cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Simultaneous Quantitation of Amphetamine and 4′-Hydroxyamphetamine by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract A relatively simple HPLC procedure used to detect and quantify amphetamine and 4′-hydroxyamphetamine in rat urine has been developed. Following Bond Elut[rgrave] solid phase extraction, the two analytes—amphetamine and 4′-hydroxyamphetamine, and the two internal standards—methamphetamine and 4′-hydroxymethamphetamine were separated by HPLC using a phenyl column and detected by UV at 215 nm. The limit of quantitation for amphetamine and 4′-hydroxyamphetamine was 0.92 and 0.81 μg/ml, respectively. Based on replicated analysis of controls at 1.6, 6.5, and 16.0 μg/ml, the method is accurate (94–103% of target), and precise (% CVs of 1.3–5.2). The linear range of the assay is suitable for the quantitation of both analytes at urine concentrations that commonly result from administration of a single dose of amphetamine to the rat.
K-Ar Ages of the Volcanics in the Rattlesnake Hills, Central Wyoming

The Rattlesnake Hills of central Wyoming contain approximately 40 volcanic vents and intrusive bodies of alkalic and calc-alkalic composition in a 125-sq-mi area. Two samples, a phonolite and a rhyodacite (quartz latite), dated by the K-Ar method, yielded dates of 43.6 ± 1.0 and 44.0 ± 2.6 m.y., respectively. These dates, combined with stratigraphic evidence of Van Houten (1955) and Carey (1959), indicate a minimum time span of 5 m.y. for the Rattlesnake Hills volcanism.
Duas novas espécies de Tanaostigmodes Ashmead, 1896 (Hymenoptera, Tanaostigmatidae) obtidas de galhas de Calliandra disysantha Benht. (Leguminosae, Mimosoidea) do Brasil Central

Two new species of Tanaostigmodes were reared from galls of Calliandra disysantha from Brasilia (DF), Brazil are described and illustrated.
Tensile strength of carbon nanotubes under realistic temperature and strain rate

Strain rate and temperature dependence of the tensile strength of single-wall carbon nanotubes has been investigated with molecular dynamics simulations. The tensile failure or yield strain is found to be strongly dependent on the temperature and strain rate. A transition state theory based predictive model is developed for the tensile failure of nanotubes. Based on the parameters fitted from high-strain rate and temperature dependent molecular dynamics simulations, the model predicts that a defect free micrometer long single-wall nanotube at 300 K, stretched with a strain rate of 1%/hour, fails at about 9 plus or minus 1% tensile strain. This is in good agreement with recent experimental findings.
A Note on Public Reading in the Life of the Emperor Claudius.

(1975). A note on public reading in the life of the emperor Claudius. The Speech Teacher: Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 171-172.
Improving science return using orbit navigation analysis based on non-imaging science data and the GGS visualization tool

Planetary spacecraft orbital position and instrument pointing knowledge can be incomplete and/or inaccurate due to many operational factors. The degree of error has at times resulted in many hours of re-analysis by the science teams. NASA's Geometry and Graphics Software (GGS), an analysis tool being developed at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, provides the scientist with a standardized method to adjust the look direction knowledge based on the best fit to the science instrument data. The GGS tool locates the instrument boresight based on telemetered spacecraft knowledge and then adjusts that pointing knowledge based on the science analysis of the data obtained from the observation. This technique is similar to the C-Smithing technique (Wang, et al. 1988) which adjusts pointing knowledge based on body placement within an imaging instrument frame. The corrected geometry knowledge, in the SPICE kernel format, is then available for distribution to all mission science teams and for archiving. An example based on the Galileo Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) data from the Earth 1 encounter will be presented.
Antisense oligonucleotides are effective inhibitors of hepatitis B virus replication in vitro

Antisense oligonucleotides are currently being used in numerous laboratories as potential anticancer and antiviral agents. The unique replication cycle of hepatitis B virus (HBV) contains several different steps which are potentially amenable to modulation by these molecules. We have examined the ability of 56 different single-stranded, oligodeoxyribonucleotides (14-23 nucleotides in length), which target several HBV-specific functions, to inhibit HBV replication in the human hepatoblastoma cell line, 2.2.15. None of the oligonucleotides examined were toxic at concentrations up to 500 microM. Oligonucleotides directed against the HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) gene (S gene), the preS1 open reading frame, and the HBV core antigen (HBcAg) gene (C gene) were effective at depressing virus production, while molecules targeting the HBV e antigen (HBeAg) open reading frame and the HBV polymerase (POL) gene were ineffective. Oligonucleotides directed against the HBV encapsidation signal/structure (epsilon) comprised some of the most effective antiviral molecules against HBV. None of 5 oligonucleotides complementary (i.e., 'sense' orientation) to the antisense oligonucleotides targeting HBsAg, HBcAg, HBeAg, preS1 and POL had any measurable effect on HBV production. The relative effectiveness of oligonucleotides targeting the S and C genes on HBV replication was highly correlated with an effect on HBsAg or HBcAg levels, respectively. None of the antisense oligonucleotides examined affected either the levels or the sizes of HBV-specific RNA transcripts. Since antisense oligonucleotides can exert biologic effects on HBV in 2.2.15 cell cultures in a sequence-specific manner which are consistent with predicted modes of action, such molecules may have practical applications in the therapy of chronic HBV infection.
Optical absorption from indirect transitions in Ge at high magnetic fields

Abstract Our experiments show that the optical absorption from indirect transitions in Ge does not exhibit steps but consists of a series of absorption peaks at high magnetic fields. The measurements also indicate a strong Coulomb interaction in the absorption process.
On the coefficients of the characteristic series of the U-operator.

Abstract A conceptual proof is given of the fact that the coefficients of the characteristic series of the U-operator acting on families of overconvegent modular forms lie in the Iwasawa algebra.
Is byzantine agreement useful in a distributed database

This paper is an attempt to bridge the gap that is developing between "practitioners" and "theoreticians" with respect to the use of Byzantine Agreement protocols in distributed database systems. We present an informal overview of Byzantine Agreement and study when and how this type of protocol can be used in general-purpose database management systems. We argue that the main application of this protocol is in the distribution of input transactions to a fully replicated database system. We also argue that other database uses, such as for transaction commit, message broadcast, and object location, may be limited.
Creating Copy Specific Records for Local Databases

The importance of item specific information to online public access catalog users, as revealed by surveys and studies, is addressed. The options for attaching item specific information to bibliographic records are described: 1) conversion via a local system terminal; 2) automatic item creation from OCLC bibliographic records; or 3) custom label programs. The need for early and thorough database planning is essential.
Characterization of noble metal implant cylinders: As-received cylinders and cast interfaces with noble metal alloys

A common procedure in the fabrication of implant prostheses is the use of premade wrought cylinders in cast frameworks. Although manufacturers outline some precautions in the use of these components, detailed information about the metal interface between cylinders and cast alloys is lacking. This article, following a previous report that compared titanium-based implant cylinders used with two different classes of cast alloys, compares conventional noble metal cylinders from three different manufacturers combined with these two classes of cast noble alloys. Analysis of the as-received cylinders revealed that the implant cylinders as a group are predominantly composed of metals commonly found in noble dental alloys, namely, platinum, palladium, gold, and silver. The interfaces created by casting both high-fusing and low-fusing alloys around the cylinders exhibited a general elemental concentration variability compared with the bulk alloy regions, but continuous concentrations for shared elements suggested alloy-cylinder compatibility. Vickers hardness values, which ranged from 212 to 276 for the as-received cylinders, decreased from 12% to 43% for the various cylinders after casting. This study suggests characteristics of an ideal cast interface that include maintenance of the cylinder and casting alloy microstructures up to the interface, absence of interfacial reaction regions, lack of porosity created by volatilization of components from either alloy or the casting process, and sufficient strength to maintain anticipated loads.
Loptson on Anselm and Davis

This paper is a brief response to Peter Loptson's "Anselm and Rowe: A Reply to Davis."1 (That paper was a reply to my "Loptson on Anselm and Rowe,"2 which was a reply to Loptson's "Anselm, Meinong, and the Ontological Argument."3) I will not speak to everything Loptson says in his latest paper; let me focus on three points that constitute the crucial differences between us and that are importantly related to the soundness of Anselm's argument (the OA).4 First, Loptson doubts that the terms "Greatest Conceivable Being" (GCB) and "Greatest Possible Being" (GPB) are strictly equivalent terms it is hard at least to see how it could be established that they are equivalent, he says. Now in "Loptson on Anselm and Rowe" I argued that the terms GCB and TBTW (that being than which no greater can be conceived) are equivalent. But that argument applies equally well to the two terms GCB and GPB, so I have no objection to arguing against Loptson that these terms are also equivalent. The argument is this: If ability to conceive of oneself is a greatmaking property, then any GPB (or any TBTW) must be able to conceive of itself, i.e., must also be the GCB. The GCB, then, is necessarily a being that can conceive of itself, and the possibility Loptson raises that the greatest being is simply inconceivable (by itself or any other being) turns out not to be possible after all. Loptson is unconvinced by all this, however, and raises three objections. The first, in my opinion, is quite irrelevant to the question at hand but the second and third are worth discussing. First, Loptson expresses strong doubt that there even could be such a being as the GCB or the GPB. But how is this point so much as relevant to the claim that the concepts "GCB" and "GPB" are equivalent concepts?5 Second, Loptson wonders why we should "suppose that greatness will be very readily comparable among individuals, or possible individuals of widely differing type?" (p. 67). Now in fact, the concept of greatness does constitute something of a gap in Anselm's argument sadly, Anselm never tells us exactly what the term means. But working as it were backward, i.e. by asking what notion of greatness might be required to make the OA work, we can arrive at something useful. If we read greatness as, say, redheadedness or running speed or largeness the OA
A cautionary note on using internal cross validation to select the number of clusters

A highly popular method for examining the stability of a data clustering is to split the data into two parts, cluster the observations in Part A, assign the objects in Part B to their nearest centroid in Part A, and then independently cluster the Part B objects. One then examines how close the two partitions are (say, by the Rand measure). Another proposal is to split the data into k parts, and see how their centroids cluster. By means of synthetic data analyses, we demonstrate that these approaches fail to identify the appropriate number of clusters, particularly as sample size becomes large and the variables exhibit higher correlations.
On the causality of intraurban location

Abstract The patterns of decentralization of employment and population in American metropolitan areas are now well known to most urban economists. While much time and space has been devoted to the economic and social causes of suburbanization, understanding the nature of the process of decentralization is a prerequisite for the implementation of any government policy directed at the reversal or a slowing of the process. As Mills and Price ( J. Urban Econom. , 12 , 1–17 (1984)) suggest, an uncertainty about the root causes of decentralization prevents an enlightened discussion of the appropriateness or desirability of various types of government intervention. Simple facts and causal models may have profound effects on the directions policy makers look for in government intervention. The issue of causality lies at the heart of the process of decentralization, and causality conclusions must be scrutinized before being accepted.
Effects of kainic acid and radiofrequency lesions of the pulvinar on visual discrimination in the monkey.

Monkeys with thermocoagulation or kainic acid lesions of the pulvinar and unoperated control monkeys were tested in two tasks: pattern discrimination retention and color discrimination learning in which the stimuli were located at the response sites or were separated spatially from them (S-R separation). The monkeys with kainic acid pulvinar lesions were mildly impaired in retention of the pattern discrimination, but were unimpaired in the color discrimination tasks with or without the S-R separation. The monkeys with thermocoagulation lesions, like monkeys with superior colliculus lesions in a prior study, were severely impaired in performing one of the color discrimination tasks with S-R separation. These findings suggest that: (a) the inferior pulvinar, unlike the superior colliculus, does not contribute to the performance of discriminations involving S-R separation; and (b) corticotectal projections traversing the pulvinar and destroyed by the thermocoagulation lesions are crucial to the performance of discriminations involving S-R separation. The results of an earlier experiment also suggested that interruption of corticotectal fibers passing through the pulvinar impairs performance in another task sensitive to superior colliculus lesions -- spatial localization of light flashes. Thus, corticotectal projections may be crucial for the contribution of the colliculus to performance in a variety of visual tasks.
The Scientist-Practitioner Model in Marriage and Family Therapy Doctoral Programs: Current Status.

We discuss the status of the scientist-practitioner model in marriage and family therapy (MFT) doctoral programs. Issues discussed include a lack of faculty research role models in doctoral programs, "farming out" the majority of research courses to other disciplines, problems with curriculum, and how the culture of MFT does not support research. We also present suggestions for improving doctoral research training. The goal is to improve the quality of research training in doctoral programs. We hope that this will help change the culture of MFT to include research as one of its primary goals and greatest assets.
Passive Vibration Suppression in Truss-Type Structures with Tubular Members

A method for vibration suppression using viscous damping material has been developed for truss structures consisting of axisymmetric tubular members of circular cross section. The vibration damping scheme calls for the construction of a structural member with two or more tubes by overlapping the end portion of adjacent tubes and bonding them together by means of a thin layer of viscoelastic material. The equations of motion for a e nite length section consisting of concentric layers of an inner tube, viscous material damping layer, and outer tube are obtained using Hamilton’ s principle. Only axial motion is considered. An exact solution to the equation is obtained and used to develop the dynamic stiffness matrix for the section. A scheme has been presented to develop a super element that consists of two or more such damping sections. The super elements have then been used to model members in a truss-type structure to study the vibration suppression in the structure. The vibration suppression is studied for a range of frequencies. A parametric study has been performed to establish the effects of thickness, loss factor, and length of overlap. The study has shown that the damping effectiveness is dependent on the coupled effects of these parameters.
Solvent and electrolyte effects on Ni(PR2NR′2)2-catalyzed electrochemical oxidation of hydrogen

We report solvent and electrolyte effects on the electrocatalytic oxidation of H2 using Ni(PCy2NR′2)2 (R = Bn, tBu) complexes. A turnover frequency of 46 s−1 for Ni(PCy2NBn2)2 was obtained using 0.2 M [nBu4N][BF4] in THF. A turnover frequency of 51 s−1 was observed for Ni(PCy2NtBu2)2 using 0.2 M [nBu4N][B(C6F5)4] in fluorobenzene. These observations, in conjunction with previous studies, indicate nitrile binding inhibits catalysis supported by Ni(PCy2NBn2)2.
X-linked hyper IgM syndrome

X-linked hyper IgM syndrome is largely caused by defects in the CD40L (CD154). The patients have low levels of IgG and have difficulty with respiratory infections as well as opportunistic infections. The morbidity of this syndrome is high; however, early diagnosis and therapy should reduce morbidity and mortality.
User performance with gaze contingent multiresolutional displays

One way to economize on bandwidth in single-user head-mounted displays is to put high-resolution information only where the user is currently looking. This paper summarizes results from a series of 6 studies investigating spatial, resolutional, and temporal parameters affecting perception and performance in such eye-contingent multi-resolutional displays. Based on the results of these studies, suggestions are made for the design of eye-contingent multi-resolutional displays.
Infrared ATR: a probe for cellular activation

We employ infrared spectroscopy (IR) with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) as a sampling technique to monitor live and dried RAW cells (a murine macrophage cell line) during activation with g-interferon and lipopolysaccharide. By comparing the spectra of activated cells at various time points to the spectra of healthy control cells, we identify spectral bands associated with nucleic acids that are markers for the cell activation process. These spectral changes are slight and can be complicated with the normal metabolic changes that occur within cells. We will discuss the use of data pretreatment strategies to accurately correct for the contribution of the buffer to the live cell spectra. We find the standard background correction method inadequate for concentrated solutions of cells. Data presented shows the severe effect incorrect background subtraction has on the cell spectra. We report a more accurate correction for phosphate buffer spectral contribution using an interactive subtraction of the buffer spectrum. We will show classification of dried control and activated macrophage cell spectra using partial-least squares analysis with multiplicative scatter correction.
Deep Souths: Delta, Piedmont, and Sea Island Society in the Age of Segregation . By J. William Harris. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Pp. xii, 454. $45.00.

In Deep Souths , J. William Harris looks at three distinct regions in the American South from Reconstruction through the Great Depression. The regions are similar in that they all had majority black populations before the Civil War, with economies dominated by slave plantation agriculture. However, the economies of these regions diverged once the war was over. The Georgia sea-island culture of long-staple cotton and rice collapsed in the late 1800s, as the extremely labor-intensive work of maintaining ditches and dams could not survive a free-labor regime. The eastern Piedmont of Georgia made the conversion from plantation agriculture to sharecropping and expanded cotton production until 1920. But low cotton prices and the boll weevil crippled this economy by the beginning of the Depression. The Mississippi Delta, on the other hand, witnessed a major capital expansion as the swampy wilderness of antebellum times was converted into the South's premier cotton production center.
Effect of parabiosis on experimental uremia.

ConclusionsThese experiments demonstrated the efficiency of the peritoneal membrane as a mode of excretion in renal insufficiency. The effectiveness of the natural dialyzor provided by coelio-anastomosis suggests the feasibility of developing an artificial dialyzing mechanism.
Composition of Services for Notification in Smart Homes

Giving notifications in a timely manner is an essential service that smart home should provide. Communication of resident?s data to their doctor, health care provider or family member via email, phone call, or text message is indispensable. In order to reduce the cost, improve extendibility and reduce the developer?s burden and learning curve, we propose a service-oriented notification system. This system has different simple services which provide essential communication needs, and by composing these services with applications more sophisticated needs can also be satisfied. A detailed description and the architecture are elaborated below.
BabelRef: detection and renaming tool for cross-language program entities in dynamic web applications

In a dynamic web application, client-side code is often dynamically generated from server-side code. Client-side program entities such as HTML presentation elements and Javascript functions/variables are embedded within server-side string literals or variables' values. However, existing tools for code maintenance such as automatic renaming support only work for program entities in a single language on either the server side or the client side. In this paper, we introduce BabelRef, a novel tool that is able to automatically identify and rename client-side program entities and their references that are embedded within server-side code.
The prevalence of positive drug and alcohol screens in elderly trauma patients

ABSTRACT. Background: Alcohol and drug abuse are recognized to be significantly prevalent in trauma patients, and are frequent harbingers of injury. The incidence of substance abuse in elderly trauma patients has, however, been limitedly examined. The authors sought to identify the spectrum of positive alcohol and drug toxicology screens in patients ≥65 years admitted to a Level I trauma center. Methods: Patients ≥65 years old admitted to an American College of Surgeons (ACS) Level I trauma center over a 60-­month period were identified from the trauma registry. Demographic data, blood alcohol content (BAC), and urine drug screen (UDS) results at admission were obtained and analyzed. The positive results were compared with individuals below 65 years in different substance categories using Fisher's exact test. Results: In the 5-year period studied, of the 4139 patients ≥65 years, 1302 (31.5%) underwent toxicological substance screening. A positive BAC was present in 11.1% of these patients and a positive U...
Audiovisual speech integration and lipreading in autism

Background: During speech perception, the ability to integrate auditory and visual information causes speech to sound louder and be more intelligible, and leads to quicker processing. This integration is important in early language development, and also continues to affect speech comprehension throughout the lifespan. Previous research shows that individuals with autism have difficulty integrating information, especially across multiple sensory domains. Methods: In the present study, audiovisual speech integration was investigated in 18 adolescents with high-functioning autism and 19 well-matched adolescents with typical development using a speech in noise paradigm. Speech reception thresholds were calculated for auditory only and audiovisual matched speech, and lipreading ability was measured. Results: Compared to individuals with typical development, individuals with autism showed less benefit from the addition of visual information in audiovisual speech perception. We also found that individuals with autism were significantly worse than those in the comparison group at lipreading. Hierarchical regression demonstrated that group differences in the audiovisual condition, while influenced by auditory perception and especially by lipreading, were also attributable to a unique factor, which may reflect a specific deficit in audiovisual integration. Conclusions: Combined deficits in audiovisual speech integration and lipreading in individuals with autism are likely to contribute to ongoing difficulties in speech comprehension, and may also be related to delays in early language development.
Stress functions and complex stresses

Consider a cylindrical or prismatic rod of any form of cross-section bounded by plane ends perpendicular to the generators.
Higher numbers of nurses and consultants improve survival rates for critically ill patients

Commentary on : West E, Barron DN, Harrison D, et al. Nurse staffing, medical staffing and mortality in intensive care: an observational study. Int J Nurs Stud 2014;51:781–94.[OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3] Evidence for the relationship between nurse staffing and patient outcomes has been shown in the literature, mostly based on findings from US medical and surgical settings. However, there are relatively … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DInt%2BJ%2BNurs%2BStud%26rft.volume%253D51%26rft.spage%253D781%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1016%252Fj.ijnurstu.2014.02.007%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F24636667%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2014.02.007&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=24636667&link_type=MED&atom=%2Febnurs%2F18%2F2%2F63.atom
Comparison of local and non-local homogenization methods for metamaterials as a function of frequency using experimental data

We have presented sample results here due to limited space. We have showed two different constitutive models to extract effective properties from measured S-parameters of SRR samples and studied the effect of periodicity and structure size w.r.t. wavelength on the effective parameters.
Home-based cognitive monitoring using embedded measures of verbal fluency in a computer word game

Verbal fluency is a standard neuropsychological test that measures the ease with which a person can produce words. It is commonly used in the diagnosis and characterization of cognitive disorders. In this paper, we describe a method for measuring a proxy for verbal fluency from embedded metrics within a computer word game. We evaluated our ability to monitor verbal fluency metrics over a period of one year in 30 elderly subjects by analyzing their computer game play. We found good correspondence between these computer metrics and the scores from standard verbal fluency assessments.
Knowledge of Natural Kinds in Semantic Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.

We examined the semantic impairment for natural kinds in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and semantic dementia (SD) using an inductive reasoning paradigm. To learn about the relationships between natural kind exemplars and how these are distinguished from manufactured artifacts, subjects judged the strength of arguments such as "Humans have a chemical called sebum. Therefore, frogs have a chemical called sebum." These judgments depend on subjects' perception of the similarity between the familiar objects named in the premise and the conclusion. Controls rated arguments generalizing from a natural kind to an artifact as significantly weaker than arguments generalizing from one natural kind to another natural kind. SD patients demonstrated a graded profile of generalization without evidence of a categorical distinction between natural kinds and artifacts. AD patients' judgments also suggested more difficulty than controls at distinguishing between natural kinds and artifacts. Both SD patients and AD patients resembled controls in their judgments of arguments where both objects are from the natural kinds category. Semantic knowledge thus appears to be sufficiently preserved in both AD and SD to support within-category similarity judgments. We suggest that SD patients may be impaired in part at identifying the features critical to diagnosing membership in a semantic category, while AD patients' performance is consistent with their semantic categorization deficit.
Thymic CD8+ T Cell Production Strongly Influences Tumor Antigen Recognition and Age-Dependent Glioma Mortality

For unknown reasons, advanced age remains a dominant predictor of poor clinical outcome for nearly all cancers. A decrease in the production of T cells by the thymus accompanies normal aging and parallels the age-dependent increase in cancer progression, but the specific impact of immunity on tumor progression in general is unknown. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common primary brain neoplasm, is characterized by rapid age-dependent rates of progression and death. In this study, we show levels of CD8(+) recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) accounted for the prognostic power of age on clinical outcome in GBM patients. CD8(+) RTEs, typically a tiny proportion of CD8(+) T cells, remarkably accounted for the majority of tumor Ag-binding small precursor cells in PBMC from these patients and from healthy individuals. Large blasting tumor Ag-binding cells comprised of CD8(+) RTEs and phenotypically related cells were predominantly expanded following experimental vaccination of GBM patients. Quantification of CD8(+) RTE expansion in vivo correlated strongly with vaccine-elicited cytokine responses, and estimated numbers of expanding CD8(+) RTEs were consistent predictors of clinical outcome in vaccinated GBM patients. Targeted mutant (CD8beta(-/-)) mice specifically deficient in thymic CD8(+) T cell production uniquely displayed an age-specific decrease in glioma host survival as well as a strong correlation between host survival and thymus cellular production. These findings suggest that levels and function of newly produced CD8(+) T cells critically influence age-dependent cancer mortality and exert one of the strongest known influences on GBM outcome by predominantly mediating clinically beneficial antitumor immune responses.
Social Experiments: Some Developments over the Past Fifteen Years

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 546 CHANGES IN THE DOMINANT THEORY OF SOCIAL EXPERIMENTATION 547 Theories of Causation 547 Theories of Categorization 548 Relabeling Internal Validity 550 Relabeling External Validity 552 Debates about Priority among Validity Types 553 Raising the Salience of Treatment Implementation Issues 554 The Epistemiology f Ruling Out Threats 555 RANDOMIZED EXPERIMENTS IN FIELD SETTINGS 556 Mounting a Randomized Experiment 557 Maintaining a Randomized Experiment 560 QUASI-EXPERIMENTATION 561 Designs Emphasizing Point-Specific Causal Hypotheses 562 Designs Emphasizing Multivariate-Complex Causal Predictions 565 Statistical Analysis of Data from the Basic Nonequivalent Control Group Design 566 GENERALIZING CAUSAL RE ATIONSHIPS 571 Random Sampling 571 Proximal Similarity 572 Probes for Robust Replication over Multiple Experiments 572 Causal Explanation 573 CONCLUSIONS 575
Surveillance of schistosomiasis at a national surveillance site in the Dantu District in 2009.

Objective To analyze schistosomiasis trends and changes in Sanzhou Village,Dantu District,a national schistosomiasis surveillance site,in order to assess the effects of schistosomiasis control and provide scientific evidence for control strategies.Methods In accordance with the National Schistosomiasis Surveillance Scheme,schistosomiasis prevalence was monitored in humans,livestock,and snails,and the surveillance data were collected and analyzed statistically.Results In 2009,humans at the surveillance site had positive IHA test results at a rate of 2.6%(20/768) and an infection rate of 0.13%(1/768).However,there were no cases of acute infections or advanced schistosomiasis.The infection rate in livestock was 0.The area of land with snails was 28.5 hm2;17 hm2 of this area had infected snails.The density of living snails was 1.5 snails/plot,and the percentage of plots with snails was 26.24%.The average density of infected snails was 0.002 5 snails/plot,and the rate of snail infection was 0.17%.Conclusion The rate of schistosomiasis infection in residents remains low,and livestock are no longer a major source of schistosomiasis infection at the surveillance site.However,relatively large areas of marshlands have snails and infected snails.Results suggested that,in addition to enhancing snail control,the causes of snail infection in marshland should be investigated and the role and position that various hosts play in the transmission of schistosomiasis should be identified to thus assist in implementing focused control efforts.
Abstract 285: Rapid Change In Red Blood Cell PUFA Composition With High-dose Fish Oil Supplementation In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD).

Introduction: Current guidelines recommend a diet rich in fish or n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation in patients with cardiovascular disease including PAD. The omega-3 index represents the red blood cell (RBC) content of the two major long-chain n-3 PUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with less within-patient variation compared to plasma levels of n-3 PUFA. We aimed to quantify the change in the omega-3 index with high-dose n-3 PUFA supplementation in a PAD cohort. Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of the OMEGA-PAD I Trial (NCT01310270), a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial addressing the hypothesis that short-duration, high-dose n-3 PUFA oral supplementation improves endothelial function and inflammation in subjects with PAD. Eighty patients with stable claudication received 4.4g of fish oil (2.6g of EPA + 1.8g of DHA) daily (n=40) or placebo capsules (n=40) for 1 month. The RBC fatty acids (FA) content was measured by gas chrom...
NGSPERL: a semi-automated framework for large scale next generation sequencing data analysis

High-throughput sequencing technologies have been widely used in medical and biological research, especially in cancer biology. With the huge amounts of sequencing data being generated, data analysis has become the bottle-neck of the research procedure. We have designed and implemented NGSPERL, a semi-automated module-based framework, for high-throughput sequencing data analysis. Three major analysis pipelines with multiple tasks have been developed for RNA sequencing, exome sequencing, and small RNA sequencing data. Each task was developed as module. The module uses the output from the previous task as the input parameter to generate the corresponding portable batch system (PBS) script. The PBS scripts can be either submitted to cluster or run directly based on user choice. Multiple tasks can also be combined together as a single task to simplify the data analysis. Such a flexible framework will significantly automate and simplify the process of large scale sequencing data analysis.
Head-first impact with head protrusion causes noncontiguous injuries of the cadaveric cervical spine.

OBJECTIVE To simulate horizontally aligned head-first impacts with initial head protrusion using a human cadaveric neck model and to determine biomechanical responses, injuries, and injury severity. DESIGN Head-first impacts with initial head protrusion were simulated at 2.4 m/s using a human cadaver neck model (n = 10) mounted horizontally to a torso-equivalent mass on a sled and carrying a surrogate head. Macroscopic neck injuries were determined, and ligamentous injuries were quantified using fluoroscopy and visual inspection after the impacts. Representative time-history responses for injured specimens were determined during impact using load cell data and analyses of high-speed video. SETTING Biomechanics research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS Cervical spines of 10 human cadavers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Injury severity at the middle and lower cervical spine was statistically compared using a 2-sample t test (P < 0.05). RESULTS Neck buckling consisted of hyperflexion at C6/7 and C7/T1 and hyperextension at superior spinal levels. Noncontiguous neck injuries included forward dislocation at C7/T1, spinous process fracture and compression-extension injuries at the middle cervical spine, and atlas and odontoid fractures. Ligamentous injury severity at C7/T1 was significantly greater than at the middle cervical spine. CONCLUSIONS Distinct injury mechanisms were observed throughout the neck, consisting of extension-compression and posterior shear at the upper and middle cervical spine and flexion-compression and anterior shear at C6/7 and C7/T1. Our experimental results highlight the importance of clinical awareness of potential noncontiguous cervical spine injuries due to head-first sports impacts.
The nubility hypothesis : The human breast as an honest signal of residual reproductive value.

A new hypothesis is proposed to explain the perennially enlarged breasts of human females. The nubility hypothesis proposes that hominid females evolved protruding breasts because the size and shape of breasts function as an honest signal of residual reproductive value. Hominid females with greater residual reproductive value were preferred by males once reliable cues to ovulation were lost and long-term bonding evolved. This adaptation was favored because female-female competition for investing males increased once hominid males began to provide valuable resources.
Sales promotions as nontraditional revenue: A comparison of television and radio

The broadcast industry has experienced unprecedented change and growth within the last decade. Mergers, acquisitions, and federal law relaxations and restrictions have all changed the landscape for radio and television stations. One result is greater pressure being placed on the advertising sales departments at broadcast entities to meet larger bottom lines and greater investor expectations. However, traditional advertising revenue has been either stagnant or declining in many markets. Accordingly, television and radio stations have increasingly turned to other sources of income referred to as nontraditional revenue (NTR). Typically, sources of NTR have included cause-related marketing, event sponsorship and internet-based couponing and sweepstakes. Accordingly, this study, based on a survey of industry professionals, reveals the local broadcast television and radio industries' present and future levels of activity in pursuing various NTR promotional areas and how the NTR function is managed from...
A new laboratory device for study of subglacial processes: first results on ice–bed separation during sliding

A new ring-shear device allows basal slip and related processes to be studied in laboratory experiments for the cases of hard or soft beds. The device rotates a confined ring of ice (0.9 m outside diameter) across a horizontal bed at a constant velocity or drag, while a vertical stress is applied and basal water pressure is controlled. A bath with circulating fluid regulated to ∼0.01°C surrounds the ice chamber and keeps the ice at its pressure-melting temperature. In a first experiment with a stepped rigid bed and zero basal water pressure, steady lengths of step cavities depended upon slip velocity raised to a power of 0.59, in general agreement with the square-root dependence of some models of sliding and linked-cavity hydraulics. Transient cavity growth after slip velocity increases was not monotonic, with damped volume oscillations that converged to a steady value. Once ice separated from lee surfaces, drag on the bed was constant and independent of slip velocity and cavity size, consistent with a shear-stress upper bound like that indicated by sliding models. Shear strains near the bed exceeded 30 and ice developed multiple-cluster c-axis fabrics similar to those of sheared ice in temperate glaciers.
When is pulmonary artery catheterization worth the risks

PreviewDirect measurement of a patient's hemodynamic state at the bedside provides critical information that once was obtainable only in a specialized catheterization laboratory. With pulmonary artery catheterization, candidates (eg, patients with unexplained hypotension, complicated myocardial infarction) are much more readily examined. Dr Zimmerman explains when this invasive procedure is the best choice, how insertion of the catheter may be performed, and what complications can be expected.
Ten years of alendronate treatment for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

to the editor: In their report on 10 years of alendronate therapy for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, Bone et al. (March 18 issue) 1 mention the long retention time of alendronate in bone as an advantage. This view is based on the fact that the large reduction in bone turnover is present five years after the discontinuation of treatment. The authors claim that histomorphometric analysis confirmed long-term bone safety, 2,3 but the study they cite followed treatment for only two to three years in a small group of patients receiving 20 mg of alendronate. 2 What the present study actually shows is that two years of therapy with 20 mg of alendronate followed by three years’ treatment with 5 mg suppresses bone turnover to a degree from which it may not recover. This result is consistent with data from a study in Danish women, which showed that two years of treatment with 20 mg of alendronate led to a reduction in bone turnover that did not return to baseline five years after the discontinuation of therapy. 4 In contrast, with two years of therapy with 2.5 mg or 5 mg of alendronate, 5 bone turnover returned to placebo levels two years after discontinuation. Thus, the long-term safety with 20 mg of alendronate has not been established.
“Happily, inebriety is not the vice of the age”

In 1835, Charles James Apperley, known only to his legions of readers as Nimrod, published a biography of a recently deceased friend, Squire John Mytton of Halston Hall, Shropshire. Mytton’s fame, indeed infamy, derived from the fact that he was a hard-fighting, hard-gambling, fox-hunting, womanizing squire, who drank between four and eight bottles of port per day. He began drinking in the morning with a bottle of port on his toilet as he shaved, and proceeded from there, a glass or two at a time, until he had completed what Nimrod called the “Herculean task.”1 According to one of Mytton’s friends, who signed an affidavit regarding the matter, Mytton was drunk without interruption for the last 12 years of his life.2 He drove his carriage at high speeds, foxhunted nearly naked, rode a bear into the drawing room at Halston Hall, and at one point he was so occluded by drink that he lit his shirt on fire to scare away the hiccups. He died penniless and insane in a Southwark debtors’ prison in 1833 at the age of 38.
NanoBLASTer: Fast alignment and characterization of Oxford Nanopore single molecule sequencing reads

The quality of the Oxford Nanopores long DNA sequence reads has been, to date, lower than other technologies, causing great interest to develop new algorithms that can make use of the data. So far, alignment methods including LAST, BLAST, BWA-MEM and GraphMap have been used to analyze these sequences. However, each of these tools has significant challenges to use with these data: LAST and BLAST require considerable processing time for high sensitivity, BWA-MEM has the smallest average alignment length, and GraphMap aligns many random strings with moderate accuracy. To address these challenges we developed a new read aligner called NanoBLASTer specifically designed for long nanopore reads. In experiments resequencing the well-studied S. cerevisiae (yeast) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) genomes, we show that our algorithm produces longer alignments with higher overall sensitivity than LAST, BLAST and BWA-MEM. We also show that the runtime of NanoBLASTer is faster than GraphMap, BLAST and BWA-MEM.
Elevated β-hCG associated with aggressive Osteoblastoma

We present a unique case of an aggressive scapular osteoblastoma that produced β-hCG as a paraneoplastic manifestation in a 20-year-old woman. Serum β-hCG was found to be elevated during presurgical workup and consequently delayed surgical resection of the increasingly painful tumor because of suspected pregnancy. The paraneoplastic production of β-hCG was later proven by positive immunohistochemical stain of β-hCG in a curettage specimen and normalization of β-hCG levels after surgical resection of the aggressive osteoblastoma. Production of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) has been reported in several carcinomas and sarcomas but, to our knowledge, it has not been reported in osteoblastoma in the English-language literature.
Virus-Induced Bronchial Hyperreactivity

Exacerbations of asthma and chronic bronchitis are commonly due to viral infections of the airways [1–11]. The association of viral infection with asthma exacerbation is most striking in children, in whom at least 30–40% [12–14] and perhaps as many as 75% of exacerbations [15] of asthma are caused by viral infections. The study of the mechanisms of virus-induced asthma attacks has led to the development of animal models.
Intra-chip Wireless Interconnect: The Road Ahead

On-chip wireless interconnects have been proposed to provide energy-efficient data communication paths between cores in System-on-Chips (SoCs) in the multi and many-core era. Networks-on-Chips (NoCs) when interconnecting hundreds of cores consume large amounts of energy and suffer from high and unpredictable latency due to congestion at intermediate routers. Wireless interconnects alleviate this problem by providing direct single-hop links between distant cores in the chip. While various wireless NoC (WiNoC) architectures have been proposed and evaluated in the in the past decade this technology is not yet adopted in the mainstream industry. In order to benefit from the past decade of research in WiNoC designs a few important myths regarding wireless interconnects need to be dispelled while propelling the research to tangible technology transfer. In this paper several vectors that define the design space of WiNoCs will be identified while highlighting the state-of-the-art accomplishments in those directions by leading research groups. This will be followed by identifying the future direction that needs to be pursued to make WiNoCs a mainstream reality. At the end a few potential high-impact use-cases for wireless interconnects are discussed.
Girls in Gangs: Exploring Risk in a British Youth Context:

The existing literature on gangs has largely focused on boys from the United States. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), this study investigated select ind...