cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Genome-wide RNA structurome reprogramming by acute heat shock globally regulates mRNA abundance

The heat shock response is crucial for organism survival in natural environments. RNA structure is known to influence numerous processes related to gene expression, but there have been few studies on the global RNA structurome as it prevails in vivo. Moreover, how heat shock rapidly affects RNA structure genome-wide in living systems remains unknown. We report here in vivo heat-regulated RNA structuromes. We applied Structure-seq chemical [dimethyl sulfate (DMS)] structure probing to rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings with and without 10 min of 42 °C heat shock and obtained structural data on >14,000 mRNAs. We show that RNA secondary structure broadly regulates gene expression in response to heat shock in this essential crop species. Our results indicate significant heat-induced elevation of DMS reactivity in the global transcriptome, revealing RNA unfolding over this biological temperature range. Our parallel Ribo-seq analysis provides no evidence for a correlation between RNA unfolding and heat-induced changes in translation, in contrast to the paradigm established in prokaryotes, wherein melting of RNA thermometers promotes translation. Instead, we find that heat-induced DMS reactivity increases correlate with significant decreases in transcript abundance, as quantified from an RNA-seq time course, indicating that mRNA unfolding promotes transcript degradation. The mechanistic basis for this outcome appears to be mRNA unfolding at both 5′ and 3′-UTRs that facilitates access to the RNA degradation machinery. Our results thus reveal unexpected paradigms governing RNA structural changes and the eukaryotic RNA life cycle.
Forest Products and Energy

Wood fuels, or energy derived from forest products, are an important contributor to renewable energy supply worldwide. In developing countries, the household sector is the largest consumer of wood fuels. In many developing countries, total consumption of wood fuels is increasing but with a declining fractional share of wood fuels in total national energy supply. Of course, substantial regional and subregional differences exist. In the developed world, industrial consumption of wood fuels has mostly replaced traditional household wood fuel use. The pulp and paper industry is largely responsible for this development through its use of chemical pulping processes. The pulp and paper industry is one of the most energy-intensive manufacturing industries. Over the past half-century, it has gone from primarily purchasing the process energy required to produce pulp and paper toward self-generation from wood fuels often more than half of its energy needs. Now in the beginning of the twenty-first century, some paper companies are even net energy exporters, primarily due to cogeneration capabilities. Continued transition to self-generation of energy contains important implications for material use in the industry and is influenced by economic, organizational, and technological issues. Consequently, an in-depth analysis of the pulp and paper industry is warranted to understand the prospects for a continued increase in the share of energy supplied from forest products in developed countries.
Parallel pumping of spin waves in a ferromagnet revisited

Abstract A consistent theory of parametric resonance of spin-wave pairs in a ferromagnetically ordered system is developed for the case of parallel pumping. Exact equations for critical amplitudes at different frequencies of the pump field are obtained in the resonance approximation. The critical amplitudes for multiple frequencies of the pump field are calculated.
The LipoGlo reporter system for sensitive and specific monitoring of atherogenic lipoproteins

Apolipoprotein-B (ApoB) is the structural component of atherogenic lipoproteins, lipid-rich particles that drive atherosclerosis by accumulating in the vascular wall. As atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, there is an urgent need to develop new strategies to prevent lipoproteins from causing vascular damage. Here we report the LipoGlo system, which uses a luciferase enzyme (NanoLuc) fused to ApoB to monitor several key determinants of lipoprotein atherogenicity including particle abundance, size, and localization. Using LipoGlo, we comprehensively characterize the lipoprotein profile of individual larval zebrafish and collect images of atherogenic lipoprotein localization in an intact organism. We report multiple extravascular lipoprotein localization patterns, as well as identify Pla2g12b as a potent regulator of lipoprotein size. ApoB-fusion proteins thus represent a sensitive and specific approach to study atherogenic lipoproteins and their genetic and small molecule modifiers.
Can compassion focused therapy enhance dual recovery for veterans

In our clinical work with veterans experiencing serious mental illness and substance use disorders, we noticed specific challenges not commonly addressed with traditional dual recovery group therapy-including having overactive threat systems and feelings of shame and self-criticism. For a program development project at our Veterans Affairs Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center, we designed and implemented a group therapy program based on Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), a therapeutic model that directly addresses the aforementioned challenges (Gilbert, 2009b). Results from pre- and post-intervention measures suggested veterans gained compassion and mindfulness skills and experienced reduced depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Evaluation of electrophoretic mobility shift assay as a method to determine plasma protein binding of siRNA

Aim: The electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was evaluated as an alternative to ultrafiltration (UF) to assess plasma protein binding (PPB) of small interfering RNAs (siRNA) and antisense o...
Efficacy of Proteasome Inhibitor-Based Maintenance Post Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplant in Multiple Myeloma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) followed by maintenance therapy is the current standard of care in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). Lenalidomide (Len) is most commonly utilized as maintenance therapy as it has been shown to improve both progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). However, long-term maintenance therapy with Len is associated with development of secondary primary malignancies (SPM). Proteasome-inhibitor (PI)-based maintenance strategies have been evaluated in several phase III trials and also appear to yield survival benefits in MM. Methods We performed a comprehensive search of the medical literature using PubMed/Medline and EMBASE on September 11, 2019. We extracted data on clinical outcomes related to benefits (OS, PFS and deepening of hematologic response [DOHR]) and harms (SPM), independently by two authors. Our search strategy identified total of 2144 references. Three studies (5 manuscripts) were included in this systematic review (Figure 1). Results Median age for patients receiving PI maintenance after AHCT ranged from 25 to 65 years. All patients underwent an AHCT with melphalan 200mg/m2 prior to initiation of PI maintenance. Also, 70% of patients received a PI-containing induction regimen. 513 patients received bortezomib maintenance and 395 patients received ixazomib. The control arm in these studies was either placebo (n=261) or thalidomide (n=597). PI maintenance did not improve OS (n=2 studies, 1012 patients, hazard ratio [HR] 0.88, 95% CI 0.73-0.105, p=0.15) but improved PFS (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.67-0.85, p= Conclusions The results of our systematic review show that PI-based maintenance following AHCT in MM leads to significant improvement in PFS and DOHR without an increase in development of SPM compared to placebo/non-PI maintenance. Prospective randomized phase III trials comparing Len to PI-based maintenance is an interesting question that remains unanswered.
Morice’s Peers: The Early British Separate Traders

Here Mitchell turns to the Royal African Company’s (RAC) successful campaign in the 1680s against separate traders—illegal English competitors in the African trade—followed by the separate traders’ political counterattack, resulting in the revocation of its monopoly in 1698. Arguing that this victory merely gave the separate traders the opportunity to supplant the Royal African Company, rather than making it inevitable that they would, Mitchell then carries out a statistical study of the 985 individual British investors in the transatlantic slave trade between 1698 and 1732, finding that the bulk of slave-trading activity during this period was the work of 61 knowledgeable, well-capitalized, and socially interconnected investors.
Association between surgical volume and mortality in infants after total anomalous pulmonary venous repair.

Background: In some congenital heart lesions, higher institutional surgical volume has been associated with better survival than lower volume centers. The relationship between institutional surgical volume and mortality in infants after total anomalous pulmonary vein return …
Pitch, Timbre and Intensity Interdependently Modulate Neural Responses to Salient Sounds

As we listen to everyday sounds, auditory perception is heavily shaped by interactions between acoustic attributes such as pitch, timbre and intensity; though it is not clear how such interactions affect judgments of acoustic salience in dynamic soundscapes. Salience perception is believed to rely on an internal brain model that tracks the evolution of acoustic characteristics of a scene and flags events that do not fit this model as salient. The current study explores how the interdependency between attributes of dynamic scenes affects the neural representation of this internal model and shapes encoding of salient events. Specifically, the study examines how deviations along combinations of acoustic attributes interact to modulate brain responses, and subsequently guide perception of certain sound events as salient given their context. Human volunteers have their attention focused on a visual task and ignore acoustic melodies playing in the background while their brain activity using electroencephalography is recorded. Ambient sounds consist of musical melodies with probabilistically-varying acoustic attributes. Salient notes embedded in these scenes deviate from the melody's statistical distribution along pitch, timbre and/or intensity. Recordings of brain responses to salient notes reveal that neural power in response to the melodic rhythm as well as cross-trial phase alignment in the theta band are modulated by degree of salience of the notes, estimated across all acoustic attributes given their probabilistic context. These neural nonlinear effects across attributes strongly parallel behavioral nonlinear interactions observed in perceptual judgments of auditory salience using similar dynamic melodies; suggesting a neural underpinning of nonlinear interactions that underlie salience perception.
Evolution of Saturn’s north polar color and cloud structure between 2012 and 2017 inferred from Cassini VIMS and ISS observations

Abstract Cassini/ISS imagery and Cassini/VIMS spectral imaging observations from 0.35 to 5.12 μ m show that Saturn’s north polar region (70 ° –90 ° N) evolved significantly between 2012 and 2017, with the region poleward of the hexagon changing from dark blue/green to a moderately brighter gold color, except for the inner eye region (88.2 ° –90 ° N), which remained relatively unchanged. These and even more dramatic near-IR changes can be reproduced by an aerosol model of four compact layers consisting of a stratospheric haze at an effective pressure near 50 mbar, a deeper haze of putative diphosphine particles typically near 300 mbar, an ammonia cloud layer with a base pressure between 0.4 bar and 1.3 bar, and a deeper cloud of a possible mix of NH 4 SH and water ice particles within the 2.7 to 4.5 bar region. Between the eye and the hexagon boundary near 75 ° N were many small discrete bright cloud features that VIMS spectra indicate have increased opacity in the ammonia cloud layer. Our analysis of the background clouds between the discrete features shows that between 2013 and 2016 the effective pressures of most layers changed very little, except for the ammonia ice layer, which decreased from about 1 bar to 0.4 bar near the edge of the eye, but increased to 1 bar inside the eye. Inside the hexagon there were large increases in optical depth, by up to a factor of 10 near the eye for the putative diphosphine layer and by a factor of four over most of the hexagon interior. Inside the eye, aerosol optical depths were very low, suggesting downwelling motions. The high contrast between eye and surroundings in 2016 was due to substantial increases in optical depths outside the eye. The color change from blue/green to gold inside most of the hexagon region can be explained in our model almost entirely by changes in the stratospheric haze, which increased between 2013 and 2016 by a factor of four in optical depth and by almost a factor of three in the short-wavelength peak of its wavelength-dependent imaginary index. A plausible mechanism for increasing aerosol opacity with time is the action of photochemistry as the north polar region became increasingly exposed to solar UV radiation. For 2013 we found an ammonia mixing ratio of about 50 × 1 0 − 6 in the depleted region between 4 bars and the NH 3 condensation level ( ∼ 1 bar), but the NH 3 results for 2016 are unclear due to very high retrieval uncertainties associated with increased aerosol opacity. We retrieved a deep abundance of about 5 × 1 0 − 6 for PH 3 and a pressure breakpoint (where the PH 3 abundance begins to decline with altitude) that coincided with the main cloud top near 300 mbar, except when that cloud opacity was very low, at which point the PH 3 breakpoint pressure generally increased substantially, consistent with prior suggestions that the cloud layers shield PH 3 from destruction by UV radiation above the clouds. We found an average AsH 3 mixing ratio of 2 × 1 0 − 9 with some evidence for a decline with altitude above the main cloud layer.
Understanding the Racialized Breastfeeding Experiences Among Black Millennials.

Introduction: The World Health Organization recommends 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding for infants. Racial disparities exist, where only 27.9% of black women exclusively breastfeed at 6 months ...
An Underlying Pathological Factor in Pancreatic Cancer and Diabetic Retinopathy: A High-level Over-expression of N-and O-glycan Glycosyltransferases in Pancreatic Tumors and Diabetic Neutrophils

Diabetes is a widely existing disease in patients at risk of pancreatic cancer. It originates from pancreatic endocrine gland whereas pancreatic cancer develops from exocrine glands. Leukocyte cell surface glycans are involved in leukocyte-endothelial cell adherence and retinal endothelial cell death in diabetic retinopathy. A stimulation of hexosamine biosynthesis pathway occurs in diabetes and in pancreatic cancer controlled by oncogene KRAS variant. The present study found a significant elevation of \(\alpha\)1-3 and \(\alpha\)1-4fucosyltransferase activities in pancreatic cancer serum. We examined 5 pancreatic non-tumor and 14 pancreatic tumor tissue specimens for quantitative changes in glycosyltransferse (GTs) activities in pancreatic tumorigenesis by following the incorporation of 14C or 3H monosaccharide (CPM) from 14C or 3H monosaccharide donors into specific acceptor catalyzed by 1 mg protein of TritonX-100 solubilized tissue extract. As compared to pancreatic non-tumor tissue specimens with a very low level of GTs activities, pancreatic tumor specimens on average contained 26.0, 42.9, 331.7, 121.0 and 62.8-fold of \(\alpha\)1-2, \(\alpha\)1-3, \(\alpha\)1-4, \(\alpha\)1-6 FTs and FT VI activities respectively. The major sialyltransferase \(\alpha\)2-3 (O)ST and sialomucin glycoproteins increased 95.4 and 4.0-fold; N-glycan \(\alpha\)Man: \(\beta\)1-2GlcNAc-T, chain elongating \(\beta\)Gal: \(\beta\)1-3 GlcNAc-T and N-glycan GalNAc capping \(\beta\)1-3/1-4 GalNAc-T were respectively 95.0, 2.7 and 14.8-fold and the mRNAs of FUT-4, \(\beta\)1-3 and \(\beta\)1-4 GalNAc-Ts were 8.3, 12.0 and 2.4-fold respectively. The increase in activity in neutrophils of retinopathy vs. normal was: \(\beta\)1-2- GlcNAc-T (9.0 fold), \(\beta\)1-3-GlcNAc-T (2.5), \(\alpha\)1-3- FT (3.5), \(\alpha\)1-6-FT (3.3), FTVII (1.9), \(\alpha\)GalNAc: \(\beta\)1-3-GalT (1.4), \(\beta\)GlcNAc: \(\beta\)1-4-Gal-T (2.1), \(\alpha\)2-3-(O)ST (2.1), \(\alpha\)2-3-(N)ST (4.5), \(\alpha\)2-6-(N)ST (8.1). GalNAc replacing Gal in LacNAc terminals results in changes of glycosyltransferase specificities and the modified GalNAc \(\beta\)1-4GlcNAc by FTs and STs bind to lectins such as WGA and SNA. In contrast to a low-level expression-difference of glycosyltransferases between tumor and non-tumor specimens from stomach, prostate and colon, a multifold increase in GTs in pancreatic tumor would indicate their significant role in invasion and intractability of pancreatic cancer. The high-level GT activities in diabetic neutrophils could contribute to the alterations in cell-cell interactions in diabetic retinopathy.
Changes in Schedule II oral opioid volume dispensed in a private health plan following Florida’s Acute Pain Opioid Restriction Law

BACKGROUND: Florida's House Bill 21 (HB21), implemented into law on July 1, 2018, limited opioid prescriptions for acute pain to a 3-day supply. While the law has been associated with a decrease in opioid prescribing for acute pain, its effect on opioid volume dispensed at the plan level remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of HB21 on the total volume dispensed of oral Schedule II opioids. We evaluated the change from before to after the law's implementation in (1) total number of opioid units dispensed per month and (2) total morphine milligram equivalent (MMEs) dispensed per month. METHODS: Pharmacy claims from July 2017 to June 2019 were analyzed from a private health plan serving a large Florida employer. We summed the number of units and the total MMEs dispensed for each month per 1,000 enrollees. Units were defined as the total quantity of tablets/capsules dispensed for each Schedule II oral opioid prescription. We used interrupted time series (ITS) models, accounting for autocorrelation, to determine any immediate change after the policy implementation and to estimate trends before and after the policy. RESULTS: We identified 16,226 prescriptions of oral Scheduled II opioids dispensed to 6,315 enrollees over a 2-year period. The HB21 law was associated with an immediate but not statistically significant decrease of 110.25 units dispensed per 1,000 enrollees in the month after implementation (95% CI: -218.84, -1.67; P = 0.06). There was an immediate but not statistically significant decrease of 1,456.29 MMEs dispensed per 1,000 enrollees following HB21 implementation (95% CI: -2,983.87, 71.29; P = 0.07). There were no significant changes in the slopes of the trends for total number of opioid units and total MMEs dispensed after HB21. CONCLUSIONS: Despite substantial lower quantities, there were no significant immediate reductions in total opioid units and MMEs dispensed in the year following the implementation of HB21. Our findings can inform other health plans on the potential effect of such restrictive laws and policies in other states where preexisting declining trends might have a higher impact than restriction policies. Future studies are needed to evaluate long-term intended and unintended consequences, including effects on patients' access to care, resulting from this type of restrictive law. DISCLOSURES: No outside funding supported this study. The authors report no conflicts of interest. Preliminary results of this study were presented at the Virtual ISPOR 2020 Conference held May 18-20, 2020.
The Bifurcations of the Langmuir Orbit in the Two-Electron Atom

The two-electron atom is an excellent example of a dynamical system having more than two-degrees of freedom [1]. This system is composed of three particles; two electrons and a nucleus. The particles interact via the simple coulombic force and the potential energy of the system is written as a sum of three two-body interactions. The Hamiltonian is homogeneous in both the coordinates and the momenta, and as a consequence, one can introduce energy-scaled variables and transform the Hamiltonian into an energy independent form. Thus, this system depends only on a single parameter, the charge of the nucleus Z. Despite the seeming simplicity of this system, it remains one of the most challenging unsolved problems in the study of dynamical systems.
TH-AB-201-05: Sensitivity of the Diagnostic Radiological Index of Protection (DRIP) to the Scatter Spectrum in Fluoroscopy

Purpose: To evaluate the sensitivity of the Diagnostic Radiological Index of Protection (DRIP) to procedural factors in order to determine the feasibility of defining a single achievable beam quality to measure DRIP. Methods: Monte Carlo simulations were performed to determine the shapes of scattered X-ray spectra incident on the operator in different clinical scenarios. Spectra were generated using primary spectra from Spektr as source terms with technique factors determined from measured automatic exposure control (AEC) curves. Fluoroscopist and patient were simulated as right elliptical cylinders of ICRU 44 tissue. Energy fluence per exposure (ψ/X) and areal density of elemental attenuators required to reduce beam intensity by 6 HVL were used to quantify changes in spectra. Results: Results for ψ/X mirrored those for areal density. Projections of the same laterality as operator position resulted in higher ψ/X, while little difference was observed for changing craniocaudal angle. ψ/X increased steeply with increasing kV and added filtration, increasing by 125% from 60 to 120 kV and by 46% from 0.0 to 1.0 mm of copper at 80 kV. Differences were noted depending on operator position and projection, these differences were larger for lower beam qualities. Patient size affected ψ/X mainly through changes in kV and filtration triggered by AEC. Consequently, the highest values of ψ/X were observed for pediatric cardiology procedures and the lowest for adult abdominal interventions. In many circumstances barium was a better attenuator than lead. The areal density of barium required to reduce the scattered beam by 6 HVL varied by a factor of two across the range of scenarios simulated. Conclusions: Procedural factors must be considered in the specification of beam qualities used to measure the DRIP. kV has the strongest influence on ψ/X and this effect is manifested in many ways through the action of the AEC system.
Impact of PhD training on scholarship in a neurosurgical career.

Object The purpose of this study was to report the prevalence of neurosurgeons with both medical degrees (MDs) and doctorates (PhDs) at top-ranked US academic institutions and to assess whether the additional doctorate education is associated with substantive career involvement in academia as well as greater success in procuring National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding compared with an MD-only degree. Methods The authors reviewed the training of neurosurgeons across the top 10 neurosurgery departments chosen according to academic impact (h index) to examine whether MD-PhD training correlated significantly with career outcomes in academia. Results Six hundred thirteen neurosurgery graduates and residents between the years 1990 and 2012 were identified for inclusion in this analysis. Both MD and PhD degrees were held by 121 neurosurgeons (19.7%), and an MD alone was held by 492. Over the past 2 decades, MD-PhD trainees represented a gradually increasing percentage of neurosurgeons, from 10.2% to...
Use of lipid vesicles as carriers to introduce actinomycin D into resistant tumor cells.

Summary Unilamellar lipid vesicles have been used as a carrier vehicle to enhance the uptake of actinomycin D into an actinomycin D-resistant Chinese hamster tumor cell line (DC-3F/ADX). The DC-3F/ADX cell line is resistant to actinomycin D as a result of its decreased capacity to transport actinomycin D across the plasma membrane and is able to grow in the presence of concentrations of actinomycin D that are cytotoxic for the sensitive parent cell line (DC-3F). Incubation of resistant DC-3F/ADX cells with actinomycin D-containing vesicles produced a 5-fold increase in intracellular drug concentration over that achieved by exposure to identical concentrations of the drug added to the culture medium. Vesicle-mediated uptake of actinomycin D into resistant cells produced inhibition of cellular RNA synthesis and cell growth at actinomycin D concentrations that had no inhibitory effect when added as free drug in the culture medium. Dose-response measurements established that direct introduction of actinomycin D into resistant cells by means of lipid vesicles resulted in a 200-fold reduction in the concentration of actinomycin D required to inhibit cellular RNA synthesis and a 120-fold reduction in the dose of actinomycin D required to produce a 50% inhibition of cell growth. These results lend strong support to the hypothesis that cellular resistance to actinomycin D is due to a lower capacity to take up actinomycin D as a result of a reduction in the permeability of the cellular plasma membrane to this drug. The potential value of lipid vesicles for introducing other classes of drugs into cultured cells and their possible use in chemotherapy are also discussed.
Eigenvalues of Ramanujan Graphs

The adjacency matrix of a (directed or undirected) finite graph X is a square matrix A = A X with rows and columns parametrized by the vertices of X such that the xy entry of A records the number of edges from the vertex x to the vertex y. It may be regarded as a linear operator on the space of functions on vertices of X which sends a function f to Af whose value at a vertex x is given by $$(Af)(x) = \sum\limits_{y} {f(y),}$$ where y runs through all ending points of the edges starting from x. The eigenvalues of A are called the eigenvalues of X. Call X a k-regular graph if at every vertex of X there are k edges going out and k edges coming in. If X is undirected and k-regular, then the eigenvalues of X are real and bounded between k and -k. The multiplicity of k as an eigenvalue of X is equal to the number of connected components of X, and -k is an eigenvalue if and only if X is a bipartite graph. In general, the eigenvalues λ i of X provide lots of information about the graph G. An eigenvalue of X with absolute value k is called a trivial eigenvalue, we are interested in the nontrivial eigenvalues. For this matter, define $$\lambda = \lambda (X){{ = }_{{\lambda i}}}\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {\max } \\ {nontrivial} \\ \end{array} |{{\lambda }_{i}}|.$$ Assume X connected. It turns out that the smaller λ(X) is, the larger the magnifying constant X has, and hence the more ”expanding” X is. It is also known that the smaller λ(X) is, the smaller the diameter of X is. In the case that X represents a communication network, the transmission efficiency is measured by the magnifying constant, and the transmission delay is measured by the diameter. Thus regular graphs with small λ have important applications in communication networks and in computer science.
Legal aspects of a cyber immune system

The malicious and criminal attacks against individuals, businesses, and nations on the Internet and in cyberspace must be mitigated in order to protect citizens and nations. One cyber security vision is the cyber immune system. Such a system would include automatic defense mechanisms based on incomplete attribution, continuous monitoring, pattern recognition, and the application of a set of rules designed to isolate or destroy the abnormal actor, or attacker. The cyber immune system would operate at a distributed level, at the speed necessary to thwart constant and ever changing threats. From a legal perspective, it matters if a state or private entity applies the system. For example, if a state actor is involved, then due process, and the protection of fundamental rights such as privacy and speech, are relevant to the action taken, while if a private entity applies the cyber defense then relevant legal issues include property, contract, and regulatory limits. While the automated nature of a cyber defense may present legal challenges to both state and non-state actors, it may mitigate the legal ramifications of human decision making if the system of rules is carefully crafted.
Religious and secular death: a parting of the ways.

Most organized religions have indicated a level of support for organ donation including the diagnosis of death by the brain criterion. Organ donation is seen as a gift of love and fits within a communitarian ethos that most religions embrace. The acceptance of the determination of death by the brain criterion, where it has been explained, is reconciled with religious views of soul and body by using a notion of integration. Because the soul may be seen as that which integrates the human body, in the absence of any other signs of human functioning, loss of integration is considered to be an indication that soul and body have separated. To some extent this view would seem to be informed by an Aristotelian notion of the soul, but it fits well enough with religious notions of the person continuing after death. There have been several developments internationally that indicate that the acceptance of so-called ‘brain death’ by organized religions has been challenged by new developments including the acceptance of a lesser standard than loss of all brain function and a rejection by the US President's Council on Bioethics of the notion of loss of integration as an explanation of death by the brain criterion.
Clinical outcome and pharmacokinetics after addition of low-dose cyclosporine to methotrexate: a case study of five patients with treatment-resistant inflammatory bowel disease.

Introduction: This study reports the clinical outcome, toxicity, and methotrexate pharmacokinetics after the addition of low-dose cyclosporine to methotrexate in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. Methods: Three patients with steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis and two patients with steroid refractory Crohn's disease who failed monotherapy with subcutaneous methotrexate 25 mg/week for 16 weeks were treated with the combination of methotrexate and low-dose oral cyclosporine (3 mg/kg/day) for an additional 16 weeks. Clinical response was measured with the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) score. Concentrations of erythrocyte methotrexate, plasma methotrexate, and plasma 7-hydroxymethotrexate were also determined. Results: Both patients with Crohn's disease withdrew from the study for toxicity (headaches, seizure). The three patients with ulcerative colitis experienced clinical improvement with a mean increase in the IBDQ score from 164 to 190 points, p = 0.01. The mean serum creatinine in the three patients who completed the study increased from 0.9 mg/dL at baseline to 1.2 mg/dL at week 16, p = 0.04. One patient developed hypertension. There was no significant change from baseline in the concentrations of erythrocyte methotrexate, plasma methotrexate, and plasma 7-hydroxymethotrexate. Conclusions: Combination therapy with methotrexate and low-dose oral cyclosporine did not alter methotrexate pharmacokinetics and resulted in high rates of cyclosporine-associated toxicity.
Images of the Jewish community in medieval Iberia

For medieval Jewish intellectuals, the term “Sephardi” denoted more than just a geographic association. It was meant to assert their membership in an elite cultural community distinguished from the rest of the Jewish world. Contrary to this notion of an identifiable and cohesive Sephardi society presented by medieval rabbinic literature, recent studies have yielded a competing image of the organization and boundaries of the Hispano‐Jewish community. Archival sources reveal the Jews of Christian Iberia to have formed a highly ramified society in which individuals were as much motivated by their pursuit of power, social stature, and economic opportunities as by religious affiliation. This paper will attempt to bridge the gap between these disparate portraits of Hispano‐Jewish society, and discuss the way in which Iberian Jews created a variety of communal rubrics, both real and imagined.
A logging method for estimating permeability, velocity of second compressional wave, and electroacoustic constant in electrolyte-saturated porous formations

Abstract A new algorithm is suggested for joint calculation of three key parameters of reservoir rocks: permeability, electroacoustic constant, and velocity of second bulk compressional wave (slow wave). The algorithm is advantageous in the use of Stoneley waves which are most stable in acoustoelectric log waveform data.
EventWeb: Developing a Human-Centered Computing System

Dealing with emerging applications of computing requires taking a fresh look at our tools. EventWeb is a human-centered computing system that will give users a compelling experience by combining quality content, carefully planned data organization and access mechanisms, and powerful presentation approaches.
Stability and performance improvement of extremum seeking control with sliding mode

Extremum seeking control is an adaptive control strategy for a system to iteratively extremize a function in real-time. In this paper we investigate stability and performance improvement by using sliding mode concepts in extremum seeking controllers.
Evidence for heterogeneous origin of glomerular basement membrane

Summary Isolated rat renal glomeruli were incubated with 14C-lysine, and the basement membranes obtained after sonic disruption were analyzed by molecular sieve chromatography following denaturation and reduction. Post-incubational use of proteolytic inhibitors prevented generation of artefactual components. Multiple peaks of 14C-peptides with apparent molecular weights from 〈 30,000 to 〉 300,000 were identified. Hydroxy-14C-lysine content of these peptides varied from 5 to 50 percent. The findings suggest that some of the collagen-like protein in glomerular basement membrane occurs in sequences of varying length which represent distinct subunits.
Surface Structure of Cottage Cheese Curd by Electron Microscopy

Abstract A current hypothesis is that a relatively impervious skin forms around curd particles of cottage cheese during healing and cooking. Comparisons were by both scanning and transmission electron microscopy of the surface and internal structures of small curd cottage cheese made commercially by the culture set method and on a laboratory scale by the direct acid set method. The photographic evidence, which is consistent with hundreds of visual scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy examinations, does not support the conclusion that a skin or similar impervious film forms around cottage cheese curd particles when conventional manufacturing procedures are used. However, an extreme heat treatment (1h at 70C) formed a surface skin. When typical cooking treatments are used, firming of the curd during healing and cooking is not attributable to formation of a skin at the curd surface. In modeling mass transport processes within cottage cheese curd, the curd should be treated as a uniform porous mass, not a particle surrounded by a relatively impervious skin.
Sex‐ and age‐related changes in the biophysical properties of cuticular lipids of the housefly, Musca domestica

We examined the biophysical properties of cuticular lipids isolated from the housefly, Musca domestica. Melting temperatures (Tm) of surface lipids isolated from female houseflies decreased from 39.3 degrees C to 35.3 degrees C as the females attained sexual maturity and produced sex pheromone, whereas those prepared from males did not change with age. Lipids melted over a 10-25 degrees C temperature range, and their physical properties were a complex function of the properties of the component lipids. The Tm of total cuticular lipids was slightly below that of cuticular hydrocarbons (HC), the predominant lipid fraction. Hydrocarbons were further fractionated into saturated, unsaturated, and methyl-branched components. The order of decreasing Tm was total alkanes > total HCs > methyl-branched alkanes > alkenes. For 1-day-old flies, measured TmS of hydrocarbons were 1.3-5.5 degrees C lower than TmS calculated from a weighted average of TmS for saturated and unsaturated components. For 4-day-old flies, calculated TmS underestimated Tm by 11-14 degrees C.
Organizational modifications to support JIT implementation in manufacturing and service operations

This study investigates JIT implementation practices and performance in manufacturing and service organizations in the US. Literature related to JIT usage and performance in both sectors is reviewed. A field study is then conducted to investigate the actual implementation experiences of a selected group of service and manufacturing users of JIT. Our findings from the literature and the field study are used to develop four research hypotheses that are tested using survey data from 130 manufacturing and 61 service firms. Manufacturing and service firms that had engaged in modifications such as operator and management training and improving linkages with suppliers prior to implementing their JIT systems experienced less implementation problems and achieved higher levels of success than firms that placed less emphasis on these modifications. This paper details and discusses these and other results from our study. In addition, managerial implications of our findings are presented.
Dynamic in situ high voltage electron microscopy studies of tensile cracks in thin stainless steel films

Abstract The results of in situ straining of many thin micro-tensile specimens in a high voltage electron microscope provide both an overview and microstructural details of propagating cracks in 304 stainless steel. Sequences of highly magnified views of the crack tip show it to be a highly plastic region. Voids form in advance of the crack tip in most instances and these voids form crack precursors which link up with the crack tip to advance it. Sequences of electron micrographs of crack advance at magnifications ranging from 60x to 30 000x illustrate the process as one of crack growth, void (hole) growth and coalescence, crack growth etc. Plastic deformation associated with crack advance and fracture is highly localized within individual grains or grain portions (the grain size of the material was 15 μm). The crack-tip region and the edges of cracks are observed to have been partly or mostly transformed to α'-martensite (b.c.c.). Consequently, a propagating crack in 304 stainless steel creates a localized magnetic region as it propagates.
Associated factors, timing, and technical aspects of late failure following open surgical aneurysm repairs

Objective In contrast to endovascular repair (EVAR), the absence of rigorous imaging follow-up after open surgical repair (OSR) has rendered the perception that late failure (LF) is rare. Better understanding of associated factors with LF will help define OSR follow-up paradigms and perhaps alter initial repair strategy to facilitate treatment of LF. The aim of this study is to evaluate aspects of LF requiring intervention after OSR. Methods From 1998 to 2008, data were collected prospectively on 1097 patients who underwent an aortic endovascular repair. Patients undergoing intervention for LF contiguous with prior OSR were subjected to further analysis. The indication for reintervention was a maximal diameter >60 mm. Univariable and multivariable linear regression models were used to compare patients and disease variables (18 variables regarding age, comorbidities, family history, etiology, and extent) with time to LF. Results LF of open surgical aneurysm repair was identified in 104 (9.5%) patients. Mean aneurysm diameter was 72 ± 12 mm. Mean age at first repair and time between the two repairs were 61.4 ± 10.0 and 10.8 ± 6.0 years, respectively. When compared with the 993 other patients whose EVAR was their primary repair, LF patients were significantly younger at the time of their first repair (61.4 ± 10.0 vs 74.1 ± 9.6 years; P P = .001). They were also more likely to have presented with dissection, renal insufficiency, and manifestations of atherosclerosis. On multivariable analysis, patients with an initial incomplete OSR (aneurysm located in another aortic segment but not treated at the time of the primary repair), more extensive aneurysms (those involving the descending thoracic or the thoracoabdominal aorta), and older patients experienced earlier LF ( P Conclusion Aneurysmal disease is an ongoing process potentially involving the entire aorta. Segments that appear normal prior to OSR of EVAR may be vulnerable to LF. We identified several groups of patients following OSR who mandate more aggressive follow-up given their propensity to present with LF. The threshold and strategies guiding reintervention in the setting of LF is dependent upon many factors relating to the structure and the morphology of the aorta and implanted graft, the type of anastomosis, and patient comorbidities. Therefore, surgeons should consider LF treatment options when planning an aneurysm repair in an effort to optimize any later interventions, and have specifically tailored follow-up paradigms.
Transitive Majority Rule and the Theorem of the Alternative

In this paper the theorem of the alternative is used to show the equivalence between transitive majority rule and the problem of finding positive solutions to a certain set of linear inequalities. A system of linear inequalities is derived whose possession of a strictly positive solution for every triple of alternatives is both necessary and sufficient for the transitivity of majority rule. The consequence of this is that we can consider not only restrictions on admissible individual preference patterns but also restrictions on the distribution of votes over these patterns to ensure transitivity.
Unidirectional solidification behavior in refractory oxide-metal systems

Abstract Eutectic growth has been observed in a number of refractory oxide-metal systems. During controlled solidification of UO 2 ·W mixtures, structures consisting of tungsten fibers uniformly embedded in the oxide matrix are formed. Tungsten fiber diameters between 0.3 and 1.0 μm and densities between 4 and 25 million per cm 2 have been obtained. Scanning electron micrographs of the various UO 2 W composite structures, after selective chemical etching to expose the metallic fibers, are employed to analyze the structures. A preliminary interpretation of the solidification process leading to the different UO 2 W microstructures is presented using the starting oxide-metal ratio, a proposed phase diagram and growth parameters.
Tribal Lore in Present‐day Paleoanthropology: A Case Study

This essay critically examines ways in which cognitivist tenets function as tribal lore in the current paleoanthropological controversy over the relationship between Neandertals and modern humans. It does this through an analysis of Stringer and Gamble's characterization of the behavior of "Moderns" as "symbolic behavior," showing how their underlying conception of a symbol is muddled and nowhere substantiated. It shows further how their denigration of Neandertal behavior as mere "survival" or "imitative behavior" effectively separates the mental from the physical and reduces Neandertal behavior to a mere physical happening. The essay shows how a denial of mental evolutionary continuities protects our own "Modern" preeminence and perpetuates cherished tribal lore about ourselves. Its concluding section specifies an alternative approach to an understanding of Neandertals that does not dichotomize mind and body and thus, does not sever consciousness from its natural corporeal moorings.
Stability of a detonation wave

Abstract We derive and analyze a generalization of the square-wave model for detonation. In the square-wave model, it is assumed that each particle reacts instantaneously, after a state-dependent induction time. All of the heat release takes place in an instantaneous reaction, and absolutely no heat is released in the induction zone. In the generalization of the square-wave model, it is not assumed that all of the heat is released instantaneously, but is released gradually. From this generalized model, we are able to recover the square-wave model by performing an appropriate limiting process. The most important result coming from this generalized model is the existence of a definite value of a parameter, which determines a stability boundary.
Economic weights for milk yield traits and herd life under various economic conditions and production quotas

Abstract A linear programming model was used to derive economic weights for yield traits and herd life from a farm system under different milk markets, protein to fat price ratios, and feed costs. The model allowed optimization of the system over time, simultaneously optimizing management resource and capital allocation and optimizing future genetics of the animal. The change from fluid to manufacturing use of milk had considerable effect on the economic weights for the yield traits but little effect on the weights for herd life. The effect of changes in feed costs was greatest on the economic weights for herd life. Changes in the protein to fat price ratio had little effect on the economic weights for milk carrier yield and herd life but affected the relative magnitudes for fat and protein yields substantially. Economic weights were computed with milk carrier quota, fat quota, and milk carrier and fat quotas, assuming constant herd size and midwestern prices and costs. Economic weights for the yield traits under quota were negative. Those for herd life increased substantially under production quotas. Economic weights were also computed when enterprise rescaling was taken into account. The optimum for rescaling the enterprise depended on the economic severity of the quota system.
Inverse-degeneracy expansions for the Hubbard model

The statistical mechanics of itinerant-electron magnets, such as the transition metals, depends on the number of bands. A $\ensuremath{\nu}$-band Hubbard model is used to describe this. It is shown that Stoner theory is exact in the large-$\ensuremath{\nu}$ limit. For intermediate $\ensuremath{\nu}$, a classical (nonquantum) spin model (the static approximation) is appropriate. For small $\ensuremath{\nu}$, a quantum description of the magnetization is necessary. Two expansions about the large-$\ensuremath{\nu}$ limit are developed. In the first, useful in the ferromagnetic region, one recovers the Stoner random-phase approximation theory as the leading two terms. In the other, useful in both the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic regions, the leading term is the static approximation and the leading correction includes quantum fluctuations. This correction increases the specific heat. It also provides for an approximate Bose-type function for nonlinear spin fluctuations.
the meteorology program of the Environmental Protection Agency

Abstract The air pollution meteorology program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), administered by personnel from EPA and by personnel on assignment to EPA from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is described. The program consists of two general areas of activity: research activities aimed at defining and describing meteorological factors of prime importance to air pollution control and abatement; operational support activities which apply meteorological principles to air pollution control programs. Current research activities on air quality simulation modeling, the Regional Air Pollution Study in the St. Louis area, geophysical studies, and air pollution potential climatology are reviewed.