cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modelling potential Pleistocene habitat corridors between Afromontane forest regions

The unusually high floral and faunal similarity between the different regions of the Afromontane archipelago has been noted by biogeographers since the late 1800s. A possible explanation for this similarity is the spread of montane habitat into the intervening lowlands during the glacial periods of the Pleistocene, allowing biotic exchange between mountain ranges. In this study, we sought to infer the existence and most likely positions of these potential habitat corridors. We focused on sixteen Afromontane endemic tree, shrub, and bird species in the Cameroon Volcanic Line, East African Rift and Great Escarpment. Species were chosen based on distribution above 1200–1500 m in at least two of the major Afromontane regions. Ecological niche models were developed for each species in the present and projected to the mid-Holocene and the last glacial maximum (LGM). Models were thresholded to create binary maps of presence/absence and then summed across taxa to estimate potential LGM and mid-Holocene distributions. We found widespread climatic suitability for our montane taxa throughout the lowlands of Central Africa during the LGM, connecting all regions of the Afromontane archipelago except the Ethiopian Highlands and the Dahomey Gap. During the mid-Holocene, we noted more limited climatic suitability for fewer species in lowland areas. Although we set out to test predictions derived from alternatively hypothesized corridors, we instead found widespread climatic suitability connecting Afromontane regions across the entire Congo Basin for all species.
Sim2PIM: A Fast Method for Simulating Host Independent & PIM Agnostic Designs

Processing-in-Memory (PIM), with the help of modern memory integration technologies, has emerged as a practical approach to mitigate the memory wall and improve performance and energy efficiency in contemporary applications. However, there is a need for tools capable of quickly simulating different PIMs designs and their suitable integration with different hosts. This work presents Sim2PIM, a Simple Simulator for PIM devices that seamlessly integrates any PIM architecture with the host processor and memory hierarchy. Sim2PIM's simulation environment allows the user to describe a PIM architecture in different user-defined abstraction levels. The application code runs natively on the Host, with minimal overhead from the simulator integration, allowing Sim2PIM to collect precise metrics from the Hardware Performance Counters (HPCs). Our simulator is available to download at https://pim.computer/.
Aneurysm presence at the anterior communicating artery bifurcation is associated with caliber tapering of the A1 segment

Objective Vessel tapering results in blood flow acceleration at downstream bifurcations (firehose nozzle effect), induces hemodynamics predisposing to aneurysm initiation, and has been associated with middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysm presence and rupture status. The authors sought to determine if vessel caliber tapering is a generalizable predisposing factor by evaluating upstream A1 segment profiles in association with aneurysm presence in the anterior communicating artery (ACoA) complex, the most prevalent cerebral aneurysm location associated with a high rupture risk. Methods Three-dimensional rotational angiographic studies were analyzed for 68 patients with ACoA aneurysms, 37 nonaneurysmal contralaterals, and 53 healthy bilateral controls (211 samples total). A1 segments were determined to be dominant, codominant, or nondominant based on flow and size. Equidistant cross-sectional orthogonal cuts were generated along the A1 centerline, and cross-sectional area (CSA) was evaluated proximally and distally, using intensity-invariant edge detection filtering. The relative tapering of the A1 segment was evaluated as the tapering ratio (distal/proximal CSA). Computational fluid dynamics was simulated on ACoA parametric models with and without tapering. Results Aneurysms occurred predominantly on dominant (79%) and codominant (17%) A1 segments. A1 segments leading to unruptured ACoA aneurysms had significantly greater tapering compared to nonaneurysmal contralaterals (0.69 ± 0.13 vs 0.80 ± 0.17, p = 0.001) and healthy controls (0.69 ± 0.13 vs 0.83 ± 0.16, p Conclusions Aneurysmal, but not contralateral or healthy control, A1 segments demonstrated significant progressive vascular tapering, which is associated with aneurysmogenic hemodynamic conditions at the ACoA complex. Demonstration of the upstream tapering effect in the communicating ACoA segment is consistent with its prior detection in the noncommunicating MCA bifurcation, which together form more than 50% of intracranial aneurysms. The mechanistic characterization of this upstream vascular tapering phenomenon is warranted to understand its clinical relevance and devise potential therapeutic strategies.
Radiofrequency neurotomy for a patient with deep brain stimulators: proposed safety guidelines.

Objective. To discuss the potential risks inherent to performing radiofrequency procedures in patients with deep brain neurostimulators, and to propose safety guidelines. Design. Case report. Setting. Tertiary care teaching hospital. Subject. A 67-year-old male with intractable back pain due to advanced lumbar spondylosis, with a history of advanced Parkinson's Disease requiring two deep brain stimulators. Intervention. Radiofrequency neurotomy lumbar facet joints. Results. No atypical symptoms were reported during the procedure that would indicate iatrogenic injury from radiofrequency effect on the deep brain neurostimulators. The subject's back pain was relieved by 70% for greater than 6 months bilaterally. Discussion. There are several theoretical concerns when using radiofrequency therapies on patients with neurostimulators. Our patient did not experience any known adverse events during or subsequent to the procedure. This article presents our proposed safety guidelines for using radiofrequency neurotomy on patients with deep brain stimulators. Conclusions. Radiofrequency medial branch neurotomy was performed on a patient with two deep brain stimulators with a satisfactory clinical outcome, and no adverse sequelae. Additional study is warranted regarding the safety and compatibility of brain neurostimulators and radiofrequency interventions.
A finite element parametric study of clavicle fixation plates.

Summary A finite element simulation on a fracture fixated clavicle was performed to study the effects of different fracture fixation parameters on the callus region. Specifically, parameters such as plate material, thickness, plate/bone gap, screw length, and locking vs. non-locking screws were explored. Plate thickness and locking vs. non-locking screws were found to be influential to construct stiffness where plate/bone gap and number of screws were not as sensitive. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modeling Relationships Among Securitized Property Markets, Stock Markets, and Macroeconomic Variables

This paper investigates the dynamic interactions among securitized property markets, stock markets and key macroeconomic factors for ten developed nations throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The results indicate that each property market is co-integrated with its respective stock market and with key macroeconomic factors in the long run and is also influenced by the overall economy in the short run. Further analysis also reveals that, for the overwhelming majority of countries involved, shocks to the stock market, GDP, money supply, and inflation induce a positive response in property returns, while shocks to long-term interest rate induce a negative response, although the extent of the response differs across countries/regions.
Syncytium-inducing mutations localize to two discrete regions within the cytoplasmic domain of herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein B

Herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein B (gB) is essential for virus entry, an event involving fusion of the virus envelope with the cell surface membrane, and virus-induced cell-cell fusion, resulting in polykaryocyte, or syncytium, formation. The experiments described in this report employed a random mutagenesis strategy to develop a more complete genetic map of mutations resulting in the syn mutant phenotype. The results indicate that syn mutations occur within two essential and highly conserved hydrophilic, alpha-helical regions of the gB cytoplasmic domain. Region I is immediately proximal to the transmembrane domain and includes residues R796 to E816/817. Region II is localized centrally in the cytoplasmic domain and includes residues A855 and R858. Positively charged residues were particularly affected in both regions, suggesting that charge interactions may be required to suppress the syn mutant phenotype. No syn mutations were identified within the transmembrane domain. A virus containing a rate of entry (roe) mutation at residue A851, either within or immediately proximal to syn region II, was isolated. Since roe mutations have also been discovered in the external domain of gB, it appears likely that the external and cytoplasmic domains cooperate in virus penetration. Moreover, the observation that both roe and syn mutations occur in the cytoplasmic domain further suggests that gB functions in an analogous manner in both membrane fusion events. It might be predicted from these observations that membrane fusion involves transduction of a fusion signal along the gB molecule through the transmembrane domain. Communication between the external and cytoplasmic domain may thus be required for gB-mediated membrane fusion events.
Securing Tor Tunnels under the Selective-DoS Attack

Anonymous communication systems are subject to selective denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Selective DoS attacks lower anonymity as they force paths to be rebuilt multiple times to ensure delivery which increases the opportunity for more attack. In this paper we present a detection algorithm that filters out compromised communication channels for one of the most widely used anonymity networks, Tor. Our detection algorithm uses two levels of probing to filter out potentially compromised tunnels. We perform probabilistic analysis and extensive simulation to show the robustness of our detection algorithm. We also analyze the overhead of our detection algorithm and show that we can achieve satisfactory security guarantee for reasonable communication overhead (5% of the total available Tor bandwidth in the worst case). Real world experiments reveal that our detection algorithm provides good defense against selective DoS attack.
Intensional Set Theory

Publisher Summary There are two distinct notions of an effective-existence proof used in informal classical mathematics. This chapter introduces two kinds of variables, small ones ranging over explicitly- listed-hereditary finite sets and large ones ranging over all sets. The chapter describes the formal details of the system intensional set theory (IST), which includes formation rules, axioms, rules, the truth definition, the soundness theorem, existence and disjunction properties, and the extensions. The chapter also explores the challenge of extending IST by various true formulas so as to retain the possibility of a soundness theorem and its corollaries. Such formulas are essentially divided into two categories; in the first class, the formulas are true and become theorems of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory (ZF) when all B's are deleted. There is no difficulty in carrying over the proof of the soundness theorem and its corollaries to extensions of IST by classically-valid formulas. In the second class of true formulas, those formulas are included which become false or at least unprovable in ZF if all B's are deleted.
Programmed Maneuver-Spectrum Fatigue Tests of Aircraft Beam Specimens

Abstract : The bending fatigue properties of a group of 7075-T6 AL ALLOY BEAM SPECIMENS WERE FOUND TO BE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF TYPICAL AIRRAFT STRUCTURES. Test results warrant the following conclusions regarding the constant-load-amplitude fatigue properties of the beam specimens. Static prestressing at 100 pct lim load improved the fatigue life of the specimens at fatigue load levels of 60 pct lim load or less, provided that the preload was applied in the same direction as the subsequent fatigue loads. Periodic single overstressing at 100 pct lim load affected the fatigue properties in the same way as prestressing did, only more so. Peiodic repeated understressing at 25 pct lim load produced no significant changes in the fatigue life under fatigue lods applied in the same direction as the understressing. There were indications that positive load levels below a certain cutoff point in the spectrum did not introdce significant fatigue damage. The spectrum cutoff concept applies only to positive load levels. (Author)
Surface and colloidal properties of cyclic amides. 1. Two-dimensional virial coefficients for adsorbed monolayers of N-alkyl-2-pyrrolidones at the air/water interface

The N-(n-alkyl)pyrrolidones are low vapor pressure polar solvents which are surface active in aqueous solutions. From measurements at low surface pressures and low concentrations the two-dimensional second virial coefficients B 2 (T) at the air/water interface are obtained for the series of even-numbered alkyl substituents from ethyl to octyl. At 25 °C, B 2 (T) is positive for the ethyl compound and becomes increasingly negative as the chain length increases. The effect of temperature on B 2 (T) is unusual, increasing temperature leading to more negative B 2 (T) values. The virial coefficients, heats of adsorption, and Traube coefficients are discussed in terms of molecular packing, chain-chain van der Waals attraction, and the interaction of the chains and large molecular dipoles with water.
Primary somatosensory cortex, cortical somatosensory networks, and cortical somatosensory functions

Backonja reviews an old, but relevant and ongo­ ing, problem in cortical somatosensory physiol­ ogy. What role does the primary somatosen­ sory cortex (81) play in conscious pain perception? His conclusions, based upon ample evi­ dence, that 81 is part of a distributed network and that it alone is neither necessary nor sufficient for conscious pain perception, essentially reiterate the current wis­ dom. But is 81 necessary and sufficient for anything, and should we expect such a highly evolved koniocor­ tex to be necessary and sufficient for so primitive a somatosensory function as pain perception? To answer these questions, let us expand Backonja's discussion by briefly reconsidering what 81 is, how 81 is integrated into the cortical somatosensory network, what the pre­ dominant functions of this network are, and how this might be relevant to the intrinsic nature of pain.
Mining interprocedural, data-oriented usage patterns in JavaScript web applications

A frequently occurring usage of program elements in a programming language and software libraries is called a usage pattern. In JavaScript (JS) Web applications, JS usage patterns in their source code have special characteristics that pose challenges in pattern mining. They involve nested data objects with no corresponding names or types. JS functions can be also used as data objects. JS usages are often cross-language, inter-procedural, and involve control and data flow dependencies among JS program entities and data objects whose data types are revealed only at run time due to dynamic typing in JS. This paper presents JSModel, a novel graph-based representation for JS usages, and JSMiner, a scalable approach to mine inter-procedural, data-oriented JS usage patterns. Our empirical evaluation on several Web programs shows that JSMiner efficiently detects more JS patterns with higher accuracy than a state-of-the-art approach. We conducted experiments to show JSModel's usefulness in two applications: detecting anti-patterns (buggy patterns) and documenting JS APIs via pattern skeletons. Our controlled experiment shows that the mined patterns are useful as JS documentation and code templates.
Command Shaping for Flexible Systems Subject to Constant Acceleration Limits

Input shaping is an effective means of eliminating vibration in many types of flexible systems. This paper discusses how input shaper performance is affected by a fixed acceleration limit. This type of limit is a common occurrence in many mechanical drive systems because it corresponds to a constant force or torque input. It is shown that some input shapers are not affected by an acceleration limit under certain conditions. A test criterion is developed to determine what types of input shapers are negatively affected, and a method is proposed to compensate for the detrimental effects of the constant acceleration limit. Experimental results from an industrial crane support the main theoretical results.
Patients with mild heart failure worsen during withdrawal from digoxin therapy

Abstract Objectives. We investigated whether patients with mild heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction were at risk of worsening during digoxin withdrawal. Background. Deterioration during digoxin withdrawal is often believed to be restricted to patients with moderate to severe clinical evidence of heart failure. To test this hypothesis, we studied the outcome of patients categorized by treatment assignment and a clinical signs and symptoms heart failure score in two rigorously designed clinical heart failure trials: the Prospective Randomized Study of Ventricular Function and Efficacy of Digoxin (PROVED) and the Randomized Assessment of Digoxin and Inhibitors of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (RADIANCE) trial. Methods. Potential differences in treatment failure, left ventricular ejection fraction and exercise capacity were evaluated in three groups of patients: those with mild heart failure (score ≤2) who were withdrawn from digoxin (Dig WD Mild); those with moderate heart failure (score >2) who were withdrawn from digoxin (Dig WD Moderate); and patients who continued receiving digoxin regardless of heart failure score (Dig Cont). Results. Heart failure score at randomization did not predict outcome during follow-up in Dig Cont-group patients. Dig WD Mild-group patients were at increased risk of treatment failure and had deterioration of exercise capacity and left ventricular ejection fraction compared with that in Dig Cont-group patients (all p Conclusions. Patients with systolic left ventricular dysfunction were at risk of clinical deterioration after digoxin withdrawal despite mild clinical evidence of congestive heart failure. (J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;30:42–8)
Rationale and design of the Clarification of Optimal Anticoagulation through Genetics trial

Background Current dosing practices for warfarin are empiric and result in the need for frequent dose changes as the international normalized ratio gets too high or too low. As a result, patients are put at increased risk for thromboembolism, bleeding, and premature discontinuation of anticoagulation therapy. Prior research has identified clinical and genetic factors that can alter warfarin dose requirements, but few randomized clinical trials have examined the utility of using clinical and genetic information to improve anticoagulation control or clinical outcomes among a large, diverse group of patients initiating warfarin. Methods The COAG trial is a multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial comparing 2 approaches to guiding warfarin therapy initiation: initiation of warfarin therapy based on algorithms using clinical information plus an individual's genotype using genes known to influence warfarin response ("genotype-guided dosing") versus only clinical information ("clinical-guided dosing") (www.clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00839657). Results The COAG trial design is described. The study hypothesis is that, among 1,022 enrolled patients, genotype-guided dosing relative to clinical-guided dosing during the initial dosing period will increase the percentage of time that patients spend in the therapeutic international normalized ratio range in the first 4 weeks of therapy. Conclusion The COAG will determine if genetic information provides added benefit above and beyond clinical information alone.
Hepatitis C infection and presence of advanced fibrosis: Wait or treat? Why wait? There is no time to lose, is there?

All too frequent we physicians ignore ‘‘primum non nocere’’ (first do not harm), and believe all too frequently treatment is always the answer. Once we have treatments available, we frequently believe that the worst which can happen is the failure of treatment, ignoring that side effects might be more than a mere nuisance. Even a supposedly safe treatment such as lamivudine was demonstrated to be lethal in very special individuals with certain viral resistance mutations, when lamivudine was not stopped in time [1]. In contrast to lamivudine and other oral antivirals for hepatitis B, which extremely rarely cause adverse events and seem to have a safety profile similar to placebo [2,3], the current therapy of hepatitis C is both less safe and not effective in everyone. Interferon has been the backbone of HCV therapy for more than 20 years, but likely will remain a crucial component of HCV treatment regimens only for a few more years. In the early nineties, only about 5 to 10% of patients sustained normalization of liver enzymes with/without sustained viral response (SVR) after 24 weeks of therapy [4], and still remained below 20% when extended to 48 weeks. A significant improvement was the addition of ribavirin, leading to a significantly and clinically meaningful increase in the rate of SVR, but also to more side effects [5,6]. The modification of the standard interferon molecule by coupling interferon with a polyethylene glycol (PEG) improved the success rates, but did not improve the overall safety profile of HCV targeted therapy, and might have further increased side effects [7,8]. Interestingly, all randomized studies comparing pegylated interferon-a2a to -a2b showed a slight and sometimes significant advantage for PegIFN-a2a [9]. Of note, even the largest trial sponsored by Schering-Plough and producer of PegIFN-a2b demonstrated a 1% difference in favor of PegIFN-a2a [10]. However, while the efficacy was seen to be slightly higher with PegIFN-a2a, the risk of death and serious adverse events (SAE) was likewise slightly higher, suggesting there is indeed ‘‘no such thing as a free lunch’’. A meta-analysis reported 50 deaths in 14,401 patients treated with a PegIFN-a2a containing regimens (0.18% or 1 in 288 patients [95%CI: 0.13–0.24%]) compared to 16
The Intervening and Associated O VI Absorption-Line Systems in the Ultraviolet Spectrum of H1821+643

GHRS and FOS ultraviolet spectra of the bright QSO H1821+643 (mV = 14.2, zem = 0.297) reveal the presence of strong O VI λλ1031.93, 1037.62 absorption systems at zabs = 0.225 and 0.297, the latter being at the redshift of the QSO itself. Ground-based galaxy redshift measurements by us and others reveal two emission-line galaxies near the redshift of the intervening system at zabs = 0.225, suggesting the existence of a galaxy group at this redshift. The intervening O VI absorption system is also detected in H I but is not detected in the lines of Si II, Si IV, C IV, or N V. These ionization characteristics can be explained by a low-density, extended (~300 kpc) diffuse gas distribution that is photoionized by the metagalactic UV background if the gas has a metallicity of ~0.1 times solar. Such a photoionized gas may be associated with the extended halo of the luminous intervening spiral galaxy at a projected distance of 100 h kpc, or with an intragroup medium. Alternatively, the absorption may be produced in hot collisionally ionized halo gas or in a hot intragroup medium. The associated system with zabs = 0.297 contains narrow and broad O VI absorption. The narrow absorption, which is also detected in H I, C III, C IV, and Si IV, can be modeled as gas photoionized by H1821+643 with roughly solar abundances. This gas is probably situated close to H1821+643. The broad O VI absorption that is centered at the emission redshift of H1821+643 may represent a weak and narrow example of the broad absorption line phenomena. Another possibility is that the broad O VI absorption occurs in 105–106 K gas associated with a cooling flow in the rich, X-ray–luminous cluster surrounding H1821+643 or with a cooling flow in the host elliptical galaxy that H1821+643 resides in. However, the observed O VI column density is 60–120 times smaller than expected for gas in a simple cooling flow passing through the 106–105 K temperature regime. The strong radiative flux from H1821+643 could substantially modify the ionization of the cooling gas in the flow and may help explain the discrepancy.
VATdt: Visual Assessment of Cluster Tendency Using Diagonal Tracing

The visual assessment of tendency (VAT) technique, for visually finding the number of meaningful clusters in data, developed by J. C. Bezdek, R. J. Hathaway and J. M. Huband, is very useful, but there is room for improvements. Instead of displaying the ordered dissimilarity matrix (ODM) as a 2D gray-level image for human interpretation as is done by VAT, we trace the changes in dissimilarities along the diagonal of the ODM. This changes the 2D data structure (matrices) into 1D arrays, displayed as what we call the tendency curves, which enables one to concentrate only on one variable, namely the height. One of these curves, called the d-curve, clearly shows the existence of cluster structure as patterns in peaks and valleys, which can be caught not only by human eyes but also by the computer. Our numerical experiments showed that the computer can catch cluster structures from the d-curve even in some cases where the human eyes see no structure from the visual outputs of VAT. And success on all numerical experiments was obtained using the same (fixed) set of program parameter values.
Finite and boundary element modeling of crack propagation in two and three dimensions

Computer modeling of mixed-mode crack propagation has rarely been attempted. This is because of the difficulty in updating the geometrical description to represent the changing crack geometry. The development of two interactive, graphical fracture propagation systems is described here. The Finite Element Fracture Analysis Program—Graphical (FEFAP-G) is a two-dimensional fracture propagation system. The BEM3D is a three-dimensional boundary element fracture propagation system. In addition, the implementation of the BEM3D analysis program in a configuration formed by an FPS-264 processor attached to a VAX-11/750 used as host computer is described. The results show that a realistic three-dimensional boundary element analysis of crack propagation is not only feasible with the aid of attached processors, but it can have its total time reduced by factors of the order of hundreds when compared to VAX alone statistics. In an example problem concerning fatigue crack propagation in a stiffened wing skin, both FEFAP-G and the BEM3D are employed to illustrate the utility of the fracture propagation systems.
EFFECT OF IRRADIATION TEMPERATURE AND DRYING ON SURVIVAL OF HIGHLY RADIATION-RESISTANT BACTERIA IN COMPLEX MENSTRUA

The influence of temperature and water availability on the shape of the sigmoidal radiation inactivation curves of highly resistant bacteria was determined. The resistance of Micrococcus radiodurans and Moraxella sp. to gamma radiation was much higher in ground beef at subfreezing temperatures (-30 + 10°C) than at ambient temperatures (20-37°C). Irradiation in the frozen state lengthened the shoulder (phase of resistance prior to simple exponential death rate) of the inactivation curve. An even greater extension of the shoulder and protective effect resulted after lyophilization of Moraxella sp. Radiation sensitivity in the dry state was not temperature dependent. Lyophilized samples that had subsequently absorbed water exhibited greater sensitivity to radiation with a shorter shoulder on the inactivation curve. These results indicated that the effectiveness of irradiation in inactivating radiation-resistant bacteria in foods is highly dependent on the microenvironment.
The connecting homomorphism for K-theory of generalized free products

We interpret the connecting homomorphism of the long exact sequence of algebraic K-groups associated to a category with cofibrations and two notions of weak equivalence. One notion of weak equivalence is finer than the other and certain technical conditions involving mapping cylinders must also be satisfied. Such situations arise when one considers certain free product diagrams in the category of rings, such as those that arise in applications of the Seifert-van Kampen theorem where all fundamental group homomorphisms are injective. The techniques follow Waldhausen’s approach to algebraic K-theory of categories with cofibrations and weak equivalences.
Phosphatidylinositol turnover is not a general regulator of neuroblastoma cell differentiation: comparison between two differentiating agents, retinoic acid and γ‐interferon

The turnover of phosphatidylinositol (PI) is believed to constitute a crucial step in the signaling pathways for stimulation of cells by a variety of bioactive substances, including differentiating agents; however decisive evidence for the idea has not been obtained. In the present paper, we investigated the involvement of PI turnover in cell differentiation using a human neuroblastoma cell line, LAN-1, which can be induced to differentiate along the neuronal pathway by both retinoic acid (RA) and γ-interferon (γ-IFN). Analysis of labelled phosphatidylinositol metabolises from prelabelled cells indicated a rapid decrease of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and 1,2-diacylglycerol within 1 min of induction of LAN-1 cell dilfferentiation by RA, while no changes were observed in γ-IFN-treated cells. These findings indicate the occurrence of decreased inositol phospholipid turnover in RA-treated LAN-1 cells and suggest that phosphoinositide-derived metabolises may not constitute general regulators of cellular differentiation.
Ouabain-dependent potassium-potassium exchange in the toad bladder

Recent results from this laboratory have indicated the existence of two potassium compartments in the isolated toad bladder. Only one of these, containing less than 10% of total intracellular potassium, appears to be related to the sodium transport system, since potassium influx at the serosal border of this compartment is coupled to the sodium efflux which occurs there. Ouabain, which specifically inhibits serosal sodium exit, has no effect on potassium fluxes and compartment sizes in bladders mounted in normal (2.5mm K) Ringer's solution. However, in the presence of this inhibitor, removal of serosal potassium results in a significant decrease in the rate coefficient for potassium efflux into the serosal medium, while an increase in serosal potassium results in a significant rise in this parameter, which appears to saturate at approximately 5mm K. This sensitivity to serosal potassium is seen neither in the absence of ouabain nor when the sodium pump is inactivated by removal of sodium from the mucosal medium. Furosemide, which also inhibits the sodium transport system, both inhibits potassium transport parameters in normal Ringer's and abolishes the potassium-sensitive potassium efflux seen in the presence of ouabain. Thus, the Na−K pump appears to operate as a K−K exchanger when the sodium system is inhibited by ouabain; this K−K exchange mechanism is inhibited by furosemide. One explanation for these results is that ouabain effects an alteration in the affinities of the transport system for sodium and potassium.
Estuaries May Face Increased Parasitism as Sea Levels Rise

Invertebrates in estuaries could be at a greater risk of parasitism as climate change causes sea levels to rise. A new paper published 8 December in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (doi:10.1073/pnas.1416747111) describes how rapid sea level rise in the Holocene affected the population of parasitic flatworms called trematodes.
Transient transport measurement on ion‐implanted polymers

Current transient measurements are carried out on ion‐implanted polymers to provide new information on the mechanism for the implantation‐induced conductivity. Using metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect transistor devices in which implanted polymer films form part of the metal‐oxide‐semiconductor structure, the dispersion parameter α is measured as a function of ion fluence and temperature. The fluence dependent measurements provide evidence for trapping sites and support a trap‐controlled hopping mechanism for ion‐implanted polymers. The temperature‐dependence measurements favor conduction by hopping between traps in the defect band in the mobility gap rather than between traps in the mobility edges. New results are also presented on the dc conductivity of polymers implanted at low temperature (77 K), the same samples as were used for the current transient measurements.
Polarization reference imaging systems. 2: Computer simulation studies

Polarization Reference Imaging (prim) systems utilize the polarized and coherent output characteristics of lasers to eliminate turbulence and/or optical figure errors. Computer simulation studies of the prim system are presented. The simulation scheme, prim reconstructed images, and their image quality dependence on system parameters are shown and discussed.
Design of a network-based mobile gait rehabilitation system

In this paper, a network-based mobile gait rehabilitation system is proposed for improved mobility and tele-rehabilitation. In this system, an Internet-based body sensor network is employed for health monitoring and a local highspeed wireless network is developed to achieve precise control of the gait rehabilitation device, which is a compact rotary elastic actuator (cRSEA). A new wireless protocol called MBStarPlus is proposed to achieve a high sampling rate and real-time communication. To deal with packet loss in the wireless network, a modified linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) controller is combined with a disturbance observer (DOB) to control the cRSEA over the wireless network. Successful system integration and promising experimental results validate both the system design and proposed control algorithm. The plan for clinical testing with the proposed system is discussed.
Sagittal plane knee joint moments following anterior cruciate ligament injury and reconstruction: A systematic review

Abstract Background Gait adaptations in persons with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries have been debated. Many studies examine high speed, 3-dimensional video gait analysis to compare knee joint torques during simulated activities of daily living. Methods We performed a systematic review of the literature for published clinical papers that reported sagittal plane knee joint kinetics in ACL deficient or reconstructed individuals. We calculated weighted effect sizes (Cohen’s d) to evaluate the magnitude of differences between the injured limb and the contralateral limb and healthy, uninjured limbs in control subjects. Findings Ten published papers reported kinetic data in ACL deficient subjects while walking for comparisons to the contralateral side (weighted average d = −0.83, range: −3.21, 1.07), and to healthy control knees (weighted average d = −1.0, range: −3.36, 0.17); four papers reported data during jogging compared to the contralateral side (weighted average d = −0.94, range: −4.15, 0.17), and to controls (weighted average d = −1.42, range: −3.83,−0.2). Four papers reported data for ACL-reconstructed patients compared to healthy controls during walking (weighted average d = −0.94, range: −0.4, −1.77) and jogging (weighted average d = −1.18). Interpretation Effect sizes comparing knee joint moments in injured vs. healthy control subjects appear to be slightly higher while jogging than walking, and higher in ACL-deficient patients compared to reconstructions. However, magnitudes are all large. Few studies report stair climbing. Consequently, it is difficult to make inferences with confidence during these tasks.
Global warming — facts, assessment, countermeasures

Abstract Global primary energy consumption amounts to 8.38 billion tonnes oil equivalent (OE) (1996) and is projected to increase by 1.3% per year for the industrialized countries and by up to 9.2% per year for the developing countries. Fossil energy's share was 7.541 billion tonnes OE in 1996 with rising tendency. The order of magnitude of proved reserves of fossil energy sources is 950 billion tonnes OE (1996), and certain present probable and possible reserves will become proved ones in the years to come. Fossil energy will, therefore, remain the number one energy source until far into the next century. The use of fossil energy produced 23.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in 1996 with oil and gas contributing about 60% to this figure. It is estimated that continued use of fossil energy will lead to an increase of the average global temperature by 1.0–3.5°C in the coming 50–100 years. Though the forecasts of future CO 2 -emissions from fossil energy use as well as the magnitude of their influence on global warming are much disputed, the impact of CO 2 -emissions on global warming itself is widely admitted. There is much dissense on the climatic consequences of global warming. It cannot be ruled out, however, that these consequences may be detrimental to mankind. This has in a sense of a “no regret policy” triggered substantial activity worldwide to decrease emission of greenhouse gases, especially of CO 2 , and various attempts have been made to set binding limits for the emission of these gases. The harmonized worldwide implementation of CO 2 -reduction strategies is, however, far from being realized. OECD-countries have made substantial progress in applying these strategies. Nevertheless, the contribution of the industrialized countries to worldwide CO 2 -emissions is still over-proportionally large. The cost of developing and applying CO 2 -reduction technologies are tremendous and prohibitive for most of the emerging economies. There is an obligation of the industrialized countries in their own interest to develop and make available these technologies wherever they are needed. The cost/efficiency ratio of CO 2 -reduction measures must be a decisive criterion for their application. There are serious obstacles, though, to reducing CO 2 -emissions while satisfying the energy needs of our world, e.g. lacking international harmonization, national needs and egoisms, rapid growth of world population and strongly increasing energy demand of emerging economies. In summing up, though an anthropogenic contribution to global warming cannot be proved for the time being, it cannot be ruled out forever. Therefore, internationally harmonized measures for CO 2 -reduction have to be taken in the sense of a “no regret policy” to avert potential damage from mankind and, thus, contribute in this sense to a sustainable development with fossil energy.
Instructions for patients who receive immediate dentures.

Written guidelines for patients are suggested to alleviate potential adverse physiologic and psychologic effects experienced after the insertion of immediate dentures.
Extension of a negative multinomial model

An extension and applications of a negative multinomial model are presented. Unification of this and other models is studied. The extended model is shown to be the product of a negative multinomial distribution and a multinomial distribution such that the joint distribution has its “success” probabilities adding up to one. Among other properties, this discrete multivariate distribution provides a natural extension to the inverse sampling scheme and is also the limiting distribution of another related practical model.The maximum likelihood estimator and the UMVUE of the parameters are also determined.
Serial Measurements of Body Composition in Obese Subjects During a Very‐Low‐Energy Diet (VLED) Comparing Bioelectrical Impedance with Hydrodensitometry

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a convenient, inexpensive, and noninvasive technique for measuring body composition. BIA has been strongly correlated with total body water (TBW) and also has been validated against hydrodensitometry (HD). The accuracy and clinical utility of BIA and HD during periods of substantial weight loss remain controversial. We measured body composition in moderately and severely obese patients serially using both methods during a very-low-energy diet (VLED). Mean initial weight in these patients was 116 (+/-30) kg (range, 74-196 kg). Mean weight loss was 24 (+/-13) kg with a decrease in fat mass (FM) by HD of kg (p < 0.001) and a decrease in fat-free mass (FFM) of 3.6 kg (p < 0.05). Loss of FFM is best predicted by the rate (kg/wk) of weight loss (r2 = 0.86, p < 0.0001). FFM, as predicted from BIA equations, was highly correlated with FFM as estimated by HD during all testing sessions (r = 0.92-0.98). Although highly correlated, BIA overestimated FFM relative to HD and this difference appeared to be more pronounced for taller patients with greater truncal obesity. Although the discrepancy was no greater during weight-loss treatment, the level of disagreement was considerable. Therefore, the two methods cannot be used interchangeably to monitor relative changes in body composition in patients with obesity during treatment with VLED. The discrepancy between BIA and HD may be caused by body mass distribution considerations and by perturbations in TBW which affect the hydration quotient for FFM (BIA) and/or which affect the density constants for FFM and FM (HD).
David Rosenthal’s Tirant lo Blanc turns 30

The groundbreaking English language translation of Tirant lo Blan c by New York poet and academic David Rosenthal remains dominant three decades after its initial, and celebrated, release. Rosenthal’s controversially fluid and concise rendering of the Valencian classic survived a serious challenge 20 years ago by a more literal version from a well-meaning amateur translator and journeyman academic backed by a leading U.S.-based Catalan scholar. The article reviews the controversy and compares the two versions, adding comments from some of the key critics
Classroom projects on database connectivity and the Web

Most undergraduate curriculums in CS include at least a one semester study of data base management systems. In this paper, we take a closer look at a DBMS course we have offered recently and elaborate on a world wide web based database project in this course; it integrates a number of ideas not only from within DBMS but across other CS areas. We discuss the objectives underlying the design of the project and the ways in which these projects provide students with a feel for the organization and use of contemporary commercial database applications.
Personal Patronage under the Early Empire

List of tables Preface Abbreviations Introduction 1. The language and ideology of patronage 2. The emperor and his court 3. Seniority and merit: alternatives to patronage? 4. The Roman imperial aristocracy 5. Patronage and provincials: the case of North Africa Conclusion Bibliography Index.
A Numerical Investigation of Impact of Architectural and Climatic Parameters of Windcatcher Systems on Induced Ventilation

The large energy demand from the HVAC industry for residential buildings, along with the ever growing need for the utilization of renewable sources of energy, has brought considerable attention to the area of induced ventilation. Windcatchers are green architectural structures historically used for the passive ventilation of the indoor spaces with the minimal non-renewable energy consumption. In this paper, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is used to assess a windcatcher’s performance with different characteristics of the windcatcher design. For a single room with heat emitting objects, the effects of the windcatcher louver design and height were thoroughly evaluated in conjunction with a variety of dominant wind velocity and incident angles. A comparison was drawn between the ventilation efficiency for the cases of circular and rectangular windcatcher designs. Thermal discomfort (PD) values due to draft were calculated for different temperature and wind velocities. The developed model was employed to obtain the optimized configuration for the windcatcher-room system. The effect of ambient weather conditions on the results was investigated by performing the simulations for a range of air temperature and velocities. Results obtained in this paper provide windcatcher designers with valuable insights on the important design parameters such as windcatcher height, louver design and impact of ambient conditions.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Orthographic effects for Chinese-English bilinguals in a picture-word interference task

Language of response and language of distractor items were varied orthogonally in a picture-word interference task presented to groups of English monolingual and Chinese-English bilingual students. The pattern of interference effects suggested qualitative differences in the processing of alphabetic versus logographic characters, consistent with the hypothesis of more rapid access to meaning for items written in logographic script. A consequence of differential access is a dissociation between the locus of interference effects for the two orthographies, with the interference at a semantic decision stage for logographs and at a response selection stage for alphabetic scripts. A greater similarity between picture and logographic processing than between picture and alphabetic processing is supported by the observed increases in overall level of interference with logographic script.
Implementing an HIV and sexually transmitted disease screening program in an emergency department.

Study objective We assess the feasibility, effectiveness, and cost of routinely recommended HIV/sexually transmitted disease screening in an urban emergency department (ED). Methods From April 2003 to August 2004, patients aged 15 to 54 years were offered rapid HIV testing, and those aged 15 to 25 years were also offered gonorrhea and chlamydia testing (nucleic acid amplification), Monday through Friday, 11 am to 8 pm. Infected patients were referred for treatment and care. Prevalence, treatment rates, and cost were assessed. Results Among 3,030 patients offered HIV testing, 1,447 (47.8%) accepted, 8 (0.6%) tested positive, and 3 (37.5%) were linked to care. Among 791 patients offered sexually transmitted disease testing, 386 (48.8%) accepted, 320 provided urine (82.9%), 48 (15.0%) tested positive, and 42 (87.5%) were treated for gonorrhea or chlamydia. The program cost was $72,928. Costs per HIV-infected patient identified and linked to care were, respectively, $9,116 and $24,309; cost per sexually transmitted disease–infected patient treated was $1,736. The program cost for HIV/sexually transmitted disease screening was only $14,340 more than if we screened only for HIV. Conclusion Through ED-based HIV/sexually transmitted disease screening, we identified and treated many sexually transmitted disease–infected patients but identified few HIV-infected patients and linked even fewer to care. However, sexually transmitted disease screening can be added to HIV screening at a reasonable cost.
Divergent effects of cyanate on amino acid and phosphate uptake by liver and hepatoma.

Abstract The uptake of α-aminoiso [ 3 H]butyric acid and 32 P i was observed to be inhibited by sodium cyanate in transplanted hepatomas but was increased in the livers of the tumor bearing rats. Incorporation of 32 P i into macromolecules in hepatomas was also inhibited by cyanate. Treatment with this drug did not influence circulating concentrations of isotope-labeled materials. There were relatively small effects on uptake of 36 Cl − in cyanate-treated rats and the action was not tissue specific. The data were compatible with an inhibitory effect of cyanate on active transport in hepatomas which was not seen under the same conditions in host liver.