cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pediatric and adolescent Lisfranc injuries - Presentation, treatment and outcomes.

Abstract Purpose Lisfranc fracture dislocations are rare injuries and even more so in the pediatric population. The main purpose of our study is to present a descriptive analysis of Lisfranc injuries in pediatric patients to add to the current sparse literature on this topic. In addition, our secondary outcome was to analyze any differences in patients treated conservatively versus operatively, and those with isolated Lisfranc injuries versus those with associated foot injuries. Methods Charts of patients with Lisfranc injury treated at a tertiary pediatric hospital from January 2010 to July 2019 were reviewed to analyze their demographics, injury characteristics, management details and rehabilitation protocol. Functional outcome was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale of Pain (VAS) and the Oxford Ankle Foot Questionnaire for Children (OxAFQ-C). Results 30 patients/cases were included with mean age of 13.6 years and mean follow up of 36 weeks. 20% of the cases were missed on initial presentation. 19 cases were managed operatively while 11 were managed conservatively. The average OxAFQ-C and VAS pain scores were 83% and 1.3, respectively at mean follow-up of 36 weeks. The functional outcomes between conservative and operative cases or between those with isolated Lisfranc injuries and those with associated foot injuries were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion Lisfranc injury in pediatrics can be easily missed. High index of suspicion, a thorough clinical examination and the use of advanced imaging is warranted. Various modalities like K-wires, screws and suture-buttons can be used for fixation. Early to mid-term functional outcomes are satisfactory provided that adequate reduction is obtained.
‘The nature of the beast:’ the precariousness of police work

There is abundant literature focusing on current police officers, but there is a need to turn the focus towards police academies and training programmes to better understand how the relationship be...
Chemical energy storage

Abstract This chapter discusses the state of the art in chemical energy storage, defined as the utilization of chemical species or materials from which energy can be extracted immediately or latently through the process of physical sorption, chemical sorption, intercalation, electrochemical, or chemical transformation. Storing electricity directly in batteries or capacitors from wind and solar at scale is challenging because even the most advanced electrochemical or charge storage devices, such as lithium ion batteries or ultracapacitors, have relatively low volumetric energy densities compared with liquid fuels like diesel, gasoline, or liquid methane. Hydrogen as an energy carrier is arguably one alternative to replacing petroleum products for transportation and stationary applications, if it can be produced in large quantities by clean and renewable means. Other chemical storage through sorption or chemical transformation provides advantages and viable alternatives to mechanical or thermal energy storage.
Mazor X Stealth Robotic Technology: A Technical Note

Background Minimally invasive techniques in spine surgery have continued to advance as robotic technology has evolved over several generations. Although traditional techniques for placing pedicle screws are still widespread in practice, newer technology has increased the reliability of accurately placing instrumentation with smaller incisions and subsequent decreased length of stay. Additionally, advancements in planning software have improved the ability to align posterior instrumentation to assist with rod placement on multilevel constructs. Methods This paper describes the surgical techniques and operative workflow for placing pedicle screws with the latest robotic technology. The robotic platform, registration, surgical planning, and placement of instrumentation are discussed in detail. Advantages of the Mazor X Stealth Edition compared with the previous generation robot include obviating the need for K wires and eliminating the need for a percutaneous pin, as navigation is integrated into the robot. Results Our use of this new technology has been encouraging. Using the techniques described in this paper, the first 90 pedicle screws placed with the Mazor X Stealth Edition robot yielded 100% grade A accuracy on the Gertzbein-Robbins scale confirmed on immediate postoperative CT. There were no complications experienced in any case. Conclusions In our experience, this robotic technology has the potential to improve patient outcomes and is associated with advanced surgical planning compared with more traditional techniques.
Blackstone's Ninth Amendment: A Historical Common Law Baseline for the Interpretation of Unenumerated Rights

The Ninth Amendment clearly indicates that there are fundamental constitutional rights other than those in text of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The United States Supreme Court has recognized a number of these rights in its jurisprudence. However, the Court's decisions have lacked a consistent historical baseline for rights, and as a result, the Court's use of history has tended to devolve into cherry-picking from a variety of historical sources without regard to how much they would have influenced the Framing generation.Legal scholars have also posited several theories regarding a baseline for rights. Some of the more popular theories focus on a baseline taken from natural law, either derived from the writings of specific natural law theorists such as John Locke, from a combination of different natural law theorists, or from some shared natural law idea of individual freedom. However, these theories generally overstate the influence of natural law theorists on the Framing generation's concepts of rights, and understate the influence of English constitutionalism and common law. Although the Framing generation often spoke of rights in natural law terms, the rights they identified and talked about were all English rights.This article examines the common understanding of rights at the time of the Framing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and argues that the common understanding of rights at the time were not grounded in the high-minded abstractions of the natural law theorists, but rather derived from the rights the Framing generation assumed to be inherited from the English constitutional and common law, tempered by experience as American colonists. Further, for most Americans by the time of the Framing, their conception of these rights was formed by the readily accessible summary of the common law provided by Sir William Blackstone. It goes on to posit a theory for unenumerated rights based on custom and practice, using Blackstone's Commentaries as a common law baseline from which to start, and then relying on the common law concepts of custom and practice to update rights from the "common law rights of Englishmen" to the "rights of Americans."
Bingeing on High-Fat Food Enhances Evoked Dopamine Release and Reduces Dopamine Uptake in the Nucleus Accumbens.

Objective Binge-eating disorder (BED) disrupts dopamine neuron function, in part by altering dopamine transporter (DAT) activity. This study characterized the effects of high-fat bingeing on presynaptic dopamine terminals and tested the hypothesis that acute low-dose amphetamine would restore DAT function. Methods C57BL/6 mice were given limited access (LimA) to a high-fat diet (2 h/d, 3 d/wk) or standard chow (control). After 6 weeks, ex vivo fast-scan cyclic voltammetry was used to characterize dopamine-terminal adaptations in the nucleus accumbens. Prior to undergoing fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, some mice from each group were given amphetamine (0.5 mg/kg intraperitoneally). Results Escalation of high fat intake, termed bingeing, occurred in the LimA group and coincided with increased phasic dopamine release, reduced dopamine uptake rates, and increased dopamine receptor 2 (D2 ) autoreceptor function. Acute amphetamine selectively reversed dopamine uptake changes in the LimA group and restored the potency of amphetamine to inhibit uptake. Conclusions High-fat bingeing enhanced dopaminergic signaling in the nucleus accumbens by promoting phasic dopamine release and reducing clearance. This study's data show that amphetamine was efficacious in restoring impaired DAT function caused by high-fat bingeing but did not reduce dopamine release to normal. These presynaptic changes should be considered if amphetamine-like dopamine releasers are used as treatments for BED.
Terrestrial sources of summer arctic moisture and the implication for arctic temperature patterns

Sea ice melt and ocean heat accumulation in the Arctic are strongly influenced by the presence of atmospheric water vapor during summer. While the relationships between water vapor concentration, radiation, and surface energy fluxes in the Arctic are well understood, the sources of summer Arctic water vapor are not, inhibiting understanding and prediction of Arctic climate. Here we use the Community Earth System Model version 1.3 with online numerical water tracers to determine the geographic sources of summer Arctic water vapor. We find that on average the land surface contributes 56% of total summer Arctic vapor with 47% of that vapor coming from central and eastern Eurasia. Given the proximity to Siberia, near-surface temperatures in the Arctic between 90°E-150°E, including the Laptev Sea, are strongly influenced by concentrations of land surface-based vapor. Years with anomalously large concentrations of land surface-based vapor in the Arctic, and especially in the Laptev Sea region, often exhibit anomalous near-surface poleward flow from the high latitudes of Siberia, with links to internal variability such as the Arctic Dipole anomaly.
COVID-19: changing the care process for women's health-the patient's perspective.

Objective Assess women's perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on their health care and well-being, access to and satisfaction with medical care due to the changes in delivery of care triggered by the pandemic. Methods An online survey of women having health care appointments in the outpatient facilities across all divisions of a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at a tertiary care referral center in North Central Florida. Patients had outpatient appointments that were scheduled, canceled or rescheduled, in person or by telemedicine, between 11 March 2020 and 11 May 2020, a time during which a COVID-19 stay-at-home order was enacted across our state. A total of 6,697 visits were planned. Patients with multiple visits were unified, leaving 6,044 unique patients to whom the survey was emailed between 20 July 2020 and 31 July 2020. The survey was closed on 21 August 2020. Analyses were focused on simple descriptive statistics to assess frequency of responses. Analyses of variance and chi-square analyses were conducted to compare outcomes when all cells were ≥ 10, based on sub-specialty and insurance status; otherwise, frequencies were examined for the entire sample only. Missing data were excluded listwise. Results A total of 6044 patients were contacted. Completed surveys numbered 1,083 yielding a response rate of 17.9%. The most common sub-specialty visit was gynecology (56.7%) followed by obstetrics (31.5%,), pelvic floor disorders (4.8%), gynecological oncology (2.9%,), and reproductive endocrinology (0.5%). A substantial percentage of women had visits canceled (19.2%), rescheduled (32.8%) or changed (42.1%) to telemedicine. In our patient population, 32.6% were worried about visiting the clinic and 48.1% were worried about visiting the hospital. COVID-19 triggered changes were perceived to have a negative impact by 26.1% of respondents. Refusal of future telemedicine visits was by 17.2%, however, 75.2% would prefer to use both in-person and telemedicine visits. Conclusion During the initial COVID-19 surge with lockdown, the majority of survey respondents were following public health precautions. However, there were significant concerns amongst women related to obstetric and gynecologic medical appointments scheduled during that period. During pandemics, natural disasters and similar extreme circumstances, digital communication and telemedicine have the potential to play a critical role in providing reassurance and care. Nevertheless, given the concerns expressed by survey respondents, communication and messaging tools are needed to increase comfort and ensure equity with the rapidly changing methods of care delivery.
The Distribution of School Resources in The United States: A Comparative Analysis Across Levels of Governance, Student Sub-groups, And Educational Resources

Levels of governance (the nation, states, and districts), student subgroups (racial and ethnic mi-noritized and economically disadvantaged students), and types of resources (expenditures, class sizes, and teacher quality) intersect to represent a complex and comprehensive picture of K-12 educational resource inequality. Drawing on multiple sources of the most recently available data, we describe inequality in multiple dimensions. At the national level, racial and ethnic minoritized and economically disadvantaged students receive less K-12 expenditures per pupil than White and economically advantaged students (between $400 to $1,200 less per pupil). At the state and district levels, racial and ethnic minoritized and economically disadvantaged students receive more K-12 expenditures per pupil than white and economically advantaged students (between $200 to $400 more). The notable exception is Hispanic students, who receive no additional funding per pupil than white students, on average, at the state level. Among districts, minoritized and economically disadvantaged students have smaller class sizes than their subgroup counterparts, but these students also have greater exposure to inexperienced teachers. About 20 percent of additional teacher hires favoring traditionally disadvantaged student subgroups is for novice teachers. We see no evidence that district-level spending in favor of traditionally disadvantaged subgroups is explained by district size, average district spending, teacher turnover, or the size of the special education population.
The utility coprocessor: massively parallel computation from the coffee shop

UCop, the "utility coprocessor," is middleware that makes it cheap and easy to achieve dramatic speedups of parallelizable, CPU-bound desktop applications using utility computing clusters in the cloud. To make UCop performant, we introduced techniques to overcome the low available bandwidth and high latency typical of the networks that separate users' desktops from a utility computing service. To make UCop economical and easy to use, we devised a scheme that hides the heterogeneity of client configurations, allowing a single cluster to serve virtually everyone: in our Linux-based prototype, the only requirement is that users and the cluster are using the same major kernel version. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of UCop, employing 32-64 nodes in Amazon EC2, a popular utility computing service. It achieves 6-11× speedups on CPU-bound desktop applications ranging from video editing and photorealistic rendering to strategy games, with only minor modifications to the original applications. These speedups improve performance from the coffee-break timescale of minutes to the 15-20 second timescale of interactive performance.
The association between the Th-17 immune response and pulmonary complications in a trauma ICU population

Abstract Background The overall immunopathology of the T-helper cell (Th)-17 immune response has been implicated in various inflammatory diseases including pulmonary inflammation; however its potential role in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is not defined. This study aimed to evaluate the Th-17 response in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and blood and from trauma patients with pulmonary complications. Methods A total of 21 severely injured intensive care unit (ICU) subjects, who were mechanically ventilated and undergoing bronchoscopy, were enrolled. BALF and blood were collected and analyzed for Th-1 (interferon [IFN]γ), Th-2 (interleukin [IL]-4, -10), Th-17 (IL-17A, -17F, -22, 23) and pro-inflammatory (IL-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor [TNF]α) cytokine levels. Results Significant levels of the Th-17 cytokines IL-17A, -17F and -21 and IL-6 (which can be classified as a Th-17 cytokine) were observed in the BALF of all subjects. There were no significant differences in Th-17 cytokines between those subjects with ARDS and those without, with the exception of plasma and BALF IL-6, which was markedly greater in ARDS subjects, as compared with controls and non-ARDS subjects. Conclusions Trauma patients with pulmonary complications exhibited a significant Th-17 response in the lung and blood, suggesting that this pro-inflammatory milieu may be a contributing factor to such complications.
The Medium Has a New Message: Media and Critical Geography

Throughout my studies of the place of media within geography, I have repeatedly encountered Doreen Massey’s (1992) article “Politics and Space/Time.” Massey discusses the concept of space and the term spatial, and the great difficulties faced by geographers in their quest to adequately (and perhaps uniformly) define these important geographical terms while working towards better understandings of space and its inherent properties.
Blends of polycarbonate and poly(hexamethylene sebacate): II. Effect of molecular weight on compatibility

Blends of polycarbonate (PC) and poly(hexamethylene sebacate) (HMS) with two different molecular weights were prepared and their thermal properties were studied via differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that the high molecular weight PC (HPC) and high molecular weight HMS (HHMS) were partially miscible as evidenced by the decrease in glass transition temperature of HPC in the blends. This partial miscibility is attributed to the interaction of the carbonyl dipole of the ester group and the highly polarizable aromatic carbonate structure. When the low molecular weight PC or HMS was used, the compatibility was enhanced because of the increased entropic contribution to the Gibbs free energy of mixing. In all the blends prepared, the PC crystallized as a result of the plasticizing effect of HMS. Bisphenol-A diphenyl carbonate (dimer) was synthesized and used as the dimeric model of PC. This material was found to be an excellent diluent for HPC. A single glass transition was found in the HPC/dimer system and the temperature was dependent on the composition. The Couchman's equation was found to fit very well the glass transition temperature versus composition relationship for this system. A single glass transition was also found in the HHMS/dimer system. The melting point depression analysis was performed and resulted in a very low heat of fusion for the 100% crystalline HHMS. It may suggest that the dimer and HHMS are not completely miscible in the amorphous region.
How generalization inferences are constructed in expository text comprehension

Abstract Three questions regarding adult readers’ processing of generalization inferences (conceptually broad statements that subsume several specific statements) are investigated. College students (N = 193) read expository texts containing target statements that were consistent, inconsistent, or off-topic in relation to a generalization implied by one paragraph. Reading times were faster for consistent than inconsistent statements and faster for inconsistent than off-topic statements, indicating adult readers construct generalization inferences online during initial reading of a text and that the inference they construct is relatively narrow in scope. This pattern of faster reading time for consistent sentences occurred under different reading goals, suggesting generalization inferences are a pervasive component of expository text comprehension.
Growth Factor Delivery Through Self-assembling Peptide Scaffolds

Background The best strategy for delivering growth factors to cells for the purpose of cartilage tissue engineering remains an unmet challenge. Tethering biotinylated insulin-like growth factor-1 (bIGF-1) to the self-assembling peptide scaffold (RADA)4 effectively delivers bioactive bIGF-1 to cardiac tissue.
Velocity of Sound from a Moving Source

Poynting's Theoretical Velocity Equation and a discussion of it are quoted from his original article. The equation is $X=(E\ensuremath{-}{r}_{0}{U}^{2})(\frac{\mathrm{dy}}{\mathrm{dx}})$, where $X=\mathrm{external}\mathrm{pressure}$, $U=\mathrm{resultant}\mathrm{relative}\mathrm{velocity}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{propagation}$, $E=\mathrm{elasticity}$, $\frac{\mathrm{dy}}{\mathrm{dx}}=\mathrm{volume}\mathrm{change}$ and ${r}_{0}=\mathrm{density}$. The corroborations obtained by Major Alter are stated to be: first, hearing the whistle of high velocity shells before they strike a target near the observer; second, calculations, based upon Poynting's equation, of the velocities measured by Mach, Berthelot and Wolf at various distances from the points of explosions. The calculated values agree with the observed values.
Cutaneous Chytridiomycosis in Poison Dart Frogs (Dendrobates spp.) and White's Tree Frogs (Litoria Caerulea)

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Fat preference and acceptance in the CD36 knockout mice.

CD36 is a membrane fatty-acid binding protein found in taste cells as well as enterocytes and is hypothesized to mediate “fatty” taste in rodents. This is supported by the report that CD36 knockout (KO) mice, unlike wild-type (WT) mice, fail to prefer 2% linoleic acid (LA). The present study further examined fat preference in KO mice given 24 h/day choice tests with nutritive (soybean oil, LA) and non-nutritive (olestra) oils. In Experiment 1 KO mice initially showed little or no preference for olestra (0.313–2.5%) or soybean oil (0.313–1.25%) but at higher concentrations (2.5–20%) they developed soybean oil preferences similar to WT mice. In subsequent tests, the KO mice, like WT mice, also preferred 2% LA and 2% olestra. In Experiment 2, naive KO mice failed to prefer 2% LA but after experience with soybean oil (0.0025–16%) displayed a preference similar to WT mice (77 vs. 79%). The KO mice showed a strong preference (>90%) for soybean oil (2–16%) although they consumed less oil than WT mice. In Experiment 3, KO mice displayed a strong conditioned preference, but reduced acceptance for a sweet flavor paired with intragastric infusion of 5% soybean oil. Thus, CD36 may mediate the preference for dilute oil but other orosensory (texture) stimuli and post-oral conditioning can support fat preferences at higher concentrations. CD36 KO mice may consume less oil than WT mice because of postingestive effects as a result of delayed fat absorption in the gut. Supported by DK031135, DK033301, DK060022.
Elastic-plastic wave generation by impulsive electromagnetic radiation

Abstract Absorption of radiation through a thin layer adjacent to an irradiated, stress-free, surface causes rapid heating and the generation of stress waves. Temperature rises sufficient to cause plastic yielding are considered, and a resulting elastic-plastic wave solution is constructed. Comparison is made with the purely elastic solution, and in particular the reduced amplitude and pulse spread of the outgoing tensile wave is illustrated.
Mesenchymoma of the skull

Abstract Mesenchymoma is an exceedingly rare tumor in the skull. Computerized tomography revealed mixed density lesion with slight inhomogeneous enhancement and bone erosion. They grow rapidly and tend to recur and therefore require wide surgical excision and radiotherapy.
Electron-impact total ionization cross-sections of the chlorofluoromethanes

Abstract Electron-impact total ionization cross-sections for CCl 3 F (Freon 11), CCl 2 F 2 (Freon 12), CClF 3 (Freon 13), CHCl 2 F (Freon 21), CHClF 2 (Freon 22), and CH 2 ClF (Freon 31) are calculated using the Binary-Encounter-Bethe (BEB) theoretical model. The BEB model requires only binding energies and kinetic energies of molecular orbitals, as computed using standard molecular orbital program packages. Experimental cross-sections, where available, agree with the BEB results. All-electron ab initio calculations yield slightly larger BEB cross-sections than do pseudopotential calculations.
Transistorlike behavior of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a triple-well potential

In the last several years considerable efforts have been devoted to developing Bose-Einstein-condensate-based devices for applications such as fundamental research, precision measurements, and integrated atom optics. Such devices, capable of complex functionality, can be designed from simpler building blocks as is done in microelectronics. One of the most important components of microelectronics is a transistor. We demonstrate that a Bose-Einstein condensate in a three-well potential structure where the tunneling of atoms between two wells is controlled by the population in the third shows behavior similar to that of an electronic field-effect transistor. Namely, it exhibits switching and both absolute and differential gain. The role of quantum fluctuations is analyzed, and estimates of the switching time and parameters for the potential are presented.
Xenopus laevis peripherin (XIF3) is expressed in radial glia and proliferating neural epithelial cells as well as in neurons.

Neuronal intermediate filament (nIF) proteins form the most abundant component of the axonal cytoskeleton. Thus, understanding their function and the regulation of their expression is essential for comprehending how axonal structure is regulated. Although most vertebrate nIF proteins are classified as type IV intermediate filament (IF) proteins, additional nIF proteins exist in frogs (Xenopus laevis), cyprinid fishes, and mammals (called XIF3, plasticin, and peripherin, respectively) that are classified as type III. Expression of a type III nIF protein is correlated strongly with the earliest phases of axonal outgrowth in fishes but less so in mammals. To understand better how the correlation between type III nIF protein expression and early phases of axonal outgrowth has changed during evolution, the authors examined XIF3 expression in Xenopus laevis. In Xenopus, the association between XIF3 expression and early axonal outgrowth was especially strong. For example, during early axonal development, XIF3 expression preceded and was more abundant and widespread than that of any of the type IV nIF proteins. As axons matured, neuronal expression of XIF3 gradually became more restricted while that of type IV nIF proteins increased. These results support the idea that type III nIF proteins play a special role during early phases of axonal outgrowth. In addition to finding XIF3 in neurons, the authors also unexpectedly found it in regions of the central nervous system that contain proliferating cells and radial glia. As a framework for interpreting variations in nIF expression in different vertebrate species, the authors built phylogenetic trees to clarify relationships among vertebrate nIF proteins. These trees supported the classification of XIF3, plasticin, and peripherin as orthologs (products of the same genetic locus, evolving separately only since the species lineages diverged). Thus, XIF3, plasticin, and peripherin probably should be referred to as Xenopus, fish, and mammalian peripherin, respectively. This finding argues that differences in expression of these three proteins in frogs, fishes, and mammals are the result of regulatory changes to the peripherin ancestral gene along each lineage. The expression of a peripherin ortholog in Xenopus glia may represent either an adaptation that arose since the divergence of Xenopus from mammals or, alternatively, a feature retained from an ancestral IF protein that was expressed originally both in neurons and in glia. J. Comp. Neurol. 423:512–531, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Is It Prime Time for Alpha2-Adrenocepter Agonists in the Treatment of Withdrawal Syndromes?

The need to treat withdrawal syndromes is a common occurrence in outpatient, inpatient ward, and intensive care unit (ICU) settings. A PubMed and Google Scholar search using alpha2-adrenoreceptor agonist (A2AA), specific A2AA agents, withdrawal syndrome and nicotine, and alcohol and opioid withdrawal terms was performed. A2AA agents appear to be able to modulate many of the signs and symptoms of significant withdrawal syndromes but are also capable of significant side effects, which can limit clinical use. Non-opioid oral A2AA agent use for opioid withdrawal has been well established. Pharmacologic combination therapy that utilizes A2AA agents for withdrawal syndromes appears promising but requires further formal testing to better define which other agents, under what condition(s), and at what A2AA doses are needed. The A2AA dexmedetomidine may be useful as an adjunctive agent in treating severe alcohol withdrawal syndromes in the ICU. In general, the current data does not support the routine use of A2AA as the primary or sole agent to treat ethanol/alcohol or nicotine withdrawal syndromes. Specific A2AA agents such as lofexidine has been shown to have a primary role in non-opioid-based treatment of opioid withdrawal syndrome and dexmedetomidine in combination with benzodiazepines has been shown to have potential in the treatment of severe ICU-based alcohol withdrawal syndrome.
An automatic detection software for differential reflection spectroscopy

Recent terrorist attacks have sprung a need for a large scale explosive detector. Our group has developed differential reflection spectroscopy which can detect explosive residue on surfaces such as parcel, cargo and luggage. In short, broad band ultra-violet and visible light is shone onto a material (such as a parcel) moving on a conveyor belt. Upon reflection off the surface, the light intensity is recorded with a spectrograph (spectrometer in combination with a CCD camera). This reflected light intensity is then subtracted and normalized with the next data point collected, resulting in differential reflection spectra in the 200-500 nm range. Explosives show spectral finger-prints at specific wavelengths, for example, the spectrum of 2,4,6, trinitrotoluene (TNT) shows an absorption edge at 420 nm. Additionally, we have developed an automated software which detects the characteristic features of explosives. One of the biggest challenges for the algorithm is to reach a practical limit of detection. In this study, we introduce our automatic detection software which is a combination of principal component analysis and support vector machines. Finally we present the sensitivity and selectivity response of our algorithm as a function of the amount of explosive detected on a given surface.
Characterization of chronic nicotine exposure on the survival of the spastic Han-Wistar rat

Excitotoxicity has been implicated as a mechanism of cell death in many neurodegenerative disorders. Cell culture studies have shown that neuroprotection can be induced by preincubation with the acetylcholine agonist nicotine. We investigated the possible neuroprotective effects of nicotine in the spastic Han-Wistar rat, which suffers from glutamate excitotoxicity affecting two central nervous system regions: The hippocampus and the cerebellum. To investigate nicotine's possible neuroprotection, we treated 25-day-old mutant and normal siblings with 50-75 mg/l nicotine in their drinking solutions. The 75-ml/l dose significantly improved motor activity and increased longevity of the mutants (p<.05). To assess whether nicotine protected individual neurons, we performed hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of brain sections. The histological data indicated that nicotine increased the survival of Purkinje cells in the mutants by as much as 50% but did not prevent cell death. To investigate whether the neuroprotection by nicotine was due to changes in nicotinic receptor expression, we performed immunohistochemical studies by staining for the alpha 3, alpha 4, and alpha 7 receptor subunits in mutant and normal rats. The alpha 4 subunit was upregulated by nicotine treatment in the cerebellum and was noted to have lower levels throughout the hippocampus of mutant animals. The alpha 3 and alpha 7 subunits showed no change in expression among all groups.
The Work of Ambiguity: Writerly and Readerly Labor in Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1995, Carol Shields’s The Stone Diaries has fascinated and frustrated critics of the novel for nearly twenty years. The fictional autobiography of Daisy Goodwill—which includes a detailed family tree as well as, in the original edition, an eight-page section of “family” photographs—Shields’s novel in its very form blurs the lines between truth and falsehood, documentation and invention; it raises productive questions about the empowering possibilities of women’s autobiography while, at the same time, cutting those questions short in its status as fiction. And though it is deceptively linear in structure and chronology, following Daisy’s life from birth to death, The Stone Diaries is also disrupted by major formal shifts: the text oscillates from straightforward recounting of events, to collections of letters, to sections listing the various “Things People Had to Say” and multiple “Theories” about Daisy’s actions, to the final chapter’s disintegration into lists and frag-
Pregnancy, immunology and evolution

Abstract Vertebrate systems of innate and adaptive immunity are more than 400 million years old, whereas mammalian placentation evolved 130 million years ago. Placentation evolved in the context of an immune system and has co-opted immune system cells and molecules. Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphocytes that provide defence against viral infection and also co-operate with trophoblast on the invasive remodeling of maternal vessels that supply the placenta with blood. Controlloing these processes are highly variable NK cell receptors that recognize polymorphic major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules as their ligands. As a consequence of strong and varying selection pressures, these systems of ligands and receptors evolve rapidly and are inherently unstable; thus they have been lost and reinvented on several occasions during mammalian evolution. The human system of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) only has counterparts in monkeys and apes, species in which the co-evolution of receptors has been tracked. The emergence and diversification of MHC-C and its cognate KIR in hominids correlates with an increasingly invasive placenta. During human evolution the KIR system has undergone unique, qualitative changes that set it apart from the chimpanzee KIR system. The possible causes of these differences will be discussed. VIDEO LINK: http://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1400816
Broiler chicks fed low calcium diets. 1. Influence of zeolite on growth rate and parameters of bone metabolism

An experiment with a factorial arrangement of treatments was conducted using five levels of dietary calcium and two levels of zeolite A. When dietary calcium was deficient or marginal, zeolite A improved calcium utilization, as evidenced by improved growth rate and a reduction in rachitic lesions. There was little benefit from adding zeolite A to diets adequate in calcium. The effect of zeolite A on the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia was inconsistent.
Methods of solving some personnel-classification problems

The personnel-classification problems considered in this paper are related to those studied by Brogden (2), Lord (6), and Thorndike (8). Section 1 gives an approach to personnel classification. A basic problem and variations of it are treated in section 2; and the computation of a solution is illustrated in section 3. Two extensions of the basic problem are presented in section 4. Most of the methods indicated for computing solutions are applications of the “simplex” method used in linear programming (see 1, Chs. XXII, XXIII). The capabilities of a high speed computer in regard to the simplex method are discussed briefly (see section 1).
Evidence for the recovery of the waters off the east coast of Nova Scotia from the effects of a major oil spill

The background levels of residual oils in the Western North Atlantic off the east coast of Nova Scotia decreased from approximately 6 to about 2 μgl−1 during May 1970 to January 1971 following a major spill of Bunker C fuel oil from the tanker ARROW which was wrecked in Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia on February 4, 1970.
Understanding someone else's code: analysis of experiences

It is the intention of the Journal of Systems and Software to publish, from time to time, articles cut from a different mold. This is one in that series. The object of the CONTROVERSY CORNER articles is both to present information and to stimulate thought. Topics chosen for this coverage are not just traditional formal discussions of research work; they also contain ideas at the fringes of the field's «conventional wisdom.» This series will succeed only to the extent that it stimulates not just thought, but action. If you have a strong reaction to the article that follows, either positive or negative, write to Robert L. Glass, Editor, Journal of Systems and Software, Computing Trends, P.O. Box 213, State College, PA 16804. We will publish the best of the responses as CONTROVERSY REVISITED
Soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 mediation of monocyte chemotaxis in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by infiltration of leukocytes, including monocyte/macrophages, into synovial tissue (ST), but factors mediating the ingress of these cells are poorly understood. Vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) plays an important role in adhesion of leukocytes to the vasculature. This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that soluble VCAM-1 (sVCAM-1) might mediate chemotaxis of monocytes in RA. Methods Chemotaxis assays were performed using a modified Boyden chamber to determine the effects of sVCAM-1 on and the role of very late activation antigen 4 (VLA-4) in peripheral blood (PB) monocyte migration. Synovial fluids (SF) were immunodepleted of sVCAM-1 to identify a role for sVCAM-1 in RA. Immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry analyses were performed to show the expression of VLA-4 in ST, SF, and PB. Tyrosine phosphorylation was studied by Western blot analysis on PB monocyte lysates in the presence of signaling inhibitors. Results Soluble VCAM-1 induced monocyte migration in the nM range, in a concentration-dependent manner. Anti–VLA-4 significantly inhibited sVCAM-1–induced monocyte migration, suggesting that sVCAM-1 acts in part via a VLA-4–dependent mechanism. In RA SF, incubation with anti–VCAM-1 resulted in a reduction in the ability to induce monocyte migration (mean 28%). VLA-4 immunolocalized to RA ST, SF, or PB, monocytes, macrophages, and lymphocytes. Soluble VCAM-1 stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation in monocytes, and pertussis toxin, chelerythrine chloride, and staurosporine significantly reduced sVCAM-1–mediated monocyte chemotaxis, suggesting that signaling pathways via G proteins and protein kinase C are required for sVCAM-1–mediated monocyte migration. Conclusion These results demonstrate a novel function for sVCAM-1 as a monocyte chemotactic agent in RA and suggest a new potential target for modulating monocyte ingress into inflamed RA ST.
Endovascular treatment of intracranial stenosis

The Gateway balloon-Wingspan stent system is the first, and currently the only "on-label" device for the treatment of symptomatic intracranial stenosis in the United States. In initial single-arm studies, investigators have indicated that this system can be used for the treatment of symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease with high levels of technical success and acceptable periprocedural complication rates, which are comparable with, or better than, those reported for other endovascular techniques. Intermediate- and long-term follow-up data for patients treated with the Wingspan device remain sparse. We critically review the existing data, which characterize the risk profile and efficacy of endovascular interventions for intracranial atherosclerotic disease, as well as the available clinical evidence that could be used to select appropriate patients for treatment.
Feature‐based rectal contour propagation from planning CT to cone beam CT

The purpose of this work is to develop a novel feature-based registration strategy to automatically map the rectal contours from planning computed tomography (CT) (pCT) to cone beam CT (CBCT). The rectal contours were manually outlined on the pCT. A narrow band with the outlined contour as its interior surface was then constructed, so that we can exclude the volume inside the rectum in the registration process. The corresponding contour in the CBCT was found by using a feature-based registration algorithm, which consists of two steps: (1) automatically searching for control points in the pCT and CBCT based on the features of the surrounding tissue and matching the homologous control points using the scale invariance feature transformation; and (2) using the control points for a thin plate spline transformation to warp the narrow band and mapping the corresponding contours from pCT to CBCT. The proposed contour propagation technique is applied to digital phantoms and clinical cases and, in all cases, the contour mapping results are found to be clinically acceptable. For clinical cases, the method yielded satisfactory results even when there were significant rectal content changes between the pCT and CBCT scans. As a consequence, the accordance between the rectal volumes after deformable registration and the manually segmented rectum was found to be more than 90%. The proposed technique provides a powerful tool for adaptive radiotherapy of prostate, rectal, and gynecological cancers in the future.
Evaluation of guardrail systems for preventing falls through roof and floor holes.

INTRODUCTION: Fall-related occupational injuries and fatalities are serious problems in the U.S. construction industry, especially incidents related to unguarded holes. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Morgantown, WV conducted a project to evaluate the effectiveness of guardrail systems to prevent falls through roof and floor holes. METHODS: Two commercial edge-protection products were evaluated when used as perimeter guarding around a roof hole. Installations of the commercial products were compared to job-built guardrails constructed of 2('')x4('') construction-grade lumber. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations require that "a force of at least 200 pounds" must be supported by the top rail of a guardrail system "in any outward or downward direction at any point along the top edge." A laboratory testing system was developed to evaluate this requirement. A dynamic 200-lb force was generated against the top rail using a weighted manikin mounted on a hinged steel frame. Nine construction workers, who served as test subjects, each built five different guardrail configurations. RESULTS: All 45 configurations met the 200-lb OSHA requirement. Installation time for one commercial product was 32% quicker than the job-built configuration (25.6 min vs. 37.9 min). IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This study: (a) indicates that the two edge-protection products can be used as perimeter guarding; (b) highlights the importance of using proper materials and fasteners to construct guardrails to protect workers from falling into unguarded roof and floor holes; and (c) discusses an overall-strength-testing methodology that can be used by fall-protection researchers. Language: en
Japan, the U.S. and the Globalization of Children's Consumer Culture

This essay explores the linkage between modern children's consumer culture and the globalization of the design and manufacture of playthings. While toy production and innovation were centered in Germany from the 17th through 19th centuries, it shifted to the U.S. and Japan, recently to China in the 20th century. The authors chronicle why the U.S. and Japan drifted from production to product design and marketing and how China became the locus of manufacturing in the last 20 years. Playthings have long roots in local folk cultures and crafts, and regional and national traditions of toy and doll making have long reinforced ethnic and local identities in children. But the construction of modern childhood over the past century especially has paralleled the decline of these craft traditions and the emergence of a global children's commercial culture.
An antinomy of political judgment: Kant, Arendt, and the role of purposiveness in reflective judgment

This article builds on Arendt’s development of a Kantian politics from out of the conception of reflective judgment in the Critique of Judgment. Arendt looks to Kant’s analysis of the beautiful to explain how political thought can be conceived. And yet Arendt describes such Kantian reflection as an empirical undertaking that justifies itself only in relation to the abstract principle of the moral law. The problem for such an account is that the autonomy of the moral law appears to be at odds with the social cohesion of Kantian political life. The ensuing contradiction can be deemed the antinomy of political judgment. Kant’s conception of reflective judgment offers such an inquiry considerably more to work with than Arendt uncovers. In particular, the regulative principle of the purposiveness of nature that is shown to direct all reflection can be seen to offer the solution to this antinomy.
An approximate method for scattering in elastodynamics — The born approximation I: the general formulation

Abstract A formulation for the scattering of elastic waves by inhomogeneities embedded in an infinite space is presented and an approximate solution procedure in the spirit of Born approximation is introduced. The Born approximation has been a valuable tool in quantum mechanics. It is based on the integral representation of the field equations which are conventionally derived as partial differential equations, and consists of an iterative solution of these integral equations. The principal motivation for this work is the need of studying waves scattered by objects of irregular shapes. The analysis is for the cavity (lined and unlined) and for rigid inclusion (fixed and movable) cases. Both the near and far field solutions and the solution for the global motion of rigid inclusions are presented.