cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adenyl cyclase and interleukin 6 are downstream effectors of parathyroid hormone resulting in stimulation of bone resorption.

Abstract Parathyroid hormone and other bone resorptive agents function, at least in part, by inducing osteoblasts to secrete cytokines that stimulate both differentiation and resorptive activity of osteoclasts. We previously identified two potentially important cytokines by demonstrating that parathyroid hormone induces expression by osteoblasts of IL-6 and leukemia inhibitory factor without affecting levels of 14 other cytokines. Although parathyroid hormone activates multiple signal transduction pathways, induction of IL-6 and leukemia inhibitory factor is dependent on activation of adenyl cyclase. This study demonstrates that adenyl cyclase is also required for stimulation of osteoclast activity in cultures containing osteoclasts from rat long bones and UMR106-01 rat osteoblast-like osteosarcoma cells. Since the stimulation by parathyroid hormone of both cytokine production and bone resorption depends on the same signal transduction pathway, we hypothesized that IL-6 might be a downstream effector of parathyroid hormone. We found that addition of exogenous IL-6 mimics the ability of parathyroid hormone to stimulate bone resorption. More importantly, an antibody directed against the IL-6 receptor blocks moderate stimulation of osteoclast activity induced by the hormone. Interestingly, strong stimulation of resorption overcomes this dependence on IL-6. Thus, parathyroid hormone likely induces multiple, redundant cytokines that can overcome the IL-6 requirement associated with moderate stimulation. Taken together with studies showing that many other bone resorptive agents also stimulate IL-6 production, our results suggest that IL-6 may be a downstream effector of these agents as well as of parathyroid hormone.
The complex of myxomas, pigmentation and endocrine overactivity

Abstract Carney et al 1 recently described a complex consisting of myxomas (cardiac, cutaneous and mammary), pigmentation (cutaneous and mucucutaneous) and endocrine overactivity (Cushing syndrome, sexual precocity and acromegaly). Another such case is described herein.
In vivo biosynthesis of peptidophosphogalactomannan in Penicillium charlesii.

The major exocellular glycopeptide (peptidophosphogalactomannan) produced by Penicillium charlesii first appears in the culture filtrate when the growth medium is nearly depleted of NH4+. The extent of incorporation of exogenously supplied radioactive precursors (d-[U-14C] glucose, l-[U-14C]threonine and NaH232PO4) into peptidophosphogalactomannan suggests that approximately 20% of the total quantity of peptidophosphogalactomannan is assembled from constituents taken from the growth medium before NH4+ starvation and that the remainder is assembled from constituents in the medium during NH4+ starvation. In the absence of NH4+, an increase in dry weight continues until the medium is depleted of glucose. However, peptidophosphogalactomannan accumulation proceeds until after glucose is depleted and growth is halted. These data suggest that peptidophosphogalactomannan is a product of cellular turnover.
Pool Screening: An Example of Independent Nonidentical Bernoulli Trial

Pool screening is a widely used study design to make inference about the probability of a subject being positive for an infection when the probability is extremely low. When the pool sizes are unequal, outcomes of pool screening follow independent nonidentical Bernoulli distributions. This paper presents different calculation methods for the probability distribution of T, the number of positive pools. Marcus and Lopes recursive method is recommended.
Crystal Identification In Modular Array Detectors For High Spatial Resolution PET

The use of detector arrays in PET has been proposed and studied as a economical means of obtaining very high resolution images. The properties of detector arrays for use in high resolution PET scanners were investigated. Analytical approximations and Monte Carlo simulations were used to design detector arrays consisting of six to eight crystals coupled to two photomultipliers to allow identification of the individual crystals. Arrays of 2.85 mm thick crystals of Bismuth Germanate (BGO), Gadolinium Orthosilicate (GSO), and Barium Fluoride (BaF2) were examined. The effect of interdetector materials such as lead, and plastic on positioning accuracy was tested. Assembled arrays of six 2.85 mm thick BG0 crystals yielded line spread function FWHMs of 2.4 to 3.2 millimeters. The limiting resolution of detector arrays was found to be defined by the scintillation light yield of the crystals, the light gathering efficiency of the detector arrays, and the fraction of interdetector scatter.
The mass spectra of some naphthoquinones. Lapachol, isolapachol and related compounds

Several alkylhydroxynaphthoquinones and chemically related cyclic compounds were subjected to mass spectrometric investigation. Fragmentation pathways were elucidated by use of metastable ions, relative intensities of normal ions and accurate mass measurement. In these series, differences in the spectra of 1,2- and 1,4-naphthoquinones are slight. Evidence for ring expansion in ions from furans is suggested.
P01-217 - Etiology of adolescent substance use: neighborhood effects on initiation

Objectives We investigated the timing of cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use initiation in adolescents, focusing on three levels of predictors: (1) individual-, (2) family- and (3) neighborhood characteristics. Method A community-representative sample of 440 mother-child dyads was assessed 4 times over 6 years. Children were on average 10 (+ 2) years old at baseline (T1), with equal SES, gender and ethnic representation. We examined the timing of first alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use as reported by children on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) at T3 in relation to predictors collected at baseline (T1). Individual-level predictors at T1 included child gender, race, and child reports of sensation seeking. Family-level predictors included household size, maternal education, family income, and child-reported exposure to home violence. Finally, maternal and child reports regarding gangs and drugs in the neighborhood, and child reports of neighborhood violence were factor-analyzed into a single scale, where higher scores reflected unsafer neighborhoods. To examine the timing of first cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use as a function of the above predictors, three separate Cox regression (i.e., survival) models were estimated. Results Controlling for all other predictors, neighborhood safety remained significant predictor of substance use initiation among adolescents across all three examined substances. Children living in unsafe neighborhoods started, on average, smoking, drinking, and using marijuana at an earlier age, as indicated by positive and significant regression coefficients. Conclusions These results point to the importance of broader contextual influences - such as neighborhoods - on underage substance use initiation.
Carbon outcomes from fuels treatment and bioenergy production in a Sierra Nevada forest

Abstract In temperate conifer forests of the Western USA, there is active debate whether fuels reduction treatments and bioenergy production result in decreased carbon emissions and increased carbon sequestration compared to a no-action alternative. To address this debate over net carbon stocks, we performed a carbon life-cycle analysis on data from a fuels reduction treatment in a temperate, dry conifer forest in the northern Sierra Nevada of California, USA. The analysis tracks the net ecosystem carbon balance over 50 years for two scenarios (1) fuels reduction treatment combined with bioenergy production, and (2) a baseline scenario of no action. The study includes above and belowground carbon stocks, removals from harvesting, emissions from harvesting and transporting the removed biomass, and disturbance by wildfire. We evaluate a range of fire rotations, from an historic short rotation to a modern long rotation. In this study, when the fire rotation is 31 years or less, fuels treatment and bioenergy result in a net increase in carbon stocks after 50 years compared to a baseline of no action. When fire rotations exceed 31 years the carbon balance shifts and the baseline scenario holds more carbon after 50 years than the fuels treatment. Over the 50-year period, future wildfire is the greatest source of emissions unless fire rotations are greater than 200 years, when emissions from the combustion of biomass for energy are greater. Emissions from mechanical treatments and transportation of the woody biomass are each less than 1% of total emissions. The results of this case study suggest that there is no single answer to whether fuels reduction treatments with bioenergy production create net carbon benefit. Managers will need to evaluate fuels treatments on a case-by-case or regional basis to determine net carbon outcomes. The life cycle approach presented here is a useful methodology for such determinations.
Path-matching problems

The notion of matching in graphs is generalized in this paper to a set of paths rather than to a set of edges. The generalized problem, which we call thepath-matching problem, is to pair the vertices of an undirected weighted graph such that the paths connecting each pair are subject to certain objectives and/or constraints. This paper concentrates on the case where the paths are required to be edge-disjoint and the objective is to minimize the maximal cost of a path in the matching (i.e., the bottleneck version). Other variations of the problem are also mentioned. Two algorithms are presented to find the best matching under the constraints listed above for trees. Their worst-case running times areO(n logd logw), whered is the maximal degree of a vertex,w is the maximal cost of an edge, andn is the size of the tree, andO(n2), respectively. The problem is shown to be NP-complete for general graphs. Applications of these problems are also discussed.
Imaging And Polarimetry With The Pioneer Venus Orbiter Cloud Photopolarimeter

The objective of the Orbiter Cloud Photopolarimeter (OCPP) on board the Pioneer Venus Orbiter spacecraft is twofold: (1) to determine the physical properties, vertical and horizontal distribution and the temporal variability of the haze and cloud aerosols on Venus; and (2) to record in images made in the near ultraviolet the varying cloud morphology and the short- and long-term character of the apparent cloud motions. Early images exhibit numerous cloud features and apparent circulation patterns similar to those observed by Mariner 10 in 1974. Features of the polar regions are identified. Polarimetry measurements indicate that the main visible cloud layer of 1-micron-radius sulfuric acid droplets is covered at least in the morning terminator region with a thin haze layer consisting of submicron-size particles. The OCPP performance appears to be excellent.
Temporal and spatial variability in biomass burned areas across the USA derived from the GOES fire product

Abstract Burned area is a critical input to the algorithms of biomass burning emissions and understanding variability in fire activity due to climate change but it is difficult to estimate. This study presents a robust algorithm to reconstruct the patterns in burned areas across Contiguous United States (CONUS) in diurnal, seasonal, and interannual scales from 2000–2006. Specifically, burned areas in individual fire pixels are empirically calculated using diurnal variations in instantaneous fire sizes from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) WF_ABBA (Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm) fire product. GOES burned areas exhibit diurnal variability with a temporal scale of half hours. The cumulative burned area during 9:00–16:00 local solar time accounts for 65%–81% of the total daily burned area. The diurnal variability is strongest in croplands compared to shrublands, grasslands, savannas, and forests. Analysis on a seasonal scale indicates that over 56% of burning occurs during summer (June–August). On average, the total annual burned area during the last seven years is 2.12 × 10 4 ± 0.41 × 10 4 km 2 . The algorithm developed in this study can be applied to obtain burned area from the detections of GOES active fires at near real time, which can greatly improve the estimates of biomass burning emissions needed for predicting air quality.
Cell-cycle-dependent phosphorylation of serine and threonine in chinese hamster cell Fl histones

Summary The phosphorylation of serine and threonine was studied in chromatographically purified fl histones from CHO cells. Two unphosphorylated parental fl histone fractions were observed in G 1 -arrested cells: a major (87%) and a minor (13%) fraction. An additional fl fraction, a phosphorylated form of the major parent, was chromatographically resolved from exponentially growing cultures. This form of the fl histone incorporated [ 32 P]phosphate into serine at a rate approximately 5 times greater than into threonine. In mitotic cells, virtually all of the fl histone chromatographed as a distinct, highly phosphorylated form. This form of the fl histone incorporated [ 32 P]phosphate more rapidly into threonine than into serine. The greatly enhanced rate of threonine phosphorylation in the fl histones of mitotic CHO cells was further confirmed by the isolation of a phosphothreonine-containing tryptic peptide virtually absent in exponentially growing cells.
An inducible acetate transport system in neurospora crassa conidia

Neurospora crassa conidia possess an active transport system for the uptake of acetate. This system was characterized as: (a) energy dependent; (b) taking place against a concentration gradient; (c) saturating at higher substrate concentrations and (d) competitively inhibited by propionate. Activity of the acetate transport system can be further enhanced by preincubating conidia in 1 mM acetate medium for 180 min (the inducible transport system). The conidial system and the inducible system have similar properties. The development of the inducible transport was dependent on RNA and protein synthesis. A genetic control of this system was further confirmed by isolating a mutant (acp−i acetate permease, inducible) that fails to develop the inducible transport system.
Outwardly rectifying chloride channels in lymphocytes.

Outwardly rectifying Cl− channels in cultured human Jurkat T-lymphocytes were activated by excising a patch of membrane using the inside-out (i/o) patch-clamp configuration and holding at depolarized voltages for prolonged periods of time (1–6 min at +80 mV, 20°C). The single-channel current at +80 mV was 4.5 ± 0.3 pA and at −80 mV, it was 1.0 ± 0.4 pA. After activation, the probability of being open (P0)for the lymphocyte channel was voltage independent. Activation of the Cl− channel in lymphocytes was temperature dependent. Nineteen percent of i/o recordings from lymphocytes made at 20°C exhibited Cl− channel activity. In contrast, 49% of recordings made at 30°C showed channel activity. The number of channels in an active patch was not significantly different at the two temperatures. Channel activation in excised, depolarized patches also occurred 20-fold faster at 30°C than at 20°C. There was no marked change in the single-channel conductance at 30°C. Open-channel conductance was blocked by 200 μm indanyloxyacetic acid (IAA) or 1 mm SITS when applied to the intracellular side of the patch. The characteristics of this channel are similar to epithelial outwardly rectifying Cl− channels thought to be involved in fluid secretion
Princeton's Symmetrical Tokamak from Proposal to Plasma in 8 Months

Although the original design of the Model C Stellarator facility allowed for a great amount of flexibility with a "race-track" geometry, conversion to the circular geometry required for the Symmetrical Tokamak presented a number of special engineering problems. This paper summarizes and details the various changes required to meet the Tokamak concept including: major machine operations on the structural members of the stellarator, addition of confining field coils and special vertical field loops, a copper liner used for plasma stabilization, the new and larger diameter vacuum system and finally the changes in the ohmic heating coupling transformers.
Adsorptive removal of aflatoxins

Physical removal of aflatoxins from cottonseed by solvent extraction with ethanol or isopropyl alcohol is technically feasible. These solvents used in the removal process are recycled to extraction systems after regeneration by distillation. However, distillation is costly due to high latent heat of the solvents. Adsorption techniques have been explored as a method to remove aflatoxins from these solvents. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays method and a high-performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detector were used to determine the toxins in the feed and eluates from the adsorption columns. Experimental data indicate that montmorillonite is highly effective for adsorptive aflatoxin removal. Adsorption data with neutral alumina and silica are also presented. Ethanol and ethanol-based miscellas, obtained from alcoholic cottonseed extractions were spiked with aflatoxins for this investigation.
Coupled electromechanical analysis of piezoelectric ceramic actuator-driven systems: determination of the actuator power consumption and system energy transfer

This paper presents a coupled electro-mechanical analysis of piezoelectric ceramic (PZT) actuators integrated in mechanical systems to determine the actuator power consumption and energy transfer in the electro-mechanical systems. For a material system with integrated PZT actuators, the power consumed by the PZT actuators consists of two parts: the energy used to drive the system which is dissipated in terms of heat as a result of the structural damping, and energy dissipated by the PZT actuators themselves because of their dielectric loss and internal damping. The coupled analysis presented herein uses a simple model, a PZT actuator-driven one-degree-freedom spring-mass-damper system, to illustrate the methodology used to determine the actuator power consumption energy flow in the coupled electro-mechanical systems. This method can be applied to more complicated mechanical structures or systems, such as a fluid-loaded shell for active structural acoustic control. The determination of the actuator power consumption can be very important in the design and application of intelligent material systems and structures and of particular relevance to designs that must be optimized to reduce mass and energy.
Self-collection of vaginal swabs for the detection of Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis: opportunity to encourage sexually transmitted disease testing among adolescents.

BackgroundMany sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are prevalent among adolescents, yet compliance to undergo STD testing by this population is suboptimal. Efforts to enhance compliance with testing among at-risk youth are needed.GoalTo determine the feasibility and acceptability of self-collection
Two-dimensional infrared spectra of isotopically diluted amyloid fibrils from Aβ40

The 2D IR spectra of the amide-I vibrations of amyloid fibrils from Aβ40 were obtained. The matured fibrils formed from strands having isotopic substitution by 13 C= 18 O at Gly-38, Gly-33, Gly-29, or Ala-21 show vibrational exciton spectra having reduced dimensionality. Indeed, linear chain excitons of amide units are seen, for which the interamide vibrational coupling is measured in fibrils grown from 50% and 5% mixtures of labeled and unlabeled strands. The data prove that the 1D excitons are formed from parallel in-register sheets. The coupling constants show that for each of the indicated residues the amide carbonyls in the chains are separated by 0.5 ± 0.05 nm. The isotope replacement of Gly-25 does not reveal linear excitons, consistent with the region of the strand having a different structure distribution. The vibrational frequencies of the amide-I modes, freed from effects of amide vibrational excitation exchange by 5% dilution experiments, point to there being a component of an electric field along the fibril axis that increases through the sequence Gly-38, Gly-33, Gly-29. The field is dominated by side chains of neighboring residues.
Commentary on the National Mathematics Advisory Panel Recommendations on Assessment

Foundations for Success: The Final Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008) recommends that National Assessment of Educational Progress and state tests focus on foundations of algebra and include fewer pattern-type algebra items. Greater mathematics expertise is needed in test development to prevent flawed items. The Panel reached the erroneous conclusion that multiple-choice and constructed response items measure the same thing because it relied on studies where the two item types were constrained to be identical. The Panel’s recommendations on standard setting are misleading because it relied on a single simulation study. By focusing only on special education studies, its discussion of formative assessment implies that formative assessment requires formal tools administered and scored frequently and fails to recognize more interactive forms of feedback found in studies from cognitive science.
Public policy and the total fertility rate: cross-sectional evidence from the LDCs

A framework developed by Easterlin for the analysis of fertility in developing societies is modified and then tested using a sample of 65 less-developed countries. The focus is on assessing the impact of public policy on the national fertility rate. Public policy is reflected in the average levels of education and health in the population and in the condition of the national family planning program. To test for threshold effects with respect to socioeconomic development, the sample is divided on the basis of the infant mortality rate. Fertility rates in those nations characterized by high infant mortality are likely to be determined more by conditions of natural fertility. Those nations with lower infant mortality, and hence greater socioeconomic development, are more likely to exhibit deliberate fertility control. The results of the regression analysis do suggest that different factors influence the national fertility rate depending upon the stage of development. For the least-developed nations, the secondary school enrollment rate, an indicator of the extent of economic mobility, and the ratio of school age children to teachers, a proxy for the national commitment to human capital formation, are important. For the more advanced of the LDCs, adult literacy and the infant mortality rate seem to predominate. For all the developing nations, however, the results confirm the importance of strong family planning programs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the research.
A 66-year-old man with dyspnea, left lower lobe infiltrate, and abnormal imaging.

(CHEST 2000; 117:1782‐1786) A 66-year-old nonsmoking man was referred to the pulmonary clinic for workup after abnormal findings on chest radiograph were discovered during his evaluation for cardiac disease. The patient had a history of mitral regurgitation and atrial fibrillation, and he had lived in China at an altitude of 1,900 m all of his life. He traveled to the United States for evaluation of dyspnea. Over the past 1 year, he had been hospitalized three times for dyspnea, which was thought to be secondary to cardiac disease. His exercise tolerance included two flights of stairs or brisk walking. He had a chronic cough productive of approximately 50 mL of white sputum per day. He denied hemoptysis, fever, chills, or sweats. At age 20, the patient was treated for a chest infection. Since that time, he has been treated with Chinese medications for recurrent bronchitis. He denied a history of tuberculosis. The physical examination revealed a BP of 110/65 mm Hg; pulse rate, 80 beats/min; and respiration rate, 18 breaths/min. Cachexia was present, but the patient was in no acute distress. The jugular venous distention was 7 cm, without hepatojugular reflux. There were diminished breath sounds bilaterally and crackles in the left lower lung field. The cardiac examination was notable for a normal S1 and S2, and a grade II/VI systolic murmur at the apex. There were no gallops, opening snap, or diastolic murmurs. His extremities were without clubbing, cyanosis, or edema.
A two-dimensional deformable phantom for quantitatively verifying deformation algorithms.

Purpose: The incorporation of deformable image registration into the treatment planning process is rapidly advancing. For this reason, the methods used to verify the underlying deformation algorithms must evolve equally fast. This manuscript proposes a two-dimensional deformable phantom, which can objectively verify the accuracy of deformation algorithms, as the next step for improving these techniques. Methods: The phantom represents a single plane of the anatomy for a head and neck patient. Inflation of a balloon catheter inside the phantom simulates tumor growth. CT and camera images of the phantom are acquired before and after its deformation. Nonradiopaque markers reside on the surface of the deformable anatomy and are visible through an acrylic plate, which enables an optical camera to measure their positions; thus, establishing the ground-truth deformation. This measured deformation is directly compared to the predictions of deformation algorithms, using several similarity metrics. The ratio of the number of points with more than a 3 mm deformation error over the number that are deformed by more than 3 mm is used for an error metric to evaluate algorithm accuracy. Results: An optical method of characterizing deformation has been successfully demonstrated. For the tests of this method, the balloon catheter deformsmore » 32 out of the 54 surface markers by more than 3 mm. Different deformation errors result from the different similarity metrics. The most accurate deformation predictions had an error of 75%. Conclusions: The results presented here demonstrate the utility of the phantom for objectively verifying deformation algorithms and determining which is the most accurate. They also indicate that the phantom would benefit from more electron density heterogeneity. The reduction of the deformable anatomy to a two-dimensional system allows for the use of nonradiopaque markers, which do not influence deformation algorithms. This is the fundamental advantage of this verification technique.« less
Travels of a Transnational Slut: Sexual Migration in Kincaid's Lucy

Abstract […] my whole upbringing had been devoted to preventing me from becoming a slut. (127) —Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy The crucial thing was that I would not communicate with my family. Somehow I knew that was the key to anything I wanted to make of myself. I could not be with people who knew me so well that they knew just what I was capable of. I had to be with people who thought whatever I said went. (133) —Jamaica Kincaid, Interview with Kay Bonetti […] there are many barriers which sexual migrants have to overcome. (23) —Gayle Rubin, “Thinking Sex”
Information extraction, data mining and joint inference

Although information extraction and data mining appear together in many applications, their interface in most current systems would better be described as serial juxtaposition than as tight integration. Information extraction populates slots in a database by identifying relevant subsequences of text, but is usually not aware of the emerging patterns and regularities in the database. Data mining methods begin from a populated database, and are often unaware of where the data came from, or its inherent uncertainties. The result is that the accuracy of both suffers, and accurate mining of complex text sources has been beyond reach.In this talk I will describe work in probabilistic models that perform joint inference across multiple components of an information processing pipeline in order to avoid the brittle accumulation of errors. After briefly introducing conditional random fields, I will describe recent work in information extraction leveraging factorial state representations, entity resolution, and transfer learning, as well as scalable methods of inference and learning. I'll close with some recent work on probabilistic models for social network analysis, and a demonstration of Rexa.info, a new research paper search engine.
The Role of Myocardial Anisotropy in Arrhythmogenesis Associated with Myocardial Ischemia and Infarction

Myocardial Anisotropy in Ischemia and Infarction. Anisotropy is defined as any property of a system that differs depending on the direction in which it is measured. In the heart, the structure of the cardiac myocytes and their electrical coupling via gap junctions confer an anisotropy in the intracellular resistance to current flow in myocardial tissue. This in turn is responsible for anisotropy in conduction in which the velocity and uniformity of impulse conduction is dependent on its direction relative to the normal myocardial fiber orientation and any underlying pathological nonuniformities in cell orientation and coupling. How cells are coupled also influences refractoriness and excitability. Recent experimental evidence has implicated uniform and nonuniform myocardial anisotropy as important substrates that play a role in the initiation and maintenance of arrhythmias in the setting of ischemia and infarction. These studies may provide a focus for the development of new antiarrhythmic modalities that depend on the modulation of cell electrical coupling.
Coupled human and natural systems: A multi-agent-based approach

A major force affecting many forest ecosystems is the encroachment of residential, commercial and industrial development. Analysis of the complex interactions between development decisions and ecosystems, and how the environmental consequences of these decisions influence human values and subsequent decisions will lead to a better understanding of the environmental consequences of private choices and public policies. Determining conditions of the interactions between human decisions and natural systems that lead to long-term sustainability of forest ecosystems is one goal of this work. Interactions between human stakeholders are represented using multi-agent models that act on forest landscape models in the form of land-use change. Feedback on the effects of these actions is received through ecological habitat metrics and hydrological responses. Results are presented on the dynamics of land-use change under different growth management strategies based on an area of the Dallas-Fort Worth (Texas, U.S.A.) region facing intense residential development.
Δ4-β-Sitosten-3-one from β-sitosterol by leaf homogenates

Abstract β-Sitosterol-4- 14 C is metabolized to Δ 4 -β-sitosten-3-one by Cheiranthus cheiri leaf homogenates. Greater than 60% conversion occurs within 2 hr. Under identical conditions, leaf homogenates of Strophanthus kombe fail to metabolize β-sitosterol, while Digitalis purpurea leaf homogenates yield only very small amounts of the metabolite.
Densities and Viscosities of Acetone, Diisopropyl Ether, Ethanol, and Methyl Ethyl Ketone with a Five-Component Hydrocarbon Mixture from 288.15 K to 308.15 K

Densities and viscosities were measured for the systems of four oxygenates (acetone, diisopropyl ether, ethanol, and methyl ethyl ketone) separately with a five-component hydrocarbon mixture at three temperatures (288.15, 298.15, and 308.15) K and atmospheric pressure. The five-component hydrocarbon mixture contains 25 mol % hexane, 10 mol % heptane, 35 mol % 2,2,4-trimethylpentane, 20 mol % toluene, and 10 mol % p-xylene. Densities were determined using a vibrating-tube densimeter. Viscosities were measured with an automatic Ubbelohde capillary viscometer. Excess molar volumes VE and deviations in viscosity Δη for the mixtures were derived from experimental data, and the computed results were fitted to a Redlich−Kister-type equation.
Pion production in pp collisions at 102 GeV/c

We present preliminary results on single-pion production and two-pion correlations making use of a 30 000-picture exposure of the ANL/NAL 30-in. hydrogen bubble chamber to $102\ensuremath{-}\frac{\mathrm{GeV}}{c}$ protons. The data, when compared with those from lower energies, indicate approximate scaling of $\ensuremath{\pi}$ production in the proton-fragmentation region, but show a continuing rise of the cross section at ${y}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}=0$. Stronger correlations are observed between pions of opposite charge than between pions of like charge. The variation with energy of the charge transferred between c.m. hemispheres is slow, as would be predicted by multiperipheral-type models.
Influence of rotor diameter and length on the rating of induction motors

The outputs of electrical machines are generally assumed to vary as the product of the square of the diameter and the length of the machine, although an examination of the outputs of ranges of machines for industrial use reveals that it is common to obtain significantly greater increases of output with diameter than would be expected from the square-law relationship. The basis upon which the classical output equation is founded is examined and an alternative equation based on conductor current density rather than ampere-conductors/unit-periphery is developed which indicates that an output varying with the cube of the diameter might be achieved. Effects on the electrical and thermal performance of ranges of machines based on a cube-law relationship are compared with that obtained assuming a square law, and conclusions are drawn which would support the adoption of the intermediate relationship approximating to the 2.5th power commonly found to occur in ranges of commercially produced machines. The paper also considers factors which influence the choice of machine `shape', i.e. the diameter to length ratio, and shows that though simple consideration of costs will yield a long thin machine, there are other factors, notably the number of poles, which serve to limit the length to the so-called `square' configuration where the length is approximately equal to the outer diameter of the stator core, and indicates how the diameter/length ratio affects the electrical performance.
Partnered Placements: Creating and Supporting Successful Collaboration Among Preservice Teachers

Recent calls for change in teacher preparation programs stress the importance of field experience and the need for preservice teachers to have ample opportunities for peer collaboration and feedback. The paired placement model, with two preservice teachers working with one cooperating teacher, has shown to provide many benefits. However, the strategies for developing successful partnerships in the context of a required course are not fully understood. This article presents a study of early childhood and elementary preservice teachers’ perspectives on the peer and faculty related factors that contribute to the success (and lack of success) of their partnerships. The article concludes with effective strategies for teacher educators to consider in creating and supporting field-based peer partnerships.
Uncertainty quantification of CO2 leakage through a fault with multiphase and nonisothermal effects

The potential for CO2 leakage through a permeable fault is a key concern for geologic CO2 sequestration (GCS) in saline formations. If CO2 migrates vertically upward through a fault from the storage reservoir to an overlying fresh-water aquifer, phase change can occur because temperature and pressure decrease with decreasing depth. The decrease in CO2 density during phase transition causes an additional reduction in temperature. In this paper, we present a computational model for simulating the behaviour of a leaky fault connecting a saline CO2 storage reservoir and an overlying fresh-water aquifer. We address phase transition, considering the nonlinear CO2 enthalpy and viscosity functions. The model results indicate that the CO2 leakage rate initially increases when CO2 migration is driven by both buoyancy and overpressure during the period of injection. In the post-injection period, CO2 leakage is only driven by buoyancy and the leakage rate decreases. The influence of nonisothermal conditions is more pronounced during the first stage. The deterministic model of this faulted reservoir system is used within an uncertainty quantification (UQ) framework to rigorously quantify the sensitivity of the brine and CO2 leakage in response to the uncertain model parameters. The results demonstrate that fault permeability is the most sensitive factor affecting both CO2 and brine leakage rate. Reduced-order models of CO2 and brine leakage are developed for the emulation of a large number of sample points, from which probability distributions are derived and can be incorporated in risk assessment of groundwater contamination resulting from CO2 and brine leakage. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Radiation-Induced Interface Traps in Power Mosfets

Methods for estimating radiation-induced interface trap density from the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of MOSFETs are described and applied to commercially available power MOSFETs. The power MOSFETs show severe degradation on radiation exposure with the effects of positive oxide trapped charge dominating; however, interface trap buildup is significant. The results are compared to experimental measurements available on other technologies.
Qatar's foreign policy: the limits of pragmatism

Qatar has become an Arab country with a high international profile and an ambitious foreign policy, particularly as a result of its role in the Arab Spring. It has cultivated a reputation as a political mediator and a key source of foreign aid. Following the Libyan uprising, Qatar demonstrated further political adaptability in leading regional action against the Gaddafi regime. However, this foreign policy does not appear to be built on long-term planning, but rather seems centred on opportunism and promiscuity as Qatar engages with multiple, often clashing, actors and plays the role of political maverick in the Middle East. This article assesses the key components of Qatari foreign policy, as well as public diplomacy, highlighting the potential implications of the lack of a coherent foreign strategy for the country, both on the domestic and external fronts. Domestically, Qatar faces increasing pressure for reform and the prospect of instability, both catalyzed by high centralization of decision-making with regard to Qatari policy. Externally, it risks overextending its network of political partners to involve potentially volatile actors, losing the credibility of its public diplomacy messages, and subsequently, international scepticism towards its foreign policy motives. Those domestic and external factors highlight the limits of relying on pragmatism in Qatari foreign policy and the need for long-term strategy if Qatar is to maintain its leadership role in the Middle East.
Potassium Chloride Improves the Thermotolerance of Chickens Exposed to Acute Heat Stress

Abstract Experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that chicks that drank an electrolyte solution containing K prior to and during an acute exposure to heat would have greater thermotolerance than chicks that consumed only water. In three experiments, 5- or 7-wk-old male chickens drank distilled water (control), or .3, .6, or .9% KCl solutions (Experiments 1 and 2), and .6 or .9% KCl or .8% KHCO3 solutions (Experiment 3) for 48 h before acute heat stress (HS) and during HS. Body temperature (Tb), blood pH, partial pressure of blood carbon dioxide (pCO2), ionized Ca (Ca2+), plasma Na, K, Cl, total Ca, inorganic P (Pi), and osmolality (Osm), and water consumption were determined. Water intake increased with the concentration of KCl. Before HS, .6% KCl increased plasma K and Ca2+, whereas .9% KCl resulted in a marked increase in K, Ca2+, Na, Cl, and Osm and a decrease in pH. During HS, .6% KCl-birds had lower hyperthermic Tb and pH values and higher Ca2+ and K concentrations than controls. Plasma Na and Osm of .6% KCl birds decreased whereas those of the control birds remained unchanged. Providing K as KHCO3 aggravated respiratory alkalosis and failed to influence either Tb or plasma electrolytes, suggesting that the beneficial effect of .6% KCl may in part be attributed to the accompanying Cl. Hyperthermic Tb and Ca2+ values were highly correlated. The results showed that .6% KCl solution reduced HS-related responses and indicated a relationship among supplemental KCl, blood Ca2+, and Tb.
Metabolomic Imaging for Human Prostate Cancer Detection

As current radiological approaches cannot accurately localize prostate cancer in vivo, biopsies are conducted at random within prostates for patients at risk for prostate cancer, leading to high false-negative rates. Metabolomic imaging can map cancer-specific biomolecular profile values onto anatomical structures to direct biopsy. In this preliminary study, we evaluated five whole prostates removed during prostatectomy from biopsy-proven cancer patients on a 7-tesla human whole-body magnetic resonance scanner. Localized, multi-cross-sectional, multivoxel magnetic resonance spectra were used to construct a malignancy index based on prostate cancer metabolomic profiles obtained from previous intact tissue analyses with a 14-tesla spectrometer. This calculated malignancy index is linearly correlated with lesion size and demonstrates a 93 to 97% overall accuracy for detecting the presence of prostate cancer lesions, suggesting the potential clinical utility of this approach.
Atomic Ordering, Electronic Structure, and Transport Properties of LAST-m Systems

In recent years, LAST-m (AgPbmSbTem+2) and related materials have emerged as potential high performance high temperature thermoelectrics. These compounds are obtained by starting from PbTe, and replacing pairs of Pb2+ ions by (Ag1+, Sb3+) pairs. One example is LAST-18. When optimally doped, this compound has thermoelectric figure of merit ZT=1.7 at 700K. This large ZT is most likely due to very low lattice thermal conductivity, caused by phonon scattering from nanostructures. These nanostructures involve clustering and ordering of Ag, Sb, and Pb ions. Possible origins of this atomic ordering and how the presence of nanostructures affects the electronic structure near the band gap region are discussed. The temperature (T) dependence of electrical conductivity σ (∼T2.2 in the range 300K <T< 900K) in n-type PbTe is analyzed in terms of the T-dependence of different physical quantities contributing to transport. We find that the dominant contribution comes from the explicit T-dependence of relaxation time rather than its energy dependence. The T-dependence of chemical potential is also significant in the concentration range of interest. Electronic thermal conductivity for constant field (κel,E) and for constant current (κel,J) are found to differ considerably at high temperatures and the Weidemann-Franz (WF) law κel,J = LoσT, where Lo =2x10−8WΩ/K is the Lorentz number, overstimates κel,J by nearly 60% at 800K for carrier concentration n=5x1019/cm3. As a result, one tends to underestimate the lattice contribution κlatt = κexp - κel,J. We give theoretical values of effective Lorentz number L = κel.J/σT for different n and T.
Portrait of a Brave Woman

Story of an Ohafia Igbo woman who married two wives, takes titles usually reserved for men, joins a men's secret society, and becomes known in her community as a « brave woman ». Her marital arrangement provides a structural solution to discontinuities arising in kin-based land tenure systems when a woman cannot conceive. But while this explanation addresses issues of gender roles and social structure, it leaves unexamined the question of individual agency. The woman's narrative of her life provides an additional interpretive frame. What emerges is the rich play of social structure, circumstance and character that constitute lived social praxis
Business process transformation patterns & the business process transformation wizard

In spite of many advances in business process simulation technologies, their adoption by the business analyst community has been primarily limited to specialists. We propose a Business Process Transformation Wizard as a capability to bridge this gap. This enables analysts to explore different business process transformation options using Business Process Transformation patterns and analyze their performance using quantitative technologies. In this paper, we explain the approach encapsulated in the BPT Wizard and illustrate it with an example.
Neuroendocrine Neoplasms of the Thymus

Neoplastic neuroendocrine proliferations of the mediastinum can originate from neuroendocrine cells that are native to the thymus, or they may arise from extra-adrenal paraganglia ectopically located in the mediastinum (i.e., paragangliomas).
Update on Harm-Reduction Policy and Intervention Research

Harm reduction is a pragmatic approach to reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol and drug use or other high-risk activities by incorporating several strategies that cut across the spectrum from safer use to managed use to abstinence. The primary goal of most harm-reduction approaches is to meet individuals “where they are at” and not to ignore or condemn the harmful behaviors but rather to work with the individual or community to minimize the harmful effects of a given behavior. The current review addresses some of the newest developments with respect to harm-reduction policy, prevention, and treatment. In particular, this review highlights policies and programs that have been evaluated in peer-reviewed journals and shown to be effective at reducing the harms associated with alcohol and drug use. The overall goal of this review is to present some of the most recent developments in the field of harm reduction.
Aging Inmates: A Convergence of Trends in the American Criminal Justice System

During the past 30 years, American prisons have experienced rapidly expanding numbers of inmates, including more who are elderly. Elderly inmates present unique management challenges to the extent they experience age-specific adjustments and adaptations to prison life. Accommodating this “special needs” population, which places a disproportionate strain on available correctional resources, raises both prison environment and policy-level questions. Although some advocate early and/or medical release for older inmates who are seen as no longer posing a threat to society, state and federal correctional data indicate that early release is not a dominant trend. This article reviews the causes of the growth in the older male inmate population and then applies tools from gerontology to provide a perspective for evaluating current or prospective correctional system responses and programs, and to raise issues and suggest policies that might benefit older inmates as well as correctional systems.
Self-Organization of Crustal Faulting and Tectonics

Faults form spontaneously and take up much of the strain involved with crustal tectonics. Major faults cut the strong part of the lithosphere. Ductile processes elsewhere in the Earth control their...