cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ecumenism for a Global Church: Can the Churches of the West and Those of the Global South Learn from Each Other?

In a prophetic book The Coming of the Third Church, first published in Italian in 1974, Walbert Buhlmann predicted the movement of the church to what we refer to today as the Global South, foreshadowing the demographic shift that has so transformed world Christianity. Buhlmann saw a new or “Third Church” emerging in the newly independent, developing countries then referred to as the Third World. Written from a Roman Catholic perspective, he envisioned a church characterized by dialogue, subsidiarity, decentralization, collegiality, and participation. Such a church would engage in ecumenism, not just with other Christians but also with non-Christians, stressing a dialogue focused less on doctrine and more on the kingdom of God (Buhlmann 1977).
Zebrafish Xenografts for Drug Discovery and Personalized Medicine.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world. Given that cancer is a highly individualized disease, predicting the best chemotherapeutic treatment for individual patients can be difficult. Ex vivo models such as mouse patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and organoids are being developed to predict patient-specific chemosensitivity profiles before treatment in the clinic. Although promising, these models have significant disadvantages including long growth times that introduce genetic and epigenetic changes to the tumor. The zebrafish xenograft assay is ideal for personalized medicine. Imaging of the small, transparent fry is unparalleled among vertebrate organisms. In addition, the speed (5–7 days) and small patient tissue requirements (100–200 cells per animal) are unique features of the zebrafish xenograft model that enable patient-specific chemosensitivity analyses.
Association of Cigarette Use and Substance Use Disorders among US Adults with and without a Recent Diagnosis of Cancer

Background: Few studies have examined substance use disorders (SUDs) in cancer patients and it is unclear whether SUDs differentially impact cigarette smoking in patients with vs. without cancer. This study used epidemiological data to estimate current cigarette smoking prevalence and quit ratios among US adults with and without SUDs by cancer status. Methods: Data were drawn from the 2015–2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (n = 170,111). Weighted current smoking prevalence and quit ratios were estimated across survey years by SUDs (with vs. without) and by cancer status (with vs. without). Results: Among those with cancer, current smoking prevalence was higher for those with vs. without SUDs (47% vs. 13%, p < 0.001) and quit ratios lower for those with vs. without SUDs (45% vs. 71%, p = 0.002). A similar pattern was observed in adults without cancer, with higher smoking prevalence (56% vs. 21%, p < 0.001) and lower quit ratios (23% vs. 51%, p < 0.001) observed for those with vs. without SUDs, respectively. In adjusted logistic regressions, the SUD × cancer status interaction was not significant for smoking prevalence or quit ratios (AOR = 1.2; 95% CI: 0.7, 2.1, p = 0.56; AOR = 1.0; 95% CI: 0.5, 2.0, p = 0.91, respectively), though smoking prevalence was lower and quit ratios higher for adults with vs. without cancer (ps < 0.05). Conclusions: Among US adults with and without cancer, individuals with SUDs evidenced higher cigarette smoking and lower quit ratios than those without SUDs. Addressing SUDs and their impact on smoking cessation is critical in cancer patients with implications for improving health and treatment outcomes.
Reallocating Redevelopment Risk

Scores of cities across the country face devastating financial crises, and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought even more to the brink. But economically distressed municipalities have few places to turn for help. Saddled by rising unemployment, weak tax bases, and state law limitations on deficit spending and debt assumption, they generally cannot spend their way out. And as conditions deteriorate, mobile capital and labor move to greener pastures, further hollowing out the cities they leave behind. With state and federal lifelines tenuous at best, offers by large developers to redevelop an area of the city can thus appear to be the path to salvation: a shot in the arm that will raise property values, create jobs, attract residents, expand the tax base, and generate further interest in similar projects. Given their outsized importance, private redevelopment projects warrant sustained scholarly attention. But nearly all of the attention they receive focuses on just two aspects of the issue: the doctrinal scope of local power to engage in them, and the law and policy steps necessary for them to achieve an efficient and just allocation of resources. These questions, though certainly important, overlook something central. Even a plan that promises a just and efficient distribution of resources may disappoint on both scores if things fail to pan out as hoped. That is, there is always risk that a project will fail to deliver on its promises—or worse, fail to get off the ground entirely. And where there is risk, there is someone who must bear it. This Article shines a new spotlight on the problem of risk-allocation in redevelopment projects. It observes that, as most of these projects are pursued, it is the municipalities that bear nearly all of the risk of failure, while developers are permitted to bear almost none. And it develops a normative theory of redevelopment risk-allocation, arguing that this prevailing allocation of risk is neither efficient nor just but instead perversely increases the chance developments will fail and leave municipalities even worse off than they had been before. Accordingly, this Article theorizes and details novel ways in which three areas of law—takings, land use, and municipal finance—can work to shift risk to developers and more closely tie developers’ fortunes to those of municipalities. Finally, it draws on and advances state and local government law and scholarship by evaluating the political economy of reallocating redevelopment risk, concluding that attempts focused at the local level will inevitably come up short. Action at the state and regional levels, however, could chart a promising path forward.
Interocular Suppression in Primary Visual Cortex in Strabismus.

People with strabismus acquired during childhood do not experience diplopia (double vision). To investigate how perception of the duplicate image is suppressed, we raised two male monkeys with alternating exotropia by disinserting the medial rectus muscle in each eye at age four weeks. Once the animals were mature, they were brought to the laboratory and trained to fixate a small spot while recordings were made in primary visual cortex (V1). Drifting gratings were presented to the receptive fields of 500 single neurons for eight interleaved conditions: (1) right eye monocular; (2) left eye monocular; (3) right eye9s field, right eye fixating; (4) right eye9s field, left eye fixating; (5) left eye9s field, right eye fixating; (6) left eye9s field, left eye fixating; (7) both eyes9 fields, right eye fixating; (8) both eyes9 fields, left eye fixating. As expected, ocular dominance histograms showed a monocular bias compared with normal animals, but many cells could still be driven via both eyes. Overall, neuronal responses were not affected by switches in ocular fixation. Individual neurons exhibited binocular interactions, but mean population indices indicated no net interocular suppression or facilitation. Even neurons located in cortex with reduced cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity, representing portions of the nasal visual field where perception is suppressed during binocular viewing, showed no net inhibition. These data indicate that V1 neurons do not appear to reflect strabismic suppression and therefore the elimination of diplopia is likely to be mediated at a higher cortical level. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In patients with strabismus, images fall on non-corresponding points in the two retinas. Only one image is perceived, because signals emanating from the other eye that convey the duplicate image are suppressed. The benefit is that diplopia is prevented, but the penalty is that the visual feedback required to adjust eye muscle tone to realign the globes is eliminated. Here, we report the first electrophysiological recordings from the primary visual cortex (V1) in awake monkeys raised with strabismus. The experiments were designed to reveal how perception of double images is avoided.
Critical Intercultural Communication Pedagogy: edited by Ahmet Atay and Satoshi Toyosaki, Hardcover, Lanham, Maryland, Lexington Books 2018, 263 pp., $100, ISBN: 978-1498531207

Critical Intercultural Communication Pedagogy is an exceptional attempt at diving deep into the intricacies of critical scholarship, by advancing the understudied, yet pivotal, blend of critical in...
Ascending and Transverse Branches of the Lateral Circumflex Femoral Vessels

Selection and dissection of recipient site vessels is critical for a successful free tissue transfer. This chapter describes the anatomy and surgical exposure of the ascending and transverse branches of the lateral circumflex femoral vessels for use as recipient in microsurgical reconstruction.
Manager-analyst teamwork in MIS: Cooperation vital in systems design

Abstract Systems design is usually beyond the expertise of the manager; therefore, MIS design has been delegated to the technician, who, in turn, is unaware of the complexities of management decisions. The result has been systems that do not improve decision-making effectiveness. The solution is cooperation between manager and analyst through the decision model. The author outlines a process of manager-analyst interaction in the explication of these models. By assigning responsibilities, the cooperation becomes a series of feed-back loops; the result is the right information on an economic basis and a better understanding of the job and the decisions entailed.
Physicochemical Treatment of Hazardous Wastes

This book examines the treatability of hazardous wastes by different physicochemical treatment processes according to the Quantitative Structure and Activity Relationship (QSAR) between kinetic rate constants and molecular descriptors. The author explores how to use these models to select treatment processes according to the molecular structure of organic pollutants. He covers how to use them to predict treatability of organic pollutants having similar molecular structures by each treatment process in both homogeneous and heterogeneous media. The book is a guide for assessing the treatability of pollutants prior to designing a treatment process and a reference on advanced oxidation processes.
Credit cards and interest rates: theory and institutional factors

Keynesian economics emphasizes that money demand will fall as credit card users economize on transactions balances. This perspective overlooks the fact that credit card use is an increase in credit demand. Loanable funds analysis, along with an emphasis on institutional arrangements, can be utilized to demonstrate that this increase in credit demand is greater than the increase in credit supply associated with a decline in money demand. Any resulting upward pressure on interest rates will encourage an accommodative Federal Reserve policy.
Experimental Investigation of the Single-Mode Instability in Optical Bistability

Instabilities in optical systems form a very rich and exciting field of work.1 A great deal of theoretical effort has been devoted to understanding the complex behavior observed in the experiments. Active optical systems such as the laser have attracted more attention than passive systems; among the latter, the driven cavity filled with a collection of two-state atoms represents a canonical system in optical physics.2 Its study has shown optical bistability, instabilities, higher-order dynamical states and non-classical quantum statistics of the transmitted field.3
Contaminants of PC-SPES are not responsible for cytotoxicity in human small-cell lung carcinoma cells

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004 2992 PC-SPES is a mixture of herbs used in the treatment of prostate cancer. Batches of this product were found to contain traces of synthetic drugs, and the product was removed from the market. On the basis of a correlation between contaminant levels and cytotoxicity in prostate carcinoma cell lines, Sovak et al. (JNCI 17: 1275 (2002)) concluded that the contaminants were responsible for cytotoxicity of this preparation. We have shown that extracts of PC-SPES are cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic in both drug-sensitive (H69) and drug resistant (H69V) human small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) cell lines (Sadava et al., Cancer Chemo. Pharmacol. 49: 261 (2002)) and investigated whether the contaminants might be responsible for these effects. In contrast to the data reported for prostate carcinoma cells, extracts of lots of PC-SPES from 1998 (reportedly contaminated) and 2001 (much less contaminated) were equally cytotoxic in both SCLC cell lines. Tests of individual contaminants gave IC50 values far in excess of the amounts reported to be present in the IC50 level for the PC-SPES extracts: Diethlystilbesterol: actual IC50 in H69 cells, > 1000 uM; concentration present in herbal extract at IC50, 0.05-0.2 uM; indomethacin: actual IC50 in H69 cells, 800 uM; concentration in herbal extract, 1.5-20 uM; warfarin: actual IC50 in H69 cells, 950 uM; concentration in herbal extract, 0.57-0.93 uM. Adding the calculated maximum concentration of the contaminants, singly or in combination, to extracts of the later (2001) batch of PC-SPES did not alter the cytotoxicity of the extract in H69 or H69V cells. At the contaminated concentrations, as well as 5x those concentrations, none of the contaminants was pro-apoptotic, as indicated by a DNA fragmentation kinetics assay. However, extracts of both early and late batches of PC-SPES were pro-apoptotic in H69 and H69V cells. We conclude that the traces of pharmaceuticals found in PC-SPES were not responsible for its cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic activities on SCLC cells.
Induced Stray Voltages from Transmission Lines

Stray voltages are inherent in four-wire multigrounded distribution systems. At the customer's premise, these voltages result from the interaction of multiple parameters of the primary and secondary neutral systems. The causes of stray voltages typically include large unbalanced loads in the neutral system, high neutral impedance, and lack of equipotential grounding at the customer's premise. Non-conventional sources of stray voltages may also exist. These sources may consist of large triplen harmonic currents on the neutral system or induction from a nearby transmission line. This paper describes a case study involving induced stray voltages on a single phase distribution line running parallel with a 500 kV transmission line
In Azotobacter vinelandii hydrogenase, substitution of serine for the cysteine residues at positions 62, 65, 294, and 297 in the small (HoxK) subunit affects H2 oxidation [corrected]

The essential role of the small (HoxK) subunit of hydrogenase of Azotobacter vinelandii in H2 oxidation was established. This was achieved by modification of the two Cys-X2-Cys amino acid motifs at the N and C termini of the HoxK subunit (Cys-62, -65, -294, and -297). The Cys codons were individually mutated to Ser codons. Modifications in these two motifs resulted in loss of hydrogenase activity. At the N terminus, the mutations of the codons for the motif Cys-62-Thr-Cys-64-Cys-65 decreased the activity of hydrogenase to levels no higher than 30% of those of the parental strain. H2 oxidation with the alternate electron acceptors methylene blue and benzyl viologen was decreased. H2 evolution and exchange activities were also affected. Cys-64 possibly substitutes for either Cys-62 or Cys-65, allowing for partial activity. Mutation of the codons for Cys-294 and Cys-297 to Ser codons resulted in no hydrogenase activity. The results are consistent with alterations of the ligands of FeS clusters in the HoxK subunit of hydrogenase [corrected].
Multiplex Cytokine Analysis Reveals Elevated Concentration of Interleukin-8 in Glaucomatous Aqueous Humor

Presented in part at the annual meeting of the International Congress of Eye Research, Beijing, China, September 2008, and at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, May 2009. Supported by National Eye Institute Grant P30-EY008126 (Core Grant in Vision Research), National Eye Institute Grant R01-EY007892 (PS), and an Unrestricted Challenge Grant (Vanderbilt Eye Institute) and a Career Development Award (RWK) from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc. Disclosure: J. Kuchtey, None; K.A. Rezaei, None; P. Jaru-Ampornpan, None; P. Sternberg, Jr, None; R.W. Kuchtey, None
Effect of indomethacin and benoxaprofen on immune complex interaction with cultured glomerular cells

Prostaglandins of the E series (PGE) increased immune complex (IC) interaction with cultured glomerular cells in a previous study. The present study examines the effect of indomethacin (IND) and benoxaprofen (BEN) on interaction of IC with cultured cells and their effect on PGE enhanced cell-IC interaction. IC were formed with antigen modified to produce a cationic (CAT) charge or left unmodified (UM). IND increased cell interaction with IC formed with CAT antigen (CAT IC). BEN had no effect on the interaction of IC formed with either antigen. The combined use of IND and PGE increased CAT IC interaction to the same degree as when each was used alone. BEN prevented the increased CAT IC interaction produced by IND or PGE when used in combination. Protamine sulfate prevented the enhanced CAT IC interaction produced by IND or PGE while sodium heparin had no effect. The results indicate IND and PGE increase cell IC interaction, the increase is not additive when they are combined, the effects of both are blocked by BEN, and protamine sulfate inhibits the effects of both compounds.
Kin selection and eusociality

Arising from M. A. Nowak, C. E. Tarnita & E. O. Wilson 466, 1057-1062 (2010); Nowak et al. reply. Hamilton described a selective process in which individuals affect kin (kin selection), developed a novel modelling strategy for it (inclusive fitness), and derived a rule to describe it (Hamilton's rule). Nowak et al. assert that inclusive fitness is not the best modelling strategy, and also that its production has been "meagre". The former may be debated by theoreticians, but the latter is simply incorrect. There is abundant evidence to demonstrate that inclusive fitness, kin selection and Hamilton's rule have been extraordinarily productive for understanding the evolution of sociality.
The computer expression recognition toolbox (CERT)

We present the Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox (CERT), a software tool for fully automatic real-time facial expression recognition, and officially release it for free academic use. CERT can automatically code the intensity of 19 different facial actions from the Facial Action Unit Coding System (FACS) and 6 different protoypical facial expressions. It also estimates the locations of 10 facial features as well as the 3-D orientation (yaw, pitch, roll) of the head. On a database of posed facial expressions, Extended Cohn-Kanade (CK+ [1]), CERT achieves an average recognition performance (probability of correctness on a two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task between one positive and one negative example) of 90.1% when analyzing facial actions. On a spontaneous facial expression dataset, CERT achieves an accuracy of nearly 80%. In a standard dual core laptop, CERT can process 320 × 240 video images in real time at approximately 10 frames per second.
Indoctrination: A contextualist approach

(1989). Indoctrination: A contextualist approach. Educational Philosophy and Theory: Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 53-61.
A step section method for full histopathological assessment of carcinogen-affected target tissue during respiratory carcinogenesis

Studies of carcinogenesis that are not limited to overt neoplasms but also involve evaluations of preneoplastic stages require histopathological assessment of the entire carcinogen-affected tissue so that the true nature and sequence of the progressive process can be determined. The customary serial sectioning approach achieves this goal, but at an inordinate logistic cost. In studies of hamster bronchial carcinogenesis, a step section method was compared to a quasi-random approach and to the customary serial section method. The step section method achieved the same diagnostic completeness as serial sectioning, but at a two orders of magnitude reduction in costs.
Theoretical analysis of ion-enhanced thermionic emission for low-temperature, non-equilibrium gas discharges

When thermionic emission is used in a gas discharge, the ions exiting the discharge will influence the local electric field at the cathode. This effect is similar to the Schottky effect, as the potential field due to the ion can effectively reduce the potential barrier (work function) at the cathode and increase emission. In this work, this enhancement phenomenon is treated theoretically to understand how Schottky emission is enhanced due to the presence of an ion—so-called ion-enhanced Schottky emission. The effect of a stationary ion is determined through the analytical and numerical solution of the potential energy fields involved in the problem, including the applied field, electron image charge, and the ion potential field. The time-averaged enhancement due to an ion drifting towards the cathode is calculated, and an effective emission coefficient is predicted. These analyses show that a single stationary ion can significantly enhance thermionic emission, more than doubling the emission current depending on its location, but the enhancement is less significant (~5–10%) when the motion of the ion is considered. However, the enhancement effect is more pronounced at moderate electric fields (~105 V m−1) due to the residence time of the ion near the cathode. These results reveal the impact ions in the discharge may have on emission and how this needs to be considered when designing devices that integrate thermionic emission and discharges.
Three‐dimensional localization and redistribution of F‐actin in higher plant mitosis and cell plate formation

The distribution of F-actin cables in dividing endosperm cells of a higher plant, Haemanthus, was visualized with the immunogold-silver-enhanced method and compared with the arrangement of immunogold-stained microtubules in the same cells. The three-dimensional distribution of F-actin cables and microtubules during mitosis and cell plate formation was analyzed using ultrathin optical sectioning of whole mounts in polarized light video microscopy. F-actin cables form a loose irregular network in the interphase cytoplasm. Much of this network remains outside of the spindle during mitosis. A few F-actin cables were detected within the spindle. Their pronounced rearrangement during mitosis appears to be related to the presence and growth of microtubule arrays. During prometaphase, actin cables located on the spindle surface and those present within the spindle tend to arrange parallel to the long axis of the spindle. Cables outside the spindle do not reorient, except those at the polar region, where they appear to be compressed by the elongating spindle. Beginning with mid-anaphase, shorter actin cables oriented in various directions accumulate at the equator. Some of them are incorporated into the phragmoplast and cell plate and are gradually fragmented as the cell plate is formed and ages. Actin cables adjacent to microtubule arrays often show a regular punctate staining pattern. Such a pattern is seldom observed in the peripheral cytoplasm, which contains few microtubules. The rearrangement of F-actin cables mimicks the behavior of spindle inclusions, such as starch grains, mitochondria, etc., implying that F-actin is redistributed passively by microtubule growth or microtubule-related transport. Thus F-actin or actomyosin-based motility does not appear to be directly involved in mitosis and cytokinesis in higher plants.
Long-term follow-up of fertility in crytorchid patients

Sixty-four patients who had unilateral or bilateral orchiopexy for cryptorchism between 1950 and 1960 responded to a questionnaire. Marriage rates were the same as in a control group. Unilaterally cryptorchid patients had normal paternity rates and sperm concentrations on semen analysis. Only 2 of 15 bilaterally cryptorchid patients had fathered children, while severe oligospermia was present in all 10 who had semen analysis performed. Thirty per cent of pexed testes had a cosmetically poor result.
Trends in Nuclear Reactor Control

Some trends in reactor control system design are discussed and criticized. The items treated are control mechanisms, control systems, and supervisory circuits for both research and power reactors, and some of the trends outlined are (1) safety and control rod combinations even for large reactors, (2) free-falling rods, (3) gravityaccelerated, rotary-seal rack and pinion drives for water reactors, (4) coincidence circuits for flux trips in power reactors, and (5) use of period meters during the start-up phase. It is concluded that control rod drive design is simple and reliable, while there is an undesirable trend toward greater complexity in control circuit design. (D.L.C.)
Forty Years of African Arts

Celebrate African Arts, now entering into its fortieth year! Launched ambitiously in 1967, pledging a bilingual survey of all the tradi tional and contemporary arts-sculpture, painting, architecture, poetry and other litera ture, theater, and dance-it made good on the French/English promise for only three years, yet continued its broad arts coverage into the 1970s. The coverage of nonvisual arts became sporadic between 1975 and 1978, with only occasional articles on them thereafter. Since the late 1970s, though, this journal has cov ered a plethora of African and Africa-related subjects within the broad purview of visual, performance, and ritual culture: archaeologi cal, early, modern, and contemporary. In fact, it has served to chronicle, in substantial detail and often with fine color illustrations, the progress as well as the state of the African arts field since the late 196os. Thirty-nine volumes comprising 156 issues stretch to nearly four feet of shelf space as I write. Other statistics tell more:
CONTROL OF BEHAVIOR BY AN ESTABLISHING STIMULUS

Seventeen pigeons were exposed to a three-key discrete-trial procedure in which a peck on the lit center key produced food if, and only if, the left keylight was lit. The center key was illuminated by a peck on the lit right key. Of interest was whether subjects pecked the right key before or after the response-independent onset of the left keylight. Pecks on the right key after left-keylight onset suggest control of behavior by the left keylight-an establishing stimulus. In three experiments, the strength of center-keylight onset as conditioned reinforcer for a response on the right key was manipulated by altering the size of the reduction in time to food delivery correlated with its onset. Control of pigeons' key pecks by onset of the left keylight occurred on more trials per session when the center keylight was a relatively weak conditioned reinforcer and on fewer trials per session when the center keylight was a relatively strong condtioned reinforcer. Differences across conditions in the degree of control by onset of the establishing stimulus were greatest when changes in conditioned reinforcer strength occurred relatively frequently and were signaled. The results provide evidence of the function of an establishing stimulus.
A spectroscopic and Judd–Ofelt analysis of the relaxation dynamics of Tm3+ in the fluorapatites, FAP, S-FAP, and B-FAP

Abstract The spectroscopic analysis of the absorption properties of the Tm3+ ion in the three fluorapatite crystals has been performed. Using the room temperature absorption data, the spontaneous emission rates, cross-sections and cross-relaxation rates have been determined using Judd–Ofelt theory. Based on emission lifetimes and emission cross-sections for the 3 F 4 → 3 H 6 and 3 H 4 → 3 H 6 transition, as well as the rate of energy transfer by cross-relaxation, the probabilities of cross-relaxation and population inversion by cross-relaxation compare favorably to other laser hosts such as YLF and YAG.
Compensation for displacement of the focal point in cone beam single photon emission computed tomography reconstruction

This study examined the effects of focal point displacement on image quality in cone beam single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). A new image reconstruction algorithm that accounts for the focal point shift was derived and three shift geometries were investigated. The geometries included a lateral shift with a fixed focal length but off-center focusing, a linear axial shift with a variable focal length that depends linearly on the distance between a bin of the detector and the center of the detector, and a random axial shift with a randomly varying focal length. Computer simulation was conducted to evaluate the shift effects with a phantom that was composed of 118 small spherical sources. The results demonstrated that the lateral shift of the focal point was more critical to image quality than was the axial shift. With a 0.64 cm (1 pixel) lateral shift, noticeable artifacts was observed, while an axial shift resulted in minimal changes in image quality until it reached 8 cm (12.5 pixels). The derived reconstruction algorithm eliminated most of the artifacts caused by a fixed lateral shift or a linear axial shift of the focal point, but failed to do so for a random axial shift since the linear distribution assumed in image reconstruction did not match the random shift occurred in acquisition of the data.
Quantification of islet size and architecture

Human islets exhibit distinct islet architecture particularly in large islets that comprise of a relatively abundant fraction of α-cells intermingled with β-cells, whereas mouse islets show largely similar architecture of a β-cell core with α-cells in the periphery. In humans, islet architecture is islet-size dependent. Changes in endocrine cell mass preferentially occurred in large islets as demonstrated in our recent study on pathological changes of the pancreas in patients with type 2 diabetes. ( 1) The size dependency of human islets in morphological changes prompted us to develop a method to capture the representative islet distribution in the whole pancreas section combined with a semi-automated analysis to quantify changes in islet architecture. The computer-assisted quantification allows detailed examination of endocrine cell composition in individual islets and minimizes sampling bias. The standard immunohistochemistry based method is widely applicable to various specimens, which is particularly useful for large animal studies but is also applied to a large-scale analysis of the whole organ section from mice. In this article, we describe the method of image capture, parameters measured, data analysis and interpretation of the data.
Characterization of hydroxypropylated potato starch.

Unmodified and modified (hydroxypropylated) potato starch were fractionated on a size-exclusion column to obtain amylose and amylopectin fractions. The molar substitution (MS) of modified whole starch was determined to be 0.099, of amylopectin, 0.096, and of amylose, 0.113. The location and distribution of modifying groups on amylopectin and amylose were determined by enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis, using various combinations of isoamylase, β-amylase, α-amylase and amyloglucosidase, and comparing elution profiles of unmodified and modified amylopectin and amylose digests by size-exclusion chromatography. It was confirmed that amylose was modified to a greater extent than amylopectin, and that further modification of amylopectin occurred close to branch points, probably because amorphous regions are more accessible to the modifying reagent. It was also evident that amylose, likewise, was not uniformly modified.
The Biomedical Computing Technology Information Center (BCTIC) sharing programs, data, and interface designs

In response to a recognized need to facilitate computing technology transfer in biomedicine, the Biomedical Computing Technology Information Center (BCTIC) was established by the Division of Biomedical and Environmental Research (DBER) of the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in July of 1975. BCTIC forged ahead into the tasks of designing guidelines and procedures, acquisition and packaging of computer codes, data, and interface designs; building a bibliographic data base; and maintaining a directory of the user community.This paper presents the problems BCTIC has set out to solve, describes its functions, and categorically relates its functions to the stated problems. It also gives a progress report on BCTIC's developmental phase, and takes a look to the future of BCTIC as a national technology resource in biomedical computing.
The Contribution of Baseline Weight and Weight Gain to Blood Pressure Change in African Americans: The Pitt County Study

Abstract PURPOSE: The positive association between obesity and blood pressure has been less consistent in African Americans than whites. This is especially true for African American men. This study investigated the sex-specific associations between baseline body mass index (BMI), weight change (kilograms), and five-year hypertension incidence and changes in blood pressure in a cohort of African Americans ages 25–50 years at baseline. METHODS : The Pitt County Study is a longitudinal investigation of anthropometric, psychosocial, and behavioral predictors of hypertension in African Americans. Data were obtained through household interviews and physical examinations in 1988 and 1993. RESULTS : Baseline BMI was positively and independently associated with changes in blood pressure after controlling for weight change and other covariates. When participants were stratified by sex-specific overweight vs. nonoverweight status at baseline, weight gain was significantly associated with increases in blood pressure only among the initially nonoverweight. CONCLUSIONS : Baseline weight for all respondents, and weight gain among the nonoverweight at baseline, were independent predictors of blood pressure increases in this cohort of African Americans.
Breastfeeding education, treatment, and referrals by female physicians.

The female membership of the Mississippi State Medical Association and female physician employees of the Mississippi State Department of Health were surveyed (N = 350) to examine their practice-rel...
The effect of co‐dopants on the processability of intrinsically conducting polymers

Using a combination of functionalized dopants was found to be a simple method to improve the processability of intrinsically conducting polymers while retaining relatively high levels of conductivity. Two intrinsically conducting polymers, poly(3-octylthiophene) and polyaniline were co-doped with various combinations of dopants. In both systems, solubility was improved and coherent films were formed directly from common organic solvents without the need for a post-processing doping step. Co-doped intrinsically conducting polymer films exhibited conductivities up to 10 -2 S/cm. Additionally, certain polyaniline complexes were capable of being melt processed without loss of conductivity.
Postmodern paradigms: The enchantment of realism in the fiction of Italo Calvino and Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This paper argues that postmodernism is primarily an effort, on the part of the manipulators of the myriad symbolic forms which make up human culture, to reclaim the elemental structures of former paradigms without returning to the mind-set which accompanied those paradigms. It uses the fictions of Italo Calvino and Gabriel Garcia Marquez to demonstrate this thesis and to refine the definition of postmodernism to mean: the creation of new imaginative forms which reanimate the essential elements of former structures so as to give significant shape and depth to the contemporary experience of reality.
Laser interferometer measurement of changes in crayfish axon diameter concurrent with action potential

Small rapid changes in the diameter of an axon takes place when an action potential progresses along the axon. In the giant axon of the crayfish these occur within a period of about 1 millisecond and are typically about 18 angstroms in total amplitude.
Demand-Side Bidding Strategy for Residential Energy Management in a Smart Grid Environment

By offering appropriate incentives, electricity users can be incentivized to alter their power consumption patterns so as to achieve the electricity supplier's intended profile. In this paper we have proposed a day-ahead demand-side bidding approach to realize the desired demand response. In our mechanism, customers submit their day-ahead electricity demands to the utility company through a secure communication infrastructure. The electricity supplier then generates the customers' hourly demand profile by aggregation of the individual requests. This information then forms the basis of procuring power in the wholesale market as well as developing a dynamic electricity pricing scheme. However, as expected, the actual electricity supply and the actual electricity consumption may not match. This could be due to the inability of the utility company to secure enough power at the wholesale market or due to changes in consumer power requirements. In the event the demand outstrips the supply, the customers willingly offer to shed some of their flexible appliances' loads but bid for prices at which they would like to pay for the curtailed load. We assume that customers are rational but selfish and are only concerned with maximizing their own benefits. In this study, this demand- side bidding problem is mathematically formulated and solved. Simulation studies are also carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
A comprehensive numerical model for melting with natural convection

A comprehensive and efficient numerical model for melting with natural convection is developed. The model is based on the finite volume approach and temperature transforming model. A new method for solid velocity correction with an explicit update for melting front and buoyancy force (the governing equations are otherwise discretized in fully implicit format) is proposed and shown to be very effective in eliminating inconsistencies found in previous studies. The predictions of the proposed numerical model are compared to previous theoretical, modeling and experimental results, and reasonable agreement is achieved. It is shown that the consistent update technique (CUT) algorithm is much more efficient (CPU time reduce by an order of magnitude) than the SIMPLE algorithm for solving melting problems. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the central difference scheme is much more accurate than the power law scheme, and that the Richardson extrapolation method provides a powerful tool for grid and time step independence tests as well as discretization error estimates. Finally, it is found that melting phenomena of octadecane and sodium nitrate, both melting in a square cavity with a Rayleigh number of 108 and a Stefan number of 0.1, are essentially identical; such a similarity can be used as a foundation for conducting room temperature experiments to investigate the melting/solidification characteristics of high temperature phase change materials (PCMs). A benchmark solution for the entire melting process of sodium nitrate is provided as well.
Suppression of cultured bovine adrenocortical zona glomerulosa cell aldosterone synthesis by steroids and its prevention by antioxidants.

Previous work suggested that autoregulation of adrenocortical function by steroids may be important in the development of different functional zones of the adrenal cortex, possibly through the generation of oxygen-derived free radicals after an interaction with cytochrome P-450s. The present experiments investigate the effects of pretreatment with various steroids on subsequent conversion of deoxycorticosterone (DOC) to aldosterone by primary cultures of bovine adrenocortical zona glomerulosa cells. The products of DOC metabolism, quantitated by high performance liquid chromatography, were aldosterone, 18-hydroxycorticosterone (18-OH B), 18-hydroxydeoxycorticos-terone (18-OH DOC), and corticosterone. Corticosterone was the major product formed (approximately 80%), whereas 18-OH B and 18-OH DOC were formed in equal amounts (approximately 10%) and aldosterone was formed in lesser amounts (1%). The maximal rate of production of aldosterone using DOC as precursor was twice the maximal rate using corticosteron...
Bathymetric controls on sediment transport in the Hudson River estuary: Lateral asymmetry and frontal trapping

[1] Analyses of field observations and numerical model results have identified that sediment transport in the Hudson River estuary is laterally segregated between channel and shoals, features frontal trapping at multiple locations along the estuary, and varies significantly over the spring-neap tidal cycle. Lateral gradients in depth, and therefore baroclinic pressure gradient and stratification, control the lateral distribution of sediment transport. Within the saline estuary, sediment fluxes are strongly landward in the channel and seaward on the shoals. At multiple locations, bottom salinity fronts form at bathymetric transitions in width or depth. Sediment convergences near the fronts create local maxima in suspended-sediment concentration and deposition, providing a general mechanism for creation of secondary estuarine turbidity maxima at bathymetric transitions. The lateral bathymetry also affects the spring-neap cycle of sediment suspension and deposition. In regions with broad, shallow shoals, the shoals are erosional and the channel is depositional during neap tides, with the opposite pattern during spring tides. Narrower, deeper shoals are depositional during neaps and erosional during springs. In each case, the lateral transfer is from regions of higher to lower bed stress, and depends on the elevation of the pycnocline relative to the bed. Collectively, the results indicate that lateral and along-channel gradients in bathymetry and thus stratification, bed stress, and sediment flux lead to an unsteady, heterogeneous distribution of sediment transport and trapping along the estuary rather than trapping solely at a turbidity maximum at the limit of the salinity intrusion.
1161 A CONTROLLED STUDY: THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS BORN TO HEROIN-DEPENDENT AND METHADONE-MAINTAINED WOMEN

As part of a longitudinal study, the development of 25 infants born to untreated heroin-addicted women and 23 infants born to methadone-maintained women was studied from birth through 1 year of age. 31 infants of women matched for time of onset of prenatal care, race, age, and marital and socioeconomic status served as controls. Heroin infants were more hypertonic (p<.005) than methadone infants or controls, while methadone infants had poorer fine (p<.05) and gross motor coordination (p<.01) than other groups. Gesell adaptive scores were lower for heroin and methadone infants at 3, 6, and 12 months (p<.05), and Gesell language and personal-social scores were lower for drug infants (p<.05) through 6 months. The mean Bayley Mental Development Index at 9 months was 96.91 (SD± 18.69) for heroin infants, 97.25 (SD± 15.74) for methadone infants, and 107.03 (SD± 14.16) for controls (p<.05). The mean Bayley Psychomotor Development Index at 9 months was 91.87 (SD± 20.39) for heroin infants, 85.85 (SD± 12.83) for methadone infants, and 97.93 (SD± 10.9) for controls (p<.05). 1 heroin infant is hydrocephalic and severely impaired, and another has the features of the fetal alcohol syndrome. Both heroin and methadone mothers used multiple other drugs throughout pregnancy. 45% of drug infants were in foster or adoptive care by 1 year; 93% had left the newborn nursery with their biologic mothers.
Outcomes of multigestational pregnancies affected by congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Abstract Background/purpose The prognosis for multiple vs singleton pregnancies affected by congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is not known. To improve the counseling of families with multiple gestation pregnancies complicated by CDH, we examined outcomes of a consecutive series of CDH cases occurring in multiple gestation pregnancy referrals. Methods Clinical characteristics and morbidity and mortality data were gathered for a consecutive series of infants with CDH from 16 multiple gestation pregnancies. Outcomes were compared to a cohort of 91 patients with CDH from singleton pregnancies. Multivariate regression was also used in an attempt to determine whether multiple gestation pregnancy was independently predictive of subsequent long-term adverse outcomes. Results Four pregnancies were lost to follow-up, and 1 underwent selective reduction. Overall mortality for live-born multiple gestation fetuses affected by CDH was 30% and was 8% for unaffected siblings. No pregnancy was concordant. Clinical features were not different between the case series and control infants, except median gestational age at delivery, which was significantly lower for the multigestational infants (34 [range, 32-36] vs 38 [range, 28-41] weeks) ( P = .02). Long-term morbidity was comparable between cases and controls. Conclusions In terms of mortality, outcomes of multigestational pregnancies affected by CDH are no worse than for CDH pregnancies in general. Long-term risk may depend more on CDH severity rather than the presence of multiple fetuses.
Front Tracking in Two Dimensions Without a Grid

The authors present a method for handling non-linear partial differential equations having solutions that develop steep fronts. Traditional methods for solving such problems (the finite difference and finite element methods) implicitly assume a simple form for the solution over a limited domain. Instead of using a simple basis set and many small spatial elements, they use a complex basis set and no spatial discretization. The method produces accurate results because they are able to include in the basis set a non-rational function that can represent a step. They have chosen to use the Buckley-Leverett equations to model the quarter 5-spot problem of oil reservoir modeling in two dimensions. The problem is a coupled system of partial differential equations - the flow equation which is nearly hyperbolic, and the pressure equation which is elliptic. In this paper we discuss the solution of the flow equation; the solution of the elliptic equation is discussed elsewhere. The test problem is two dimensional and restricted to the unit square. Extensions to three dimensions and more general geometries will be discussed.
On the thermodynamic foundations of non-linear solid mechanics

Abstract Non-equilibrium thermodynamics with internal variables governed by rate equations is explored as a foundation for non-linear solid mechanics. Rate equations are studied as to type, yielding descriptions of viscoelastic, viscoplastic, and plastic behavior. The special case of uncoupled instantaneous elasticity is considered, as well as materials exhibiting combined behavior.