cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Retrograde conditioning of place preference and motor activity with cocaine in mice

In order to improve understanding of the nature of drug-associated memory, the current studies addressed whether conditioned place preference (CPP) could develop under conditions in which there was a delay between presentation of context and drug exposure (i.e., retrograde or trace conditioning). The objective was to assess development of CPP when cocaine or methamphetamine was injected simultaneously with exposure to a salient context (S+), or after delays differing in length. Dose response curves for conventional CPP were established using separate groups of Swiss-Webster mice injected with cocaine or methamphetamine just prior to S+ exposure. To assess the development of retrograde CPP, other groups received trace conditioning, where cocaine (15 mg/kg) or methamphetamine (0.5 mg/kg) was injected after a delay of 15, 60, 120, 180, 240, or 480 min following the end of the S+ session. Mice receiving conventional CPP with cocaine or methamphetamine during S+ showed significant place preference. None of the groups receiving delayed methamphetamine showed significant CPP; however, CPP was evident in mice receiving cocaine after delays of up to 4 h following S+. In a separate study, delayed methamphetamine also did not result in significant place preference when presented in doses of 0.25 or 1 mg/kg. These results suggest that psychostimulant drug taking may be broadly generalized to context through retrograde association with events in recent memory, a factor that may contribute to drug-seeking and relapse following abstinence.
Exon skipping of FcεRIβ eliminates expression of the high-affinity IgE receptor in mast cells with therapeutic potential for allergy

Allergic diseases are driven by activation of mast cells and release of mediators in response to IgE-directed antigens. However, there are no drugs currently available that can specifically down-regulate mast cell function in vivo when chronically administered. Here, we describe an innovative approach for targeting mast cells in vitro and in vivo using antisense oligonucleotide-mediated exon skipping of the β-subunit of the high-affinity IgE receptor (FceRIβ) to eliminate surface high-affinity IgE receptor (FceRI) expression and function, rendering mast cells unresponsive to IgE-mediated activation. As FceRIβ expression is restricted to mast cells and basophils, this approach would selectively target these cell types. Given the success of exon skipping in clinical trials to treat genetic diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, we propose that exon skipping of FceRIβ is a potential approach for mast cell-specific treatment of allergic diseases.
Elite–Mass Congruence in Chile

Chile is often lauded for its successful democratic transition and high-quality democracy. Nonetheless, increasingly the country’s traditional image as Latin America’s democratic poster child is being replaced by one of protest, conflict and corruption, suggesting for some that the country is experiencing a crisis of democracy. Student protests that began in 2006 have become a permanent fixture. Chile, long assumed to be among the cleanest countries in Latin America, now makes headlines with the emergence of scandal after scandal. There are increasing levels of citizen dissatisfaction with the functioning and quality of democracy in the country. Only 48.2 % of Chileans are bastante or muy satisfecho with democracy. Further, after more than two and a half decades of democracy, only 54 % think in all cases democracy is the best regime, and the number who think so has actually decreased since peaking after the return of democracy (UDP-IDRC 2014). Indeed, 22.7 % contended that in some circumstances an authoritarian regime is preferable and 14.7 % said it really did not matter. Though Chile is lauded by academics and analysts as a high-quality democracy, on several key indicators of mass public opinion other Latin American countries rank significantly higher, and some of Chile’s indicators are disturbing. For example, long known for high level of citizen identification with parties, Chile now ranks 25th out of 26 countries in levels of party identification, trailed only by Guatemala (LAPOP 2012; UDP-IDRC 2014).
High-performance terahertz metasurface lenses (Conference Presentation)

Tailoring the geometry and arrangement of metasurface structures yields a complete control of the reflection/transmission amplitude, phase, and polarization states. The planar nature of the structures can be readily fabricated using existing technologies, which makes them more accessible particularly in the optical regime and potentially revolutionizes the design of integrated photonics. Although the ultrathin thickness in the wave propagation direction can greatly suppress the absorption, the impedance mismatching in many metasurfaces results in undesirable high insertion losses, and the performance of single-layer metasurface devices is yet unsatisfying in real world applications. In contrast, few-layer meta-surfaces can circumvent this impedance mismatching issue. Recently, we have developed a three-layer metasurface structure that is capable of rotating the incident linear polarization by 90° with a very high efficiency over a bandwidth of nearly two octaves. More importantly, the phase of the output light can be tuned over the entire 2π range with sub-wavelength resolution through simply tailoring the structure geometry of the basic building blocks. This creates an important opportunity in designing highly efficient optical devices for wavefront engineering, such as at lenses working in the microwave, terahertz, and infrared frequency ranges. Here we will present the design, fabrication, and characterization of high-performance terahertz metasurface lenses based on this concept.
Effect of Rituximab on Pulmonary Function in Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome due to Graft-Versus-Host-Disease.

Rituximab is an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody that is used to suppress B-cell function in graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). We sought to determine the effects of rituximab treatment on lung function in those patients with bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) as a manifestation of GVHD. Thirteen patients were treated with rituximab with a diagnosis of BOS and a significant reduction in the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The changes in their pulmonary function for 12 months following treatment with rituximab were followed, along with other intervention performed and daily average dosing of prednisone. Following rituximab administration, there was an improvement in the slope of decline in lung function from −5.12 ml/month prior to rituximab infusion to −0.31 ml/month after 3 months and to +2.27 ml/month 12 months later. Seven of the 13 patients had an increase in their FEV1 after treatment with rituximab. Additionally, the mean daily dose of prednisone decreased from 27 mg prior to rituximab treatment to 11 mg 12 months after treatment. Nine out of 13 patients survived 12 months after rituximab treatment. All of the patients with improvement in FEV1 following rituximab treatment were receiving concomitant extracorporeal photopheresis. Rituximab is safe with the potential to stabilize or improve lung function in patients with BOS after HSCT and should be considered as a treatment option in those patients.
Quantifying sargassum boundaries on eastern and western walls of the gulf stream protruding near cape hatteras into Sargasso Sea Bermuda/Azores

The Sargasso Sea has been a ocean life habitat for millions of years, yet accurate assessment of the boundary area and detection of these relatively small sea surface features using Landsat series and Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments have been found to have difficulty or even impossible due to lack of spatial resolution, coverage, recurring observance, and algorithm limitations to identify pelagic species of Sargassum. Sargassum rafts tend to be elongated, curved in the upwind direction and warmer than the surrounding ocean surface. Long weed ‘trails’ extending upwind from the rafts are evidence of plants dropping out and being left behind. Satellite data utilizing a simple ocean color indexes such as the floating algae Index and Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) have been established to detect floating algae in open environments using MODIS instruments. Floating Algae Index (FAI) has shown advantages over the traditional NDVI and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) because FAI is less sensitive to changes in environmental and observing conditions (aerosol type and thickness, solar/viewing geometry, and sun glint) and can see through thin clouds. The baseline subtraction method provides a simple yet effective means for atmospheric correction. The algorithms assisted in identifying the boundary area of the Sargasso Sea and the path of this floating alga past Cape Hatteras into the Atlantic Ocean. Due to the fact that similar spectral bands are available on many existing and planned satellite sensors such as Landsat series observations satellites, the NDVI and FIA concept was extendable to establish a long-term record of these ecologically biological dependent ocean plants.
BisPin and BFAST-Gap: Mapping Bisulfite-Treated Reads

Background: BisPin is a new multiprocess bisulfite-treated short DNA read mapper written in Python 2.7. It performs alignments using BFAST, leveraging its multithreading functionality and thorough hash-based indexing strategy. BisPin is feature rich and supports directional, nondirectional, PBAT, and hairpin construction strategies. BisPin approaches read mapping by converting the Cs to Ts and the Gs to As in both the reads and the reference genome. BisPin uses fast rescoring to disambiguate ambiguously aligned reads for a superior amount of uniquely mapped reads compared to other mappers. The performance of BisPin was evaluated on both real and simulated data in comparison to other read mappers. BFAST-Gap is a modified version of BFAST meant for Ion Torrent reads. It uses a parameterized logistic function to determine the weights of the gap open and extension penalties based on the homopolymer run length of the DNA read. This is because the Ion Torrent sequencing technology can overcall and undercall homopolymer runs. BisPin works with both BFAST-Gap and BFAST. BFAST-Gap is compatible with indexes built with BFAST. There are few mappers that specifically address Ion Torrent data. BFAST-Gap works with Illumina reads as well. Results: BisPin with BFAST consistently had a higher amount of uniquely mapped reads compared to other mappers on real data using a variety of construction strategies. Using a hairpin validation strategy, BisPin was superior using the maximum score, and it mapped 73% of reads correctly. BisPin with BFAST-Gap on Ion Torrent reads with a logistic gap open penalty function improved mapping accuracy with real and simulated data. On simulated bisulfite Ion Torrent data, the area under the curve was improved by approximately seven, and on one real data set, the uniquely mapped percent was improved by seven percent. BFAST-Gap performed better than TMAP on simulated regular Ion Torrent reads, and TMAP is designed for Ion Torrent reads. Other read mappers had worse performance. Conclusions: BisPin and BFAST-Gap have consistently good accuracy with a variety of data. BisPin is feature-rich. This makes BisPin and BFAST-Gap useful additions to read mapping software.
Effect of Formulations and Spray Nozzles on 2,4-D Spray Drift under Field Conditions

Six trials were conducted during 2014/15 and 2015/16 growing seasons in Brazil to determine the effect of 2,4-D formulations and spray nozzles on 2,4-D spray drift under conventional field conditions. An experimental 2,4-D choline formulation with Colex-D® Technology (GF-3073) and a 2,4-D dimethylamine (DMA) formulation were applied with either XR and AIXR flat-fan spray nozzles. Each plot was 30m wide by 24m long (720m2) with 60 glyphosate-resistant soybean rows spaced 50 cm apart and also 35 potted tomato plants distributed on a grid across the plot 5-m apart. Applications were performed one meter away from the plot edge perpendicular to the soybean rows when wind direction was parallel to the rows with less than 30 degrees of angle deviation. Spray drift treatments were applied in 100 L ha-1 with tractor sprayers at 276 kPa equipped with a 7-m wide boom at 50 cm above the canopy of the soybean plant, operating at 6.8 km h-1. The distance from the plot edge to the farthest plant with 2,4-D symptoms was assessed for every four soybean rows at 10 and 20 days after treatment (DAT) and potted tomatoes at 10 DAT. GF-3073 reduced the distance of the farthest injured plant with 2,4-D symptoms compared to the 2,4-D DMA formulation regardless of the spray nozzle, assessment date and sensitive species. GF-3073 applied through the AIXR nozzle reduced the relative drift affected area to the standard by 68% at 10 DAT and 67% at 20 DAT for soybean and 60% at 10 DAT for potted tomatoes.Nomenclature: 2,4-D; soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr.; tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L.
Ion Channel Electrostatics and the Shapes of Channel Proteins

The accelerating progress that is being made in channel reconstitution will eventually lead to the determination of protein structures, i.e., of channel shapes. These will surely not all be right circular cylinders, and a pore’s structure can affect ion passage through it in two ways. Short-range forces govern selectivity and the detailed nature of the potential energy profile for ion permeation. Long-range electrostatic forces control ion access to the channel, influence the relationship of apparent electrical distance to structure, and provide a slowly varying background potential, which modifies channel kinetics.
How to Think About Homelessness: Balancing Structural and Individual Causes

Literature on homelessness acknowledges two types of causes of homelessness: structural and individual causes. Cited examples of structural causes include trends in unemployment and poverty, the housing market, the structure of the economy generally, and large-scale social policies. Examples given of individual causes include mental illness, alcoholism, substance abuse, and lack of a work ethic. Virtually all researchers pick either structural or individual factors as the “primary” cause of homelessness and then argue the unimportance of the other set of factors.
Sports Specific Injuries of the Hip Joint

Athletes represent a particularly challenging population with a globally increased injury risk relative to other more sedentary patients. The main categories of hip injuries in this population include: intra-articular hip injuries due to femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), hip subluxations and dislocations; soft tissue extra-articular injuries including muscle strains, tears, and contusions; overuse injuries including stress fractures and abductor failure; and snapping hip syndromes including internal and external coxa saltans. Hip instability in the hypermobile athlete represents a unique subset of hip injuries that can span the spectrum of underlying pathology from generalized ligamentous laxity to frank bony dysplasia. Hip injuries in the paediatric athlete also can represent a unique group of patients. Sports related injuries that are unique to the immature hip include apophyseal avulsion injuries, and “developmental” forms of impingement secondary to slipped capital femoral epiphyses (SCFE) and Perthes disease.
Sexual Quality of Life and Satisfaction With Penile Prostheses.

Abstract Introduction Penile prosthesis (PP) implantation is associated with high patient satisfaction and improved sexual quality of life (SQoL). The SQoL benefits of PP implantation are generalizable across subpopulations of PP implant patients, but the literature is heterogeneous in design and largely without instruments to specifically measure SQoL changes due to PP, requiring extrapolation from less granular measures. Aim To provide a comprehensive review of available literature regarding SQoL with a penile prosthesis. In addition, the strengths and limitations of each study will be described with respect to design, number of patients included, data acquisition, and clinical significance. Methods A PubMed search was performed for articles from 1989 to 2018 related to penile prostheses and SQoL. Emphasis was placed on patient/partner satisfaction scores, quality of life assessments, and patient-reported outcome measures. Main Outcome Measure The SQoL benefits due to penile prostheses were reviewed. The measurement tools for patient satisfaction and sexual quality of life across multiple subpopulations within patients receiving penile prosthesis implantation were reviewed and the outcomes analyzed. Results Patient satisfaction rates with penile prostheses are higher than 85%, and SQoL is improved in both patients and their partners. There now is a validated questionnaire that is the first to specifically measure changes in SQoL due to a penile prosthesis. Conclusion Overall, patient satisfaction with a penile prosthesis is high and SQoL is improved. These results are largely generalizable across multiple subpopulations of patients. Although literature is heterogeneous in study design and assessment methods, there now is a validated and specific penile prosthesis SQoL questionnaire that can provide for more granular analysis moving forward. Barton GJ, Carlos EC, Lentz AC. Sexual Quality of Life and Satisfaction With Penile Prostheses. J Sex Med Rev 2019;7:178–188.
Precise Registration of Laser Mapping Data by Planar Feature Extraction for Deformation Monitoring

Quantifying near-field displacements can help enable a better understanding of earthquake physics and hazards. To date, established remote sensing techniques have failed to recover subcentimeter-level near-field displacements at the scale and resolution required for shallow fault physical investigations. In this paper, methods are developed to rapidly extract planar parameters, using fast parallel approaches and an alternative registration approach is employed to automatically match the planes extracted from pairwise temporally spaced mobile laser scanning (MLS) and Airborne laser scanning (ALS) data sets along the Napa fault. The features extracted from two temporally spaced point clouds are then used to calculate rigid-body transformation parameters. The production of robust and accurate deformation maps requires the selection of appropriate planar feature extraction and feature mapping criteria. Rigorously propagated point accuracy estimates are employed to produce realistic estimated errors for the transformation parameters. Displacements of each aggregate study area are computed separately from left and right sides of the fault and compared to be within 3 mm of alinement array displacements. Local differential displacements show distinct patterns which, compared to alinement array measurements, were found to agree within the confidence bounds. The findings demonstrate the ability to accurately estimate near-field deformations from repeated MLS or ALS scans of earthquake-prone urban areas. ALS is also used in conjunction with the MLS data sets, illustrating the algorithm’s ability to accommodate different LiDAR collection modalities at subcentimeter-level accuracy. The automated planar extraction and registration is an important contribution to the study of near-field earthquake dynamics and can be used as input observations for future geological inversion models.
Presidential Term Limit Contravention: Abolish, Extend, Fail, or Respect?:

Since presidential term limits were (re)adopted by many states during the third wave of democratization, 221 presidents across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia have reached the end ...
Epistemic Terms and the Aims of Epistemology

No area of contemporary philosophy has been so overrun by “definitions,” “accounts,” “analyses,” and “explications” as has the theory of knowledge. Ever since Edmund Gettier published a three-page paper in 1963 which produced counterexamples to the “justified true belief” account of “S knows that p,” philosophers have sought to formulate the “right” set of necessary and sufficient conditions not only for knowledge, which was Gettier’s concern, but also for allied notions like justified belief and rational belief.1 The result is a vast literature consisting largely of examples and counterexamples, and by now numbering close to 1200 items.
Infrastructure and Social Welfare in Metropolitian America

Public infrastructure investment may indirectly affect firm productivity and household welfare through its impact on the location of economic activity. Existing infrastructure policies encourage firms and households to move from dense urban environments to the surrounding suburbs. Nevertheless, several recent studies have suggested that the concentration of producers and consumers within cities results in agglomeration economies that are socially beneficial. In light of these findings, the author recommends the creation of infrastructure investment authorities that would have the power to select and finance projects that promote the overall well-being of a given region. Such authorities would most likely direct a larger share of infrastructure investment to the central cities.
A taxonomic conundrum: Characterizing a cryptic radiation of Asian gracile skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Riopa) in Myanmar.

Abstract Recognizing species-level diversity is important for studying evolutionary patterns across biological disciplines and is critical for conservation efforts. However, challenges remain in delimiting species-level diversity, especially in cryptic radiations where species are genetically divergent but show little morphological differentiation. Using multilocus molecular data, phylogenetic analyses, species delimitation analyses, and morphological data, we examine lineage diversification in a cryptic radiation of Riopa skinks in Myanmar. Four species of Riopa skinks are currently recognized from Myanmar based on morphological traits, but the boundaries between three of these species, R. anguina, R. lineolata, and R. popae, are not well-defined. We find high levels of genetic diversity within these three species. Our analyses suggest that they may comprise as many as 12 independently evolving lineages, highlighting the extent to which species diversity in the region is underestimated. However, quantitative trait data suggest that these lineages have not differentiated morphologically, possibly indicating that this cryptic radiation represents non-adaptive evolution, although additional data is needed to corroborate this.
A simple model to estimate hydrogen solubility in liquid aluminium alloys

Data for solubility of hydrogen in binary liquid aluminium alloys have been reanalysed by normalising alloy hydrogen solubility data with that for pure aluminium reported in the same study. This me...
(Auto)-portrait de l’artiste : Trois chansons de Serge Gainsbourg:

Avant de devenir musicien, Serge Gainsbourg preparait une carriere d’artiste-peintre. Bien que cette premiere vocation se soit estompee, ses vestiges restent dans la seconde. Le jeune pianiste des ...
Take space, make space: how students use computer science to disrupt and resist marginalization in schools

Overlaying Computer Science (CS) courses on top of inequitable schooling systems will not move us toward “CS for All.” This paper prioritizes the perspectives of minoritized students enrolled in hi...
Fair and Reliable Reconnections for Temporary Disruptions in Electric Distribution Networks using Submodularity.

We analyze a distributed approach for automatically reconfiguring distribution systems into an operational radial network after a fault occurs by creating an ordering in which switches automatically close upon detection of a downstream fault. The switches' reconnection ordering significantly impacts the expected time to reconnect under normal disruptions and thus affects reliability metrics such as SAIDI and CAIDI, which are the basis for regulator-imposed financial incentives for performance. We model the problem of finding a switch reconnection ordering that minimizes SAIDI and the expected reconnection time as Minimum Reconnection Time (MRT), which we show is a special case of the well-known minimum linear ordering problem from the submodular optimization literature, and in particular the Min Sum Set Cover problem (MSSC). We prove that MRT is also NP-hard. We generalize the kernel-based rounding approaches of Bansal et al. for Min Sum Vertex Cover to give tight approximation guarantees for MSSC on c-uniform hypergraphs for all c. For all instances of MSSC, our methods have a strictly better approximation ratio guarantee than the best possible methods for general MSSC. Finally, we consider optimizing multiple metrics simultaneously using local search methods that also reconfigure the system's base tree to ensure fairness in service disruptions and reconnection times and reduce energy loss. We computationally validate our approach on the NREL SMART-DS Greensboro synthetic urban-suburban network. We evaluate the performance of our reconfiguration methods and show significant reductions compared to single-metric-based optimizations.
Measuring Markups with Revenue Data

Standard production-based markup estimators are biased and inconsistent when output prices are unobserved. Absent additional assumptions, researchers cannot disentangle whether firms have higher revenues because of higher productivity or higher markups. We propose a method that generates unbiased and consistent estimates by modifying physical productivity process assumptions into revenue productivity process assumptions, and by flexibly modeling markups as a specified function of observables and fixed effects. Our method builds on past work designed to estimate production functions in competitive environments. Our suggested two-step estimator is simple in concept and implementation, requiring only common regression techniques.
Design Arguments for the Existence of God

Design arguments are empirical arguments for God’s existence. These arguments typically, though not always, proceed by identifying various empirical features of the world that constitute evidence of intelligent design and inferring God’s existence as the best explanation for these features. This article explains and evaluates a number of classic and contemporary versions of the argument: (1) Aquinas’s “fifth way’; (2) the argument from simple analogy; (3) Paley’s watchmaker argument; (4) the argument from guided evolution; (5) the argument from irreducible biochemical complexity; (6) the argument from biological information; and (7) the fine-tuning argument.
Bachelors, Manhood, and the Novel 1850–1925: The necessary melancholy of bachelors: melancholy, manhood, and modernist narrative

This chapter is not about bachelor uncles, although it could have been. The bachelor uncle is a stock character in popular and literary writing of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a figure so prevalent that the 1850s Harper's story “Why My Uncle Was a Bachelor” might almost as plausibly have been entitled “Why My Bachelor Was an Uncle.” In fictional plots of inheritance and education, adoption and guardianship, illegitimate fatherhood and incest, the figure of the bachelor uncle registers the boundaries of normative bourgeois familial and sexual relations, as well as the permeability of those boundaries. The function of the bachelor uncle as a threshold figure who marks by crossing the boundaries of familial and sexual normativity is evident, for example, in a 1908 Putnam's Magazine piece, entitled “The Necessary Melancholy of Bachelors.” While the essay is amply substantiated with melancholy bachelors from history and literature — Shakespeare's Antonio, Lord Macaulay, Robert Burton, Thomas Gray, Oliver Goldsmith, and Charles Lamb are all brought forward as evidence — the narrative mise en scene also testifies to the essay's premise. It is no coincidence that the melancholy bachelor who narrates this essay is also a bachelor uncle. The essay's narration is framed by a reported exchange between the bachelor uncle and his niece, who initiates the conversation by observing that money is necessary to bachelor comfort and therefore to bachelor happiness.
The Effect of Compressibility on the Thermodynamic Properties of Liquid Crystals (I)

Abstract The effect of liquid compressibility on the nematic-isotropic phase transition is investigated according to the method of Mattis and Schultz using a volume dependent Hamiltonian in a constant pressure partition function. The theory is able to account for the large difference in constant pressure and constant volume transition temperatures, and the volume change at the constant pressure transition for para-azoxyanisole.
APPLICATION OF THE MONTE CARLO TECHNIQUE TO FATIGUE-FAILURE ANALYSIS UNDER RANDOM LOADING

A METHOD OF ASSESSING STRUCTURAL SAFETY IN FATIGUE IS PROPOSED IN WHICH A STATISTICAL MODEL FOR THE FATIGUE PROCESS IS USED TO CARRY OUT A RELIABILITY ANALYSIS, ENABLING THE PROBABILITY OF FAILURE TO BE ESTIMATED AT ANY STAGE OF THE LIFE. THE STATISTICAL VARIABILITY IN CRACK-PROPAGATION RATE AND RESIDUAL STRENGTH OF THE CRACKED STRUCTURE IS INCLUDED TOGETHER WITH THE EFFECT OF ANY PRESCRIBED INSPECTION PROCEDURE. THE METHOD IS APPLIED TO A STRUCTURE OF HIGH STRENGTH STEEL TYPIFYING A "SAFE-LIFE" STRUCTURE AND TO A REDUNDANT ALUMINUM ALLOY STRUCTURE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE "FAIL-SAFE" CONSTRUCTION. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE RELIABLITY ANALYSIS CAN BE APPLIED TO BOTH FAIL-SAFE AND SAFE-LIFE STRUCTURES AND PROVIDES A QUANTITATIVE BASIS FOR ENSURING THEIR SAFE OPERATION, INCLUDING THE PLANNING OF AN INSPECTION PROCEDURE IF FEASIBLE. IN THIS REGARD THE METHOD REPRESENTS AN ADVANCE ON THE EXISTING PROCEDURES BUT INHERENT IN THE QUANTITATIVE APPROACH IT EMPLOYS IS THE ADOPTION OF AN ACCENTABLE SAFETY LEVEL. THE MOST APPROPRIATE WAY OF DEFINING SAFETY LEVEL IS DISCUSSED AND A SUITABLE MEASURE IS PROPOSED. AN EXTENSIVE AMOUNT OF DATA IS REQUIRED IN APPLYING THE PROCEDURE BUT IT IS SUGGESTED THAT IN THE CASE OF AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES THIS DIFFICULTY CAN BE OVERCOME BY USING RESULTS FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE STRUCTURAL TESTING PROGRAM NORMALLY CARRIED OUT, TOGETHER WITH RELEVANT DATA FROM SIMILAR STRUCTURES. /ASTM/
Newly Discovered Gut Peptides

The sections in this article are: 1 Galanin 1.1 Structure 1.2 Distribution 1.3 Biological Actions 2 Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide 2.1 Synthesis and Structure 2.2 Distribution 2.3 Biological Actions 3 Pancreastatin 3.1 Structure 3.2 Biological Actions 4 Valosin 4.1 Structure 4.2 Biological Actions 5 Pancreatic Monitor Peptide 6 Cholecystokinin-Releasing Peptide
Governance in the information age: a research framework for an uncertain future

Research into relationships among government, society and technology has grown substantially over the past 30 years. Most of that research addresses narrowly defined categories of concern such as government organization, citizen services, interoperability, or personal privacy. By contrast, the future presents complex and dynamic challenges that demand a more holistic and flexible perspective, as well as a shift from "eGovernment" to "eGovernance.". This paper outlines a framework, drawn from an investigation into future scenario of society and government. It presents the research framework as a six-part dynamic system that comprises societal trends, human elements, changing technology, information management, interaction and complexity, and the purpose and role of government.
Selection of optimal threshold using cost and revenue matrix

The financial crisis usually brings the deterioration of the customers' credits. For any financial institute, it's of im- portance to assess an applicant's credit in a proper way. Not too strict to lose potential customer; and not too loose to cause future loss. This paper focuses on the credit assessment and locates an optimal threshold, based on maximizing the expected profit. This threshold decides whether credits will be granted. The Profit Function is applied to derive this optimal threshold. The Normal-Normal model is assumed for the Good and Bad groups, which are assigned by their past 12 months Net Cash Flow. An empirical example of payoff matrices is used to demonstrate this optimal threshold.
Multiple personality as a post-traumatic stress disorder.

This article examines multiple or dissociative personality syndrome as a multiple post-traumatic stress disorder, discussing these patients' developmental histories, their high hypnotizability, and their profound capacity to dissociate spontaneously to protect themselves from emotional and physical pain.
Identification of DNA regions required for mitotic and meiotic functions within the centromere of Schizosaccharomyces pombe chromosome I.

Abstract We have determined the structural organization and functional roles of centromere-specific DNA sequence repeats in cen1, the centromere region from chromosome I of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. cen1 is composed of various classes of repeated sequences designated K', K"(dgl), L, and B', arranged in a 34-kb inverted repeat surrounding a 4- to 5-kb nonhomologous central core. Artificial chromosomes containing various portions of the cen1 region were constructed and assayed for mitotic and meiotic centromere function in S. pombe. Deleting K' and L from the distal portion of one arm of the inverted repeat had no effect on mitotic centromere function but resulted in greatly increased precocious sister chromatid separation in the first meiotic division. A centromere completely lacking K' and L, but containing the central core, one copy of B' and K" in one arm, and approximately 2.5 kb of the core-proximal portion of B' in the other arm, was also fully functional mitotically but again did not maintain sister chromatid attachment in meiosis I. However, deletion of K" from this minichromosome resulted in complete loss of centromere function. Thus, one copy of at least a portion of the K" (dgl) repeat is absolutely required but is not sufficient for S. pombe centromere function. The long centromeric inverted-repeat region must be relatively intact to maintain sister chromatid attachment in meiosis I.
Planning parenthood: Health care providers' perspectives on pregnancy intention, readiness, and family planning

A major health care goal in the United States is increasing the proportion of pregnancies that are planned. While many studies examine family planning from the perspective of individual women or couples, few investigate the perceptions and practices of health care providers, who are gatekeepers to medicalized fertility control. In this paper, I draw on 24 in-depth interviews with providers to investigate how they interpret and enact the objective to "plan parenthood" and analyze their perspectives in the context of broader discourses about reproduction, family planning, and motherhood. Interviews reveal two central discourses: one defines pregnancy planning as an individual choice, that is as patients setting their own pregnancy intentions; the second incorporates normative expectations about what it means to be ready to have a baby that exclude poor, single, and young women. In the latter discourse, planning is a broader process of achieving middle-class life markers like a long-term relationship, a good job, and financial stability, before having children. Especially illuminating are cases where a patient's pregnancy intention and the normative expectations of "readiness" do not align. With these, I demonstrate that providers may prioritize normative notions of readiness over a patient's own intentions. I argue that these negotiations of intention and readiness reflect broader tensions in family planning and demonstrate that at times the seemingly neutral notion of "planned parenthood" can mask a source of stratification in reproductive health care.
A 27-Year-Old Woman With Incidental Omental Nodules

We present the case of a 27-year-old woman with an incidental finding of a lobulated, intra-abdominal, soft tissue mass, noted on a computed tomographic scan of the abdomen performed for an unrelated, self-limited process. An excisional biopsy showed multiple nodules composed of hyalinized fibrous tissue with multiple calcifications and an inflammatory infiltrate of lymphocytes and plasma cell consistent with calcifying fibrous pseudotumor of the omentum.
Developing basic and clinical research on von Willebrand factor and von Willebrand disease.

Studies on von Willebrand factor (vWF) and von Willebrand disease have been conceptually linked since the latter was identified as a distinct bleeding disorder (see relevant reviews and articles in the current issue of Thromb Haemost). Obvious genetic and clinical differences indicated from the beginning that the pathogenesis of the newly recognized “angiohemophilia” was distinct from that of classic hemophilia, and implied the existence of a hitherto unknown protein important for hemostasis. Eventually, the identification and characterization of vWF facilitated the efforts to categorize the heterogeneous manifestations of von Willebrand disease. Then, the demonstration of unique molecular abnormalities in variant forms of the disease greatly aided the elucidation of how vWF participates in platelet adhesion and aggregation at sites of vascular injury. The cross-fertilization between clinical studies and basic research continues, and is now leading to a clearer structural and functional understanding of vWF. Such advances should benefit patients with congenital and acquired von Willebrand disease through improved diagnosis, classification and treatment. Moreover, a better explanation of how vWF contributes to platelet function should shed light on the pathogenetic mechanisms that cause arterial thrombosis.
Projected freshwater withdrawals in the United States under a changing climate

[1] Relying on the U.S. Geological Survey water use data for the period 1960� 2005, this paper summarizes past water use and then projects future water use based on the trends in water use efficiency and major drivers of water use. Water use efficiency has improved in most sectors. Over the past 45 years, withdrawals in industry and at thermoelectric plants have steadily dropped per unit of output. In addition, domestic and public withdrawals per capita, and irrigation withdrawals per unit area in most regions of the west, have recently begun to decrease. If these efficiency trends continue and trends in water use drivers proceed as expected, in the absence of additional climate change the desired withdrawals in the United States over the next 50 years are projected to stay within 3% of the 2005 level despite an expected 51% increase in population. However, including the effects of future climate change substantially increases this projection. The climate-based increase in the projected water use is attributable mainly to increases in agricultural and landscape irrigation in response to rising potential evapotranspiration, and to a much lesser extent to water use in electricity production in response to increased space cooling needs as temperatures rise. The increases in projected withdrawal vary greatly across the 98 basins examined, with some showing decreases and others showing very large increases, and are sensitive to the emission scenario and global climate model employed. The increases were also found to be larger if potential evapotranspiration is estimated using a temperaturebased method as opposed to a physically based method accounting for energy, humidity, and wind speed.
Neutron capture and the antineutrino yield from nuclear reactors

We identify a new, flux-dependent correction to the antineutrino spectrum as produced in nuclear reactors. The abundance of certain nuclides, whose decay chains produce antineutrinos above the threshold for inverse beta decay, has a nonlinear dependence on the neutron flux, unlike the vast majority of antineutrino producing nuclides, whose decay rate is directly related to the fission rate. We have identified four of these so-called nonlinear nuclides and determined that they result in an antineutrino excess at low energies below 3.2 MeV, dependent on the reactor thermal neutron flux. We develop an analytic model for the size of the correction and compare it to the results of detailed reactor simulations for various real existing reactors, spanning 3 orders of magnitude in neutron flux. In a typical pressurized water reactor the resulting correction can reach ∼0.9% of the low energy flux which is comparable in size to other, known low-energy corrections from spent nuclear fuel and the nonequilibrium correction. For naval reactors the nonlinear correction may reach the 5% level by the end of cycle.
Depressive symptoms are associated with fasting insulin resistance in obese youth.

Summary Background In adults, depressive symptoms are positively associated with insulin resistance. Objective To determine whether an association exists between depressive symptoms and markers of insulin resistance in youth. Methods This study used a retrospective review of data from an obesity clinic. We evaluated the association between depressive symptoms (Children's Depression Inventory, CDI) and fasting insulin and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in obese youth (n = 207, age 10–18 years). Individuals with lower vs. higher CDI T-scores (<65 vs. ≥65) were compared; this cut-point is accepted as indicating the possibility of clinical depression. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate relationships between CDI T-scores and insulin resistance. Results Fasting insulin and HOMA-IR values were 40% higher in patients with higher CDI T-scores (P = 0.04). After accounting for gender, race, age and body mass index, CDI T-score remained associated with HOMA-IR, although the strength of the association was small (b = 0.007, P = 0.049). Conclusions Relationships between depressive symptoms and insulin resistance should be considered when evaluating obese youth.
Increased expression of 5-HT6 receptors in dorsolateral striatum decreases habitual lever pressing but does not affect learning acquisition of simple operant tasks in rats

Serotonin-6 (5-HT(6)) receptors are densely expressed in the dorsolateral striatum (DLS), a brain region linked to habits. Medications acting on the serotonergic system, including 5-HT(6) receptors, can diminish habitual and repetitive behaviors associated with clinical syndromes such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, and may have implications for addiction as well. To examine the role of 5-HT(6) receptors in the acquisition and persistence of habitual behavior, we manipulated 5-HT(6) receptor expression in the DLS with herpes simplex virus vectors in combination with different behavioral procedures; control rats received a vector expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein. In one set of experiments, rats were tested under conditions that favor the acquisition of either discrete action-outcome responding or repetitive responding; increased 5-HT(6) receptor expression in DLS did not alter learning in either paradigm. In the next experiment, rats were over-trained on fixed- then variable-interval schedules, resulting in an escalation of lever pressing over sessions far in excess of that necessary to receive sucrose pellets. After training, rats received viral vector infusion into the DLS. Subsequently, half of each group underwent an omission contingency training session in which they received reinforcement for refraining from pressing the lever, while the other half served as yoked controls. A probe session under extinction conditions was performed the following day. Only rats that received both the 5-HT(6) vector and omission contingency training showed reduced lever pressing during the probe session. These results suggest that increasing 5-HT(6) receptor signaling in the DLS facilitates behavioral flexibility in the face of changing contingencies.
An optimum set of semi-empirical values for the magnetic susceptibility and related quantities for molecular hydrogen

Abstract A priori theoretical results are combined with the results of measurements of the magnetic susceptibility, the magnetic anisotropy and the high frequency part of the magnetic susceptibility of H 2 and D 2 to give the most accurate set of these quantities available.
Induction of mammary gland differentiation in transgenic mice by the fatty acid binding protein MRG

A mammary-derived growth inhibitor-related gene (MRG) was previously identified and characterized. MRG induces differentiation of mammary epithelial cells in vitro and its expression is associated with mammary differentiation. To further define the role of MRG on mammary gland differentiation, a MRG transgenic mice model under the control of mouse mammary tumor virus promoter was established and the effect of MRG on mammary gland differentiation was investigated at histological and molecular levels. Expression of endogenous mouse MRG gene was significantly increased from the non-differentiated gland of control virgin mice to the functionally differentiated gland of pregnant control mice. Whole mount analyses demonstrated that ductal development was not affected by MRG transgene expression. While there was no lobuloalveolar structure in control virgin mice, expression of MRG transgene in the mammary gland resulted in the development of lobuloalveolar-like structure, which mimics the gland from early pregnancy. Consistent with the morphological change, expression of MRG also increased milk protein β-casein expression in the gland. To study the mechanism of MRG-induced mammary differentiation, we investigated the Stat5 activation in the glands from the transgenic mouse versus virgin control mouse. While activated Stat5 was expressed at the minimal level in the non-differentiated control virgin gland, a significant Stat5 phosphorylation was observed in the virgin transgenic gland. Our data indicate that MRG is a mediator of the differentiating effects of pregnancy on breast epithelium, and overexpression of MRG in young nulliparous mice can induce differentiation.
Dissociation of Prolactin-Releasing Activity from Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone in Porcine Stalk Median Eminence

The prolactin (PRL)-releasing activity of porcine stalk median eminence (pSME) was characterized by an in vivo bioassay and concomitant radioimmunoassay of plasma PRL and thyrotropin (TSH) levels. Methanol extracts of pSME stimulated PRL release in 3-day estrogen-primed rats when administered by the intracarotid route in doses ranging from 0.1 to 2.0 pSME equivalents. Synthetic thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulated the release of PRL and TSH in the dose range of 10 to 300 ng. PRL release was greater in response to a maximally effective dose of pSME than the release elicited by a maximal dose of TRH, and pSME administered together with a greater than maximally effective dose of TRH caused additional PRL but not TSH secretion. Lysine vasopressin and prostaglandin E1 and E2 stimulated PRL release only at doses several orders of magnitude greater than the dose present in pSME. Somatostatin inhibited the release of TSH but not that of PRL whether the stimulus employed was pSME or TRH. The effective in...
A delivery room-focused education and deliberate practice can improve pediatric resident resuscitation training.

A delivery room-focused education and deliberate practice can improve pediatric resident resuscitation training