cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Institutional Reform of the International Monetary Regime

International monetary regimes seem to change more frequently than observers of institutional change in other economic realms might anticipate. As Barry Eichengreen has observed, The quarter century leading up to World War I was the heyday of the classical gold standard, when exchange rates were pegged to gold and to one another over an increasing portion of the industrial and developing world. The war provoked the breakdown of the gold standard and was followed by an interlude of floating rates. Countries returned to gold in the second half of the 1920s, only to see their laboriously constructed fixed-rate system give way to renewed floating in the 1930s. The Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 inaugurated another quarter century of exchange-rate stability. The next episode of floating began in the early 1970s and now seems to be in the process of being supplanted, mainly in Europe, by a move back toward fixed rates [1995, 3].
Accessing Files on Unmounted Filesystems

This paper describes a utility named ruf that reads files from an unmounted file system. The files are accessed by reading disk structures directly so the program is peculiar to the specific file system employed. The current implementation supports the *BSD FFS, SunOS/Solaris UFS, HP-UX HFS, and Linux ext2fs file systems. All these file systems derive from the original FFS, but have peculiar differences in their specific implementations.The utility can read files from a damaged file system. Since the utility attempts to read only those structures it requires, damaged areas of the disk can be avoided. Files can be accessed by their inode number alone, bypassing damage to structures above it in the directory hierarchy.The functions of the utility is available in a library named libruf . The utility and library is available under the BSD license.
Exploring Vulnerability in the Yaqui Valley Human-Environment System

The vulnerability of people and places has emerged in the past decade as a central concern related to climate change (IPCC 2001; IHDP 2001) and a key question in the emerging field of sustainability science (see Clark et al. 2000; Kates et al. 2001; Turner, Kasperson, et al. 2003; Turner, Matson, et al. 2003; Eakin and Luers 2006). As it becomes increasingly clear that not everyone or every place is equally vulnerable to the rising frequency of environmental stresses, such as floods and drought resulting from climate change, or to major price shocks and policy changes, researchers and practitioners are seeking to understand what makes some places more vulnerable than others. What can be done to reduce the likelihood of harm for the most vulnerable? How can more resilient and adaptive communities and ecosystems be built or managed?
Measuring Ethereum Network Peers

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency valued at a peak of $138 billion in 2018, is a decentralized, Turing-complete computing platform. Although the stability and security of Ethereum---and blockchain systems in general---have been widely-studied, most analysis has focused on application level features of these systems such as cryptographic mining challenges, smart contract semantics, or block mining operators. Little attention has been paid to the underlying peer-to-peer (P2P) networks that are responsible for information propagation and that enable blockchain consensus. In this work, we develop NodeFinder to measure this previously opaque network at scale and illuminate the properties of its nodes. We analyze the Ethereum network from two vantage points: a three-month long view of nodes on the P2P network, and a single day snapshot of the Ethereum Mainnet peers. We uncover a noisy DEVp2p ecosystem in which fewer than half of all nodes contribute to the Ethereum Mainnet. Through a comparison with other previously studied P2P networks including BitTorrent, Gnutella, and Bitcoin, we find that Ethereum differs in both network size and geographical distribution.
TRENDS IN UTILIZATION OF ADVANCED HEART FAILURE THERAPIES AND OUTCOMES AMONG MYOCARDITIS PATIENTS WHO UNDERWENT ENDOMYOCARDIAL BIOPSY: INSIGHTS FROM NATIONWIDE INPATIENT SAMPLE

To evaluate outcomes in patients with myocarditis who undergo endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) from a large national multicentric database. We analyzed data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from years 2007-2014 to identify patients with primary discharge diagnosis of myocarditis and analyzed
Picosecond Time-Resolved Pump-Probe XUV Absorption L-Edge Spectroscopy

We present what we believe to be the first measurements of broadband XUV absorption spectroscopy with picosecond time-scale resolution; figure 1 shows a schematic view of the experimental set-up. A 10-Hz, 60 m J, 100-fs Ti: Sapphire laser system is used to create a quasi-continuum of XUV radiation from a gold plasma (30 A < λ < 300 A) to act as a probe source. Part of the 100-fs laser beam also provides an ultrashort pump pulse to heat a sample onto which the XUV probe source is focused by a novel X-ray optic. By relaying the XUV source to the sample, we avoid problems with hot electrons, plasma and hard X-rays which would disturb the sample in a proximity geometry. A soft-X-ray spectrometer coupled to multichannel plates and a CCD camera collects spatially-resolved spectra of the sample’s absorption at different times during the laser heating, set by a variable delay between the pump laser and the probe XUV source. A unique jitter-free x-ray streak camera1 developed at the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science is used to obtain temporally-resolved XUV spectra of the probe source to measure its duration (not shown in Fig.1). The temporal duration of the probe is typically on the order of 20 ps but can be made shorter or longer by varying the laser parameters.2 This broadband high-time-resolution absorption spectroscopy technique offers a very interesting and flexible alternative to synchrotrons for experiments such as time-resolved EXAFS, chemical and physical dynamics, and ion characterization in laser ablation plumes.
Ecological Social Work: Shifting Paradigms in Environmental Practice

Conventional models of ecological social work have had profound staying power in the theoretical life of social work. They have become conventional wisdom for much of social work practice. In recent decades, however, a new ecological model has emerged. This new ecological model argues that the core values of social work and its conventional ecological models must be altered to support the new realities of the importance of the natural environment and the impending environmental crisis. This article traces the historical evolution of social work's conventional ecological thinking and traces the contours of a new ecology of social work.
Religion and Spirituality Among Medical Students

Religion and spirituality are not terms frequently associated with medical education. However, one’s convictions, beliefs, and sources of inspiration and connection are inevitable parts of any illness narrative, including the clinician-patient relationship. A growing body of research demonstrates that students’ own spiritual and/or religious resources inform their clinical work and can protect against potential deleterious effects associated with medical education. This chapter introduces the ways in which the terms religion and spirituality are used in healthcare, the role of clinicians in addressing patients’ religious and spiritual needs and strengths, and, finally, implications for medical education, with an eye toward students’ own resources for compassion, connection, and resilience.
Privacy Management Among Social Media Natives: An Exploratory Study of Facebook and Snapchat:

Guided by communication privacy management theory, this study tested network size, network diversity, privacy concerns, and privacy management practices in and between Facebook and Snapchat for soc...
Correction: Enantioselective synthesis of isochromans and tetrahydroisoquinolines by C–H insertion of donor/donor carbenes

Reports of C-H insertions forming six-membered rings containing heteroatoms are rare due to Stevens rearrangements occurring after nucleophilic attack on the carbene by a heteroatom. Using donor/donor carbenes and Rh2(R-PTAD)4 as a catalyst, we have synthesized a collection of isochroman substrates in good yield, with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivity, and no rearrangement products were observed. Furthermore, we report the first synthesis of six-membered rings containing nitrogen by C-H insertion to form tetrahydroisoquinolines. In one case, a Stevens rearrangement product was isolated at elevated temperature from a carbamate-protected amine substrate and computational evidence suggests formation through a free ylide not bound to rhodium.
Behavioral Conventions in Higher Density, Day Use Wildland/Urban Recreation Settings: A Preliminary Case Study

This paper presents a study of users of a wildland/urban interface recreation setting in southern California. The area is a designated Forest Service picnic ground located on a perennial stream dra...
UPTAKE AND STORAGE OF CATECHOLAMINES

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the uptake and storage of catecholamines. Noradrenaline is released at the sympathetic nerve endings, and adrenaline and noradrenaline are released from the adrenal gland stimulation of the appropriate nerves. Adrenaline and noradrenaline can also be released from the intact or isolated gland by perfusion with acetylcholine and noradrenaline can be partially released from sympathetic nerves by various sympathomimetic amines. Studies of the uptake of adrenaline and noradrenaline by adrenal granules indicated that a transport mechanism across the granule membrane might be involved. The temperature dependence of the uptake, the stimulation by Mg++, and ATP, the kinetics of uptake, and the inhibition by reserpine, and sulfhydryl group reagents indicated that an enzymatic, energy-dependent process was involved. The permeability of the granules to the compounds was determined by measuring the distribution of isotopes between the intragranular water and incubation medium.
Robust Low-tubal-rank Tensor Completion based on Tensor Factorization and Maximum Correntopy Criterion.

The goal of tensor completion is to recover a tensor from a subset of its entries, often by exploiting its low-rank property. Among several useful definitions of tensor rank, the low-tubal-rank was shown to give a valuable characterization of the inherent low-rank structure of a tensor. While some low-tubal-rank tensor completion algorithms with favorable performance have been recently proposed, these algorithms utilize second-order statistics to measure the error residual, which may not work well when the observed entries contain large outliers. In this paper, we propose a new objective function for low-tubal-rank tensor completion, which uses correntropy as the error measure to mitigate the effect of the outliers. To efficiently optimize the proposed objective, we leverage a half-quadratic minimization technique whereby the optimization is transformed to a weighted low-tubal-rank tensor factorization problem. Subsequently, we propose two simple and efficient algorithms to obtain the solution and provide their convergence and complexity analysis. Numerical results using both synthetic and real data demonstrate the robust and superior performance of the proposed algorithms.
Evaluation of various estimators for standardized mean difference in meta-analysis.

Meta-analyses of a treatment's effect compared with a control frequently calculate the meta-effect from standardized mean differences (SMDs). SMDs are usually estimated by Cohen's d or Hedges' g. Cohen's d divides the difference between sample means of a continuous response by the pooled standard deviation, but is subject to nonnegligible bias for small sample sizes. Hedges' g removes this bias with a correction factor. The current literature (including meta-analysis books and software packages) is confusingly inconsistent about methods for synthesizing SMDs, potentially making reproducibility a problem. Using conventional methods, the variance estimate of SMD is associated with the point estimate of SMD, so Hedges' g is not guaranteed to be unbiased in meta-analyses. This article comprehensively reviews and evaluates available methods for synthesizing SMDs. Their performance is compared using extensive simulation studies and analyses of actual datasets. We find that because of the intrinsic association between point estimates and standard errors, the usual version of Hedges' g can result in more biased meta-estimation than Cohen's d. We recommend using average-adjusted variance estimators to obtain an unbiased meta-estimate, and the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method for accurate estimation of its confidence interval.
The Wealth Effect View of the Great Recession: A Behavioral Macroeconomic Model with Occasional Financial Fire Sales

Mian et al. (2013, 2014) document that collapsing household net worth significantly and negatively affected employment via consumer spending between 2007 and 2009. To rationalize the underlying transmission mechanism, the popular household leverage view has emphasized tightening consumer credit constraints, which generate the desired consumer response mechanically. This view has recently been challenged as tightening consumer credit can realistically only ac- count for the observed slow recovery of the US economy, but not the abrupt and deep nature of the initial downturn — the Great Recession — itself. This paper thus offers an alternative explanation of the Great Recession, namely that the observed contraction in aggregate demand was mainly driven by households who responded to the 2008 Financial Crisis by voluntarily substituting away from consumption towards savings in the spirit of a classic wealth effect. The primary policy implication of this wealth effect view is that fiscal stimulus may be less effective in combating financial crises than would be implied by the household leverage view.
Commentary on Swalwell CI, Davis GG. Methamphetamine as a Risk Factor for Acute Aortic Dissection. J Forensic Sci 1999;44(1):23–6

Commentary on Swalwell CI, Davis GG. Methamphetamine as a risk factor for acute aortic dissection. J Forensic Sci 1999;44(1):23–6.
Solar Selective Coatings for High Temperature Applications

Solar selective coatings are envisioned for use on minisatellites, for applications where solar energy is to be used to power heat engines or to provide thermal energy for remote regions in the interior of the spacecraft. These coatings are designed to have the combined properties of high solar absorptance and low infrared emittance. The coatings must be durable at elevated temperatures. For thermal bus applications, the temperature during operation is likely to be near 100°C. For heat engine applications, the temperature is expected to be much greater. The objective of this work was to screen candidate solar selective coatings for their high temperature durability. Candidate solar selective coatings were composed of molecular mixtures of metal and dielectric, including: nickel and aluminum oxide, titanium and aluminum oxide, and platinum and aluminum oxide. To identify high temperature durability, the solar absorptance and infrared emittance of the candidate coatings were evaluated initially, and after heating to temperatures in the range of 400°C to 700°C. The titanium and aluminum oxide molecular mixture was found to be the most durable.
Differential role of hydrogen peroxide in UV-induced signal transduction.

The present study investigated the differential requirement of ROS in UV-induced activation of these pathways. Exposure of the mouse epidermal C141 cells to UV radiation led to generation of ROS as measured by electron spin resonance (ESR) and by H2O2and 02 •- fluorescence staining assay. Treatment of cells with UV radiation or H2O2also markedly activated Erks, JNKs, p38 kinase and led to increases in phosphorylation of Akt and p70s6k in mouse epidermal JB6 cells. The scavenging of UV-generated H2O2 by N-acety-L-cyteine (NAC, a general antioxidant) or catalase (a specific H2O2 inhibitor) inhibited UV-induced activation of JNKs, p38 kinase, Akt and p70s6k while it did not show any inhibitory effects on Erks activation. Further, pretreatment of cells with sodium formate (an •OH radical scavenger) or superoxide dismutase (02 •- radical scavenger) did not inhibit any of these pathways. These results demonstrate that H2O2 generation is required for UV-induced phosphorylation of Akt and p70s6k and involved in activation of JNKs and p38 kinase, but not Erks. (Mol Cell Biochem 234/235: 81–90, 2002)
Time dependent phenomena in statistical mechanics

O. Introduction This lecture will unfortunately not be a systematic review of the subject of rigorous results in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. A preliminary attempt to outline such a review led me quickly to the conclusion that the field is too diverse to be summarized in a single lecture. I have therefore decided instead to discuss a few related.works in depth. The works I have chosen are: 1. The paper of J. Fritz and R. L. Dobrushin[5] on two-dimensional dynamics. 2. The paper of W. Braun and K. Hepp[3] on classical mechanics in the Vlasov limit. 3. A recent preprint by H. van Beijeren, J. L. Lebowitz, H. Spohn, and myself[2] on autocorrelations and fluctuations in the dilute equilibrium hard-sphere gas.
Superior Hypogastric Plexus, Ganglion Impar Blocks, and Neurolysis

Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) of malignant or nonmalignant origins can be attenuated by blockade of the superior hypogastric plexus (SHP) or the ganglion impar (GI) (ganglion of Walther). Attempts to interrupt sympathetic pathways from the pelvis have been made since the late nineteenth century. In 1921, a periarterial sympathectomy of the internal iliac arteries was performed on a patient with “pelvic neuralgia,” and later again in the twentieth century. Excellent results have been shown with hypogastric plexus block in patients with chronic pelvic pain of malignant origins.
Further Peripheral Vascular Dysfunction in Heart Failure Patients With a Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device: The Role of Pulsatility

AbstractObjectives: Using flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) and reactive hyperemia (RH), this study aimed to provide greater insight into left ventricular assist device (LVAD)–induced changes in per...
cGMP modulates basal and activated microvessel permeability independently of [Ca2+]i

To investigate the mechanisms whereby guanosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) modulates microvessel permeability in vivo, we measured changes in microvessel hydraulic conductivity (L p) and end...
The dynamic range tester: A versatile laboratory instrument for generating two highly isolated RF signals, each with variable signal-to-noise ratio

The Dynamic Range Tester (DRT) is a dual-channel, variable signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) generator that operates in the radio frequency (rf) range (30-400 MHz) [1]. It is a convenient tool for generating two highly isolated, noisy test signals from a single signal source, in order to simulate two antennas receiving the same signals. The DRT can also process two different signals, one in each channel, in order to simulate two antennas receiving different signals. According to the selected configuration, the DRT combines the user-supplied signal(s) with internally generated noise in two separate channels. Each channel of the DRT generates wideband, random noise that is uncorrelated and isolated from the noise in the other channel by approximately 90 dB. The maximum output power is 1 W (+30 dBm) signal and 1 W noise for a 20-MHz bandwidth. The signal(s) and noise power levels may be incrementally and individually varied to generate test signals with specific S/Ns from +80 dB to -80 dB. Using both outputs of the DRT, correlator processing gains of up to 160 dB can be evaluated since correlation is multiplicative. The frequency range and bandwidth of the generated signals are limited by selecting from a bank of filters or connecting an external filter in each channel. The DRT is used for a variety of testing and demonstration purposes, including determination of dynamic range of an rf system, frequency resolution of a correlator or spectrum analyzer, and interference and bandwidth testing.
Host Nation Language Ability and Immigrant Integration in Germany: Use of GSOEP to Examine Language as an Integration Criterion

Civic integration contracts in western European states developed in a context of high unemployment rates among those of migrant background, European and national efforts to control migration, and the implementation of antiterrorism security measures. Language and cultural education programs are now required for non-Western immigrants to Europe in order to assure their employment and respect for the political and cultural traditions of the host nation. Political considerations spurred the development of these programs in the absence of systematic empirical analyses of the effectiveness of language acquisition in facilitating integration. Like its predecessors in other states, the 2005 German Immigration Act was based in part on the assumption that the professional and social integration of immigrants are predicated on German language skills. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (http://www.integration-in-deutschland.de announced that the language support effort marked “the beginning of the develop...
TULAREMIA: A CHANGING PRESENTATION IN CHILDREN

Tularemia, a febrile zoonosis in children, has a changing clinical presentation. We reviewed 23 cases of tularemia in children at the Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH, 1975-1983); pediatric cases represented 28/71 tularemia cases in Arkansas in 1983 (39%, 9 at ACH). The demographic data revealed: 1) Age: 0-3 yrs - 5/23, 4-10 yrs - 11/23, and 11-19 yrs - 7/23 (8.2±4.5 yrs); 2) male - 72%; 3) white - 91%; 4) rural - 78%; and 5) season - summer (52%), spring/fall (30%), winter (13%). Transmission by a tick vector (65%), rabbit exposure (9%), other game animals (4%) and multiple exposures (4%). The types of tularemia included: ulceroglandular (35%), glandular (43%), oculoglandular (4%), pneumonic (13%), oropharyngeal (9%). Clinical features included: fever (91%, 103.5°F±1.4°F), lymphadenopathy (91%), pharyngitis (43%) and radiographic evidence of pneumonia (30%, 3/7 due to tularemia). The diagnosis was made by serology (87%), culture (4%) and history/physical (13%). There were no deaths and the most frequent morbidity was late lymph node suppuration (52%). Tularemia in Ark. has increased - 1978 (29), 1979 (42), 1980 (56), 1981 (54), 1982 (69), and 1983 (71). The major changes in tularemia include: 1) an increase in cases in children, 2) an increase in tick exposure over game animal exposure, 3) an absence of typhoidal tularemia, 4) a milder disease with no deaths, and 5) an increase in tularemia pneumonia in children.
Stationary high-performance discharges in the DIII-D tokamak

Discharges which can satisfy the high gain goals of burning plasma experiments have been demonstrated in the DIII-D tokamak under stationary conditions at relatively low plasma current (q95>4). A figure of merit for fusion gain (βNH89/q952) has been maintained at values corresponding to Q = 10 operation in a burning plasma for >6 s or 36τE and 2τR. The key element is the relaxation of the current profile to a stationary state with qmin>1. In the absence of sawteeth and fishbones, stable operation has been achieved up to the estimated no-wall β limit. Feedback control of the energy content and particle inventory allow reproducible, stationary operation. The particle inventory is controlled by gas fuelling and active pumping; the wall plays only a small role in the particle balance. The reduced current lessens significantly the potential for structural damage in the event of a major disruption. In addition, the pulse length capability is greatly increased, which is essential for a technology testing phase of a burning plasma experiment where fluence (duty cycle) is important.
Random-anisotropy model: Monotonic dependence of the coercive field on D/J

We present the results of a numerical study of the zero-temperature remanence and coercivity for the random anisotropy model (RAM), showing that, contrary to early calculations for this model, the coercive field increases monotonically with increases in the strength D of the random anisotropy relative to the strength J at the exchange field. Local-field adjustments with and without spin flips are considered. Convergence is difficult to obtain for small values of the anisotropy, suggesting that this is the likely source of the nonmonotonic behavior found in earlier studies. For both large and small anisotropy, each spin undergoes about one flip per hysteresis cycle, and about half of the spin flips occur in the vicinity of the coercive field. When only non-spin-flip adjustments are considered, at large anisotropy the coercivity is proportional to the anisotropy. At small anisotropy, the rate of convergence is comparable to that when spin flips are included.
Roman onyx glass: A study of production recipes and colorants, using PIXE spectrometry

Abstract The most attractive Roman glass produced during the latter half of the 1st century b.c. was mosaic ware — vessels and dishes molded from arrays of composite, multi-colored canes which create abstract floral and geometric designs. We have studied a range of such vessels, all of them colored amber and white in a way which was intended to imitate elite vessels that were carved from onyx stone. We have differentiated three ways in which onyx patterns were achieved in this glass. Taking advantage of the spatial resolution and detection sensitivity of PIXE spectrometry, we have studied the “recipes” for colorants used in these onyx patterns, thus raising the notion that each one may have been fashionable in just certain regions of the Roman World, and/or in vogue only during a certain time period.
Expert systems in space: Minimizing crew and ground support with knowledge-based systems at Marshall Space Flight Center

The author discusses briefly several expert system prototypes that have been developed. The describes three of these systems in detail, namely, the Fault Isolation Expert System (FIES II), the Hubble Space Telescope electrical power system diagnoser, the load priority list maintenance system (LPLMS), and an integrated electrical power system schedule/fault isolation. Future research and development efforts are examined.
Kinetics of Coloration in Photochromic Organoammonium Polyoxomolybdates

The excellent photochromic properties of (H2DABCO)2(HDMA)0.5Na0.75(H3O)0.75[Mo8O27]·3H2O (4), a new member of the (H2DABCO)2(A)x[Mo8O27]·nH2O series, are compared with those of (H2DABCO)2(NH4)2[Mo8O27]·4H2O (1), (H2DABCO)2(H2pipz)[Mo8O27] (2), and (H2pipz)3[Mo8O27] (3). All these powdered materials turn from white to purple under illumination at 365 nm, which is associated with photoreduction of Mo6+ cations into Mo5+ cations. We show that the rates of coloration, which increase in the order 1 < 3, 2 < 4, are related to the decrease in the concentration of reducible Mo6+ centers with irradiation time and follow a second-order reaction law because the event of light absorption at a reducible Mo6+ site does not necessarily coincide with that of the N+−H bond breaking in the N+−H···O hydrogen bond associated with the Mo6+ site. First-principles density functional electronic structure calculations were carried out to find that this trend correlates with the homolytic dissociation energies of the N+−H bonds in...
Coronary Artery Spasm and Angina Pectoris

Coronary artery spasm should now be considered a well-proven clinical entity which may or may not be associated with clinical symptoms and coronary atherosclerosis and may be either “spontaneous” or iatrogenically induced. The most important clinical entity associated with coronary spasm is that of Prinzmetal's angina. In patients with this “variant” form of angina, severe coronary spasm appears to be the cause of the acute reduction of myocardial blood supply leading to their transient ischemic episodes. Recent studies suggest that “spontaneous” coronary spasm may be related to increased parasympathetic activity and stimulation of a -adrenergic receptors and may be possibly associated with inappropriate phasing of circadian rhythms. These observations explain the failures of coronary bypass surgery in cases of Prinzmetal's angina and provide interesting leads for further investigations into the mechanism, significance, and pharmacodynamics of coronary vasomotion.
Taste potentiates color-sickness associations in pigeons and quail

The present experiments assessed cue utilization in pigeons and quail on similar tests of poison-based aversion learning. In Experiments 1 and 2, three groups of pigeons were given colored water, flavored water, or colored flavored water prior to induction of sickness; these experiments differed only as to the specific colors and flavors used as stimuli. In both experiments, the birds trained with flavored water exhibited reliable taste aversions when tested with uncolored flavored water. Similar degrees of aversion were observed whether the flavored water had been colored or uncolored during training, suggesting that the color cue had little or no effect on the conditioning of the flavor cue. In contrast, the flavor cue had a pronounced effect on the conditioning of the color cue. When tested with unflavored colored water, the birds trained with colored flavored water exhibited significantly stronger color aversions than those trained with unflavored colored water. That is, the flavor cue enhanced or potentiated the conditioning of the color cue. In a third experiment, quail were trained in the same way as the pigeons with virtually the same result. The pattern of cue utilization observed in the present experiments with pigeons and quail differs markedly from that proposed by Wilcoxon, Dragoin, and Kral (1971) for quail. However, a reexamination of the results obtained by Wilcoxon et al. suggested that they are susceptible to an alternative interpretation consistent with the present results.
Depression of lymphocyte reactivity to phytohemagglutinin by serum from patients with liver disease.

Abstract The influence of serum from patients with a variety of liver abnormalities on the in vitro response of normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes to stimulation with phytohemagglutinin was studied. These experiments demonstrate that serum from patients with acute viral hepatitis, chronic Australia antigenemia, common bile duct obstruction, primary biliary cirrhosis, hepatic necrosis secondary to halothane, and alcoholic cirrhosis suppresses DNA synthesis by stimulated normal lymphocytes. Sera obtained from two patients 1 week after surgical correction of their common duct obstruction no longer demonstrated lymphocyte suppression. Dilution of normal serum with serum from either of three patients resulted in more rapid decrease of thymidine uptake by stimulated lymphocytes than when normal serum was diluted with culture medium. This indicates the presence of an inhibitory factor (s) in the patients' sera. No correlation was shown between the extent of thymidine uptake by stimulated lymphocytes and the bilirubin, transaminase, or alkaline phosphatase levels in the serum in which they were cultured. The addition of bile salts to stimulated lymphocyte cultures did result in suppression of the response but only at concentrations much higher than would be expected in serum of the patients studied. Cell death after 72-hr incubation was 42% in normal serum and only 50% in serum from a patient who had demonstrated prominent suppression of DNA synthesis.
Insight into interface design of web-based case-based reasoning retrieval systems

Case-based reasoning (CBR) is an innovative approach for problem solving. The concept of CBR is that people solve problems by retrieving past solutions based on similar problems. These new solutions are adapted from the old solutions to solve the new problem. Case-based reasoning (CBR) in computer applications has drawn considerable attention over the last 20 years with a large number of successful computer applications including those that assist with customer support, sales support, diagnostics, and help-desk systems. However, most studies on applications that implement case-based reasoning have used system-based design research and have focused on functional capability and implementation. Little attention has been given to user interface design in CBR systems. In this article, we provide a review of case retrieval interfaces of CBR systems. Based on this review and our own CBR interface design experience, insights for designing conversational and feature-based CBR user interfaces are provided.
Clinical significance of Akt and HER2/neu overexpression in African-American and Latina women with breast cancer

Introduction Breast cancer patients with HER2/neu overexpression have poor outcomes with a decrease in disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival. The biology of HER2/neu overexpression in breast tumors in African-American and Latina women is poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to understand the clinical significance of activated Akt (phospho-Akt or pAkt) expression in breast tumors from African-American and Latina patients with corresponding tissue HER2/neu overexpression. Cellular and molecular studies have shown that activation of the cell signaling phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/Akt cascade via the HER2/neu and other receptor tyrosine kinases induces cell proliferation.
Conversational Maxims and Scaffolded Learning in Children with Learning Disabilities Is the Flying Buttress a Better Metaphor

In our commentary on Stone's (this issue) article on the metaphor of “scaffolding,” we propose (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) the “flying buttress” as an improvement. Unlike a scaffold, the buttress symbolizes a nontemporary architectural device that begins as a support to building new knowledge on an existing foundation, but then itself becomes an integral and evolving part of the new structure. We then analyze scaffolded instruction as a kind of conversation that depends on rather sophisticated shared assumptions about the agenda and the rules underlying the process of the conversation, including an understanding of when these rules are suspended. We present evidence that some children with language/learning disabilities may not benefit from scaffolded instruction because they (a) follow a different agenda during instructional discourse (e.g., to camouflage their lack of comprehension); and (b) overrely on the default Gricean Maxims that cooperative speakers always make an effort to be informative, truthful...
I—John Hawthorne & Karson Kovakovich DISJUNCTIVISM

We examine some well-known disjunctivist projects in the philosophy of perception, mainly in a critical vein. Our discussion is divided into four parts. Following some introductory remarks, we examine in part two the link between object-dependent contents and disjunctivism. In part three, we explore the disjunctivist's use of discriminability facts as a basis for understanding experience. In part four, we examine an interesting argument for disjunctivism that has been offered by Michael Martin.
Ipilimumab-induced necrotic myelopathy in a patient with metastatic melanoma: A case report and review of literature

Ipilimumab is a novel humanized monoclonal antibody directed against cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4, a T-cell surface molecule involved in down-regulation and suppression of the T cell response to stimuli. Patients treated with ipilimumab are at risk for immune-related adverse events involving the skin, digestive tract, liver and endocrine organs. Few case reports of immune-related adverse effects involving central or peripheral nervous system due to ipilimumab are published. These include inflammatory myopathy, aseptic meningitis, severe meningo-radiculo-neuritis, temporal arteritis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. We report the first case of ipilimumab-induced progressive necrotic myelopathy.
Lessons from El Barrio—the East Harlem real great society/urban planning studio: A Puerto Rican chapter in the fight for urban self‐determination∗

Abstract During the 1960s, the Lower East Side and East Harlem were among the principal contested terrains in New York City, and the emerging Puerto Rican community was being challenged on many fronts. As contested terrains, they were the arenas where transforming forces in American society were being articulated. Responses to these forces varied from neighborhood to neighborhood. Among the responses were groups organized around community development, particularly to fight urban renewal projects. In this essay, I examine a year in the life of the East Harlem Real Great Society/Urban Planning Studio (RGS/UPS). RGS/UPS emerged in a transition period in the development of Puerto Rican institutions. It combined several characteristics of groups organized during those years. It was founded by grassroots community youth; it was also a professionally staffed organization; it was structured around an advocacy model; and it valued its ethnic‐specificity, its Puertoricanness. Its staff's eagerness to speak for the ...
Transactions section: Preprint of corresponding pages from the current annual AIEE transactions volume

THE electric locomotive of World War I days has broadened its usefulness to a position of recognized importance among the nation's available motive power now so necessary to the successful conduct of the present world's struggle.
Thek-Steiner Ratio in the Rectilinear Plane

A Steiner minimum tree (SMT) in the rectilinear plane is the shortest length tree interconnecting a set of points, called the regular points, possibly using additional vertices. Ak-size Steiner minimum tree (kSMT) is one that can be split into components where all regular points are leaves and all components have at mostkleaves. Thek-Steiner ratio in the rectilinear plane, ?k, is the infimum of the ratios SMT/kSMT over all finite sets of regular points. Thek-Steiner ratio is used to determine the performance ratio of several recent polynomial-time approximations for Steiner minimum trees. Previously it was known that in the rectilinear plane, ?2=2/3, ?3=4/5, and (2k?2)/(2k?1)??k(L1)?(2k?1)/(2k) fork?4. In 1991, P. Berman and V. Ramaiyer conjectured that in fact ?k=(2k?1)/(2k) fork?4. In this paper we prove their conjecture.
Duration of maternal smoking during pregnancy and the relationship to low birth weight

The objective of this study was to assess whether duration rather than quantity or frequency of maternal smoking during pregnancy significantly accounted for the explained variance in birth weight. The study was a prospective descriptive study using a convenience sample. The study took place in two prenatal clinics located in two mid-Atlantic inner-city teaching hospitals. Participants were 165 maternal-infant pairs. The main outcome measures were birth weights adjusted for baby's sex, race, and length of gestation. Fifty-seven (34.6%) of the mothers reported a history of smoking prior to pregnancy. Of these, 40 continued to smoke during pregnancy. A significantly larger proportion of smoking mothers had infants in the 10th percentile for birth weight (z = -2.965; p < 0.003). The overall regression model was significant, and the only significant predictor of birth weight was duration of maternal smoking during pregnancy (R = 0.237; F[1.1631 = 9.723; p < 0.01). Initial prenatal assessments must include a h...
Abstract LB-286: Use of circulating tumor cells to monitor pharmacodynamic responses of patients in early-stage clinical trials

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in peripheral blood of cancer patients potentially represent a fraction of solid tumor cells available for more frequent pharmacodynamic assessment of drug action than is possible using tumor biopsy. We have developed and validated an assay that directly examines increases in the number of cells positive for the nuclear DNA-damage marker H2AX in individual CTCs of patients treated with DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic agents. The method uses AexaFluor 488-conjugated monoclonal anti- H2AX (JBW301), to stain putative CTCs collected from blood by the CellSearch AutoPrep instrument, followed by enumeration and fluorescence analysis on the CellTracks Analyzer. Patient baselining studies demonstrated that in the absence of treatment the number of CTCs per blood aliquot is relatively constant over short time periods (2 weeks off therapy). CTC measurements are currently in use supporting four NCI new agent trials, two with cytotoxic agents and two with targeted agents (aTOP1 inhibitor and a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, TKI). CTC changes in 40 patients have been monitored on therapy to date. H2AX positive cells increased in 7/14 patients on cytotoxic therapies, 3/14 were unchanged and 4/14 were unevaluable; the fraction of H2AX positive CTCs did not decrease in any patient on cytotoxic therapy, and did not change in patients treated with TKI. The increased H2AX signal in patients on cytotoxic agents appears definitive for the cycle of therapy in which it is measured. Interestingly, 10/40 patients had increased CTC numbers immediately post-therapy, and several of these patients had few or no CTC immediately prior to therapy, suggesting that the cells were mobilized or shed from the tumor as a consequence of drug exposure. Six patients had decreases in CTC number, 12 were unchanged and 12 were unevaluable due to low CTC numbers. These data show promise for monitoring dynamic changes in nuclear biomarkers in CTCs, in addition to a CTC count alone, to rapidly assess drug pharmacodynamic activity, in clinical trials of cytotoxic agents and targeted anti-cancer therapeutics, as well as for translational research. This method may have the potential to inform the development of new anti-cancer agents and enable longitudinal monitoring of target response. Funded by NCI Contract No. HHSN261200800001E. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-286.
Possible new RNA intermediate in RNA silencing

SGS3 is essential for antiviral silencing and the biogenesis of several classes of siRNAs in plants, but until now no biochemical function has been ascribed to it. Both SGS3 and a viral suppressor of RNA silencing have now been shown to selectively bind 5′ overhang–containing dsRNA, implicating this RNA as a new intermediate in the RNA silencing pathway.
Effects of various sucrose: casein ratios in purified diets on the teeth and supporting structures of rats.

Abstract Purified diets of varying carbohydrate: casein ratios were fed to female rats of the Harvard caries-susceptible strain for a stabilizing period of 28 days and then throughout pregnancy and lactation. Offspring of females fed a low-protein:high-sucrose diet grew more slowly and their molar teeth erupted later than rats born to females fed a control diet with a normal protein content. The molars of the offspring of the protein-deficient females were significantly smaller than those of the controls. This change in size was due to a decrease in the distance between the outer borders of the dentine rather than to a reduction in enamel thickness. Many of the third molars of these rats had missing cusps. The offspring of the deficient females had a significantly higher susceptibility to caries than the offspring of the control females. Rats born to females fed a high-protein: low-sucrose diet had a tendency toward an increased susceptibility to a periodontal syndrome and were significantly less susceptible to dental caries than the offspring of females fed the control diet. There was also a slight tendency for a breakdown of the periodontal structures among the offspring of females fed the low-protein:high-sucrose diet, but the syndrome did not progress as rapidly as among the offspring of females on the high-protein:low-sucrose diet.
Transthoracic cuffed hemodialysis catheters: a method for difficult hemodialysis access

Background Recurrent vascular access failure is a major cause of morbidity in patients receiving long-term hemodialysis. Central venous catheters are often necessary for dialysis, and easily accessed vessels (ie, the internal jugular vein and subclavian vein) frequently occlude because of repeated cannulation. When standard access sites occlude, unconventional access methods become necessary. We report a technique of placing hemodialysis catheters directly into the superior vena cava (SVC). Methods Between January 2002 and December 2004, 22 patients with documented bilateral jugular and subclavian vein occlusion underwent transthoracic SVC permanent catheter placement. Femoral vein access was obtained, and a sheath was placed. Under fluoroscopic guidance, a diagnostic catheter was then inserted into the SVC, and a venogram was obtained. By using the fluoroscopic image as a reference guide, supraclavicular access directly into the SVC was performed with lateral and anteroposterior views to better localize the SVC. Once venous blood was obtained, a hydrophilic wire was passed into the inferior vena cava. A 5F sheath was then placed, and, with the use of an exchange catheter, the wire was switched for a stiffer wire. The hemodialysis catheter was then placed in the standard fashion over this wire. Results In a 24-month period, 22 patients underwent transthoracic permanent catheter placement. All patients had the permanent catheters successfully inserted. Two major complications occurred. One patient experienced a pneumothorax, and another patient experienced a hemothorax. Both patients were successfully treated with chest tube decompression. All permanent catheters functioned immediately with a range of 1 to 7 months. Conclusions Transthoracic permanent catheter placement is an appropriate alternative for patients in whom traditional venous access sites are no longer available.
Surface oxidation effects on the electrical resistance of cermet thin films : X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and rutherford backscattering studies

Cermet, e.g. Cr-Si-O, thin films are widely used in the electronics industry as high precision resistors. The film resistance depends on several parameters such as the degree of crystallinity and surface oxidation. Therefore, proper annealing steps are necessary to maintain the required precision and thermal stability. This paper discusses the effects of surface oxidation on the electrical resistance of the cermet film. Conventional and oxygen-resonance Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to examine the bulk and surface composition of the film respectively. The results showed that annealing even under very low oxygen partial pressure (less than 10-8 Torr) results in surface oxidation. The oxidation process is diffusion limited. Furthermore, annealing does not affect the bulk chemical composition; however, it affects the bulk resistivity. The change in electrical resistance was attributed to both the depth of surface oxidation and changes in the bulk resistivity. A model is proposed to describe the total change in the film resistance as a result of annealing.
HIV Testing and Pregnancy: A Case of Cultural Moral Equivocation

The concept of “moral equivocation” may be defined in the context of an ethical framework for moral judgment. This framework comprises two universal principles of right: the Dependency Principle, found (but not endorsed) in Plato's Republic, and the Democracy Principle. Moral equivocation is evident in a violation of either of these two principles. At the cultural level, coping with moral equivocation often requires moral compromise, as is evident in applying the Dependency-Democracy Principles Ethical Framework to the issue of HIV testing for pregnant women.