cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Robotic-assisted pelvic lymph node dissection for prostate cancer: frequency of nodal metastases and oncological outcomes

Limited data are available regarding the oncologic efficacy of pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) performed during robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) for prostate cancer. We aimed to determine the frequency of pelvic lymph node metastasis and oncological outcomes following RALP with PLND in patients who did not receive adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). We retrospectively reviewed the records of 1740 consecutive patients who underwent RALP and extended PLND. The primary endpoint was biochemical recurrence (BCR). The estimated BCR probability was obtained using the Kaplan–Meier method. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to assess for predictors of BCR. One hundred and eight patients (6 %) with positive LNs were identified. The median number of LNs removed was 17 (IQR 11–24), and median follow-up was 26 months (IQR 14–43). Ninety-one (84 %) patients did not receive adjuvant ADT of whom 60 % had BCR with a median time to recurrence of 8 months. The 1- and 3-year BCR-free probability was 42 and 28 %, respectively. Patients with ≤2 LN+ had significantly better biochemical-free estimated probability compared to those with >2 LN+ (p = 0.002). The total number of LN+ (HR = 1.1; 95 % CI 1.01–1.2, p = 0.04) and Gleason 8–10 (HR = 1.96; 95 % CI 1.1–3.4, p = 0.02) were predictors of BCR on multivariate analysis. Among men with positive lymph nodes at time of robotic prostatectomy, those with two or fewer positive nodes and Gleason <8 exhibited favorable biochemical-free survival without adjuvant therapy.
Physician-Assisted Dying—What Would Aristotle Do?

As a palliative care physician who cares for patients with incurable medical disorders, I remain uncomfortable with attempts to normalize physician-assisted dying (PAD) as a routine approach to or ...
Confounding the Goals of Management: Response of the Maine Lobster Industry to a Trap Limit

Abstract The behavior of fishermen is often far more complicated than assumed by fisheries managers. Those concerned with the Maine lobster (i.e., American lobster Homarus americanus hereafter “lobster”) fishery have long favored a cap on the number of traps each license holder can use. Fishermen favor trap limits primarily to cut costs and limit congestion, and managers believe such limits will help reduce fishing effort. Yet when trap limits were imposed by the legislature and the lobster zone councils between 1995 and 1998, the number of traps fished in Maine waters increased greatly. A survey of half the lobster license holders carried out in the summer and fall of 1998 revealed that the response of fishermen to trap limits was highly differential. Some fishermen reduced, but more increased, the number of traps they fished. A complicated set of variables influenced those decisions concerning trap numbers, including the regulatory environment, age and characteristics of the fishermen, relative economic...
Isotype-specific regulation of MHC class II gene expression in human monocytes by exogenous and endogenous tumor necrosis factor.

The control of expression of MHC class II molecules on antigen-presenting cells is important for the induction of immunity, while aberrant expression of these molecules plays a role in the immunopathology of autoimmune diseases. This study explored the role of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) in controlling the level of HLA class II mRNA in human monocytes. Exposure of monocytes to exogenous recombinant TNF (rTNF) selectively up-regulated DRα-mRNA but not DP or DQα-mRNA. Inhibitors of TNF synthesis, pentoxifylline (PTX) and thalidomide, inhibited TNF mRNA accumulation in LPS-activated monocytes and down-regulated DR mRNA but not DP or DQ mRNA. The inhibitory effect of anti-TNF monoclonal antibody (MAb) indicated that endogenously generated TNF acted extracellularly. Anti-p75 TNF-R2 receptor and to a lesser extent anti-p55 TNF-R1 MAbs inhibited TNF-mediated up-regulation of DR mRNA and TNF mRNA. Taken together, this implies that endogenously generated TNF plays a role in controlling isotype-specific MHC class II gene expression in human monocytes/macrophages. These results may have some implications for anti-tumor response and autoimmunity.
HEREDITARY OSTEOARTHRITIS IN DAIRY COWS.

Bilateral spontaneous osteoarthritis of the stifle joint was observed to cause progressive lameness in 3 Holstein-Friesian and 52 Jersey cows 5–13 years old. Both breeds were represented by one herd each, and no affected males were ascertained in either herd. Pedigree information in case of the Holstein-Friesians and maximum likelihood proportions of arthritics in maternal halfsib families in case of the Jerseys suggest inheritance of the disease in dairy cows by means of a single pair of autosomal recessive genes. Penetrance is very low, mainly because of the variable and late age of onset. The literature concerning genetic aspects of the disease in mammals is reviewed.
Effect of atrial fibrillation on atrial blood flow in conscious dogs

This study was undertaken to examine the independent effects of atrial tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia, and atrial fibrillation (AF) on atrial and ventricular blood flow in conscious, heart-blocked dogs using radioactive microspheres. Atrial blood flow averaged 0.54 +/- 0.08 ml/min/g during the control period at an atrial rate of 124 beats/min and a ventricular rate of 90 beats/min. Atrial flow increased to 0.72 +/- 0.12 ml/min/g during atrial pacing at 236 beats/min, but was not significantly altered by ventricular pacing at 200 beats/min. AF at a ventricular rate of 90 beats/min resulted in atrial flow values of 0.91 +/- 0.08 ml/min/g. The ratio of atrial flow to left ventricular flow during AF averaged 1.18 +/- 0.08. Administration of a maximal vasodilating dose of adenosine during AF further increased atrial flow to 2.18 +/- 0.16 ml/min/g. Atrial tachycardia or AF did not significantly affect ventricular blood flow. These data indicate (1) that atrial blood flow increases significantly during AF, reaching flow values per gram of tissue comparable to those of the left ventricle, and (2) that this flow is regulated by the metabolic needs of the atrial tissue and does not represent maximal vasodilation.
Oxidation characteristics of Ti-4.37 wt.% Ta alloy in the temperature range 1258–1473 K

Oxidation kinetics of Ti-4.37 wt.% Ta (1.19 at.%) alloy in either air or oxygen have been investigated in the temperature range 1258–1473 K and at three pressure levels: 0.013, 0.133, and 1.0 bar. X-ray data reveal only TiO2 (rutile) as the main oxide and, in addition, TiO2, S-TiN, and ɛ-TiN at the metal surface for oxidation in air at 1273 K. The ɛ-TiN phase was not detected at higher temperatures. Electron microprobe analyses are used to determine the concentration profiles of Ti, Ta, O, and N across the oxide scale and in the metal. Microhardness traverses follow the oxygen distribution in the alloy. The oxygen diffusion coefficient,D = 60.8 exp(−235.1/RT), as determined from weight-gain measurements, is in reasonable agreement with that calculated from microhardness data. The oxidation mechanisms for oxidation of the alloy in air or oxygen are proposed.The existence of interstitial Ti cations in the oxide is suggested.
Direct pump/probe spectroscopy of the near-IR band of the solvated electron in alcohols

Abstract We report femtosecond direct pump/probe data on the s-state to p-state transition of the solvated electron in alcohols. The data reveal a p-state lifetime of ≈ 0.5 ps and a large spectral component due to displacement along the ground-state solvent coordinate involving slow diffusive solvent motions and subsequent relaxation. The large displacement is surprising considering the short excited-state lifetime and the long relaxation times of these modes. This effect is apparently the result of a previously unknown p-state to s-state nonadiabatic rearrangement of the solvent coordinate of solvated electrons in alcohols.
Interaction of phosphatidylcholine with bovine serum albumin. Specificity and properties of the complexes

Abstract Phosphatidylcholine dispersed on Celite was rapidly solubilized by neutral bovine serum albumin solutions. Stable protein-lipid complexes were isolated by Agrose gel filtration or by ultracentrifugal flotation in high density solvents, and the physicochemical properties of the complexes were investigated in terms of the stoichiometry of binding, effect of fatty acid ligands on phosphatidylcholine binding, effect of high ionic strength on the stability of the complexes, intrinsic fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra, and sedimentation velocity coefficients. Complexes containing from 2 to 30 phosphatidylcholine molecules per protein molecule were observed; however, no saturation of binding sites could be detected in this range of molar ratios. Oleic acid binding by serum albumin prevents interaction of the protein with phosphatidylcholine, indicating possible competition of these ligands at low contents of the phospholipid. For molar ratios of up to 10 phosphatidylcholine molecules per serum albumin, binding is primarily due to hydrophobic interactions that have no effect on the overall shape and secondary structure of the native protein except for local modifications at tryptophan residues, whose fluorescence becomes quenched and blue shifted on phosphatidylcholine binding. Similar phosphatidylcholine uptake experiments performed with a series of globular proteins indicated that the lipid extraction from Celite surfaces is a non-specific process, accelerated by several other proteins (e.g. aldolase, egg albumin, chymotrypsinogen, soybean trypsin inhibitor, and the major apolipoprotein from bovine serum high density lipoprotein). Formation of stable protein-lipid complexes, however, was only observed with bovine serum albumin, which in contrast to the other proteins is known to have high affinity binding sites for anions with hydrophobic side chains.
Deformation, pairing, and moments of inertia in ground-state bands of even-even rare-earth nuclei

We discuss and interpret recently reported systematics of nuclide-to-nuclide variations in observed level spacings [ital E][sub [gamma]](4[sub 1][sup +][r arrow]2[sub 1][sup +]) of even-even nuclei with 66[le][ital Z][le]76. We show that the reported empirical systematics can be explained theoretically by using Migdal's 1959 formula for nuclear moments of inertia.
Electrophoretically mediated microanalysis of calcium

Electrophoretically mediated microanalysis (EMMA) was used for the determination of calcium. The faster analyte zone containing the calcium was injected spatially behind a slower zone of o-cresolphthalein complexone in a capillary electrophoresis based system. Upon application of the electric field the calcium zone was electrophoretically mixed with the reagent and product was formed. The bulk electroosmotic flow carried the product to the detector where the absorbance of the resulting complex at 575 nm was measured. Quantitation using an internal standard yielded a linear response with an R.S.D. of 8.1%. An inter-method comparison was performed with the standard bulk method and yielded results that did not significantly differ. The advantages of EMMA with respect to traditional methods were addressed.
Classification of Speech and Language Profiles in 4-Year-Old Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Prospective Preliminary Study

Purpose In this study, the authors proposed and tested a preliminary speech and language classification system for children with cerebral palsy. Method Speech and language assessment data were coll...
An Egalitarian Law of Peoples

L'A. examine la theorie du «droit des gens» de Rawls qui, dans ses derniers ouvrages, n'a aucune composante distributive egalitaire. L'A. rappelle les principes de l'egalitarisme et s'interroge sur leur applicabilite pragmatique, avant de discuter la position de Rawls sur la justice distributive internationale et sa controverse avec Nozick
Message adaptor code generation

This paper documents the design of a tool to create protocol adaptors. With the current emphasis in software engineering on using common off the shelf components, there are increasing interface mismatches. In addition to this, there is constant pressure to speed up the development process. And as the prevalence of distributed applications raises we are seeing an increase in the passing of messages among the components of a software system. Wrappers need to be written to deal with these protocol mismatches among different components. The tool documented herein allows developers to more easily create an adaptor component, which takes the place of a wrapper. This tool is meant to be used by developers to speed up the adaptor creation process. Automated checks are also included in the application.
Digital Radiographic Evaluation of Medial Joint Space Narrowing After Partial Meniscectomy of Bucket-Handle Medial Meniscus Tears in Anterior Cruciate Ligament–Intact Knees

BackgroundFew studies exist that evaluate the effect of partial medial meniscectomy in knees with intact anterior cruciate ligaments.HypothesisPartial meniscectomy of bucket-handle medial meniscus tears will cause joint space narrowing.Study DesignCase series; Level of evidence, 4.MethodsBetween 1982 and 2001, 135 patients met the study criteria of a partial medial meniscectomy, intact ligaments, no surgery to the contralateral knee, and no chondromalacia greater than grade II. Seventy-nine patients living within 150 miles of the clinic were asked to return for physical examination. Joint space narrowing was measured from the middle of the femoral condyle to the middle of the tibial plateau using digitally magnified weightbearing 45° flexed posteroanterior and full-extension anteroposterior radiographs. Measurements were performed twice with the observer blinded to the previous measurements. Subjective follow-up was obtained prospectively on an annual basis with International Knee Documentation Committee ...
The Composition of Anglo-Norman Armies

IT is probably the height of presumption for a military historian, who may be defined as one whose principal interest lies in the strategic and tactical employment of armies in the field, to venture into the realm of institutional history. Yet there is an obvious connection between the two areas of investigation, for it is the men put into the field by military institutions who provide the armies with which wars and campaigns are fought. All too often, however, the "drum and trumpet" historian has commenced his narrative with the mustering-in, so to speak, and has ignored the machinery, institutional or economic, that produced the cadres at the mustering place. Too often the military writer has had little understanding of the processes by which armies were raised or recruited, and with equal frequency the student of military institutions has had but a vague notion of what generals do with soldiers once they have been organized into something like an effective fighting force. Before the development of permanent standing armies which were able to train men for war during the piping times of peace, commanders usually had to fight their wars with troops raised on comparatively short notice. These levies, hastily collected, took the field with whatever training and experience the individual soldier brought with him to the muster. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries in only rare instances is there any evidence of a period of training before actual operations were undertaken.' In general, commanders undertook their campaigns as soon as the troops were mustered and some sort of ad hoc organization had been effected. For these reasons it is of considerable importance for the military historian to know more than a little about the sources of military manpower in a particular period, for upon the training and experience or lack thereof of the various components of an army frequently depended the tactics to be employed in the ensuing campaign. In other instances the character of the anticipated fighting determined the type of levies called out for service. In Norman England the manpower resources available to the crown were greater than was at one time supposed, and they were exploited to a far greater extent and to more intelligent ends than scholars of an earlier generation believed. Under the conditions that actually prevailed, the use of such conventional terms as "feudal host" and "post-Conquest fyrd" becomes a mere exercise in semantics. It is really necessary to think in terms of the overall military situation, the available manpower, and the use to which it was put by the able Norman kings.2
A system for high-resolution, nondestructive, ultrasonic imaging of weld grains

The purpose of nondestructive evaluation is to detect degradation so that corrective action can be taken before the degradation challenges the structural integrity of an industrial system or one of its components. Accurate characterization is required to distinguish progressive degradation from benign material conditions. In nondestructive evaluation, characterization includes quantification and description of location, dimensions, shape, orientation, and composition of an indication of degradation. An imaging system that uses synthetic aperture focusing is one choice for detection and characterization of degradation in welded assemblies. In this paper, the ultrasonic imaging of the intended weld microstructure is reported. New technology invented for this purpose is described. This paper reviews how an ultrasonic imaging system that uses a synthetic lens can have a resolution that approaches the diffraction limit. A constrained solution to the coherent summation problem is presented for near real-time performance in high-resolution synthetic aperture focusing. Data are included to show that nondestructive, ultrasonic imaging of weld grains is practical.
"El tabaco se ha mulato": Globalizing Race, Viruses, and Scientific Observation in the Late Nineteenth Century

This article traces the earliest identified recorded descriptor for viral infection: the racialized Spanish expression "el tabaco se ha mulato" ("the tobacco has become mulatto"). The phrase appears in the late nineteenth-century travel writing of French colonial scientist Jules Crevaux, written as he journeyed through post-Spanish Independence Colombia and observed the demise of the once-thriving tobacco industry. I theorize the literary translations and visualizations, or what I call "visual translations," of the phrase across scientific and historical texts that cite Crevaux to track the refraction of racial, gender, and sexual discourses in virology. I argue that the phrase refers to the historically dispossessed Indigenous and Black subjects of the nascent Colombian republic and their resistance to subjection when forced to work the tobacco fields. The article historicizes virus discovery at the juncture between science, nation-building, global industrialization, and the disciplining of race and sex under the long shadow of Euro-American empire. Drawing upon Ed Cohen's concept of "viral paradox," Nayan Shah's notion of "strangerhood," and Mel Y. Chen's framework for thinking about "queer animacies," I deconstruct the visual, conceptual, and etymological roots of the phrase "el tabaco se ha mulato" to argue that the expression renders the virus as both "queer" and "strange" to the nation. The virus signifies the mulato subject as a stubborn challenge to racial hierarchies and to the host-guest-parasite relation, both of which are foundational to the social organization of the nation and polis. This signification insistently refuses the human/non-human binary that undergirds racial regimes and biological conceptions of life. In turn, I expand historical thinking about race, submit that pandemics result from global industrial resource extraction rather than merely poor hygiene, and offer a framework for "queer decolonizing."
Blood and Plasma Volume, Hematocrit, Blood Specific Gravity and Serum Protein Electrophoresis of the Chicken

Abstract ALTHOUGH there is an abundant literature on the blood and plasma volumes for the human, dog and rat, there are relatively few reports concerning these determinations in chickens. Welcker and Brandt (1903) used the wash-out technique on one hen and reported a value of 3.68 percent of the body weight. Zaitschek, whose results were reported by Latimer and Pedersen (1923), found the blood volume of 131 chickens to be 3.8 percent of the body weight. These results were obtained by weighing the blood lost after severance of the jugular vein. Pappenheimer, Goettsch and Jungherr (1939) used a dye technique and found that the blood volume of chicks of 1–50 days of age averaged about 9 percent of body weight. Their sampling time was five minutes. Newell and Shaffner (1950) used Evans Blue dye and a sampling time of ten minutes. Pino et al. (1951) employed a combination of Evans …
Acetic acid hydrogenation over supported platinum catalysts

Acetic acid was chosen to probe the kinetic behavior of carboxylic acid hydrogenation over platinum supported on TiO2, SiO2, η-Al2 O3, and Fe2O3. The reaction was studied in the vapor phase underconditions of 423–573 K, 100–700 Torr hydrogen, and 7–50 Torr acetic acid in a differential, fixed-bed reactor. Product selectivity was strongly dependent on the oxide supports. Carbon-containing products during hydrogenation at low conversions consisted of about: 50% CO and 50% CH4 over Pt/SiO2; 8% ethanol, 4% ethyl acetate, 10% ethane, 40% CH4, 33% CO, and 5% CO2 over Pt/η-Al2O3; 50% ethanol, 30% ethyl acetate, and 20% ethane over Pt/TiO2 reduced at either 473 or 773 K; and about 80% acetaldehyde and 20% ethanol over Pt/Fe2 O3. The TiO2-supported Pt catalysts were the most active, and both theiractivities and their turnover frequencies were up to two orders of magnitude larger than those for Pt dispersed on SiO2, η-Al2O 3, or Fe2O3. The activity dependence on the partial pressures of hydrogen, P h 2, and acetic acid, P a , was determined for Pt/TiO2 catalysts at three operating temperatures—422,445, and 465 K —after reduction at either 473 or 773 K. The apparent reaction order with respect to H2 was found to vary between 0.4 and 0.6, while that with respect to acetic acid was between 0.2 and 0.4. One reaction model that correlated these data well involves a Langmuir-Hinshelwood-type catalytic sequence that incorporates dissociative hydrogen and acetic acid adsorption on one type of site existing on the Pt surface, but only molecular acetic acid adsorption at another type of site on the oxide surface. Only the latter species on the titania surface was considered catalytically significant in the formation of desired products, i.e., acetaldehyde, ethanol, and ethane. The resulting rate expression in terms of acetic acid disappearance has the form r H O A c = k 1 P A P H 2 1 / 2 / [ ( K 2 P H 2 1 / 2 + K 3 P A / P H 2 1 / 2 ) ( 1 + K 4 P A ) ] . Values of enthalpy and entropy of adsorption obtained from the optimized rate for hydrogen on platinum and acetic acid on titania were reasonable and thermodynamically consistent.
Endometriosis Fertility Index: is it better than the present staging systems?

Purpose of reviewEndometriosis is a complex disease, one aspect being the existence of multiple staging systems. The recent Endometriosis Fertility Index (EFI) is compared with other endometriosis infertility staging systems and three new studies assessing the EFI are reported.Recent findingsThe rev
“Nurse, I Only Had a Couple of Beers”: Validity of Self-reported Drinking Before Serious Vehicular Injury

• BACKGROUND Of the more than 40 000 Americans killed each year in vehicular crashes, 40% are involved in alcohol-related collisions. Although self-reported alcohol use has become an anchor for alcohol intervention after traffic crashes, clinicians are often skeptical about the truthfulness of self-reporting. • OBJECTIVE To determine the validity of self-reported alcohol consumption of vehicular occupants hospitalized for a serious, alcohol-related injury. • METHODS Non-alcohol‐dependent subjects 18 years and older who were injured in motor vehicle crashes were interviewed. The self-reported number of standard drinks, time that drinking commenced, sex, and weight were used to calculate estimated blood alcohol concentration. This value was compared with the blood alcohol concentration measured at admission. • RESULTS Of the 181 subjects, 60% provided sufficient data to calculate the estimated concentration. Seven men with admission concentrations of 10 mg/dL or more denied drinking. Among the 113 subjects with estimated concentrations who acknowledged drinking (excluding the 7 who denied drinking), the mean concentration at admission was 158.67 mg/dL, and mean estimated concentration was 83.81 mg/dL. According to multiple regression analyses, weight and number of drinks accounted for 3% of the variance in alcohol concentration at admission for women (R = 0.174, F 2,40 = 0.623, P = .54) and for 29% of the variance in men (R = 0.543, F 2,128 = 26.71, P< .001). • CONCLUSIONS Most persons who drink before vehicular injury acknowledge drinking. Self-reported data from men generally reflect the overall trend of alcohol consumption but with systematic underreporting. Reports from women are less predictable. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2002;11:106-114)
Utilization of cholecystectomy-a prospective outcome analysis in 1325 patients.

The advent of laparoscopic techniques has resulted in an increased incidence of cholecystectomy, creating a need to reevaluate utilization. The new outcomes research movement emphasizes patient-derived data as well as traditional clinical outcomes. One of the purposes of this prospective study was to seek possible correlations between a variety of variables, both patient- and physician-derived, to the patient’s degree of overall satisfaction with the outcome. From July 1992 to May 1997, five different data collection forms were prospectively implemented—three physician-derived (preoperative, intraoperative, and post-operative) and two patient-derived sets of data. In the postoperative patient instrument, patients were asked to rate their degree of satisfaction with the outcome of their surgery on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being ‘extremely satisfied’ and 1 being ‘not at all satisfied.’ We then sought differences between those patients rating their satisfaction as 5 vs. those rating their satisfaction as 1 to 3. Age, sex, and the presence of comorbid conditions did not correlate with eventual satisfaction. The following were correlated with a statistically significant better degree of satisfaction: the preoperative presence of known gallstones or a preoperative physician-derived history of typical biliary pain. No preoperative patient-derived data were associated with satisfaction; however, the postoperative presence of abdominal pain predicted dissatisfaction. Not surprisingly, continued problems with abdominal pain strongly correlated with dissatisfaction, but this finding supports the accuracy of our assessment instrument. Furthermore, the more typical and clear-cut the clinical presentation, the greater the patient satisfaction with the outcome of cholecystectomy. Satisfaction and pain relief are strongly associated. In patients with pain preoperatively, measurement of either pain relief or satisfaction may be adequate to assess correct utilization of this operative procedure.
Rupture extent of the 1938 Alaskan earthquake as inferred from tsunami waveforms

Using tsunami waveforms, we estimate the source parameters of the 10 November 1938 Alaskan earthquake. The earthquake ruptured a 300-kin-long segment of the Alaskan arc, which corresponds to the aftershock area. The seismic moment is approximately 20x102o Nm, or Mw=8.2, and the moment release was concentrated in the eastern end of the aftershock zone. The tsunami and seismic evidence strongly suggest that the 1938 earthquake did not rupture into the Shumagin Islands gap.
An RNAi-based suppressor screen identifies interactors of the Myt1 ortholog of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Oocyte maturation in all species is controlled by a protein complex termed the maturation promoting factor (MPF). MPF comprises a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) and its partner cyclin, and it is regulated by dueling regulatory phosphorylation events on the CDK. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the Wee1/Myt1 ortholog WEE-1.3 provides the inhibitory phosphorylations on CDK-1 that keep MPF inactive and halt meiosis. Prior work has shown that depletion of WEE-1.3 in C. elegans results in precocious oocyte maturation in vivo and a highly penetrant infertility phenotype. This study sought to further define the precocious maturation phenotype and to identify novel interactors with WEE-1.3. We found that WEE-1.3 is expressed throughout the germline and in developing embryos in a perinuclear pattern, and demonstrated that oocytes in WEE-1.3–depleted germlines have begun to transcribe embryonic genes and exhibit inappropriate expression of proteins normally restricted to fertilized eggs. In addition, we performed an RNAi suppressor screen of the infertile phenotype to identify novel factors that, when co-depleted with WEE-1.3, restore fertility to these animals. We screened ∼1900 essential genes by RNAi feeding and identified 44 (∼2% of the tested genes) that are suppressors of the WEE-1.3 depletion phenotype. The suppressors include many previously unidentified players in the meiotic cell cycle and represent a pool of potential WEE-1.3 interacting proteins that function during C. elegans oocyte maturation and zygotic development.
High-throughput in vivo genetic and drug screening using femtosecond laser microsurgery and microfluidics

We developed microfluidic devices, imaging algorithms and femtosecond laser microsurgery technologies to manipulate large numbers of small-animals on a single chip for sub-cellular resolution high-throughput genetic and drug screens on neural degeneration and regeneration.
Non-robustness of statistics-based beamformer design in correlated MIMO channels

Recent attention on correlated multi-input multi-output systems has centered around the case of imperfect channel or statistical information at the transmitter. The focus of this work is on correlated channels with arbitrary antenna array geometry and spacings, a coherent receiver, and imperfect statistical knowledge at the transmitter. Leveraging a recently proposed channel modeling paradigm that exploits processing in the angular domain, we first elucidate the structure of the optimal schemes when 'genie-aided' perfect statistical information is available at the transmitter. In the low-S N R case, we then show that the beamforming scheme that is optimal when perfect statistical information is available does not degrade smoothly with imperfections in the statistical information. We then go on to show that there exists a certain low-complexity beamforming approach which, while being sub-optimal in the genie-aided case, is robust to statistical feedback as well as the dynamics of its evolution.
Human Capital Versus Sorting: The Effects of Compulsory Attendance Laws

Under the educational sorting hypothesis a state compulsory school attendance law will increase the educational attainment of high-ability workers who are not directly affected hy the law. Under the human capital hypothesis such laws affect only those individuals whose hehavior is directly constrained. We find that compulsory attendance laws do increase enrollment rates in age groups they do not affect directly. Thus, our results contradict the human capital hypothesis and are consistent with the sorting hypothesis. I. INTRODUCTION The last decade has seen considerable debate between supporters of the human capital and sorting models of education. The former assert that the effect of education on wages reflects increased productivity. The latter maintain that it reflects, at least in part, correlation between education and unobserved ability. Workers use education to signal their ability, while employers use education to screen workers. Despite the importance of the debate, no fully convincing tests of the hypotheses have been developed. In fact, many members of the profession maintain (at least privately) that these hypotheses cannot be tested against each other and that the debate must therefore be relegated to the realm of ideology. In this paper we show that the models can be tested against each other by examining the effects of state compulsory school attendance laws. We show that under the human capital hypotheis, such laws will affect the educational attainment only of those who in the absence of the law would have left school prior to the minimum school leaving age. On the other hand, under the sorting hypothesis the effects of the law will percolate through the system, increasing educational attainment even among workers not directly constrained by the law. Our results are consistent with the predictions of the sorting model.
Risks of species introduced for biological control

Numerous biological control introductions have adversely affected non-target native species. Although many of these problems occurred in the early days of biological control, some are recent. Because of how little monitoring is done on species, communities, and ecosystems that might be affected by biological control agents, it is quite possible that known problems are the tip of an iceberg. Regulations for officially sanctioned releases for biological control are insufficient, and there are also freelance unregulated releases undertaken by private citizens. Cost-benefit analyses for conservation issues, including those associated with biological control, are exceedingly difficult because it is hard to assign values to the loss of species or ecosystem functions. Risk assessment for biological control is difficult because of how hard it is to predict community- and ecosystem-wide impacts of introduced species and because introduced species disperse and evolve. Nevertheless, cost-benefit analyses and risk assessments for biological control introductions would have the salubrious effect of forcing consideration of myriad factors that now often receive cursory attention and of broadening public understanding of the issues.
Synthesis of (Hf, Zr)B2-based heterostructures: hybrid substrate systems for low temperature Al–Ga–N integration with Si

A hybrid substrate technology based on nearly lattice matched GaN/ZrB2-buffered Si(111) was utilized to grow AlxGa1−xN heterostructures via a new method involving displacement reactions of D2GaN3 vapors and Al atomic beams at unprecedented low temperatures of 650–700 °C, compatible with Si-processing conditions. Homogeneous films exhibited strong cathodoluminescence with narrow peak widths comparable to those observed in MOCVD samples grown at 1100 °C. The formation of the enabling GaN/ZrB2buffer is investigated theoretically using first principle simulations. As an alternative to the GaN/ZrB2buffer technology we also developed novel HfxZr1−xB2 heterostructures (x = 0–1) possessing adjustable in-plane strain, which accommodates direct growth of lattice matched AlxGa1−xN on Si(111). Spectroscopic ellipsometry indicated that the boride films possess tunable band structure evolving smoothly from ZrB2 to HfB2, in the spirit of the Virtual Crystal Approximation model. This paves the way for the fabrication of optimized hybrid substrates that enable large scale nitride device integration with Si technologies via simultaneous optical and strain engineering.
Core precession: flow structures and energy

SUMMARY Experiments using a precessing liquid-filled oblate spheroid with ellipticity (ab)/a= 1/400 extend and clarify earlier research. They yield flow data useful for estimating flows in the Earth’s liquid core. Observed flows illustrate and confirm a nearly rigid liquid sphere with retrograde drift and lagging a cavity (mantle) axis in precession. The similarities of the observed lag angle with that computed for a rigid sphere, and earlier energy dissipation research both support the use of a rigid sphere analytical model to predict energy dissipation and first-order flow within the core‐mantle boundary (CMB). Second-order boundary layer and interior cylindrical flow structures also are photographed and measured. Interior flows are never turbulent or unstable at near-Earth parameters, although complex and transient flow patterns are observed within the boundary layer. Other mechanisms proposed to explain net heat loss from the Earth and maintenance of the geodynamo typically require acceptance of some critical but unproven premise. Precession and CMB configuration are known with certainty and precision. Analytical diculties have been the obstacle. Experiments illustrate the consequences of precession and ellipticity, provide criteria for validating analytical and numerical models, and may yield direct knowledge of the Earth’s deep interior with careful scaling.
Unlocking the clubhouse: the Carnegie Mellon experience

In the fall of 1995, just seven of 95 students entering the undergraduate program in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University were women. In 2000, 54 of 130, or 42%, were women. What happened? This article presents a brief history of the transformation at Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science, and the research project that lay behind it. A fuller discussion, set in an analysis of gender issues in computing from childhood through college, is found in our book, Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing [2].The story begins with a research study designed specifically to diagnose and find remedies for the gender gap in Carnegie Mellon's undergraduate computer science program. Female enrollment had hovered below 10% for a number of years, and the fraction of women leaving the program was approximately twice that for men. In 1995, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funded our proposal for a two-year program, which was followed up two years later with a two-year extension. The goal was to understand the experiences and choices of both men and women with respect to studying computer science, and to design interventions that would involve more women.
Response to Rathbone and Kuthmare

Dear Editor, We appreciate the feedback offered in this letter. The authors’ perspective highlights the precise situation our survey sought to highlight: there is a great diversity of perspectives among those who treat myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). This survey represents the initial step in the development of a more uniform set of clinical criteria that can be broadly used in the diagnosis of MPS. We request that readers recognize that further refinement and validation of criteria are required. Feedback is a necessary part of the process. We invite the authors of this letter, along with those who read it with …
Modeling Classical Swine Fever Outbreak-Related Outcomes.

The study was carried out to estimate classical swine fever (CSF) outbreak-related outcomes such as epidemic duration and number of infected, vaccinated, and depopulated premises, using defined most likely CSF outbreak scenarios. Risk metrics were established using empirical data to select the most likely CSF outbreak scenarios in Indiana. The scenarios were simulated using a stochastic between-premises disease spread model to estimate outbreak-related outcomes. A total of 19 single-site (i.e., with a single-index premises at the onset of an outbreak) and 15 multiple-site (i.e., with more than one index premises at the onset of an outbreak) outbreak scenarios of CSF were selected using the risk metrics. The number of index premises in the multiple-site outbreak scenarios ranged from 4 to 32. The multiple-site outbreak scenarios were further classified into clustered (N=6) and non-clustered (N=9) groups. The estimated median (5th, 95th percentiles) epidemic duration (days) was 224 (24, 343) in the single-site and was 190 (157, 251) and 210 (167, 302) in the clustered and non-clustered multiple-site outbreak scenarios, respectively. The median (5th, 95th percentiles) number of infected premises was 323 (0, 488) in the single-site outbreak scenarios and was 529 (395, 662) and 465 (295, 640) in the clustered and non-clustered multiple-site outbreak scenarios, respectively. Both the number and spatial distribution of the index premises affected the outcome estimates. The results also showed the importance of implementing vaccinations to accommodate depopulation in the CSF outbreak controls. The use of routinely collected surveillance data in the risk metrics and disease spread model allows end users to generate timely outbreak-related information based on the initial outbreak’s characteristics. Swine producers can use this information to make an informed decision on management of swine operations and continuity of business so that potential losses could be minimized during a CSF outbreak. Government authorities might use the information to make emergency preparedness plans for CSF outbreak control.
Effect of Guangim anti-diarrhea oral liquid on diarrhea in infants.

Objective Diarrhea in children is common and frequent disease, which is harmful to infants′ health. Effective and fast treatment can reduce the risk induced by diarrhea.Methods Ninty-six infant outpatients from March to August in 2009 were randomly divided into treatment group(n=63) and control group(n=33).Patients in treatment group were given Guangim anti-diarrhea oral liquid for 3-5 d. Results There was less frequency of defecation, better stool form and appetite than control group. Which are (2.5±0.3)/d,(3±0.4)d,(4.5±0.8)d,(3.5±0.5)d,(3.2±0.6)d in treatment group,and (4.8±0.7)/d,(5±0.5)d,(7±1.2)d,(5.5±0.5)d,(4.8±0.8)d in control group.Guangim anti-diarrhea oral liquid showed satisfactory effect.Conclusion Guangim anti-diarrhea oral liquid is an effective chinese medicine for infants′ diarrhea which reduce stool frequency, relieve dehydration severity and alleviate the suffering of intravenous rehydration solution.
Population Increase of Two Species of Psendopityophthorus1 in Oak Branches

The oak bark beetles Pseudopityophthorus pruinosus (Eichhoff) and P. minutissimus (Zimmerman) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) are throught to be vectors of the oak wilt fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt (Rexrode 1968). Throughout the range of the oak wilt fungus these beetles have been found breeding in dead and dying oaks ( Quercus spp.) that serve as a source of inoculum for future spread of the fungus (Rexrode and Lincoln 1965).
A novel method for predicting fracture in floating ice

Basal crevasses may play an important precursory role in determining both the location and propagation of rifts and iceberg dimensions. For example, icebergs calved recently from Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, have the same width as surface undulations, strengthening the connection between basal crevasses, rifting and calving. We explore a novel method for estimating the heights of basal crevasses formed at the grounding lines of ice shelves and ice streams. We employ a thin-elastic beam (TEB) formulation and tensional yielding criterion to capture the physics of flexed ice at grounding lines. Observations of basal crevasse heights compare well with model predictions in the Siple Coast region of the Ross Ice Shelf. We find that the TEB method is most accurate in areas of low strain rate. We also test the method in other areas of Antarctica to produce order-of-magnitude maps of grounding-line basal crevasses and find general agreement with reported observations assuming basal crevasses develop in spatio-temporal sequence and are advected downstream. This method is computationally cheap and could be relatively easy to implement into damage-oriented large-scale ice models which aim at physically simulating calving and fracture processes.
Effect of Step Rounding on Noise from Forward-Facing Steps

The effect of step rounding on the noise generated by flow over small forward-facing steps in a low-Mach-number turbulent boundary layer is studied using large-eddy simulation and Lighthill’s theory. The step height is 26% of the thickness of the unperturbed boundary layer at Reθ = 4755, and the rounding radius relative to the step height ranges from 0 to 100%. Consistent with previous experimental findings, step rounding is shown to cause reduced flow separation on the upper surface and increased level of peak surface pressure fluctuations. The downstream relaxation to equilibrium turbulent boundary layer is faster for steps with larger rounding. The sound spectral level is significantly reduced by step rounding due largely to reduced surface diffraction effect. The noise reduction increases with increasing rounding radius and frequency. The effect of step rounding on acoustic directivity is insignificant for acoustically compact steps, but grows with increasing acoustic non-compactness of the step height.
Iterative Spatial Resampling Applied to Seismic Inverse Modeling For Lithofacies Prediction

Inverse modeling, which transforms obtained geophysical data into physical properties of the Earth, is an essential process for reservoir characterization. We propose a Markov chain Monte Carlo (McMC) workflow consistent with geology, well-logs, seismic data and rock-physics information. The workflow uses Direct Sampling (DS), a multiple-point geostatistical method, for generating realizations from the prior distribution and Iterative Spatial Resampling (ISR) for sampling from the posterior distribution conditioned to the geophysical data. We also show how adaptive sampling can improve efficiency of the method. The ISR algorithm perturbs realizations of a spatially dependent variable while preserving its spatial structure. The method is used as a transition kernel to produce a Markov chain of geostatistical realizations. These realizations are then used in a forward seismic model to compute the predicted data which are compared to the observed data. Depending on the acceptation/rejection criterion in the Markov process, it is possible to obtain a chain of realizations aimed either at characterizing the posterior distribution with Metropolis sampling or at calibrating a single realization until an optimum is reached. Thus the algorithm can be tuned to work either as an optimizer or as a sampler. The validity and applicability of the proposed method is demonstrated by results for seismic lithofacies inversion on a synthetic test set.
The Bidisk is Not Biholomorphic to the Ball

(1971). The Bidisk is Not Biholomorphic to the Ball. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 78, No. 2, pp. 174-175.
Analysis on the content of soluble elements in pencil coating produced by main pencil enterprises in China

[Objective] To study the content of soluble elements in pencil coating produced in China. To provide basis for revising national standard for content of soluble elements in pencil coating produced in China. [Methods] Seventy-three kinds of pencil with 27 brands produced by main enterprises in China were collected. Content of soluble element were determined according to GB 6675-2003 《National safety technical code for toys》. [Results] Soluble lead content of 5 brands 6 kinds of pencil coating exceeded national standard. The over-standard rate was 8.22%. Among these 6 kinds of pencil, one had soluble cadmium content over standard 1.37%, one had soluble chromium content over standard 1.37%. The total eligible rate of soluble elements content in pencil coating was 91.78%. [Conclusion] Standards for soluble elements content of toy material prescribed in GB 6675-2003 《National safety technical code for toys》 is also used for pencil. We suggest that GB 8771-88 《Hygienic standard for lead content of pencil coating》 should be revised as soon as possible.