cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pubic symphyseal face eburnation: an Egyptian sport story?

Strenuous physical activity leaves scars on bone that attest to the demands of occupation, sport, aggression and recreation. During the assessment of 74 C-Group Nubians from Hierakonpolis (Egypt) dated to the Egyptian Middle Kingdom–Second Intermediate Period (2080–1700 BC), robust muscle insertions along the ilia and ischia were observed among some adults. In addition, a disproportionate degeneration of the pubic symphyseal faces when compared to other age-related features was also noted. In the case of one male (Burial 32), the pubic symphyseal faces were completely flattened and polished so that they resembled the eburnation that is pathognomic of osteoarthritis. Differential diagnoses are discussed and osteitis pubis, an increasingly diagnosed injury among modern athletes who participate in intense activity that involves running, kicking, twisting or leaping, is proposed as the most likely etiology. The exaggerated muscle insertions and pubic symphyseal wear, epitomised by the individual interred in Burial 32, are unique features that may be linked to the unexplained presence of this Nubian group deep in Egyptian territory during a period of political instability. Artefactual, artistic and documentary evidence records how the Egyptian pharaohs and elites conscripted Nubian athletes to the royal courts for staged contests and entertainment, part of a propaganda program engineered to reinforce among the general populace the dogma of Egyptian supremacy over the enemy. This Nubian community, serviced by Cemetery HK27C, may have functioned as a source for individuals skilled in athletics or other activities that required exceptional physical dexterity. The extraordinary modification of these pubic symphyseal faces underscores the importance of recognising paleopathological conditions that may further confound current macroscopic methods used to ascertain the chronological age of an individual. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Jewish Christianity in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch

L'A. renvoie a sa these inedite, Yale, 1973, sur Justin et la controverse entre Juifs et Chretiens au II s. L'article developpe, du moins comme une hypothese plausible, cette question a propos d'Ignace: celui-ci se refere essentiellement, sinon uniquement, au milieu d'Antioche ou purent se developper des tendances multiples, d'ou le flou des allusions d'Ignace et l'embarras des commentateurs. Dans ces allusions, il semble possible d'isoler une serie de passages qui se referent aux Juifs convertis, et meme aux proselytes juifs convertis (Philad. 6,1), lesquels conservent la priorite de la Loi sans pour autant nier la realite christologique. En conclusion, l'on ne peut considerer Ignace comme un temoin d'un judeo-gnosticisme a son epoque.
Re-cognizing Recognition: A Commentary on Patchen Markell's Bound by Recognition

Democracy's animus against difference expresses a discovery about power. The [principal] means by which those who are less wealthy, less skillful, less experienced in ruling can redress their grievances is by bracketing actual differences, even though the dullest is aware that in no literal sense are human beings created equal or made equal by law or command. Like the men of Shinar, democracy knows that the weak can gain power only by discovering a commonality that is artificial, iso-nomia rather than physis. -Sheldon S. Wolin
Serum levels of type I and III procollagen fragments in Paget's disease of bone.

Patients with Paget's disease of bone were found to have elevated serum levels of type I procollagen carboxy-terminal peptide (pColl-I-C) which correlated with other measurements of disease activity. The elevated levels of pColl-I-C decreased within hours after the injection of salmon calcitonin and within weeks after oral dichloromethylene diphosphonate treatment. The decrease in serum pColl-I-C after a single injection of salmon calcitonin was associated with a decrease in urinary hydroxyproline excretion, both of which rose toward pretreatment values within 7 h. The pColl-I-C levels remained normal for months after dichloromethylene diphosphonate therapy was discontinued. Using a RIA for the type III procollagen amino-terminal peptide (pColl-III-N), it was found that serum levels were also elevated in patients with Paget's disease. The levels of pColl-III-N alsodecreased after the injection of salmon calcitonin, but not to the same extent as those of pColl-I-C. After chronic therapy with dichloromethyl...
GLUTARIC ACIDEMIA: A NEW DISORDER OF AMINO ACID METABOLISM

Glutaric acid was elevated in plasma (0.1-0.6 mg %;normal = undetected), urine (5 gm/gm creatinine;normal=undetected),and CSF (0.25 mg %;normal=undetected) of two siblings, a 1½ year old girl and a 7½ year old boy. Both have a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by initial normalcy followed by progressive deterioration to opisthotonus and posturing. Recurrent metabolic acidemia was present in the male. One sibling has neither glutaric acidemia nor neurologic dysfunction, and the parents deny consanguinity. Glutaryl-CoA is an intermediate in the metabolism of L-lysine, L-tryptophan, and hydroxy-L-lysine, being further metabolized through glutaconyl-CoA to crotonyl-CoA. Oral administration of L-lysine augmented the glutaric aciduria; L-valine did not. Decreasing protein intake from 4.1 to 1.6 gm/kg/day decreased glutaric acid excretion from 5 to 2 gm/gm creat. The metabolism of glutaric acid-l,5-14C in peripheral leucocytes and cultured fibroblasts was normal. If inherited, transmission may be as an autosomal recessive trait; carriers cannot be differentiated easily from controls by lysine loading. It is speculated that (1) the disorder is due to a block at the level of glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenase, and (2) that CNS dysfunction may relate to inhibition by glutaric acid of transport or metabolism of glutamic acid.
Black holes of small mass

ANY star which has exhausted all of its nuclear fuel and which cannot eject sufficient matter so that its mass becomes less than roughly two solar masses, must undergo gravitational collapse to become a black hole. Thus one usually associates black holes with masses of stellar proportions. But it is possible that during the initial chaotic conditions of the Universe, black holes of much smaller mass1,2, down to 10−5 g, may have been formed. Here we suggest an experiment by which one may detect or set meaningful upper limits to the number density of black holes of small mass (hereinafter referred to as BHSM).
Synthesis and Reactivity of Silyl and Silylene Ligands in the Coordination Sphere of the 14-Electron Fragment Cp*(iPr3P)Os+

Oxidative addition reactions of the 16-electron half-sandwich osmium complex Cp*(iPr3P)OsBr (2) with SiH4 and primary and secondary hydrosilanes were examined. Compared to the previously studied ru...
Pharmacovigilance: towards a better understanding of the benefit to risk ratio

Pharmacovigilance is a critical component for determining the benefit to risk ratio of treatment. The potential for drug toxicity is determined throughout the lifetime of use of a drug or biological agent, including the development cycle. This includes both the preclinical as well as clinical data. Preclinical data are rarely extensive for biological therapies because it is difficult to study these drugs in animal models, whereas pharmacotoxicology can be very informative in the development of new drugs. Toxic events caused by drugs or biological therapies may be identified at any time during treatment, as there is no absolutely safe treatment. There are certain patterns to the onset of these potential events. One pattern of onset for some treatments is early onset. In this situation, if patients continue to take the drug, the incidence of the toxic event may decrease over time. Other toxic events might be delayed and only noted with continued use of a drug. There is a third possible pattern—namely, treatment that induces a chronic but constant event, such as the use of non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which are believed to cause one or two gastric ulcers a month …
Sample duration and type of stimuli in delayed matching-to-sample in rhesus monkeys

Two experiments were performed to determine the effect of sample duration (0.1, 2, and 4 sec), delay interval (.03, 4, 8, 16, and 32 sec), and type of stimulus (color and shape) on the matching performance of rhesus monkeys. In Experiment 1, the 15 possible delay-duration combinations were randomly presented in blocks of 15 trials. In Experiment 2, each duration was held constant and the five delays randomly presented. Then each delay interval was held constant with the three durations randomly varied. Matching performance increased as sample duration increased (ps < .01 and .005), while length of delay did not significantly affect performance. The type of stimuli paired in the matching test significantly affected performance (ps < .05 and .10) with the shape/shape choices leading to the poorest performance. Stimulus discriminability and amount of training with brief sample durations were implicated as significant determinants of matching performance.
Circadian rhythms: how does a reindeer tell time?

What happens to the circadian clock and the rhythms it regulates in an environment where the sun neither rises nor sets? At least for Arctic reindeer, the clock appears silent.
Magnetic resonance imaging of knee menisci: diagnostic interpretation and pitfalls

Abstract Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the knee has become one of the most frequently requested musculoskeletal imaging examinations. The soft tissue discrimination possible with MRI allows distinct differentiation of cortex, marrow, ligaments, tendons, muscle, synovium, vascular, and cartilaginous elements of the knee. It is very accurate and excels in having a very high negative predictive value. The normal MRI of the knee, then, is very accurate in excluding internal derangement, especially of the menisci. Because MRI has unsurpassed tissue contrast and resolution and the ability to image in multiple planes, it has been accepted as an indispensable tool in the evaluation of meniscal disorders. Where MRI is readily available, orthopaedic surgeons have an excellent imaging tool they can use in supplementing their clinical examination. As a subscriber to this imaging modality, it is imperative that the orthopaedic surgeon understand magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the menisci with particular attention to diagnostic interpretation of meniscal tears and potential pitfalls that may mimic meniscal tears.
Risk factors for substance use: ethnic differences among adolescents.

Risk factors for drug and alcohol use and abuse were studied among Hispanic, black, Asian, and white adolescents. The number of risk factors was a significant correlate of prevalence and heavy use among all adolescents, though the effects were stronger for some drug/ethnic group combinations. For example, the association between the number of risk factors and frequency of hard drug use was substantially smaller for blacks, compared to the other three ethnic, groups. Risk factors were causal influences for increasing drug use, while controlling for initial level of use, among Hispanics and whites. However, these effects for blacks and Asians were in the same direction but not significant and were not significantly diferent from Hispanics and whites. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.
Electromagnetic wave propagation in a multilayer silver particle

The whispering gallery modes (WGM) of a 500 nm radius silver core shell particle are investigated using general Mie theory. The increase in the shell thickness leads to narrow WGM resonances and a blue shift in the resonance wavelengths. The light propagation within a vacuum cavity with a thickness of less than 1% of the incident wavelength is demonstrated, in which only the transverse electric modes are excited. The discovered phenomena can be of assistance in the investigations of controllable electromagnetic wave propagation in a subwavelength space or in the development of novel nanosensors.
Bradykinin inhibits a potassium M-like current in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells

We studied the action of bradykinin (BK) on ionic currents in fused pheochromocytoma PC12 cells under voltage-clamp in whole-cell mode, and on intracellular calcium using fura-2. BK induced the development of an outward current associated with an increase in intracellular calcium, followed by inhibition of an M-like current. The outward current was blocked by (+)-tubocurarine, and prevented when the calcium chelator BAPTA or high concentrations of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate were introduced into the cell, whereas the M-like current and its inhibition by BK remained unaffected. The protein kinase activator phorbol 12,13 dibutyrate partially reduced the M-current. M-current density did not substantially change after prolonged treatment with nerve growth factor.
Specificity of the suppression of metastatic phenotype by tyrosine and phenylalanine restriction.

Amino acid restriction modulates tumor growth, although effects on metastasis are poorly documented. We demonstrate that low levels of tyrosine (Tyr) and phenylalanine (Phe) suppress metastasis of B16-BL6 melanoma and that these effects are specific to these two amino acids. Weight loss and sustained low body weight in mice fed low Tyr and Phe diet do not contribute to the antimetastatic effects. Furthermore, methionine (Met) restriction, which decreased survival of mice inoculated i.p. with B16 melanoma, only slightly inhibited spontaneous metastasis compared to the dramatic inhibition during Tyr and Phe restriction. Tyr and Phe restriction inhibited spontaneous metastasis by impairing the ability of tumor cells to establish metastatic foci and not via differential tumor cell removal from the blood. Spontaneous metastasis is blocked by Tyr and Phe intervention even in mice with established lymph node tumors. Tumors isolated from mice fed low Tyr and Phe diet reinoculated into mice fed normal diet exhibited lower experimental metastatic potential, reflected by decreased formation of lung tumor colonies and increased survival of inoculated mice. This decrease in metastatic potential is not associated with tumor chemosensitivity. These findings indicate that Tyr and Phe restriction could become an important adjuvant to effective melanoma treatment.
The development of speech encipherment

This paper surveys some past and present principles of speech coding. The advent of digital logic systems and integrated circuit components is seen as a major turning point in the implementation of effective coding principles that could not previously be used satisfactorily.Various coding methods are discussed, covering frequency domain, time domain and analogue and digital output systems. The problems of key generator integrity, synchronization, received voice quality and recognizability, and channel bandwidth restrictions, and the security offered by different systems are considered.The author concludes that in the immediate future high security speech encipherment systems will be of the digital output crypto-vocoder type, with audio bandwidth analogue output coders offering an increasingly secure alternative for the majority of applications. Digital output coders will continue to be used effectively in those applications where the communication equipment and transmission path have the necessary characteristics to carry low-error-rate digital signals. Advances in analogue-to-digital speech conversion providing acceptable quality at bit rates below 9.6 k bit/s should eventually enable a simple digital output coder to be as effective as a cryptovocoder for audio band high security applications.
Volatile organic compounds in open ocean and coastal surface waters

Volatile organic compounds with volatilities ranging between those of n-hexane and n-pentadecane were identified in open ocean and coastal marine surface water samples taken in the north central part of the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 40 organic compounds were found. The types and concentrations of the compounds found depended upon the extent of anthropogenic and terrestrial influences. Open ocean samples consisted mostly of aromatic hydrocarbons, whereas coastal samples included alkanes, cycloalkanes, cycloalkenes, aromatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes and chlorinated hydrocarbons. Unpolluted open ocean and coastal water samples had individual concentrations rarely exceeding 5 ng/kg; some aromatic hydrocarbons approached 15 ng/kg. n-Pentadecane dominated the hydrocarbons in these samples (50–100 ng/kg). The most polluted coastal water samples had individual volatile organic concentrations as great as 150 ng/kg with total concentrations approaching 1000 ng/kg. The terpene, limonene, was found extensively in the coastal samples (up to 40 ng/kg). Photooxidization of hydrocarbons in industrial/urban atmospheres was considered as a possible source of aldehydes present in coastal water. The dynamic headspace stripping/Tenax-GC adsorption method coupled with packed column gas chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used for volatile organic analysis.
Toxicological and biological studies of the odorous house ant, Tapinoma sessile.

Tapinoma sessile (Say) has been known since 1836 and has been regarded as an important house pest since 1921. Smith (1928) found it to be the most important of all ants infesting houses in Urbana, III. Nearly every city block investigated was infested, and in some blocks 80–90% of the houses were infested. The odorous house ant has been found in California, Nevada, District of Columbia, Maryland, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Illinois. Little information on its biology or direct control has been reported.
Analytical risk-based model of gaseous and liquid-phase radon transport in landfills with radium sources

An analytical model of gaseous and liquid-phase radon transport through soils is derived for environmental modeling of landfills containing uranium mill tailings or Ra-226 sources. Processes include radon diffusion in both the gas and liquid phases, advection of soluble radon in percolating water, radioactive decay, equilibrium partitioning between gas and liquid phases, and emanation from different source terms. A probabilistic framework for the radon-transport model is introduced that provides uncertainty and sensitivity analyses for risk-based assessments. Uncertainty analyses are used to compare simulated performance metrics (e.g., radon surface flux) against regulatory standards. Sensitivity analyses are used to identify key parameters and processes that impact the variability of the simulated results. The models and analyses are illustrated with a probabilistic performance assessment of the Mixed Waste Landfill at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM.
Conceit of the Globe in Mughal Visual Practice

The increasing preoccupation of the scholarly community in recent years with globalization appears to have left its impact on postmodern geographers and historians of cartography as well, several of whom have turned their attention recently to the history and politics of the image that is at the center of this new problematic, namely, the terrestrial globe. As Denis Cosgrove notes in his provocative analysis of cartographic representations of Earth in the Western imagination, “Whether pictured as a networked sphere of accelerating circulation or as an abused and overexploited body, it is from images of the spherical earth that ideas of globalization draw their expressive and political force” (2001: ix). Its very ubiquity as a symbol of the times in which we live underscores the preoccupation with the image of the globe in the late modern imagination. However, as Jerry Brotton observes, its pervasiveness may also point to an increasing redundancy of its appearance in our times, and the image of the globe has suffered what might be called “a waning of affect” (1999: 73). This argument leads him to a study of the early modern period in Europe when the terrestrial globe first emerged in his assessment as “a socially affective object” (ibid.: 72). In his Trading Territories (1997), Brotton considers how the terrestrial globe came to not just reflect an increasingly “global” world but also to constitute it over the course of the sixteenth century. Its power lay “in the ideological representation of the world it purported to describe. Its lack of cognitive specificity was not its weakness but ultimately its greatest strength, because the very perceptions of distance and space upon which the terrestrial globe rested stressed speculation and conjecture over the extent and possession of distant territories” (1999: 87–88). From the early years of the sixteenth century, even as the Copernican revolution was slowly undoing medieval Christian cosmological conceptions of the universe, terrestrial globes became increasingly crucial to the exercise of state power in Europe, as well as to the surging search for new markets and tradable goods. As importantly, as prestige objects, globes and maps became part of a new gift economy of circulation and exchange, and were sought after like “the spices, pepper, silk and precious metals to which [they] appeared to give directional access” (Brotton 1997: 25; see also Jardine 1996: 295–309, 425–36). In the process, they helped fashion new bourgeois modalities of the self, mostly but not exclusively male. Not surprisingly, as Brotton notes, “It is upon the figure of the globe, as both a visual image and a material object, that many of the social and cultural hopes and anxieties of the period came to be focused” (1997: 21).
Nonlinear Optics at Low Light Levels

We show how the combination of electromagnetically induced transparency based nonlinear optics and cold atom technology, under conditions of ultraslow light propagation, allows nonlinear processes at energies of a few photons per atomic cross section.
QT intervals compared in small and large hibernators and humans

Small hibernating animals experience cycles of deep hypothermia followed by rewarming and feeding. This contrasts with bears, which remain in hibernation for four to seven months, experiencing large reductions in energy metabolism and heart rate, and small reductions in core temperature, and do not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate throughout. We measured the QT interval (QT) of the electrocardiogram (EKG) to determine whether the hearts of bears behave electrophysiologically more like classic hibernators or non-hibernators. We compared EKGs from grizzly and polar bears with small hibernators (marmots) and humans. Animal data were obtained using implanted radio capsules. EKGs of non-dormant marmots were characterized by a shortened QT (0.07–0.14 s); this held for grizzly and polar bears (0.14–0.23 s), but not for humans (0.39 s). Thus, the QT of bears resembles that of small hibernators. At the same heart rate, the QT of non-dormant bears and marmots differs in winter and summer.
ANTIMATTER AND COSMOLOGY

This paper discusses two aspects of antimatter and cosmology: (1) the fundamental cosmological question as to whether antimatter plays an equally important role as matter in the universe (overall baryon symmetry), and (2) cosmic-ray antimatter tests for the nature of the dark matter in the universe.
Output taxes and the quantity-quality trade-off in the mining firm

Abstract A dynamic model of mineral extraction and processing is developed which incorporates the quality-quantity trade-off which is made at the processing stage. This model is then used to analyze the effects of various output taxes and depletion allowances on the behavior of the firm. It is shown that these taxes may affect both the composition of output (concentrate) and the rate of extraction.
Putting Youth on the Map: A Pilot Instrument for Assessing Youth Well-Being

Extant measures of adolescent well-being in the United States typically focus on negative indicators of youth outcomes. Indices comprised of such measures paint bleak views of youth and orient action toward the prevention of problems over the promotion of protective factors. Their tendency to focus analyses at a state or county geographic scale produces limited information about localized outcome patterns that could inform policymakers, practitioners and advocacy networks. We discuss the construction of a new geo-referenced index of youth well-being based on positive indicators of youth development. In demonstrating the index for the greater Sacramento, California region of the United States, we find that overall youth well-being falls far short of an optimal outcome, and geographic disparities in well-being appear to exist across school districts at all levels of our analysis. Despite its limitations, the sub-county geographic scale of this index provides needed data to facilitate local and regional interventions.
Emerging monoclonal antibody therapies for multiple sclerosis.

Background:Monoclonal antibodies constitute a relatively new class of therapeutic agent designed to interact with specific target antigens. Monoclonal antibodies can be created to deplete cell lineages or antagonize receptors for which small molecule drugs are not available. Because of their accessi
JHDL Implementation of a BIST Scheme for Testing the Look-Up Tables of SRAM Based FPGAs

Built in self test for FPGAs has become an important area of research over the years. The current research focuses on the use of JHDL as an implementation tool for BIST. The research spans the design, simulation and JHDL implementation of a BIST scheme for testing the Look-Up Tables of a Xilinx SRAM based Spartan II FPGA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt by any researcher in using JHDL for implementing BIST on FPGAs.
Treatment of Mixed Bacterial Infections with Clindamycin and Gentamicin

Thirty-eight patients with severe mixed bacterial infections were treated with clindamycin and gentamicin. In vitro, all staphylococci and streptococci (other than enterococci) and 96% of anaerobes were susceptible to clindamycin; all staphylococci and 92% of Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were susceptible to gentamicin. Enterococci were usually resistant to both antibiotics. Significant synergy was only occasionally observed with this combination of antibiotics; there were no instances of antagonism. Among the patients treated with both drugs, there were four patients with pneumonia and empyema, 15 with infections of the skin, soft tissue, and/or bone, and 19 with intraabdominal infection. Nine patients had bacteremia, and 29 had failed to respond or had developed infections during previous antibiotic therapy. The results of treatment with clindamycin and gentamicin were considered to be excellent: 30 patients were cured, four improved, and four failed to respond. Concentrations of clindamycin in serum greatly surpassed minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of clindamycin-susceptible pathogens; these organisms were eradicated from foci of infection. Concentrations of gentamicin in serum did not consistently surpass MICs for gentamicin-susceptible pathogens; these organisms and enterococci often persisted in foci of infection. In patients with complicated infections that required prolonged courses of treatment, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and enterococci occasionally emerged as predominant pathogens. Adverse reactions frequently occurred but were mild and reversible; treatment was discontinued in only two patients who developed rashes.
Chlorzoxazone as a cause of acute liver failure requiring liver transplantation.

A 38-year-old female was transferred to our institution for evaluation of acute liver failure. In the preceding month, she had experienced progressive nausea, vomiting, and scleral icterus and was finally brought to her local emergency department for increasing confusion and lethargy. On initial laboratory tests, her serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was 1027 U/mL; serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), 846 U/ml; bilirubin, 19.9 mg/dl; and prothrombin time, 32.6 sec. Given her progressive symptoms and abnormal laboratory values, she was subsequently transferred to this institution for further evaluation and treatment. The patient’s medical history was significant for hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and atopic dermatitis, and each of these conditions was well controlled. She had recently experienced a lower back strain and, for the past 6 weeks, had been taking Parafon Forte (chlorzoxazone [CZ], 500 mg; Ortho-McNeil, Raritan, NJ) twice daily, with symptomatic improvement. Her other medications included iron sulfate, hydrochlorothiazide, Protonix (pantoprazole sodium; Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Philadelphia, PA), Loprox (ciclopirox, 1% shampoo; Medicis, Scottsdale, AZ), and Em-
A Pilot-Scale Reuse System for Salmonids

(1985). A Pilot-Scale Reuse System for Salmonids. The Progressive Fish-Culturist: Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 251-253.
Validation of a model of breast cancer screening: an outlier observation suggests the value of breast self-examinations.

As part of a validation of a mathematical model of breast cancer, the Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (HIP) randomized controlled trial of breast cancer screening and the uncontrolled Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Projects (BCDDP) trial were simulated. Model predictions were in accord with the nine-year survival experience of women in the HIP trial, and, with the exception of women 40-44 years old, with HIP data on 18-year survival. Five-year survival rates of screen-detected cases in the BCDDP were very close to the model's predictions. However, the model did not predict the high survival rate of women who had interval cancers in the BCDDP. By the end of the BCDDP, almost 85% of the participants performed breast self-examination (BSE) regularly. Consistent with this obser vation, an appealing hypothesis to explain the high survival rate of women who had interval cancers is that BSE is of value in detecting breast cancers earlier. Consideration of model outliers can be of value in increa...
Temperature-dependent expression of a squid Kv1 channel in Sf9 cells and functional comparison with the native delayed rectifier.

SqKv1A is a cDNA that encodes a Kv1 (Shaker-type) α-subunit expressed only in the giant axon and the parental giant fiber lobe (GFL) neurons of the squid stellate ganglion. We incorporated SqKv1A into a recombinant baculovirus for expression in the insect Sf9 cell line. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings reveal that very few cells display functional potassium current (IK) if cultured at the standard postinfection temperature of 27°C. At 18°C, less SqKv1A protein is produced than at 27°C, but cells with IK currents are much more numerous and can survive for at least 20 days postinfection (vs. ∼5 days at 27°C). Activation and deactivation kinetics of SqKv1A in Sf9 cells are slower (∼3- and 10-fold, respectively) than those of native channels in GFL neurons, but have similar voltage dependencies. The two cell types show only subtle differences in steady-state voltage-dependence of conductance and inactivation. Rates of IK inactivation in 20 mm external K are identical in the two cell types, but the sensitivity of inactivation to external tetraethylammonium (TEA) and K ions differ: inactivation of SqKv1A in Sf9 cells is slowed by external TEA and K ions, whereas inactivation of GFL IK is largely insensitive. Functional differences are discussed in terms of factors that may be specific to cell-type, including the presence of presently unidentified Kv1 subunits in GFL neurons that might form heteromultimers with SqKv1A.
Comparison of immobilized poly-l-aspartic acid and poly-l-glutamic acid for chelation of metal cations

Abstract Poly- l -aspartic acid (PLAsp) and poly- l -glutamic acid (PLGlu) were individually immobilized onto controlled pore glass (CPG) and compared according to their metal-binding capabilities in a solution of pH 7.0. The metal-binding capacities were calculated through the analysis of breakthrough curves generated by monitoring the metal concentrations on a flow injection–flame atomic absorption system. Capacities for individual metals were comparable and in the order of Cu2+ ⪢ Pb2+ > Ni2+ ≈ Cd2+ > Co2+ > Mn2+ ⪢ Na+. Elemental combustion analysis yielded polymer coverage on the CPG of approximately 4 × 1012 to 5 × 1012 chains/cm2, when average chain lengths were used in the calculations. Formation constants and site capacities of both polymers for Cd2+ were determined through equilibrium and breakthrough studies. The maximum log K values for the strong sites were determined to be ∼13 for both PLAsp and for PLGlu. Additionally, the metal selectivity of PLAsp and PLGlu was evaluated when breakthrough curves were run with several metals present in solution at one time. Both polymers showed selectivities in the order of their single metal-binding capacities, i.e., Cu2+ > Pb2+ > Ni2+ ≈ Cd2+. Both polymers exhibited similar binding trends and binding strengths for all of the metals studied. This likely reflects the absence of a predetermined tertiary structure of the polymers on the surface and the relatively high residue-per-metal ratio (∼20:1), which places less stringent requirements on the steric hindrance between the side chains and the resultant “wrapping” of the peptide around the metal.
Dynamic Knowledge Patterns to Inform Design: A Field Study of Knowledge Stocks and Flows in an Extreme Organization

Knowledge represents a critical resource in the modern enterprise. But it is dynamic and distributed unevenly. Capitalizing on this dynamic resource for enterprise performance depends upon its rapid and reliable flows across people, organizations, locations, and times of application. From a technological perspective, this points immediately to the design of information systems to enhance knowledge flows. The problem is, the design of information systems to enhance knowledge flows requires new understanding. The research described in this paper concentrates on understanding the dynamics of knowledge phenomenologically and on developing and applying techniques for modeling and visualizing dynamic knowledge flows and stocks. We draw key, theoretical concepts from multiple literatures, and we build upon integrative modeling work that composes a parsimonious, multidimensional, analytical framework for representing and visualizing dynamic knowledge. We then conduct field research to learn how this theoretical framework may be used to model knowledge flows in practice. By focusing this empirical work on an extreme organization and processes that involve and rely upon tacit knowledge, we illustrate how dynamic knowledge patterns can inform design in new ways. New chunks of kernel theory deriving from this fieldwork are articulated in terms of a propositional model, which provides a basis for the development of testable design theory hypotheses.
Competition and optimal departures from stock market value maximization by firms

Abstract Models of firm decisionmaking under uncertainty have done a good job of explaining the implications of spanning and competitive behavior. An opportunity set dominance argument under these conditions predicts the optimality of stock market value maximization. This paper reexamines the firm's choice rule assuming competitive behavior but without the restrictive assumption of spanning. The resulting rule breaks into two parts consisting of the traditional market value maximization component plus another term depending on the welfare effect of a change in the contract structure. Necessary and sufficient conditions, including spanning, for this term to be zero are derived.
Transnational literacies: Immigration, language learning, and identity

In recent years, New Literacy Studies (NLS) scholars have called for more ethnographies of literacy that not only describe cultural forms and situated literacy practices but also illuminate how these situated local practices are connected to larger sociohistorical influences, political processes, ideological questions, and power dimensions (e.g. Auerbach, 2005; Bartlett & Holland, 2002; Baynham, 2004; Blackburn & Clark, 2007; Duff, 2005; Luke, 2004; Street, 2004). Specifically, there has been a call for more empirical research that investigates the various ways that ‘distant’ (global) literacies are embedded in the local (Street, 2004, p. 328), as well as how “dominant, universalizing literacies can be seen on closer inspection, as profoundly local” (Baynham, 2004, p. 289). Bartlett (in press) argues for a more nuanced exploration of the complicated relationship between what people do with literacy, the amount of power and prestige afforded by different literacy practices across contexts, and the social, material and ideological consequences of those practices in specific situations. Bartlett observes that ideological accounts of literacy (as opposed to “autonomous” ones) are what allow the “careful study of the complex social and cultural interactions that influence what kind of ‘outcomes’ will result from schooling.” On a different theoretical front but reflecting similar preoccupations with global–local connections, work coming out of anthropology and cultural studies explores “how everyday practices of ordinary people produce cultural meanings that sustain transnational networks and make possible enduring translocal ties” (Basch, Glick Schiller, & Szanton Blanc, 1994, p. 7). Here, transnationalism is understood to be “the condition of cultural interconnectedness and mobility across space” (Ong, 1999) as well as “the processes by which immigrants forge and sustain multistranded social
Invasion percolation on substrates with correlated disorder

Abstract Simulations have been carried out to investigate invasion percolation with trapping on two dimensional substrates with a multifractal distribution of bond threshold probabilities. Suprisingly, the spatial correlations in the bond thresholds appear not to influence or influence only slightly the fractal scaling properties. Fractal dimensionalities, D, of about 1.82 for the entire clusters, about 1.45–1.5 for the hull and about 1.4–1.45 for the outer hull were obtained for all bond invasion percolation models with and without spatial correlations. The exponent τ describing the power law distribution of trapped defender cluster sizes has a value of about 1.90 ((D + d)/d where d is the Euclidean dimensionality). The value for D of 1.4–1.45 for the outer hull is regarded as being consistent with but not in good agreement with the theoretical value of 4 3 for ordinary percolation. The value of about 1.50 obtained for the total hull is much different from the value of 1.75 associated with ordinary percolation hulls. The difference between the value of 1.82 obtained from the entire cluster and the theoretical percolation value of vl is (1.895833) is also regarded as being significant. The simulation results also show that the fractal dimensionality for the total hull is much different for bond and site invasion percolation with trapping on substrates with uncorrelated disorder while the outer hulls have the same fractal dimensionality for both models. For the site invasion percolation model D hull ⋍ 7 4 while for the bond invasion percolation model D hull ⋍D outer hull .
NG-Nitro-l-Arginine Delays the Development of Brain Injury During Focal Ischemia in Rats

Background and Purpose The present study was designed to determine the effect of nitro-l-arginine, the inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis, on the evolution of cytotoxic brain edema during focal cerebral ischemia. Methods Diffusion-weighted and contrast-enhanced, perfusion-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging was performed in anesthetized, mechanically ventilated rats at 30 minutes and 1, 2, and 3 hours after occlusion of the middle cerebral artery combined with coagulation of the basilar artery. At the onset of ischemia, the animals were infused intravenously with 0.5 mL of either 0.9% NaCl or nitro-l-arginine (30 mg/kg). The severity of cytotoxic edema was evaluated based on changes in the water apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) derived from diffusion-weighted images. The size of the area affected by ischemia was evaluated 3 hours after occlusion using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. Results The percentage decrease of ADC in the striatum of rats pretreated with nitro-l-arginine wa...
TU‐C‐17A‐01: A Data‐Based Development for Pratical Pareto Optimality Assessment and Identification

Purpose: To develop an efficient Pareto optimality assessment scheme to support plan comparison and practical determination of best-achievable practical treatment plan goals. Methods: Pareto efficiency reflects the tradeoffs among competing target coverage and normal tissue sparing in multi-criterion optimization (MCO) based treatment planning. Assessing and understanding Pareto optimality provides insightful guidance for future planning. However, current MCO-driven Pareto estimation makes relaxed assumptions about the Pareto structure and insufficiently account for practical limitations in beam complexity, leading to performance upper bounds that may be unachievable. This work proposed an alternative data-driven approach that implicitly incorporates the practical limitations, and identifies the Pareto frontier subset by eliminating dominated plans incrementally using the Edgeworth Pareto hull (EPH). The exactness of this elimination process also permits the development of a hierarchical procedure for speedup when the plan cohort size is large, by partitioning the cohort and performing elimination in each subset before a final aggregated elimination. The developed algorithm was first tested on 2D and 3D where accuracy can be reliably assessed. As a specific application, the algorithm was applied to compare systematic plan quality for lower head-and-neck, amongst 4 competing treatment modalities. Results: The algorithm agrees exactly with brute-force pairwise comparison and visual inspection in low dimensions. The hierarchical algorithm shows sqrt(k) folds speedup with k being the number of data points in the plan cohort, demonstrating good efficiency enhancement for heavy testing tasks. Application to plan performance comparison showed superiority of tomotherapy plans for the lower head-and-neck, and revealed a potential nonconvex Pareto frontier structure. Conclusion: An accurate and efficient scheme to identify Pareto frontier from a plan cohort has been developed. This implementation would guide generating good yet practically achievable plan quality goals for further planning. The observation of a systematic performance bias and a nonconvex Pareto frontier warrants further investigation.
Optimized half-wave voltage and insertion loss in a strip-loaded waveguide electro-optic polymer modulator

A strip-loaded waveguide, electro-optic modulator was designed and analyzed in terms of single mode conditions, optical loss due to the metal electrodes, modulation efficiency, and mode size. Two designs were compared: Design 1 optimized the half-wave voltage (V(π)=1.1 V) with a nearly symmetric waveguide by maximizing modulation efficiency and minimizing the overall thickness of the waveguide; Design 2 optimized the insertion loss by reducing coupling loss by 4.6 dB via a strongly asymmetric waveguide that maximizes the overall mode size to most efficiently overlap with a single mode fiber. Design 2 also has a favorable half-wave voltage (V(π)=1.75 V). Some general guidelines in the selection of cladding layers in a detailed design of a poled-polymer electro-optic modulator incorporating a strip-loaded waveguide structure are suggested.
Survival and Tag Loss in Moapa White River Springfish Implanted with Passive Integrated Transponder Tags

Abstract We monitored survival and tag loss among Moapa White River springfish Crenichthys baileyi moapae that were surgically implanted with passive integrated transponder (PIT; 9 × 2 mm) tags. The fish used in the study ranged from 40 to 67 mm in total length and from 1.0 to 6.5 g in mass; the PIT tag: body weight ratios were 1.0–6.1%. Fish were held for 41 d in live cages within a small, warm desert stream. Survival did not differ between untagged control fish (94.5%) and tagged fish (95.6%). Survival did not appear to be influenced by fish size or PIT tag: body weight ratio, but the small number of fish that died precluded a detailed analysis. Tag retention was 100% among the 86 fish that survived over the 41 d. Our results suggest that surgically implanting 9-mm PIT tags into Moapa White River springfish as small as 40 mm is an effective method for marking them because it has minimal impacts on survival and tag retention is high. More work is needed on the effects of PIT tagging on growth and other p...
Osteosarcoma in a Phthisical Feline Eye

Eight years ago a cat sustained injury to the left globe and phthisis bulbi ensued. Two months prior to presentation, a firm intraorbital and periorbital mass developed and enucleation was done; histologic examination revealed osteogenic sarcoma. This is the first histologically documented report of osteosarcoma occurring in association with phthisis bulbi.
Thermal analysis of thin film desalination systems

Thin film heat exchangers which nowadays constitute desalination systems are of great interest due to the fact that they feature high intensification of heat transfer, elimination of possibility of scale formation on the surface, essential decrease of equipment corrosion and low temperature head between surface and heated seawater. However, for plants with these facilities a comparative thermodynamic analysis which would prove the advantages of desalination systems on the basis of thin film heat exchangers is absent. Thermal analysis of several schemes when energy is obtained by a thermal station containing the vertical and horizontal thin film facilities and combined schemes with these facilities was carried out. Theoretical distribution of heat streams in the stages of the plant was estimated. Exergy efficiency variations for the schemes were analysed and established.
Optimal power flow with multiple objective functions

A generalized sensitivity algorithm for optimal power flow (OPF) has been developed based on the quadratic form of power systems. The conditions for convergence and optimality are included in the construction of the OPF algorithm. It is also capable of using hierarchical structures to include multiple objective functions and selectable constraints. The method assumes no approximations in the models. The generalized algorithm using sensitivity of objective functions with optimal adjustments in the constraints yields a global optimal solution. The generalized algorithm includes special cases of OPF that reduce the computational burden when the number of constraints is equal to the number of variables and can select the constraint sets that are binding or nonbinding. The optimal power flow package developed can accommodate other OPF methods. The algorithm has been tested using different objective functions on actual power systems, and optimal solutions were reached in relatively few iterations. >
Expedited rating of data stores using agile data loading techniques

To benchmark and rate a data store, one must repeat experiments that impose a different amount of load on the data store. Workloads that modify the benchmark database may require the same database to be loaded repeatedly. This may constitute a significant portion of the time to rate a data store. This paper presents several agile data loading techniques to expedite the rating process. These techniques include generating the disk image of the database once and re-using it, restoring the updated data items to their original value, maintaining in-memory state of the database across different experiments to avoid repeated loading of the database all together, and a hybrid of the third technique in combination with the other two. These techniques are general purpose and apply to a variety of cloud benchmarks. We investigate their implementation and evaluation in the context of one, the BG benchmark. Obtained results show a factor of two to twelve speedup in the rating process. As an example, when evaluating MongoDB with a million member BG database, we show these techniques expedite BG's rating from 4 months (123 days) of continuous running to less than 11 days for the first rating experiment. Subsequent ratings of MongoDB with different workloads using the same database is much faster, in the order of hours.