitioners. Separating instructors and students by time and location, as is the case in remote online education, compounds the challenge. This paper summarizes research on the impact of the use of various pedagogical approaches on the effectiveness of teaching systems engineering in a remote online environment. Using that research as a leverage point, the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle is presented as a viable process for developing best practices for remote online systems engineering education.
Improving Risk Communication

This paper explores reasons for difficulties in communicating risks among analysts, the laypublic, media, and regulators. Formulating risk communication problems as decisions involving objectives and alternatives helps to identify strategies for overcoming these difficulties. Several strategies are suggested to achieve risk communication objectives like improving public knowledge about risks and risk management, encouraging risk reduction behavior, understanding public values and concerns, and increasing trust and credibility.
Omegalib: A multi-view application framework for hybrid reality display environments

In the domain of large-scale visualization instruments, hybrid reality environments (HREs) are a recent innovation that combines the best-in-class capabilities of immersive environments, with the best-in-class capabilities of ultra-high-resolution display walls. HREs create a seamless 2D/3D environment that supports both information-rich analysis as well as virtual reality simulation exploration at a resolution matching human visual acuity. Co-located research groups in HREs tend to work on a variety of tasks during a research session (sometimes in parallel), and these tasks require 2D data views, 3D views, linking between them and the ability to bring in (or hide) data quickly as needed. In this paper we present Omegalib, a software framework that facilitates application development on HREs. Omegalib is designed to support dynamic reconfigurability of the display environment, so that areas of the display can be interactively allocated to 2D or 3D workspaces as needed. Compared to existing frameworks and toolkits, Omegalib makes it possible to have multiple immersive applications running on a cluster-controlled display system, have different input sources dynamically routed to applications, and have rendering results optionally redirected to a distributed compositing manager. Omegalib supports pluggable front-ends, to simplify the integration of third-party libraries like OpenGL, OpenSceneGraph, and the Visualization Toolkit (VTK). We present examples of applications developed with Omegalib for the 74-megapixel, 72-tile CAVE2™ system, and show how a Hybrid Reality Environment proved effective in supporting work for a co-located research group in the environmental sciences.
Control of myocardial tissue components and cardiocyte organelles in pressure‐overload hypertrophy of the cat right ventricle

Previous studies have demonstrated that there is a disproportionate increase in connective tissue in right ventricular myocardium subjected to pressure-overload hypertrophy associated with depressed cardiac contractility. While the myocardium is primarily responsive to load, the aim of the present study was to determine whether catecholamines also modulate the response of myocardial tissue components and cardiocyte organelles in pressure-overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy. Four experimental groups of cats were examined: a sham-operated control group, a group which had their pulmonary arteries banded in order to induce a pressure overload, a group which had been subjected to the same pressure overload, but in addition had beta-adrenoceptor blockade produced prior to and during the pressure overloading, and a group which had been subjected to the same pressure overload, but in addition had alpha-adrenoceptor blockade produced prior to and maintained during the pressure overloading. As in our previous study, there was a significant and equivalent degree of right ventricular hypertrophy in all experimental groups with pressure overload when assessed either as the ratio of right ventricular weight to body weight or as cardiocyte cross-sectional area. At the light microscopic level, the disproportionate increase in the volume density of myocardial connective tissue seen in banded animals was completely prevented by either alpha- or beta-adrenoceptor blockade. At the electron microscopic level, there was a reduction in the mitochondrial and myofibrillar volume fractions following beta-adrenoceptor blockade. The results of this study provide evidence for a modulatory role of catecholamines in the control of myocardial connective-tissue proliferation in pressure-overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy. There is also evidence to support the role of the adrenergic nervous system in regulating cardiocyte subcellular organelles, independent of the regulation of cardiocyte size.
The Cytologic Composition of Dacryops: An Immunohistochemical Investigation of 15 Lesions Compared to the Normal Lacrimal Gland

Purpose To define the cytologic composition of the double-layered epithelial lining of dacryops (lacrimal duct cyst), improve histopathologic diagnosis, and better understand pathogenesis. Design Clinicopathologic retrospective study with immunohistochemical studies of 15 lesions compared with normal lacrimal gland. Methods Clinical data from 14 patients were reviewed and microscopy was performed with routine stains and immunohistochemical probes for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 (GCDFP-15), cytokeratin 7 (CK7), and smooth muscle actin (SMA). Results The major lacrimal gland was involved in 13 lesions; 2 lesions arose in an accessory gland of Krause. One case was bilateral; the average age of the patients was 50.7 years. Neither visual acuity nor motility was disturbed. No lesion was discovered to have recurred after excision. Microscopically, in all dacryops specimens goblet cells and luminal pseudoapocrine apical cytoplasmic projections were identified. Lacrimal acinar cells immunoreacted with GCDFP-15 and CK7, whereas the normal ducts and the epithelium of the dacryops lesions reacted diffusely only with CK7. SMA-positive myoepithelial cells were found in the acini but not in the normal ducts or dacryops epithelium. Conclusions Negative GCDFP-15 staining ruled out apocrine metaplasia in dacryops. Normal ducts and dacryops showed no immunohistochemical evidence for the presence of myoepithelial cells. Pathogenetic theories of dacryops that implicate a failure of ductular "neuromuscular" contractility must therefore be revised. A dysfunction of the rich neural plexus around the ductules may play a role in the development of dacryops in conjunction with periductular inflammation and induced scarring.
Fabry-Perot observations of NH2 emission from Comet Halley

The (0,8,0) cometary NH2 band lines have been isolated from both cometary and terrestrial OI 6300 A OH emissions in Fabry-Perot spectra of the emissions of Comet Halley near 6300 A. On the assumption that the major source of NH2 is NH3, these NH2 measurements limit NH3's abundance relative to H2O. The results thus obtained are noted to depend on the NH2 (0,8,0) band fluorescence efficiency factor g(B); using the g(B) value of A'Hearn (1982), the NH3 abundance is found to be about 0.1 percent of that of H2O, while the g(B) value of Tegler and Wyckoff (1989) yields a figure of 0.4 percent. Both results indicate a low NH3 abundance relative to water on Comet Halley.
Adsorption of VOCs from the Gas Phase to Different Minerals and a Mineral Mixture

Vapor adsorption is an important process for the environmental fate of many organic pollutants by influencing the transport and degradation processes in the environment. This work is part of an attempt to understand vapor adsorption by systematically studying the influence of adsorbent, adsorbate, temperature, and relative humidity (RH) on the adsorption equilibrium. Here adsorption to three well-defined minerals (hematite, corundum, and lime) was studied by a chromatographic method. An exponential decrease of the adsorption coefficients of all tested compounds on all adsorbents was found between 30 and 90% RH. Below 30%, the influence of relative humidity was even stronger. The same functional relationship had been found for quartz and clay minerals tested earlier (1, 2). We therefore hypothesize that this relationship may be valid for all minerals in general. Differences in the surface area-normalized adsorption on different mineral surfaces were found, and they were most distinct at low relative humidi...
DNA: a model compound for solution studies of macromolecules

Well-defined, monodisperse, homologous series of oligonucleotides and DNA restriction fragments may now be produced and used as models of rigid and semirigid rodlike molecules in solution. Information from optical experiments on these model systems aids in the formulation and testing of theories of macromolecular dynamics in both dilute and concentrated solution.
Web 2.0 Technologies: Facilitating Interaction in an Online Human Services Counseling Skills Course

In the face-to-face classroom, human services counseling educators rely on highly interpersonal, interactive methods to teach clinical skills. Replicating these instructional methods in the asynchr...
DAVID MASSON, BELLES LETTRES , AND A VICTORIAN THEORY OF THE NOVEL

It might seem bold, or even presumptuous, to assert that there is a clearly identifiable unified theory of the novel present in any aspect of Victorian literary culture. As John C. Olmsted rightly observes, assessing the presence of any specific and consistent critical stance in Victorian criticism is a difficult task; thus, any attempt to evaluate Victorian criticism of the novel is problematic. Victorian periodical criticism is inconsistent, [and] most of it is deservedly forgotten. . . . The reader [of early Victorian novel criticism] finds he must take into account the prejudices of individual reviewers, the political affiliation of the periodical in which a review appears and, all too often in the 1830s, the ties that journals and reviewers had with publishing houses. (Olmsted xiii–xiv) Another problem in assessing Victorian novel criticism lies in the aggressively non-theoretical stance of many Victorian critics. Edwin Eigner and George Worth characterize Victorian criticism of the novel as “written by highly intelligent reviewers and essayists . . . [most of whom] rather prided themselves on the non-theoretical character of their intellects” (1). The absence of theory – perceived or in actuality – in Victorian criticism makes the task of identifying common theoretical concerns and systematic approaches a difficult proposition.
Afro-Mexican Dance

Gonzalez, Anita. Afro-Mexico: Dancing between Myth and Reality. Foreword by Ben Vinson III, photographs by George O. Jackson and Jose Manuel Pellicer. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010; 163 p...
Reformulated radial basis neural networks trained by gradient descent

This paper presents an axiomatic approach for constructing radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. This approach results in a broad variety of admissible RBF models, including those employing Gaussian RBFs. The form of the RBFs is determined by a generator function. New RBF models can be developed according to the proposed approach by selecting generator functions other than exponential ones, which lead to Gaussian RBFs. This paper also proposes a supervised learning algorithm based on gradient descent for training reformulated RBF neural networks constructed using the proposed approach. A sensitivity analysis of the proposed algorithm relates the properties of RBFs with the convergence of gradient descent learning. Experiments involving a variety of reformulated RBF networks generated by linear and exponential generator functions indicate that gradient descent learning is simple, easily implementable, and produces RBF networks that perform considerably better than conventional RBF models trained by existing algorithms.
In vivo MRI identifies cholinergic circuitry deficits in a Down syndrome model.

Abstract In vivo quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was employed to detect brain pathology and map its distribution within control, disomic mice (2N) and in Ts65Dn and Ts1Cje trisomy mice with features of human Down syndrome (DS). In Ts65Dn, but not Ts1Cje mice, transverse proton spin–spin ( T 2 ) relaxation time was selectively reduced in the medial septal nucleus (MSN) and in brain regions that receive cholinergic innervation from the MSN, including the hippocampus, cingulate cortex, and retrosplenial cortex. Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs) in the MSN, identified by choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and nerve growth factor receptors p75 NTR and TrkA immunolabeling were reduced in Ts65Dn brains and in situ acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was depleted distally along projecting cholinergic fibers, and selectively on pre- and postsynaptic profiles in these target areas. T 2 effects were negligible in Ts1Cje mice that are diploid for App and lack BFCN neuropathology, consistent with the suspected relationship of this pathology to increased App dosage. These results establish the utility of quantitative MRI in vivo for identifying Alzheimer's disease-relevant cholinergic changes in animal models of DS and characterizing the selective vulnerability of cholinergic neuron subpopulations.
The reliability of the Eating Disorder Examination-Self-Report Questionnaire Version (EDE-Q).

Objective This research investigated the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the Eating Disorder Examination-Self-Report Questionnaire Version (EDE-Q), a 41-item measure adapted from the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE). The EDE is a structured clinical interview assessing the key behavioral features and associated psychopathology of eating disorders. Results Results indicated excellent internal consistency and 2-week test-retest reliability for the four subscales of the EDE-Q: Restraint, Weight Concern, Shape Concern, and Eating Concern. There was somewhat less stability in the items measuring the occurrence and frequency of the key behavioral features of eating disorders. Conclusions Overall, results support the psychometric adequacy of the EDE-Q. © 1999 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 25: 349–351, 1999.
Next-generation sequencing in breast cancer: translational science and clinical integration

Since the unveiling of the first draft human genome in 2001 [1,2], there has been a rapid development of technologies that can sequence entire human genomes, transcriptomes and methylomes in an expedient and cost-effective manner [3]. The current suite of technologies, known collectively as next-generation sequencing (NGS), has ushered in an exciting era of genomics research that has precipitated the democratization of large-scale sequencing from genome centers to individual laboratories. In particular, NGS has revolutionized how genes are studied in malignancies by providing single nucleotide resolution to detect a variety of mutations, measure differential gene expression, and determine methylation states on a genome-wide scale [4]. Since the sequencing of the first cancer genome [5], there has been a rapid production of cancer sequencing data, most notably demonstrated by the efforts of major consortia such as The Cancer Genome Atlas and the International Cancer Genome Consortium [6]. These groups are actively sequencing tens of thousands of cancer genomes and transcriptomes and have already reported a variety of recurrently mutated genes and pathways with therapeutic implications. NGS continues to make headway in cancer research by discovering disease-causing mutations, identifying novel drug targets and implementing therapeutic individualization. One arena where NGS is making great strides in translational research is in the study of breast cancer. This was first demonstrated by seminal work at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Cambridge, UK) where the use of NGS revealed a diverse spectrum of somatic rearrangements in breast cancer [7]. This work reported that breast cancers contain a plethora of rearrangements including: tandem duplications, interand intra-chromosomal gene fusions, deletions
Effect of Dursban 44 on semen output of Holstein bulls.

Abstract Dursban 44, an insecticide for lice control, was applied to 185 Holstein bulls 9 to 52 mo of age. These sires were in various stages of progeny testing at an artificial insemination center. Application of this product killed 7 bulls, and the remaining bulls exhibited varying severity of illness with 6 classified as very sick. This study evaluated the effect of this illness on semen production. Semen output on 40,950 ejaculates from 583 Holstein bulls collected from July 1, 1975, through March 31, 1981, was analyzed to establish normal semen production and to estimate the effect of illness caused by Dursban 44 treatment. Ejaculate number, days between collections by previous number of ejaculates, calendar months, years, and ages of bulls affected the semen output characteristics, original volume, sperm concentration, percent motile sperm, total sperm per ejaculate, percent prefreeze discards, percent postthaw sperm motility, and percent postthaw discards. Ejaculate volume, motility, total percent prefreeze discards, and percent postthaw discards were influenced negatively on the 6 very sick bulls. Percent postthaw discards were higher on all bulls treated with Dursban 44 for up to 6 mo post-treatment.
Lubiprostone activates non-CFTR-dependent respiratory epithelial chloride secretion in cystic fibrosis mice

Periciliary fluid balance is maintained by the coordination of sodium and chloride channels in the apical membranes of the airways. In the absence of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CF...
Testing an exercise intervention to improve aerobic conditioning and autonomic function after an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Background: Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are an increasingly common treatment for survivors of sudden cardiac arrest or others with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Health-care providers are often reluctant to prescribe exercise for this group because of the belief that it will provoke ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac arrest; patients are often afraid to exercise because of concern over receiving an ICD shock. A social cognitive theory-driven exercise intervention aimed at stabilizing cardiac arrhythmias and reducing ICD shocks by increasing parasympathetic autonomic nervous system control is described. Methods: The exercise intervention has two phases that include an 8-week aerobic conditioning component followed by a 16-week exercise maintenance component. The aerobic exercise intervention is expected to have significant impact on cardiopulmonary function, ventricular arrhythmias, cardiac autonomic function, and self-efficacy in persons who have an ICD. The exercise intervention is currently being tested using a randomized clinical trial format, the results of which will be available in 2012. Conclusion: The exercise after ICD trial is one of the first clinical trials to test the effects of aerobic exercise on cardiopulmonary outcomes after receiving an ICD for primary or secondary prevention of sudden cardiac arrest. (PACE 2010; 973–980)
On literature’s use(ful/less)ness: reconceptualizing the literature curriculum in the age of globalization

This paper begins by examining how debates about literature’s usefulness or, more specifically, its uselessness, have been framed in terms of the binary between utilitarianism and pragmatism on the one hand, and between humanism and idealism on the other. Instead of conceiving the literature curriculum in terms of a position one privileges in a binary structure, the question is whether the curriculum may be conceptualized as a hybrid space incorporating both values of utilitarianism and humanism, pragmatism, and idealism. The first part of the paper explores the hybrid nature of the literature curriculum that is framed by the paradox of its usefulness and uselessness. The second part of the paper shows how this hybridity is at present compromised by World and Global Literature curricula models and argues for a reconceptualization of the curriculum through the model of a Cosmopolitan Literature curriculum. This study shows how such a curriculum would adequately prepare students for global labour markets wh...
Commentary: Obesity-years—a new metric to measure health effects of obesity

Nutrition Examination Survey. United States: CDC, 2002. 28 CDC. State-specific prevalence of obesity among adults— United States. MMWR 2008;57:765–68. 29 Flegal KM, Graubard BI, Williamson DF, Gail MH. Excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity. JAMA 2005;293:1861–67. 30 Olshansky SJ, Passaro DJ, Hershow RC et al. A potential decline in life expectancy in the United States in the 21st century. N Engl J Med 2005;352:1138–45. 31 Leffondre K, Abrahamowicz M, Siemiatycki J, Rachet B. Modeling smoking history: a comparison of different approaches. Am J Epidemiol 2002;156:813–23.
Use of relational databases to evaluate regional petroleum accumulation, groundwater flow, and CO2 sequestration in Kansas

Large-scale relational databases and geographic information system tools are used to integrate temperature, pressure, and water geochemistry data from numerous wells to better understand regional-scale geothermal and hydrogeological regimes of the lower Paleozoic aquifer systems in the mid-continent and to evaluate their potential for geologic CO2 sequestration. The lower Paleozoic (Cambrian to Mississippian) aquifer systems in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma comprise one of the largest regional-scale saline aquifer systems in North America. Understanding hydrologic conditions and processes of these regional-scale aquifer systems provides insight to the evolution of the various sedimentary basins, migration of hydrocarbons out of the Anadarko and Arkoma basins, and the distribution of Arbuckle petroleum reservoirs across Kansas and provides a basis to evaluate CO2 sequestration potential. The Cambrian and Ordovician stratigraphic units form a saline aquifer that is in hydrologic continuity with the freshwater recharge from the Ozark plateau and along the Nemaha anticline. The hydrologic continuity with areas of freshwater recharge provides an explanation for the apparent underpressure in the Arbuckle Group.
GCN2 sustains mTORC1 suppression upon amino acid deprivation by inducing Sestrin2

Mammalian cells possess two amino acid-sensing kinases: general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) and mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). Their combined effects orchestrate cellular adaptation to amino acid levels, but how their activities are coordinated remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate an important link between GCN2 and mTORC1 signaling. Upon deprivation of various amino acids, activated GCN2 up-regulates ATF4 to induce expression of the stress response protein Sestrin2, which is required to sustain repression of mTORC1 by blocking its lysosomal localization. Moreover, Sestrin2 induction is necessary for cell survival during glutamine deprivation, indicating that Sestrin2 is a critical effector of GCN2 signaling that regulates amino acid homeostasis through mTORC1 suppression.
Abnormal Location of Innominate Artery and Azygos Vein Simulating Right Apical Lung Tumor

Bronchogenic carcinoma was suspected in a middle-aged black man who was a heavy smoker, a heavy drinker, and met all criteria for the high-risk group. A mass density was apparent in the superior sulcus, right upper lobe. On thoracotomy a tortuous innominate artery and dilated superior vena cava was found simulating a right apical mass. Eng lish literature and sporadic case studies are reviewed. Different noninvasive and invasive diagnostic procedures are described to aid in the diagnosis of possible nonmalignant tumefaction of the thorax mimicking bronchogenic carcinoma, and to help read ers avoid unnecessary thoracotomies.
Effects of Low Level Lead ingestion in Sheep

AbstractLead intoxication is common among young urban dogs. The age, seasonal, and slum occurrence is similar to that in children. The clinical signs, radiographic, hematologic, and urinary changes, and the tissue lesions are also comparable to those in children. Because of these similarities, the study of accidental and experimental lead poisoning in dogs may be of considerable comparative interest. It is suggested that the study of known or suspected toxicologic diseases and the blood or tissue accumulation of various toxicants in urban pets, especially dogs and cats, might be of considerable value in determining the hazards of environmental lead and other toxins for urban man.
Ethical Issues Surrounding Interprofessional Collaboration

Global healthcare and health disciplines' education policy and position statements contain mandates for education that incorporates interprofessional collaboration. One of the popular educational technologies involves virtual simulation as tools for educating future generations of healthcare professionals. This article discusses potential ethical implications for interprofessional collaboration from a humanbecoming lens of understanding.
REVERTANTS AND SECONDARY arom-2 MUTANTS INDUCED IN NON-COMPLEMENTING MUTANTS IN THE arom GENE CLUSTER OF NEUROSPORA CRASSA

Extensive genetical and biochemical studies have been performed with revertants and secondary arom-2 mutants induced in two different primary non-complementing mutants which map within the arom gene cluster of Neurospora crassa. These studies indicate that mutant M54 but not M25 can revert by super-suppressor mutations in unlinked genes, thus confirming previous evidence that M54 contains a nonsense codon. At least three new super suppressors of M54 have been detected. All four super suppressors (including one previously detected) when combined with M54 result in high levels of all five of the arom enzymic activities in the form of arom multienzyme complexes very similar to (but not necessarily identical with) that in wild type (WT).—Evidence has also been obtained that the two non-complementing mutants can yield revertants which appear to result from true back mutations and produce arom aggregates essentially indistinguishable from that of WT. In addition, M25, but not M54, when plated on quinic acid yields revertants (secondary mutants) some of which are phenotypically indistinguishable from arom-2 primary mutants and others of which, although also mapping within the arom-2 gene, exhibit unusual properties. Genetic evidence indicates that the M25 secondary mutants are localized within the arom-2 gene, but that they arise from mutational events more complex than ones resulting in single base pair changes in the M25 codon.—The recovery of secondary arom-2 mutants as revertants of non-complementing arom mutants provides strong evidence, independent of earlier recombination data, that non-complementing arom mutants are located within the arom-2 structural gene of the arom gene cluster. In addition, the occurrence and characteristics of these secondary arom-2 mutants provide strong evidence, independent of the results with nonsense suppressors, that the arom gene cluster is transcribed, beginning with the arom-2 gene, as a single polycistronic messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) molecule which is subsequently translated into the arom multienzyme complex.