cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Human Rights Through a Religious Lens: a Programmatic Argument

Dans la societe contemporaine, les ideaux des droits de l'homme peuvent, a un double titre, se voir analyses dans une perspective religieuse. Tout d'abord, ils constituent un systeme de symboles sacres qui representent de maniere adequate l'ordre social existant. Les droits civils et politiques sanctifient l'individu et montrent l'importance de l'individuation pour une societe et une economie globalisees. Les droits economiques et sociaux soulignent la reciprocite de la responsabilite. Quant aux droits des groupes, ils refletent un localisme anti-systemique qui vient remplir le vide culturel laisse par la globalisation structurelle. En second lieu, les droits de l'homme ne sont pas seulement symboliques: ils sont aussi moraux. Leur relation a la societe globalisee ouvre la possibilite de leur trouver un fondement plus solide que la loi positive. Les droits des premiere et deuxieme generations concretisent les principes pratiques centraux qui rendent possible la globalisation: l'individuation et la division mondiale du travail. De maniere moins sure, les droits de la troisieme generation peuvent se voir fondes dans la distribution de la decision, qu'exige une economie informationnelle: ils reposent sur un engagement au controle local.
A Brief, Intensive, Clinically Focused Geriatrics Course During the Third Year of Medical School

During the next several decades, the aging of the "baby boom" generation in the United States will result in a dramatic increase in the number of patients aged 65 and older seeking medical care, but current projections suggest that the shortage of geriatrics-trained specialists will only worsen during this time period. As a result, the care of elderly patients will largely fall to other types of physicians. Consequently, it is imperative that medical school training include exposure to the basic skills needed to care safely for older adults. This goal is challenging, because the number of geriatric medicine faculty in most academic medical centers is small, and multiple other medical specialties are also vying for time in a busy medical school curriculum. Whether a 3-day course conducted during the third year of medical school could teach basic principles of geriatric medicine in a time- and manpower-effective manner was explored. It was found that even this brief exposure to geriatrics could have meaningful effects on student knowledge of and comfort with geriatrics.
Keeping the analog genie in the bottle: a case for digital robots

We consider the case for adopting a truly 'digital' type of robot, which would evolve between a discrete and finite set of states. One distinct advantage of this philosophy is that a formal logical analysis can be applied to digital robots, since discrete-time models can now correctly and completely model the robot behavior. We argue that there are significant benefits to this strategy in numerous cases, especially with respect to fault detection and fault tolerance. However, there are also disadvantages-in order to guarantee digital behavior, constraints on the robot's operations are imposed. Essentially, we gain formality of digital analysis at the expense of precision of continuous movement. Using an analogy to digital electronics, we discuss ways in which the development of digital robots could revolutionize certain aspects of robotics.
A millimeter-wave vector network analyzer

A network analyzer for making accurate measurements in the 75-110-GHz band is presented. The analyzer operates by sampling forward and reverse signals using back-to-back directional couplers. The tapped signals are combined in a hybrid coupler which feeds the sum and difference into two detector diodes. An additional two measurements are obtained by switching a phase delay into one of the paths. These four measurements are manipulated using six-port theory to calculate the complex reflection coefficient. A 27-40-GHz prototype operating as a reflectometer is demonstrated. Calibrations and measurements are performed interactively with the aid of a Macintosh II personal computer equipped with a high-resolution color display. >
Bypass Mechanisms of Resistance to Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition in Lung Cancer

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are activated by somatic genetic alterations in a subset of cancers, and such cancers are often sensitive to specific inhibitors of the activated kinase. Two well-established examples of this paradigm include lung cancers with either EGFR mutations or ALK translocations. In these cancers, inhibition of the corresponding RTK leads to suppression of key downstream signaling pathways, such as the PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase)/AKT and MEK (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase)/ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) pathways, resulting in cell growth arrest and death. Despite the initial clinical efficacy of ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase) and EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) inhibitors in these cancers, resistance invariably develops, typically within 1 to 2 years. Over the past several years, multiple molecular mechanisms of resistance have been identified, and some common themes have emerged. One is the development of resistance mutations in the drug target that prevent the drug from effectively inhibiting the respective RTK. A second is activation of alternative RTKs that maintain the signaling of key downstream pathways despite sustained inhibition of the original drug target. Indeed, several different RTKs have been implicated in promoting resistance to EGFR and ALK inhibitors in both laboratory studies and patient samples. In this mini-review, we summarize the concepts underlying RTK-mediated resistance, the specific examples known to date, and the challenges of applying this knowledge to develop improved therapeutic strategies to prevent or overcome resistance.
Template-free routes to porous inorganic materials

New approaches to solid-state reactivity have allowed us to develop unusual routes to porous inorganic materials. This article describes our recent work on template-free routes involving the selective leaching of one phase from a two-phase composite to form porous oxides. Subsequent reactions have been developed to yield porous metals, conformal coatings, and hierarchically porous materials. Pores can also be generated through simple redox processes in transition-metal oxides; such redox cycling allows mesopores to be produced in a regenerative process in a material which is already macroporous.
Neuropsychological profile of autism and the broad autism phenotype.

Context: Multiple articles describe a constellation of language, personality, and social-behavioral features present in relatives that mirror the symptom domains of autism, but are much milder in expression. Studies of this broad autism phenotype (BAP) may provide a potentially important complementary approach for detecting the genes causing autism and defining associated neural circuitry by identifying more refined phenotypes that can be measured quantitatively in both affected and unaffected individuals and that are tied to functioning in particular regions of the brain. Objective: To gain insight into neuropsychological features that index genetic liability to autism. Design: Case-control study. Setting: The general community. Participants: Thirty-eight high-functioning individuals with autism and parents of autistic individuals, both with and without the BAP (n =8 3), as well as control individuals.
Effects of an acute bout of exercise on cognitive aspects of Stroop performance

Recent reviews of the literature have demonstrated that exercise has a positive impact on cognitive performance. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of an acute bout of aerobic exercise on executive functioning in college-age adults. For the experimental intervention, the effects of 20 min of self-paced moderate-intensity exercise on a treadmill were compared to the effects of a 20-min sedentary control period. Executive functioning was assessed using Stroop color-word interference and negative priming tests. Results indicated that the bout of exercise led to improved performance on the Stroop color-word interference task but no change in performance on the negative priming task. This finding suggests that exercise may facilitate cognitive performance by improving the maintenance of goal-oriented processing in the brain.
Drag coefficient of small spherical particles.

An experimental study was conducted to determine the drag coefficient of small, inert, spherical particles accelerating in a laminar, nonreacting, incompressible continuum flow. The Reynolds number range covered in the study was from 200 to 1700, and particle sizes ranged from 150 to 450/1. Glass beads, HP 295 ball powder, and sapphire balls were used. The convective flow behind the shock wave in a shock tube was used to accelerate the particles. The diameter and temporal displacement of a single particle were determined by use of a rotating drum camera in conjunction with an oscillating light source. Using the photographic data, the particle density, the shock speed, the initial temperature and pressure, and the normal shock relations, the particle drag coefficient was calculated. Experiments with HP 295 ball powder produced drag results that were as much as 85% higher than the standard drag coefficient curve. This increase was found to be dependent on the relative Mach number of the flow about the particle even though the Mach number was less than 0.3. The glass beads yielded similar results but to a lesser extent. The sapphire balls produced the best results, yielding the lowest drag values, less scatter, and little sensitivity to Mach number. Many possible influences were considered to explain the foregoing anomalous results. Photomicrographs showed that the ball powder was very rough and that the sapphire balls were the most smooth. It is concluded that the particles in solid rocket nozzles are "rough" and hence their drag coefficients are much higher than would normally be the case.
Characterization of the binding of a rat somatomedin to receptors in human placental cell membranes

Abstract The somatomedins presumably initiate their growth promoting effects by first binding to specific cell surface receptors in responsive tissues. The specific and high affinity binding of [125I]-rat somatomedin to human placental membranes was saturable and reversible with a dissociation constant of 4.5 × 10−9 M calculated from Scatchard analysis of competitive binding experiments. Competition for [125I]-rat somatomedin binding to placental receptors by other somatomedins and growth factors suggest a close structural relationship between rat somatomedin and the human somatomedin, insulin-like growth factor I.
Fault-tolerant clustering of wireless sensor networks

During the past few years distributed wireless sensor networks have been the focus of considerable research for both military and civil applications. Sensors are generally constrained in on-board energy supply therefore efficient management of the network is crucial to extend the life of the system. Sensors' energy cannot support long haul communication to reach a remote command site, thus they require multi-tier architecture to forward data. An efficient way to enhance the lifetime of the system is to partition the network into distinct clusters with a high-energy node called a gateway as cluster-head. Failures are inevitable in sensor networks due to the inhospitable environment and unattended deployment. However, failures in higher level of hierarchy e.g. cluster-head cause more damage to the system because they also limit accessibility to the nodes that are under their supervision. In this paper we propose an efficient mechanism to recover sensors from a failed cluster. Our approach avoids a full-scale re-clustering and does not require deployment of redundant gateways.
Role of Cell-matrix Interactions in Osteoclast Differentiation

Osteoclast and their mononuclear cell precursors are present within the bone microenvironment at sites of physiologic and pathologic bone resorption. Analysis of tissues from sites of bone resorption reveal that cells expressing the full morphological and functional properties of mature osteoclasts are restricted to the immediate bone surface. We hypothesize that in addition to cytokines, components of the bone matrix and specific cell surface receptors on osteoclasts and their precursors play an essential role in determining the genetic profile and functional properties of fully differentiated resorbing osteoclasts. We have employed expression profiling, with an in vitro model of matrix-dependent osteoclast differentiation, to identify the molecular pathways by which bone matrix-interactions induce terminal osteoclast differentiation and activation. In preliminary studies, we have identified unique genes and transcriptional pathways that are induced by interaction of osteoclast precursors with specific components of the mineralized bone matrix. The authenticity of the gene profiles, as markers of osteoclast differentiation and activation, have been provisionally validated using an in vivo animal bone implantation model and by examination of tissues from patients with specific forms of pathologic osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. The ultimate goal of our studies is to identify new molecular targets for inhibiting osteoclast-mediated bone loss in disorders of pathologic bone loss. The early work of Walker et al. (Walker 1972) in parabiotic animals, and the subsequent studies of Burger et al. (Burger, Van der Meer, van de Gevel, et al. 1982) using a co-culture model with fetal bone rudiments and bone marrow-derived cells, have helped to establish that osteoclasts are derived from macrophage precursors of colony forming unit-macrophage (CFU-M lineage). As such, they share a common hematopoietic origin with other CFU-M lineage cells, including tissue macrophages that populate the lung (alveolar macrophages), liver (Kupfer cells), synovium (synovial macrophages) and other organs. They also share a common lineage
Asymmetry analysis in breast cancer detection using thermal infrared images

Automated diagnostic tools always provide the doctors with the very valuable second opinion during disease diagnosis. This paper discusses an automated approach for breast cancer detection using thermal infrared (TIR) images. Breast cancer is a disease in which only early diagnosis increases the survival hope. The cancer cells with their higher metabolic rate are hotter than the normal cells and this property makes the cancerous tumors appear as hotspots in the TIR images. The existence of asymmetry in the temperature distribution indicates the existence of a tumor. In this paper, we initially segment the breast part of the TIR image using the Hough transform of a parabola. Upon segmentation, different features are extracted from the breast segments. Comparison of these features is done to detect any asymmetry and thus classify the image as cancerous or non-cancerous. The segmentation and feature extraction are performed on images obtained from Bioyear Inc.
Competitive intelligence and tacit knowledge development in strategic alliances

Competitive intelligence can play a vital role in helping management select strategic alliances that will result in a transfer of the partner's tacit knowledge—the implicitly understood norms and rules that guide operating procedures within a firm. Learning a partner's tacit knowledge can help a firm learn more about its own strengths and weaknesses. To maximize the value of knowledge gained from alliances, competitive intelligence professionals should monitor a potential partner's activities in order to: ascertain whether collaboration will provide a firm with learning opportunities; convince management of the value of learning from that particular partner; and prepare employees to enter the collaboration with an intent to learn, thereby maximizing “absorptive capacity.” A well-developed CI strategy also can alert managers to potential problems that can result, for instance, from a lack of complementary resources or the absence of shared, strategic goals, and can help avoid alliances with partners whose primary intent is to acquire your firm's technical knowledge to use as a competitive weapon. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The magnetic properties of EuLiH3

Abstract The bulk magnetic properties of the cubic perovskite material, EuLiH 3 , have been investigated and the results strongly suggest that it is a ferromagnet with T c = 38°K and θ c = +40°K. Thus EuLiH 3 is very likely a new semiconducting ferromagnet. The properties of EuLiH 3 are compared with those of EuTiO 3 , also a cubic perovskite with a very similar lattice parameter (3·79 A for EuLiH 3 and 3·90 A for EuTiO 3 ) which is, however, antiferromagnetic below 5°K. This somewhat surprising difference is discussed in terms of the molecular field theory and the results of previous work on exchange interactions in divalent europium compounds especially the europous monochalcogenides and europium titanate as well. It is concluded that the major factor influencing the different magnetic behavior of EuLiH 3 and EuTiO 3 is the apparent absence of a negative near-neighbor interaction in the former which is prominent in the latter. It is suggested that this diminution of antiferromagnetic exchange in EuLiH 3 is due to the inability of H − with electron configuration 1 s 2 to participate in super-exchange interactions to the same degree as O 2− with electron configuration (He)2 s 2 2 p 6 .
Jump-diffusion processes on matrix Lie groups for Bayesian inference

A variety of engineering problems can be studied as inferences on constrained sets, Lie groups in particular. Additionally, the number of parameters to be estimated, namely the model-order, may also be unknown a-priori. We present a Bayesian approach by building a posterior probability distribution on a countable unions of Lie groups and utilizing the jump-diffusion processes to generate optimal estimators empirically, under this posterior. This approach is presented in the context of two well-known problems: pose estimation in object recognition and subspace estimation in signal processing.
Wing-Pumping of the Cr:LiSAF Laser Material

Cr3+-doped LiSrAlF6 (Cr:LiSAF) has been demonstrated to be a useful laser material in a variety of laser configurations and systems. Cr:LiSAF has been pumped by both flashlamps and laser diodes, can be Q-switched, and has been demonstrated to tune from 780 nm to beyond 1 pm.1-3 The relatively large emission cross section and the strong and broad absorption features have contributed to the utility of the material. In addition, the thermomechanical properties have been judged to be adequate, and the thermal lensing is expected to be low.4
Fully automated open‐source lesion mapping of T2‐FLAIR images with FSL correlates with clinical disability in MS

Background T2 Lesion Volume (T2LV) has been an important biomarker for multiple sclerosis (MS). Current methods available to quantify lesions from MR images generally require manual adjustments or multiple images with different contrasts. Further, implementations are often not easily or openly accessible. Objective We created a fully unsupervised, single T2 FLAIR image T2LV quantification package based on the popular open-source imaging toolkit FSL. Methods By scripting various processing tools in FSL, we developed an image processing pipeline that distinguishes normal brain tissue from CSF and lesions. We validated our method by hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) with a preliminary study to see if our T2LVs correlate with clinical disability measures in MS when controlled for other variables. Results Pearson correlations between T2LV and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS: r = 0.344, P = 0.013), Six-Minute Walk (6MW: r = −0.513, P = 0.000), Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW: r = −0.438, P = .000), and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT: r = −0.499, P = 0.000) were all significant. Partial correlations controlling for age were significant between T2LV and 6MW (r = −0.433, P = 0.002), T25FW (r = −0.392, P = 0.004), and SDMT (r = −0.450, P = 0.001). In HMR, T2LV explained significant additional variance in 6MW (R2 change = 0.082, P = 0.020), after controlling for confounding variables such as age, white matter volume (WMV), and gray matter volume (GMV). Conclusion Our T2LV quantification software produces T2LVs from a single FLAIR image that correlate with physical disability in MS and is freely available as open-source software.
Photographs and Descriptions of Cup-Fungi—XXVI. The Genus Diplocarpa

(1937). Photographs and Descriptions of Cup-Fungi—XXVI. The Genus Diplocarpa. Mycologia: Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 174-177.
Influence of Noncrop Habitats on the Distribution of Eriborus terebrans (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) in Cornfields

Eriborus terebrans (Gravenhorst) is the most abundant parasitoid of the European cornborer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), in Michigan. The within-field distribution of adult E. terebrans was sampled in 1991 and 1992 by placing malaise traps near a wooded edge, near an herbaceous edge, and in the field interior in each of 4 fields of corn, Zea mays L. During the 1st generation of 1991, significantly more females were captured in wooded-edge traps than in herbaceous-edge or interior traps. In the 1st generation of 1992, more females were again captured in wooded-edge traps in 2 fields, whereas in the other 2 fields, more were captured in both herbaceous-edge and wooded-edge traps than interior traps. In the 2nd generation of both years, there was no consistent pattern of distribution of adult females among sites. The distribution pattern of adult females among fields was not consistently correlated with the distribution of O. nubilalis larvae or percentage parasitism. Overall, fewer males were captured than females, and in the 1st generation of both years, more males were captured near wooded edges of cornfields in which the previous crop had been corn, than any other sites. Both male and female E. terebrans were captured in malaise traps at the interface of a woodlot canopy and a cornfield with capture zones from 1 to 4.3 m high. We propose that E. terebrans distribution in cornfields is influenced by resources such as sugar and a moderate microclimate present in adjacent woodlots but unavailable in early-season cornfields. Perennial noncrop habitats may play an important role in conservation of natural enemies for biological control.
A retrospective streamflow ensemble forecast for an extreme hydrologicevent: a case study of Hurricane Irene and on the Hudson River basin

Abstract. This paper investigates the uncertainties in hourly streamflow ensemble forecasts for an extreme hydrological event using a hydrological model forced with short-range ensemble weather prediction models. A state-of-the art, automated, short-term hydrologic prediction framework was implemented using GIS and a regional scale hydrological model (HEC-HMS). The hydrologic framework was applied to the Hudson River basin ( ∼ 36 000 km2) in the United States using gridded precipitation data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) and was validated against streamflow observations from the United States Geologic Survey (USGS). Finally, 21 precipitation ensemble members of the latest Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS/R) were forced into HEC-HMS to generate a retrospective streamflow ensemble forecast for an extreme hydrological event, Hurricane Irene. The work shows that ensemble stream discharge forecasts provide improved predictions and useful information about associated uncertainties, thus improving the assessment of risks when compared with deterministic forecasts. The uncertainties in weather inputs may result in false warnings and missed river flooding events, reducing the potential to effectively mitigate flood damage. The findings demonstrate how errors in the ensemble median streamflow forecast and time of peak, as well as the ensemble spread (uncertainty) are reduced 48 h pre-event by utilizing the ensemble framework. The methodology and implications of this work benefit efforts of short-term streamflow forecasts at regional scales, notably regarding the peak timing of an extreme hydrologic event when combined with a flood threshold exceedance diagram. Although the modeling framework was implemented on the Hudson River basin, it is flexible and applicable in other parts of the world where atmospheric reanalysis products and streamflow data are available.
Common Terrestrial Greenhouse Gas Fluxes Measurement Method Comparison

Terrestrial ecosystem makes an important contribution to greenhouse gas emissions,thereby affects on global climate change.Gas flux measurement methods include chamber method,micro-meteorology method,and soil concentration profiling method and so on.This paper introduced the application and advantages and disadvantages of chamber method,micro-meteorological method,soil concentration profiles method and isotope methods,and made a comparison of different methods,also pointed out that the combination of greenhouse gas measurement method with other disciplines as well as the new technology will become the future trends.
Evaluation of the effect of methadone maintenance treatment among herion addicts

Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness of methadone maintenance treatment(MMT).Methods:The effect of MMT was analyzed with MMT Observation Scale,Questionary,Individual interview et al.Results:After implementing the project of MMT,the use rate of condom was significantly higher,the disease incidence of STD decreased and the rate of criminal offences decreased too.The job-desire increased,the social function recovered partly.Conclusions:MMT can reduce illegal heroin use,criminal offences,related dangerous behavior led to HIV/AIDS and prevent the spread and extend of HIV/STD。
Assessing ligand selectivity for uranium over vanadium ions to aid in the discovery of superior adsorbents for extraction of UO22+ from seawater

Uranium is used as the basic fuel for nuclear power plants, which generate significant amounts of electricity and have life cycle carbon emissions that are as low as renewable energy sources. However, the extraction of this valuable energy commodity from the ground remains controversial, mainly because of environmental and health impacts. Alternatively, seawater offers an enormous uranium resource that may be tapped at minimal environmental cost. Nowadays, amidoxime polymers are the most widely utilized sorbent materials for large-scale extraction of uranium from seawater, but they are not perfectly selective for uranyl, UO22+. In particular, the competition between UO22+ and VO2+/VO2+ cations poses a significant challenge to the efficient mining of UO22+. Thus, screening and rational design of more selective ligands must be accomplished. One of the key components in achieving this goal is the establishment of computational techniques capable of assessing ligand selectivity trends. Here, we report an approach based on quantum chemical calculations that achieves high accuracy in reproducing experimental aqueous stability constants for VO2+/VO2+ complexes with ten different oxygen donor ligands. The predictive power of the developed computational protocol is demonstrated for amidoxime-type ligands, providing greater insights into new design strategies for the development of the next generation of adsorbents with high selectivity toward UO22+ over VO2+/VO2+ ions. Importantly, the results of calculations suggest that alkylation of amidoxime moieties present in poly(acrylamidoxime) sorbents can be a potential route to better discrimination between the uranyl and competing vanadium ions in seawater.
On Sounding Smart

Many academics hold an incorrect assumption that using big words and convoluted prose makes them sound smarter (Becker, 1986). Becker (1986) quotes one of his students on this. She said, “The way someone writes–the more difficult the writing style–the more intellectual they sound.” This thinking is common in academia.
Barbara Garvey Seagrave and Wesley Thomas, The Songs of the Minnesingers.: Urbana and London: University of Illinois Press, 1966. Pp. 232. $15.00

(1967). Barbara Garvey Seagrave and Wesley Thomas, The Songs of the Minnesingers.. The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 228-228.
Problems of Liquid Sampling in Gas Chromatography

A gas Chromatograph is a very complex system. Of course, its heart is the column in which the separation takes place; however, the true utilization of the column’s separation ability depends on the whole system, on the optimum operation of each components.
Effective Doses of Employees at the Former Uranium Processing Plant MAPE Mydlovary, Czechoslovakia.

Results are presented of a survey of almost 1000 dosimetric records of employees at the former uranium processing plant MAPE Mydlovary. Located ~20 km to the north-west of Ceske Budějovice in South Bohemia, it was the place where most of the uranium ore mined in Czechoslovakia in the years from 1962 to 1991 was processed. The records refer to incorporation of short-lived radon progeny and long-lived radionuclides as well as external gamma exposure. The average annual doses calculated from the recorded data were 2.7 ± 1.4, 5.0 ± 3.1 and 1.7 ± 0.9 mSv from these three sources, respectively. Thus, the relative contributions of these components to the effective dose were 29 ± 6, 53 ± 14 and 18 ± 13% , respectively. This is different from the findings in an earlier study for the exposure of uranium miners, where the overall doses were similar, but over 50% was contributed by short-lived radon progeny. No legal limits applicable at the time were exceeded, as the inclusion of long-lived radionuclides in the dose calculations was not yet obligatory.
Phosphorylation of AML1 (RUNX1) Controls Transcription, Nuclear Localization, and Is Regulated during DNA Damage.

Abstract We demonstrate that AML1 (RUNX1) is phosphorylated on S276, S293, T300, S303 and S462 after phorbol ester treatment in K562 cells, and these phosphorylations control the transcriptional activity of this protein and regulate varied promoters including TCRb, GM-CSF, M-CSF receptor, and myeloperoxidase gene (JBC 279: 53116–53125, 2004). In addition, we find that phosphorylation of the AML1 protein controls the binding of AML1 to the nuclear matrix, and regulates its degradation (MCR 3: 391–401, 2005). We have now derived rabbit phosphopeptide antisera to S276, S303, and S462 in the AML1 protein. Using these antibodies, we find that in unsynchronized Jurkat T cells AML1 contain low levels of phosphorylation at all three sites. To examine whether this phosphoryaltion is cell cycle regulated, we blocked cells in G1/S with aphidicolin or in G2/M with nocodazole. In contrast to G1/S block that had no effect on phosphorylation, nocodazole treatment induces marked increases in phosphorylation of S276, S303, and S462. The nocodazole increase in phosphorylation was markedly inhibited by staurosporine, a PKC inhibitor, and to a lesser extent by the JNK inhibitor SP600125, and the p38 inhibitor, SB202190. Using elutriation to examine untreated Jurkat cells, we demonstrate increases in the level of AML1 protein as cells progress through the cell cycle to G2/M. However, the actual level of phosphorylated protein as judged by phospho303 and 462 antibodies decreases. Nocodazole treatment of Jurkat cells not only induces G2/M arrest, but also induces apoptosis. We are currently investigating the hypothesis that DNA damage causes phosphorylation of AML1 that regulates both its activity and location.
Impact of nano-diamond composites on low-temperature co-fired ceramic interposer for wide bandgap power electronic module packages

A 2.5D package with interposer is proposed for wide bandgap (WBG) power modules. Low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) is used for the interposer because its coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is closely matched to those of WBG devices as well as its flexibility to have complex structures and through-hole vias built on it. Furthermore, its thermal performance can be enhanced through the addition of through-hole thermal vias. Nano-composite of nano-diamond and silver paste was used as via filled materials in these LTCC interposers. It was found that such interposers with bigger trench vias yielded smaller thermal impedance values while those with circular vias yielded larger thermal impedance values. Scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) revealed large number of voids in samples with circular vias. As such, besides via filled materials, interposer pattern design, and via dimensions are also crucial in these interposers. Thermal simulations were performed for these interposers and different thermal materials were used and compared.
Surgical Repair of a Living-Donor Kidney Graft Artery Kink by a Postanastomotic External Iliac Artery Rotation and Reanastomosis.

A 61-year-old man received a living-donor kidney graft for an end-stage renal disease. In the postoperative course, the patient was oliguric and needed dialysis. The postoperative Doppler showed a normal peak systolic velocity and maintained parenchymal perfusion associated with a parvus tardus signal. The patient was operated, and a kinked renal artery was found. To reposition the artery, the distal iliac artery was clamped, sectioned, shortened, and reanastomosed after a 90° axial rotation. This innovative technic allowed restoration of a normal flow in the parenchyma and avoided an additional clamping, cooling, ischemia, and reanastomosis/reperfusion of the graft. Postoperative diuresis immediately raised >100 mL/hr and creatinine durably returned to normal values.
Qualifying for bariatric surgery: is preoperative weight loss a reliable predictor of postoperative weight loss?

Abstract Background Over the last 20 years, bariatric surgery has emerged as a highly effective weight loss intervention that can also improve co-morbid medical conditions. However, some payors have required preoperative supervised diets and weight loss. Objective To determine if preoperative weight loss is the best predictor of postoperative weight loss. Setting Academic county hospital, United States. Methods A retrospective chart review of 218 patients. Patients who received psychological evaluation and bariatric surgery were followed up at 1 year. All preoperative patients were encouraged to lose weight; however, no specified amount of weight loss was required. Preoperative weight loss and postoperative weight loss in body mass index (BMI), percent excess weight loss, and percent total weight loss were measured. Bariatric outcome predictor variables evaluated included age, race, and sex; BMI change; measures of depression and anxiety; number of unhealthy eating types; and co-morbid medical conditions. A linear regression model and stepwise regression analyses were used to estimate contributions of independent variables to the 1-year weight loss. Results All patients had a mean 28% reduction in BMI (63.3% excess weight loss and 29.1% total weight loss) at 1 year postoperatively. As a single independent variable, preoperative weight loss was a significant predictor of 1-year change in postoperative BMI ( P = .006). However, when age, race, and sex were added to the regression equation, the predictive value of preoperative weight loss became nonsignificant ( P = .543). Conclusion The present findings indicate that preoperative weight loss should not be considered in isolation when clearance for bariatric surgery is being evaluated.
Discovery of Causal Models that Contain Latent Variables Through Bayesian Scoring of Independence Constraints

Discovering causal structure from observational data in the presence of latent variables remains an active research area. Constraint-based causal discovery algorithms are relatively efficient at discovering such causal models from data using independence tests. Typically, however, they derive and output only one such model. In contrast, Bayesian methods can generate and probabilistically score multiple models, outputting the most probable one; however, they are often computationally infeasible to apply when modeling latent variables. We introduce a hybrid method that derives a Bayesian probability that the set of independence tests associated with a given causal model are jointly correct. Using this constraint-based scoring method, we are able to score multiple causal models, which possibly contain latent variables, and output the most probable one. The structure-discovery performance of the proposed method is compared to an existing constraint-based method (RFCI) using data generated from several previously published Bayesian networks. The structural Hamming distances of the output models improved when using the proposed method compared to RFCI, especially for small sample sizes.
Carotid artery ultrasound texture, cardiovascular risk factors, and subclinical arterial disease: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Objective:This pilot study determined if the ultrasound texture feature “contrast” was associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and subclinical arterial disease.Methods:We evaluated ultrasound images of the right common carotid artery (CCA) from a convenience sample of 151 participants and examined relationships between contrast, CVD risk factors, carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and coronary artery calcium (CAC). Grey level difference statistics algorithms were used to evaluate the texture feature “contrast” from carotid ultrasound images. Right CCA IMT measurements were made in triplicate in the distal 1 cm segment of the far wall of the artery and CAC score was measured using the Agatston scoring method.Results:In individual models that included age, sex and race, grey level difference statistics contrast (outcome) was associated independently with age [beta (standard error) = –0.87 (0.38) per year; p = 0.02], C-reactive protein [–2.22 (0.96) per mg dl–1; p = 0.02], high-density li...
Problem-Solving MR Imaging for Equivocal Imaging Findings and Indeterminate Clinical Symptoms of the Breast

Breast MR imaging is commonly used for high-risk screening and for assessing the extent of disease in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer, but its utility for assessing suspicious symptoms and equivocal imaging findings is less widely accepted. The authors review current literature and guidelines regarding the use of breast MR imaging for these indications. Overall, problem-solving breast MR imaging is best reserved for pathologic nipple discharge and sonographically occult architectural distortion with limited biopsy options. Further study is necessary to define the role of problem-solving MR imaging for calcifications, mammographic asymmetries, and surgical scarring.
Relationship of high pretreatment folic acid level and failure of methotrexate in ectopic pregnancy: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that high (> or =20.7 ng/mL) pretreatment serum folic acid level increases the failure of single-dose methotrexate for ectopic pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN Twenty patients with ectopic pregnancy and measured pretreatment folic acid levels were divided into 2 groups based on pretreatment serum folic acid level ( or =20.7 ng/mL). All patients were candidates for single-dose methotrexate treatment. Variables analyzed in the 2 groups were pretreatment folic acid level, initial P-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level, size of the ectopic mass, presence of fetal heart tones and clinical outcomes. RESULTS Eleven patients had serum folic acid levels or =20.7 ng/mL. The mean (+/- SD) folic acid level was 13.4 ng/mL (+/- 3.2) in the group with folic acid levels 20.7 ng/mL (p or = 20.7 ng/mL as compared to the group below (n = 4, 44%, vs. n = 0, 0%; p = 0.02). CONCLUSION High pretreatment folic acid levels increase the risk of treatment failure with single-dose methotrexate.
Modeling, analysis, and control of a class of resource allocation systems arising in concurrent software

In the past decade, computer hardware has undergone a true revolution, moving from uniprocessor architectures to multiprocessor architectures, or multicore. In order to exploit the full potential of multicore hardware, there is an unprecedented interest in parallelizing the applications that were previously conducted in sequential order. This trend forces parallel programming upon the average programmer. However, reasoning about concurrency is challenging for human programmers. Significant effort has been spent to eliminate several types of concurrency bugs. In this dissertation, we study the modeling, analysis, control, and evaluation of a class of resource allocation systems arising in concurrent software using Petri nets, a commonly used modeling formalism in Discrete Event Systems. We formally define a new class of Petri nets, called Gadara nets, to systematically model multithreaded programs with lock allocation and release operations, a widely used programming paradigm for concurrent software with shared data. We focus on an important class of concurrency bugs, known as circular-mutex-wait deadlocks, or simply deadlocks. Deadlock-freeness of a program corresponds to liveness of its Gadara net model. We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for liveness and reversibility properties of Gadara nets, which lay the foundations for their control synthesis. We propose a new liveness-enforcing control synthesis methodology for general Gadara nets that need not be ordinary. The method is based on structural analysis and converges in finite iterations. It is shown to be correct and maximally permissive with respect to the goal of liveness enforcement. We further customize this control synthesis methodology for ordinary Gadara nets and establish a set of important properties. Performance evaluations are conducted for comparing the original and controlled program models, using Discrete Event Simulation. Our results are applied to the analysis of large-scale multithreaded program models, showing that our approach is scalable to real-world software. Finally, we discuss potential directions for future work.
Race, ethnicity, and the risk of sudden death .

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major cause of death worldwide, with an estimated U.S. annual incidence of 350,000 [1]. This review will examine the influence of race and ethnicity on SCD burden and risk factors, and review the available literature on resuscitation outcomes and primary prevention of SCD. An improved understanding of associations between race, ethnicity, and SCD may provide clues to mechanisms, lead to improved prevention of SCD, and ultimately reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the burden of SCD.
Excretion of 3-(3-Amino-2,4,6-Triiodophenyl)-2-Ethyl-Propanoic Acid (Telepaque) by Man.

Summary and DiscussionsThis study shows that 86% of the Telepaque was eliminated in 5 days, 12.4% by way of the urine, and 73.6% by way of the feces, in human subjects. Fourteen per cent was not accounted for, although the most probable route is via the feces in smaller and smaller amounts beyond the 5-day period of study. A higher percentage of Telepaque was thus recovered from the urine than the 2.1% to 4.8% previously reported(9) from the urine of experimental animals. The higher fecal and lower urinary excretion of Telepaque, in contrast to the 19% fecal and 74% urinary excretion of Priodax reported by Crismer, may be related to the superiority of the former as a cholecystographic medium.
The death of Sadie Sachs.

Helplessly watching a woman die from a self-induced abortion forever changed the life of Margaret Sanger the women who brought the issue of birth control to the forefront of feminist and health issues. In 912 Sanger wide and mother of 3 practiced nursing in New York City. One day she accompanied a physician to an emergency at the house of Jake Sachs a 28 year-old truck driver and husband of Sadie Sachs. Sadie was very ill the product of a self-induced abortion. Sanger nursed Sadie for several weeks until she recovered but as Sanger prepared to make her leave Sadie said that another pregnancy would end her life. Sanger asked the physician if there was anything that could be done but he responded negatively. Three months later the Sachs household had another emergency and Sanger promptly arrived already knowing what she would find. It was too late to save Sadie Sachs. This incident changed her life. She renounced the nursing profession for activism but was unable to convince her feminist and socialist friends of the need for controlling family size. So she began studying all there was to know on the subject and came to coin the term "birth control". Later she started publishing a magazine designed to educate on birth control but the authorities put an end to it since the law prohibited anyone from providing information to prevent conception for any reason. She fled to England but returned to open a clinic in Brooklyn that distributed information on birth control. The clinic served hundreds of people until it was raided by police on the 9th day of operation. Sanger went to jail. Nonetheless her pioneering efforts did begin the acknowledgement of the need for birth control. And now public opinion stands on the side of Margaret Sanger.
New Developments in Breast Cancer Immunology

During the past five years a great number of investigators have applied immunological methods in their quest against breast cancer. A great proportion of the studies have been dedicated to the application of the hybridoma technology to obtain monoclonal antibodies to define breast tumor markers that could help in the diagnosis of primary and metastatic lesions. The ultimate goal is to direct chemotherapeutic agents with great efficiency to the tumor mass sparing the surrounding normal tissues. Another area that has received considerable attention is the assessment of host immune reactions in relationship to mammary tumor development. In this connection several investigators have studied the humoral immune factors and their modulating effects on the lymphoreticular cells. Realizing that the activities detected in peripheral lymphoid organs may not be as relevant as those of tumor infiltrating cells, many researchers have analyzed the in situ immune responses and the cells mediating them. In recent years molecular biologic data has been generated that indicates a possible association between mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) and human breast carcinoma. Various immunological studies have been published that also establish a relationship between the murine agent and the human tumors. In the following sections the various reports are discussed and analyzed in order to obtain new perspectives as we evaluate the progress made up to date and formulate future plans aimed at the eventual control of breast cancer.