cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of carbon nanotube arrays on nucleate pool boiling

Experiments were performed to assess the impact coating silicon and copper substrates with nanotubes (CNTs) have on pool boiling performance. Different CNT array densities and area coverages were tested on 1.27 � 1.27 mm 2 samples in FC-72. The CNT preparation techniques used provided strong adherence of CNTs to both substrate materials. Very small contact angle enabled deep penetration of FC-72 liquid inside surface cavities of smooth uncoated silicon surfaces, requiring unusually high surface superheat to initiate boiling. Fully coating the substrate surface with CNTs was highly effective at reducing the incipience superheat and greatly enhancing both the nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux (CHF). Efforts to further improve boiling performance by manipulating CNT area coverage of the substrate surface proved ineffective; best results were consistently realized with full surface coverage. Greater enhancement was achieved on silicon than on copper since, compared to uncoated copper surfaces, the uncoated silicon surfaces were very smooth and void of any sizeable nucleation sites to start with. This study is concluded with detailed metrics to assess the enhancement potential of the different CNT array densities and area coverages tested. 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Combination drug therapy for treatment of hyperthyroid Grave's disease.

The effects of three different treatment regimens on daily serum triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and 3,3′, 5′-triiodothyronine (rT3) were evaluated in 15 patients with hyperthyroid Graves' disease. Group I (n = 5) received propylthiouracil (PTU) 150 mg, and saturated solution of potassium iodide (SSKI) 3 drops, every 6 h for 7 days; Group II (n = 6) were given similar treatment as for Group I, plus dexamethasone (DEX), 2 mg every 6 h, from Day 5 through 8; Group III (n = 4) received PTU, SSKI and DEX as combined treatment from the first day. The mean serum T4 concentrations gradually fell in Groups I and II to about 75% of the basal value by Day 8. However, serum T3 concentrations fell abruptly in these same groups to 50% of the basal value after one day, and then slowly declined until Day 6; Group II patients showed a further significant decline (P < 0.01) in response to DEX administration. In Group III patients, the combined treatment with PTU, SSKI and DEX produced a lowering of serum T3 concentr...
Sodium Channels and Neurological Disease: Insights from Scn8a Mutations in the Mouse

The human genome contains 10 voltage-gated sodium channel genes, 7 of which are expressed in neurons of the CNS and PNS. The availability of human genome sequences and high-throughput mutation screening methods make it likely that many human disease mutations will be identified in these genes in the near future. Mutations of Scn8a in the mouse demonstrate the broad spectrum of neurological disease that can result from different alleles of the same sodium channel gene. Null mutations of Scn8a produce motor neuron failure, loss of neuromuscular transmission, and lethal paralysis. Less severe mutations result in ataxia, tremor, muscle weakness, and dystonia. The effects of Scn8a mutations on channel properties have been studied in the Xenopus oocyte expression system and in neurons isolated from the mutant mice. The Scn8a mutations provide insight into the mode of inheritance, effect on neuronal sodium currents, and role of modifier genes in sodium channel disease, highlighting the ways in which mouse models of human mutations can be used in the future to understand the pathophysiology of human disease.
Effects of chronic intraventricular administration of angiotensin II on drinking behavior and blood pressure

Angiotensin II was continuously infused into the lateral cerebral ventricle of rats, and the effects on daily food and water consumption, urine volume, and aortic blood pressure were studied. All was infused at a rate of 10 ng/hr for seven days, using subcutaneously implanted osmotic minipumps. An intraventricular (IVT) control group was infused with only the saline vehicle, while a third group received AII subcutaneously. IVT AII rats showed a four-fold increase in water consumption, to a mean of 171 ml/day during Days 2-4 of infusion, whereas water intake of the other groups did not change from preinfusion levels. Urine volume showed a similar pattern to water intake, increasing five-fold in the IVT AII group during Days 2-4. These measures declined during the final three days of AII infusion, but significant tolerance was not observed. Food intake decreased markedly in both saline and IVT AII groups after implantation of the pumps, but the latter resumed normal food intake more slowly than the former, and body weight remained below preinfusion levels throughout the AII period. Aortic blood pressure of the IVT AII rats showed a slight, but progressive, rise during the infusion period, but it did not significantly exceed that of the saline rats. These results indicate that continuous, low-level, intraventricular infusion of AII may markedly increase water intake without significantly increasing fluid retention or blood pressure.
T-cell receptors of human suppressor cells

Cells which can suppress the immune response to an antigen (TS cells) appear to be essential for regulation of the immune system1,2. But the characterization of the TS lineage has not been extensive and many are sceptical of studies using uncloned or hybrid T-cell lines. The nature of the antigen receptor on these cells is unclear. T cells of the helper or cytotoxic lineages appear to recognize their targets using the T-cell receptor (TCR) αβ–CD3 complex3–5. TCR β-gene rearrangements are also found in some murine and human suppressor cell lines6–10 but others have been shown not to rearrange or express the β-chain11–13 or α-chain14 genes. We previously established TS clones derived from lepromatous leprosy patients15,16 which carry the CD8 antigen and recognize antigen in the context of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules in vitro16. We here report the characterization of additional MHC-restricted TS clones which rearrange TCR β genes, express messenger RNA for the α and β chains of the TCR and express clonally unique CD3-associated TCR αβ structures on their cell surface but do not express the γ chain of the γδ TCR on the cell surface. We conclude that antigen recognition by at least some human CD8+ suppressor cells is likely to be mediated by TCR αβ heterodimers.
Continuous quasi-states on C∗-algebras

A quasi-state on d is a positive quasi-linear functional p on d that satisfies the normalization condition sup{ p(A)IA E d, A > 0, (IA I( < 1 } = 1. If d is unital with unit 1, this is equivalent to the condition p(l) = 1. In this paper we are concerned with the question of when positive quasilinear functionals on C*-algebras are linear. In view of the condition (iii) and since positive quasi-linear functionals are scalar multiples of quasistates, this reduces to the question of additivity of quasi-states on the self-adjoint elements of a C*-algebra. This question and its various forms, depending both on the nature of quasi-states and on the structure of the underlying algebra, were considered before [ 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9-13, 17, 181; substantial progress had been made in a number of cases. One of the most remarkable advances was the pioneering work of Gleason [6] in which the question was settled in the allirmative for quasistates on B(X), the algebra of all bounded operators acting on a Hilbert space 2, with the property of being completely additive on orthogonal projections, provided the dimension of Y? is different from 2. In the twodimensional case the answer is, in general, negative-one can construct discontinuous quasi-states by simple geometrical arguments; so that one cannot expect all quase-states to be linear on C*-algebras that admit two-dimensional irreducible representations. Following Gleason’s result, contributions to the problem were made by Aarnes [l] and Gunson [7], and in recent years the general problem for von Neumann algebras was 111
Limited psychiatric consultation to an adolescent medicine unit.

Six years of association with an “adolescent care team” is described. The first three years were spent planning an adolescent medicine ward, and the second three years providing limited consultation on this ward. The ward population with predominantly orthopedic problems provided an opportunity for teaching pediatric residents and nursing staff about the psychosocial factors in hospitalization and illness. Important aspects of consultation are protecting times for staff development seminars and transmitting an optimistic attitude about potential improvement of some maladaptive adolescent behavior with appropriate intervention.
Breakdown voltage for planar devices with a single field limiting ring

In this paper a simple means for accurately predicting the breakdown voltage of planar devices with a single field limiting ring is presented. A large mass of theoretical data was generated and then reduced to a single plot which shows the fraction of the ideal breakdown voltage that can be attained with the use of a field limiting ring. This curve can be applied to devices with virtually any substrate doping, junction curvature, and surface concentration. The key to reducing this large amount of data to a single plot is the fact that the data is plotted as a function of a normalized radius of junction curvature which is a precise measure of the curvature effect for virtually any device. Experimental data on the breakdown voltage for 640 devices with single field rings encompassing 16 different separations between the main junction and the field ring are shown. The theoretical predictions are in excellent agreement with this data.
The complete sequence of the human CD79b (Ig beta/B29) gene: identification of a conserved exon/intron organization, immunoglobulin-like regulatory regions, and allelic polymorphism.

We determined the complete genomic sequence of the human CD79b (Igβ/B29) gene. The CD79b gene product is associated with the membrane immunoglobulin signaling complex which is composed of immunoglobulin (Ig) itself, associated in a noncovalent fashion with CD79b and a second polypeptide chain, CD79a (Igα/mb1). The sequence and exon/intron organization of the human and mouse CD79b genes are highly similar. The gene organization suggests that some variant forms of CD79b may arise by virtue of alternative splicing of mRNA. In addition, a number of conserved regulatory sequences commonly found in Ig genes are present in sequences which flank the human CD79b gene. Some of these sequences are distinct from those found in the CD79a promoter. These differences may explain why transcription of CD79b, but not CD79a, is observed in plasma cells. A new Taq 1 restriction fragment length polymorphism is described that is not associated with any structural polymorphisms of the expressed CD79b polypeptide.
Dissociation of memory and awareness in young and older adults.

Abstract Young (mean age=23.41 years) and older (mean age=69.41 years) adults studied a list of 80 words. They were tested immediately and 7 days later for both yes/no recognition and for ability to complete fragments such as _E_D_L_M, with words, some of which had been studied previously. The fragment completion task was not described as a memory test and subjects were encouraged to respond to all word fragments. Younger adults scored higher on recognition than older adults but not on fragment completion. These results, similar to those obtained with amnesics, suggest that older adults are impaired on tasks which require a conscious effort to recognize an event but that memory without awareness is unaffected by age.
Regulation of pharmaceutical prices: a managed care perspective.

The US pharmaceutical industry is heavily and appropriately regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the safety and efficacy of new and generic drug approvals, and phannaceutical promotional and marketing practices. However, the US is one of the last major countries without government price controls. Comparisons between the US and Canada or western Europe are inappropriate, because in the US the majority of the population receive healthcare from private insurance, as opposed to govemmentsponsored programmes in the other countries. The pharmaceutical market in the US is moving away from a fee-for-service model, where pharmaceutical manufacturers target prescribers who have had autonomous decision-making power over selection of drugs. Under the growing managed care model, the plan pharmacy and therapeutics committees make drug coverage decisions for participating staff or community physicians. The physicians recei ve negati ve reinforcement when they prescribe non-formulary drugs, and positive reinforcement to prescribe covered medications. They are unable to separate prescribing practices for managed care and their dwindling private-pay population, and soon begin writing plan fonnulary drugs for all patients. Thus, the influence of managed care formularies goes beyond the directly covered plan membership as a result of this 'spill-over' effect. Although this is difficult to measure, it has been estimated that an enforced managed care drug prescription can influence an average 2.7 additional prescriptions in highly prescribed therapeutic categories (M.Z. Holubiak, personal communication). In the past decade, managed care membership has flourished in the US, and now represents over 80 million in health maintenance organisations (HMOs) and preferred provider organisations (PPOs). This trend suggests thai by the year 2000, most ofthe insured US population may be covered by a managed care healthcare plan. National healthcare analysts, encouraged by President Clinton's 'managed competition' theme, believe a migration of state Medicaid and federal Medicare members into managed care will also increase the growth of managed care.
Correlation of residual fatigue life with quantified NDE measurements

Quantified metrics from nondestructive evaluation (NDE) data were used to predict residual fatigue life of corroded AA2024-T3 specimens. The specimens were corroded under a wide range of conditions to achieve a range of corrosion morphologies, including a mix of pitting, intergranular, and general corrosion. Ultrasonic testing (UT), white light interference microscopy (WLIM), and microradiography images were then analyzed to extract damage metrics. The corroded specimens were then fatigued to failure. The resulting data were used to obtain an excellent correlation between the NDE metrics and the residual fatigue life using multiple linear regression (MLR). While there are several important metrics that can be extracted from UT and WLIM, the correlation with microradiography metrics was weak in this damage range. Residual life models including WLIM surface roughness measurements performed better for lightly damaged specimens than those using only UT measurements. However, the addition of microradiography metrics resulted in no significant improvement to the correlation models.
Relationship between changes in prostate-specific antigen and the percent of prostatic epithelium in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Abstract Objectives Pretreatment knowledge of prostate gland histology would allow a more scientifically based selection of medical therapy for men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and may increase the effectiveness of the pharmacologic agents available. Changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA), or PSA velocity, may reflect prostatic epithelial growth in BPH. Our objective was to determine if PSA velocity prior to diagnosis correlated with the relative amount of epithelium in BPH tissue. Methods We evaluated 39 men with BPH who had serial PSA determinations (mean, 5.4) on frozen sera from 2.3 to 25.1 years before diagnosis, and archival material from simple prostatectomy available for pathologic evaluation. We used an immunoenzymatic staining technique for PSA to bind prostatic epithelium selectively so that color differences in the stained tissue sections could be used to quantify stroma, epithelium, and glandular lumina. Results The average percentage of epithelium (%E) was 1 2.4 and the average stroma-epithelial ratio (SER) was 6.6. The correlation of PSA velocity for the three visits nearest to prostatectomy (n = 32) versus %E and SER was significant ( P = 0.003 for both). The PSA value nearest to prostatectomy (n = 39) was directly correlated with %E and SER ( P = 0.0001 and P = 0.001, respectively). Conclusions These data suggest that PSA and PSA velocity are directly related to the histologic makeup of the prostate in men with BPH. Thus, pretreatment evaluation of PSA could be useful as part of an evaluation to direct BPH therapy.
Development of a portal to Texas history

Purpose – To help information professionals learn about issues and considerations in portal building.Design/methodology/approach – The University of North Texas Libraries’ Portal to Texas History provides long‐term storage and access to digital copies of important original materials illuminating Texas's past. This paper describes the development of the Portal technology and content – presenting objectives, processes, and future plans – and defines the larger goal of facilitating collaboration among resource‐holding institutions.Findings – Practical aspects of creating and populating the portal include development of specifications and standards, construction of an application framework, selection of content, production of metadata, and refinement of user interfaces. Planned future enhancements to the Portal will augment sustainability and provide added value for users. The portal project may also serve as a catalyst for wider collaborative efforts in digitization.Originality/value – The Portal to Texas Hi...
Homoallylic substitution reactions of lithium dialkyl cuprates with cyclopropylcarbinyl halides: mechanistic considerations

Abstract Highly reactive lithium dialkyl cuprates and l-bromo-l-cyclo-propylalkanes, 4 , react to give good yields of the homoallylic substitution product, 6 . Less reactive organocuprates react with 4 to give mixtures of 6 and the direct substitution product, 7 . These results are consistent with a copper(I) radical intermediate which undergoes facile rearrangement prior to reductive coupling.
PTEN: from pathology to biology

The PTEN tumour suppressor gene is mutated frequently in many malignancies and its importance in the development of cancer is probably underestimated. As the primary phosphatase of phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate, PTEN has a central role in reigning in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) network to control cellular homeostasis. Cells that lack PTEN are unable to regulate the PtdIns 3-kinase programme, which stimulates a variety of cellular phenotypes that favour oncogenesis. As well as the well-known role as tumour suppressor, recent studies show that PTEN is involved in the regulation of several basic cellular functions, such as cell migration, cell size, contractility of cardiac myocytes and chemotaxis. Here, we review the roles of PTEN in normal cellular functions and disease development.
Acute Miliary Blastomycosis Presenting as Fulminating Respiratory Failure

A patient with miliary blastomycosis had acute fulminating respiratory failure requiring prolonged external ventilatory support Treatment consisted of antifungal chemotherapy with two drugs and administration of corticosteroids. Restrictive ventilatory impairment and exercise-induced hypoxemia persist at one year after completion of therapy.
Practical Knowledge Storage among Preservice, Novice, and Experienced Educators of Students Who are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing

Surveys of 163 preservice, novice, and experienced teachers of students who are deaf and hard-of-hearing addressed practical knowledge and adherence to classroom rules of practice (brief statements of how to behave in frequently encountered teaching situations) and practical principles (general constructs about expectations of students). No significant differences were found among the three groups in their adherence to rules of practice about structuring of lessons, engagement of students with the curriculum, principles of classroom management and lesson planning, and lesson procedures. Significant differences were found for practical principles such as expectations for student achievement, ability of students to take responsibility for their education, and classroom deportment; preservice teachers had the highest expectations, and experienced teachers had the lowest. These findings raise several questions that are explored in this article.
Tau Isoform Composition Influences Rate and Extent of Filament Formation

The risk of developing tauopathic neurodegenerative disease depends in part on the levels and composition of six naturally occurring Tau isoforms in human brain. These proteins, which form filamentous aggregates in disease, vary only by the presence or absence of three inserts encoded by alternatively spliced exons 2, 3, and 10 of the Tau gene (MAPT). To determine the contribution of alternatively spliced segments to Tau aggregation propensity, the aggregation kinetics of six unmodified, recombinant human Tau isoforms were examined in vitro using electron microscopy assay methods. Aggregation propensity was then compared at the level of elementary rate constants for nucleation and extension phases. We found that all three alternatively spliced segments modulated Tau aggregation but through differing kinetic mechanisms that could synergize or compete depending on sequence context. Overall, segments encoded by exons 2 and 10 promoted aggregation, whereas the segment encoded by exon 3 depressed it with its efficacy dependent on the presence or absence of a fourth microtubule binding repeat. In general, aggregation propensity correlated with genetic risk reported for multiple tauopathies, implicating aggregation as one candidate mechanism rationalizing the correlation between Tau expression patterns and disease.
Bycatch mitigation assessment for sharks caught in coastal anchored gillnets

Fishing with modified gillnets was conducted to elucidate their potential for reducing shark bycatch. Experimental fishing focused on two commercial fisheries, Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) and spot (Leiostomus xanthurus). The modification took the form of increasing the gillnet tension using larger floats on the head-rope and increasing the lead-core lead-line weight. Gillnet mesh sizes were 7.2 cm (spot fishery) and 7.6 and 10.2 cm (Spanish mackerel fishery). Gillnet selectivity of the four most commonly encountered shark species were fitted to fork-length distribution data using the SELECT method. There was no significant difference in the catch rate of the target species between control and modified gillnets for all mesh sizes used. Catch rates of some shark species were significantly reduced in modified gillnets. Model deviance values indicated good fits to the data for blacknose (Carcharhinus acronotus), blacktip (Carcharhinus limbatus) and bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) sharks with lowest deviance values (i.e., best fit) generally associated with the normal scale (spread proportional to mesh size) form. The selectivity results demonstrated that all life stages of Atlantic sharpnose (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) and blacknose sharks were available to the gillnets. The mesh selectivity of bonnethead sharks was largely uniform due to their exaggerated cepholaphoil that resulted in the majority being hammer-wrapped. Further, capture data indicated a dominance of large juveniles and adult bonnethead sharks resulting in poor model fits. The capture mortality rate for all shark species was high (78.6%) with higher mortality rates associated with heightened locomotor performance and wrapping as an entanglement mode. These results demonstrated that modified gillnets have the potential to reduce shark bycatch, particularly for those species for which wrapping was the primary entanglement mode.
Voluntary leadership roles in religious groups and rates of change in functional status during older adulthood

Linear growth curve modeling was used to compare rates of change in functional status between three groups of older adults: Individuals holding voluntary lay leadership positions in a church, regular church attenders who were not leaders, and those not regularly attending church. Functional status was tracked longitudinally over a 4-year period in a national sample of 1,152 Black and White older adults whose religious backgrounds were either Christian or unaffiliated. Leaders had significantly slower trajectories of increase in both the number of physical impairments and the severity of those impairments. Although regular church attenders who were not leaders had lower mean levels of impairment on both measures, compared with those not regularly attending church, the two groups of non-leaders did not differ from one another in their rates of impairment increase. Leadership roles may contribute to longer maintenance of physical ability in late life, and opportunities for voluntary leadership may help account for some of the health benefits of religious participation.
The rates of assignment of thesaurus terms in the ERIC information retrieval system: an analysis of hierarchies and levels

The study examined the rates of use of descriptors in the ERIC system during 1966–1986 to determine if certain levels of terms were used more than others and if patterns of use were similar among hierarchies in the ERIC Thesaurus. The postings per document measure indicated how often a term had been assigned to documents during its life. This was averaged for each level in the 252 multilevel hierarchies. With little exception there was not much variation in postings per document among levels nor among hierarchies. The major exception was the mean rate of 725 postings per 100,000 documents for the broadest terms in the twenty‐nine hierarchies having four levels each. This rate was significantly higher than for the narrowest levels in these hierarchies. The lack of variation in most hierarchies suggests that all terms currently in the system are important and used by indexers. Searchers should be aware of the power of the broadest terms.
Annealing nano-to-micro contacts for improved contact resistance

Nano-to-micro electrical contact resistance between carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and larger-scale silicon systems are investigated using both low-and high-power annealing techniques. Carbon nanotubes locally synthesized and suspended between two silicon microbridges are used as the test platform. The annealing technique involves Joule heating of either the CNT/silicon system or the secondary silicon bridge only at low or high input power for various times. Of the 15 samples tested, results show that the contact resistance decreases for 60% of the samples and two of the 15 samples show a decrease in contact resistance greater than 50%. Higher power and longer time anneals show the greatest improvement in reducing the contact resistance. This technique can potentially reduce the contact resistance for integration of CNTs with MEMS or microelectronics systems.
Topical exposure to exogenous ultraviolet-irradiated urocanic acid enhances Mycobacterium ulcerans infection in a Crl:IAF(HA)-hrBR hairless guinea-pig model of Buruli ulcer disease.

Background: Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) pre-exposure enhances Mycobacterium ulcerans infection in the Crl:IAF(HA)-hrBR hairless guinea-pig, possibly via a photoimmunosuppressive mechanism. The trans–cis photoisomerization of epidermal urocanic acid is an important initiator of the web of events leading to photoimmunosuppression. Thus, the hypothesis tested in this paper was that topical pre-exposure to UVR-irradiated urocanic acid mixture containing cis-urocanic acid (UVR-UCA) enhances the ulcerative form of M. ulcerans infection in the Crl:IAF(HA)-hrBR hairless guinea-pig model of human Buruli ulcer disease. Methods: Groups of six animals were subjected to daily topical treatment with either 0 (vehicle only), 0.1, 0.5 or 1 mg of trans (tUCA) or UVR-UCA (contained a cis : trans urocanic acid isomer ratio of 1 : 9) for three consecutive days. A sham treatment group was also included in the experiment. Three days following their final treatment, the guinea-pigs were intradermally infected in the right dorsal flank with 1.5×107 CFU of M. ulcerans in 0.1 ml of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and sham infected with 0.1 ml of PBS in the left dorsal flank. The resultant skin lesions were then measured over the next 21 days. At day 21 postinfection, the animals were tested for delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactivity to M. ulcerans cell fragment antigens (MCF). Results: Distinct, well-demarcated, dermally situated skin nodules were present at infected, but not sham-infected, skin sites by day 3 postinfection, and the lesions progressed to frank ulcers by day 5. Between days 5 and 21, the mean lesion diameters of the UVR-UCA-treated animals were significantly (P 0.4) differences between the lesion sizes and DTH responses of the tUCA, vehicle only or sham treatment groups. These results demonstrate that topical exposure to UVR-UCA promotes M. ulcerans infection and suppresses DTH responses to M. uclerans antigens in infected animals. These results lend credence to the hypothesis that UVR-mediated enhancement of Buruli ulcer disease in the Crl:IAF(HA)-hrBR hairless guinea-pig model occurs via modulation of cis-urocanic acid-susceptible immune pathways.
Fecundity, infanticide, and food consumption in Japan.

Hypotheses are proposed concerning infanticide and fecundity in Japan which differ markedly from previously held views that peasant families in Tokugawa Japan deliberately kept family size small through infanticide to maintain a relatively comfortable standard of living. To the contrary it is suggested that fecundity was low and the chances for infant survival poor so parents were forced to adopt strategies about the sex of the births they would permit to survive in addition to eliminating many weak and sickly offspring soon after birth. In support of this thesis direct statistical evidence is presented on food consumption and physical characteristics during the modern era and the results of simulation experiments for families practicing infanticide under various decision rules have been given. The thrust of the argument is that the concept of a demographic transition is applicable to Japan. If demographic transition theory is thought of as explaining why desired fertility falls from relatively high levels prior to and in the early period of modernization to low levels as modernization spreads it is contended that Japanese demographic history does not deviate from the main lines of demographic transition theory. Far from being a unique case in demographic history the Japanese demographic transition experience conforms in its essential features to the experiences of Europe North America Australia and New Zealand.
Flow and particle motion induced above a tall seamount by steady and tidal background currents

The response of a stratified ocean over a tall, isolated seamount induced by the combination of slow, steady, spatially uniform inflow and weak diurnal tides is examined using a primitive-equation numerical model. Steady inflow alone forms a Taylor cap, which retains Lagrangian fluid particles over the seamount for a duration that scales inversely with the mean inflow speed U over the range U/fL=0.004−0.036, where f is the Coriolis parameter and L is the horizontal length scale of the seamount. Fluid particles located at mid-depth and shallower over the top of the seamount are retained for up to about five advective time scales (L/U). Near-bottom particles may be retained much longer. Tidal forcing alone drives a seamount-trapped wave that gives rise, through non-linear rectification, to a bottom-intensified time-mean circulation around the rim of the seamount. The magnitude of the rectified mean current varies approximately linearly with the tidal amplitude U0 over the range U0/fL=(1.08−3.60) × 10−3. The seamount-trapped wave scatters particles vertically over the seamount summit, producing net displacements over many tidal cycles of 100–300 m. The combination of both forcings produces a near superposition of the two separate responses. The tide hardly affects particle retention by the steady inflow, except near the bottom, where retention is enhanced by the bottom-intensified rectified mean flow. The steady inflow hardly affects the vertical scattering of particles by the tide, except by altering the duration for which particles remain over the seamount and are thereby subject to vertical scattering.
On the recovery of joint distributions from limited information

The paper considers the role of entropy and other information theoretic concepts in the description and formation of joint distributions for m random variables. The discussion includes a review of methods for constructing discrete and continuous joint distributions from the component marginal distributions. We then propose a minimum cross-entropy approach that recovers continuous joint distributions from the joint and marginal moments and the marginal densities. The large-sample properties of the associated estimator are outlined, and a simple demonstration problem that highlights the advantages and drawbacks of the proposed method is presented.
Protein synthesis by isolated nuclei from exponentially dividing cells

Abstract Nuclei have been isolated and purified from rapidly growing tobacco-cell cultures. Such nuclei incorporate as much as 1 mμmole of [ 14 C]lysine per milligram protein in 20 min. That this label is incorporated intramolecularly into peptide linkage has been demonstrated by chromatography of tryptic digests. The rate of protein synthesis is enhanced by the presence of an energy-generating system, a complete micture of amino acids, and sodium ions. Additions of RNAase (EC 2.7.7.16), Versene or chloramphenicol do not inhibit the nuclear protein synthesis.
Release of GLP-1 and PYY in response to the activation of G protein-coupled bile acid receptor TGR5 is mediated by Epac/PLC-ε pathway and modulated by endogenous H2S

Activation of plasma membrane TGR5 receptors in enteroendocrine cells by bile acids is known to regulate gastrointestinal secretion and motility and glucose homeostasis. The endocrine functions of the gut are modulated by microenvironment of the distal gut predominantly by sulfur-containing bacteria of the microbiota that produce H2S. However, the mechanisms involved in the release of peptide hormones, GLP-1 and PYY in response to TGR5 activation by bile acids and the effect of H2S on bile acid-induced release of GLP-1 and PYY are unclear. In the present study, we have identified the signaling pathways activated by the bile acid receptor TGR5 to mediate GLP-1 and PYY release and the mechanism of inhibition of their release by H2S in enteroendocrine cells. The TGR5 ligand oleanolic acid (OA) stimulated Gs and cAMP formation, and caused GLP-1 and PYY release. OA-induced cAMP formation and peptide release were blocked by TGR5 siRNA. OA also caused an increase in PI hydrolysis and intracellular Ca2+. Increase in PI hydrolysis was abolished in cells transfected with PLC-e siRNA. 8-pCPT-2’-O-Me-cAMP, a selective activator of Epac, stimulated PI hydrolysis, and GLP-1 and PYY release. L-Cysteine, which activates endogenous H2S producing enzymes cystathionine--lyase and cystathionine--synthase, and NaHS and GYY4137, which generate H2S, inhibited PI hydrolysis and GLP-1 and PYY release in response to OA or 8-pCPT-2’-O-Me-cAMP. Propargylglycine, an inhibitor of CSE, reversed the effect of L-cysteine on PI hydrolysis and GLP-1 and PYY release. We conclude: i) activation of Gs-coupled TGR5 receptors causes stimulation of PI hydrolysis, and release of GLP-1 and PYY via a PKA-independent, cAMP-dependent mechanism involving Epac/PLC-/Ca2+ pathway, and ii) H2S has potent inhibitory effects on GLP-1 and PYY release in response to TGR5 activation, and the mechanism involves inhibition of PLC-/Ca2+ pathway.
A simple system for constructing distributed, mixed-language programs

The Mixed-Language Programming (MLP) System is a simple system that facilitates construction of sequential programs in which procedures can be written in different programming languages to exploit heterogeneity in language functionality. In addition, MLP provides a simple remote procedure call (RPC) facility that allows heterogeneity in machine functionality to be exploited. To minimize implementation cost, the system does not solve all of the problems related to mixed-language programming; rather, MLP is designed to handle common situations well. Among the unique aspects of MLP are its advanced facilities, which allow complex situations to be handled with user intervention; for example, these facilities allow arguments of a type not defined by a language to be used by procedures written in that language. This paper overviews the use of MLP and describes its implementation. In addition, two programs that have been written using the MLP system—a small database system and a collection of plot routines—are discussed. The system executes on a collection of Vaxes and Suns running Berkeley UNIX. Currently supported languages are C, Pascal and Icon.
Is addition of iron to processed foods safe for iron replete consumers

The great majority of US adults are iron replete; indeed, some are burdened with an excessive amount of the metal. Nevertheless, iron continues to be added by food processors to such items as flour, other grains and ready-to-eat cereals. In some cases, actual added quantities exceed the labeled amounts. Iron is a dangerous pro-oxidant as well as a mutagen and carcinogen. The metal is a serious risk factor for a variety of cardiovascular, endocrine, infectious, neoplasmic, neurodegenerative, orthopedic and respiratory diseases. For many of the conditions, iron can be a sole initiator or a cofactor in promoting the disease. For others, iron deposits are found in relevant tissue sites. For numerous additional diseases, iron is associated with elevated disease incidence. Accordingly, critical evaluation of the indiscriminate practice of adding the metal to processed foods is overdue.
Group Position, Threat, and Immigration The Role of Interest Groups and Elite Actors in Setting the “Lines of Discussion”

The purpose of this paper is to move research on racial attitudes away from studying intra-individual attitudes toward studying broader structural factors that contribute to the attitudes and feelings of U.S. citizens. We focus on how interest groups and elite actors play a role in shaping the discourse on immigrants and the immigration debate in the twenty-first century. Herbert Blumer posed that over time, the dominant group develops certain feelings toward subordinate group members and that these feelings form the basis of racial prejudice. These feelings include notions of superiority, the alienation of other groups, proprietary claims over valued resources, and finally, a feeling that resources are threatened. While not dismissing the importance of interpersonal interactions, Blumer posed that elite entities within the dominant group play prominent roles in producing and managing these feelings among the masses because they have access to the public ear. To assess how the elite attempt to manage feelings toward immigration, we use qualitative data from 33 amicus briefs submitted in support of Arizona’s SB 1070 law in the Arizona v. United States case. Findings reveal that each of the feelings was prominently represented in all briefs, which supports the notion that elite entities use arguments that promote feelings Blumer associated with racial prejudice. Language: en
Dynamics of temporal discrimination

The purpose of this research was to describe and explain the acquisition of temporal discriminations, transitions from one temporal interval to another, and asymptotic performance of stimulus and temporal discriminations. Rats were trained on a multiple cued interval (MCI) procedure with a head entry response on three signaled fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement (30, 60, and 120 sec). They readily learned the three temporal discriminations, whether they were presented simultaneously or successively, and they rapidly adjusted their performance to new intervals when the intermediate interval was varied daily. Although exponential functions provided good descriptions of many measures of temporal discrimination, different parameter values were required for each measure. The addition of a linear operator to a packet theory of timing with a single set of parameters provided a quantitative process model that fit many measures of the dynamics of temporal discrimination.
Exploiting Multi-Channel Diversity in Spectrum-Agile Networks

Recently, spectrum-agile (SA) networks have been recognized as a viable solution to the spectrum-scarcity problem in spectrum-scarcity problem. In SA networks, secondary (unlicensed) users are allowed to opportunistically utilize idle licensed spectrum bands, thus improving spectrum utilization efficiency and accommodating more users and applications. We take a two- step approach to the problem of maximizing the throughput of an SA network. The first step is to determine a subset of "candidate" channels that a secondary device will consider for its channel-switching. The candidate channels are selected based on their estimated utilization. We then propose channel-aware switching to determine when and where to switch to, among the candidate channels. Wireless channels are assumed to experience independent Rayleigh fading, and modeled with a finite-state Markov channel (FSMC) model. Our evaluation results show that the proposed channel-aware switching scheme significantly outperforms the traditional forced-switching scheme in terms of average throughput.
Bilingual aphasia treatment: Clinical recommendations regarding secondary language treatment, cross-language transfer, and the use of language brokers await additional research

This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Faroqi-Shah, Y., Frymark, T., Mullen, R., & Wang, B. (2010). Effect of treatment for bilingual individuals with aphasia: A systematic review of the evidence. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 23, 319–341.Source of funding and declaration of interests: The authors reported that this systematic review was supported by the ASHA’s National Center for Evidence-Based Practice in Communication Disorders. It was reported that none of the authors received a paid consultancy or had any other conflict of interest or competing interests.
Deep brain stimulation that abolishes parkinsonian activity in basal ganglia improves thalamic relay fidelity in a computational circuit

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus reduces the severity of parkinsonian motor symptoms, but the therapeutic mechanisms are not understood. We hypothesize that clinically effective high frequency DBS suppresses disordered neuronal activity in the globus pallidus internus (GPi), a primary output structure of the basal ganglia. In a computational model of the basal ganglia thalamic circuit, periodic high frequency (>100Hz) stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus reduced the incidence of thalamic cell errors, from the high error rates seen in the parkinsonian case back to the low error rates seen in the normal-healthy case. In contrast, both low frequency (<70Hz) DBS and high frequency aperiodic DBS failed to alleviate thalamic errors. In high error rate conditions, disordered patterns of GPi activity lead to irregular synaptic inhibition of thalamus. In low error rate conditions, ordered patterns of GPi activity lead to regular synaptic inhibition of thalamus. Linear regression revealed that the variance of the GPi synaptic output accounted for 87-97% of the changes in thalamic error rate. In contrast, the average GPi synaptic output – a measure of total GPi activity – accounted for only 25-50% of the changes in thalamic error rate. Thus, while the firing rate of GPi cells may play some minor role, regularizing the pathological patterns of GPi activity is the mechanism by which DBS treats parkinsonian motor symptoms.
Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8)-Encoded Cytokines Induce Expression of and Autocrine Signaling by Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in HHV-8-Infected Primary-Effusion Lymphoma Cell Lines and Mediate VEGF-Independent Antiapoptotic Effects

The potential roles of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) cytokines in HHV-8 pathogenesis were investigated by determining the expression of the HHV-8 chemokines viral macrophage inflammatory protein 1A (vMIP-1A) and vMIP-1B in primary effusion lymphoma (PEL)-derived cell lines and examining the signaling activities of these chemokines and HHV-8-encoded vIL-6 in these cells. Secreted vMIP-1A and vMIP-1B were detected in biologically significant concentrations following tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate treatment, which induces productive replication. vIL-6 and vMIP-1A, added exogenously to cultures of four different PEL cell lines, induced the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor type B (VEGF-B) and VEGF-A, respectively. These cells were found to express VEGF receptor 1 (Flt-1) protein, and signaling by recombinant VEGF-A(165) was demonstrated for two of the PEL cell lines, indicating the potential for autocrine, as well as paracrine, effects of viral cytokine-induced VEGF. In addition, vMIP-1A and vMIP-1B, but not VEGF-A(165), were found to inhibit chemically induced apoptosis in PEL cells. Our data suggest that vIL-6 and vMIP-1A may influence PEL through VEGF autocrine and paracrine signaling that promotes PEL cell growth and extravascular effusion and that vMIP-1A and vMIP-1B can act independently of VEGF as antiapoptotic factors.
Embedded Systems Week

This report discusses Embedded Systems Week 2006, which took place 22-27 October in Seoul. ESWEEK 2006 included three parallel conferences: CODES+ISSS (the International Conference on Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis), EMSOFT (the International Conference on Embedded Software), and CASES (the International Conference on Compilers, Architecture, and Synthesis for Embedded Systems). Almost 500 people attended. ESWEEK 2007 will be held in Salzburg, Austria, from 30 September to 5 October.
Self Assembly of Metallic Quantum Dots

Experiments have shown that metallic quantum dots without a coherent lattice or lattice mismatch with the substrate can undergo ordering. Here we show that this ordering can arise due to electrostatic interactions within the system. We show that the contact potential induces repulsive charge clouds in the substrate. The size-dependent repulsion and van der Waal attraction lead to ordered nanoscale structures.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Promethazine Adverse Events after Implementation of a Medication Shortage Interchange

BACKGROUND:Prochlorperazine and droperidol were commonly used antiemetics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center– Presbyterian Hospital until a shortage of prochlorperazine occurred and a black box warning was added to droperidol prescribing information. Subsequently, promethazine was selected as the approved intravenous antiemetic for therapeutic interchange in December 2001. Promethazine use and adverse drug events (ADEs) were investigated following review of a serious ADE that identified promethazine use as a probable contributing factor.OBJECTIVE:To illustrate ADEs associated with promethazine and characterize high-risk patients.METHODS:An ADE database analysis identified promethazine ADEs reported from 2000 to 2003. Promethazine utilization and ADEs were compared with those of other antiemetics during the pre- and post-interchange periods.RESULTS:Promethazine utilization increased significantly during the post-interchange period compared with all other antiemetics (p < 0.001). Promethazine AD...