cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Book review: Updating Logical Databases by Marianne Winslett (Cambridge University Press, 1990)

Marianne Winslett's Updating Logical Databases (Cambridge University Press, 1990) is an interesting and useful research monograph on the problem identified in its title. The problem, of course, is how to add new information to a database, when the new information may contradict what is already in the database. As Winslett puts it:Suppose that one wishes to contruct, use, and maintain a body of information describing what is known about the state of the world. One would naturally wish to have a means of updating the information as more facts are gathered about the state of the world, and as the world undergoes change. But how can new facts be added to a body of knowledge when the new facts may contradict preexisting information? [page 1]
GP2 Head injuries in children under 1 year in children’s university hospital, temple street

Introduction Head injury in children is a common presentation to emergency departments (ED). Specific age groups are difficult to assess, particularly children Methods A retrospective audit of all children Results Study population was 403, 96 of which were admitted. The median age was 3 months. The most common mechanism of injury was fall from a bed/couch/mat (26%) followed by fall from a carrier seat unrestrained (21.8%). 13 had a CT head (CTH) all meeting NICE criteria. 8 had a skull x-ray (SXR), 5 of which required CTH. 2 additional infants met criteria for CTH but didn’t have one (as GCS rapidly improved). All CTH were abnormal with skull fractures identified. 3 required neurosurgical intervention. All 13 were followed in neurosurgical clinic. Neuro-observations ranged from 4–24 hours in patients not requiring CTH. Initial CPC were raised in 9 cases with medical social work (MSW) involvement in all cases. 6 Skeletal surveys (SS) were performed; 4 Non-accidental injury (NAI) work-up and 2 following a dangerous mechanism of injury. 11 patients represented with a further head injury. In 2, CPC were noted with MSW involvement, with one further SS. Discussion With no indications for CTH or CPC, neuro-observations are performed up to 24hours. With early senior involvement this can be as short as 4hours. Although NICE gives no specific duration for neuro-observations, with our consistently good outcomes and low representation rates, it may be safe to shorten admissions. ED staff recognised CPC in all cases, made a MSW referral and flagged this to the admitting teams. 5 referrals progressed to a full NAI workup with no additional injuries or concerns noted on MSW assessment. No admitted cases proceeded to CP case conference. This indicates that our paediatric ED staff are aware of and are looking for potential CP red flags. Further prospective study of patients discharged following observation in ED is indicated.
Are demographics associated with mucoepidermoid or acinic cell carcinoma parotid malignancies in children

Abstract Objective To identify possible associations between patient demographics and parotid cancer histological type in pediatric patients. Methods Pediatric patients (ages: birth-18.0 years) in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were included from 1973 to 2014 based on a diagnosis of mucoepidermoid carcinoma or acinic cell carcinoma of the parotid gland using the ICD O-3 codes of C07.9 and 8430 or 8550. Patients were classified into the following cohorts: Results Three hundred and three pediatric patients were diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma or acinic cell carcinoma of the parotid gland within the SEER 18 registries. Female pediatric patients 14–18 years of age were 7.68 times more likely to have an acinic cell carcinoma (adjusted OR: 7.68 [95% CI: 2.01–29.44]). When stratified by histological type, 58.9% of female pediatric patients ≥14 years of age had an acinic cell carcinoma as compared to 37.3% of male pediatric patients ≥14 years of age, 36.5% of female pediatric patients Conclusions Based on this study, pediatric female patients between the ages of 14 and 18 years are the most likely cohort to have acinic cell carcinoma. The results of this study may assist providers during the work up of a pediatric patient with a suspected parotid malignancy.
Development of a quantitative systems pharmacology model of chronic kidney disease: metabolic bone disorder

Chronic kidney disease mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) is a virtually universal complication of kidney diseases, starting early in the course of disease and resulting in devastating clinical conseq...
Bonds Lie in the Portfolio of the Beholder: Do Bonds Affect Equity Monitoring?

We analyze whether institutional investors’ increasingly extensive corporate bond holdings are associated with how actively institutions vote and monitor their equity investments. We find that institutions conduct more governance research and are less likely to follow proxy advisor vote recommendations for companies whose bonds represent a larger proportion of their overall portfolio. Corporate bonds held in equity-focused funds and shareholder proposals that are more likely to require investors’ attention drive these findings. There is no evidence that creditor-shareholder conflicts explain these findings. Our results suggest that institutions’ bond holdings contribute to their overall incentive to be engaged monitors.
NASA’s starshade technology development activity

NASA is developing starshade technology to Technology Readiness Level 5 within a directed activity called S5. The objective of S5 is to mature starshade technology to the level that exoplanet imaging missions, such as Starshade Rendezvous and HabEx, can begin the formulation phase. This paper outlines the S5 activity as a whole, to show how it closes all starshade technology gaps in a mutually consistent way. It serves as a companion paper to several other papers in this special section that report progress in specific starshade technologies.
Sustainability, Faith, and the Market

Although sustainability is a growing concern of business today, there has been little progress toward a sustainable future. This is because the idea of sustainability in academic and policy debates is too small and too beholden to the assumptions that have created today's environmental and development crises. Consequently, calls for reform have neither the vision nor the authority to sustain the relationships of self, society, and environment that define human life. Reaching beyond our profession of business management to our Christian faith, we argue for a bigger idea of sustainability that orients these relationships to God. We identify sustainability with four principles of Christian theology—which we label anthropic, relational, ethical, and divine love—and we link economic development with eight principles of Catholic social doctrine—which the Church labels unity and meaning, common good, universal destination, subsidiarity, participation, solidarity, social values, and love. This bigger idea of sustainability transforms talk about the future from a gloomy contentiousness rooted in fear to a bright cooperation rooted in hope.
Thickened Liquids for Dysphagia Management: A Call to Action in the Development of Educational and Instructional Strategies

This paper is a "call to action" in the service delivery of thickened liquids. We discuss the importance of staff education and further development of educational resources in dysphagia management involving the use of thickened liquids, particularly as related to inadequacies in staff education and training. We discuss the use of contemporary instructional strategies to promote accuracy in preparation and knowledge about the thickening process. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Thickened liquids represent a commonly applied compensation in dysphagia management with a substantial increase in the number and type of thickening products over the past few years. Because of continued reliance on instant thickening products that require preparation, it is essential that professionals who recommend changes to diet that include thickened liquids also engage in consistent staff instruction about their preparation. This discussion paper highlights the importance of staff education to minimize inaccuracies in preparation and the use of innovative instructional strategies to augment instruction.
Concentrations and size-distributions of water-soluble inorganic and organic species on aerosols over the Arctic Ocean observed during the US GEOTRACES Western Arctic Cruise GN01

Abstract Marine aerosols affect the climate directly and indirectly as well as serving as tracers of biogenic processes. Here we present the results from size-segregated and bulk aerosol samples collected from 2nd August to 10th October 2015 during the US GEOTRACES Arctic Ocean (GN01) expedition. Samples were analyzed for concentrations of major water-soluble organic and inorganic species, including acetate, formate, methanesulfonate (MSA), oxalate, propionate, chloride, nitrate, sulfate and major cations (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, NH4+). Back-trajectory analysis was performed to categorize the wind patterns into three types; type 1, originating from the North Pacific and the Bering Sea, type–2, consisting entirely of marine Arctic air, and type 3, consisting of marine Arctic air mixed with air masses from the surrounding continents. Sea-salt was the major aerosol component, dominating in the coarse mode, 1.8–5.6 μm. Non-sea-salt sulfate and MSA were predominantly present in the fine mode, 0.18–0.32 μm, and MSA was associated with type 1 and type 2 air masses. The results from this study provide useful information on the origins and chemical processes involving these aerosol species over the Arctic in summer and help elucidate the significance of natural sources as contributors for the formation of cloud condensation nuclei.
MPOWERing Global Students

Emanuel Smadja and Mike Davis had cofounded the start-up MPOWER Financing, which offered loans to high-promise international students in US colleges through an application process that opened up credit approval to more than just credit history. Their new lending approach relied on partnerships with universities, pooled private investments, and advanced risk analytics to estimate borrowers' postgraduation earnings and payback ability. Unlike traditional lenders, MPOWER opened application all nationalities and required no guarantees, cosigners, or collateral. Smadja and Davis had taken MPOWER far and fast, thanks to a tsunami of innovations in the financial technology (fintech) field. But the US political sands had shifted, and immigration had become a contentious legislative issue. As a lender to foreign nationals, MPOWER found itself at the intersection of market innovation and government policy, and Smadja questioned how to negotiate that vulnerable ground. He wondered if his company would have to adapt to an altered ecosystem. And if it couldn't, what were his options? Excerpt UVA-ENT-0220 May 25, 2018 MPOWERing Global Students Emmanuel (Manu) Smadja picked up the “Special Innovators and Disruptors Issue” of Washington Life magazine, whose cover was a photo of himself with four other up-and-coming tech entrepreneurs, and flipped to the cover story. He was elated, yet anxious, to see that his start-up was receiving high-profile attention: As an international student from France, Smadja found it hard to get the financial assistance he needed during his college years, relying on odd jobs and financial sacrifices from his family in order to graduate from the University of Virginia. He and co-founder Mike Davis began MPOWER to help the one million international students and more than two million domestic students across the United States whom they say don't have access to traditional student loan options. Putting down the magazine, Smadja's thoughts turned to the personal experience that had been the genesis of his company. As a French citizen, he had had difficulty financing his education in the United States. He recalled: . . .
Towards Enhancing Power-Analysis Attack Resilience for Logic Locking Techniques

Logic locking techniques have been widely investigated to thwart intellectual property (IP) piracy and reverse engineering attacks on integrated circuits. Although extensive research efforts have been made to examine the resilience of logic locking techniques against Boolean satisfiability (SAT) and key sensitization attacks, there still lacks a comprehensive assessment of different locking methods’ resilience against power-analysis attacks. In this work, we evaluate the success rate of differential power analysis (DPA) and correlation power analysis (CPA) attacks that are performed on the circuits encrypted with logic locking techniques applied at gate level or transistor level. To enhance the CPA attack resilience of the existing transistor-level locking techniques, we further propose a new strategy to search for optimal key insertion locations. Our analysis and experimental results indicate that gate-level locking and transistor-level locking should use different strategies to select the optimal key insertion locations. Our case studies confirm that the proposed key insertion strategy can improve the transistor-level locking technique’s resilience against CPA attacks.
Adoptive Immunotherapy of Leukemia by Endotoxin-Induced Modulation of the Graft-versus-Host Reaction

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is used for the treatment of a variety of hematological dyscrasias including aplastic anemia, severe combined immunodeficiency disease, and leukemia (Thomas et al., 1975; Bortin and Rimm, 1977; Storb et al., 1978; Bortin and Rimm, 1978, 1981). Two of the major problems associated with allogeneic marrow transplantation are the immunologic attack of grafted cells or their progeny against histocompatibility antigens on host cells, i.e., graft-versus-host (GVH) reactivity, and susceptibility of the immuno-suppressed host to endogenous and exogenous sources of infection (Thomas et al., 1975). Attempts to resolve these problems have consumed a great deal of experimental and clinical effort with moderate, but by no means complete success.
Towards a real-time object-oriented modeling approach

In this paper, we present an object-oriented modeling approach for specifying and analyzing real-time systems. Two models are used: one is an object interaction model that describes the system hierarchy and causal interactions among objects, the other is an object specification model that coherently specifies the structural, behavioral, and control aspects of objects. Our approach is applied to a simple illustrative example, the modeling of a house heating system.
Deserts, Philosophical Concept of

The article reviews the structure of desert claims – the deserving, the deserved, and the desert bases – as well as their preinstitutional and institutional forms. It reviews the distinctions among desert, merit, and entitlement, considers their moral force, and engages with rejections of desert claims.
Binational digital soils map of the Ambos Nogales watershed, southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico

We have prepared a digital map of soil parameters for the international Ambos Nogales watershed to use as input for selected soils-erosion models. The Ambos Nogales watershed in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico, contains the Nogales wash, a tributary of the Upper Santa Cruz River. The watershed covers an area of 235 km, just under half of which is in Mexico. Preliminary investigations of potential erosion revealed a discrepancy in soils data and mapping across the United States-Mexican border due to issues including different mapping resolutions, incompatible formatting, and varying nomenclature and classification systems. To prepare a digital soils map appropriate for input to a soils-erosion model, the historical analog soils maps for Nogales, Ariz., were scanned and merged with the larger-scale digital soils data available for Nogales, Sonora, Mexico using a geographic information system. CONTENTS Introduction 4 Study Area 4 Nogales, Ariz. 7 Nogales, Sonora, Mexico 16 Methodology 18 Assigning Soil Parameters to Polygons 18 USLE Parameters 18 SEDMOD Parameters 20 Results 24 Merging Datasets 24 GIS Documentation 27 References Cited 28 Appendix: Metadata 30 FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Southern California-Arizona-New Mexico and Northern SonoraChihuahua, Mexico, showing location of Ambos Nogales 5 Figure 2: Hillshade-relief map of Ambos Nogales watershed based on a digital elevation model 6
Hydrogels for site‐specific oral delivery. Poly[(acrylic acid)‐co‐(butyl acrylate)] crosslinked with 4,4′‐bis(methacryloylamino)azobenzene

Copolymers of acrylic acid and butyl acrylate crosslinked with 4,4′-bis(methacryloylamino)-azobenzene were synthesized by radical copolymerization with different amounts of acrylic acid and crosslinker. They were characterized by equilibrium degree of swelling, modulus of elasticity in compression at pH 2 and 7, and effective network density. The acido-basic properties of crosslinked copolymers were compared with linear (soluble) ones of the same composition. The study of the dependence of the apparent dissociation constant (pKapp) on the degree of dissociation has shown that conformational transition from the compact to the random conformation of the polymeric chains occurs only in crosslinked copolymers. The high values of pKapp obtained indicate that strong Donnan effects and low polarity of environment of carboxy groups are operative in acido-basic equilibria.
Mount St. Helens, Master Teacher

20 years ago, a major volcanic eruption propelled Mt. St. Helens, Washington State, onto the international stage. In this Perspective, Newhall explains how the study of explosive volcanism has changed in the aftermath of Mt. St. Helens. Many lessons have been learned through close interdisciplinary and international collaboration, and forecasts are improving, but Newhall warns that uncertainties remain high. In a related Perspective, Franklin and MacMahon discuss the ecological lessons learned from ecosystem recovery after the eruption.
High temperature tensile testing of ceramic composites

The various components of a high temperature tensile testing system are evaluated. The objective is the high temperature tensile testing of SiC fiber reinforced reaction bonded Si3N4 specimens at test temperatures up to 1650 C (3000 F). Testing is to be conducted in inert gases and air. Gripping fixtures, specimen configurations, furnaces, optical strain measuring systems, and temperature measurement techniques are reviewed. Advantages and disadvantages of the various techniques are also noted.
Factores asociados a cáncer de pulmón en mujeres

Aunque el cancer de mama es la enfermedad maligna mas comun diagnosticada en mujeres, es el cancer de pulmon el que presenta mayor mortalidad. Fumar es una de las causas directas de este cancer. Hay tambien diferencias en terminos de sobrevida donde las mujeres tienden a mostrar mejor indice despues de una reseccion quirurgica en estadios tempranos o tambien cuando presentan metastasis. Las variaciones geneticas entre hombres y mujeres y su posible rol en la oncogenesis tienden a ser evidentes, incluyendo aquellos genes como el CYP1A1 o el receptor del peptido liberador de gastrina. El posible rol de los estrogenos ha sido mostrado en estudios de caso control donde factores como la menopausia temprana, uso de tabaco, estrogenos y terapia de reemplazo hormonal son asociados como factores de riesgo. De manera interesante, las mujeres jovenes con cancer de pulmon tienen mejor respuesta a los inhibidores de la Tirosina kinasa (TKIs) como gefinitib y erlotinib. La identificacion de mutaciones en el dominio de union del ATP del receptor del factor de crecimiento epidermal podrian predecir respuestas dramaticas e introducir la posibilidad de una terapia mas individualizada.
Missed Opportunities in Independent Ink

The Supreme Court's opinion in Illinois Tool Works Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc. rejecting the presumption of market power in antitrust tying cases is unequivocally good for consumers and eminently sensible. The presumption is at odds with the longstanding consensus among antitrust scholars, Congress, and the antitrust agencies that patents do not confer antitrust monopoly power. While Justice Stevens' opinion should be applauded for taking an important step towards aligning a perplexing and muddled tying jurisprudence with economic sense and empirical reality, that attempt is both undeniably successful and incomplete because the Court fails to adopt the economic reasoning supporting its holding. A burgeoning economic literature demonstrates that a patent right merely confers to the seller the power to exclude perfect substitutes, a sufficient condition for price discrimination, and a power shared by virtually all firms in competitive markets across our modern economy. Unfortunately, both antitrust law and scholars sometimes conflate this power with the ability to influence market conditions which is the focus of modern consumer-welfare focused antitrust enforcement. This confusion is costly because it deters competitive price discrimination, which despite widely perpetuated economic myths, is not generally associated with consumer welfare losses and may benefit all consumers. While antitrust law has come a long way in terms of economic sophistication, the persistent association of anticompetitive inferences with an inherently competitive practice is evidence that it has not yet fully incorporated fundamental lessons from the economic literature.
Host Range Restriction of Epstein-Barr Virus and Related Lymphocryptoviruses

Epstein-Barr-related herpesviruses, or lymphocryptoviruses (LCV), naturally infect humans and nonhuman primates (NHP), but their host range is not well characterized. Using LCV and B cells from multiple species of Hominidae and Cercopithecidae, we show that LCV can immortalize B cells from some nonnative species but that growth transformation is restricted to B cells from their own family of hominoids or Old World NHP, suggesting a high degree of LCV adaptation to their natural primate host.
Genetic and antigenic differences of serologically indistinguishable leptospires of serovar hardjo.

Abstract Pathogenic leptospires of serovar hardjo isolated from North American cattle were compared genetically and antigenically to reference strain hardjoprajitno of the Sejroe serogroup. Guanine-plus-cytosine (G+C) contents were determined for the genomes, and microscopic agglutination, Western blotting (immunoblotting), and immunoprecipitation were used to characterize antigenic relatedness. Major differences were demonstrated between the isolates and the reference strain. The G+C content of the reference strain was calculated to be approximately 34 +/- 1%, and those of the isolates were calculated at 39 +/- 1%. Antigenic differences between the isolates and the reference strain were identified by using rabbit immune serum raised against a hardjo isolate exhaustively adsorbed with hardjoprajitno whole and sonicated cells. Western blot analysis and immunoprecipitation using this adsorbed serum revealed antigens apparently unique for the hardjo isolates. Microscopic agglutination with the adsorbed rabbit serum did not agglutinate hardjoprajitno when diluted 1:2 but agglutinated bovine isolates to a 1:32 dilution. Bovine antiserum raised against the isolates was also used to identify antigens by immunoprecipitation.
Skeletal unloading inhibits the in vitro proliferation and differentiation of rat osteoprogenitor cells

Loss of weight bearing in the growing rat decreases bone formation, osteoblast numbers, and bone maturation in unloaded bones. These responses suggest an impairment of osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. To test this assumption, we assessed the effects of skeletal unloading using an in vitro model of osteoprogenitor cell differentiation. Rats were hindlimb elevated for 0 (control), 2, or 5 days, after which their tibial bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) were harvested and cultured. Five days of hindlimb elevation led to significant decreases in proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (AP) enzyme activity, and mineralization of BMSC cultures. Differentiation of BMSCs was analyzed by quantitative competitive polymerase chain reaction of cDNA after 10, 15, 20, and 28 days of culture. cDNA pools were analyzed for the expression of c-fos (an index of proliferation), AP (an index of early osteoblast differentiation), and osteocalcin (a marker of late differentiation). BMSCs from 5-day unloaded rats expressed 50% less c-fos, 61% more AP, and 35% less osteocalcin mRNA compared with controls. These data demonstrate that cultured osteoprogenitor cells retain a memory of their in vivo loading history and indicate that skeletal unloading inhibits proliferation and differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells in vitro.
Glutamate-like immunoreactivity in neurons of the laterodorsal tegmental and pedunculopontine nuclei in the rat

Studies of the pedunculopontine (PPT) and laterodorsal tegmental (LDT) nuclei in the mesopontine tegmentum have emphasized the organization and projections of the cholinergic neurons. We report here that exhibiting glutamate immunoreactivity are present in both the LDT and PPT. These glutamatergic neurons are interspersed among the cholinergic neurons within both nuclei with no apparent segregation. These data raise the possibility that excitatory amino acids contribute to the functions of the LDT and PPT.
Phase I pharmacokinetic studies evaluating single and multiple doses of oral GW572016, a dual EGFR-ErbB2 inhibitor, in healthy subjects

GW572016 is a dual EGFR-ErbB2 inhibitor that has promise as an anticancer agent. Two phase I studies were conducted to determine the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of single and multiple doses given to healthy subjects. The single dose study evaluated two groups of eight subjects in an ascending dose, 4-way cross-over, while the multiple dose study evaluated twenty-seven healthy volunteers in an ascending dose, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, staggered parallel design. No serious adverse events were seen in either study. The most common adverse events for subjects receiving GW572016 were headache, diarrhea, rash, cold symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, and elevated LFTs, which were similar between treatment and placebo groups. Absorption of single doses of GW572016 was slightly delayed, with median tlag of 15 minutes (range 0–90 minutes) and achieved peak serum concentrations at a median of three hours (range 1.5–6 hours) post-dose. Serum concentrations after multiple doses of GW572016 demonstrated no significant accumulation at the 25 mg dose, and approximately 50% accumulation at the 100 mg and 175 mg doses, achieving steady state in six to seven days. A modest time-dependent increase in serum concentrations also was detected with multiple doses of GW572016. Single and multiple oral doses of GW572016 were well tolerated in healthy subjects, and resulted in dose-related systemic exposure of GW572016.
Site preparation effects on foliar N and P use, retranslocation, and transfer to litter in 15-years old Pinus taeda.

Abstract Intensive site preparation in loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) plantations may remove nutrients and lower site productivity. We evaluated the effects of nutrient removal in site preparation on mid-rotation pine foliar production, and foliar N- and P-use, retranslocation, and transfer to litter for two years. We also investigated changes in foliar nutrients one year after fertilization. Site preparation treatments were: shear–pile–disk and chop–burn, used with or without vegetation control. Mid-rotation pines were fertilized with 200 kg ha −1 N and 50 kg ha −1 P, or with 200 kg ha −1 N and 50 kg ha −1 P and micronutrients. Foliar production was estimated from litter mass. N- and P-use was estimated from N and P concentrations in green foliage and foliar production. Retranslocation was the difference in N and P between green foliage and litter, in percent. N and P transfer to litter was estimated from litter N and P concentration and litter mass. Nutrient removal in site preparation at plantation establishment did not affect mid-rotation pine foliar production, foliar N- and P-use, retranslocation, or nutrient transfer to litter. The lack of site preparation effects may be related to the length of time after treatment; the stage of decomposition of organic matter that may be removed in site preparation may determine when nutrient supply will be affected. Competition with hardwoods decreased pine foliar production by 56%, and N- and P-use by 55% and 52%, but not percent retranslocation. On shear–pile–disk/herbicide, shear–pile–disk/no-herbicide, and chop–burn/herbicide plots (none or small hardwood component), average pine foliar production was 4365 kg ha −1 year −1 , N- and P-use was 53.2 and 4.5 kg ha −1 year −1 , N and P retranslocation was 63.7% and 69.8%, N and P transfer to litter was 18.9 and 1.3 kg ha −1 year −1 . Based on a hypothetical N budget for the total stand, an N limitation may develop on those treatments that lost more nutrients in site preparation. Fertilization increased foliage production by 26%, and N- and P-use both by 49%, indicating some luxury consumption.
Myofibrillogenesis in the first cardiomyocytes formed from isolated quail precardiac mesoderm.

De novo assembly of myofibrils was investigated in explants of precardiac mesoderm from quail embryos to address a controversy about different models of myofibrillogenesis. The sequential expression of sarcomeric components was visualized in double- and triple-stained explants before, during, and just after the first cardiomyocytes began to beat. In explants from stage 6 embryos, cultured for 10 h, ectoderm, endoderm, and the precardiac mesoderm displayed arrays of stress fibers with alternating bands of the nonmuscle isoforms of α-actinin and myosin IIB. With increasing time in culture, mesoderm cells contained fibrils composed of actin, nonmuscle myosin IIB, and sarcomeric α-actinin. Several hours later, before beating occurred, both nonmuscle and muscle myosin II localized in some of the fibrils in the cells. Concentrations of muscle myosin began as thin bundles, dispersed in the cytoplasm, often overlapping one another, and progressed to small, aligned A-band-sized aggregates. The amount of nonmuscle myosin decreased dramatically when Z-bands formed, the muscle myosin became organized into A-bands, and the cells began beating. The sequential changes in protein composition of the fibrils in the developing muscle cells supports the model of myofibrillogenesis in which assembly begins with premyofibrils and progresses through nascent myofibrils to mature myofibrils.
Neuroretinitis in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Abstract Purpose To present a case series of three patients with neuroretinitis associated with multiple sclerosis. Design Retrospective, noncomparative, consecutive, interventional case series. Participants Thirty-five consecutive patients with neuroretinitis. Methods The records of 35 consecutive patients with neuroretinitis were reviewed for prior, concurrent, or subsequent development of multiple sclerosis. Main outcome measures Presentation, clinical course, and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Results Three of 35 patients (8.6%) with neuroretinitis were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis by the McDonald criteria. One of the three patients underwent brain biopsy that further confirmed multiple sclerosis. Neuroretinitis in the three patients occurred after the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. All three patients with multiple sclerosis had been treated with interferon β before or concurrently with the development of neuroretinitis. Conclusions Neuroretinitis can be an associated manifestation of multiple sclerosis. The possible association between neuroretinitis and interferon β warrants further investigation.
Storage-enhanced thermal management for mobile devices

During regular use, mobile devices generate significant amounts of heat. In this paper, we discuss the use of phase-change materials (PCM) as an energy storage medium to lower the energy consumption of temperature control devices in mobile systems. We adopt a systems perspective and show that the fundamental effect of latent-heat storage is to increase the time constant of the response of the system to changes in heat input without affecting the gain. We also demonstrate that PCM-based cooling reduces energy consumption when used in conjunction with active cooling in a hierarchical control structure, and establish a connection between the dynamics of the integrated system, energy savings and the quantity and geometric properties of the PCM elements. Composite heat sinks consisting of PCM elements confined in a matrix material with high thermal conductivity represent a promising practical implementation of PCM-based cooling. Using a first-principles model and a novel algorithm, we present a method for optimizing the size and number of the PCM elements in the matrix, which effectively amounts to “tuning” the PCM-based controller. We study the PCM-enhanced thermal management of a computer microchip to illustrate the theoretical concepts.
Derrida's Deconstruction and the Rhetoric of Proper Genres in Leonardo and Lessing

In his paper, "Derrida's Deconstruction and the Rhetoric of Proper Genres in Leonardo and Lessing," Shun-liang Chao draws on Derrida's discourse of logocentrism to illuminate the "exorbitant" threads of metaphysical thought in Leonardo's and Lessing's texts on the comparison of poetry and painting. Both Leonardo and Lessing seek to subordinate one of the two sister arts to the other by constructing, respectively, the first, fixed principle of the proper genre and by drawing rigid borders between what is proper and what is improper. Leonardo privileges painting over poetry owing to the power of visiblity; on the other hand, Lessing subordinates painting to poetry since the former frustrates vision and thus allows the free play of the imagination. In so doing, however, they both push their metaphysical arguments into an aporia and as such, that which is proper and decidable turns out to be improper and undecidable. Shun-liang Chao, "Derrida's Deconstruction and the Rhetoric of Proper Genres in Leonardo and Lessing" page 2 of 8 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 8.3 (2006):
Rice Quality by Spectroscopic Analysis: Precision of Three Spectral Regions

ABSTRACT Three types of spectroscopy were used to examine rice quality: near infrared (NIR), Raman, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). Samples from 96 rice cultivars were tested. Protein, amylose, transparency, alkali spreading values, whiteness, and degree of milling were measured by standard techniques and the values were regressed against NIR and Raman spectra data. The NMR spectra were used for a qualitative or semiquantitative assessment of the amylose/amylopectin ratio by determining the 1–4 to 1–6 ratio for glucans. Protein can be measured by almost any instrument in any configuration because of the strong relationship between the spectral response and the precision of the reference method. Amylose has an equally strong relationship to the vibrational spectra, but its determination by any reference method is far less precise, resulting in a 10× increase in the standard error of cross-validation (SECv) or standard error of performance (SEP) with R 2 values equal to that of the protein m...
Lithium and haloperidol differentially alter the dynorphin A (1-8) and enkephalin levels in the neurointermediate lobe of rat pituitary.

Abstract Repeated administration of the antimanic drug lithium (4 mEq/kg/day for 2, 4 or 6 days, i.p.) to rats produced a progressive decline and eventual depletion of dynorphin-A (1–8) (DYN) concentration whereas Met5-enkephalin (ENK) was only marginally decreased in the neurointermediate lobe of the pituitary (NIL). Administration of a neuroleptic haloperidol neither affected ENK and DYN levels nor influenced lithium-induced changes. The study reveals that lithium produces a preferential perturbation in the dynorphin system relative to the enkephalin system. These results taken together with other evidence, indicate that dynorphin is possibly coreleased with vasopression following lithium administration and provide a pharmacological support to the previously described colocalization and corelease of these endogenous peptides in the NIL.
Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Converting Enzyme/ADAM 17 Mediates MUC1 Shedding

Abstract MUC1 clearance from the uterine epithelial cell surface is a prerequisite for the creation of an environment conducive to embryo implantation. In some species, reduced mRNA levels along with metabolic turnover account for loss of MUC1 during the receptive phase throughout the uterine epithelium. In other species, MUC1 is rapidly lost solely at the site of blastocyst attachment, suggesting the action of a protease. Correlative studies also indicate the presence of soluble forms of MUC1 in cell culture supernatants in vitro and in bodily fluids in vivo. To characterize the proteolytic activity mediating MUC1 release, shedding of MUC1 was analyzed in a human uterine epithelial cell line (HES) that abundantly expresses and readily sheds MUC1. MUC1 release was stimulated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and was markedly inhibited by the synthetic peptide hydroxamate metalloprotease inhibitor, tumor necrosis factor-α protease inhibitor (TAPI), as well as by an endogenous inhibitor of matrix metalloproteases, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteases (TIMP)-3. These characteristics along with studies conducted with cell lines genetically deficient in various ADAMs (fora disintegrin andmetalloprotease) identified tumor necrosis factor-α converting enzyme (TACE)/ADAM 17 as a MUC1 sheddase. Furthermore, both TACE and MUC1 were expressed in human uterine epithelia during the receptive phase, and co-immunoprecipitation experiments revealed a physical interaction between TACE and MUC1 in HES cells. These studies establish a proteolytic mechanism for MUC1 clearance from a human uterine epithelial cell line and identify TACE as a MUC1 sheddase.
Systemic Induction of Terpenoid Aldehydes in Cotton Pigment Glands by Feeding of Larval Spodoptera exigua

Pigment glands in cotton contain terpenoid aldehydes that are toxic and deterrent to feeding of several generalist lepidopteran insects. We hypothesized that previously observed systemically induced feeding deterrence may be associated with pigment glands. We conducted experiments to determine the dynamics and chemical nature of inducible feeding deterrents in leaves of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L, to larvae of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua. Production and/or filling of pigment glands was influenced by physiological age of Deltapine 90 cotton plants. In undamaged plants, successively formed leaves contained more pigment glands, up to the seventh or eighth true-leaf developmental stage. Feeding choice tests conducted one or seven days after initial feeding damage revealed that third instars of S. exigua consumed more of the two youngest leaves from control cotton plants than from plants whose two oldest leaves had been fed on previously for 24 hr by S. exigua. The preference for leaves from control plants was significant one day after initial damage and highly significant seven days after damage. Consumption of mature foliage (leaf immediately above initially damaged leaves) from control plants and damaged plants did not differ. More pigment glands were counted on the youngest leaf of damaged plants than on the youngest leaf of control plants one day after initial damage. HPLC analysis revealed greater amounts of hemigossypolone, heliocides 1 and 2 (H1 and H2), and total terpenoid aldehydes per gland in young foliage of damaged plants than control plants one day after initial injury. By seven days after initial injury, greater quantities of hemigossypolone and all heliocides except H4 were detected in young foliage from damaged plants compared to control plants. Concentrations of H1 per gland in young leaves from damaged plants increased the most of all terpenoid aldehydes measured (3.4× the amount found in leaves from control plants). Mature leaves from damaged plants did not contain more terpenoid aldehydes than mature leaves from control plants. We suggest that systemically induced feeding deterrence to S. exigua in young leaves of glanded cotton was due to increased amounts of terpenoid aldehydes in pigment glands.
Addressing Parental Mental Health Within Interventions for Children A Review

Purpose:Untreated parent mental health problems have deleterious effects upon the family, yet caregivers are unlikely to receive services for their emotional health. We conducted a review of treatments and services for children and adolescents that also offered services to parents.Methods:Child treatment and service studies were included in the present study if they analyzed parent symptoms or diagnoses over time, and the intervention contained a parent component.Results:Of 200 studies reviewed, 20 contained a component for the parent and assessed the parent’s emotional health at multiple time points. Depression and anxiety were the most commonly studied parental mental health problem; most parent components consisted of behavioral strategies in service of the child’s psychological health.Conclusion:Major shifts in health care policy affecting mental health services provide an opportunity to create integrated and coordinated health and behavioral health systems. Attention must be given to ensure that the ...
FET Gate Length Impact on Reliability

The constant need for higher speed continues to lead to shorter and shorter gate lengths. An analytical expression relating the reliability and gate length is developed. According to the model, the FET reliability degrades exponentially with decreasing gate length. Experimental observations support the model's conclusions.
Measurement of the thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube--tissue phantom composites with the hot wire probe method.

Developing combinatorial treatments involving laser irradiation and nanoparticles require an understanding of the effect of nanoparticle inclusion on tissue thermal properties, such as thermal conductivity. This information will permit a more accurate prediction of temperature distribution and tumor response following therapy, as well as provide additional information to aid in the selection of the appropriate type and concentration of nanoparticles. This study measured the thermal conductivity of tissue representative phantoms containing varying types and concentrations of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs, length of 900–1200 nm and diameter of 40–60 nm), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs, length of 900–1200 nm and diameter <2 nm), and a novel embodiment of SWNTs referred to as single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWNHs, length of 25–50 nm and diameter of 3–5 nm) of varying concentrations (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/mL) were uniformly dispersed in sodium alginate tissue representative phantoms. The thermal conductivity of phantoms containing CNTs was measured using a hot wire probe method. Increasing CNT concentration from 0 to 1.0 mg/mL caused the thermal conductivity of phantoms containing SWNTs, SWNHs, and MWNTs to increase by 24, 30, and 66%, respectively. For identical CNT concentrations, phantoms containing MWNTs possessed the highest thermal conductivity.
Influence of carbon-treated air on odor perception

Abstract Air purified by activated carbon can be distinguished in odor from ambient air by some subjects but not by others. The former group perceives the odor of l-carvone in carbon-purified air to be more intense than in ambient air. The latter group perceives it to be less intense. The findings raise questions about the validity of the techniques commonly used in odor dispersion modeling and in measuring odor intensities and thresholds.
Toxicity and Monitoring of Immunosuppressive Therapy Used in Systemic Autoimmune Diseases

Systemic autoimmune diseases may be progressive and lead to organ system dysfunction and premature death. Current treatment paradigms are usually predominantly based on the administration of immunosuppressive and/or immunomodulatory drug therapy. Such therapy can stabilize systemic manifestations of connective tissue disease (CTD) and may put the disease into remission, and many of these agents are commonly used to treat CTD-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD). Although these agents have largely revolutionized the treatment of the systemic autoimmune diseases, adverse reactions, which can be serious and life threatening, to the various immunosuppressive agents used in the treatment of CTD can occur. Treating physicians must be aware of mechanisms of action of various immunosuppressive agents and be able to recognize the potential adverse reactions that may occur with therapy as well as potentially harmful effects on fetal development. Appropriate monitoring may prevent or limit toxicity from these agents, and knowledge of drug-drug interactions is essential when these agents are prescribed.
Semantic similarity based feature extraction from microarray expression data

Previous studies have proven that it is feasible to build sample classifiers using gene expression profiles. To build an effective sample classifier, dimension reduction process is necessary since classic pattern recognition algorithms do not work well in high dimensional space. In this paper, we present a novel feature extraction algorithm by integrating microarray expression data with Gene Ontology (GO). Applying semantic similarity measures, we identify the groups of genes, called virtual genes, which potentially interact with each other for a biological function. The correlation in expressions of virtual genes is used to classify samples. For colon cancer data, this approach significantly improved the classification accuracy by more than 10%.
Doxycycline inhibits vascular leakage and prevents ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in a murine model.

Objective To determine whether doxycycline would inhibit the development of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in a murine model. Design Testing the effect of oral doxycycline treatment on gonadotropin-induced peritoneal capillary leakage in mice. Setting Animal research facility. Animal(s) Four-week-old female C57Bl/6 mice. Intervention(s) Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome was induced in mice by administering gonadotropins for 3 days followed by human chorionic gonadotropin. Peritoneal vascular leakage was quantified using the Miles vascular permeability assay. Mice were treated with daily oral doxycycline or vehicle. Main Outcome Measure(s) The concentration of dye in abdominal fluid extracted by peritoneal lavage was measured spectrophotometrically. Ascites volume was determined using dye dilution. Result(s) Doxycycline inhibited peritoneal vascular leakage and ascites accumulation in the hormonally stimulated mice. Doxycycline treatment did not inhibit ovarian stimulation or ovulation when compared with controls, as indicated by similar ovarian morphology, ovarian weights, and corpora lutea counts. Importantly, vessel density within the corpora lutea was similar in the two groups. Conclusion(s) Doxycycline prevents OHSS in a murine model without compromising ovarian stimulation. This effect is caused by inhibition of vascular leakage. Doxycycline's potential in preventing human OHSS is promising and warrants further studies.