cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide

With the enactment of an Oregon statute permitting physician-assisted suicide,1,2 the recognition of a constitutional right to assisted suicide by two U.S. courts of appeals,3,4 discussed elsewhere in this issue of the Journal, 5 and the acquittals of Dr. Jack Kevorkian,6,7 there appears to be a dramatic shift in right-to-die law. Although the law previously distinguished between the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and assisted suicide, these recent events suggest that the distinction is being abandoned and that the law is undergoing a profound change. I will argue here that this interpretation is mistaken. Instead of a shift in . . .
SHEAR-ENHANCED CRYSTALLIZATION IN ISOTACTIC POLYPROPYLENE. IN-SITU SYNCHROTRON SAXS AND WAXD

In-situ synchtrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) are used to follow the isothermal crystallization (lamellar thickness, crystallinity, orientation, and parent-to-daughter ratio) of a polydisperse isotactic polypropylene subjected to “short term shearing” as a function of imposed shear stress, shearing duration, and crystallization temperature. The X-ray data are interpreted in view of the real-space morphological information from ex-situ microscopy. Under “mild” shearing conditions (shear stress less than a critical value and shearing duration less than a critical time), needlelike nuclei are induced during shear but are so far apart that crystallites splay substantially as they grow to form somewhat distorted spherulites; the X-ray results show weakly oriented growth on a time scale that is rapid compared to quiescent crystallization and show that the orientation distribution broadens as crystallization progresses. Stronger shearing leads to the elaboration...
Production forgone: An alternative method for assessing the consequences of fish entrainment and impingement losses at power plants and other water intakes

Abstract Losses of fish at power plant and other water intakes have immediate as well as future impacts. Not only is fish biomass removed from the aquatic system, but also the biomass that would have been elaborated by the cohort is not available to other predators. A simple biological production model was modified to allow projections of future impacts associated with current losses of fish and fish larvae. To compute these projections, it is assumed that short-term future responses with be similar to recent survival and growth rates, deducible from analysis of current population structure. The model has several advantages over the approaches. First, a dynamic population model need not be specified. Second, the relative importance of ichthyoplankton versus juvenile and adult fish losses can be compared directly. Third, the ecological effects of future losses can be addressed by cosidering the predicted size-frequency distributions. Finally, the relative uncertainty of the forecast can be assessed. The effectiveness of two commonly used mitigation techniques was explored. Reductions in entrainment-induced mortality were assessed along with exclusion of adult fish using a size selective screening device. If entrained organisms contribute most to the production forgone, then reductions in entrainment mortality will be more effective than screening of adult fish. Extensive sensitivity analysis of the model indicated the relative importance of various growth and survival parameters. Survival rates in the first year of life were critical parameters. A computer program (in FORTRAN) generates production forgone estimates by age group, evaluates the efficiency of various mitigation measures and computes the sensitivity of production forgone with respect to each parameter in the model.
Transit network optimization : Minimizing transfers and maximizing service coverage with an integrated simulated annealing and tabu search method

This paper presents a mathematical methodology for transit route network optimization. The goal is to provide an effective computational tool for optimization of a large-scale transit route network. The objectives are to minimize transfers and maximize service coverage. Formulation of the method consists of three parts: representation of transit route network solution search spaces, representation of transit route and network constraints, and a stochastic search scheme capable of finding the expected global optimal result on the basis of an integrated simulated annealing, tabu, and greedy search algorithm. The methodology has been tested with published solutions to benchmark problems and applied to a large-scale realistic network optimization problem in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Effect of methane concentration on mechanical properties of HFCVD diamond-coated cemented carbide tool inserts

Abstract CVD diamond-coated cemented carbide inserts are on the verge of becoming the next generation of tools used for high-speed hard-cutting processes. Good adhesion of the diamond coating, and consistency on the micro-level of the CVD process are the current challenges which to a certain extent prevent these coated tools from becoming an off-the-shelf product. In this work, we report preliminary results of the effect of methane concentration variation on the surface roughness, adhesion, residual stress, and turning performance for diamond-coated inserts. Cemented carbide inserts with 5% cobalt were coated with diamond films using an inexpensive hot filament CVD system. The methane concentration in the reaction mixture was varied from 1 to 9%. The results suggest that the optimal mechanical performance of diamond-coated inserts can be achieved when diamond is deposited at a methane concentration of about 3%.
Exploring uncharted territories: predicting activity cliffs in structure-activity landscapes.

The notion of activity cliffs is an intuitive approach to characterizing structural features that play a key role in modulating biological activity of a molecule. A variety of methods have been des...
Challenges for Acute Care Geriatric Inpatient Units Under the Present Medicare Prospective Payment System

The Mount Sinai Medical Center's Geriatric Evaluation and Treatment Unit (GETU) is a 16-bed acute care geriatric unit that operates under the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) in an academic medical center environment. The Medicare PPS and the needs of our local health care system have played a considerable role in the development and operation of our inpatient acute care geriatric unit. The GETU provides acute geriatric care and geriatric assessment and is a site for education and clinical research. The GETU serves a targeted group of acutely ill, hospitalized frail elderly with complex, interdisciplinary needs. The multidisciplinary GETU team was financed from generally available and justifiable hospital resources. Geriatric assessment is conducted under the Medicare PPS during the process of acute care without prolonging hospital length of stay. In fact, during the past 6 years, the introduction of geriatric care and assessment programs has been associated with a significant reduction in hospital length of stay and hospital costs for this complex and difficult population. It is our experience that an acute care geriatric unit functioning under traditional Medical Prospective Payment can have the dual effect of enhancing care and reducing hospital costs for the hospitalized frail elderly.
Summary results from the NASA Tech House one year live-in

The NASA Tech House was designed and constructed at the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., to demonstrate and evaluate new technology potentially applicable for conservation of energy and resources and for improvements in safety and security in a single-family residence. All technology items, including solar energy systems and a waste water reuse system, were evaluated under actual living conditions for a one-year period with a family of four living in the house in their normal life style. Results are presented which show overall savings in energy and resources compared to requirements for a defined similar conventional house under the same conditions. Also included are general operational experience and performance data for all the various items and systems of technology incorporated into the house design.
Impact of neuronal heterogeneity on correlated colored noise-induced synchronization

Synchronization plays an important role in neural signal processing and transmission. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of neural synchronization. In recent years, correlated noise-induced synchronization has received support from many theoretical and experimental studies. However, many of these prior studies have assumed that neurons have identical biophysical properties and that their inputs are well modeled by white noise. In this context, we use colored noise to induce synchronization between oscillators with heterogeneity in both phase-response curves and frequencies. \INS{In the low noise limit,} we derive novel analytical theory showing that the time constant of colored noise influences correlated noise-induced synchronization and that oscillator heterogeneity can limit synchronization. Surprisingly, however, heterogeneous oscillators may synchronize better than homogeneous oscillators given low input correlations. We also find resonance of oscillator synchronization to colored noise inputs when firing frequencies diverge. \INS{Collectively, these results prove robust for both relatively high noise regimes and when applied to biophysically realistic spiking neuron models, and further match experimental recordings from acute brain slices.
Phase II and pharmacokinetic trial of rebeccamycin analog in advanced biliary cancers.

Purpose Advanced cancers of the bile duct and gallbladder carry an ominous prognosis. Rebeccamycin analogue (RA) is a novel antitumor antibiotic where phase I trials suggested clinical efficacy in patients with biliary cancers.
Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and DHEA-S-like compounds in fibrocystic disease of the breast.

Abstract We assayed Type 1 (high K + ) and Type 2 (high Na + ) human breast cyst fluids for DHEA-S. When an antibody specific for the 3-sulfoconjugate end of DHEA-S was used, Type 1 cyst fluids ( n =18) showed a content of 114 ± 68 μ g/mL (mean ± σ ) and Type 2 cyst fluids ( n =14) of 35 ± 17 μ g/mL (P μ g/mL and 51 ± 32 μ g/mL, respectively (P
Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factor Twist1 Inhibits Transactivator Function of Master Chondrogenic Regulator Sox9

Canonical Wnt signaling strongly inhibits chondrogenesis. Previously, we identified Twist1 as a critical downstream mediator of Wnt in repression of chondrocyte differentiation. However, the mechanistic basis for the antichondrogenic activity of Twist1 has not heretofore been established. Here, we show that Twist1 suppresses cartilage development by directly inhibiting the transcriptional activity of Sox9, the master regulator of chondrogenesis. Twist1, through its carboxyl-terminal Twist-box, binds to the Sox9 high mobility group DNA-binding domain, inhibiting Sox9 transactivation potential. In chondrocyte precursor cells, Twist1, in a Twist-box-dependent manner, inhibits Sox9-dependent activation of chondrocyte marker gene expression by blocking Sox9-enhancer DNA association. These findings identify Twist1 as an inhibitor of Sox9 and further suggest that the balance between Twist1 and Sox9 may determine the earliest steps of chondrogenesis.
Exploring the boundary between temperament and generalized anxiety disorder : A receiver operating characteristic analysis

Studies of individuals with an increased tendency to experience negative emotions such as fear, sadness, and anger have documented links between this temperamental trait and anxiety disorders. There exists debate, however, concerning the degree to which high levels of a temperamental trait are a necessary and/or sufficient component of a DSM diagnosis. In this study, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses assessed the relations between levels of harm avoidance (HA) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) diagnoses in 334 children and their parents. Analyses revealed HA scores to be highly predictive of GAD diagnoses in children (AUC=.791, P<.001) and adults (AUC=.818, P<.001). However, there were many individuals with high HA scores who did not qualify for a GAD diagnosis. These findings suggest that while there are strong associations between HA and GAD, high levels of HA are neither necessary nor sufficient in the formation of clinically significant anxiety symptoms.
Dynamics of polyacetylene chains

The dynamics of polyacetylene chains have been studied using the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian and within the adiabatic approximation. We investigate the nature of the various nonlinear excitations of the system, as well as their interactions. It is shown that both solitons and breathers are highly stable and regain their shape after undergoing collisions with remarkable accuracy. A detailed analysis of soliton-antisoliton scattering is given, as well as its effect on the electronic properties of the system.
Safety of long-term treatment with tiagabine

The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of long-term treatment with tiagabine. We reviewed the case report forms of patients with refractory partial epilepsy who took tiagabine for longer than 6 months in two long-term studies. We classified all adverse events based on severity and persistence, and recorded the dose at onset of each adverse event. We then divided patients into those treated for 6-12 months, 12-24 months and > 24 months. We compared the adverse event profile and change in seizure frequency among the three groups. Forty-two patients took tiagabine for longer than 6 months. The mean duration of treatment was 22.6 months. The mean monthly seizure frequency was 12.7 at baseline and 8.1 at study termination (36% decrease). The most common adverse events were: tiredness (56%), headache (46%), dizziness (44%), visual symptoms (blurring, difficulty focusing, diplopia) (39%), altered mentation (32%), and tremor (31%). The adverse event profile was comparable among the three groups. Seizure frequency was significantly more improved in the > 24 months group. Long-term treatment with tiagabine is well tolerated. The most important predictor of long-term therapy with tiagabine was the degree of seizure improvement.
Agents for process coherence in virtual enterprises

Open environments such as the Internet— and even corporate intranets— enable a large number of interested parties to use and enhance vast quantities of information. These environments support modern applications, such as manufacturing, virtual enterprises, and ubiquitous information access, which involve a number of information sources and component activities. However, without principled techniques to coordinate the various activities, any solutions would yield disjointed and error-prone behavior, while consuming excessive effort to build and maintain. The agent metaphor, long in study in artificial intelligence, has recently become popular in mainstream computing, largely due to its suitability for open environments. Agents can be thought of as active objects with some special properties tailored to open environments. For our purposes, the key aspects of agents are their autonomy and abilities to perceive, reason, and act in their environment, as well as to socially interact and communicate with other agents [7]. When agents interact with one another they form a multiagent system. As part of a multiagent system, agents can capture and apply the semantic constraints among heterogeneous components in order to enact distributed workflows. Autonomy is critical in open environments. Consider a manufacturing scenario requiring supply-chain coordination. It is natural to model independent companies in a supply chain as represented by autonomous agents. But, at first sight, autonomy is a mixed blessing if the companies behaved arbitrarily, the supply chain would break. Consequently, our main technical challenge is to manage autonomy that is, how to maximize freedom without letting it devolve into chaos. We propose that the main basis for managing autonomy lies in the notion of commitments. A flexible formulation of commitments can provide a natural means through which autonomous agents may voluntarily constrain their behavior. By flexible, we mean that it should be possible to cancel or otherwise modify the commitments. Consider a situation where a purchaser is trying to obtain some parts from a vendor. We would like the vendor to commit to delivering the parts of the right quality to the purchaser. However, it is important that the supply chain be able to survive exceptions such as when the manufacturing plant goes down in an earthquake, or when the purchaser decides that it needs the parts to be of a lower error tolerance than initially ordered. Information cannot be understood independently of the processes that create or consume it. The desired flexibility of behavior and the ability to recover from failures require an approach that is sensitive to how those processes interact. We show that when agents are associated with each independent process, our flexible notion of commitments can capture the desired interactions among those processes
Capture of circulating tumor cells using photoacoustic flowmetry and two phase flow

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, yet current diagnostic methods are unable to detect early onset of metastatic disease. Patients must wait until macroscopic secondary tumors form before malignancy can be diagnosed and treatment prescribed. Detection of cells that have broken off the original tumor and travel through the blood or lymph system can provide data for diagnosing and monitoring metastatic disease. By irradiating enriched blood samples spiked with cultured melanoma cells with nanosecond duration laser light, we induced photoacoustic responses in the pigmented cells. Thus, we can detect and enumerate melanoma cells in blood samples to demonstrate a paradigm for a photoacoustic flow cytometer. Furthermore, we capture the melanoma cells using microfluidic two phase flow, a technique that separates a continuous flow into alternating microslugs of air and blood cell suspension. Each slug of blood cells is tested for the presence of melanoma. Slugs that are positive for melanoma, indicated by photoacoustic waves, are separated from the cytometer for further purification and isolation of the melanoma cell. In this paper, we evaluate the two phase photoacoustic flow cytometer for its ability to detect and capture metastastic melanoma cells in blood.
Novel therapeutic strategies targeting the pathogenic T-cells in multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease in which immune cells incite inflammation in the central nervous system, ultimately resulting in the destruction of the myelin nerve sheath. Pathogenic CD4+ T-cells are believed to be responsible for initiating this process. Recent advances in molecular biology, such as transgenic and knockout animal models, genomics and proteomics, have allowed for a much greater understanding of the cellular and subcellular pathways involved in autoimmunity. The end result is an ever more specific array of potential therapeutic agents, each designed to target one component of the dysregulated immune system and in some cases, specific to each individual patient. The mechanisms, promises and pitfalls of these various strategies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis are the topic of this review.
On Kalman Filtering for Detectable Systems With Intermittent Observations

We consider the problem of Kalman filtering when observations are available according to a Bernoulli process. It is known that there exists a critical probability pc such that, if measurements are available with probability greater than pc, then the expected prediction covariance is bounded for all initial conditions; otherwise, it is unbounded for some initial conditions. We show that, when the system observation matrix restricted to the observable subspace is invertible, the known lower bound on pc is, in fact, the exact critical probability. This result is based on a novel decomposition of positive semidefinite matrices.
Rural Industrial Development: To Cluster or Not to Cluster?

Current regional industrialization strategies encourage recruitment, small business development, and business retention and expansion efforts to promote industry cluster development. In this paper, we provide an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of promoting industry clusters as an industrial development alternative for rural areas. Advantages of successful cluster promotion include stronger external economies, a more conducive environment for industrial reorganization, greater networking among firms, and more efficient use of public resources. The disadvantages of an industry cluster approach are selecting industries to target, overcoming latecomer disadvantages, and providing supportive institutions. Findings indicate that an industry cluster strategy is not appropriate for many rural communities. Areas considering cluster promotion should compare costs of initiating or expanding a cluster with the potential benefits of successful cluster development.
Molecular release from patterned nanoporous gold thin films

Nanostructured materials have shown significant potential for biomedical applications that require high loading capacity and controlled release of drugs. Nanoporous gold (np-Au), produced by an alloy corrosion process, is a promising novel material that benefits from compatibility with microfabrication, tunable pore morphology, electrical conductivity, well-established gold–thiol conjugate chemistry, and biocompatibility. While np-Au's non-biological applications are abundant, its performance in the biomedical field is nascent. In this work, we employ a combination of techniques including nanoporous thin film synthesis, quantitative electron microscopy, fluorospectrometry, and electrochemical surface characterization to study loading capacity and molecular release kinetics as a function of film properties and discuss underlying mechanisms. The sub-micron-thick sputter-coated nanoporous gold films provide small-molecule loading capacities up to 1.12 μg cm−2 and molecular release half-lives between 3.6 hours to 12.8 hours. A systematic set of studies reveals that effective surface area of the np-Au thin films on glass substrates plays the largest role in determining loading capacity. The release kinetics on the other hand depends on a complex interplay of micro- and nano-scale morphological features.
Wage growth and sectoral shifts

Abstract Nominal wages grew faster over the seventies than predicted from standard Phillips curve analyses. This paper argues that sectoral disturbances cause higher unemployment but do not lead to higher nominal wage growth. Upward wage pressures in some industries are tempered by downward adjustments in others. Only that portion of unemployment that is net of the effects of compositional shifts in the structure of labor demand influence nominal wage growth. Once unemployment has been purged of the effects of sectoral shifts, the apparent instability of the Phillips curve is resolved. This result holds for various measures of sectoral shifts.
Prognostic significance of basaloid squamous cell carcinoma in head and neck cancer.

Importance Head and neck basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) has been considered a more aggressive variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with a poorer prognosis, although case-control studies have reached conflicting conclusions. Objective To examine the prognostic significance of head and neck BSCC on overall survival in a large population-based registry. Design and Setting Retrospective data review of a population-based registry from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Participants Individual case data for 34 196 patients treated between January 2004 and December 2009 with head and neck primary SCC (n = 33 554) and BSCC (n = 642) of the oral cavity, oropharyx, larynx, or hypopharynx. Patients with metastatic disease, incomplete staging information, and those who did not receive surgery or radiation were excluded. Interventions Patients had been treated with surgery, radiation, or both. Main Outcomes and Measures Distribution of patient characteristics between patients of each histology. Hazard ratios, 3-year overall survival, subgroup, and multivariate analysis of patient and treatment characteristics were investigated. Results Across each cohort, patients with BSCC more often had high-grade tumors and treatment with lymph node dissection. Multivariate analysis found that group stage, T stage, N stage, size, lymph node dissection, and age statistically significantly influenced overall survival. In multivariate analysis, the hazard ratio for death for patients with BSCC in the oral cavity and larynx and hypopharynx was not statistically significantly different from that for SCC. In the oropharynx, the hazard ratio for death for BSCC histology compared with SCC histology was 0.73 ( P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance Compared with SCC, BSCC is not an independent adverse prognostic factor for patients with head and neck cancer. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results analysis has limits, including lack of information regarding chemotherapy, but after controlling for disease and treatment variables, including neck dissection and radiotherapy, BSCC histology did not have an independent adverse prognostic effect on overall survival. The reported association between human papillomavirus and BSCC histology may explain the lower hazard ratio for death in patients with oropharynx BSCC.
Pain and Distress in Fish: A Review of the Evidence

A s evidenced in Paleolithic cave paintings of fi sh dating from 17,000 years ago, human-fi sh interactions have existed for thousands of years (Valladas et al. 2001). The earliest interactions likely involved fi sh as food and were necessarily tied to geographic access (i.e., island or coastal locations). Over time, the establishment of farm fi shing and the emergence of modern capture and transportation methods for wild-caught fi sh have encouraged more widespread consumption of fi sh, as have the health benefi ts of fi sh as a dietary component (Calder and Yaqoob 2009). According to the WorldFish Center, worldwide per capita fi sh consumption doubled in the past half-century, from about 8 kilograms in the early 1950s to about 15.8 kg in 1999 (Ahmed 2009). As societies moved beyond survival needs, human-fi sh interactions developed beyond those of fi sh as food. Angling and sport fi shing have become common practices in which not all fi sh caught are used for food. But there is controversy in both the scientifi c literature and the general press about whether catch and release methods are distressful for fi sh or inhumane. The Chinese developed another nonfood use for fi sh: reports from the Sung dynasty, dating back to 960 AD, indicate that keeping ornamental fi sh in ponds was a hobby for the privileged. Today in China and other countries, the confi nement of ornamental and tropical fi sh both publicly (in aquaria) and privately (in ponds and tanks) is still quite popular. As with the arguments against sport fi shing, however, there is controversy about the appropriateness of keeping fi sh simply for human pleasure. More recently, the use of fi sh as research animals has increased signifi cantly. Although fi sh were the subject of scholarly articles from the 1860s (Ransom 1867), the accounts were primarily descriptive of fi sh anatomy and physiology. In the early 1950s, the research focus shifted with the Lysa Pam Posner
Reaction of ribosomal sulfhydryl groups with 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)

Abstract The number of sulfhydryl groups in the Escherichia coli ribosome has been measured by titration with 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). Under denaturing conditions, there are 38.8 ± 1.0 titratable thiols per 70 S ribosome and 22.8 ± 0.3 and 12.9 ± 0.3 titratable thiols per 50 S and 30 S subunits, respectively. Three categories of thiol groups can be distinguished in the native 70 S ribosome, a “fast reacting” class of about 3 residues, a “slow reacting” class of about 10 residues and a “buried” class including about 26 residues. The addition of polyuridylic acid to reaction mixtures protects a fast-reacting thiol in the 30 S subunit belonging to protein S1. The addition of urea to ribosome solutions makes the buried residues titratable. Denaturation occurs as a sharp transition at a urea concentration between 4 and 4.5 m. Urea does not fully dissociate the ribosome into RNA and protein. Instead, in the case of the 30 S subunit, a slowly sedimenting particle forms in the presence of urea, containing roughly 65% of the normal amount of protein.
A Microcomputer-Based Control Signal Generator for a Three-Phase Switching Power Inverter

A three-phase electronic switching inverter has been firmly established as a power source for ac motors in variable-speed applications. In generating control signals for such an inverter, microcomputers are playing an increasingly important role. A micro- computer-based system (using 8051 from Intel) for the generation of pulsewidth modulated (PWM) control signals for a transistorized voltage controlled three-phase inverter is described. The computational algorithm is based on modification of the triangular modulation strategy. The polarity of the triangular timing wave is made the same as the polarity of the reference wave. This eliminates the potential hazard of a "shoot-through" at each zero crossing of the control signal. The widths of the pulses, their positions along the time axis, and the number of pulses per period of the output signal are computed in real time.
Robotic surgery and telesurgery in urology.

fi c apid technological developments and global communication in the past two decades have evolutionized the surgical sciences. Advances in ptics and instrumentation encouraged a leap from raditional open operating techniques to the minially invasive surgeries of today. Urology has been t the forefront of these innovations, introducing ndourologic techniques into everyday practice to reat a myriad of genitourinary ailments. Patients ave embraced these novel approaches as they ave addressed concerns of postoperative pain, osmesis, and convalescence. However, inherent limitations with some advanced inimally invasive techniques have restricted uniersal mastery by urologists. For example, laparocopic urologic surgery has been relatively slow to be ncorporated into general practice. Two-dimensional isualization, restricted maneuverability, and dampned tactile feedback, present challenges to surgeons rained in traditional open approaches. Although eneral surgery has the cholecystectomy and gyneology has the tubal ligation, urology lacks a simple aparoscopic platform for acquiring the requisite kill. The learning curve for urologic laparoscopy is ong, necessitating significant training and continued xposure. The advent of computer-assisted robotic systems as provided a potential solution to address these imitations. They also open the door for developing ovel, until now impossible, procedures. Morever, the rapid expansion of Internet resources and odern audiovisual media has allowed for realime guidance and remote surgical assistance. This eview addresses the background, advances, and ontinuing challenges associated with robotic surical systems and telesurgery.
STABILITY OF THE UTILITY MAXIMIZATION PROBLEM WITH RANDOM ENDOWMENT IN INCOMPLETE MARKETS

We perform a stability analysis for the utility maximization problem in a general semimartingale model where both liquid and illiquid assets (random endowments) are present. Small misspecifications of preferences (as modeled via expected utility), as well as views of the world or the market model (as modeled via subjective probabilities) are considered. Simple sufficient conditions are given for the problem to be well posed, in the sense that the optimal wealth and the marginal utility-based prices are continuous functionals of preferences and probabilistic views.
Live upgrades of CORBA applications using object replication

In a distributed system, software modification to correct programmer errors and to enhance functionality is often necessary, but incurring the downtime required to perform software upgrades can be prohibitively expensive or logistically infeasible. The Eternal Evolution Manager addresses this problem by enabling CORBA applications to be upgraded while they continue to provide service. The off-line analysis in preparation for the live upgrade is largely automatic, and the upgrade itself is fully automatic. The Eternal Evolution Manager insulates the application programmer from the difficult problems inherent to software evolution.
The Computational Capacity of Neurons with Binary Weights or, Why it is OK to be a Bit Neuron

synaptic weights prescribed in the algorithms might, at least for some applications, be an artifact of the algorithms used. Practical considerations in the building of hardware for these networks also dictate the study of the effect of imposing limited dynamic ranges on coefficients on computational capacity and learning in these neural network models. There are, hence, cogent theoretical and practical spurs to study networks with dynamic range limited synapses. We investigate two fundamental issues: Can we compute efficiently with these networks? Can constrained networks learn? Setting up a simple network model with binary weights, we argue that there is very little loss in eschewing real interconnections in favour of binary links. We demonstrate rigorously that the computational capacity scales gracefully when synaptic dynamic range is reduced from the continuum to a single bit: with binary connections the achievable capacity is as much as half that with real interconnections. Analogous results appear to hold for learning within the constraints of binary interconnections. Convergence rates for binary learning are reduced, but there is qualitative similarity to learning performance without constraints. While the actual mathematical demonstrations are quire involved, the algorithms themselves are quite simple and appeal persuasively to intuition. Based in part on the thesis that it is arguably easier to implement binary links than real interconnections, researchers have been building small prototype networks which appear to function reasonably we1L3 Our results appear to provide theoretical support for such ventures. It may be possible to generalise the results to other situations involving distributed
Enzyme-Coupled Assay for β-Xylosidase Hydrolysis of Natural Substrates

We describe here a new enzyme-coupled assay for the quantitation of d-xylose using readily available enzymes that allows kinetic evaluation of hemicellulolytic enzymes using natural xylooligosaccharide substrates. Hydrogen peroxide is generated as an intermediary analyte, which allows flexibility in the choice of the chromophore or fluorophore used as the final reporter. Thus, we present d-xylose quantitation results for solution-phase assays performed with both the fluorescent reporter resorufin, generated from N-acetyl-3,7-dihydroxyphenoxazine (Amplex Red), and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS), whose corresponding radical cation has an absorbance maximum at approximately 400 nm. We also describe a useful solid-phase variation of the assay performed with the peroxidase substrate 3,3'-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride, which produces an insoluble brown precipitate. In addition, kinetic parameters for hydrolysis of the natural substrates xylobiose and xylotriose were obtained using this assay for a glycosyl hydrolase family 39 beta-xylosidase from Thermoanaerobacterium sp. strain JW/SL YS485 (Swiss-Prot accession no. O30360). At higher xylobiose substrate concentrations the enzyme showed an increase in the rate indicative of transglycosylation, while for xylotriose marked substrate inhibition was observed. At lower xylobiose concentrations k(cat) was 2.7 +/- 0.4 s(-1), K(m) was 3.3 +/- 0.7 mM, and k(cat)/K(m) was 0.82 +/- 0.21 mM(-1) . s(-1). Nonlinear curve fitting to a substrate inhibition model showed that for xylotriose K(i) was 1.7 +/- 0.1 mM, k(cat) was 2.0 +/- 0.1 s(-1), K(m) was 0.144 +/- 0.011 mM, and k(cat)/K(m) was 14 +/- 1.3 mM(-1) . s(-1).
Building Coordinated Real-Time Control Plans

We are interested in developing multi-agent systems that can provide real-time performance guarantees for critical missions that require cooperation. In particular, we are developing methods for teams of CIRCA agents to build coordinated plans that include explicit runtime communications to support distributed real-time reactivity to the environment. These teams can build plans in which different agents use their unique capabilities to guarantee that the team will respond in a coordinated fashion to mission-critical events. By reasoning explicitly about different agent roles, the agents can identify what communications must be exchanged in different situations. And, by reasoning explicitly about domain deadlines and communication time, the agents can build reactive plans that provide end-to-end performance guarantees spanning multi-agent teams.
MTP regulated by an alternate promoter is essential for NKT cell development.

Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), an endoplasmic reticulum lipid transfer protein critical for apolipoprotein B (apoB) secretion, regulates CD1d antigen presentation. We identified MTP variant 1 (MTPv1), a novel splice variant of mouse MTP, by polymerase chain reaction and Northern analysis in non–apoB-secreting tissues, including thymocytes and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Edman degradation of MTPv1 isolated from transfected cells revealed three unique residues; however, recombinant MTP and MTPv1 had an equivalent protein disulfide isomerase association, subcellular localization, triglyceride transfer, phospholipid transfer, response to inhibitors, and ability to support apoB secretion. MTP and MTPv1 efficiently transferred phosphatidylethanolamine to CD1d in vitro. NKT cells fail to develop in fetal thymic organ culture (FTOC) treated with MTP antagonists. MTP-inhibited FTOCs produced negligible numbers of CD1d tetramer–positive cells and exhibited marked defects in IL-4 production upon stimulation with anti-CD3 or α-galactosylceramide–pulsed APCs. CD1d expression on CD4+CD8+ FTOC cells was unaffected by MTP inhibition. Thus, our results demonstrate that MTPv1 in thymocytes is critical to NKT cell development. We hypothesize that, when MTP is inactive, CD1d traffics to the cell surface and presents no lipid or a lipid that is incapable of mediating NKT cell selection and/or is refractory to lysosomal editing.
Determination of the electrical parameters of vertebrate visceral smooth muscle

Abstract A method of finding the actual values of the membrane parameters, resistance and capacitance, for the circular muscle of the small intestine of the cat is presented. It is felt that there is an error in the interpretation made concerning the results of the electrical measurements; namely ignoring the shunting effect of the current path by neighboring cells. Two models of this smooth muscle cell system are proposed and expressions are derived for each, using electrical network theory, which give the relationship between the experimental values and the actual values. Several cases are evaluated for the parameters for a finite number of cells. Theoretically the method may be used for any cell system in which the cells are closely packed together and which comes under the assumptions of the models. The necessary electrical network theory is found in the Appendix.
Effects of wildfire smoke on atmospheric polarization

A continuously operating all-sky polarization imager recorded the skylight polarization pattern as conditions transitioned from clear and clean to extremely smoky. This transition included a period when a local wildfire plume filled part of the sky with smoke, creating a highly asymmetric distribution of aerosols. Multiple scattering in the smoke plume strongly reduced the degree of polarization in the smoky region of the sky. Once the smoke plume spread out to cover the entire local sky, the degree of polarization was strongly reduced everywhere. However, this example differed from previously observed smoke events because, even though the usual skylight polarization pattern generally persisted throughout the event, this time the smoke-covered sky exhibited a spatially asymmetric profile along the band of maximum polarization. This pattern of reduced polarization toward the horizon is hypothesized to be a result of an optically thick but physically thin smoke layer. The skylight polarization observations are supplemented with optical depth measurements and aerosol size distribution retrievals from a solar radiometer.
The Contextual Nature of Scientists’ Views of Theories, Experimentation, and Their Coordination

Practicing scientists’ views of science recently have become a topic of interest to nature of science researchers. Using an interview protocol developed by Carey and Smith that assumes respondents’ views cohere into a single belief system, we asked 15 research chemists to discuss their views of theories and experimentation. Respondents expressed a range of ideas about science during interviews, but in ways that defied assignment to a unitary, coherent belief system. Instead, scientists expressed more or less constructivist ideas depending upon the questions asked. We interpret our findings to suggest that efforts to categorize such conceptions at best oversimplify, and at worst misconstrue, people’s views about science and how such ideas might develop.
Post-Colonial Africa and the World Economy: The Long Waves of Uneven Development

The aim of this article is to examine the interactive dynamics of "Africa" and the "world economy" over the past half century. By relating the overarching developmental trajectory of the continent to the long-wave rhythms of the world economy, the article identifies three relatively articulated periods in the political economy of postcolonial Africa. The first, from circa 1960 to the late 1970s, was a period of state-led developmentalism enabled by the long postwar boom in the world economy and the embedded liberalism of the Bretton Woods system. A second period from circa 1980 to the turn of the new century was conditioned by the long downturn in the world-economy and a neo-li beral regime of accumulation that sought to re-structure and re-integrate Africa into a deregulated world market. The turn of the new millennium constitutes a new period in which neither the deep structural springs of the long downturn nor the neo-liberal project as such have been overcome; but their impact on Africa has been relativized by the emergence of East Asia as the new center of accumulation in the world economy. The resulting de-synchronization of the long-wave rhythms of the world economy has permitted a modest economic expansion in Africa within a largely extractive regime of accumulation and a wave of new enclosures that are profoundly reconstituting the social universe of Africa's primary producers.
Nickel(II) uranium(IV) tris-ulfide.

Crystals of NiUS3 were obtained from the reaction of the elements Ni, U, S, and of GeI2 in a CsCl flux at 1173 K. Nickel(II) uranium(IV) tris­ulfide, NiUS3, has ortho­rhom­bic (Pnma) symmetry and crystallizes in the GdFeO3 structure type. The compound has a perovskite ABQ3-like structure, with U occupying the inter­stitial sites of a NiS6 framework. The U atoms are coordinated by eight S atoms in a distorted bicapped trigonal–prismatic arrangement. The Ni atoms are coordinated by six S atoms in a slightly distorted octa­hedral arrangement. The asymmetric unit comprises one U site (site symmetry .m.), one Ni site (-1), and two S sites (1 and .m.).
Systematic analysis of the validity regions of scalar diffraction integral and angular spectrum method

A systematic comparison of the accuracies of scalar diffraction integral and angular spectrum method with respect to FDTD are done. Validity regions of the methods are derived and optimal method for each region is determined.
Magnitude of the Inglewood, California, earthquake of June 21, 1920

Comparison with later earthquakes in the same area indicates a magnitude near 4.9 for the Inglewood, California, earthquake of June 21, 1920.
Locating the Value of Information Privacy in a Democratic Society: A Study of theInformation Privacy Jurisprudence of Taiwan’s Constitutional Court

This note reconsiders the relationship between information privacy and democracy, arguing that information privacy deserves constitutional protection because it not only ensures an individual’s personal interests in his or her personal matters, but also promotes public values central to our democratic society. To make this argument, this note identifies three democratic values inherent to information privacy. First, information privacy limits the government’s exercise of power. Second, information privacy secures democracy by providing citizens with certain procedural protections. Third, information privacy secures citizens’ freedoms of thought, speech, and other intellectual activities. This note also explores the information privacy jurisprudence of the Grand Justices of Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court. Taking Taiwan’s experience as an example, this note argues that in order for people to freely think, speak, deliberate, dissent, and participate in the democratic process, their information privacy must be protected. Without information privacy protection, people cannot enjoy a really free and democratic society. Information privacy is thus an important value for a democratic society.
Together for the Common Good

As the first book was published six months before the follow-up text I will address this one to begin with. Whenever one reads the term ‘towards’ in the subtitle of a book or article, the impressi...
NMR Structural/Functional Characterization of an Oncogenic Mutant of cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase A: PRKACA-DNAJB1

Cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent Protein kinase A (cAMP-PKA) is involved in regulating a multitude of biological processes including cell growth and division, cell differentiation, as well as metabolism and immune responsiveness, as such misregulation of PKA has been implicated in tumorigenesis. Recent genomic studies have identified that the single driver of the progression of fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC) is a mutant of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependant Protein Kinase A (PKA) fused with the DNAJB1 chaperons on the N-terminus (PKA-DNAJB1). This result in upregulation of kinase activity in vivo; however, the underlying molecular mechanism for the progression of the FL-HCC cancer by PKA-DNAJB1 is unknown. Our activity assays demonstrate that there is no significant difference in activity between the wild type enzyme and PKA-DNAJB1, however there is a substantial difference in affinity by the heat stable protein kinase A inhibitor (PKI). To investigate this difference we study the structure and dynamics of the wild type and PKA-DNAJB1 using NMR spectroscopy. We find that the kinase core is largely intact, but there are allosteric changes propagated to the DNAJB1 fusion upon ligand binding. Nuclear spin relaxation measurements show that for PKA-DNAJB1 the two constructs move independently in the ps-ns timescale. Our future work will focus on understanding how differential conformational dynamics in the μs-ms timescale leads to differential specificity of binding of PKI, providing potential explanation for the constitutive activity of PKA in FL-HCC.