cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Taxes and Entrepreneurship: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

The potential impacts of tax policies on entrepreneurial activity have attracted the attention of researchers and policy makers for several decades. Entrepreneurship and innovation are critical elements of the macroeconomy and small businesses contribute significantly to employment and economic growth. Recognizing this, policy makers have a long history of attempting to encourage small business activity through a variety of attractive tax policies. The effectiveness of these policies hinges critically on the extent to which entrepreneurs actually respond to taxes. The theoretical literature has recognized that taxing the returns to risky activity can actually increase risk-taking, especially in the presence of progressive marginal tax rates and loss offset provisions (Domar and Musgrave, 1944). The empirical literature has been inconclusive, with some studies finding a positive relationship between tax rates and small business activity, others finding a negative relationship, and still others finding no significant relationship at all. In this monograph, we review the existing empirical literature in this area and lay out an agenda for future research. We discuss the many ways in which researchers have measured entrepreneurship and small business activity, as well as the variety of tax rates and other policies that have been explored in prior studies.
Synthetic polymers for microneedle synthesis: From then to now

Abstract Considering microneedles (MNs) as transdermal drug delivery tools is driven by some crucial factors among which easy handling, simple administration and better patient compliance are primary. Achievable tailored microneedle production allowing encapsulation of range of pharmaceuticals and biomolecules as well as their performance as diagnostic tools emphasized how important it is to derive these products for practice. Initially, biopolymeric microneedles attained much attention being safer, biodegradable, and biocompatible (detailed somewhere else; Koyani 2019), however additional properties such as better mechanical strength, elasticity and hence the flexibility of synthetic polymers found more promising for commercializing the product. Moreover, they assisted to circumvent the limitations of former as well. This review is the brief overview of all the efforts (as per knowledge) and advancement (until 2019) aimed for designing and developing synthetic polymer-based microneedles (SPMNs) to deliver desired pharmaceutical products. It also highlights critical achievements, challenges, and future perspectives of synthetic polymers in microneedle world. Conclusively, it illustrates the journey from first report to current stand of synthetic polymeric microneedles and hence, entitled from then to now.
An analysis of block-based programming environments for CS1

This Research Full Paper presents our experience in analyzing and selecting block-based programming environments to support the teaching of algorithms for the students starting the introductory courses of a Computer Science major. The teaching of algorithms and programming concepts to students of the first years of Computer Science and Engineering courses has been a major challenge because students often have difficulty understanding the logic and abstraction, leading to a high dropout rate. Some strategies have been conducted to further the mission of helping students understand better those basic concepts, but this topic still remains a major problem for students in the initial grades of those courses. In previous projects developed at our university, we have already proposed the use of learning objects and gamification, with very positive results. One of the questions that arise when we adopt new teaching approaches is to know how this new path will contribute to the student’s learning. In this project, we conducted a study on eight block-based programming environments and sought to identify which aspects of those environments comply with the Computer Science reference curriculum. Our work was based on the joint task force on Computing Curricula conducted by the ACM and IEEE Computer Society CS2013 curriculum guidelines for undergraduate programs in Computer Science. We studied the virtual programming environments Alice, MIT App Inventor, Blockly Games, Code.org, Gameblox, Pencil Code, Microsoft MakeCode and Scratch. Then, we crossed the characteristics of each, identified the positive and negative points of each teaching environment in relation to the topics established by the guidelines. We have classified the main characteristics of those programming environments, establishing criteria such as: prior programming knowledge requirements; ease of interaction with users; programming language code; availability of documentation for learning; programming practices addressed by the environment; and ease of learning programming. We believe that this work can contribute to the selection process of a suitable programming environment to be adopted in an introductory course of computer programming.
Spinal ganglion cyst presenting with radiculopathy: diagnostic challenges and differential.

Ganglion cysts are benign soft tissue lesions, usually arising from periarticular connective tissue. These are very rarely reported in the spine, but when seen can cause radiculopathy or myelopathy. A 68-year-old female patient presented with worsening radiculopathy and right foot drop and imaging noted a right L5–S1 foraminal mass. The lesion was gross totally resected. Histological analysis revealed myxoid degeneration and inflammation, without a synovial lining, consistent with ganglion cyst. While uncommon, intra-foraminal ganglion cysts can be distinguished from synovial cysts through imaging and histology and are typically amenable to surgical resection. Greater knowledge and insight about differentiating ganglion versus synovial cyst may prevent resection of facet joints and prevent a fusion procedure.
Deep Learning for Detecting Network Attacks: An End-to-End Approach

Network attack is still a major security concern for organizations worldwide. Recently, researchers have started to apply neural networks to detect network attacks by leveraging network traffic data. However, public network data sets have major drawbacks such as limited data sample variations and unbalanced data with respect to malicious and benign samples. In this paper, we present a new end-to-end approach to automatically generate high-quality network data using protocol fuzzing, and train the deep learning models using the fuzzed data to detect the network attacks that exploit the logic flaws within the network protocols. Our findings show that fuzzing generates data samples that cover real-world data and deep learning models trained with fuzzed data can successfully detect real network attacks.
Sensitivity Analysis of Oil Shale Retorting Process through Sobol and Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test (FAST)

Oil shale retorting process is conversion of kerogen shale particles into oil and gas. Uncertainties present in process variables challenge the plant operation design of oil shale retorting process. In this work, the effect of uncertainties present in various input variables is studied on shale oil yield and flue gases. This study is focused on evaluation of most sensitive input variables that affect the oil yield. Oil shale retorting plant data is generated through interfacing of Aspen Plus, MS Excel 2010 and MATLAB R2018a. Least square boosting (LSBoost) model was used for virtual sensing of generated data and predicted the target outputs. Sensitivity analysis was performed using Sobol and Fourier amplitude sensitivity test to evaluate the effect of individual input variable on target outcomes of the process.
Visual Evoked Potentials: A Practical Approach within the Guidelines for Clinical Evoked Potential Studies

ABSTRACT.Visual evoked potentials can be used in a multiplicity of ways to assess the visual system. Of paramount importance is the manipulation of visual stimuli to preferentially evaluate the various aspects of vision. The utilization of more than one protocol will permit each laboratory to respond to specific diagnostic questions with reliability and accuracy. Development of new ways of assessing the system should be encouraged and will allow a better understanding of vision.
Theoretical Calving Rates from Glaciers Along Ice Walls Grounded in Water of Variable Depths

Calving has been studied for glaciers ranging from slow polar glaciers that calve on dry land, such as on Deception Island (63.0° S, 60.6° W) in Antarctica, through temperate Alaskan tide-water glaciers, to fast outlet glaciers that float in fiords and calve in deep water, such as Jakobshavns Isbrae (69.2° N, 49.9° W) in Greenland. Calving from grounded ice walls and floating ice shelves is the main ablation mechanism for the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, as it was along marine and lacustrine margins of former Pleistocene ice sheets, and is for tide-water and polar glaciers. Yet, the theory of ice calving is underdeveloped because of inherent dangers in obtaining field data to test and constrain calving models. An attempt is made to develop a calving theory for ice walls grounded in water of variable depth, and to relate slab calving from ice walls to tabular calving from ice shelves. A calving law is derived in which calving rates from ice walls are controled by bending creep behind the ice wall, and depend on wall height h, forward bending angle θ crevasse distance c behind the ice wall and depth d of water in front of the ice wall. Reasonable agreement with calving rates reported by Brown and others (1982) for Alaskan tide-water glaciers is obtained when c depends on wall height, wall height above water and water depth. More data are needed to determine which of these dependencies is correct. A calving ratio c/h is introduced to understand the transition from slab calving to tabular calving as water deepens and the calving glacier becomes afloat.
Is China’s investment in Africa good for the Nigerian economy?

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of China’s trade agreement and foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Nigeria with special reference to the manufacturing sector utilizing the following key economic performance indicators: inflation, unemployment, income and gross domestic product, to name a few. Since the turn of the millennium, China has enjoyed a substantial presence in the African continent. In fact, the country has signed bilateral agreements with Angola, South Africa and Sudan to name a few. Recently, China established its West African trade hub in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, to be strategically positioned. The results of the study revealed conclusively that although China’s investments over the years have benefited the Nigerian economy and its various firms in the manufacturing sector, the agreement signed by both countries ultimately needs to be reexamined to ensure equity. Design/methodology/approach – To thoroughly analyze the effects of China’s investments i...
Short-Term Efficacy of Exclusive Enteral Nutrition in Pediatric Crohn’s Disease: Practice in China

Aims. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) and corticosteroids in inducing remission in pediatric Crohn's disease (CD) and the effects of the treatment on growth improvements. Methods. Data was retrospectively collected for children and adolescents newly diagnosed with CD in a referral center. Patients who were followed up for more than 2 months with mild to moderate disease were included. Basic demographics, history, physical examination, the pediatric Crohn disease activity index (PCDAI), laboratory findings, endoscopic findings, and adverse effects were recorded. Remission was defined as PCDAI < 10 points. Results. Ten subjects received EEN and 18 patients received corticosteroids. The median follow-up in EEN group and steroid group was 9.2 weeks and 9.6 weeks, respectively. The remission rate in EEN group was significantly higher than that in steroid group (90.0% versus 50.0%, resp., P < 0.05). Growth improvement, which was evaluated by changes in height for age z-score, was more apparent in EEN group than that in steroids group (P < 0.05). No adverse effects were observed in EEN group. Conclusions. In children with mild to moderate CD, EEN is more effective than corticosteroids in improving disease severity and growth deficiency, as well as providing less side effects.
Factorization-Based Texture Segmentation

This paper introduces a factorization-based approach that efficiently segments textured images. We use local spectral histograms as features, and construct an $M \,\, \times \,\, N$ feature matrix using $M$ -dimensional feature vectors in an $N$ -pixel image. Based on the observation that each feature can be approximated by a linear combination of several representative features, we factor the feature matrix into two matrices—one consisting of the representative features and the other containing the weights of representative features at each pixel used for linear combination. The factorization method is based on singular value decomposition and nonnegative matrix factorization. The method uses local spectral histograms to discriminate region appearances in a computationally efficient way and at the same time accurately localizes region boundaries. The experiments conducted on public segmentation data sets show the promise of this simple yet powerful approach.
A Cusp—Counting Formula for Caustics due to Multiplane Gravitational Lensing

Consider a gravitational lens system with k planes. If light rays are traced back from the observer to the light source plane, then the points on the first lens plane where a light ray either terminates, or, passes through and terminates before reaching the light source plane, are “obstruction points.” More precisely, tracing rays back to the source plane induces a k-plane lensing map η: U ⊆ R 2 → R 2 of the form \(\eta (x_1 ) = x_1 - \sum _{i = 1}^k \alpha _i (x_i (x_1 )) \). We then define an obstruction point of η to be a point a of U where \( \lim _{x_{1 \to a} } \left| {\alpha _i (x_i (x_1 ))} \right| = \infty \) for some “deflection angle” α i .
Optimal scheduling of multiple dam system using harmony search algorithm

Musician's behavior-inspired harmony search (HS) algorithm was first applied to the optimal operation scheduling of a multiple dam system. The HS model tackled a popular benchmark system with four dams. Results showed that the HS model found five different global optimal solutions with identical maximum benefit from hydropower generation and irrigation, while enhanced GA model (real-value coding, tournament selection, uniform crossover, and modified uniform mutation) found only near-optimal solutions under the same number of function evaluations. Furthermore, the HS model arrived at the global optima without performing any sensitivity analysis of algorithm parameters whereas the GA model required tedious sensitivity analysis.
Chronic diarrhoea in cats Part 2: Therapeutic options

Chronic diarrhoea is a frustrating problem in feline patients, as numerous underlying causes must be considered. In some patients, a specific diagnosis is established and targeted therapy can be provided. In many cases however, the diagnosis proves elusive or a poorly–defined disorder such as inflammatory bowel disease is established. In these cases, treatment decisions are more complicated and clinicians may select from many different therapies, either alone or in combination. This article reviews the common approaches to non-specific feline diarrhoea and discusses the applications, benefits and drawbacks of the various options available.
Neutron Imaging, Radiography, and CT

The discovery of the neutron occurred in 1932, and the first neutron diffraction experiments were performed in the late 1940s. As usage progressively increased, the neutron has become a key probe in many fields of science, and sources around the world are now oversubscribed by experimenters. The European Spallation Source (ESS), and the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), in the United State are new, high-intensity sources under development that attest to the importance of neutrons as a probe. Because they are uncharged, neutrons are one of the most difficult particles to detect. Only a few elements in nature have a high affinity for neutron interaction. This article is organized as follows. The fundamental reactions upon which all neutron detection relies are described. Then a series of sections describe the main techniques of neutron detection and imaging: gas-based, scintillator based, semiconductor-based, film and image plates, and microchannel plates. In these sections, a few applications are noted. The section next to last focuses on neutron radiography/tomography, for which scintillator detectors and image plates are the primary imaging techniques. Some important reviews from recent literature for imaging techniques and for radiography are given. Techniques for (nonimaging) neutron detection have also recently been reviewed. Keywords: neutron interaction mechanisms; detectors; gas filling; scintillation detectors; film; image plates; microchannel plates; radiography; tomography
Identifying nursing concepts: are we similar?

PURPOSE. The purpose of this article was to define and describe the fundamental aspects of similarity with application to the use of nursing terminologies. DATA SOURCES. Data were obtained from Google, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsychINFO, and PubMed using the keywords “similarity views,”“similarity,”“concepts and categorization,” and other published sources. DATA SYNTHESIS. Three prominent similarity views were compared, contrasted, and applied to the use of nursing diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS. Each view has intentions (requirements) that guide the categorization of information to concepts and influence naming of nursing concepts. IMPLICATIONS. By understanding similarity, nurse educators and technology designers can influence how nursing concepts are represented.
A cross-sectional study of the psychosexual impact of cancer-related infertility in women: third-party reproductive assistance

Introduction This study empirically assessed emotional and sexual functioning, reproductive concerns, and quality of life (QOL) of cancer-related infertile women in comparison to those without a cancer history and explored awareness of third-party reproduction options in cancer survivors.
Starch gelatinization in ohmic heating

Abstract The effect of starch gelatinization on electrical conductivity (σ) was investigated in this study. Suspensions of corn and potato starch were prepared with a starch:water ratio of 1:5 (w/w) by mixing with the appropriate amount of water. Suspensions were ohmically heated with agitation to 90 °C by AC at 60 Hz, and a voltage gradient of 20 V/cm. Partially gelatinized and fully gelatinized samples, prepared by preheating suspensions to or beyond the gelatinization ranges, were also tested. Gelatinization energy (ΔHG) and degree of gelatinization (%SG) of each sample were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at a scanning rate of 10 °C/min. The results showed that endothermic gelatinization peaks were found on both DSC thermograms and electrical conductivity curves, with similar shapes and temperature ranges. Data of %SG obtained from conductivity curves and DSC thermograms were in agreement in low and mid-gelatinization ranges but were different when %SG was high, due to high ohmic heating rate. Electrical conductivity increased with temperature, but decreased with degree of gelatinization, apparently caused by structural changes and an increase in bound water.
Growth and nitrogen (N2) fixation response of arrowleaf clover to mineral nitrogen and 2(N‐morpholino)‐ethanesulfonic acid at low pH

Abstract Evaluation of legume response to acidic conditions can be difficult when using nutrient solutions because of fluctuations in solution pH. The organic buffer 2(N‐morpholino)‐ethanesulfonic acid (MES) has been used for stabilizing pH in nutrient solution studies. We evaluated the effectiveness of MES (5.0 mM) to stabilize solution culture at pH 5.5 with and without mineral N (0 or 1.0 mM NH4NO3) and its influence on growth and N2 fixation of arrowleaf clover (Trifolium vesiculosum Savi). The buffer maintained pH stability ± 0.1 pH units in the presence or absence of mineral N. In the absence of mineral N, the quantity of N2 fixed by plants grown with MES was not significantly different from that fixed by plants grown without MES. However, with mineral N, N2 fixation was reduced 37% with addition of MES. Tissue analysis indicated a small increase in Ca and Mg concentration for plants grown with MES. Caution should be exercised in the use of MES in studies of N2‐fixing legumes when mineral N is included.
Fluorescence measurements of nucleotide association with the Na+/K+-ATPase

Abstract The Na + /K + -ATPase, a membrane-associated ion pump, uses energy from the hydrolysis of ATP to pump 3 Na + ions out of and 2 K + into cells. The dependence of ATP hydrolysis on ATP concentration was measured using a fluorescence coupled-enzyme assay. The dependence on concentration of nucleotide association with the ATPase was examined using ADP and ATP-induced quenching of the fluorescence of ATPase labeled with Cy3-maleimide (Cy3-ATPase) or Alexa Fluor 546 carboxylic acid, succinimidyl ester (AF-ATPase). The kinetics of ATP hydrolysis in the presence of Na + and K + exhibited negative cooperativity with a Hill coefficient ( n H ) of 0.66 and a half-maximal concentration ( K 0.5 ) of 61 μM; in the absence of K + , n H was 0.58 and K 0.5 was 13 μM. Nucleotide-induced fluorescence quenching exhibited negative cooperativity with an n H of 0.3–0.5. These results suggest that negative cooperativity observed in ATP hydrolysis is attributable to negative cooperativity in nucleotide association to the ATPase. Interaction between AF-ATPase and ATP labeled with Alexa Fluor 647 (AF-ATP) showed significant Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET). These results indicate that the ATPase exists as oligoprotomeric complexes in this preparation, and that this aggregation has significant effects on enzyme function.
Vertical Bipolar Transistors and a Merged 3–D Vertical Bipolar—Mos Device in Recrystallized Polysilicon

The minority carrier properties of shaped-beam laser-recrystallized polysilicon films have been studied, leading to the successful fabrication of vertical bipolar transistors in these films and to the demonstration of a novel three-dimensional merged vertical bipolar-MOS device. Experiments with lateral transistors established a minority carrier diffusion length of 4 µm in p-type recrystallized films. Vertical bipolar npn transistors with a base-width of 0.2 µm were fabricated in 0.75-µm-thick. films using a polysilicon emitter technology. The strong dependence of the gain of the transistors on hydrogen annealing steps is described. With an Ar:H plasma anneal to decrease base-emitter space-charge region recombination, a common-emitter current gain of 100 was possible. The bipolar transistor technology was then used to develop a 3-D four-terminal merged vertical bipolar-MOS device in a recrystallized film. It consists of the three terminals of a bipolar transistor plus a fourth underlying terminal which serves to switch the collector current on or off. A simple model for the device is presented.
Active amino acid and sugar transport by a unicellular blue-green alga.

Abstract 1. 1. The non-metabolizable amino acid, α-aminoisobutyric-3-14C acid, like the non-metabolizable sugar, 3-O-methyl-14C-D-glucose, was actively transported by dark-treated “starved” Synechococcus cedrorum cells in the presence of light. 2. 2. Various unlabelled amino acids inhibited α-aminoisobutryic-3-14C acid transport and various unlabelled sugars inhibited 3-O-methyl-14C-D-glucose transport. 3. 3. No reciprocal inhibition, however, was observed between the active amino acid and sugar transport processes.
EP2: You're hired! The top 25 interview questions for circuit designers

Circuit designers have to survive one or many technical interviews before being hired for their dream job. Many students and practicing engineers feel confident that they have a strong and intuitive understanding of circuits. However, even the best circuit designers can be stumped by exotic circuits or through a misunderstanding of fundamental concepts. This panel of industry and academic circuit designers will entertain and challenge the audience and each other with questions that often arise during job interviews. The audience can judge which interview questions are fair game in the pursuit of the highly coveted mixed-signal integrated circuit job.
Renormalization group analysis of resonantly interacting anyons

We formulate a field theory for resonantly interacting anyons, that enables us to perform a perturbative calculation near the fermionic limit. We derive renormalization group equations for three-body and four-body couplings at one-loop order. In addition to two fixed points, we find a limit cycle behavior in the four-body coupling, which implies an infinite set of bound states in the four-anyon system.
The kinetics of autolysis in osmotically stressed sea urchin eggs

Abstract We have measured the kinetics of death from hyperosmotic stress in unfertilized sea urchin eggs in an attempt to dissect the two conflicting influences of temperature lowering below the freezing point: as more ice forms during temperature lowering, the rate of injury increases rather than decreases. Two models are examined. An Arrhenius model, in which the osmotic stress imposed by extracellular ice formation is envisaged as reducing the “activation energy”, provides a qualitative model but fails to fit the data in detail. In contrast, a Johnson—Mehl—Avrami nucleation model, in which the osmotic stress triggers an autolysis that is essentially independent of temperature or degree of osmotic stress above a threshold value, fits the data well. Two separate decay processes were seen, for which the time constants were 269s and 658s and the Avrami exponents were 7 and 1 respectively. The latter is an ordinary first-order attrition, though its independence from temperature distinguishes it from an Arrhenius model. The nucleation model is difficult to furnish with a simple physical representation.
Combinatorics for Wavelets: The Umbral Refinement Equation

The refinement equation is the most fundamental equation in wavelet theory.In this article, we study its combinatorial meanings and analogs. We show that the invariant properties of the Cauchy generating function are well adapted to the translation and dilation operators in the refinement equation. This leads to the discovery of analytic scaling functions and wavelets. The classical umbral calculus (or symbolic calculus) provides a powerful tool for moments analysis and defines the combinatorial analog of the ordinary refinement equation—the umbral refinement equation. By developing the existing theory of classical umbral calculus, we are able to solve the umbral refinement equation in a purely umbral manner. Many classical results in wavelet analysis are reestablished in the context of umbral calculus.
Flow Boiling on Micropin Fins Entrenched Inside a Microchannel-Flow Patterns and Bubble Departure Diameter and Bubble Frequency

Flow boiling of HFE 7000 in five parallel microchannels of 222 μm hydraulic diameter, each containing a single row of 24 in-line 100 μm pin fins, was investigated. High speed photography revealed the dominant flow patterns, namely, the bubbly flow, the multiple flow, and the wavy-annular flow. The interaction of the bubble with the pin fins during nucleate boiling from G=350 kg/m 2 s to G=827 kg/m 2 s and wall heat fluxes from 10 W/cm 2 to 110 W/cm 2 is detailed.
Theory of stimulated Raman scattering in optical fibers in the pulse walkoff regime

It is shown that the process of forward stimulated Raman scattering in a single-mode fiber, which involves the pump pulse and the first Stokes wave, is an exactly soluble problem, provided that the temporal duration of these waves is sufficiently long. The analysis takes into account the effects of pulse walkoff arising from the dispersion of the fiber as well as self- and cross-phase modulation. The procedure is applied to two examples: the first is that of stimulated Raman scattering as it builds up from spontaneous Raman emission; the second is that of launching pump and Stokes pulses. >
Seasonal variations in ionospheric total electron content

Abstract Total ionospheric electron content has been measured continuously since September 1964 by observing the Faraday rotation of a linearly-polarized wave received from the geostationary satellite Syncom III. Results of one year's observation at the University of Hawaii (20° N) are presented in the form of monthly mean curves. The seasonal trend observed is that the largest diurnal peaks in daytime content tend to occur during the equinoxes and the smallest diurnal peaks tend to occur during the solstices. The winter night-time content remains nearly constant at about 0.3 × 10 17 electrons m 2 . During the summer months, however, the night-time content is about twice that of winter nights, and the decay rate is greater. Although daytime variations in electron content resemble those of Npeak, significant differences are observed. These are illustrated by curves of slab thickness vs. time. In general, the slab thickness curves exhibit strong seasonal dependence. However, the late afternoon values are nearly the same throughout the year. In the winter, large pre-dawn and post-sunset peaks occur in the slab thickness curves. In the summer months a mid-morning peak is observed.
Animal model studies application to human patients

Animal models are used to identify potential new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and to study the effects of combining AEDs with different mechanisms of action. The models most commonly used to identify new AEDs are the maximal electroshock (MES) test, the subcutaneous pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) test, and the electrical kindling model. The MES test has been useful in identifying agents that block generalized tonic-clonic seizures by prolonging the inactivation of sodium channels. The PTZ model has proved to be a good predictor of clinical efficacy of generalized spike-wave epilepsies of the absence type, and agents that reduce the calcium flow through T-type calcium channels or that enhance chloride flow through GABA(A) receptors are effective in this model. Electrically or chemically induced kindling is a model of epileptogenesis and has been used to study the epileptogenic process and the molecules that interfere with this process. Many epilepsy patients who fail to achieve adequate seizure control with different monotherapy agents and are unsuitable for surgical management are given polytherapy. Animal models can be used to evaluate different combinations of AEDs before their use in humans. Initial studies have identified combinations associated with supra-additive anticonvulsant effects that may warrant further study.
Delayed genetic effects of habitat fragmentation on the ecologically specialized Florida sand skink ( Plestiodon reynoldsi )

Populations rarely show immediate genetic responses to habitat fragmentation, even in taxa that possess suites of traits known to increase their vulnerability to extinction. Thus conservation geneticists must consider the time scale over which contemporary evolutionary processes operate to accurately portray the effects of habitat isolation. Here, we examine the genetic impacts of fragmentation on the Florida sand skink Plestiodon reynoldsi, a sand swim- ming lizard that is highly adapted to the upland scrub habitat of central Florida. We studied fragments located on the southern Lake Wales Ridge, where human activity in the latter half of the 20th century has modified the natural patchiness of the landscape. Based on a relaxed molecular clock method, we estimate that sand skinks have persisted in this region for approximately 1.5 million years and that the time frame of human disturbance is equivalent to fewer than 30 skink generations. Using genotypes from eight microsatellite loci, we screened for molecular signatures of this disturbance by assessing congruence between popula- tion structure, as inferred from spatially-informed Bayesian assignment tests, and the current geography of scrub frag- ments. We also tested for potential intrapopulation genetic effects of inbreeding in isolated populations by comparing the average pairwise relatedness of individuals within fragments of different areas and isolation. Our results indicate that although some patches show a higher degree of relatedness than expected under random mating, the genetic effects of recent isolation are not evident in this part of the species' range. We argue that this result is an artefact of a time-lag in the response to disturbance, and that species- typical demographic features may explain the genetic inertia observed in these populations.
Mobility of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Receptor CD4 and Coreceptor CCR5 in Living Cells: Implications for HIV Fusion and Entry Events

The sequence of events leading to human immunodeficiency virus fusion and entry likely involves the recruitment of multiple receptor and coreceptor proteins to a specific complex by the viral envelope. Using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching technology, we find that both CD4 and CCR5 are mobile in the cell membrane. Interestingly, our findings also suggest that the seven-span transmembrane coreceptor is significantly more mobile than CD4 and requires membrane cholesterol for mobility.
Stat5a and Stat5b Proteins Have Essential and Nonessential, or Redundant, Roles in Cytokine Responses

A variety of cytokines mediate the activation of Janus protein tyrosine kinases (Jaks). The Jaks then phosphorylate cellular substrates, including members of the signal transducers and activators of transcription (Stat) family of transcription factors. Among the Stats, the two highly related proteins, Stat5a and Stat5b, are activated by a variety of cytokines. To assess the role of the Stat5 proteins, mutant mice were derived that have the genes deleted individually or together. The phenotypes of the mice demonstrate an essential, and often redundant, role for the two Stat5 proteins in a spectrum of physiological responses associated with growth hormone and prolactin. Conversely, the responses to a variety of cytokines that activate the Stat5 proteins, including erythropoietin, are largely unaffected.
Relationship between Musical Accompaniment and Learning Style in Problem Solving

The effects of musical accompaniment on a problem-solving activity were examined for 64 college students of selected Myers-Briggs personality types.
Compact wide stopband SIR filter for Radio Altimeter

Presented in this paper is a very wide stopband filter of reduced size, improved stop-band rejection, and good input-output return loss for Radio Altimeter applications. To improve the stopband rejection three and four different types of stepped-impedance resonators (SIRs) are used. To further improve the wideband rejection, a notch filter is kept at the output of the filter. The simulated results on EM simulator of applied wave research (AWR) show an out of band rejection of better than 40 dB up to 18 GHz, and a return loss better than 15dB. The filter is optimized for manufacturability and 6 different types of prototypes were fabricated to address the RO-4350B dielectric constant variation and manufacturing tolerance. The paper details the test results which were compared with the simulated one. The produced filter size is 12mm × 8.5mm and the insertion loss is 1.7 dB and out of band rejection better than 30 dB up to 18 GHz. The filter is designed for the altimeter application where the out of band rejection up to 18 GHz, good phase linearity, compactness in size and good in put output return loss are highly required. Further, an attempt was made to improve the return loss of the filter by using defected ground structure to realize a resonator, the simulation shows that the return loss with DGS improved by 5 dB.
Role of Hormones in Pilosebaceous Unit Development

Androgens are required for sexual hair and sebaceous gland development. However, pilosebaceous unit (PSU) growth and differentiation require the interaction of androgen with numerous other biological factors. The pattern of PSU responsiveness to androgen is determined in the embryo. Hair follicle growth involves close reciprocal epithelial-stromal interactions that recapitulate ontogeny; these interactions are necessary for optimal hair growth in culture. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) and retinoids have recently been found to specifically affect sebaceous cell growth and differentiation. Many other hormones such as GH, insulin-like growth factors, insulin, glucocorticoids, estrogen, and thyroid hormone play important roles in PSU growth and development. The biological and endocrinological basis of PSU development and the hormonal treatment of the PSU disorders hirsutism, acne vulgaris, and pattern alopecia are reviewed. Improved understanding of the multiplicity of factors involved in normal PSU growth and differentiation will be necessary to provide optimal treatment approaches for these disorders.
Preparation and properties of the system Cu2Zn1−xFexGeS4

Abstract The quaternary chalcogenide Cu 2 ZnGeS 4 crystallizes with the ordered stannite structure. Divalent transition metals such as iron can be substituted for zinc, and the resulting compounds afford an unusual opportunity to study the magnetic properties of 3d 6 iron on a tetrahedral site. Furthermore, the phases obtained with the substitution of up to almost 20% iron can be isolated with either the tetragonal stannite or orthorhombic wurtz-stannite structure. Measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of these phases indicate that there is little difference in their magnetic interactions.
Introduction: The Impact of Molecular Pathology on the Practice of Pathology

The success of the Human Genome Project 1 has expanded the field of molecular biology in an exponential manner. It has facilitated the identification of numerous novel genes of unknown function whose functions can now be determined and whose expressions can be monitored in different disease states. Whereas the discipline of pathology often refers to the rubric of the study of disease in general, molecular pathology refers to the analysis of nucleic acids and proteins to diagnose disease, predict the occurrence of disease, and predict the prognosis of diagnosed disease and guide therapy. Furthermore, recent advances in molecular pathology have positively affected the practice of medicine, especially diagnostic medicine. These changes result from abilities to clone disease-causing genes and the proteins that they encode and to detect the presence of these genes and proteins in the serum and other body fluids and tissues of patients, even though they may be present in minute quantities. This detection has been made possible by a veritable explosion of new, highly sensitive techniques involving amplification methods, such as polymerase chain reaction, branched DNA,
The effect of thioridazine on prolactinoma growth in a schizophrenic man: Case report

Thioridazine was found to increase the serum prolactin level as well as the tumor size of a prolactin--secreting pituitary chromophobe adenoma in a schizophrenic man. He was then successfully treated with clonidine, an antinoradrenergic compound without antidopaminergic properties, which had no effect on serum prolactin or tumor growth. This case report highlights the importance of careful neuroleptic usage in patients in whom elevated prolactin levels are of concern and discusses alternative methods of treating psychosis when antidopaminergic medications are contraindicated.
Current status of adoptive immunotherapy of cancer.

Abstract The sentinel observations made by William B. Coley, M.D. in the 1890s that patients with malignancies can respond to the intratumoral inoculation of live bacterial organisms or bacterial toxins became the cornerstone for the development of immunotherapy for cancers. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that tumors express unique proteins which can trigger an immune response. The adoptive transfer of immune cells to the host with established malignancy can mediate complete eradication of local or disseminated tumors and result in systemic immunity. This review summarizes the current experimental as well as clinical status of adoptive immunotherapy of cancer. There are a number of different methods to isolate tumor-reactive T cells from the tumor-bearing host and allow for their ex vivo expansion. A new direction in this field includes attempts to up-regulate the immunogenicity of tumors by genetically modifying tumor cells to express immunoregulatory peptides (i.e. cytokines, co-stimulatory molecules, etc.) in order to exploit endogenously weak immune responses to autochthonous tumors. Other new directions involve developing methods to generate or isolate tumor-reactive T cells subsets by selective in vitro stimulation (i.e. bacterial superantigens) or genetic engineering of activated T cells to enhance their ability to mediate tumor destruction. Although adoptive immunotherapy has thus far added little to the routine treatment of human cancer, it is likely that continued efforts at defining the elements involved in T cell recognition and destruction of tumor cells will broaden the applicability of T cells as important therapeutic reagents.
Biomimetic catalysis of S_N2 reactions through cation-π interactions. The role of polarizability in catalysis

Cyclophane hosts 1 and 2 have been shown to be effective catalysts for both the alkylation of quinoline structures to produce quinolinium salts and the dealkylation of sulfonium salts to produce sulfides. Thus, reactions that develop positive charge in the transition state and reactions that destroy positive charge are accelerated. The former observation is not surprising, given the well-documented ability of these hosts to bind cations through the cation-π interaction. The catalysis of the dealkylation reactions, however, along with several other observations, suggests that some other factor is involved in the catalysis. It is proposed that the high polarizability of the transition states is well matched to the very polarizable hosts and that this contributes to the catalysis.
A Nursing Home In-Service Program:

This article describes the results of an in-service training program whose objective was to transmit information about the older adult population to nursing home personnel for the purpose of improving patient care. It was proposed that by providing learning experiences involving didactic and experiential opportunities, the learner would more likely understand the physical as well as the psychosocial needs of the older adult. As a result, the learner would be able to empathize with the nursing home resident. By facilitating such positive change in attitudes more attentive actions would occur.
Review of the ethnobotany, chemistry, biological activity and safety of the botanical dietary supplement Morinda citrifolia (noni)*

Morinda citrifolia, commonly called noni, has a long history as a medicinal plant and its use as a botanical dietary supplement has grown tremendously in recent years. This has prompted a concomitant increase in research on the phytochemical constituents and biological activity of noni. A relatively large number of scientific publications on noni have been published in recent years, including a number of review articles. The goals of this review are to provide an updated categorization of the phytochemical constituents found in noni and to provide perspective for its extensive utilization as a major botanical dietary supplement. Included herein are a comprehensive list of known ethno-botanical uses and common names of M. citrifolia, a brief summary of relevant biological studies and a discussion of the safety of noni as a supplement.
Regulation of the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF25 by nitric oxide

The ubiquitin–proteasome pathway regulates protein turnover in normal homeostasis and directs damaged proteins for degradation by the 26S proteasome. Proteasomal degradation is a highly regulated process, initiated by the conjugation of a series of ubiquitin moieties to lysine residues in proteins forming a polyubiquitin chain that is recognized by the proteasome. Aberrant ubiquitination of proteins has been observed in a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and hematopoietic disease. Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to both positively and negatively alter the stability of several proteins, enhancing degradation of some, while preventing the degradation of others. We hypothesize that modulation the activity of E3 ubiquitin ligases, changing the pool of proteins that are targeted for proteasomal degradation, constitutes a generic mechanism whereby NO modulates cell functions. Using a proteomic approach, we identified and characterized proteins whose ubiquitination is altered by NO donors in HEK cells. Immunopurification of polyubiquitinated proteins followed by mass spectrometry identified the E3 ubiquitin ligase, Ring Finger 25 (RNF25) protein, as a putative target of NO-regulated ubiquitination. RNF25 protein was found to decrease, while RNF25 ubiquitination increased with GSNO treatment, suggesting that NO enhances RNF25 degradation. Notably, RNF25 contains 11 cysteine residues that potentially serve as targets for NO-mediated S-nitrosylation. Studies further revealed that RNF25 undergoes selective S-nitrosylation on Cys198 and/or Cys201 within the RING domain and RNF25-mediated autoubiquitination is accelerated by low levels of NO. Studies are in progress to identify protein targets of RNF25-mediated ubiquitination and whose lifetimes are thus modulated by NO.
The determination of isoniazid and its metabolites in human urine.

Abstract An ion-exelusion column chromatographic procedure has been described that accomplishes the separation of isoniazid and its metabolites into completely ionized, slightly ionized and neutral derivatives. By applying specific colorimetric and enzymatic techniques to the column fractions, it was possible to measure isoniazid, isoniazid hydrazones of pyruvic acid and α-ketoglutaric acid, acetyl isoniazid and isonicotinic acid derivatives in urine of human subjects ingesting isoniazid. Isonicotinic acid derivatives were separated via an ion-exchange column chromatographic system. This technique combined with colorimetric procedures demonstrated that isonicotinic acid and isonicotinyl glycine were the only derivatives contributing to the isonicotinic acid fraction of isoniazid metabolites. The glucose hydrazone of isoniazid, diisonicotinyl hydrazine, isonicotinic acid amide, N-methyl isonicotinic acid and isonicotinic acid N-oxide were not detected as urinary metabolites of isoniazid in man.
Metabolic cooperation in CHO and V79 cells following treatment with a tumor promoter.

Abstract Tumor promoters are a class of chemicals which, when given to cells in vitro or to organisms that have been previously exposed to physical or chemical carcinogens, decrease the latency period for the appearance of transformed colonies or tumors. 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), a powerful tumor promoter, has been shown to inhibit metabolic cooperation in V79 Chinese hamster cells and rat hepatocytes as well as between mouse epidermal and 3T3 cells. We report comparative studies utilizing V79 and CHO cells indicating that metabolic cooperation is inhibited by TPA in V79 cells while CHO cells show the opposite response with a slight enhancement of metabolic cooperation following promoter treatment. We speculate that these observations are the result of membrane differences between these cell lines.