cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hounsfield units are a useful predictor of pleural effusion cytological type in dogs but not in cats.

All categories of pleural effusion subjectively display as soft tissue opacity on computed tomography (CT). Quantitative measurement using Hounsfield units (HU) has the potential to bring additional information regarding the nature of the fluid in a noninvasive way. The purposes of this retrospective cross-sectional analytical study were to compare Hounsfield units of different pleural effusion categories in dogs and cats, assess association between specific cytologic parameters and Hounsfield units, and evaluate the effect of dependent vs. nondependent aspect of the effusion pool on Hounsfield unit. A total of 111 patients (74 dogs and 37 cats) with pleural effusion, that underwent thoracic CT and diagnostic thoracocentesis, were included in the study. Effusions were cytologically categorized as exudate, transudate, modified transudate, hemorrhage, or chyle. Significant differences existed in Hounsfield units between categories in dogs (P 14 HU had a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 69% for identifying exudate, modified transudate, or hemorrhage.
In-situ mechanics of 3D graphene foam based ultra-stiff and flexible metallic metamaterial

Abstract A 3D macroporous graphene foam based ultra-lightweight, stiff and fatigue-resistant mechanical metamaterial is developed in this study. In-situ indentation of the 3D graphene framework reveals an extraordinary spring constant of ∼15 N/m and an upward of 70% recoverable deformation. The brilliant stiffness and superelasticity of graphene foam is exploited to fabricate Aluminum-based Graphene/Metal Metamaterial by electron beam evaporation. In-situ cyclic indentation inside SEM up to 50 cycles revealed long-distance stress-transfer due to the interconnected network of branches, having spring-like mechanical energy storage ability. The structure is highly fatigue-resistant, with more than 98% of displacement recovery at the end of each loading/unloading cycle. In-situ tensile investigation reveals shearing-type failure with dual-strengthening mechanisms, where stress transfer from Aluminum layer to graphene scaffold enhances the overall load bearing ability and the Aluminum deposit on graphene foam provides a structural backbone that restricts brittle failure. A modified scaling law is proposed for modeling the mechanical strength of cellular metamaterials that takes into consideration the hollow anatomy of graphene frameworks, thereby bridging the current gap in theoretical and experimental foam mechanics. The 3D metamaterial developed in this study can be a game-changing candidate for developing flyweight metallic structures with unprecedented elasticity, stiffness and fatigue-resistance.
Emotions in Charter School Teaching: Three Stories From Year One

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the experiences of two recent graduates from an undergraduate initial certification educator preparation program (EPP) who began their first year working for a charter school in a large urban city. Their background in the constructivist-oriented EPP contrasts sharply with the philosophy and instructional practices of the charter school. The extreme nature of this particular context sheds light on the teacher induction process and raises questions about enhancing new teachers’ adaptive capacities and emotional resilience to work through professional dissonance in the first years. These stories suggest that new teachers may benefit from additional training in communication skills and emotion management in the navigation of school workplace dilemmas.
Lipopolysaccharide stimulates alveolar macrophage adherence in vivo and in vitro.

The number of alveolar macrophages (AM) obtained from rats by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) decreases significantly within two hours after infusion ofE. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). To investigate the mechanism of this phenomenon, we evaluated adherence properties of AM obatined from rats 4 hours after intravenous injection ofE. coli LPS (3 mg/kg) or normal saline (NS). Significantly fewer AM were present in BAL samples from LPS-treated rats (4.09×106) compared to NS-treated rats (7.55×106). When a 17 mM lidocaine solution (LDC) was used for lavage, the number of AM in BAL samples from LPS-treated rats increased significantly (7.38×106). Adherence of AM from LPS-treated rats to rotating plastic tubes was significantly greater than that of AM from NS-treated rats. Incubation of normal AM with LPS (5 or 15 μg/ml) in serum-free media increased AM adherence to plastic. LPS-induced adherence was significantly greater at the higher LPS dose. Thus, the decreased number of AM obtained by BAL of LPS-treated rats appears to be due to increased adherence of AM to alveolar structures. This phenomenon may be mediated by direct effects of LPS on AM.
Correlated Responses of Carcass and Reproductive Traits to Selection for Rate of Lean Growth in Swine

Mass selection for an index of increased postweaning average daily gain and decreased backfat thickness was practiced for five generations. Litter size and weight for 221 gilt litters, birth weight and nipple number for 2,242 piglets and weaning weight at 42 d of age for 2,111 pigs were recorded. Carcass measurements were taken on 331 pigs. Differences between means of the lines (select control) were regressed on cumulative selection differential of the index. These regression coefficients were negative (P greater than .10) for total number born, number born alive, number weaned per litter, nipple number and carcass backfat thickness. Coefficients were positive (P greater than .10) for individual pig and litter weights at birth and weaning and for the carcass traits of length, longissimus muscle area and percentage of ham and loin. Absolute values of realized genetic correlations of index with traits evaluated were all .35 or less except the correlation with carcass backfat, which was -.84. None of these was significant; therefore, index selection for lean growth should have little effect on litter size and weight but may have a beneficial effect on carcass backfat.
Staging of Esophageal Cancer

Esophageal carcinoma is the fifth most common gastrointestinal cancer, and the recent data suggests that it is rising in incidence faster than any other malignancy. Although esophageal carcinoma is generally felt to have a poor prognosis, this is largely owing to the heterogeneity of patients. As with any malignancy, the stage of the tumor predicts prognosis and determines treatment options. Stage of the tumor at diagnosis is the best predictor of long-term survival. Patients with early or localized disease may have excellent survival when treated surgically, whereas patients with more advanced disease may not. Multimodality chemoradio-therapy plus surgery may optimize survival. Patients with invasion into adjacent structures or distant metastatic disease are more appropriately treated with palliation alone. Every patient with esophageal carcinoma should be clinically staged to determine which treatment options are appropriate and to individualize management. Clinical stage can be accurately determined by a combination of modern staging techniques including computed tomography (CT), esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), positron emission tomography (PET), and minimally invasive surgery.
Maximum Mean Discrepancy Based Secure Fusion Strategy for Robust Cooperative Spectrum Sensing

Collaborative spectrum sensing (CSS) in Cognitive Radio based Networks (CRNs) is vulnerable to Spectrum Sensing Data Falsification (SSDF) attack. Many existing defense mechanisms assume the number of malicious users are in minority or the attackers' flip rates are identical and fixed. However, such assumption doesn't hold when some intelligent attacks such as Sybil attack are launched successfully, wherein one dedicated attacker can pretend to be multiple attackers. Besides, most existing approaches adopting "hard decision" approach by identifying the attackers first and ignore their sensing reports in the fusion operation. Thus the overall system performance is degraded since some intelligent attackers' sensing reports are still possible to be genuine. On the other hand, representative existing work using "soft decision" method still cannot distinguish the malicious users and honest users correctly under certain condition. The defense mechanism doesn't perform properly for the case when the distributions of two sensing reports are different but have equal mean and variance. In this paper, we propose a secure fusion strategy which adopts "soft decision" method and can distinguish malicious users and honest users under any distribution of sensing reports using maximum mean discrepancy (MMD). Our proposed CSS scheme is suitable for any general CRN application scenarios. The simulation results show our proposed defense mechanism outperforms the existing works.
Breaking separation limits in membrane technology

Abstract Membrane separation processes are efficient and sustainable alternatives to energy intensive distillation operations. In gas separations, polymeric membranes dominate the landscape of industrial applications and many improvements in performance hinge on the ability to tailor the chemistry of polymeric materials. The basic goal in membrane separations is to control the solubility and diffusivity of the chemical compounds in order to tailor the relative magnitude of the fluxes of the chemical species across the membrane. In this paper, we introduce a fundamentally new separation device that uses an anisotropic polymeric membrane to guide molecular transport to specific spatial locations. Our proposed separation device enables to manipulate the flux direction of compounds, in addition to the flux magnitude, thus adding a new tool to separate chemical species. We report unprecedented selectivities for O2/N2 separation – up to two orders of magnitude larger than conventional membranes.
A compact model and TCAD simulation for GaN-gate injection transistor (GIT)

Abstract Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices represent an attractive developing technology for power applications that is recently gaining commercial ground. GaN has advantages as one of the top contenders with high bandgap, high mobility, high saturation velocity, and high breakdown voltage. GaN enhancement-mode devices are favored over depletion-mode devices for power electronics applications and are only recently becoming commercially available. The enhancement-mode device investigated in this work is a GaN-gate injection transistor (GIT) in which the normally-off operation is achieved with an additional p-doped gate. This paper presents current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of GaN-GIT device using a physics based compact model as well as TCAD (Technology Computer-Aided Design) numerical simulation to predict and model the device behavior of the GIT. This paper presents a comparison of the TCAD simulation results with a compact model intended for low frequency applications in power electronics in the KHz to MHz range.
Cord Knots and Pseudo-Knots

Knots can form in the umbilical cord. Tight knots that cause vascular obstruction can result in adverse fetal outcomes. In contrast, pseudo-knots are focal redundancies in the cord that mimic true knots but have no clinical significance.
Producing Biochemicals in Yarrowia lipolytica from Xylose through a Strain Mating Approach.

Enabling xylose catabolism is challenging, especially for unconventional yeasts and previously engineered background strains. In this study, the efficacy of a yeast mating approach with Yarrowia lipolytica that can combine a previously engineering and evolved xylose phenotype with a metabolite overproduction phenotype is demonstrated. Specifically, several engineered Y. lipolytica strains that produce α-linolenic acid (ALA), riboflavin, and triacetic acid lactone (TAL) with an engineered and adapted xylose-utilizing strain to obtain three diploid strains that rapidly produce these molecules directly from xylose are mated. Titers of 0.52 g L-1 ALA, 96.6 mg L-1 riboflavin, and 2.9 g L-1 TAL, are obtained from xylose in flask cultures and 1.42 g L-1 production of ALA is obtained using bioreactor condition. This total production level is generally on par or higher than the parental strain cultivated on glucose, although specific productivities decreased as a result of improved overall cell growth by the diploid strains. In the case of ALA, this lipid content reached similar levels to that of flaxseed oil. This result showcases the first study using strain mating in Y. lipolytica for producing biomolecules from xylose, and thus demonstrates the utility of this approach as a routine tool for metabolic engineering.
AC conductivity studies of polyethylene oxide-garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 hybrid composite solid polymer electrolyte films

Abstract We have investigated both AC dielectric permittivity and ionic conductivity of hybrid composite solid polymer electrolyte (CSPE) films (~100 μm) comprised of sub-micron sized aluminum substituted cubic Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) particles dispersed in polyethylene oxide-LiClO4 (PEO-LiClO4) matrix with [EO]:[Li] = 15:1. Homogeneous CSPE films with 50 wt% LLZO (PEO-LLZO-LiClO4) exhibit good flexibility and mechanical robustness up to 120 °C. The electrochemical potential stability window measured for these films was ~5.2 V vs. Li+/Li. The complex AC permittivity and conductivity were determined using the measured electrical impedance spectra in the range of 1 Hz to 300 kHz and found to be heavily affected by the electrode polarization in low frequency region. We have analyzed the data using an expression for complex AC conductivity that generalizes the power-law dependence taking into account the effect of electrode polarization and involving ionic and polymer segmental relaxation times in its description. This expression describes very well the observed behavior of AC dielectric permittivity and conductivity in the entire measured frequency region. The ionic and segmental relaxation times obtained from fitting the experimental data indicate a strong coupling between the ionic motion and segmental dynamics. Further, the observed temperature dependent conductivity follows the Vogel-Tammann-Fulcher (VTF) behavior implying a close correlation between ionic conductivity and segmental relaxation in these polymer electrolytes. The VTF model yields an activation energy of 0.32 eV for PEO-LiClO4 film, and 0.07 eV for PEO-LLZO-LiClO4 composite film, consistent with the observed enhancement in conductivity by two orders of magnitude at 30 °C upon the addition of LLZO particles.
A pan-cancer integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data

Multi-view -omics datasets offer rich opportunities for integrative analysis across genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic data platforms. Statistical methods are needed to rigorously implement current research on functional biology, matching the complex dynamics of systems genomic datasets. We apply imputation for missing data and a structural, graph-theoretic pathway model to a dataset of 22 cancers across 173 signaling pathways. Our pathway model integrates multiple data platforms, and we test for differential activation between cancerous tumor and healthy tissue populations. Our pathway analysis reveals significant disturbance in signaling pathways that are known to relate to oncogenesis. We identify several pathways that suggest new research directions, including the Trk signaling and focal adhesion kinase activation pathways in sarcoma. Our integrative analysis confirms contemporary research findings, which supports the validity of our findings. We implement an interactive data visualization for exploration of the pathway analyses, which is available online for public access.
Post-operative dienogest following conservative endometriosis surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives To determine the impact of postoperative dienogest on recurrence of endometriosis following conservative surgery. Methods The following databases were searched from inception to March 2019: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE, PubMed (Non-Medline records only), EBM Reviews - Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, LILACS, clinicaltrials.gov and International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number Registry. Observational and randomized controlled studies with pre-menopausal women undergoing conservative surgery for endometriosis followed by post-operative dienogest treatment for at least 6 months were included. Primary outcome was the rate of endometriosis/endometrioma recurrence. For studies with a comparator group, we compared post-operative suppression with dienogest to no treatment. Results After screening 328 studies, 10 met inclusion criteria (9 retrospective, 1 prospective) representing 2031 patients (1184 treated, 846 controls). Among patients treated with dienogest, there were 2.11 recurrences per 100 women (95% CI: 1.43 to 3.11, 10 studies, 1184 patients, I2 = 0% fixed effects model). Comparatively, those managed expectantly had a significantly higher incidence of disease recurrence (28.61 events/100 women; 95% CI: 25.66 to 31.74, 6 studies, 846 patients, I2 = 83% fixed effects model). The odds of recurrence were significantly lower in women treated with dienogest compared to those without postoperative medical treatment (log odds -1.96, 95% CI -2.53 to -1.38, p Conclusions Women treated with dienogest following conservative endometriosis surgery have a significantly lower rate of disease recurrence compared to those not receiving post-operative hormonal suppression.
Illuminating the core of adaptive immunity—how the regulatory genome controls Rag chromatin dynamics

E2A specifies adaptive immunity by instructing large-scale topological changes for Rag gene super-enhancer formation (see the related Research Article by Miyazaki et al.).
Identification of Radil as a Ras binding partner and putative activator.

Ras genes are among the most frequently mutated oncogenes in human malignancies. To date, there are no successful anticancer drugs in the clinic that target Ras proteins or their pathways. Therefore, it is imperative to identify and characterize new components that regulate Ras activity or mediate its downstream signaling. To this end, we used a combination of affinity-pulldown and mass spectrometry to search for proteins that are physically associated with KRas. One of the top hits was Radil, a gene product with a Ras-association domain. Radil is known to be a downstream effector of Rap1, inhibiting RhoA signaling to regulate cell adhesion and migration. We demonstrate that Radil interacted with all three isoforms of Ras including HRas, NRas, and KRas, although it exhibited the strongest interaction with KRas. Moreover, Radil interacts with GTP-bound Ras more efficiently, suggesting a possibility that Radil may be involved in Ras activation. Supporting this, ectopic expression of Radil led to transient activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase; Radil knockdown resulted in weakened activation of Ras downstream signaling components, which was coupled with decreased cell proliferation and invasion, and reduced expression of mesenchymal cell markers. Moreover, Radil knockdown greatly reduced the number of adhesion foci and depolymerized actin filaments, molecular processes that facilitate cancer cell migration. Taken together, our present studies strongly suggest that Radil is an important player for regulating Ras signaling, cell adhesion, and the epithelial–mesenchymal transition and may provide new directions for Ras-related anticancer drug development.
Lung function trajectories in children with post-prematurity respiratory disease: identifying risk factors for abnormal growth.

Survivors of prematurity are at risk for abnormal childhood lung function. Few studies have addressed trajectories of lung function and risk factors for abnormal growth in childhood. This study aims to describe changes in lung function in a contemporary cohort of children born preterm followed longitudinally in pulmonary clinic for post-prematurity respiratory disease and to assess maternal and neonatal risk factors associated with decreased lung function trajectories. Observational cohort of 164 children born preterm ≤ 32 weeks gestation followed in pulmonary clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital with pulmonary function testing. We collected demographics and neonatal history. We used multivariable linear regression to identify the impact of neonatal and maternal risk factors on lung function trajectories in childhood. We identified 264 studies from 82 subjects with acceptable longitudinal FEV1 data and 138 studies from 47 subjects with acceptable longitudinal FVC and FEV1/FVC data. FEV1% predicted and FEV1/FVC were reduced compared to childhood norms. Growth in FVC outpaced FEV1, resulting in an FEV1/FVC that declined over time. In multivariable analyses, longer duration of mechanical ventilation was associated with a lower rate of rise in FEV1% predicted and greater decline in FEV1/FVC, and postnatal steroid exposure in the NICU was associated with a lower rate of rise in FEV1 and FVC % predicted. Maternal atopy and asthma were associated with a lower rate of rise in FEV1% predicted. Children with post-prematurity respiratory disease demonstrate worsening obstruction in lung function throughout childhood. Neonatal risk factors including exposure to mechanical ventilation and postnatal steroids, as well as maternal atopy and asthma, were associated with diminished rate of rise in lung function. These results may have implications for lung function trajectories into adulthood.
Pulse check: Potential opportunities in pulsed electrochemical CO2 reduction

Summary Developing affordable, robust, and selective CO2 electroreduction technologies is crucial to address concerns about rising CO2 emissions. Pulsed potential electrochemical CO2 reduction (p-eCO2R) has emerged as a simple and responsive knob to increase electrolyzer durability and improve product selectivity. In this review, we summarize the recent findings of p-eCO2R on copper electrodes as a function of applied potential and pulse duration. We discuss how pulse methods present scientific and technological opportunities for electrochemical technologies beyond p-eCO2R, in particular, ones involving competing reactions or electrode deactivation.
A narrative review on environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation

Interest in growing cannabis for medical and recreational purposes is increasing worldwide. This study reviews the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation. Results show that both indoor and outdoor cannabis growing is water-intensive. The high water demand leads to water pollution and diversion, which could negatively affect the ecosystem. Studies found out that cannabis plants emit a significant amount of biogenic volatile organic compounds, which could cause indoor air quality issues. Indoor cannabis cultivation is energy-consuming, mainly due to heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting. Energy consumption leads to greenhouse gas emissions. Cannabis cultivation could directly contribute to soil erosion. Meanwhile, cannabis plants have the ability to absorb and store heavy metals. It is envisioned that technologies such as precision irrigation could reduce water use, and application of tools such as life cycle analysis would advance understanding of the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation.
Convex Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programs Derived from Generalized Disjunctive Programming using Cones

We propose the formulation of convex Generalized Disjunctive Programming (GDP) problems using conic inequalities leading to conic GDP problems. We then show the reformulation of conic GDPs into Mixed-Integer Conic Programming (MICP) problems through both the Big-M and Hull Reformulations. These reformulations have the advantage that they are representable using the same cones as the original conic GDP. In the case of HR, they require no approximation of the perspective function. Moreover, the MICP problems derived can be solved by specialized conic solvers and offer a natural extended formulation amenable to both conic and gradient-based solvers. We present the closed-form of several convex functions and their respective perspectives in conic sets, allowing users to easily formulate their conic GDP problems. We finally implement a large set of conic GDP examples and solve them via the traditional and conic mixed-integer reformulations. These examples include applications from Process Systems Engineering, Machine learning, and randomly generated instances. Our results show that the conic structure can be exploited to solve these challenging MICP problems more efficiently.
Violence in context : current evidence on risk, protection, and prevention

Public and academic interest in youth and community violence has grown with school shootings, horrific cases of child abuse, and reports of domestic abuse becoming regular news features. Research on interpersonal violence has had a corresponding progression, but there is a tendency by researchers to examine these issues at the individual level, rather than considering the micro- and macro-level causes, correlates, and outcomes for those affected directly and indirectly by violence. Edited by four leading violence researchers, Violence in Context takes the more systemic view, offering a critical appraisal of research and theory that focuses on violence in youth, families, and communities. Authors investigate the ways in which violence is defined and understood, how risk and protective factors promote and inhibit violence in the groups most responsible for the socialization of youth, and how violence and related behaviors differ by gender, race, and ethnicity. A rich analysis of the field familiarizes readers with some of the most compelling approaches to violence prevention, including interventions that begin at infancy with families at risk. Every chapter examines the latest research on violence prevention, with a goal of moving towards the multi-system, integrated intervention models and approaches that will incorporate the social context of violence across settings and population subgroups. The result is a valuable interdisciplinary book for scholars, practitioners, and students that provides a comprehensive overview of published studies, limitations of research findings, and a thoughtful discussion of the ways in which future research can build on what is currently known about the causes, consequences, and prevention of violence in different settings.
Insecticide Actions on Gaba Receptors and Voltage-Dependent Chloride Channels

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter. The GABAa receptor is a primary target for cyclodiene insecticides and a secondary target for several other insecticides. The GABAa receptor has a high affinity (Kd in nM) for cyclodienes and binds them at the site that binds the convulsant t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS). There is an excellent correlation between the toxicities of cyclodienes and their potencies in inhibiting receptor binding and function in mammalian brain and insect neurons. Of four hexachiorocyclohexane (BHC) isomers, only the insecticide γ-isomer inhibits the GABAa receptor. Other insecticides that inhibit this receptor are the pyrethroids, with type II more potent than type I, and a few organophosphate anticholinesterases (e.g. leptophos and EPN) with IC50 values above 1 μM. Voltage-dependent chloride channels are also targets for insecticides, possibly primary targets for avermectins. Also γ-BHC, is a potent inhibitor of a voltage-dependent chloride channel binding, even more so than of the GABAa receptor. However, the GABAa receptor binding site is much more stereospecific than that of the chloride channel.
Historical Documents and Bison Ecology On the Great Plains

AbstractAlthough many anthropologists have studied the Plains bison using historical documents, such studies often do not consider the information needed to make ecological sense out of the data th...
X-ray Moiré deflectometry using synthetic reference images

Moire fringe deflectometry with grating interferometers is a technique that enables refraction-based x-ray imaging using a single exposure of an object. To obtain the refraction image, the method requires a reference fringe pattern (without the object). Our study shows that, in order to avoid artifacts, the reference pattern must be exactly matched in phase with the object fringe pattern. In experiments, however, it is difficult to produce a perfectly matched reference pattern due to unavoidable interferometer drifts. We present a simple method to obtain matched reference patterns using a phase-scan procedure to generate synthetic Moire images. The method will enable deflectometric diagnostics of transient phenomena such as laser-produced plasmas and could improve the sensitivity and accuracy of medical phase-contrast imaging.
A search for unbound levels in 3He

Abstract Energy spectra of inelastically scattered α particles from the α + 3 He reaction were measured, yielding no groups corresponding to the unbound 3 He levels reported by Kim et al.
Reinforcement Learning Rules in a Repeated Game

This paper examines the performance of simple reinforcement learning algorithms in a stationary environment and in a repeated game where the environment evolves endogenously based on the actions of other agents. Some types of reinforcement learning rules can be extremely sensitive to small changes in the initial conditions, consequently, events early in a simulation can affect the performance of the rule over a relatively long time horizon. However, when multiple adaptive agents interact, algorithms that performed poorly in a stationary environment often converge rapidly to a stable aggregate behaviors despite the slow and erratic behavior of individual learners. Algorithms that are robust in stationary environments can exhibit slow convergence in an evolving environment.
An Experimental Examination of the Effects of Self-Interest, Morality and Economic Context on Preference for Tax Policy

The study experimentally examines the effect of three factors potentially affecting individuals' determination of preferred gasoline tax policies. The three factors: 1) self-interest, 2) moral sense of fairness, and 3) economic context, serve as the foundation of three major theories and/or perspectives of human behavior largely associated with von Neuman and Morgenstern, James Q. Wilson, and Kahnemann and Tversky, respectively. The study found that while self-interest, not surprisingly, was an important factor affecting subjects' support for an equity-based policy, it also found that a moral sense of fairness tempered their desire to achieve its maximization. Additionally, the study found, under a condition of potential economic advantage, that support for a particular tax policy would vary, consistent with Kahnemann and Tversky's prospect theory, depending upon economic context and resulting benefit form (e.g., cash refund or reduction in tax liability). Support, in this case, also varied by gender.
Conditional Spending and the (General) Conditional Offer Puzzle

There are two basic ways to think about the constitutionality of conditional funding offers from the national government to the states: as a localized problem subject to a localized solution, or as instantiating a broader problem subject to a more general analysis. The first perspective views conditional spending grants as, essentially, an issue of federalism. The second views it under the rubric of what is sometimes called “the unconstitutional conditions problem” or (preferably) “the conditional offer puzzle.” In last year’s health care decision, the Court adopted the first approach — the “particularist perspective.” That is, all Justices analyzed the constitutionality of the Medicaid expansion by reference to concepts, tests, and principles that, as far as the several opinions revealed, the authors thought particular to conditional funding grants offered from the federal government to the states. No Justices drew upon, or sought to further develop, principles or analytical frameworks that purported to be general in the sense of applying to other sorts of conditional offers of benefits — for example, conditional proposals made to individuals rather than to states, or made from state governments rather than from the national government, or made of an offer to provide some benefit other than cash or cash equivalent. This essay, prepared for an edited volume of essays concerning the health care decision, argues that the unsatisfactoriness of the Court’s analysis of the Medicaid expansion can be traced to its adoption of the particularist approach to the conditional spending problem, and it explores the “generalist” alternative of analyzing the conditional spending problem as a subtype of the more general conditional offer puzzle. The generalist alternative I offer rests upon a distinction between coercion and compulsion, along with an account of what it means to “penalize” the exercise of a right. I conclude both that those who support the Affordable Care Act should treat the states’ challenge with greater seriousness than, by and large, they have given it, and that those who already harbored doubts about the constitutionality of the Medicaid expansion have reason to be more sympathetic to a general solution to the conditional offer puzzle than was the Supreme Court.
Confirmation of the identity of the major phospholipid in human lens membranes.

Purpose. To confirm the identity of the major component of human lens membranes proposed in 1994 to be dihydrosphingomyelin (DH-SPH). Methods. DH-SPH was prepared by catalytic hydrogenation of the double bond between carbons 4 and 5 of sphingomyelin (SPH). DH-SPH was characterized by phosphorus-31 ( 31 P) and proton ( 1 H) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at different reaction times. The spectroscopic data were compared to those of the major component extracted from human lens membranes. Results. Both the 1 H NMR and the 31 P NMR spectral resonances of the prepared DH-SPH matched those for the once unknown phospholipid that constitutes approximately half the human lens phospholipids. Conclusions. The match of the spectroscopic NMR data obtained for the DH-SPH prepared by hydrogenation of SPH and those for the major phospholipid isolated from the human lens membranes confirms the identity of this sphingolipid as D-erythro-4,5-dihydrosphingomyelin
Reconstitution of cell-type-specific transcription of the rat prolactin gene in vitro.

Abstract We present evidence for the existence of prolactin upstream factor 1 (PUF-1) in rat pituitary-derived cells and demonstrate its interaction with a symmetrical DNA element located in the 5' flanking region of the gene. An in vitro expression system developed from pituitary-derived GH3 cells was used to determine that 420 base pairs (bp) of 5' flanking DNA was sufficient for cell-specific, accurate, and efficient RNA polymerase II transcription of the rat prolactin gene. Reconstitution of in vitro transcription with pituitary and nonpituitary nuclear extracts suggested that the presence of GH3 cell-specific factors mediated the activation of prolactin gene expression. We also demonstrated that a functionally stable transcription complex assembled on the prolactin promoter. Using DNase I protection procedures, we have identified the DNA-protein binding area in the prolactin 5' flanking region. GH3 nuclear extracts contain a cell-specific protein (PUF-I) that binds to a 28-bp region (-63 to -36)which contains an 18-bp imperfect palindrome (-63 to -46). The role that the interaction between PUF-I and the imperfect palindrome plays in in vitro pituitary-specific prolactin gene expression is discussed.
Adaptive output feedback control of a spheroidal underactuated underwater vehicle

Adaptive output feedback is applied to an uncertain model of an underactuated underwater vehicle. The vehicle is modelled as a neutrally buoyant, prolate spheroid moving in the longitudinal plane. The two inputs are thrust along the symmetry axis and pitch moment. A linear reference model, which has the same vector relative degree of the system, is designed by linearizing the vehicle dynamics about a trim condition. A linear dynamic compensator is developed for the reference model, causing it to track a given bounded reference command. The input is augmented with an adaptive element and this adaptive control law is applied to the nonlinear system. The adaptive control law is realized using a linearly parameterized neural network which operates over a finite sample of the input-output history.
Civilization and its discontents revisited: Freud as an evolutionary biologist

Recent scholarly work has emphasized the importance of evolutionary theory as an element of Freud's thought. This paper compares the evolutionary logic of Civilization and Its Discontents with modern evolutionary logic, as represented by human sociobiology. Some of Freud's arguments are quite modern, but although they were consistent with the evolutionary theory of his time, his arguments in many cases depart radically from a modern viewpoint: Moreover, a modern viewpoint would lead to the rejection of several of the psychic mechanisms proposed by Freud to explain human behavior. Nevertheless, the ultimate evolutionary questions that Freud posed are of continuing interest and must be answered by any theory of behavior. Moreover, some of the theory used by modern sociobiologists to explain human behavior is formally similar to the arguments used by Freud.
Elevation-related differences in female mate preference in mountain chickadees: are smart chickadees choosier?

Heterogeneous environments are often associated with differential selection pressures favouring the evolution of local adaptations, and assortative mating is one of the mechanisms that might enhance such local adaptations. Montane environments present an example in which environment changes rapidly and predictably along an elevation gradient, and such variation may be expected to lead to the evolution of local adaptations. In food-caching mountain chickadees, Poecile gambeli, reliance on food stores is likely to increase with elevation, and previous research has shown that individuals living at high elevations cache more food and have superior spatial memory, needed to recover food caches, while also being socially subordinate to low-elevation birds. Here, we asked whether such differences might be associated with assortative mating. Considering that superior spatial memory ability for recovering food caches may be more critical for survival at high elevations because of more severe winter conditions, it should benefit females from high elevations to mate assortatively with males from the same elevation. If spatial memory is costly but not critical at low elevations, females from low elevation should mate assortatively with males from low elevation, especially given their socially dominant status to high-elevation birds. We assessed female preference using a pairwise choice of high- and low-elevation males. We used the amount of time spent in proximity to males from the same versus different elevation to determine female preference. High-elevation females showed significant preference for high-elevation males, however, low-elevation females showed no elevation-related preference. These results suggest that high-elevation females are choosier than low-elevation females, and prefer males from their same elevation.
Fast sweeping method for the factored eikonal equation

We develop a fast sweeping method for the factored eikonal equation. By decomposing the solution of a general eikonal equation as the product of two factors: the first factor is the solution to a simple eikonal equation (such as distance) or a previously computed solution to an approximate eikonal equation. The second factor is a necessary modification/correction. Appropriate discretization and a fast sweeping strategy are designed for the equation of the correction part. The key idea is to enforce the causality of the original eikonal equation during the Gauss-Seidel iterations. Using extensive numerical examples we demonstrate that (1) the convergence behavior of the fast sweeping method for the factored eikonal equation is the same as for the original eikonal equation, i.e., the number of iterations for the Gauss-Seidel iterations is independent of the mesh size, (2) the numerical solution from the factored eikonal equation is more accurate than the numerical solution directly computed from the original eikonal equation, especially for point sources.
Knots and links in codimension greater than 2

Abstract A classification of links in codimension greater than 2 in the manifold S 1 × R n − 1 is obtained. Exact sequences involving classical knot and link groups in codimension greater than 2 are given a surgery theoretical interpretation.
Lubrication, single screw extrusion rates, and plasticizer structure in flexible PVC compounds

It is well-established that changes in plasticizer structure affect (among other things) the melting temperatures, melt viscosities, and lubrication of flexible PVC compounds. In turn, these properties affect the extrudability of the compounds. The current study looks at the effects of plasticizer structure on lubrication, melt viscosities, extrusion rates, stock temperatures, and shear rates of PVC compounds in a single screw extrusion process. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 13:22–25, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers.
The effects of food and divided dosing on the bioavailability of oral vinorelbine

The effects of food and divided dosing on the bioavailability of a liquid-filled gelatin capsule formulation of vinorelbine (Navelbine), a semisynthetic vinca alkaloid with broad clinical activity, was evaluated in patients with advanced solid tumors. A group of 13 patients were randomized to treatment with the oral formulation at the recommended phase II dose of 80 mg/m2 per week either in the fasting state or after ingestion of a standard meal. Patients were treated 1 week later in the alternate state relative to their first dose. The effects of divided dosing were assessed during the 3rd week, at which time vinorelbine was administered in two divided doses. After the completion of pharmacokinetic and bioavailability studies, patients received the oral formulation at a dose of 80 mg/m2 per week in two divided doses to evaluate the feasibility of chronic oral drug administration. Both manipulations resulted in small, albeit statistically significant, reductions in the relative bioavailability of this oral formulation. The relative bioavailability decreased by 22 +/- 28% when treatment followed the ingestion of a standard meal, possibly due to a delay in gastrointestinal transit time. The mean time of maximum plasma concentration (Tmax) increased from 1.3 +/- 1.6 h in the fasting state to 2.5 +/- 1.6 h in the fed state, although this difference was not statistically significant. Similarly, the relative bioavailability declined by 16 +/- 51% when vinorelbine was administered in two divided doses. An analysis of dose proportionality revealed disproportionate increases in dose-normalized Cmax and AUC values with single oral doses above 120 mg, which may account for this phenomenon. The high clearance of vinorelbine, which approaches hepatic blood flow, and the lack of dose proportionality after oral administration, indicate that there is a large first-pass effect which may be saturable, or nonlinear, above single doses of 120 mg. In addition, the toxicological and pharmacological characteristics of oral vinorelbine indicate that treatment after a standard meal or on a divided dosing schedule is safe. Chronic oral administration of the agent in two divided doses was also well tolerated. However, the small reduction in the relative bioavailability following the ingestion of a standard meal and with divided dosing suggest the need for further pharmacodynamic studies to determine if reductions in drug exposure of this magnitude may portend diminished antitumor activity.
Remote polar phonon scattering in Si inversion layers

The effects upon the drift velocity and electron temperatures in silicon inversion layers due to interfacial polar‐mode phonons in the Si/SiO2 interface have been calculated at various temperatures. These calculations were carried out at 77, 150, and 300 K using a three‐energy‐level model for transport in the quasi‐two‐dimensional inversion layer assuming a drifted‐Maxwellian distribution. The effects of the polar interface phonon scattering are compared to the effects of scattering due to Si bulk phonons, interface charges, and interface roughness. The effects of the remote phonons are found to be small in the drift velocity, but are significant as an energy relaxation mechanism at high fields and large inversion densities.
Tevatron cold compressor operating experience

Abstract This year saw the completion of three accelerator improvement projects pertaining to the Tevatron cryogenic system. The projects result in the ability to operate the Tevatron at lower temperature, and thus higher energy, through the use of cold compressors. In January of 1994, the Tevatron operated at an energy of 975 GeV for the first time. Although this is a modest increase in energy, the discovery potential for the Top quark is considerably improved. This paper describes the operational experiences during the commissioning of the cold compressors in the Tevatron satellite refrigeration system.
Draba calcifuga (Brassicaceae), a New Species from the Rocky Mountains of North America

Draba calcifuga Lesica (Brassicaceae) is an alpine species of the Rocky Mountains of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, U.S.A., restricted to non-calcareous soils. It has been confused with the sympatric D. oligosperma Hooker because both species are similar in habit, leaf size and shape, fruit size and shape, style length, and in the presence of doubly pectinate trichomes on the leaves. However, D. calcifuga has cilia and pectinate trichomes with crisped branches that do not occur in D. oligosperma. Draba calcifuga demonstrates low pollen stainability throughout its range, suggesting it is agamospermous. Although D. oligosperma is agamospermous over most of its range, it is sexual in its area of sympatry with D. calcifuga, suggesting that the latter may be derived from the former. Draba calcifuga is described and compared to four other species with doubly pectinate trichomes from the Rocky Mountain region.
Cadmium levels in hair and other tissues during continuous cadmium intake

Rats that received cadmium 300 ppm in drinking water (average daily cadmium intake = 4.5 mg/rat) for 12 wk attained peak cadmium levels of 112, 34, and 19 μg/g in hair, liver, and kidney, respectively, at week 4. Rats that ingested cadmium 200 ppm (average daily cadmium intake = 3.6 mg/rat) for 13 wk attained peak cadmium levels of 29 μg/g in kidney at week 7, and 94 and 27 μg/g in hair and liver, respectively, at week 9. Despite continuous exposure to the heavy metal, tissue cadmium concentrations declined to steady‐state levels of 24–33 μg/g in hair and 10–17 μg/g in liver and kidney. Histopathologic effects were not observed in liver or kidney. In contrast to cadmium in hair, blood cadmium levels, which remained consistently low (< 0.04 μg/ml) throughout the study, did not correlate with changes in cadmium levels in liver and kidney.
Carcinogenicity and toxicity of inhaled nitrobenzene in B6C3F1 mice and F344 and CD rats.

Abstract Carcinogenicity and Toxicity of Inhaled Nitrobenzene in B6C3F1 Mice and F344 and CD Rats. Cattley, R. C., Everitt, J. I., Gross, E. A., Moss, O. R., Hamm, T. E., Jr., and Popp, J. A. (1994). Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 22, 328-340. The potential carcinogenicity and toxicity of inhaled nitrobenzene were evaluated following chronic (2-year) exposure in mice and rats. Male and female B6C3F1 mice were exposed to 0, 5, 25, or 50 ppm nitrobenzene, while male and female F344 rats and male CD rats were exposed to 0, 1, 5, or 25 ppm nitrobenzene. All exposures were for 6 hr/day, 5 days/week excluding holidays, for a total of 505 days over 2 years. Survival was not adversely affected by nitrobenzene exposure, and only mild exposure-related decreases in body weights (