cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A new adsorbent for trace level organic contaminants

A preliminary study has been carried out to evaluate a new adsorbent, Thermosorb, for trace level organic contaminants. For this purpose, a comparison was made with a well-characterized adsorbent, Tenax GC, using a prepared aqueous solution of trace organic components. In addition, a comparison was made of chromatograms of air contaminants obtained using both of these adsorbents, under equivalent conditions. The results clearly indicated the potential of this thermally stable, inorganic adsorbent for many trace organic substances of environmental interest.
High-angle ADF and high-resolution SE imaging of supported catalyst clusters

Abstract A high-angle annular detector provides a useful imaging signal for the detection of small metal catalyst clusters in light-element supports. The high-angle annular-dark-field (HAADF) signal is mainly generated by quasi-elastic scattering. The collected signal intensity depends on the atomic number of the scatterer, its amplitude of vibration and the total number of atoms encountered by the probe. This imaging mode can reveal high- Z sensitivity and eliminate most of the diffraction contrast present in low-angle ADF images. In a STEM instrument, secondary electron images with a resolution approaching the probe size ( ∼ 0.5 nm in diameter) can be obtained simultaneously with HAADF images, providing topographic information about the metal catalyst-support system. The combination of a variety of imaging and diffraction techniques available in a STEM instrument can yield important information about the distribution of small metal clusters in the supports, crystallographic relationships between the metal clusters and the support, and morphology as well as chemical compositions of the metal catalyst-support system. Samples of Pt/carbon, Pt/γ-alumina and Pt/NaY zeolite catalysts have been examined. Preliminary results reveal useful information about these catalyst systems.
Estrogen production by trophoblastic tumors in tissue culture.

Pure trophoblastic cells derived from human choriocarcinomas and established in culture (BeWo and Jar lines) were incubated with either androst-4-ene-3, 17-dione-1, 23H(3H-Δ4) or dehydroepiandrosterone-7-3H (3H-DHEA). Radioactive estrogens were separated from neutral steroids and analyzed by reverse phase and direct phase partition chromatography on Celite columns. The identity of labeled estrogens was confirmed by isotope dilution and derivative formation. 3H-Δ4 was converted into labeled estrone (E1) and 17β-estradiol (E2), but no estriol was formed by these tumor cells when the incubated precursor lacked the 16α-OH grouping. The production of E2 was several times greater than that of E1. The tumor cells from the Jar line exceeded those of the BeWo line in their capacity to synthesize estrogens. It was concluded that potential steroidogenic pathways for estrogen synthesis similar to those of the normal placenta are retained in malignant trophoblastic tumor cells in culture.
Life writing in the shadow of the Shoah: fathers and sons in the memoirs of Elie Wiesel and Leon Weliczker Wells

This paper contrasts the accounts of mourning and the resolution of grief in the aftermath of the Shoah as portrayed in the memoirs of two men Elie Wiesel (1928–) and Leon Weliczker Wells (1925–). Each life writer grew up in an Eastern European shtetl, a traditional community, in which he was immersed in Hasidic culture, and was incarcerated during adolescence in an extermination camp. This paper explores the impact of each life writer's experienced childhood relationship with his father in coping with his losses over the post-war period. Wells' memoir is a factual account of the perfidy of the regime that he witnessed as a member of a Sonderkommando or death brigade in the Janowska extermination camp and kept a journal, later used as evidence for the indictment of the regime at the Eichman trial. Wiesel's acclaimed text Night, and his memoirs, reflect his continuing guilt regarding his father's death while they were together in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nutrient regulation of endocrine function in fish

Abstract Hormones play a central role in the regulation of growth and nutrient utilization in fish. Consequently, fish endocrine systems are sensitive to alterations in nutrient intake. Procedures routinely employed in the development of diets and feeding protocols for cultured fish have pronounced effects on endocrine systems. We review the evidence that alterations in ration level (including food restriction and food deprivation), diet composition, photoperiod, and feeding time influence the most intensively-studied fish metabolic hormones: thyroid hormones, pancreatic hormones, and hormones of the growth hormone–insulin-like growth factor axis. Whereas effects of these dietary manipulations on total circulating hormone levels are commonly examined, nutrient intake may also influence hormone transport in blood, activation in peripheral tissues, receptor binding, and neuroendocrine pathways regulating hormone secretion. Information on the cellular and molecular mechanisms through which nutrients influence endocrine systems is still needed. Significant new information about the regulation of endocrine function can be derived from nutritional studies currently employed in aquaculture for the development of diets. Additional information on the influence of nutrients on endocrine function is essential for the design and interpretation of hormone supplementation studies, and should eventually allow development of feeding strategies which promote anabolic hormone production.
Location of Inventories in an MRP Environment

Previous research on MRP systems has rarely considered at what level in a modular sub-assembly product structure to hold inventories. Based on a simulation study of an MRP environment, we show that the correct decision concerning where to hold inventory depends on the variance in end-item demand, the amount of inventory investment, and concomitantly, the desired level of customer service. In particular, for small investment in inventories and moderate end-item demand variance, it is equally effective to hold inventories at the subassembly level or the end-item level. But when end-item demand variance is high, subassembly level inventories are better. As inventory investment grows, however, it is best to use a diversified approach of holding both subassembly and end-item inventories, irrespective of end-item demand variance. The robustness of these conclusions is validated by simulating a hypothetical firm that also uses safety time to hedge against uncertainties.
Statistical shape analysis for image understanding and object recognition

In order to analyze the effects of noise on certain recognition and reconstruction algorithms, including the sensitivity of the so-called object/image equations and object/image metrics, one needs to study probability and statistics on shape spaces. Work along these lines was pioneered by Kendall and has been the subject of many papers over the last twenty years. In this paper we extend some of those results to affine shape spaces and then use them to relate distributions on object shapes to corresponding distributions on image shapes.
Fourth ventricular tanycytes: A possible relationship with monoaminergic nuclei

Tanycytes were found in discrete areas on the floor of the fourth ventricle of the developing and adult rabbit. The apical surfaces of the somas extended into the fourth ventricle and the shafts extended into the substance of the rhombencephalon. Shafts from midline tanycytes on the floor of the caudal fourth ventricle entered nuclei raphe obscurus and pallidus and shafts from midline tanycytes on the floor of the rostral fourth ventricle entered nuclei raphe dorsalis and centralis superior. These four raphe nuclei all contained serotonergic neurons and formed dendrite bundles in association with the tanycyte shafts. Shafts of tanycytes on the medial floor of the fourth ventricle entered nucleus intercalatus, and shafts of tanycytes on the lateral floor of the fourth ventricle entered locus coeruleus. Both of these nuclei contained noradrenergic cell bodies. The tanycyte shafts terminated only in these monoaminergic nuclei and did not extend to the pial surface of the ventral brain stem. We suggest that these tanycytes constitute a possible transport system for substances between the cerebrospinal fluid of the fourth ventricle and monoaminergic nuclei of the brain stem, in a role similar to that proposed for tanycytes of the median eminence.
The nature of NML Cygnus

Since the discovery of NML Cyg by Neugebauer et al. (1965), its nature has been uncertain because its distance and luminosity are not known. NML Cyg is partially surrounded by an H II region which is heavily obscured by intervening interstellar matter. This H II region has been mapped in the continuum at 21 cm, and it seems clearly associated with the star. In the present investigation it is proposed that the H II region has been created by ionizing radiation from the Cyg OB2 association. The close agreement between the observed structure of the H II region and that predicted by the considered model provides strong evidence that NML Cyg is indeed at the distance of the association, 2 kpc. At this distance it is among the most luminous red stars shown. Because of its high luminosity, NML Cygnus is probably a massive star of perhaps 50 solar masses.
Laser-assisted intrastromal keratomileusis in a patient with systemic mastocytosis.

Abstract Background The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and more recently the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), list relative and absolute contraindications to laser-assisted intrastromal keratomileusis (LASIK). The AAO guidelines consider connective tissue or autoimmune diseases and systemic immunosuppresion as relative contraindications and only uncontrolled diseases and uncontrolled ocular allergy as absolute contraindications. Recent reports concluded that LASIK could be performed effectively and safely in selected patients with stable and controlled systemic diseases. Reported here is a case of successful LASIK with 3 years℉ follow-up in the setting of systemic mastocytosis. Case report A 42-year-old woman with moderate myopia and astigmatism underwent bilateral LASIK. Her medical history was significant for systemic mastocytosis. Five days after surgery, a diffuse lamellar keratopathy (DLK) 1+ was observed in the left eye and treated successfully with prednisolone acetate. The patient achieved visual acuity of 20/20 in each eye unaided. These findings were stable at 7, 12, 18, and 36 months after surgery. She continues to use olopatadine. Conclusion Because of the rare nature of systemic mastocytosis and the anaphalactoid mechanism of release of mast cells, it may be difficult to assess the risk of undergoing LASIK. Any known or suspected triggers must be avoided. The use of an antihistamine and mast cell stabilizer, as used in this case, may have a beneficial effect.
Perturbation theory and a dominated convergence theorem for Feynman integrals

A perturbation theorem for unitary groups generated by form sums of operators is established. This result is used to derive a general dominated convergence theorem for Feynman path integrals. It is then applied to the modified Feynman integral which is shown to enjoy optimal stability properties. The fact that the modified Feynman integral — previously introduced by the author — converges in a rather general setting, is used in an essential manner. Other results concerning less general definitions of the Feynman integral are also given.
OS/2 Resource Reservation System

The OS/2 Resource Reservation System supports bandwidth reservation in the LAN Server Ultimedia multimedia file server. This paper describes how audio/video streams are specified and managed by the resource reservation system. The problem of variable-bit-rate stream utilization is considered: It is shown that the peak-rate of the variable-bit-rate stream can be reduced as the size of the destination buffer is increased beyond a single block. A buffered-peak-rate descriptor is presented that computes peak rate of variable-bit-rate stream based upon a particular client-buffer size. The framework and interfaces of the resource reservation system are described.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Asymptotic properties of a robust variance matrix estimator for panel data when T is large

Abstract I consider the asymptotic properties of a commonly advocated covariance matrix estimator for panel data. Under asymptotics where the cross-section dimension, n, grows large with the time dimension, T, fixed, the estimator is consistent while allowing essentially arbitrary correlation within each individual. However, many panel data sets have a non-negligible time dimension. I extend the usual analysis to cases where n and T go to infinity jointly and where T → ∞ with n fixed. I provide conditions under which t and F statistics based on the covariance matrix estimator provide valid inference and illustrate the properties of the estimator in a simulation study.
Relation Between Plasma and Saliva Concentrations of Enoxacin, Ciprofloxacin, and Theophylline

SummaryTo assess the reliability of predicting plasma concentrations of enoxacin, ciprofloxacin, and theophylline from drug concentrations in saliva, six healthy volunteers received single oral doses of enoxacin, ciprofloxacin, and theophylline administered in combination on each of four separate st
Environmental impact assessment of transportation networks with degradable links in an era of climate change

ABSTRACT This paper proposes environmental impact assessment indices to evaluate the environmental effects of link capacity degradation in transportation (road) networks. The indices are applicable in the case of either user-optimizing or system-optimizing behavior. We also construct environmental link importance indicators that allow for the ranking of links in transportation networks in terms of their environmental importance, should they be removed/destroyed. Numerical transportation network examples illustrate the proposed quantitative environmental indicators and further substantiate that system-optimizing behavior does not necessarily lead to reduced emissions.
Implemetation of local area wireless sensor networks using Bluetooth

While the wireless sensor network technology does exist, the usefulness of this technology has not yet been proven. A small scale implementation of the wireless sensor network will pave the way to a larger scale project that can take full advantage of the capabilities of the sensors. Additionally, a small scale implementation can prove that the wireless sensor network does have useful functionality in most environments. This paper will also provide a basis for any other application that will attempt to use this technology in the future. Bluetooth has been found to be the most favorable protocol for short range wireless sensor networks. Bluetooth is a low cost, low power, short range wireless IEEE 802.11 standard that allows varied device to talk to each other. SAW devices prove to be excellent sensors due to their high sensitivity to the physical environment. In this paper, we implement a temperature sensor. In order to enable communication of a wireless sensor network we use the universal specification-Bluetooth.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A comparison of maximum likelihood‐based supervised classification strategies

Abstract Supervised land cover classification strategies for Thematic Mapper image data are tested in two southern California study sites. Effects of training field aggregation, prior probabilities, and nonnormality in spectral data are investigated. Findings are summarized using both PCC and Kappa statistics. Error matrices are presented in graphic form to enhance comparison among images and methods. Differences in overall map accuracy between tested strategies are generally significant, and certain strategies tend to produce consistent patterns in the error matrices of all image products. Results of these supervised classifications are also briefly compared to previously published results for unsupervised techniques using identical image data products.
Kinetics of isotope incorporation into the desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of tissues: Life span and generation time of cells

The dynamics of cell multiplication and differentiation in tissues in asteady state and the kinetics of isotope incorporation into the DNA have been theoretically analyzed. Equations have been derived, with the aid of which thegeneration time, thelife span, and the distribution or rate of death of the cells can be obtained if the tissue is in asteady state, i.e., if the number of cells is maintained constant by constant, equal rates of cell division and cell death and if the mean DNA content per cell is also constant. An equation has also been derived which gives thegeneration time in the case of logarithmic multiplication of cells. Two special cases have been analyzed: InCase 1, the isotope is considered as being introduced into the metabolic system at zero time only; inCase 2, the specific activity of the DNA precursor is considered as being maintained constant. The use of the method has been illustrated by an example in which thegeneration time and themean, themedian, and themode life span, as well as the curve of the rate of death of leukocytes in a patient with chronic leukemic granulocytic leukemia, have been obtained from the rate of P32 incorporation into the DNA. The merits and the limitations of the method are discussed.
Slow degradation and electron conduction in sodium/beta-aluminas

Slow degradation was observed in sodium/beta-alumina electrolytes subjected to long term in cycling Na/S cells. The degradation propagated as a layer from the sodium side. It involves the internal deposition of sodium metal during current passage. This Mode II degradation was distinct from chemical colouration and from the Mode I failure (Poiseuille pressure due to cathodic deposition driving isolated cracks). Degradation was also observed on the sulfur side of the electrolyte and was associated with the graphite felt “imprinting effect.” It is thought that the Mode II degradation resulted from electron conduction into the solid electrolyte from the beta-alumina/sodium metal interface during the charging cycle.
Theoretical estimation of free and entrapped nonwetting–wetting fluid interfacial areas in porous media

Abstract Fluid–fluid interfacial areas play important roles in numerous subsurface processes such as dissolution, volatilization, and adsorption. Integral expressions have been derived to estimate both entrapped (discontinuous) and free (continuous) nonwetting fluid–wetting fluid specific interfacial areas in porous media. The expressions, compatible with widely used capillary head-saturation and entrapment models, require information on capillary head-saturation relation parameters, porosity, and fluid-pair interfacial tension. In addition, information on the maximum entrapped nonwetting fluid saturation as well as the main drainage branch reversal point for water and total liquid saturations is necessary to estimate entrapped fluid interfacial areas. Implementation of the interfacial area equations in continuum-based multifluid flow simulators is straightforward since no additional parameters are needed than those required by the simulators to complete the multifluid flow computations. A limited sensitivity analysis, based on experimentally obtained parameter values, showed that imposed variations resulted in logical and consistent changes in predicted specific interfacial areas for both entrapped and free nonwetting fluid–wetting fluid systems. A direct comparison with published experimental work to test the derived expressions was limited to free air–water systems and yielded reasonable results. Such comparisons are often not possible because of the lack of information given on retention parameters, and variables used to determine nonwetting fluid entrapment. This contribution is dedicated to John W. Cary.
AP2 hemicomplexes contribute independently to synaptic vesicle endocytosis

The clathrin adaptor complex AP2 is thought to be an obligate heterotetramer. We identify null mutations in the α subunit of AP2 in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. α-adaptin mutants are viable and the remaining μ2/β hemicomplex retains some function. Conversely, in μ2 mutants, the alpha/sigma2 hemicomplex is localized and is partially functional. α-μ2 double mutants disrupt both halves of the complex and are lethal. The lethality can be rescued by expression of AP2 components in the skin, which allowed us to evaluate the requirement for AP2 subunits at synapses. Mutations in either α or μ2 subunits alone reduce the number of synaptic vesicles by about 30%; however, simultaneous loss of both α and μ2 subunits leads to a 70% reduction in synaptic vesicles and the presence of large vacuoles. These data suggest that AP2 may function as two partially independent hemicomplexes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00190.001
Using the Keyboard to Issue Commands: The Relation of Observing Others Using Efficient Techniques on the Weightings of Costs and Benefits

Previous research by Peres et al. (2004) and Peres et al. (2005) have suggested people's analysis of the costs and benefits of using efficient techniques may influence whether or not they use those techniques. These studies also suggested that social factors (e.g., observing others) play an additional role in the usage of these techniques. The present study examined the impact of observing efficient techniques on users' weighing of the costs and benefits of using the Keyboard to Issue Commands (KIC) as an efficient technique. The results suggest that people more heavily weigh the benefits of using KIC than the costs, but that there appears to be no relation between people's weightings of the costs and benefits of using KIC and whether they had observed someone using KIC.
Chromatin: A Connection Between Loops and Barriers?

A genetic screen for proteins that can block the spread of silenced heterochromatin has identified components of the nuclear pores with potential barrier activity. These results suggest that formation of loops of chromatin anchored to the pore could be one mechanism of barrier function.
Insomnia in Caregivers of Persons with Dementia: Who is at Risk and What Can be Done About It?

Sleep problems are associated with mood and function disturbances in caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the factors associated with the onset and maintenance of sleep disturbances in caregivers of persons with dementia are unknown, and little attention has been paid to treatments to improve sleep in caregivers. Here we review some of the evidence for the association between caregiver sleep problems, and caregiver and care-recipient demographic, health, and psychosocial variables. We present data from a longitudinal study that examined factors associated with self-reported sleep problems in dementia caregivers and care-recipients over a 5-year follow-up period, and describe the existing caregiver insomnia treatment literature. We conclude with recommendations for future research.
Sea Ice Indentation in the Creeping Mode

A finite element method of analysis is developed and applied to the study of global and local pressures generated on a cylindrical indenter during sea-ice deformations in the creeping mode. Numerical simulations are performed under plane stress conditions to assess the influence of interface adfreeze and friction, material constants for a multiaxial power-law creep model, indenter diameter, and ice-sheet velocity on predicted pressures. The results are compared with those based on approximate methods of analysis. Stress, strain rate, and strain contours are obtained in addition to the distribution of interface pressures.
Taylor series solution of the M/M/1 queueing system

Abstract A Taylor series method for determining the transient probabilities of the classical single server queueing system is presented. The method is direct, practical and avoids Bessel function theory, Laplace transform theory and complex analysis. The resulting Taylor series are proved to converge for all time under arbitrary initial conditions. A method to obtain explicit Taylor series representations is demonstrated.
Effects of ice particle size vertical inhomogeneity on the passive remote sensing of ice clouds

The solar reflectance bi-spectral (SRBS) and infrared split-window (IRSpW) methods are two of the most popular techniques for passive ice cloud property retrievals from multispectral imagers. Ice clouds are usually assumed to be vertically homogeneous in global operational algorithms based on these methods, although significant vertical variations of ice particle size are typically observed in ice clouds. In this Study we investigate uncertainties in retrieved optical thickness, effective particle size, and ice water path introduced by a homogeneous cloud assumption in both the SRBS and IRSpW methods, and focus on whether the assumption can lead to significant discrepancies between the two methods. The study simulates the upwelling spectral radiance associated with vertically structured clouds and passes the results through representative SRBS and IRSpW retrieval algorithms. Cloud optical thickness is limited to values for which IRSpW retrievals are possible (optical thickness less than about 7). When the ice cloud is optically thin and yet has a significant ice particle size vertical variation, it is found that both methods tend to underestimate the effective radius and ice water path. The reason for the underestimation is the nonlinear dependence of ice particle scattering properties (extinction and single scattering albedo) on the effective radius. Because the nonlinearity effect is stronger in the IRSpW than the SRBS method, the IRSpW-based IWP tends to be smaller than the SRBS counterpart. When the ice cloud is moderately optically thick, the IRSpW method is relatively insensitive to cloud vertical structure and effective radius retrieval is weighted toward smaller ice particle size, while the weighting function makes the SRBS method more sensitive to the ice particle size in the upper portion of the cloud. As a result, when ice particle size increases monotonically toward cloud base, the two methods are in qualitative agreement; in the event that ice particle size decreases toward cloud base, the effective radius and ice water path retrievals based on the SRBS method are substantially larger than those from the IRSpW. The main findings of this Study Suggest that the homogenous cloud assumption can affect the SRBS and IRSpW methods to different extents and, consequently, can lead to significantly different retrievals. Therefore caution should be taken when comparing and combining the ice cloud property retrievals from these two methods.
Effects of Topical Copper Tripeptide Complex on Wound Healing in an Irradiated Rat Model

ObjectivesTo evaluate clinical and immunohistopathological effects of topical glycyl-histidyl-lysine-copper (GHK-Cu) on in vivo irradiated rat wounds.DesignAnimal model.SettingAcademic institution.Subjects and MethodsAfter dorsal irradiation and a 28-day recovery period, 2 × 8 cm cranially based dorsal flaps were created in Sprague-Dawley rats. Twice daily GHK-Cu gel (test) or aquaphilic ointment (control) was applied for 10 days. Animals were euthanized, digital images of flaps were taken, and harvested tissues were immunohistochemically stained for a vascular endothelium marker, caveolin-1, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Digital image analysis was used for outcome measures. Unpaired t-tests were used for statistical analyses; significance of P < .01 accounted for multiple comparisons.ResultsBy digital analysis of clinical images, 13 test and 10 control animals showed mean ischemic areas of 5.0 cm2 (SD = 0.9) for tests and 3.8 cm2 (SD = 1.1; P = .011) for controls. Whole slide digitized i...
‘Don't count me in’: Derrida's refraining

Simon Morgan Wortham's admirably penetrating and comprehensive Counter-institutions: Jacques Derrida and the Question of the University 1 has traced in detail Jacques Derrida's complex relations ov...
Multi- and hyperspectral scene modeling

This paper shows how to use a public domain raytracer POV-Ray (Persistence Of Vision Raytracer) to render multiand hyper-spectral scenes. The scripting environment allows automatic changing of the reflectance and transmittance parameters. The radiosity rendering mode allows accurate simulation of multiple-reflections between surfaces and also allows semi-transparent surfaces such as plant leaves. We show that POV-Ray computes occlusion accurately using a test scene with two blocks under a uniform sky. A complex scene representing a plant canopy is generated using a few lines of script. With appropriate rendering settings, shadows cast by leaves are rendered in many bands. Comparing single and multiple reflection renderings, the effect of multiple reflections is clearly visible and accounts for 25% of the overall apparent canopy reflectance in the near infrared.
Relationship between auscultatory events and structural abnormalities in mitral valve prolapse: A two-dimensional echocardiographic evaluation

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the valvular abnormalities and auscultatory findings of patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP). Forty patients with typical auscultatory and two-dimensional echocardiographic (2DE) findings were studied. Eleven of 14 patients with anterior leaflet MVP (group I) had mid to late systolic clicks without murmurs of mitral regurgitation, while eight of nine patients with posterior leaflet prolapse (group II) and 13 of 17 patients with combined anterior and posterior prolapse (group III) had murmurs of mitral regurgitation. In each subgroup the mitral anulus size was greater than a control group (group I = 3.8 +/- 0.1 cm, p less than 0.025; group II = 3.9 +/- 0.1 cm, p less than 0.005; group III = 4.2 +/- 0.2 cm, p less than 0.001; and control = 3.4 +/- 0.1 cm), but the largest anulus was present in patients with combined prolapse. As demonstrated by 2DE, prolapse of a single mitral leaflet may occur in many instances of MVP. Murmurs of mitral regurgitation occur frequently when the posterior mitral leaflet alone prolapses, while isolated clicks are found with anterior mitral leaflet prolapse.
Surgical considerations of choledocholithiasis.

Patients with biliary tract disease should be prepared for possible operation on the common bile duct. There is little increase in morbidity when the common bile duct is examined directly in patients with obstructive jaundice, cholelithiasis and its complications, suspected tumor and in the post-cholecystectomy syndrome. Improved results in patients with common bile duct disease have been due as much to preoperative diagnosis and management by the family physician and the non-procrastinating gastroenterologist as to improved knowledge and surgical skill.
Chromosomal Variation Among Offspring of Hybrid Derivatives with 20 Zea and 36 Tripsacum Chromosomes

SUMMARYUpon backcrossing to maize, a hybrid combining 20 Zea + 36 Tripsacum chromosomes gave rise to a cytologically and morphologically variable population. Twenty-five different chromosome combinations, five of which were capable of apomixis, were obtained after three backcrosses to maize. The variation in chromosome combinations may be attributed to (1) unequal segregation during anaphase I due to the presence of univalents and/or multivalents (2) the presence or absence of cytokinesis during the second meiotic division and (3) the capacity of games to function sexually as well as apomictically. Essentially pure maize with 2n=20 was recovered via three chromosome lines. One of the recovered maize exhibited low chromosome pairing and may indicate that intergenomic exchange between maize and Tripsacum had taken place.
Improved method for determining dry matter in silage.

Abstract A method for a more accurate determination of dry matter in silage is described in detail. After isolating the moisture from the sample by toluene distillation, the alcohol and the volatile bases and acids in the distillate are determined quantitatively, using in part methods previously developed in this laboratory. The amounts of alcohol, bases, and acids found are added to the determined dry matter. Depending on the prevailing acids in the silage, the simplified, one-acid correction or the more precise multi-acid correction can be used. According to the proportion of alcohol, volatile fatty acids and bases in silage and the extraction time used, the underestimation of dry matter can reach 10%.
High average power Nd:YVO based pico-second regenerative amplifier

We report on the development of a Nd:YVO4 based regenerative amplifier, producing more than 25W of average power at 200kHz, with a pulse length of 10ps at 1064nm. The amplifier is seeded by a low power, mode-locked fiber laser. The amplifier output has been used for the generation of high energy second and third harmonics with up to 80% conversion to 532nm and 40% to 355nm. The average power of the amplifier has been increased further using a single pass linear amplifier to produce 54W at 200kHz.
Increases in cycling performance in response to caffeine ingestion are repeatable

The primary aim of this study was to determine the repeatability of caffeine's ergogenic effects on cycling performance. It was hypothesized that improvements in performance would be similar when caffeine was ingested on 2 separate days. Nine endurance-trained men and women (mean age and maximal oxygen uptake, 27.4 ± 5.9 years and 57.5 ± 3.9 mL kg⁻¹ min⁻¹) initially completed 2 familiarization trials. During 3 subsequent sessions separated by at least 48 hours, the subjects completed a 10-km cycling time trial preceded by ingestion of a drink containing caffeine (5 mg/kg) or placebo. Treatments were ingested using a randomized, single-blind, crossover design, and the subjects were deceived as to the specific content of all drinks. During exercise, heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, and time were recorded every 1.6 km. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare the differences in variables across distance and treatment. In both caffeine trials, caffeine increased (P = .02) cycling performance by 1.6% and 1.9% vs placebo (16.98 ± 0.96 and 16.92 ± 0.97 minutes with caffeine vs 17.25 ± 0.96 minutes in placebo), and 7 of 9 subjects revealed improved performance. The mean performance improvement in the caffeine trials was similar (P = .35; -0.27 and -0.32 minutes, respectively) across days. Heart rate during exercise was higher (P b .001) with caffeine vs placebo, although the rating of perceived exertion was similar (P = .65). Data reveal that caffeine's ergogenic effects on cycling performance are repeatable across days, yet some individuals did not exhibit improved performance with caffeine.
Eyeing the Scene: The Uses and (RE)uses of Surveillance Cameras in an Exotic Dance Club:

This article explores issues of space, surveillance and social control in an exotic dance club in the New England area. Exotic dancers are subject to social control mechanisms by the owner of the club and enforced by the management via surveillance technologies and club “rules.” Although these rules can be repressive for dancers, the women who work in the club find ways to subvert and resist social control through strategies of evasion and enlisting the complicity of regular customers. The findings emerge from eighteen months of participant observation and ethnographic research and are theoretically informed by poststructural theory. **
Mixture Ratio and Temperature Surveys of Ammonia-Oxygen, Rocket Motor Combustion Chambers

Probing methods were applied to the study of combustion in NH3-liquid oxygen, rocket motor combustion chambers. Temperature was measured by a pneumatic double-sonic-nozzle probe, and mixture ratio was determined by analyzing gas samples. Chemical methods were employed to analyze some of the samples, and a mass spectrometer was used for the others. Reasonable correlation was found to exist between sample composition and temperature for each value of local mixture ratio in both the high-performance and the low-performance injectors. Correlation also existed between external performance parameters and internal temperature measurements. At over-all mixture ratios near stoichiometric, high performance was associated with small variation in local mixture ratio and almost complete combustion, whereas low performance was associated with large variation in local mixture ratio and locally incomplete combustion. At over-all mixture ratios far above and far below stoichiometric, high performance was obtained with an injector which gave low performance at mixture ratios near stoichiometric. Gas analyses, together with measurements of temperature and performance in addition to considerations of extrapolated reaction-kinetic data, indicate that at low over-all mixture ratios and for the injectors tested the combustion process consists of (a) reaction of oxygen with ammonia in stoichiometric proportions, and (b) mixing of the products with undecomposed excess ammonia. Included is a summary of theoretical calculations for the NH3-LO2 system which extend over a range of values of mixture ratio from 0.12 to 16.0 and are based on chemical equilibrium at chamber temperature and at room temperature.
After MOX: The Contemporary Shipment of Radioactive Substances in the Law of the Sea

The transport of hazardous cargo has long juxtaposed maritime interests in maintaining navigation rights against the concerns of coastal States over the threat the exercise of such rights poses to the waters off their coast. The shipment of highly radioactive substances has emerged as the most recent, and perhaps starkest reflection of this conflict. Drawing upon contemporary events, this article will examine the continuing controversy over the shipment of highly radioactive cargo and its implications for the law of the sea. First, the origins of the issue in the emergence of radioactive transport itself will be surveyed. Next the international legal regime governing the transport of such cargo will be evaluated, highlighting the different responses at the international, national and regional level. This article will then conclude by considering the prospects for resolution resulting from the recent debate over the Code for the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuel (INF Code), suggesting the need to formulate alternative approach to shipboard controls in responding to contemporary issues of vessel-source pollution.
Mascha Kaleko's Lyrisches Stenogrammheft: Schopenhauer in the Metropolis

Mascha Kaleko’s poetry is at the juncture of several currents: the uniformity of the masses of employees, the daily chorus of dozens of newspapers and magazines that process daily the life of these same masses, and the pessimism of Schopenhauer that seem apropos in her time, a time that included World War I, hyperinflation, the brief rush of the Roaring Twenties, and then the beginning of the Depression. Having read Schopenhauer in her late teens is not merely an idiosyncratic detail of Kaleko’s education; it provided her with an excellent system to process her experiences as the experiences of so many other women and men, to give voice to a subject that is a multitude. Schopenhauer struck down the separation between individual/subjects at a time that was still very much believing in the power and sovereignty of the individual. In Kaleko’s time, his philosophical concepts became social reality. Uniformity and mass character were constantly reinforced by the feedback of the media that reflected and guided daily life. A characteristic of many of Kaleko’s poems is the frequent use of the German indefinite pronoun “man” [one]. The man-experience is Kaleko’s poetical translation of Schopenhauer’s concept of “Mitleid” [empathy]. It implies that the ‘individual’ is able to experience in his own suffering under the will to live the sufferings of others, and knows that the suffering under the will is identical because the will is the underlying ground of all being.
Practical approach to the estimation of the overall mean caliper diameter of a population of spheres and its application to data where small profiles are missed

SUMMARY In the morphometry laboratory a practical, accurate, and computationally simple procedure is needed when the estimation of the number of spherical particles per unit volume (Nv) is pursued. In addition, this procedure should be able to deal with the very real problem of profiles too small to be counted. Two computationally simple methods, the size class analysis method and the mean profile diameter method, were examined in detail. Computer-generated random profiles from various size-distributions of spheres were analysed by both methods. The percents error to be expected with various sphere distributions with a relatively large number of missed small profiles were determined for both methods. The accuracy of the size class analysis method was poor when a significant number of small profiles were missed. In this situation the accuracy of this method could be greatly improved by applying a simple modification to the procedure. A size class was identified which was larger than the largest missed profile but smaller than the diameter of the smallest sphere in the population. All contributions of this size class and all smaller size classes were deleted from the computation of Nv. The mean profile diameter method was found to be difficult to apply to distributions containing missed small profiles. Missed small profiles were handled more predictably by the modified size class analysis method.
Chemotherapy for Hormone-Refractory Prostate Cancer: Now It's a Question of “When?”

Recently, data from two randomized phase III studies that compared docetaxel-based chemotherapy to mitoxantrone-based therapy demonstrated that treatment with docetaxel can prolong life in a significant way for patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer. For many patients who experience disease progression after androgen-deprivation therapy, however, chemotherapy may not be immediately indicated. Such cases include those individuals with hormone-refractory disease in the absence of clinical metastases, and those with asymptomatic metastatic disease, for example. As a result, clinicians treating patients with hormone-refractory disease must weigh the benefits of earlier chemotherapy against its risks, and may consider other therapies such as secondary hormonal approaches before initiating chemotherapy. This decision is further complicated by the fact that a phase III study designed to compare secondary hormonal therapy with chemotherapy has failed due to lack of accrual. Furthermore, the limitations of chemotherapy for prostate cancer are being clarified and include a lack of standard second-line therapy as well as uncertain benefits for those with nonmetastatic disease. In this review, we will highlight some of the issues that impact on the decision of when to start chemotherapy and in whom as well as the potential benefits of secondary hormonal approaches.
Multi‐level Assessment of Scientific Content Knowledge Gains Associated with Socioscientific Issues‐based Instruction

This study explored the impact of using a socioscientific issue (SSI) based curriculum on developing science content knowledge. Using a multi‐level assessment design, student content knowledge gains were measured before and after implementation of a three‐week unit on global warming (a prominent SSI) that explored both the relevant science content and the controversy surrounding global warming. Measures of student content knowledge were made using a standards‐aligned content knowledge exam (distal assessment) and a curriculum‐aligned exam (proximal assessment). Data were collected from 108 students enrolled from two schools. Quantitative analysis of the distal assessment indicated that student post‐test scores were statistically significantly different than their pre‐test scores (F = 15.31, p<0.001). Qualitative analyses of student responses from the proximal assessment indicated that students, on average, expressed more accurate, more detailed, and more sophisticated understandings of global warming, the...
Direct involvement of ombB, omaB, and omcB genes in extracellular reduction of Fe(III) by Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA

The tandem gene clusters orfR-ombB-omaB-omcB and orfS-ombC-omaC-omcC of the metal-reducing bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA are responsible for trans-outer membrane electron transfer during extracellular reduction of Fe(III)-citrate and ferrihydrite [a poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxide]. Each gene cluster encodes a putative transcriptional factor (OrfR/OrfS), a porin-like outer-membrane protein (OmbB/OmbC), a periplasmic c-type cytochrome (c-Cyt, OmaB/OmaC) and an outer-membrane c-Cyt (OmcB/OmcC). The individual roles of OmbB, OmaB and OmcB in extracellular reduction of Fe(III), however, have remained either uninvestigated or controversial. Here, we showed that replacements of ombB, omaB, omcB, and ombB-omaB with an antibiotic gene in the presence of ombC-omaC-omcC had no impact on reduction of Fe(III)-citrate by G. sulfurreducens PCA. Disruption of ombB, omaB, omcB, and ombB-omaB in the absence of ombC-omaC-omcC, however, severely impaired the bacterial ability to reduce Fe(III)-citrate as well as ferrihydrite. These results unequivocally demonstrate an overlapping role of ombB-omaB-omcB and ombC-omaC-omcC in extracellular Fe(III) reduction by G. sulfurreducens PCA. Involvement of both ombB-omaB-omcB and ombC-omaC-omcC in extracellular Fe(III) reduction reflects the importance of these trans-outer membrane protein complexes in the physiology of this bacterium. Moreover, the kinetics of Fe(III)-citrate and ferrihydrite reduction by these mutants in the absence of ombC-omaC-omcC were nearly identical, which suggests that absence of any protein subunit eliminates function of OmaB/OmbB/OmcB protein complex. Finally, orfS was found to have a negative impact on the extracellular reduction of Fe(III)-citrate and ferrihydrite in G. sulfurreducens PCA probably by serving as a transcriptional repressor.
PWM controlled SRC with inductive output filter at constant switching frequency

It is shown that, by using the PWM (pulse width modulation) control scheme in the series resonant converter (SRC) with inductive output filter, the converter can be operated at a constant frequency. This converter has lower switching loss than the PWM converter and better control characteristics than the ordinary SRC. Since the peak current in the present converter equals the load current, it has the lowest possible peak current stress among converters. Analysis results and performance characteristics for the converter operating at a constant switching frequency are presented. Computer simulation results are given to confirm the analytical work. >
Parameterization of Atmospheric Radiative Transfer. Part I: Validity of Simple Models

Abstract This paper outlines a radiation parameterization method for deriving broadband fluxes that is currently being implemented in a number of global and regional atmospheric models. The rationale for the use of the 2-stream method as a way of solving the radiative transfer problem for broadband solar and longwave fluxes is presented. This rationale is based on assessment of these models in the context of a novel method of classifying radiative transfer problems that more clearly identifies the types of problems encountered in calculating globally distributed broadband fluxes. The delta-Eddington model (DEM) and the constant-hemispheric 2-stream models (CHMs) are shown to be superior to other 2-stream methods of solution under this classification and also superior to 4-stream solutions for the many classes of problems relevant to modeling the global atmosphere. These two methods are used to construct a radiation model of broadband solar and IR fluxes based on the k-distribution data of Fu and Liou. Whe...