cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Asian Courts and LGBT Rights

Courts have played an integral part in advancing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities in many parts of Asia. For example, Taiwan’s highest court ruled in 2017 that it was unconstitutional to exclude same-sex couples from marriage. As a result, in 2019, Taiwan became the first jurisdiction in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Among judicial decisions from Asia, Taiwan’s marriage ruling has gone the furthest in affirming same-sex relationships, but it is not alone in vindicating the rights of gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals. Courts in Asia have also advanced transgender rights. For example, building on earlier cases from Nepal and Pakistan, the Indian Supreme Court stated in 2014 that transgender persons have a right to select gender markers on identity documents based on self-determination. The judgment also directed the government to implement affirmative action programs to support transgender communities. This judgment broke new ground, not only for Asia but for the world. While LGBT rights advocates have celebrated these court victories, litigation to advance LGBT rights has failed in other parts of Asia. Indeed, courts in some parts of Asia have entrenched LGBT subordination. A vast expanse separates Asia’s most progressive judicial decisions from the most oppressive. The landscape of judicial decisions is further complicated by the fact that it continues to change at a rapid clip. This chapter examines this mixed and quickly changing landscape of judicial developments concerning LGBT rights in Asia. This chapter starts by providing an overview of the divergent roles that Asian courts have played with respect to LGBT rights. It then highlights — and offers preliminary answers to — three questions prompted by the judicial development of LGBT rights in Asia: (1) What factors have contributed to the divergence among Asian jurisdictions? (2) How should developments in Asia inform existing narratives about the development of LGBT rights? (3) How do politics and public opinion affect courts’ ability to advance LGBT rights in Asia?
A measure of social coordination and group signaling in the wild

Adaptive interactions in large populations often require honest signals of group membership to structure interactions. However, limitations to a simple mapping of groups onto stylistic and ethnosomatic variation suggest that new ways of measurement are needed to describe the work that objects do to facilitate social coordination. Means to measure the benefits to coordinating on specific objects, here called signaling value, would transition inquiry from general statement that signals play a role, to which signals play what roles in what contexts. This study introduces a method to measure the signaling value of specific objects using classification tasks. After mathematically showing how social coordination leads to greater associations in object classification, a statistical approach is derived to estimate the signaling value of objects from a triad classification task. The approach is then applied to a study of culturally salient motifs in the Pacific Island nation of Tonga and a comparison group in the US. The statistical estimates suggest a large role for social coordination for the full set of motifs, although there is a substantial range of signaling values among motifs. In light of the estimates, the cultural history of individual motifs is discussed as well as the future of this approach.
High impact nutrition and dietetics journals' use of publication procedures to increase research transparency.

The rigor and integrity of the published research in nutrition studies has come into serious question in recent years. Concerns focus on the use of flexible data analysis practices and selective reporting and the failure of peer review journals to identify and correct these practices. In response, it has been proposed that journals employ editorial procedures designed to improve the transparency of published research. The present study examines the adoption of editorial procedures designed to improve the reporting of empirical studies in the field of nutrition and dietetics research. The instructions for authors of 43 journals included in Quartiles 1 and 2 of the Clarivate Analytics’ 2018 Journal Citation Report category Nutrition and Dietetics were reviewed. For journals that published original research, conflict of interest disclosure, recommendation of reporting guidelines, registration of clinical trials, registration of other types of studies, encouraging data sharing, and use of the Registered Reports were assessed. For journals that only published reviews, all of the procedures except clinical trial registration were assessed. Thirty-three journals published original research and 10 published only reviews. Conflict of interest disclosure was required by all 33 original research journals. Use of guidelines, trial registration and encouragement of data sharing were mentioned by 30, 27 and 25 journals, respectively. Registration of other studies was required by eight and none offered Registered Reports as a publication option at the time of the review. All 10 review journals required conflict of interest disclosure, four recommended data sharing and three the use of guidelines. None mentioned the other two procedures. While nutrition journals have adopted a number of procedures designed to improve the reporting of research findings, their limited effects likely result from the mechanisms through which they influence analytic flexibility and selective reporting and the extent to which they are properly implemented and enforced by journals.
Echoic survivals: Re-documenting pre-1975 Vietnamese music as historical sound/tracks of re-membering:

Following the contested fall of Sai Gon in 1975, several South Vietnamese veterans found their existence and contributions during the Việt Nam War erased. Even after 45 years of diasporic displacem...
Tau strains shape disease

Tauopathies consist of over 25 different neurodegenerative diseases that include argyrophilic grain disease (AGD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and Pick’s disease (PiD). Tauopathies are defined by brain accumulation of microtubule-associated protein tau in fibrillar aggregates, whose prevalence strongly correlates with dementia. Dominant mutations in tau cause neurodegenerative diseases, and most increase its aggregation propensity. Pathogenesis of tauopathies may involve pathological tau conformers that serve as templates to recruit native protein into growing assemblies and also move between brain cells to cause disease progression, similar to prions. Prions adopt pathological conformations, termed “strains,” that stably propagate in living systems, and create unique patterns of neuropathology. Data from multiple laboratories now suggest that tau acts as a prion. It propagates unique strains indefinitely in cultured cells, and when these are inoculated into mouse models, they create defined neuropathological patterns, which establish a direct link between conformation and disease. In humans, distinct fibril structures are associated with different diseases, but causality has not been established as in mice. Cryo-EM structures of tau fibrils isolated from tauopathy brains reveal distinct fibril cores across disease. Interestingly, the conformation of the tau monomer unit within different fibril subtypes from the same patient appears relatively preserved. This is consistent with data that the tau monomer samples an ensemble of conformations that act as distinct pathologic templates in the formation of restricted numbers of strains. The propensity of a tau monomer to adopt distinct conformations appears to be linked to defined local motifs that expose different patterns of amyloidogenic amino acid sequences. The prion hypothesis, which predicts that protein structure dictates resultant disease, has proved particularly useful to understand the diversity of human tauopathies. The challenge now is to develop methods to rapidly classify patients according to the structure of the underlying pathological protein assemblies to achieve more accurate diagnosis and effective therapy.
Diet and erythrocyte metal concentrations in early pregnancy-cross-sectional analysis in Project Viva.

Background Dietary sources of metals are not well established among pregnant women in the United States. Objective We aimed to perform a diet-wide association study (DWAS) of metals during the first trimester of pregnancy. Methods In early pregnancy (11.3 ± 2.8 weeks of gestation), 1196 women from Project Viva (recruited 1999-2002 in eastern Massachusetts) completed a validated FFQ (135 food items) and underwent measurements of erythrocyte metals [arsenic (As), barium, cadmium, cesium (Cs), copper, mercury (Hg), magnesium, manganese, lead (Pb), selenium (Se), zinc]. The DWAS involved a systematic evaluation and visualization of all bivariate relations for each food-metal combination. For dietary items with strong associations with erythrocyte metals, we applied targeted maximum likelihood estimations and substitution models to evaluate how hypothetical dietary interventions would influence metals' concentrations. Results Participants' mean ± SD age was 32.5 ± 4.5 y and prepregnancy BMI was 24.8 ± 5.4 kg/m2; they were mostly white (75.9%), college graduates (72.4%), married or cohabitating (94.6%), had a household income >$70,000/y (63.5%), and had never smoked (67.1%). Compared with other US-based cohorts, the overall diet quality of participants was above average, and concentrations of erythrocyte metals were lower. The DWAS identified significant associations of several food items with As, Hg, Pb, Cs, and Se; for example, As was higher for each SD increment in fresh fruit (11.5%; 95% CI: 4.9%, 18.4%), white rice (17.9%; 95% CI: 9.4%, 26.9%), and seafood (50.9%; 95% CI: 42.8%, 59.3%). Following the guidelines for pregnant women to consume ≤3 servings/wk of seafood was associated with lower As (-0.55 ng/g; 95% CI: -0.82, -0.28 ng/g) and lower Hg (-2.67 ng/g; 95% CI: -3.55, -1.80 ng/g). Substituting white rice with bread, pasta, tortilla, and potato was also associated with lower As (35%-50%) and Hg (35%-70%). Conclusions Our DWAS provides a systematic evaluation of diet-metals relations. Prenatal diet may be an important source of exposures to metals.
Identification and Roles of miR-29b-1-3p and miR29a-3p-Regulated and Non-Regulated lncRNAs in Endocrine-Sensitive and Resistant Breast Cancer Cells

Despite improvements in the treatment of endocrine-resistant metastatic disease using combination therapies in patients with estrogen receptor α (ERα) primary tumors, the mechanisms underlying endocrine resistance remain to be elucidated. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including microRNAs (miRNA) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA), are targets and regulators of cell signaling pathways and their exosomal transport may contribute to metastasis. Previous studies have shown that a low expression of miR-29a-3p and miR-29b-3p is associated with lower overall breast cancer survival before 150 mos. Transient, modest overexpression of miR-29b1-3p or miR-29a-3p inhibited MCF-7 tamoxifen-sensitive and LCC9 tamoxifen-resistant cell proliferation. Here, we identify miR-29b-1/a-regulated and non-regulated differentially expressed lncRNAs in MCF-7 and LCC9 cells using next-generation RNA seq. More lncRNAs were miR-29b-1/a-regulated in LCC9 cells than in MCF-7 cells, including DANCR, GAS5, DSCAM-AS1, SNHG5, and CRND. We examined the roles of miR-29-regulated and differentially expressed lncRNAs in endocrine-resistant breast cancer, including putative and proven targets and expression patterns in survival analysis using the KM Plotter and TCGA databases. This study provides new insights into lncRNAs in endocrine-resistant breast cancer.
An Investigation of Instructors’ Online Teaching Readiness

It was the purpose of the study to investigate the readiness of faculty members at two private universities in the United States to teach online when a pandemic caused a shift to emergency remote or online teaching. Results show that instructors were somewhat ready to accomplish tasks related to online teaching. Participating instructors reported they felt most competent with course communication and least competent with time management. Significant differences in responses were found based on online teaching experience prior to the pandemic and years of online teaching experience. Results show that instructors who had confidence in online teaching were more prepared for the task than those who were not confident. This study has implications for online instructors, support staff who provide professional development opportunities and training for instructors, and administrators who provide resources for faculty and staff to support quality online course and program offerings at their institutions.
Repurposing the translation apparatus for synthetic biology

The translation system (the ribosome and associated factors) is the cell's factory for protein synthesis. The extraordinary catalytic capacity of the protein synthesis machinery has driven extensive efforts to harness it for novel functions. For example, pioneering efforts have demonstrated that it is possible to genetically encode more than the 20 natural amino acids and that this encoding can be a powerful tool to expand the chemical diversity of proteins. Here, we discuss recent advances in efforts to expand the chemistry of living systems, highlighting improvements to the molecular machinery and genomically recoded organisms, applications of cell-free systems, and extensions of these efforts to include eukaryotic systems. The transformative potential of repurposing the translation apparatus has emerged as one of the defining opportunities at the interface of chemical and synthetic biology.
A Review ofA Field Guide for Human Skeletal Identification

The title of this book exactly describes its contents. Bennett has assembled a collection of 55 tables in 4 areas of skeletal identification, with the intention of providing “easy access to numerical information while in the field.” It is an unfortunate fact of forensic science life that our examinations often take place under suboptimal conditions: out of doors, in poorly equipped facilities, under time constraints, away from labs and reference materials. This manual should make examinations easier under these circumstances.
Couples and Family Treatment

This chapter discusses couples and family treatment. Research on the long-term well-being of people recovering from addictions has demonstrated the crucial impact of healthy family environments. This chapter addresses two broad areas related to family issues. The first focuses on effective treatment for pathological gambling patients by including partners and family members. It also focuses on how clinicians can help family members and partners who seek treatment for their own needs. Little research exists on specific family treatment, but marital status and family life satisfaction are related to gambling abstinence. The chapter also examines typical family scenarios and the different perspectives of patients and family members. Next, it re-examines treatment strategies that lend themselves to the couples format. The core conflict between pathological gambling patients and partners centers on a developmental time lag in the recovery process for the gambling-afflicted trauma. Social cognitive psychology maintains that trauma shatters basic assumptions in people's world views. This chapter concludes that since families are dynamic systems, these patterns may change over time or intermingle. Sometimes relationship patterns move from rage to cold indifference or vice versa. If the gambling persists, even the most accepting partner's emotional state will shift.
A modified surface energy balance algorithm for land (M-SEBAL) based on a trapezoidal framework

[1] The surface energy balance algorithm for land (SEBAL) has been designed and widely used (and misused) worldwide to estimate evapotranspiration across varying spatial and temporal scales using satellite remote sensing over the past 15 yr. It is, however, beset by visual identification of a hot and cold pixel to determine the temperature difference (dT) between the surface and the lower atmosphere, which is assumed to be linearly correlated with surface radiative temperature (Trad) throughout a scene. To reduce ambiguity in flux estimation by SEBAL due to the subjectivity in extreme pixel selection, this study first demonstrates that SEBAL is of a rectangular framework of the contextual relationship between vegetation fraction (fc) and Trad, which can distort the spatial distribution of heat flux retrievals to varying degrees. End members of SEBAL were replaced by a trapezoidal framework of the fc-Trad space in the modified surface energy balance algorithm for land (M-SEBAL). The warm edge of the trapezoidal framework is determined by analytically deriving temperatures of the bare surface with the largest water stress and the fully vegetated surface with the largest water stress implicit in both energy balance and radiation budget equations. Areally averaged air temperature (Ta) across a study site is taken to be the cold edge of the trapezoidal framework. Coefficients of the linear relationship between dT and Trad can vary with fc but are assumed essentially invariant for the same fc or within the same fc class in M-SEBAL. SEBAL and M-SEBAL are applied to the soil moisture-atmosphere coupling experiment (SMACEX) site in central Iowa, U.S. Results show that M-SEBAL is capable of reproducing latent heat flux in terms of an overall root-mean-square difference of 41.1 W m−2 and mean absolute percentage difference of 8.9% with reference to eddy covariance tower-based measurements for three landsat thematic mapper/enhanced thematic mapper plus imagery acquisition dates in 2002. The retrieval accuracy of SEBAL is generally lower than M-SEBAL, depending largely on the selected extremes. Spatial distributions of heat flux retrievals from SEBAL are distorted to a certain degree due to its intrinsic rectangular framework.
A Conceptualization and Program Design

(1976). A Conceptualization and Program Design. Journal of Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 47, Including Leisure Today, pp. 41-43.
Purposeful Behavior in Robot Soccer Team Play

The annual robot soccer competition (RoboCup) provides an excellent opportunity for research in distributed robotic systems. A robotic soccer team demands integrated robots that are autonomous, efficient, cooperative, and intelligent. In this paper, we introduce the concept of Purposeful Behavior, to tackle the problem of achieving reactive and coordinated behavior in a team of autonomous robots. We are building a new control framework for autonomous robots to reason about goals and actions, react to unexpected situations, learn from humans and experience, and collaborate with teammates. Building such robots may require techniques that are different from those employed in separate research disciplines. We describe our experience in building these soccer robots and highlights problems and solutions that are unique to such multi-agent robotic systems in general. These problems include a framework for multi-agent programming, agent modeling and architecture, evaluation of multi-agent systems, and decentralized skill composition.
Dynamical supersymmetry for mesons and baryons

An approximate dynamical supersymmetry exists between mesons and baryons. This supersymmetry arises in QCD dynamics because both diquarks and antiquarks belong to \(\bar 3\) multiplets of color SU(3). The supersymmetry is broken by mass and size differences between diquarks and antiquarks and also by spin-dependent QCD forces. I discuss a method to use this supersymmetry to obtain the masses of some baryons from the masses of the corresponding mesons.
Cicero and the Education of the Republic's Last Generation

Amid the dysfunction of the late Roman Republic, the orator and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero composed On the Ideal Orator (de Oratore). In this dialogue, he sets forth an educational program whose purpose is the formation of a governing class marked by technical proficiency, wisdom, and collegiality. To this end, Cicero calls for orator-statesmen to be skilled in rhetoric as well as learned in the subjects of history, philosophy, and law. His subsequent dialogues On the Republic (de Republica) and On the Laws (de Legibus) serve as means to this end. In addition, Cicero criticizes the technical emphasis of fee-paying schools and instead advocates traditional methods of elite education that involve emulation, socialization, and the fostering of relationships between aspiring senators and leading members of the governing class. This paper unfolds in three parts: after outlining the process and development of elite education in the second and first centuries B.C., it moves on to consider the political crisis that prompted Cicero to set forth his program; the final part considers the form and content of Cicero’s early dialogues as they relate to the formation of the ideal statesman.
Improving a pharmaceutical purchasing and inventory control system

A method by which a pharmacy department improved its purchasing and inventory control system is described. System changes to the computerized inventory control system included implementation of a formulary, affiliation with a group purchasing association, and transfer of specified purchasing and inventory control functions to the technical staff of the purchasing department. Pharmacy maintained the decision-making authority over all vendors and dosage forms of drug products. Optimal results were achieved when the purchasing department's pharmacy buyer position was staffed with an employee who had previous experience as a clerical worker in the pharmacy. The authors state that this system has proved to be an effective, cost efficient method of purchasing and inventory control of pharmaceuticals in their hospital.
Fear and uncertainty in the face of death: The role of life after death in group identification

Terror management theory argues that mortality-induced terror motivates group identification. Uncertainty–identity theory argues that uncertainty about what happens after death motivates group identification. Two experiments were conducted to test the latter reasoning. In Experiment 1 (n = 187), mortality salience was manipulated, and uncertainty about the afterlife was measured to predict national identification. As hypothesized, mortality salience strengthened identification only among those who were uncertain about the afterlife. In Experiment 2 (n = 177), mortality salience was manipulated as before, but belief in an afterlife was also manipulated—participants were primed to believe that there was an afterlife, there was not an afterlife, or the existence of an afterlife was uncertain. As in Experiment 1, mortality salience strengthened identification only among those who were existentially uncertain. These experiments show that uncertainty plays a significant role in reactions to mortality salience, and support uncertainty–identity theory's analysis of the role of self-uncertainty in ideological conviction and group behavior. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Education and the Knowledge Economy: A Response to David & Foray

Much has been written about the claim that contemporary developed economies are ‘knowledge economies’ in which education plays a key role in providing the human, knowledge-based resources necessary...
LIFE AFTER SUPPORTED HOUSING: A CASE SERIES OF FORMERLY HOMELESS CLIENTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS-SUPPORTIVE HOUSING (HUD-VASH) PROGRAM 20 YEARS LATER

This article presents a case series of three formerly homeless clients who were in the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program 20 years ago and describes their progress since. Clients were identified from a 1992 client roster at one of the original HUD-VASH sites. Clients were interviewed and their medical records were reviewed. The case studies were characterized as “sustained involvement in subsidized housing,” “successful discharge followed by re-engagement,” and “case management more important than the voucher.” These cases illustrate that, first, long-term success in supported housing has not been defined, but perhaps social integration and self-sufficiency should be a focus. Second, mental health and substance abuse treatment appear to be important in long-term client success, but when and how they should be promoted remains unclear. Last, case management services may represent a crucial and necessary form of support for clients in supported housing programs.
From Freud to Foulkes to the Future: The Development of Group Analysis and its Continual Evolution:

In this paper the author examines a quote by Foulkes and Anthony from 1965 and explores its validity throughout the development of group analysis from its origins in psychoanalysis outlining its evolution over time to the present day and makes suggestions for its future direction.
How does underlying geology affect coastline change? An initial modeling investigation

[1] Conceptual geologic framework models predict that areas of the coast underlain by a weak or very fine grained lithology retreat landward faster than adjacent, more resistant or coarser-grained segments. These apparently commonsense predictions seem inconsistent with observations that sandy coastlines underlain by heterogeneous lithology remain fairly smooth. We have developed a numerical model to explore the interaction between shoreface lithology effects and alongshore transport processes on scales greater than years and kilometers. Shoreline indentations, or sections of the coast that are slightly landward of adjacent sections, tend to form in the model where the shoreface weathers more rapidly or is composed of finer-grained material. However, alongshore transport tends to fill in these indentations, slowing the weathering rates there while increasing them in adjacent areas where mobile sediment is preferentially removed. Over the long term this leads to an alongshore uniform retreat rate. Subtle shoreline undulations reflecting the heterogeneous geologic framework exist in the model, but their amplitude reaches a steady state rather than increasing with time. Compositional heterogeneities determine the morphology of the coast while weathering rate heterogeneities control the thickness of sediment on the shoreface. Thus indentations can form in sections composed of harder (less erodible) rocks if they are finer grained.
Risk factors for equine monocytic ehrlichiosis seropositivity in horses in Colorado

Abstract A study was conducted in April through August 1989 whereby 318 horses were tested for immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) titers to Ehrlichia risticii . The state of Colorado was divided into four regions and an approximately equal number of horses was tested in each region. Questionnaires were completed for each horse; a multiple logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors for horses being exposed to E. risticii . Of the 318 horses tested, 48 (16%) had IFA titers of 1:40 or greater (range 1:40–1:1280). There was no association between the region of Colorado and seropositivity. Other variables which were not identified as risk factors included gender, transportation to other parts of Colorado, transportation to other states and exposure to other horses. When the variables were examined individually, older horses, Quarter horses, horses housed at a boarding stable, and horses having access to pasture or direct access to a stream, pond or lake were more likely to have positive titers. Horses confined to a stall with a run were less likely to be exposed to E. risticii . All apparent associations disappeared when the factors were tested in the multiple logistic regression model.
Automated radiation therapy treatment plan workflow using a commercial application programming interface.

Abstract Purpose The objective of this study was to create a workflow for the automation and standardization of treatment plan generation and evaluation using an application programming interface (API) to access data from a commercial treatment planning system (Varian Medical Systems, Inc, Palo Alto, CA). Methods and materials The automation workflow begins with converting electronic patient-specific physician treatment planning orders that specify demographics, simulation instructions, and dosimetric objectives for targets and organs at risk into XML files. These XML files are used to generate standard contour names, beam, and patient-specific intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) optimization templates to be executed in a commercial treatment planning system (TPS) by the user. A set of computer programs have been developed to provide quality control (QC) reports that verify demographic information in the TPS against the treatment planning orders, ensure the existence and proper naming of organs at risk, and generate patient-specific plan evaluation reports that provide real-time feedback on the concordance of an active treatment plan to the physician-specified treatment planning goals. Results A workflow for lung IMRT was chosen as a test scenario. Contour, beam, and patient-specific IMRT optimization templates were automatically generated from the physician treatment planning orders and loaded into the planning system. The QC reports were developed for lung IMRT, including the option of patient-specific modifications to the standard templates. The API QC reporting includes a dynamic program that runs in parallel to the TPS during the planning process, providing real-time feedback as to whether physician-specified treatment plan parameters have improved or worsened from previous iterations. Conclusions User-created computer programs to access information in the TPS database by means of a commercial TPS API enable automation and standardization of treatment plan generation and evaluation.
Characterization of silicon ion-implantation damage in single-strained layer (InGa)As/GaAs quantum wells

We have characterized the structural effects of silicon ion implantation and controlled-atmosphere annealing on single quantum wells of In0.14Ga0.86As strained to match the in-plane lattice spacing of bulk GaAs. Cantilever-beam techniques were applied to measure implantation-induced stresses, while Rutherford backscattering, double-crystal x-ray diffraction, and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy were applied to characterize the resulting microstructure. Samples were examined in both the as-implanted state and also after implantation and annealing under an arsenic overpressure at 800° C for 10 minutes. For implants whose energies produced maximum implanted ion density near the center of the 20 nm-thick quantum well, a maximum in the implantation-induced stresses were observed to occur at a silicon ion fluence of 1 × 1014/cm2. Annealing of the implanted samples resulted in small dislocation loops in the ion range zone with survival of the strained quantum well. Electrical activation of the implants was found to be similar to identical implants into bulk GaAs.
Using quantitative techniques to improve athletic schedules

Abstract Team pairings during an athletic season impact the revenues, costs, and exposure of teams in college and professional leagues. The schedules of teams can also influence which one wins a conference or league championship. Factors such as the strength of opponents, travel times and distances, and television exposure are important in constructing desirable athletic schedules, but are often ignored by schedule-makers. Integer programming techniques are applied to scheduling college football games in the Southeastern Conference. The result is a set of schedules which, when compared to the current set, yields a more narrow range in schedule difficulty among the 10 teams, lower total distance for teams to travel during the season, and potentially more televised games.
The femtosecond optical response of porous, amorphous and crystalline silicon

Abstract The carrier dynamics in porous silicon have been investigated using femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopy. The results are compared to those obtained under identical conditions on a-Si:H, crystalline silicon and GaAs. Porous silicon is an indirect bandgap material with a free carrier absorption cross section that is lower than that of a-Si:H and comparable to that of crystalline silicon. Our measurements indicate carrier trapping within 200 fs followed by a slower decay on a subnanosecond time scale that speeds up at elevated injected densities. This effect is interpreted as efficient Auger recombination of carriers generated in, and confined to, nanometer sized crystallites.
Identification and preparation of sperm for ART.

State-of-the-art techniques attempt to select sperm with the best functional capacity to produce pregnancy and, subsequently, healthy offspring. A variety of approaches are now being evaluated. Future approaches may allow for selection of sperm based on sperm DNA integrity, degree of aneuploidy, or apoptosis. Other approaches involve attempting to improve the in vitro function of sperm with exposure to compounds such as pentoxifylline or platelet activating factor. In the future, we are likely to see significant improvements in the ability to select the best sperm for assisted-reproductive-technology procedures and the use of these procedures in routine clinical practice.
The birth of modern Circassian nationalism

This article focuses on problems of the national movement of the Circassians – a small nation in the Caucasus, most of whose population is dispersed all over the world. The paper researches the development of the Circassian movement from 1989–2000 and its contemporary structure since 2005. The modern Circassian movement as a whole has never been approached from a political science viewpoint. This research aims to answer several core questions: What are the different strands of the movement? What principles are they based on? Who are the participants? What political forces support them? How do these political forces interact with each other?
Staphylococcus aureus infections after liver transplantation.

Background More data on the risk factors and outcomes after Staphylococcus aureus infections in liver transplantation are needed.
Sub-quarter micron metallization using ionized metal plasma (IMP) technology

Abstract Ionized metal plasma (IMP) technology has been developed for liners and wetting layer deposition of sub-quarter-micron devices. Numerical modeling showed the unique advantages of IMP source over ECR source and long throw sputtering in enhancing bottom coverage. TiN bottom coverage up to 70% were demonstrated. The deposition rate, uniformity, bottom coverage and film stress were optimized by tuning rf and dc powers, process pressure and bias power. The TiN film microstructure such as crystal orientation and grain size was controlled by process parameters. An IMP TiN x ( x x wetting layer. The via resistance was improved by IMP Ti deposition.
Microcystic macular oedema, thickness of the inner nuclear layer of the retina, and disease characteristics in multiple sclerosis: a retrospective study

Summary Background Microcystic macular oedema (MMO) of the retinal inner nuclear layer (INL) has been identified in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) by use of optical coherence tomography (OCT). We aimed to determine whether MMO of the INL, and increased thickness of the INL are associated with disease activity or disability progression. Methods This retrospective study was done at the Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore, MD, USA), between September, 2008, and March, 2012. Patients with MS and healthy controls underwent serial OCT scans and clinical assessments including visual function. OCT scanning, including automated intraretinal layer segmentation, yielded thicknesses of the retinal nerve fibre layer, the ganglion cell layer plus inner plexiform layer, the INL plus outer plexiform layer (the combined thickness of these layers was used as a surrogate measure of INL thickness), and the outer nuclear layer. Patients with MS also underwent annual brain MRI scans. Disability scores were compared with the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Mixed-effects linear regression was used to compare OCT measures and letter-acuity scores. Logistic regression was used to examine the relations of baseline OCT thicknesses with clinical and radiological parameters. Findings 164 patients with MS and 60 healthy controls were assessed. Mean follow-up was 25·8 months (SD 9·1) for patients with MS and 22·4 months (11·4) for healthy controls. Ten (6%) patients with MS had MMO during at least one study visit; MMO was visible at baseline in four of these patients. Healthy controls did not have MMO. Patients with MS and MMO had higher baseline MS severity scores (median 5·93 [range 2·44–8·91]) than those who did not have MMO at any time during the study (151 patients; 3·81 [0·13–9·47]; p=0·032), although expanded disability status scale (EDSS) scores were not significantly different (5·2 [1·0–6·5] for patients with MS and MMO vs 2·5 [0·0–8·0] for those without MMO; p=0·097). The eyes of patients with MS and MMO (12 eyes) versus those without MMO (302 eyes) had lower letter-acuity scores (100% contrast, p=0·017; 2·5% contrast, p=0·031; 1·25% contrast, p=0·014), and increased INL thicknesses (p=0·003) at baseline. Increased baseline INL thickness in patients with MS was associated with the development of contrast-enhancing lesions (p=0·007), new T2 lesions (p=0·015), EDSS progression (p=0·034), and relapses in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (p=0·008) during the study. MMO was not associated with disease activity during follow-up. Interpretation Increased INL thickness on OCT is associated with disease activity in MS. If this finding is confirmed, INL thickness could be a useful predictor of disease progression in patients with MS. Funding National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Eye Institute, Braxton Debbie Angela Dillon and Skip Donor Advisor Fund.
Density-dependent resistance to puromycin in cell cultures.

Pig kidney cells exhibit resistance to puromycin when cultured at high cell densities, growing progressively in otherwise lethal concentrations of drug. Comparison of population growth of cultures inoculated at different densities indicates that survival in puromycin is a function of cell density. Uptake of puromycin from culture media is less at higher cell densities resulting in decreased inhibition of protein synthesis by puromycin. Enhanced survival in puromycin at high population densities is attributed to reduced accumulation of puromycin from the culture media.
A distinctive competency

For the past eight years, I have had the privilege of leading pharmacy services and operations at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). The Cleveland Clinic is a unique organization in many ways. First, it is a physician staff model, employing over 1700 physicians and doctorate-level researchers.
Interactivity: a concept explication

The use of interactivity as a variable in empirical investigations has dramatically increased with the emergence of new communication channels such as the world wide web. Though many scholars have employed the concept in analyses, theoretical and operational definitions are exceedingly scattered and incoherent. Accordingly, the purpose of this project is to engender a detailed explication of interactivity that could bring some consensus to how the concept should be theoretically and operationally defined. Following Chaffee’s (1991) framework for concept explication, we generate new theoretical and operational definitions that may be central to future work in this area. In particular, we suggest that interactivity is both a media and psychological factor that varies across communication technologies, communication contexts, and people’s perceptions.
Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis mapping of proteins isolated from the hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus

Abstract Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) in polyacrylamide was used to map the proteins in lysates of the archaeon (formerly archaebacterium) Pyrococcus furiosus and to analyze enzymes purified from P. furiosus. The location of the enzymes in the 2DE maps was determined by comigration of lysate proteins with purified enzymes. A 2DE map of P. furiosus proteins with some identifications was produced, which will be useful for future studies of protein expression in this organism. In addition, the usefulness of 2DE for evaluating the purity of enzyme preparations and for characterizing their subunit structure under denaturing conditions was investigated.
Low-temperature culture of human islets or in vivo treatment with L3T4 antibody produces a marked prolongation of islet human-to-mouse xenograft survival

Abstract In previous studies we have shown that rejection of islet xenografts transplanted between closely related species (rat to mouse) can be prevented by destruction or alteration of antigen-presenting cells in the donor islets and temporary immunosuppression of the recipients. Relatively few studies have been reported on the survival of islet xenografts transplanted between widely discordant species. In the present study, isolated human islets were transplanted beneath the renal capsule of B6 mice made diabetic by the injection of streptozotocin. The effect of culturing the human islets at 24 degrees C for 7 days with or without the administration of anti-L3T4 for 7 days after transplantation was determined. A marked prolongation of the mean survival time was obtained with low-temperature culture alone (greater than 40.2 +/- 9.9 days), with anti-L3T4 alone (greater than 45.2 +/- 6.3 days), and with the combination of these regimens (greater than 51.9 +/- 5.1 days) as compared to controls (7.5 +/- 1.1 days). The surprising finding was the marked effect of low-temperature culture alone on prolonging human islet xenograft survival because this treatment of the donor islets had no effect on the survival of rat islet xenografts. Intact human islets were present in approximately equal to 80% of the recipients after returning to a diabetic state, whereas xenografts of rat islets were completely destroyed. The findings indicate that complete rejection of islets across this widely discordant species barrier is slower than across a closely related barrier and may be occurring by a different rejection process.
Substituted cyclic imides as potential anti-gout agents

N-substituted cyclic imides of phthalimide, 2,3-dihydrohalazine-1,4-dione, and diphenimide were shown to reduce the serum uric acid levels in normal and hyperuric mice at 20 mg/kg/day I.P. for 14 days. The agents were potent inhibitors of commercial xanthine dehydrogenase and xanthine oxidase enzyme activities with IC50 values from 10(-7) to 10(-8) M concentrations of drug.
Self-amplified optical pattern recognition

A self-amplified optical pattern recognition technique that utilizes a photorefractive crystal as a real-time volume holographic filter with recording accomplished via laser beams of proper polarization and geometric configuration is described.
Metabolic effects of exercise training in hemodialysis patients.

Metabolic effects of exercise training in hemodialysis patients. The effects of 9 ± 6 months of exercise training on lipid and carbohydrate metabolism were studied in six hemodialysis patients. Training lowered triglyceride levels 39 ± 25% (P Effets metaboliques de l'entrainement physique chez les malades en hemodialyse. L'effet de 9 ± 6 mois d'entrainement physique sur le metabolism des lipides et des hydrates de carbone a ete etudie chez 6 malades en hemodialyse. L'entrainement a abaisse les concentrations de triglycerides de 39 ± 25% (P
Stimulation of platelet surface sialyltransferase activity by platelet aggregating agents.

Abstract Effect of platelet aggregating agents and aspirin on the platelet surface sialyltransferase activity was investigated on intact twice-washed human platelet preparations. The optimum conditions for assay of the enzyme activity on intact human platelet preparations were determined as follows: a) pH 7.0–7.6, b) temperature 24°C–37°C, c) time of incubation 60 min, d) Mn ++ 8 × 10 −4 − 2 × 10 −3 M, e) fetuin concentration 0.5 mg/ml and f) CMP- 14 C-sialic acid concentration 12 μM. Under these optimum conditions, collagen at 100 μg/ml and 200 μg/ml induced a 3-fold increase of the surface enzyme activity. Epinephrine at 1 μM and 10 μM increased the enzyme activity to 149% and 152% respectively. There was some variation in the extent of stimulation from one platelet suspension to another. Adenosine diphosphate alone did not stimulate the enzyme activity. When fibrinogen was added, the enzyme activity was stimulated to 133% above the basal value. By contrast, aspirin at 10 μg/ml depressed the enzyme activity to 61% of the basal activity. Higher concentrations of aspirin did not depress the enzyme activity further. Similar inhibitory effect was noted when aspirin at a dosage of 650 mg was given to 2 normal subjects. The data provided suggestive evidence for a close relationship between platelet surface sialyltransferase activity and platelet aggregation.
Visualizing soil behavior

Abstract Soil behavior is a function of intrinsic soil properties, interacting environmental processes, and cultural practices. Observation, prediction, and visualization of soil behavior at variable spatial and temporal scales are required to enhance our understanding of complex soil processes and to develop optimal environmental management strategies. Recent advances in information technology, simulation modeling, and computer graphics provide opportunities to convey our knowledge and perception of soil behavior under variable environmental conditions and soil management regimes. Soil information is commonly presented in textual, map, and graphical forms which often fail to convey the dynamic nature of soil behavior under field conditions. Historical and contemporary developments in the presentation of soil information and behavior are reviewed, and a framework for soil visualization is proposed.
M-atrial natriuretic peptide and nitroglycerin in experimental acute hypertensive heart failure: differential actions of two cGMP activating therapeutics

Background Systemic hypertension is a common characteristic in acute heart failure (HF). This increasingly common phenotype is frequently associated with renal dysfunction and requires renal enhancing therapies. In a canine model of HF and acute hypertension we defined the cardiorenal actions of M-atrial natriuretic peptide (MANP), a novel particulate guanylyl cyclase A receptor activator (pGC-A) developed at the Mayo Clinic, and nitroglycerin (NTG), a soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) activator. Compared to native ANP, MANP has more sustained renal enhancing, blood pressure lowering and aldosterone inhibiting action. Based on the expression of the pGC-A receptor in the glomerulus, renal tubule and adrenal gland, compared to the more widespread expression of sGC in the renal vasculature, we hypothesized that MANP would have a more robust effect upon the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and natriuretic actions and with greater aldosterone suppressing effects than sGC activation with NTG. To test these hypotheses, we used a canine model of combined HF and hypertension. Specifically, HF was induced by chronic (10 days) rapid right ventricular pacing (180 bmp), while hypertension was induced by continuous angiotensin II infusion (on day 11). We than characterized the cardiorenal and humoral actions of intravenous MANP (n=7), NTG (n=7), and vehicle (n=7) infusion. Results Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was reduced by both MANP (139±4 to 118±3 mmHg, p<0.05) and NTG (137 ±3 to 116±4 mmHg, p<0.05); similar findings were observed for reductions in pulmonary wedge pressure with MANP (12±2 to 6±2 mmHg, p<0.05) and NTG (12±1 to 6±1 mmHg, p<0.05). MANP enhanced renal function with significant increases in GFR (38±4 to 53±5 ml/min, p<0.05), renal blood flow (132±18 to 236±23 ml/ min, p<0.05), and natriuresis (11±4 to 689±37 mEq/min, p<0.05) with inhibition of aldosterone (32±3 to 23±2 ng/ dL, p<0.05), whereas NTG had no significant effect on these renal parameters or aldosterone activation.