cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Federal Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Federal Rights: Can Congress Bring Back the Warren Era? Larry W. Yackle, Reclaiming the Federal Courts. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1994. Pp. ix+297. $39.95.

The Warren Court's history of expanding constitutional rights is well known. Less familiar are the many twists of jurisdictional doctrine that accompanied its rights-expanding agenda: the Warren Court supported its innovations in constitutional rights with rules that increased access to the federal courts. Similarly, the Burger and Rehnquist Courts have taken a much more constrained view of constitutional rights, and, less noticeably, they have cut off many of the jurisdictional paths opened by the Warren Court. Those who try to keep track of changes in constitutional law but do not follow developments in the notoriously hard-to-follow field of jurisdiction can never construct a complete picture of the Court's work. Yet what does all this mean? Why is there any connection between the scope of enforceable rights and which courts enforce those rights? Courts are courts, one might think. Whether they are part of the national government or the state governments, they are all bound by the U.S. Constitution to enforce federal law and to regard federal law as hierarchically superior to any other law or policy. One might fairly wonder why we have federal courts at all. There is no obvious impediment to the state courts' handling all the judicial work that might arise in the nation. One might contend that we need some institution capable of making a decision that will bind all courts, but that argument refers only to the need for a Supreme Court. It
Relation of parity and estrous cyclicity to the biology of pregnancy in aging female rats.

In the female rat, the incidence of regular estrous cyclicity and fertility decreases progressively during aging, and the causes for these are unknown. To reveal the biology of pregnancy in aging rats, we performed a longitudinal study in a colony of multiparous rats bred every 2 mo. Beginning at 4 mo and continuing to 12 mo of age in these same individual females, we determined the chronological changes in estrous cyclicity, examined the relationship between the estrous cycle pattern and fertility, and recorded the numbers of live and dead pups delivered at term. In separate groups of 4- to 12-mo-old multiparous rats, we counted the number of ova present in the oviducts (ovulation rate) one day after mating and the number of grossly normal blastocysts found in the uteri on Day 5 of pregnancy. Similar studies were also performed in primiparous rats of 8, 10, and 12 mo of age. The cessation of regular cyclicity during aging occurred significantly (p<O.O1) earlier in virgin than multiparous rats. Fertility followed a similar but more dramatic pattern of decline than did the incidence of regular cyclicity in both the multiparous and virgin females. Few irregularly cyclic and persistent-estrous females had fertile gestations after mating, and increasing proportions of regularly cyclic females also failed to reproduce successfully at middle age (8-12 mo). Thus, regular ovulatory cycles were essential but not sufficient for fertile gestations in aging rats. Beginflingat6 m o ofage,thelitter sizesof multiparous rats decreased progressively, and these decreases were associatedwith a similardeclineinthenumber oflivebut notdead pups delivered. Also,thepercentageofdead pups/total number of pups delivered increased steadily during aging in multiparous (from 14% to 69%) but not primiparous females. The litter sizes of 8- to 10-mo-old primiparous females were not different from those of multiparous rats. However, the litter sizes of irregularly cyclic rats were consistently smaller than those of regularlycyclic females. Thus, parity had little effecton fecundity in aging females, whereas the cessation of regularovulatorycyclesduringaging greatly decreased both the incidence of fertility and the litter size. In both multiparous and primiparous females, ovulation rates remained relatively unchanged between 4 and 12 mc of age.However, thepercentageof normal blastocysts decreased steadily, and this age-related decrease closelyfollowed thatofthedeclineinlitter size.Thesefindingsdemonstratethata cessation of regular cyclicity during aging rendered many female rats infertile, and the decline in litter size was directly related to a decrease inthe number of normal blastocysts that develop. Since many middle-aged rats also failed to reproduce successfully while displaying regular cyclicity, other functional defects in the neuroendocrine..reproductive system must be consideredtoaccountfortheage-related lossinfertility.
Some Stimulated Effects in Nonlinear Optics

Observations of stimulated Brillouin and Raman effects in liquids and gases are reviewed. Additivity of the Brillouin shifts of mixtures of liquids is demonstrated. Optical mixing, the production of sum and difference frequencies by stimulated Brillouin emission, is shown, as is stimulated Rayleigh wing scattering, which is clearest with circularly polarized incident laser light, and with low-viscosity liquids. Stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering has a threshold, is violet shifted about half the laser-line width, and requires a critical absorption coefficient in the scattering liquid.
Catalytic effect of dimethyl sulfoxide in the Cu(0)/tris(2-dimethylaminoethyl)amine-catalyzed living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate at 0-90 °C initiated with CH3CHClI as a model compound for ?,?-di(iodo)poly(vinyl chloride) chain ends

A variety of conditions, including catalysts [CuCl, CuI, Cu2O, and Cu(0)], ligands [2,2′-bipyridine (bpy), tris(2-dimethylaminoethyl)amine (Me6-TREN), polyethyleneimine, and hexamethyl triethylenetetramine], initiators [CH3CHClI, CH2I2, CHI3, and F(CF2)8I], solvents [diphenyl ether, toluene, tetrahydrofuran, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylformamide, ethylene carbonate, dimethylacetamide, and cyclohexanone], and temperatures [90, 25, and 0 °C] were studied to assess previous methods for poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(vinyl chloride)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-PVC-b-PMMA) synthesis by the living radical block copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) initiated with α,ω-di(iodo)poly(vinyl chloride). CH3CHClI was used as a model for α,ω-di(iodo)poly(vinyl chloride) employed as a macroinitiator in the living radical block copolymerization of MMA. Two groups of methods evolved. The first involved CuCl/bpy or Me6-TREN at 90 °C, whereas the second involved Cu(0)/Me6-TREN in DMSO at 25 or 0 °C. Related ligands were used in both methods. The highest initiator efficiency and rate of polymerization were obtained with Cu(0)/Me6-TREN in DMSO at 25 °C. This demonstrated that the ultrafast block copolymerization reported previously is the most efficient with respect to the rate of polymerization and precision of the PMMA-b-PVC-b-PMMA architecture. Moreover, Cu(0)/Me6-TREN-catalyzed polymerization exhibits an external first order of reaction in DMSO, and so this solvent has a catalytic effect in this living radical polymerization (LRP). This polymerization can be performed between 90 and 0 °C and provides access to controlled poly(methyl methacrylate) tacticity by LRP and block copolymerization. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1935–1947, 2005
A Density Functional Theory Study on the Kinetics and Thermodynamics of N-glycosidic Bond Cleavage in 5-Substituted 2’-Deoxycytidines

B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,p)//B3LYP/6-31+G(d) density functional theory calculations were employed to explore the kinetics and thermodynamics of gas-phase N-glycosidic bond cleavage induced by nucleophilic attack of C1' with a hydroxide ion in 5-substituted 2'-deoxycytidines. The results showed that, among the 5-substituted 2'-deoxycytidine derivatives examined [XdC, where X = H (dC), CH(3) (medC), CH(2)OH (hmdC), CHO (fmdC), COOH (cadC), F (FdC), or Br (BrdC)], fmdC and cadC exhibited the lowest energy barrier and largest exothermicity for N-glycosidic bond cleavage. These results paralleled previously reported nucleobase excision activities of human thymine DNA glycosylase (hTDG) toward duplex DNA substrates harboring a thymine and 5-substituted cytosine derivatives when paired with a guanine. Our study suggests that the inherent chemistry associated with the nucleophilic cleavage of N-glycosidic bond constitutes a major factor contributing to the selectivity of hTDG toward 5-substituted dC derivatives. These findings provided novel insights into the role of TDG in active cytosine demethylation.
Circuit Transients due to Arcs on a High-Voltage Solar Array

A simple analytical model has been developed to estimate the effects of negative bias arcs on solar-array power system performance. Solar cell circuit characteristics, plasma conduction to interconnects, stored charge at interconnects and power system loading are modeled approximately by a linear, lumped-element, transient circuit defined with reference to a chosen solar array operating point. Both the thermal ion and ram ion cases are considered. Numerical results for the typical case of a 508-V array consisting of 1000 x 1500, 2 x 2 cm silicon solar cells operating at 80% power are given. The model predicts that such an array is expected to float with about 92% of its area below plasma ground. Arcs incident on the negative terminal of amplitudes as great as 200 A are predicted to produce common mode transients of the negative terminal no greater than about 200 V and differential transients across a resistive load no greater than 1/10 this value. Arcs of substantially less than 100 A amplitude produce small common-mode transient amplitudes and quite negligible differential transient amplitudes.
Disruption of schedule-controlled behavior by Ro 15-1788 one day after acute treatment with benzodiazepines.

The behavioral effects of the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788 were studied in squirrel monkeys after acute injections of benzodiazepines. Monkeys responded under a multiple schedule of food presentation with alternating fixed-interval (FI) and fixed-ratio (FR) components. Chlordiazepoxide (10 mg/kg) increased FI responding and had little effect on FR responding 1 h after it was administered; FI responding was still elevated during the session on the following day. When Ro 15-1788 (0.1–3 mg/kg) was administered 1 h after chlordiazepoxide, it antagonized the effects of chlordiazepoxide in a dose-related manner. When Ro 15-1788 was administered 1 day after chlordiazepoxide, however, doses of 1 or 3 mg/kg suppressed both FI and FR responding. Suppression of schedule-controlled responding was also observed when Ro 15-1788 (3 mg/kg) was administered 1 day after diazepam (3 or 5.6 mg/kg) or N-desmethyldiazepam (5.6 mg/kg). The results show that Ro 15-1788 can precipitate disruption of schedule-controlled behavior 1 day after acute treatment with benzodiazepines.
Growth and Inequality in the Dual Model of Development: The Role of Demand Factors

This paper relates growth and income distribution in the development of a dual economy. Its originality lies in the fact that the analysis of income inequality uses the whole Lorenz curve instead of some summary measures, and that the dual economy is represented through a fully-specified general equilibrium model. Conditions for particular shifts in the Lorenz curve are derived. They mostly involve the income and price elasticities of demand faced by the traditional sector of the economy, and suggest that an unambiguous drop in income inequality is somewhat unlikely at the dual stage of development.
Channel Tracking and Signal Detection for MC-CDMA in a Time-Varying Environment

In this paper, a joint channel estimation and multiuser detection method is presented for uplink multicarrier code-division multiple access systems in time-varying environments. Unlike the conventional channel-tracking schemes, which generally need to insert pilot signals in every orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbol, the proposed approach requires only one pilot symbol at the beginning of each data frame. Based on the fact that the channel coefficients of two successive symbols are highly correlated, subsequent channel tracking and signal detection are recursively carried out. A major feature of the proposed approach is that it enables robust error propagation control and is capable of effectively detecting and tracking abrupt channel changes. Simulation examples demonstrate the robustness of the proposed algorithms.
Military Rule, State Autonomy, and Privatization in the Southern Cone:

This article compares military regimes in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay to show the political challenges military governments confront in implementing privatization policies. Using a case-study approach, it describes the effect of differences in long-standing characteristics of the armed forces, and in the military regime's governing institutions on the political survival strategies of military rulers. Analysis of the data on privatization under military rule in these countries suggests that consolidated one-man rule provides advantages over more collegial forms of military rule when it comes to selecting economic policy makers and directors of state-owned enterprises who will facilitate privatizing state enterprises. Furthermore, the findings reveal how rarely military regimes succeed in achieving their privatization goals.
Calibration and validation of the relative differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (RdNBR) to three measures of fire severity in the Sierra Nevada and Klamath Mountains, California, USA

Abstract Multispectral satellite data have become a common tool used in the mapping of wildland fire effects. Fire severity, defined as the degree to which a site has been altered, is often the variable mapped. The Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) used in an absolute difference change detection protocol (dNBR), has become the remote sensing method of choice for US Federal land management agencies to map fire severity due to wildland fire. However, absolute differenced vegetation indices are correlated to the pre-fire chlorophyll content of the vegetation occurring within the fire perimeter. Normalizing dNBR to produce a relativized dNBR (RdNBR) removes the biasing effect of the pre-fire condition. Employing RdNBR hypothetically allows creating categorical classifications using the same thresholds for fires occurring in similar vegetation types without acquiring additional calibration field data on each fire. In this paper we tested this hypothesis by developing thresholds on random training datasets, and then comparing accuracies for (1) fires that occurred within the same geographic region as the training dataset and in similar vegetation, and (2) fires from a different geographic region that is climatically and floristically similar to the training dataset region but supports more complex vegetation structure. We additionally compared map accuracies for three measures of fire severity: the composite burn index (CBI), percent change in tree canopy cover, and percent change in tree basal area. User's and producer's accuracies were highest for the most severe categories, ranging from 70.7% to 89.1%. Accuracies of the moderate fire severity category for measures describing effects only to trees (percent change in canopy cover and basal area) indicated that the classifications were generally not much better than random. Accuracies of the moderate category for the CBI classifications were somewhat better, averaging in the 50%–60% range. These results underscore the difficulty in isolating fire effects to individual vegetation strata when fire effects are mixed. We conclude that the models presented here and in Miller and Thode ([Miller, J.D. & Thode, A.E., (2007). Quantifying burn severity in a heterogeneous landscape with a relative version of the delta Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR). Remote Sensing of Environment, 109, 66–80.]) can produce fire severity classifications (using either CBI, or percent change in canopy cover or basal area) that are of similar accuracy in fires not used in the original calibration process, at least in conifer dominated vegetation types in Mediterranean–climate California.
Permian polar forests: deciduousness and environmental variation

Forests are expected to expand into northern polar latitudes in the next century. However, the impact of forests at high latitudes on climate and terrestrial biogeochemical cycling is poorly understood because such forests cannot be studied in the modern. This study presents forestry and geochemical analyses of three in situ fossil forests from Late Permian strata of Antarctica, which grew at polar latitudes. Stem size measurements and stump spacing measurements indicate significant differences in forest density and canopy structure that are related to the local depositional setting. For forests closest to fluvial systems, tree density appears to decrease as the forests mature, which is the opposite trend of self-thinning observed in modern forests. We speculate that a combination of tree mortality and high disturbance created low-density mature forests without understory vegetation near Late Permian river systems. Stable carbon isotopes measured from permineralized wood in these forests demonstrate two important points: (i) recently developed techniques of high-resolution carbon isotope studies of wood and mummified wood can be applied to permineralized wood, for which much of the original organic matter has been lost and (ii) that the fossil trees maintained a deciduous habit at polar latitudes during the Late Permian. The combination of paleobotanical, sedimentologic, and paleoforestry techniques provides an unrivaled examination of the function of polar forests in deep time; and the carbon isotope geochemistry supplements this work with subannual records of carbon fixation that allows for the quantitative analysis of deciduous versus evergreen habits and environmental parameters, for example, relative humidity.
If You Build It Will They Come? An Empirical Investigation of Facilitators and Inhibitors of Hedonic Virtual World Acceptance

Although virtual worlds depend on attracting and retaining a critical mass of users to flourish, theoretical models which seek specifically to predict virtual world acceptance remain sparse. This begs the question, why do individuals decide to participate in virtual worlds? Based upon a mixed methods study, we develop and empirically test an integrative framework to address this question by extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) in two ways. First, we identify important hedonic factors which complement the utilitarian ones proposed in UTAUT. Second, this study investigates the influence of inhibitors to virtual world (un)acceptance. Our findings indicate that while hedonic expectancies have significant predictive power, inhibitors as additional predictors of virtual world acceptance did not explain any additional variance in user intentions. These findings suggest that existing technology acceptance models should incorporate hedonic influences, especially in the examination of the acceptance and diffusion of technologies that are fun.
Exchange of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons among the atmosphere, water, and sediment in coastal embayments of southern California, USA

The present study investigated cross-media transport between both the sediment and the water column and between the water column and the atmosphere, to understand the role of each compartment as a source or a sink of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in southern California, USA, coastal waters. Concentrations of PAH were measured in the atmosphere, water column, and sediment at four water-quality-impaired sites in southern California: Ballona Creek Estuary, Los Angeles Harbor, Upper Newport Bay, and San Diego Bay. These concentrations were used to calculate site-specific sediment-water and atmosphere-water exchange fluxes. The net sediment-water exchange of total PAH (t-PAH) was positive, indicating that sediments were a source to the overlying water column. Furthermore, the net atmosphere-water exchange (gas exchange + dry particle deposition) of t-PAH was typically positive also, indicating the water column was a net source of PAH to the surrounding atmosphere through gas exchange. However, in all cases, the magnitude of the diffusive flux of PAH out of the sediments and into the water column far exceeded input or output of PAH through air/water exchange processes. These results demonstrate the potential importance of contaminated sediments as a source of PAH to the water column in coastal waters of southern California.
Religious Involvement, Stress, and Mental Health: Findings from the 1995 Detroit Area Study

Although interest in the links between religion and mental health has increased sharply in recent years, researchers remain far from a consensus regarding which aspects of religious involvement are germane to mental health, which mental health outcomes may be influenced by religious factors, and which mechanisms and/or models may account for these observed relationships. This article extends the literature in this area by elaborating a set of direct, mediating, and moderating links between multiple dimensions of religious involvement and psychological distress and well-being. Relevant hypotheses are then tested using data from the 1995 Detroit Area Study. Among our key findings: the frequency of church attendance bears a positive association with well-being and an inverse association with distress; the frequency of prayer has a slight inverse link with well-being and a weak positive association with distress; belief in eternal life is positively associated with well-being but unrelated to distress; in general, the net effects of these religious variables are not mediated by the risk of social stressors or by access to social or psychological resources; other religious variables, including measures of church-based social support, are unrelated to distress or well-being; and there is limited evidence of stress-buffering effects, but not stress-exacerbating effects, of religious involvement. The limitations of the study are discussed, and several implications and promising directions for further research on religion and health/well-being are identified.
Random-Number Guessing and the First Digit Phenomenon

To what extent do individuals “absorb” the empirical regularities of their environment and reflect them in behavior? A widely-accepted empirical observation called the First Digit Phenomenon or Benford's Law says that in collections of miscellaneous tables of data (such as physical constants, almanacs, newspaper articles, etc.), the first significant digit is much more likely to be a low number than a high number. In this study, an analysis of the frequencies of the first and second digits of “random” six-digit numbers guessed by people suggests that people's responses share some of the properties of Benford's Law: first digit 1 occurs much more frequently than expected; first digit 8 or 9 occurs much less frequently; and the second digits are much more uniformly distributed than the first.
New Theory and Design for Hairpin-Line Filters

Hairpin-line and hybrid hairpin-line/half-wave parallel-coupled-line filters are preferred filters for microstrip and TEM printed-circuit realizations. This class of filters offers small size and, in general, needs no ground connections for resonators. A new design theory is presented that is based on a sparse capacitance matrix for the array of coupled lines that constitute the filter, as opposed to a sparse-inductance-matrix assumption in previous theories that is much harder to satisfy. It is shown that to a good approximation, hairpin-line filters result from frequency-scaling half-wave parallel-coupled-line filters. Because of this; the bandwidth can be accurately predicted. Design procedures are given for Type-A filters, which are useful up to 20-percent bandwidth. A variety of hybrid hairpin-line/half-wave parallel-coupled-line filters is possible, and their design is explained. Numerical results for a number of designs and experimental results for a 5-percent bandwidth filter are included.
On the numerical solutions of stochastic optimization problem

In this paper we discuss the role of soft computing (SC) in optimization problems. We point out that SC is closely related to computational intelligence. Each aims at complementing the limitations of many conventional techniques.
An Actuated Finger Exoskeleton for Hand Rehabilitation Following Stroke

Chronic hand impairment is common following stroke. While mass practice of movement has shown promise for rehabilitation, initial impairment of the hand may be too severe to permit even approximations of the desired movement. To facilitate movement, especially of pinch, we are building an exoskeleton to permit independent actuation of each of the three joints of the index finger. Separate actuators are used for flexion and extension, with closed-loop control of either force or position. In the future, a companion thumb exoskeleton will be developed to permit coordinated performance of pinch. This system will be used to assess strategies for optimizing rehabilitation of pinch and reach-to-pinch following stroke. The design of the actuated index finger exoskeleton is presented here.
Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter?

This study investigated child development and parenting in 106 families headed by 27 lesbian, 29 gay, and 50 heterosexual couples (80% White, M ¼ 42 years) with young adopted children (41% White, M ¼ 3 years). Parents and teachers reported that, on average, children were developing in typical ways. Measures of children’s adjustment, parenting approaches, parenting stress, and couple relationship adjustment were not significantly associated with parental sexual orientation. However, several family process variables—parenting stress, parenting approaches, and couple relationship adjustment—were found to be significantly associated with children’s adjustment, regardless of parental sexual orientation. Implications for understanding the role of gender and sexual orientation in parenting, as well as for legal and policy debates, are discussed. Should the sexual orientation of prospective adoptive parents be considered when placing children in adoptive homes? The adoption of minor children by lesbian and gay adults has been a topic of considerable debate. Although substantial research has demonstrated that children of lesbian and gay parents develop in ways that are similar to those of heterosexual parents, families with lesbian and gay parents remain controversial in courtrooms, legislatures, and in the media. Meanwhile,
Stable model reference adaptive fuzzy control of a class of nonlinear systems

In this paper, we propose a new adaptive fuzzy control scheme called model reference adaptive fuzzy control (MRAFC). The MRAFC scheme employs a reference model to provide closed-loop performance feedback for generating or modifying a fuzzy controller's knowledge base. The MRAFC scheme grew from ideas in conventional model reference adaptive control (MRAC). The MRAFC scheme is developed to perform adaptive feedback linearization to a class of nonlinear systems. A class of fuzzy controllers, which can be expressed in an explicit form, is used as the primary controller. Based on Lyapunov's second method, we have developed MRAFC schemes and derived fuzzy rule adaptive laws. Hence, not only the stability of the system can be assured but also the performance, such as the issues of robustness and parameter convergence, of the MRAFC system can be analyzed explicitly. We showed that in the case of no modeling error, the state error converges to zero asymptotically. In the case that persistent excitation is satisfied, we showed that the MRAFC system is asymptotically stable. By considering the periodic signal as reference input signal, we showed that the square wave can make the MRAFC system be persistently excited. The feasibility of applying these techniques has been demonstrated by considering the control of an inverted pendulum in following a reference model response.
HISPANIC MIGRATION AND POPULATION REDISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES

The US Hispanic population has grown rapidly over the last two decades and remains geographically concentrated in nine states. Redistribution away from core states through internal migration has been largely offset by heavy immigration to traditional areas of Hispanic concentration. Geographical patterns of Hispanic miration show broad similarities to overall patterns of population redistribution in the United States. New York and California serve as key spatial redistributors or pivots in the Hispanic migration system.
In vitro activity of sparfloxacin (CI-978; AT-4140) against clinical isolates from cancer patients.

Abstract The in vitro activity of sparfloxacin, a new quinolone, was compared with those of ciprofloxacin and fleroxacin against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, greater than 90% of which were isolated from blood culture specimens of cancer patients. Sparfloxacin was extremely active against Acinetobacter species, Aeromonas hydrophila, Citrobacter diversus, Enterobacter species, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, Proteus vulgaris, and Serratia marcescens (inhibiting greater than 90% of these isolates at a concentration of 0.5 microgram/ml) and moderately active against Pseudomonas species, other Proteus species, and Citrobacter freundii. Sparfloxacin inhibited greater than 90% of staphylococci (including methicillin-resistant and coagulase-negative strains) at a concentration of 0.12 microgram/ml and greater than 90% of streptococci (including Streptococcus pneumoniae) at a concentration of 1.0 microgram/ml. It was also active against Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus species, and Corynebacterium jeikeium, organisms that have become fairly common in cancer patients.
Cell receptors for influenza a viruses and the innate immune response.

The interaction of the hemagglutinin (HA) of the influenza A viruses (IAV) with the cell surface is a key factor for entry of the virus and productive infection of the cell. This glycoprotein has affinity for sialic acids (SA), and different strains present specificity for SA bound through α2,3 or α2,6 linkages to the underlying sugar chain, which is usually related with host and cell tropism. Nucleic acid recognizing receptors (mainly RIG-I and Toll-like receptors) are the most extensively studied pattern recognition receptors for IAV. However, due to the ability of the HA of avian, swine or human influenza viruses to bind differently linked SA, and to the high levels and variability of glycosylations of their major virion glycoprotein components, the HA and NA, carbohydrate recognizing receptors in the cell membrane could also play an important role in initiating different signaling pathways to elicit the immune response in infected cells. But, at present, these interactions are not well understood. In this mini-review we discuss how the interactions of IAV with cell surface receptors on immune cells might be important for the induction of specific innate immune responses and as a result, for pathogenicity in humans.
Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in At-Risk Adolescent Females at a Comprehensive, Stand-Alone Adolescent Health Center in New York City

Background. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common among adolescents, and multiple STIs over one’s lifetime can increase health risks. Few studies have assessed lifetime STI prevalence. This study evaluates minority, underserved adolescents’ self-reported lifetime STI history and objective STI rates. Methods. Lifetime STI rates of female patients at an urban adolescent health center were obtained from self-administered questionnaires. Additionally, STI test results were retrieved from electronic medical records. Results. Patients reported a high lifetime prevalence of STIs. By comparing self-report and objective data, underreporting was identified for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and herpes. Conclusions. STI rates in at-risk adolescent females are higher than in the general population and remain elevated over time. Lifetime STI reports could expand our understanding of sexual health and should be further studied. Underreporting, which may increase health risks and hinder health care delivery, requires...
Simple febrile convulsions.

Simple febrile convulsions occur in otherwise normal chidren, aged six months to five years, with extracranial infection. Cerebrospinal fluid examination should be done on all children with their first febrile convulsion to rule out an underlying organic disease, especially purulent meningitis. Initial treatment includes antipyretics, tepid sponging and intramuscular phenobarbital. If a seizure recurs, the usual anticonvulsant measures should be carried out and, if prolonged, the patient should receive appropriate doses of diazepam or phenobarbital, intravenously. Patients with suspected epileptic convulsive disorders precipitated by fever, or those with seizures thought to be associated with underlying organic disease, should be hospitalized for further evaluation or treatment or both. Patients with simple febrile convulsions have a benign disorder and can be safely treated as outpatients.
Amalgamating 4′-substituted 4,2′:6′,4′′-terpyridine ligands with double-helical chains or ladder-like networks

The reaction of five 4,2′:6′,4′′-terpyridine ligands containing diverse 4′-substituents with Hg(NCS)2 by layering methods afforded crystals of five novel HgII-based coordination polymers (1–5) that have been structurally characterized by both powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Similar one-dimensional (ID) polymeric chains were observed in the structures of polymers 1–3 where HgII serves as a mononuclear node to link ligands in a linear mode. All 1D chains in these complexes form double-helical structures through significant inter-chain π-stacking interactions, whereas the packing modes were slightly different in the three compounds, resulting from the influence of 4′-substituents. It was interesting to note that the structures of isomorphic 4 and 5 are completely different from those in 1–3. In the former cases, 1D ladder-like architectures that are assembled through the bridging thiocyanate groups were revealed, while remaining the extra 4′-pyridyl units non-coordinated.
Determination of Electrically Active Defect Profiles in Semiconductors Using a Photoelectrochemical Technique

Electrically active defects are common in semiconductors. Such defects include easily ionized substitutional impurities, vacancies, and interstitials which can act as shallow donors or acceptors. If one type of defect predominates, its concentration corresponds directly to the local donor or acceptor concentration. Consequently, measurement of a carrier profile in a nonhomogeneous semiconductor is effectively the same as measurement of the defect profile. The photoelectrochemical profiling technique allows for carrier profile measurement with submicrometer spatial resolution. The sample is profiled by photoetching, then carrier measurement, and iterating this procedure until the desired profile depth is obtained. Derivation of the space charge capacitance by impedance spectroscopy is discussed. An analysis of the P-doped Si-liquid electrolyte interface is presented. Phosphorous diffusivity coefficients in good agreement with literature values are derived from photoelectrochemical derived profiles.
Advance of drug genotoxicity

Genotoxicity study is one main components of nonclinical safety evaluation for drugs.Recently,the International Conference on Harmonization of the technical requirements for registration of pharmaceuticals for human use(ICH) revised the guidance for genotoxicity study,and released the ICH S2(R1) guidance on genotoxicity determination and data interpretation for pharmaceuticals intended for human use(Draft) in 2008.The article presented the scientific background of the revision and the major changes in the guidance S2(R1),and discussed several points concerned for genotoxicity study for drugs in China.
Combined-Modality Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer

Chemotherapy, when combined with radiotherapy and/or surgery in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer, appears to be most efficacious if it is given concurrently with radiotherapy. Concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy has been shown to improve locoregional control and/or disease-free or overall survival in some randomized trials. However, acute mucositis is usually increased with simultaneous drug and radiation administration, especially when more than one drug is given concurrently with radiotherapy. The optimal drug or drug combinations for use in combined-modality therapy and the optimal drug and radiation dose schedules remain to be determined. Alternating radiotherapy and combination chemotherapy may also be beneficial and needs further evaluation. Induction chemotherapy followed by definitive radiotherapy in the chemotherapy responders is an alternative treatment option for patients with locally advanced, resectable squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx or hypopharynx who desire organ function preservation. Induction and/or adjuvant chemotherapy may also decrease or delay the appearance of distant metastasis. However, induction chemotherapy has not been shown to improve locoregional control or overall survival. Further clinical trials using novel drugs, innovative radiation and drug dose schedules, and other treatment modifiers are needed to improve the therapeutic ratio.
Obesity Is Associated With Progression of Atherosclerosis During Statin Treatment

Background This study aimed to determine the relationship of statin therapy and cardiovascular risk factors to changes in atherosclerosis in the carotid artery. Methods and Results Carotid magnetic resonance imaging was used to evaluate 106 hyperlipidemic participants at baseline and after 12 months of 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (statin) treatment. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with progression (change in carotid wall volume >0) or regression (change ≤0) of carotid atherosclerosis. Computed tomography coronary calcium scores were obtained at baseline for all participants. The median age was 65 years (interquartile range 60–69 years), and 63% of the participants were male. Body mass index >30, elevated C‐reactive protein, and hypertension were associated with increased carotid wall volume (obesity: odds ratio for progression 4.6, 95% CI 1.8–12.4, P <0.01; C‐reactive protein: odds ratio for progression 2.56, 95% CI 1.17–5.73, P =0.02; hypertension: odds ratio 2.4, 95% CI 1.1–5.3, P <0.05). Higher statin dose was associated with regression of carotid wall volume ( P <0.05). In multivariable analysis, obesity remained associated with progression ( P <0.01), whereas statin use remained associated with regression ( P <0.05). Change in atheroma volume in obese participants was +4.8% versus −4.2% in nonobese participants ( P <0.05) despite greater low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction in obese participants. Conclusions In a population with hyperlipidemia, obese patients showed atheroma progression despite optimized statin therapy. Clinical Trial Registration URL: . Unique identifier: NCT01212900.
Linear reduction methods for tag SNP selection

It is widely hoped that constructing a complete human haplotype map will help to associate complex diseases with certain SNP's. Unfortunately, the number of SNP's is huge and it is very costly to sequence many individuals. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the number of SNP's that should be sequenced to considerably small number of informative representatives, so called tag SNP's. In this paper, we propose a new linear algebra based method for selecting and using tag SNP's. Our method is purely combinatorial and can be combined with linkage disequilibrium (LD) and block based methods. We measure the quality of our tag SNP selection algorithm by comparing actual SNP's with SNP's linearly predicted from linearly chosen tag SNP's. We obtain an extremely good compression and prediction rates. For example, for long haplotypes (>25000 SNP's), knowing only 0.4% of all SNP's we predict the entire unknown haplotype with 2% accuracy while the prediction method is based on a 10% sample of the population.
Prevalence of Clostridium perfringens in pork during processing.

The prevalence of Clostridium perfringens on pork carcasses, fluid from the body cavity, livers, hearts, spleens, visceral pans, scalding vat water and pork sausage was determined. Clostridium perfringens was not detected on pork carcasses, hearts, spleens nor visceral pans. Fluid from the body cavity had 11.8% positive incidence while livers had 21.4% for interior tissues and 11.8% for exterior tissues. The organism could always be isolated from scalding vat water. Commercial pork sausage had 38.9% prevalence of C. perfringens . Numbers of spores and their heat resistance are also reported.
The gender creative child: Pathways for nurturing and supporting children who live outside gender boxes

In her new book, The Gender Creative Child, Diane Ehrensaft freely admits she's a criminal. Her crime? Advocating for a gender-affirming model of treatment for children who are gender-diverse rathe...
Functional analysis of thymosin beta-4 using over-expressing transgenic mice

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005 1057 Thymosin beta-4, an actin-binding 43 amino acid peptide, has multi-functional roles in cell physiology. It was first identified as a thymic maturation factor and recently has been shown to accelerate wound healing, hair growth, and angiogenesis. Furthermore, we found that thymosin beta-4 stimulates tumor growth and metastasis by induction of cell migration and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)- mediated angiogenesis. Using a construct on the keratin 5 promoter, we have now developed thymosin beta-4 over-expressing transgenic mice to further study its functional roles. We are examining if the mouse will develop more spontaneous cancers or be more susceptible to tumor-promoting agents. The over-expression of thymosin beta-4 in the skin of transgenic mice was confirmed by both western blot and immunohistochemical analyses. The phenotype of thymosin beta-4 over-expressing mice was examined. Spontaneous tumors or developmental differences were not observed in any of the organs except the mice had unusually shaped teeth. The teeth have dull incisors and white color similar to the enamel complex deficient mice. Both wound healing and hair growth were accelerated in the thymosin beta-4 over-expressing mice. The susceptibility of these mice to cancer promoting agents was also evaluated, but thymosin beta-4 expression had no effect on tumor progression/formation. We conclude that thymosin beta-4 does affect certain developmental processes and can promote tumor metastasis, but that it is not oncogenic.
Hydrogenation of (+)-apopinene over PdSi and PdGe glasses

Metallic glasses are new materials which present the possibility of preparing new catalysts. From this point of view the authors have been studying the catalytic properties of glassy palladium alloys. The approach has been to employ the molecular probe, (+)-apopinene, which is sensitive to catalytic sites of differing surface coordination. In this present study the authors have examined a number of palladium materials, including splat cooled pure Pd as well as both glassy and crystalline Pd-Si and Pd-Ge prepared by both the shock tube and hammer-and-anvil techniques using the molecular probe (+)-apopinene. Because these materials produce much lower isomerizations than most Pd catalysts, a Pt foil is included as an example of a very low isomerization catalyst. These results can be compared to those obtained over a spectrum of supported and unsupported palladium catalysts for which percentages of exposed Pd atoms are available. 34 references.
Information Environment Consequences of SEC Non-GAAP Comment Letters

We examine how SEC comment letters asking firms to remove full non-GAAP income statements affect those firms’ information environments. Using a difference-in-difference design, we find that the informativeness of non-GAAP earnings and earnings announcements decreases, information asymmetry increases, and analyst forecasts become less accurate and (at least weakly) more disperse. We also study what drives firms’ decisions to provide non-GAAP income statements and find that firms voluntarily disclose non-GAAP income statements when analyst following and institutional ownership are higher and when firm and disclosure complexity is higher. In addition, we find that SEC scrutiny over non-GAAP income statement reporters decreases the likelihood industry peers will disclose non-GAAP income statements despite not receiving a comment letter. Our results are robust to a variety of robustness checks and falsification analyses. Overall, our evidence suggests SEC comment letters about full non-GAAP income statements worsen the information environment for firms previously providing those statements.
Going Vertical To Improve the Accuracy of Atomic Force Microscopy Based Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy

Single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) is a powerful technique to characterize the energy landscape of individual proteins, the mechanical properties of nucleic acids, and the strength of receptor–ligand interactions. Atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based SMFS benefits from ongoing progress in improving the precision and stability of cantilevers and the AFM itself. Underappreciated is that the accuracy of such AFM studies remains hindered by inadvertently stretching molecules at an angle while measuring only the vertical component of the force and extension, degrading both measurements. This inaccuracy is particularly problematic in AFM studies using double-stranded DNA and RNA due to their large persistence length (p ≈ 50 nm), often limiting such studies to other SMFS platforms (e.g., custom-built optical and magnetic tweezers). Here, we developed an automated algorithm that aligns the AFM tip above the DNA’s attachment point to a coverslip. Importantly, this algorithm was performed at low force (10–20 ...
Silicon-photonics-based carry-ripple adder towards future optical computing (Conference Presentation)

Due to ever increasing demand for information bandwidth, and with electronics approaching their performance limit, there has been a renewed interest in using optical logic for computing and signal processing over the past decade. System advantages that the optical schemes promise over the conventional electrical schemes including but not limited to: significant reduction of gate latency, ultra-low energy consumption, and simplified layout architecture. For example, adding is the fundamental operation for computation. However, though it has a concise layout, a conventional electrical carry-ripple adder will be too slow for many-bit addition due to excessive carry propagation delay. Thus, modern microprocessors all have to use much more complicated structures such as parallel prefix adders to obtain satisfactory performance while they come with inevitable power penalty. The greater the number of bits, the more complex and power hungry the adder will become. In this paper, we propose a silicon photonics based architecture of carry-ripple adder, which utilizes the particular merit of light that interference, for future high-speed and low-power consumption optical computing. In our proposed carry-ripple adder, the critical path will be built with optical switch and optical signals will be modulated to carry information. As all of the optical switches could operate simultaneously, the unpleasant accumulated gate latency from the electrical approach will be removed. Silicon photonic based optical switches are promising candidates to implement the adder due to their compact sizes, which could significantly reduce the capacitances and energy-consumption.