cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Robust learning model predictive control for iterative tasks: Learning from experience

We present a Robust Learning Model Predictive Controller (RLMPC) for constrained uncertain systems performing iterative tasks. The proposed controller builds on earlier work of Learning Model Predictive Control (LMPC) for deterministic systems. The main idea behind RLMPC is to collect data from previous iterations and use it to estimate the current value function and build a robust safe set. We demonstrate that the proposed RLMPC algorithm is able to iteratively improve its control performance and robustly satisfy system constraints. The efficacy and limitations of the proposed RLMPC approach are illustrated on a numerical example.
On literary bullshit: discursive wrongdoing and modernity in Fray Gerundio de Campazas

Jose Francisco Isla’s Fray Gerundio de Campazas is one of the first and most complete accounts of the insidious omnipresence of bullshit in modern culture. Drawing on recent debates on bullshit as ...
Current and Future Approaches to Stem Cell Treatment of Type I Diabetes

This review analyzes the efficacy of current and previous stem cell therapies for type 1 diabetes (T1D) and suggests the most viable stem cell–based treatments for the future. T1D is an autoimmune disease in which the β cells of the pancreas are destroyed. Currently, the only insulin replacement therapy options for T1D include insulin injection (which requires daily dosing) or organ transplantation (which has donor limitations and requires immunosuppression). Both options decrease a patient’s quality of life. After reviewing completed clinical trials using stem cell therapy, we found that the combination therapy of adipose-derived stem cells and hematopoietic stem cells offers the greatest benefit for generating insulin-producing cells and modulating the autoreactivity of the immune system. However, this therapy is limited in scope and requires immunosuppression. The most promising potential treatment is encapsulation (the enclosure of stem cell–derived β cells to prevent interactions with the immune system) because it can restore insulin production and does not require immunosuppression. Although encapsulation is in the early stages of development and has no completed clinical trials, it offers an ideal, long-term therapy option without compromising patients’ quality of life and without requiring immunosuppression.
Training Parent-Child Interactions

Given the severe behavioral deficits and bizarre behavioral excesses so characteristic of autism, it is not surprising that these children present one of the most serious challenges facing child therapists and educators. Many of these children who fail to receive specialized treatment are eventually placed in out-of-home (typically institutional) environments. One major reason for placement out of the home is that most parents simply are unable to cope with their child’s behavior. The challenge of autism is certainly most strongly felt by the family. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss and assess the effect that a parent-training program can have on various aspects of family functioning.
The Mesengenic Process

The genesis of mesodermal tissues, such as bone, cartilage, muscle, marrow stoma, tendon, fat, dermis, and connective tissues, in either embryos or adult organisms is referred to as the mesengenic process. The process is involved in the continual rejuvenation of each mesenchymal tissue and provides a logic for understanding the rapid repair of tissue injuries. The isolation and identification of mesenchymal stem cells and their quantity and distribution allow a better understanding of the turnover and repair motifs used in adult organisms. Mesenchymal stem cells undergo proliferative and commitment events, and their progeny enter discrete lineages that result in the ultimate terminal differentiation of definitive phenotypes such as osteoblasts, chondrocytes, or myoblasts. The molecular and cellular control of the mesengenic process provides a logic for designing cell therapies for the reconstruction of mesenchymal tissues.
Commend su Cole et al. (1992). III. Sulla stratigrafia del vulcano di Roccamonfina

Esistono significative discrepanze tra la stratigrafia del vulcano di Roccamonfina quale risulta da Coleet al. (1992) e dagli studi dello scrivente. Nel settore settentrionale del vulcano, tra il «Tufo di Galluccio» ed il «Tufo di Campagnola» si verificarono almeno tre eventi eruttivi separati da altrettanti paleosuoli, e non «***eno un evento eruttivo» (i.e. il «Tufo di Saraceni»). Inoltre, le pomici di ricaduta delia «Unita di Cave» non possono essere correlate, per ragioni cronologiche, con gli orizzonti di pomici giganti presenti nella caldera principale del vulcano. Ancora, le «vulcanoclastiti» aifioranti lungo le valli del settore settentrionale del vulcano rappresentano una sequenza piroclastica di deposizione prevalentemente primaria. Peraltro, es-se non possono derivare da rimaneggiamento dei prodotti di lancio del Colle Friello in quanto sono di natu-ra trachibasaltico-trachiandesitica, laddove Friello e un aicalibasalto olivinico. Infine, il termine costituito da «pomici e scorie basaltiche» di Conca consiste in realta di pomici trachitiche frammiste ad abbondanti litici. Esso e stratigraficamente associato ai «prodotti di ricaduta e surge», e la formazione e piu recente delia «Ignimbrite di Conca». Nella caldera principale, il «Membro di Fontanafredda» ehe e una trachiandesite ad olivina normativa, non costituisce un termine recente delia sequenza stratigrafica de7elia caldera, ma ne rappresenta uno dei prodotti piu antichi. Detta roccia ed il «Membro Superiore di Garofali», ehe e di natura trachitica, non hanno alcun rapporto genetico con il duomo lavico quarzo-trachiandesitico di Santa Croce per ragioni cronologiche e composizionali.
A Bibliography of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and its Impact on Intercollegiate Athletics

It has been thirty-five years since the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972. Title IX provides that no person shall be excluded from participation in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding. This legislation is credited with bolstering the participation rates of girls and women in athletics. Although athletics are not explicitly addressed in the statutory language, Title IX requires schools to offer male and female students equal opportunities to play sports, to give male and female athletes their fair share of athletic scholarship money, and to treat male and female athletes equally in all other respects, including equipment, facilities and coaching. Proponents of Title IX claim that participation in sports leads to important health and wellness benefits for female athletes. The critics of Title IX argue that the legislation has caused schools to cut male teams in order to comply with Title IX and claim that women are inherently less interested in sports than men. In order to gain a better understanding of Title IX and its effect on intercollegiate athletics, this article provides the researcher with a comprehensive bibliography on the topic. In part one, there is a brief discussion of the law's legislative history and its effect on participation rates of female athletes. This is then followed by a comprehensive list of books on Title IX and is followed by an annotated list of law review articles on the law. Finally, this bibliography includes a list of Internet resources for Title IX, including relevant websites and blogs.
Urothelial Tumors of the Renal Pelvis and Ureter

Standard management of upper tract transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is a nephroureterectomy. However, there is a distinct subgroup of patients who would be rendered dialysis dependent, or at high risk for functionally significant renal insufficiency, for which a nephron-sparing approach is warranted. With increasing experience, such renal conservative surgery is also being applied to patients with documented low-grade, low-stage disease, even in the setting of a normal, or nearly normal, contralateral kidney.
Online Personal Fitness Course Alignment With National Guidelines for Online Physical Education

Purpose: To examine a district Online Physical Education (OLPE) course and determine the degree to which its design aligns with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education Initial Gui...
Agent Pricing in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from Airbnb

One of the major differences between markets that follow a “sharing economy” paradigm and traditional two-sided markets is that the supply side in the sharing economy often includes individual nonprofessional decision makers, in addition to firms and professional agents. Using a data set of prices and availability of listings on Airbnb, we find that there exist substantial differences in the operational and financial performance of professional and nonprofessional hosts. In particular, properties managed by professional hosts earn 16.9% more in daily revenue, have 15.5% higher occupancy rates, and are 13.6% less likely to exit the market compared with properties owned by nonprofessional hosts, while controlling for property and market characteristics. We demonstrate that these performance differences between professionals and nonprofessionals can be partly explained by pricing inefficiencies. Specifically, we provide empirical evidence that nonprofessional hosts are less likely to offer different rates across stay dates based on the underlying demand patterns, such as those created by major holidays and conventions.
Dynamic Modeling and Classification of Epileptic EEG Data

Brain functional connectivity has been used to investigate the interaction between brain regions. It provides important information related to brain diseases, injuries, and high level cognitive functions. Statistical methods have been widely used to model brain functional connectivity based upon which insights of brain function are expected to be revealed. Most statistical approaches were developed based upon an assumption that connectivity patterns are static during the recording. This is not true because the connectivity changes over time. A dynamical modeling of connectivity patterns allows to characterize these variations. In this work, a simplified dynamic Bayesian modeling approach, parallel Hidden Markov Model (PaHMM), was investigated by characterizing temporal variations of cortical functional connectivity patterns computed using epileptic electroencephalogram (EEG) data. The performance of the PaHMM was evaluated based on an experimental study of epilepsy detection and classification, where multisubject epileptic EEG data from Temple University Hospital EEG Data Corpus were used. Experimental results show that an accuracy of 93.5% was obtained for the epilepsy detection, and an overall accuracy above 81% was achieved for the seizure type classification. This indicates that the method can efficiently capture temporal variations of functional connectivity patterns, and is potentially applicable in clinical settings to detect epilepsy and differentiate seizure types.
Using machine learning to predict opioid misuse among U.S. adolescents.

Abstract This study evaluated prediction performance of three different machine learning (ML) techniques in predicting opioid misuse among U.S. adolescents. Data were drawn from the 2015–2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 41,579 adolescents, ages 12–17 years) and analyzed in 2019. Prediction models were developed using three ML algorithms, including artificial neural networks, distributed random forest, and gradient boosting machine. The performance of the ML prediction models was compared with performance of the penalized logistic regression. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and the area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC) were used as metrics of prediction performance. We used the AUPRC as the primary measure of prediction performance given that it is considered more informative for assessing binary classifiers on imbalanced outcome variable than AUROC. The overall rate of opioid misuse among U.S. adolescents was 3.7% (n = 1521). Prediction performance was similar across the four models (AUROC values range from 0.809 to 0.815). In terms of the AUPRC, the distributed random forest showed the best performance in prediction (0.172) followed by penalized logistic regression (0.162), gradient boosting machine (0.160), and artificial neural networks (0.157). Findings suggest that machine learning techniques can be a promising technique especially in the prediction of outcomes with rare cases (i.e., when the binary outcome variable is heavily lopsided) such as adolescent opioid misuse.
The 40 T Superconducting Magnet Project at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory has launched an innovative project to develop a 40 T all superconducting user magnet. The first year funding was awarded by the National Science Foundation in September 2018. Consideration of a 40 T superconducting user magnet sets target specifications of a cold bore of 34 mm with a homogeneity of 500 ppm over a 1 cm diameter of spherical volume, a better than 0.01 T set-ability and stability, and with an ability to ramp up to full field 50,000 times over its 20 years design lifetime. It will be a fully superconducting magnet that can withstand quenches at its full 40T field and provide a very low noise environment for experimentalists. These capabilities will enable the 40 T SC magnet to support higher-sensitivity measurements than possible in present-day resistive and hybrid magnets; high-magnetic-field measurements that will be uniquely capable of addressing physics questions on a number of expanding frontiers in condensed matter physics. A 40 T SC magnet would enable more users to run long experiments at peak field with much less power consumption compared with resistive and hybrid magnets. However, realization of such a 40 T SC magnet requires magnet technology well beyond the present state-of-the-art. Initial analysis of different HTS magnet designs, based upon the three presently viable HTS conductors: REBCO, Bi-2212, and Bi-2223, has determined that each technology faces significant challenges. Hence, we decided that four HTS magnet technologies consisting of Insulated REBCO, No-Insulation REBCO, Bi-2212, and Bi-2223 would be developed in parallel and technology gaps based on major risks will be closed in the R&D phase. The candidate technologies will be narrowed down at the decision points. The objective and R&D activities of the 40 T all superconducting user magnet project are presented.
CARDIAC CEMENT EMBOLIZATION - UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCE OF KYPHOPLASTY

Pulmonary emboli (PTE) are often due to lower extremity (LE) deep vein thrombosis (DVT); other etiologies are less likely. 67 yo male developed dyspnea following kyphoplasty for cervical spine disease. LE Dopplers revealed DVT; CT angio revealed PTE; he received IVC filter and apixaban. Symptoms
Posters as an effective assessment tool for a capstone course

A rubric was developed to assess student posters as a mechanism to evaluate learning outcomes for a senior capstone course. The analytic rubric allows for the efficient and systematic collection of data from posters by students who worked across a variety of disciplines including the physical, biological, Earth sciences, social science, and the humanities. The rubric effectively addressed a fundamental assumption and requirement put forth during rubric development, that is, it needs to be relatively easy to use without training while at the same time producing consistent results across evaluators. The overall Chronbach’s alpha of 0.80 across semesters indicates acceptable inter-rater reliability. Data generated by assessment of 106 interdisciplinary posters indicates a general, yet not statistically significant, improvement, in total scores from the spring 2014 to spring 2018, documents student proficiency, and captures the variability in the quality of the various projects. The rubric was primarily developed as a tool to inform formative assessment, but it is also a teaching tool. Its use in providing feedback and as reflection tool enhances the learning experience for students and increases the impact of the senior thesis process on their professional development. The use of a student feedback questionnaire has informed reflective instructional practice. This resulted in an increased emphasis within the capstone course on the inclusion of reference citations, use of informal writing activities, and frequency of meetings with faculty mentors. The results from our approach should be encouraging to other interdisciplinary environmental studies and science programs that seek to efficiently and effectively impact student learning outcomes and evaluate the impact of course changes over several semesters.
Emergency Tracheal Intubation in Patients with COVID-19: A Single-center, Retrospective Cohort Study.

Author(s): Hawkins, Andrew; Stapleton, Stephanie; Rodriguez, Gerardo; Gonzalez, R. Mauricio; Baker, William E. | Abstract: Introduction: The objective of this study was to compare airway management technique, performance, and peri-intubation complications during the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) using a single-center cohort of patients requiring emergent intubation.Methods: We retrospectively collected data on non-operating room (OR) intubations from February 1–April 23, 2020. All patients undergoing emergency intubation outside the OR were eligible for inclusion. Data were entered using an airway procedure note integrated within the electronic health record. Variables included level of training and specialty of the laryngoscopist, the patient’s indication for intubation, methods of intubation, induction and paralytic agents, grade of view, use of video laryngoscopy, number of attempts, and adverse events. We performed a descriptive analysis comparing intubations with an available positive COVID-19 test result with cases that had either a negative or unavailable test result.Results: We obtained 406 independent procedure notes filed between February 1–April 23, 2020, and of these, 123 cases had a positive COVID-19 test result. Residents performed fewer tracheal intubations in COVID-19 cases when compared to nurse anesthetists (26.0% vs 37.4%). Video laryngoscopy was used significantly more in COVID-19 cases (91.1% vs 56.8%). No difference in first-pass success was observed between COVID-19 positive cases and controls (89.4% vs. 89.0%, p = 1.0). An increased rate of oxygen desaturation was observed in COVID-19 cases (20.3% vs. 9.9%) while there was no difference in the rate of other recorded complications and first-pass success.Discussion: An average twofold increase in the rate of tracheal intubation was observed after March 24, 2020, corresponding with an influx of COVID-19 positive cases. We observed adherence to society guidelines regarding performance of tracheal intubation by an expert laryngoscopist and the use of video laryngoscopy.
It's Getting Out of Control in This Forum: Analyzing Gender-Based Aggression on a Containment Thread for an Open Game Development

This article analyzes user discourse in a containment thread to examine how game developers can create more inclusive user experience (UX) processes and communities. Containment threads are typically used to keep undesirable conversations in a single place on a forum. In the case discussed here, the containment thread was a response to increasing rates of gender-based aggression after a game developer included nonbinary pronouns in the character creation interface. Ultimately, the analysis found that the containment thread, combined with the design of the forum discourse space, acted to highlight and sustain the gender-based aggression over time. Drawing on recent work on online aggression and queering technical communication, the article closes by offering initial recommendations for supporting more inclusive UX communities.
Anomalies in light scattering: recent breakthroughs and nascent applications

Deep insight into the basics of scattering theory and understanding the peculiar features of electromagnetic/light scattering is essential for modern technology. A broad spectrum of exceptional scattering phenomena attainable in suitably engineered structures has recently been predicted and demonstrated, including bound states in the continuum (BIC), exceptional points in PT-symmetrical non-Hermitian systems, coherent perfect absorption, virtual perfect absorption, anapole, cloaking and nontrivial lasing. Here, these unusual scattering phenomena are discussed with a focus on their applications. A unified description of such exotic scattering phenomena based on fundamental properties of the underline scattering matrix is provided. I also demonstrate that these insights provide a powerful approach to tailor unusual scattering regimes for various advanced applications.
What makes an experience aesthetic

ing, the property yellow from a yellow thing: being yellow and being a pumpkin are, as we saw, logically independent of each other; the existence of the one does necessarily require the existence of the other. I know what "yellow" means by fixing my cognitive attention on something yellow in contradistinction to something which is not yellow. Now can I know what "aesthetic" means the way I know what "yellow" means? If I follow the same procedure of knowing I commit a serious mistake. I should in the first place examine what makes my experience of Guernica, for example, aesthetic, then I should compare what makes my experience in this and similar experiences aesthetic in contrast to what makes other experiences of mine moral, religious, or practical. But if I undertake this task I discover it impossible, mainly because "the nature of any experience and its difference from experiences of other kinds is not intrinsic to the realm of experience, itself, but crammed full with all its objects; that, consequently, an experience cannot be understood in isolation from its objects."7 Accordingly, if I attempt to know what makes an experience aesthetic by seeking to isolate aesthetic-ness from given experiences the way we isolate "yellow" from a yellow pumpkin I am bound to meet a dead end. This whole argument is both misleading and misapplied-why? First, let us grant, with Price, that experience as such, or experience apart from its objects, does not exist; let us also grant that what we call experience is always "crammed full with all its objects." When we make an assertion like this we in effect state that an experience is always an experience of something. I do not know of any aesthetician, philosopher, or psychologist at the present who would deny the validity of this assertion. Pure experience is a logical impossibility, for the very concept of experience is relational in character; it entails an object of which it is an experience. But from this premise I do not see why we cannot study a certain kind of experience, analyze its content, and then make an assertion on the items which constitute this content. When a philosopher, or a psychologist, studies experience he does not claim, or pretend, to have an experience-in-general or "the realm of experience, itself," before his cognitive faculty but specific experiences and types of experiences; he has in mind the structure, procedure, and the conditions under which an experience is at 161 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.211 on Tue, 09 Aug 2016 04:56:31 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Differential modulation of p-4EBP1, p-ERK and cyclin D1 by amuvatinib/erlotinib treatment in prostate cancer cells (1055.4)

Cyclin D1 is a key regulator of cell cycle progression and a therapeutic endpoint for cancer treatment. The human prostate cancer cell lines, LNCaP (PTEN-) and DU145 (PTEN+), were used to examine t...
Interaction of Vi Antigen with Proteins

Whiteside, Roberta E. (Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.), and Edgar E. Baker. Interaction of Vi antigen with proteins. J. Bacteriol. 92: 1597–1603. 1966.—Purified Vi antigen (Vi) mixed in equal amounts with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or human γ globulin (HGG) at p H values above 4.7 formed a complex which was not precipitated by trichloroacetic acid or tungstic acid. At p H values below 4.7, the interaction between Vi and either BSA or HGG produced insoluble complexes except when excess Vi antigen was present. When sufficient Vi was present at the lower p H values, the soluble complex was not precipitated by trichloroacetic acid. Other acid polysaccharides tested did not form trichloroacetic acid-soluble complexes with BSA. When subjected to immunoelectrophoresis, the Vi-BSA complex migrated in agar at a rate different from that of either BSA or Vi alone. The complex reacted with both Vi and BSA antiserum. The addition of either BSA or Vi antiserum to a Vi-BSA complex resulted in dissociation of the complex and precipitation of either Vi or BSA, depending upon the antiserum used. Vi antigen mixed with purified O antigen from Salmonella typhosa formed a complex which migrated in agar at a rate different from that of either component alone when subjected to immunoelectrophoresis. Images
Oklahoma Healthy Homes initiative.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched its Healthy Homes Initiative (HHI) to address diseases, injuries, and unhealthy conditions related to substandard housing.1,2 The HHI is a comprehensive approach to address a broad range of housing deficiencies and hazards in a coordinated fashion rather than taking a categorical approach to health and safety hazards in the home, even in the presence of multiple issues.2,3 Several federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have turned their attention to the HHI and have begun collaborating with HUD to investigate the causal relationships between housing and health.2 On June 9, 2009, then Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson issued The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes.3,4
Impact of chronic steroid use on outcomes of colorectal surgery

Abstract Background Steroid use has been recognized as a factor which has various effects on multiple organs. We aim to investigate the association between chronic steroid use and postoperative complications after colorectal surgery. Methods The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was used to examine the clinical data of patients undergoing colorectal resection during 2005 to 2013. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to investigate outcomes of patients with chronic steroid use. Results We sampled a total of 147,121 patients who underwent colorectal resection. Of these, 11,195 (7.6%) had a history of chronic steroid use. Patients who had chronic steroid use had a higher risk of preoperative sepsis (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.41, P P P P = .01). Chronic steroid use was associated with a significant increase in the mortality and morbidity of patients (AOR: 1.56 and 1.25, respectively, P Conclusions Patients with a chronic steroid use have a high risk of preoperative malnutrition, diabetes, bleeding disorders, and sepsis. A history of chronic steroid use was associated with a significant increase in the mortality and morbidity of patients.
Stability of papaverine hydrochloride and phentolamine mesylate in injectable mixtures

The stability of papaverine hydrochloride and phentolamine mesylate combined in a single vial was studied. Injectable mixtures (10 mL) of papaverine hydrochloride 300 mg and phentolamine mesylate 5 mg (from two sources) were prepared by adding the contents of one vial of lyophilized phentolamine mesylate to the contents of one vial of papaverine hydrochloride injection. The vials were stored at 5 degrees C and 25 degrees C. Duplicate aliquots of the mixtures were obtained, and the concentrations of papaverine hydrochloride and phentolamine mesylate remaining at time 0 and after 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 30 days were determined in triplicate by a stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatographic assay. The concentration of papaverine hydrochloride stored in the vials remained constant (less than 1% loss) over the 30-day period at both 5 degrees C and 25 degrees C. Phentolamine mesylate was less stable than papaverine but still retained more than 97% of its original concentration after 30 days at 5 degrees C and more than 95% of its original concentration at 25 degrees C. Papaverine hydrochloride and phentolamine mesylate are stable in injectable mixtures when stored for up to 30 days at 5 degrees C or 25 degrees C.
A tobacco related epidemic of congenital limb deformities in swine.

Abstract An epidemic of congenital limb deformities in swine is described. The epidemic occurred among 79 Duroc sows and gilts on a farm in Howard County, Missouri, during the period September 11, 1967, to March 3, 1968. The 79 females farrowed 782 pigs: 742 (95%) were born alive, 40 (5%) were born dead, and 59 (7.5%) were born with congenital abnormalities. The abnormal pigs were farrowed by 14 sows. These sows farrowed 149 pigs and 59 (40%) were abnormal. Tobacco stalks were placed in a swine lot and pasture between October 25, 1967, and December 7, 1967, and some of the sows were observed eating the stalks. On December 7, 1967, four sows had an illness which lasted 24–48 hours. The first 38 days of pregnancies in those sows with the affected progeny occurred during the time when the tobacco was available to them. Other animals not exposed to the tobacco stalks as a food source had no birth defects. The animals involved in the epidemic during prior and later reproductive periods had no abnormalities in their litters. The tobacco stalks, therefore, appeared to have some association with the epidemic. The tobacco stalks were tested for nitrate-nitrogen, pesticides, fungi, nicotine, and maleic hydrazide. The nitrate-nitrogen varied from 20 to 1390 ppm, and no significant amounts of aldrin, dieldrin, or pp′ -DDT were found. The fungi consistently isolated included a species of Penicillium identified as a variant of Penicillium cyclopium . Other species of fungi were isolated only sporadically, and no Aspergilli were found. Nicotine, other alkaloids or components of the tobacco stalks, appeared to be the most likely cause of the epidemic. The tobacco stalks eaten by the swine contained 1058 ppm of nicotine and 115 ppm of maleic hydrazide. The possible relationship of this epidemic of birth defects in swine associated with the ingestion of tobacco stalks to the increased fetal loss described among smoking mothers is discussed.
Expression of glucagon receptors in tetracycline-inducible HEK293S GnT1− stable cell lines: An approach toward purification of receptor protein for structural studies

Glucagon is a 29-amino acid polypeptide hormone secreted by pancreatic A cells. Together with insulin, it is an important regulator of glucose metabolism. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by reduced insulin secretion from pancreatic B cells and increased glucose output by the liver which has been attributed to abnormally elevated levels of glucagon. The glucagon receptor (GR) is a member of family B G protein-coupled receptors, ligands for which are peptides composed of 30-40 amino acids. The impetus for studying how glucagon interacts with its membrane receptor is to gain insight into the mechanism of glucagon action in normal physiology as well as in diabetes mellitus. The principal approach toward this goal is to design and synthesize antagonists of glucagon that will bind with high affinity to the GR but will not activate it. Site-directed mutagenesis of the GR has provided some insight into the interactions between glucagon and GR. The rational design of potent antagonists has been hampered by the lack of structural information on receptor-bound glucagon. To obtain adequate amounts of receptor protein for structural studies, a tetracycline-inducible HEK293S GnT1(-) cell line that stably expresses human GR at high-levels was developed. The recombinant receptor protein was characterized, solubilized, and isolated by one-step affinity chromatography. This report describes a feasible approach for the preparation of human GR and other family B GPCRs in the quantities required for structural studies.
Feedback inhibition in the inner plexiform layer underlies the surround-mediated responses of AII amacrine cells in the mammalian retina

Intracellular recordings were made from narrow-field, bistratified AII amacrine cells in the isolated, superfused retina-eyecup of the rabbit. Pharmacological agents were applied to neurons to dissect the synaptic pathways subserving AII cells so as to determine the circuitry generating their off-surround responses. Application of the GABA antagonists, picrotoxin, bicuculline and 1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine-4-yl methylphosphinic acid (TPMPA) all increased the on-centre responses of AII amacrine cells, but attenuated the off-surround activity. At equal concentrations, picrotoxin was approximately twice as effective as bicuculline or TPMPA in modifying the response activity of AII amacrine cells. These results indicate that the mechanism underlying surround inhibition of AII amacrine cells includes activation of both GABAA and GABAC receptors in an approximately equal ratio. Application of the GABA antagonists also increased the size of on-centre receptive fields of AII amacrine cells. Again, picrotoxin was most effective, producing, on average, a 54 % increase in the size of the receptive field, whereas bicuculline and TPMPA produced comparable 34 and 33 % increases, respectfully. Application of the voltage-gated sodium channel blocker TTX produced effects on AII amacrine cells qualitatively similar to those of the GABA blockers. Intracellular application of the chloride channel blocker 4,4′-dinitro-stilbene-2,2′-disulphonic acid (DNDS) abolished the direct effects of GABA on AII amacrine cells. Moreover, DNDS increased the amplitude of both the on-centre and off-surround responses. The failure of DNDS to block the off-surround activity indicates that it is not mediated by direct GABAergic inhibition. Taken together, our results suggest that surround receptive fields of AII amacrine cells are generated indirectly by the GABAergic, reciprocal feedback synapses from S1/S2 amacrine cells to the axon terminals of rod bipolar cells.
Effects of Pregnancy and Sex Steroid Administration on Skeletal Muscle Metabolism in the Rat

To determine whether the insulin resistance, exaggerated fasting hypoglycemia, and hypoalaninemia of late human and rat gestation may reflect altered skeletal muscle metabolism, hindlimbs of nonpregnant (NPG) and 3-wk-pregnant (PG) rats were noncyclically perfused in situ. In 12- and 24-h-fasted NPG rats, 50–500 μU/ml of insulin significantly augmented glucose uptake 3-9-fold. In PG rats uptake was suppressed 40–50% at comparable hormone concentrations. Release of alanine and phenylalanine was suppressed 20–35% by 250 μU/ml or more of insulin in NPG rats. However, comparable insulin concentrations failed to suppress their release in PG rats. No differences between groups existed with respect to oxygen uptake, glycerol, lactate, or pyruvate release. Suppression of insulin sensitivity in 12-day-pregnant rats was not observed. Since plasma estradiol (E) and progesterone (P) are increased in pregnancy, E-benzoate (5 μg/day) and/or P (5 mg/day) were injected s.c. into female rats for 21 days. In 12-h-fasted animals, E treatment potentiated whereas P treatment mildly antagonized insulin-induced glucose uptake relative to control values. Separate effects of E and P were offset when administered in combination. Individual or combined regimens did not alter oxygen uptake, or release of alanine, phenylalanine, lactate, or pyruvate. In late gestation, insulin action on skeletal muscle is resisted with respect to glucose uptake, alanine release, and proteolysis. Fasting hypoalaninemia is not due to impaired alanine release from muscle, but may reflect increased fetal extraction. Fasting hypoglycemia may represent, in part, maternal gluconeogenic precursor deficiency due to fetal alanine removal. E and/or P treatment do not duplicate the observed metabolic Changes.
Ownership Structure and Global Certification in a Weak Institutional Environment

The present study develops a conceptual framework to examine ownership structures and global certification in emerging markets. Specifically, we explain why particular ownership structures are less...
Reaction of ferric cytochrome P450cam with peracids: kinetic characterization of intermediates on the reaction pathway.

Reactions of substrate-free ferric cytochrome P450cam with peracids to generate Fe=O intermediates have previously been investigated with contradictory results. Using stopped-flow spectrophotometry, the reaction with m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid demonstrated an FeIV=O + porphyrin π-cation radical (Cpd I) (Egawa, T., Shimada, H., and Ishimura, Y. (1994) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 201, 1464–1469). By contrast, with peracetic acid, FeIV=O plus a tyrosyl radical were observed by freeze-quench Mossbauer and EPR spectroscopy (Schunemann, V., Jung, C., Trautwein, A. X., Mandon, D., and Weiss, R. (2000) FEBS Lett. 479, 149–154). Our detailed kinetic studies have resolved these contradictory results. At pH >7, a significant fraction of Cpd I is formed transiently, whereas at low pH only a species with a Soret band at 406 nm, presumably FeIV=O + tyrosyl radical, is observed. Evidence for formation of an acylperoxo complex en route to Cpd I was obtained. Because of rapid heme destruction, steps subsequent to formation of the highly oxidized forms could not be fully characterized. Heme destruction was avoided by including peroxidase substrates (e.g. guaiacol), which were oxidized to characteristic peroxidase products as the FeIII–P450 was regenerated. Addition of ascorbate to either of the high valent species also reforms the FeIII state with only a small loss of heme absorbance. These results indicate that typical peroxidase chemistry occurs with P450cam and offer an explanation for the contrasting results reported earlier. The delineation of improved conditions (pH, temperature, choice of peracid) for generating highly oxidized species with P450cam should be valuable for their further characterization.
Marginal Workers and Their Decisions to Work or to Quit

. What motivates the marginal worker to decide to work or to quit and collect unemployment insurance or welfare payments? A study of poultry processing plant workers in Georgia indicates that few quit to obtain more leisure. Dissatisfaction with compensation is only a secondary factor. Primary ones are cumulative dissatisfaction with work and the total work environment. Changes in supervision and in the Job structure are suggested.
Drag Coefficients of Viscous Spheres at Intermediate and High Reynolds Numbers

A finite-difference scheme is used to solve the Navier-Stokes equations for the steady flow inside and outside viscous spheres in a fluid of different properties. Hence, the hydrodynamic force and the steady-state drag coefficient of the spheres are obtained. The Reynolds numbers of the computations range between 0.5 and 1000 and the viscosity ratio ranges between 0 (inviscid bubble) and infinity (solid particle). Unlike the numerical schemes previously implemented in similar studies (uniform grid in a stretched coordinate system) the present method introduces a two-layer concept for the computational domain outside the sphere. The first layer is a very thin one [O (Re -1/2 )] and is positioned at the interface of the sphere. The second layer is based on an exponential function and covers the rest of the domain. The need for such a double-layered domain arises from the observation that at intermediate and large Reynolds numbers a very thin boundary layer appears at the fluid-fluid interface. The computations yield the friction and the form drag of the sphere
Influence of colloidal silica grout on liquefaction potential and cyclic undrained behavior of loose sand

Cyclic triaxial tests were performed to investigate the influence of colloidal silica grout on the deformation properties of saturated loose sand. Distinctly different deformation properties were observed between grouted and ungrouted samples. Untreated samples developed very little axial strain prior to the onset of liquefaction. However, once liquefaction was triggered, large strains occurred rapidly and the samples collapsed within a few additional loading cycles. In contrast, grouted sand samples experienced very little strain during cyclic loading. Additionally, the strain accumulated uniformly throughout loading rather than rapidly prior to collapse and the samples never collapsed. Cyclic triaxial tests were done on samples stabilized with colloidal silica at concentrations of 5, 10, 15, and 20%. In general, samples stabilized with higher concentrations of colloidal silica experienced very little strain during cyclic loading. Sands stabilized with lower concentrations tolerated cyclic loading well, but experienced slightly more strain. Thus, treatment with colloidal silica grout significantly increased the deformation resistance of loose sand to cyclic loading.
Predicted effects of climate warming on the distribution of 50 stream fishes in Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Summer air and stream water temperatures are expected to rise in the state of Wisconsin, U.S.A., over the next 50 years. To assess potential climate warming effects on stream fishes, predictive models were developed for 50 common fish species using classification-tree analysis of 69 environmental variables in a geographic information system. Model accuracy was 56·0-93·5% in validation tests. Models were applied to all 86 898 km of stream in the state under four different climate scenarios: current conditions, limited climate warming (summer air temperatures increase 1° C and water 0·8° C), moderate warming (air 3° C and water 2·4° C) and major warming (air 5° C and water 4° C). With climate warming, 23 fishes were predicted to decline in distribution (three to extirpation under the major warming scenario), 23 to increase and four to have no change. Overall, declining species lost substantially more stream length than increasing species gained. All three cold-water and 16 cool-water fishes and four of 31 warm-water fishes were predicted to decline, four warm-water fishes to remain the same and 23 warm-water fishes to increase in distribution. Species changes were predicted to be most dramatic in small streams in northern Wisconsin that currently have cold to cool summer water temperatures and are dominated by cold-water and cool-water fishes, and least in larger and warmer streams and rivers in southern Wisconsin that are currently dominated by warm-water fishes. Results of this study suggest that even small increases in summer air and water temperatures owing to climate warming will have major effects on the distribution of stream fishes in Wisconsin.
Sobolev spaces with only trivial isometries, II

We will give some conditions for Sobolev spaces on bounded Lipschitz domains to admit only trivial isometries.
Scanning electron microscopic exfoliative urinary cytology in patients with malignant and nonmalignant diseases of lower urinary tract

The possible clinical usefulness of scanning electron microscopic observation of urinary cytologic specimens has been suggested for selected patient populations. To begin to determine the specificity and sensitivity of the procedure, cytologic specimens (48 catheterized urine and 49 bladder washings) from 85 patients with bladder tumor or nonmalignant urologic diseases were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and compared with observations by light microscopy. This study provides evidence that SEM exfoliative cytology in catheterized urine and/or bladder washings has considerable specificity for low-grade, low-stage bladder tumors, but may not be sufficiently sensitive for use in routine urologic practice. However, this procedure may be of use in following patients with previously resected low-grade, low-stage bladder tumors for the early detection of recurrences.
Prevention of chronic kidney disease in children

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is being increasingly recognized in children, especially prevalent in those who recover from serious illness. The ability to recognize the pathophysiological conditions that predispose to renal parenchymal damage or disorders and the application of preventive measures or institution of ameliorating therapy may lessen the burden of the parenchymal damage leading to CKD. These measures include antenatal immunization, antenatal diagnosis, fetal surgical interventions and postnatal screening procedures for proteinuria, hypertension, dyslipidemia and prevention of obesity - all of which could play a significant role in the prevention of CKD or its progression to end stage renal disease.
The Ethical Urgency of Advancing Implementation Science

In “The Diverse Ethics of Translational Research,” Sofaer and Eyal (2010) have made a major contribution by focusing bioethicists’ attention on the reality that there are two types of translational...
Evaluation of rheological constitutive equations for branched polymers in step shear strain flows

The pom-pom rheological constitutive equation for branched polymers proposed by McLeish and Larson is evaluated in step shear strain flows. Semianalytic expressions for the shear-stress relaxation modulus are derived for both the integral and approximate differential versions of the pom-pom model. Predictions from the thermodynamically motivated differential pompon model of Ottinger are also examined. Single-mode integral and differential pom-pom models are found to give qualitatively different predictions, the former displays time–strain factorability after the backbone stretch is relaxed, while the latter does not. We also find that the differential pompon model gives quantitatively similar predictions to the integral pom-pom model in step strain flows. Predictions from multimode integral and differential pom-pom models are compared with experimental data on a widely characterized, low-density polyethylene known as 1810H. The experiments strongly support time–strain factorability, while the multimode pom-pom model predictions show deviations from this behavior over the entire range of time that is experimentally accessible.
Augmentation of an endemic entomogenous nematode by agroecosystem manipulation for the control of a soil pest

Abstract Three cultural methods of agroecosystem manipulation (tillage, weeds and irrigation) were used in a corn system in an attempt to increase the endemic entomogenous nematode Heterorhabditis heliothidis (Khan, Brooks, Hirschmann) to levels high enough to control artificial infestations of the soil pest, southern corn rootworm (SCR) ( Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi (Barber)). Laboratory studies were conducted to investigate the relative density of entomogenous nematodes required for infecting each larval instar of the rootworm. Galleria mellonella (L.) larvae were used as bioassays to measure the relative density of H. heliothidis in the different systems. Field studies demonstrated that no-tillage (NT) and the presence of weeds significantly increased the infection of G. mellonella . The presence of irrigation did not increase infection percentages significantly. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that third instar southern corn rootworm larvae were highly infected at four levels (5, 10, 15 and 20 infective juveniles 1 −1 of soil) of nematode density. However, a higher range of nematode densities was needed before a significant ( P ≤0.05) percentage of first and second instar SCR were infected. This experiment demonstrates the possibility of agroecosystem manipulation for the augmentation of endemic biocontrol agents.