cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Formation of perovskite phase mixed metal oxides via thermal decomposition of metal-organic complexes with bifunctional ligands

Single-source metal precursors designed to form crystalline perovskite phase mixed metal oxides at low temperatures have been synthesized using α-hydroxycarboxylates and alkoxides as ligands. Divalent salts of Ba, Sr, Ca and Pb, [A(O2CCR2OH)2], R = H, Me, were formed from the reaction between ACO3 and HO2CCR2OH in which the hydroxyl group is free to react with metal alkoxide compounds B(OR′)4 where B=Ti, Zr, Sn. These compounds react to eliminate two equivalents of alcohol producing precursors with fixed stoichiometry as shown by the equation: A(O2CCR2OH)2+B(OR′)4 → A(O2CCR2O)2B(OR′)2+2HOR′. The reaction product is only slightly soluble in pyridine, however upon hydrolysis these compounds form clear solutions from which yellow powders can be isolated by removal of the solvent. Thermolysis of these powders in the temperature range 300–350°C yields perovskite ABO3. Aqueous solutions of these powders can also be used to form sub-micron sized particles of ABO3 materials via aerosol processing techniques. In control experiments it was shown that Pb(O2CCH2OPh)2 does not react with metal alkoxide compounds. As a result perovskite PbTiO3 is not formed below 550°C. Solutions for spin coating thin films can be formed by dissolution of the powder in ethanol, but the crystallization behavior is quite different compared to the bulk powders.
Minimizing effects of ‘liability of foreignness’: Response strategies of foreign firms in the United States

Abstract While anecdotal and research evidence exists supporting the difficulties faced by foreign firms in host nation environments due to liability of foreignness, it is clear that many foreign firms have been successfully operating in the U.S. over the years. This study seeks to understand the strategies foreign firms use to cope with liabilities of foreignness in an alien environment and compete successfully with domestic firms, specifically through boundary spanning. Using a sample of 3861 firms in the U.S., we find that foreign firms on the average underperform compared to domestic firms. We also find these firms take a differing strategic posture to cope with the disadvantages of being a foreign firm compared to domestic rivals. Multiple mediation models indicate that once this strategic posture of foreign firms is controlled for, performance differentials do not exist between foreign and domestic firms.
Choose sunwest: One airline's organizational communication strategies in a campaign against the teamsters union

This article presents a qualitative text analysis of persuasive documents written by a major U.S. airline in a 2004 counter-campaign against the Teamsters union. The methodology for this study is based on Stephen Toulmin's argument model, including his "double triad" and his interpretation of artistic proofs, which parallel the three classical rhetorical appeals. Actual corporate documents are featured in this article, supported by content from management conference calls that were attended by the researchers. The article concludes with implications for teaching and research in the field of technical and professional communication.
What’s in a contrast class?

the earlier counter-example works for this reading too. There's a world in which none of the xi exists, namely the world containing o only, but no null world. And again, any model that contains these seven worlds but no null world serves equally well as a counter-example, and this is the case more generally for all finite n. So even the stronger reading of (A3*) does not make the argument come out deductively valid. The xi might have all jointly failed to exist without the null world existing. Thus on both readings of its third premiss, the subtraction argument is invalid.1
The Mg2GeO4 olivine-spinel phase transition

Enthalpies and entropies of transition for the Mg2GeO4 olivine-spinel transformation have been determined from self-consistency analyses of Dachille and Roy's (1960), Hensen's (1977) and Shiota et al.'s (1981) phase boundary studies. When all three data sets are analyzed simultaneously,ΔH973 andΔS973 are constrained between −14000 to −15300 J mol−1 and −13.0 to −14.1·J mol−1 K−1, respectively. High-temperature solution calorimetric experiments completed on both polymorpha yield a value of −14046±1366 J mol−1 forΔH973. Kieffer-type lattice vibrational models of Mg2GeO4 olivine and spinel based on newly-measured infrared and Raman spectra predict a value of −13.3±0.6 J mol−1 K−1 forΔS1000. The excellent agreement between these three independent determinations ofΔH andΔS suggests that the synthesis runs of Shiota et al. (1981) at high pressures and temperatures bracket equilibrium conditions. In addition, no configurational disorder of Mg and Ge was needed to obtain the consistent parameters quoted. The Raman spectrum and X-ray diffractogram show that little disorder, if any, is present in Mg2GeO4 spinel synthesized at 0.2 GPa and 973–1048 K.
State-of-the-Science on Postacute Rehabilitation: Measurement and Methodologies for Assessing Quality and Establishing Policy for Postacute Care

We present an overview of commonly used postacute outcome measures and review new methodologies for postacute assessment. We question the impact that current measurement has had on improvement of quality of postacute care (PAC) and its utility in informing health policy. We suggest that Donabedian's model of health care quality should be endorsed for measurement. Specifically, measurement of outcomes and process should be used jointly in assessment of PAC.
Amplification of a Laser Beam for the Fast Ignition of a Thermonuclear Target

It is proposed to simultaneously compress a thermonuclear target and amplify a laser beam by a single z-pinch discharge. The laser beam is imploded and amplified by a cylindrical convergent shock wave inside a capillary, transforming it into a soft X-ray pulse for the fast ignition of the thermonuclear target. The target is compressed inside a liner by the z-pinch current. The capillary is attached to one end of the cylindrical target, and is protected by a radial wire spoke array fast opening switch against its premature implosion by the convergent shock wave. The z-pinch can be stabilized by placing it into a powerful vortex.
Lung nodule detection on thoracic computed tomography images: Preliminary evaluation of a computer-aided diagnosis system

We are developing a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system for lung nodule detection on thoracic helical computed tomography (CT) images. In the first stage of this CAD system, lung regions are identified by a k-means clustering technique. Each lung slice is classified as belonging to the upper, middle, or the lower part of the lung volume. Within each lung region, structures are segmented again using weighted k-means clustering. These structures may include true lung nodules and normal structures consisting mainly of blood vessels. Rule-based classifiers are designed to distinguish nodules and normal structures using 2D and 3D features. After rule-based classification, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is used to further reduce the number of false positive (FP) objects. We performed a preliminary study using 1454 CT slices from 34 patients with 63 lung nodules. When only LDA classification was applied to the segmented objects, the sensitivity was 84% (53/63) with 5.48 (7961/1454) FP objects per slice. When rule-based classification was used before LDA, the free response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curve improved over the entire sensitivity and specificity ranges of interest. In particular, the FP rate decreased to 1.74 (2530/1454) objects per slice at the same sensitivity. Thus, compared to FP reduction with LDA alone, the inclusion of rule-based classification lead to an improvement in detection accuracy for the CAD system. These preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of our approach to lung nodule detection and FP reduction on CT images.
Influence of temperature and water potential interactions on the germinability of Cylindrocladium crotalariae microsclerotia in naturally infested soil

Abstract Microsclerotia of C. crotalariae in naturally-infested soils were placed in the field during late fall at depths of 5, 13 or 25 cm and exposed for 1-yr. Germinable populations of microsclerotia declined rapidly at all soil depths during the winter, leveled off during April, May and June, and declined gradually from July to November. Soil at the 5-cm depth was frozen in the winter and exposed to 0°C or lower for numerous days, whereas soil at the 25-cm depth was saturated and exposed extensively to chilling (≦ 5°C) temperatures. In laboratory trials, chilling plus saturation of soil with water was highly detrimental to microsclerotium germinability, and similar in its effect to soil freezing. Chilling alone had a more moderate effect on microsclerotium germinability. High soil temperatures (≧ 30°C) were common in the field in the upper soil horizons during the late summer months. In laboratory tests, high soil temperatures (30, 35 and 40°C) greatly decreased microsclerotium germinability compared to moderate soil temperature (25°C), and the effects of high temperatures were much greater at low (−22.4 to −23.5 MPa) water potentials than at high (−0.03 to −1.5 MPa) water potentials.
Generating Optimal Monitors for Extended Regular Expressions

Abstract Ordinary software engineers and programmers can easily understand regular patterns, as shown by the immense interest in and the success of scripting languages like Perl, based essentially on regular expression pattern matching. We believe that regular expressions provide an elegant and powerful specification language also for monitoring requirements , because an execution trace of a program is in fact a string of states. Extended regular expressions (EREs) add complementation to regular expressions, which brings additional benefits by allowing one to specify patterns that must not occur during an execution. Complementation gives one the power to express patterns on strings more compactly. In this paper we present a technique to generate optimal monitors from EREs. Our monitors are deterministic finite automata (DFA) and our novel contribution is to generate them using a modern coalgebraic technique called coinduction . Based on experiments with our implementation, which can be publicly tested and used over the web, we believe that our technique is more efficient than the simplistic method based on complementation of automata which can quickly lead to a highly-exponential state explosion.
The training and careers of regional anesthesia fellows--1983-2002.

Background and Objectives The education and subsequent careers of regional anesthesia fellows have not been examined but may provide insight into improving future fellowship training and/or the future of the subspecialty. Methods Regional anesthesia fellows educated during a 20-year period (1983–2002) were asked to complete a comprehensive survey that detailed their training, current professional setting, and use of regional anesthesia, and how they foresee the future of regional anesthesia. A separate survey of academic anesthesiology chairs assessed the role of and need for regional anesthesiologists in teaching departments. Results Twelve regional anesthesia fellowship programs in the United States and Canada provided contact information on 176 former fellows. The survey response rate from those practicing in North America was 49% (77/156). Two of the 12 responding institutions have trained 68% of regional anesthesia fellows. Of respondents, 61% are or have been in academic practice. Regional anesthesia remains an integral part of most respondents’ current practice, as evidenced by significant use of regional techniques, active involvement in subspecialty societies, and participation in continuing medical education programs. Academic chairs indicate that fellowship-trained regional anesthesiologists play important roles in resident education and are in demand by academic departments. Conclusions This report details how regional anesthesia fellows from 1983 to 2002 were trained and how they currently practice and examines their insights regarding the strengths and weaknesses of past and future regional anesthesia education.
Specificity and randomness: structure–function relationships in neural circuits

A fundamental but unsolved problem in neuroscience is how connections between neurons might underlie information processing in central circuits. Building wiring diagrams of neural networks may accelerate our understanding of how they compute. But even if we had wiring diagrams, it is critical to know what neurons in a circuit are doing: their physiology. In both the retina and cerebral cortex, a great deal is known about topographic specificity, such as lamination and cell-type specificity of connections. Little, however, is known about connections as they relate to function. Here, we review how advances in functional imaging and electron microscopy have recently allowed the examination of relationships between sensory physiology and synaptic connections in cortical and retinal circuits.
Journey to adulthood

The Growth and Development of Birds. By Raymond J. O'Connor. Wiley: 1984. Pp.315. 22, 34.15.
The normal range—A common misuse

Abstract The conventional ‘normal range’ is an unsatisfactory yardstick for decisions. The best dividing lines between the ‘normal’ and the ‘diseased’ or between ‘those who need not be investigated farther’ and ‘those who do’ depend on the disease under consideration, and must be determined by taking account of the distributions and sizes of the normal and diseased groups, and the costs of making the wrong decision. No simple solution is proposed, but in practice it is evident that the ‘normal range’ provides information which is mostly irrelevant, and is largely ignored by the experienced clinician. The proposed quantitative approach has limitations (though usefulness of information which can neither be quantitated nor classified has probably been exaggerated), but the subject does call for exploration and the collection of the necessary data particularly in view of the growing promise of the value of computers as adjuvants to diagnosis especially in the realms of data retrieval and discriminant analysis.
Relationship of O(+) Field-Aligned Flows and Densities to Convection Speed in the Polar Cap at 5000 km Altitude

Measurements of thermal O(+) ion number fluxes, densities, field-aligned velocities, and convective velocities from the Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment (TIDE) on POLAR obtained near 5000 km altitude over the Southern hemisphere are examined. We find that the O(+) parallel velocities and densities are strongly related to the convection speeds. The polar cap densities decrease rapidly with convection speed, with a linear least square fit formula to bin averaged data giving the relationship log(N(sub (sub _)O(+))) = -0.33* V(sub (sub _)conv)) + 0.07, with a linear regression coefficient of r = -0.96. The parallel bulk flow velocities are on average slightly downward (0 - 2 km/s) for V(sub (sub _)conv) 2.5 km/s. We interpret these relationships in terms of the Cleft Ion Fountain paradigm [e.g., Horwitz and Lockwood, 1985]. The densities decline with convection speed owing to increased spreading and resulting dilution from the restricted cleft source over the polar cap area with convection speed. The parallel velocities tend to be downward for low convection speeds because they fall earthward after initial cleft injection at shorter distances into the polar cap for low convection speeds. At the higher convection speeds, the initially-upward flows are transported further into the polar cap and thus occupy a larger area of the polar cap.
Microcalorimetric measurements of differential heats of adsorption on reactive catalyst surfaces

Abstract Techniques are presented for measurement of differential heats of adsorption on reactive catalyst surfaces using heat-flux calorimetry. Samples are prepared ex-situ in ultra-pure flowing gases and then sealed in Pyrex capsules. Special calorimetric cells are employed to break the sample capsule after thermal equilibration of the sample with the calorimeter. In this manner the clean sample is exposed rapidly to the adsorbing gas, minimizing surface contamination. Initial heats of CO and H 2 adsorption at 403K on Pt SiO 2 catalysts obtained using the present technique (135 and 100 kJ/mol. respectively) were in agreement with results reported in the literature using standard calorimetric procedures. Initial heats measured in this study for CO adsorption at 308 K on reduced Ni powders (120 kJ/mol) and on nickel samples containing metallic potassium (200 kJ/mol) corresponded to values in the literature from ultrahigh vacuum studies of CO adsorption on Ni single crystal surfaces. The initial heat of N 2 adsorption at 453 K on reduced iron determined in this study (200 kJ/mol) was in agreement with results obtained in ultrahigh vacuum measurements of metallic iron single crystal surfaces. These results, for catalyst systems that are sensitive to traces of oxygen-containing species, provide strong evidence that the experimental techniques employed in the present study allow clean metallic surfaces to be maintained during microcalorimetric adsorption studies.
Higher locoregional recurrence rate for triple-negative breast cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy

Breast cancer subtype, determined by expression of estrogen/progesterone receptor (ER/PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2, is predictive for prognosis. The importance of subtype to locoregional recurrence (LRR) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is unknown, particularly after adjuvant radiotherapy (RT). We retrospectively identified 160-breast cancer patients registered at Columbia University Medical Center from 1999 to 2012 treated with NAC, surgery and adjuvant RT. Patients were grouped by receptor status: hormone receptor positive (HR+) [(ER or PR+)/HER2−; n = 75], HER2+ (n = 46), or triple-negative (TNBC) [ER (−) PR (−) HER2 (−); n = 36]. The median follow-up was 28 months. 92.0% received an anthracycline-taxane based NAC and 80.4% of HER2+ patients received trastuzumab. All underwent surgical resection followed by RT. 15.6% had a pathologic complete response (pCR): 26% of HER2+, 5% of HR+, and 25% of TN. The actuarial rate of DM was 13.8% for the entire cohort, with equivalent rates by subtypes in non-pCR patients. The overall rate of LRR was 8%. However, the LRR rate was significantly higher for TNBC patients (22.2%) than HER2+ (5.6%) (p = 0.025) or HR+ (3.0%) (p = 0.037) in non-pCR group. In the pCR group, two patients had recurrence; one LRR and one a DM, both had TNBC. All LRR occurred in or near the radiation field. TNBC patients with < pCR to NAC have a significantly higher LRR rate as compared to other subtypes even with surgery and adjuvant RT. Our data support a need to further intensify local therapy in TNBC patients.
Transient analysis of a viscoelastic torsion pendulum: Error analysis

The error analysis for the transient torsion pendulum test is developed based on a linearized approximation. Tables are given for the efficient utilization of the equations in evaluating the accuracy range of the test data.
The Law of Nature in the Thought of Hugo Grotius

O ver the years numerous commentators have persisted in describing Hugo Grotius as a "modernist," characterizing him as a rationalist and a secularist who exemplified a drastic departure from medieval concepts of man and morality. Some have seen Grotius as one who attempted to postulate a theory of natural law disassociated from its traditional medieval tie with divine revelation; and yet they have labeled him as a secularist even though they recognized his conceptualism as falling within the context of natural religion. Others have indicated that his rationalism and secularism could be attributed to the fact that he sought to ground natural law in the rationality of man apart from any theological presuppositions.' A secularist-in the sense in which the word will be used
The Reciprocity of Shared Decisions Across the Care Spectrum.

The meaningful engagement of patients in treatment decisions is an ethical imperative. Yet how to involve patients in the clinical consent process for medical research remains less certain. While I...
A Brief Review of Airline Regulation

Regulation1 of the airline industry began in the 1920’s when the U.S government began to award contracts to the airlines for the carriage of mail. Airmail was the major source of revenues in the early days of the airline industry. The U.S. Post Office and the Interstate Commerce Commission played decisive roles in the evolution of the airline industry structure. However, the failure of existing regulatory schemes, coupled with increasing passenger demand for air transportation led congress to establish the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) in 1938. The CAB was granted extensive regulatory authority over airlines providing interstate airline service, along with the authority to award routes, regulate fares and assure safe airline operations.2
Short-term disruption in regional left ventricular electrical conduction patterns increases interstitial matrix metalloproteinase activity

Increased matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) abundance occurs with adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling in a number of cardiac disease states, including those induced by long-standing arrhythmias. ...
Clinical studies in the development of the dental height

Abstract 1. 1. Additional evidence has been presented that the teeth and jaws develop independently of each other. 2. 2. During the early years of life the downward growth of the temporal bone and the ramus length growth create the intermaxillary space for the eruption of the deciduous teeth. 3. 3. In ectodermal dysplasia with partial or complete anodontia, the intermaxillary space develops normally since there is no retardation in skeletal development. 4. 4. When there is a general retardation in skeletal development, as seen in pituitary dwarfism, the ramus length growth is markedly impaired and the intermaxillary space fails to increase. This contributes to the late eruption of teeth and decreases the vertical dimension of the maxilla and the size of the body of the mandible. 5. 5. When anodontia occurs in the anterior part of the mouth in young normal children, it is mechanically impossible for the teeth to wedge the jaws apart. This proves that the intermaxillary space which develops is to be attributed to the downward growth of the temporal bone and some ramus length growth. 6. 6. The findings in Case 2 (ectodermal dysplasia) and Case 3 (pituitary dwarfism) indicate that there are specific genetic determinants for the teeth, the maxilla, and the mandible. These observations suggest that the development of the intermaxillary space is predetermined by hereditary factors. In the absence of disease or trauma, normal development can be anticipated.
Correlation Between Means of Parts and Wholes

P(R 2 Ro) = II i -1 j =i The ci’s must however be such that all the d,’s are non-negative or, equivalently, all the partial sums of the ti's taken from the right are non-negative. The case where all the di’s or partial sums are non-positive can be handled by a change in sign. In a simple birth or simple death process, the time required to go from any population size to any other population size follows a waiting-time order statistic distribution (Mantel and Pasternack) and when the change in population size is unity that distribution, except for a scale factor, is the simple waiting time distribution. In consequence, the result above may be used to get the distribution of the ratio of the time required for the population to make a unit change to the time (or linear combination of times) required for a change of any size in an independent series, or if the same series is employed for the second change (or changes) of arbitrary size, it (each change) must have
Optimum lift-drag ratio for a ram wing tube vehicle

Munk's theorem specifying the downwash condition for minimum drag is generalized to include lifting surfaces operating in proximity to solid boundaries. A simple method for finding the optimum lift distribution on a wing above an infinite flat plane is developed. The optimum configuration for a ram wing in a tube is found, and by means of a simple transformation this is mapped into the previously obtained solution for a wing in ground effect. An expression for the induced power required is calculated, and it is shown that there is a favorable effect on this requirement for the case of tube vehicles which have significant blockage ratios. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate that at very small clearances the theory must be modified to include viscous effects, and because of these effects ram wings in tubes usually have lower induced power requirements than the inviscid theory would indicate. Nomenclature AR = aspect ratio A t = cross-sectional area of tube b = wing span = vehicle width Cof — induced drag coefficient CL = lift coefficient Di = induced drag F = volume flux
Outcomes of pregnancies with a low-lying placenta diagnosed on second-trimester sonography.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine how often a low-lying placenta, defined as a placenta ending within 2 cm of the internal cervical os but not covering it, diagnosed sonographically in the second trimester resolves before delivery. Methods After Institutional Review Board approval was obtained, 1416 pregnancies with a sonographically diagnosed low-lying placenta between 16 and 24 weeks' gestation were identified from our ultrasound database over a 5-year period. We reviewed medical records to determine the gestational age at which the low-lying placenta was first diagnosed, the gestational age at which the placenta was no longer sonographically low lying or covering the cervix, and, of those whose placentas that never cleared the internal cervical os sonographically, how many went on to cesarean delivery as a result of placental location. Results In total, 1220 of 1240 low-lying placentas (98.4%) that had sonographic follow up resolved to no previa before delivery; 89.9% of placentas cleared the cervix by 32 weeks, and 95.9% cleared by 36 weeks. Twenty patients (1.6%) had persistent sonographic placenta previa or a low-lying placenta at or near term, including 5 complete previas, 7 marginal previas, 5 low-lying placentas, and 3 vasa previas; all had cesarean deliveries. Conclusions A low-lying placenta sonographically diagnosed in the second trimester typically resolves by the mid third trimester. Only rarely (1.6% of the time) does it persist to term or near term. Follow-up sonography is warranted to diagnose persistent placenta previa or vasa previa, a complication of a low-lying placenta.
Lexical decision as an endophenotype for reading comprehension: An exploration of an association

Based on numerous suggestions in the literature, we evaluated lexical decision (LD) as a putative endophenotype for reading comprehension by investigating heritability estimates and segregation analyses parameter estimates for both of these phenotypes. Specifically, in a segregation analysis of a large sample of families, we established that there is little to no overlap between genes contributing to LD and reading comprehension and that the genetic mechanism behind LD derived from this analysis appears to be more complex than that for reading comprehension. We conclude that in our sample, LD is not a good candidate as an endophenotype for reading comprehension, despite previous suggestions from the literature. Based on this conclusion, we discuss the role and benefit of the endophenotype approach in studies of complex human cognitive functions.
“Profiling Sterols in Cerebrotendinous Xanthomatosis: Utility of Girard Derivatization and High Resolution Exact Mass LC-ESI-MSn Analysis”

In this study we profile free 3-oxo sterols present in plasma from patients affected with the neurodegenerative disorder of sterol and bile acid metabolism cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX), utilizing a combination of charge-tagging and LC-ESI-MS(n) performed with an LTQ-Orbitrap Discovery instrument. In addition, we profile sterols in plasma from 24-month-old cyp27A1 gene knockout mice lacking the enzyme defective in CTX. Charge-tagging was accomplished by reaction with cationic Girard's P (GP) reagent 1-(carboxymethyl) pyridinium chloride hydrazide, an approach uniquely suited to studying the 3-oxo sterols that accumulate in CTX, as Girard's reagent reacts with the sterol oxo moiety to form charged hydrazone derivatives. The ability to selectively generate GP-tagged 3-oxo-4-ene and 3-oxo-5(H) saturated plasma sterols enabled ESI-MS(n) analysis of these sterols in the presence of a large excess (3 orders of magnitude) of cholesterol. Often cholesterol detected in biological samples makes it challenging to quantify minor sterols, with cholesterol frequently removed prior to analysis. We derivatized plasma (10 μl) without SPE removal of cholesterol to ensure detection of all sterols present in plasma. We were able to measure 4-cholesten-3-one in plasma from untreated CTX patients (1207±302 ng/ml, mean±SD, n=4), as well as other intermediates in a proposed pathway to 5α-cholestanol. In addition, a number of bile acid precursors were identified in plasma using this technique. GP-tagged sterols were identified utilizing high resolution exact mass spectra (±5 ppm), as well as MS(2) ([M](+)→) spectra that possessed characteristic neutral loss of 79Da (pyridine) fragment ions, and MS(3) ([M](+)→[M-79](+)→) spectra that provided additional structurally informative fragment ions.
Helper function of memory CD8+ T cells: Heterologous CD8 + T cells support the induction of therapeutic cancer immunity

In contrast to the well-established efficacy of preventive vaccines, the effectiveness of therapeutic vaccines remains limited. To develop effective vaccination regimens against cancer, we have analyzed the effect of effector and memory CD8+ T cells on the ability of dendritic cells to mediate the immunologic and antitumor effects of vaccination. We show that in contrast to effector CD8+ T cells that kill antigen-carrying dendritic cells, IFNgamma-producing memory CD8+ T cells act as "helper" cells, supporting the ability of dendritic cells to produce interleukin-12 (IL-12) p70. Promoting the interaction of tumor antigen-carrying dendritic cells with memory-type "heterologous" (tumor-irrelevant) CD8+ T cells strongly enhances the IL-12p70-dependent immunogenic and therapeutic effects of vaccination in the animals bearing established tumors. Our data show that the suppressive and helper functions of CD8+ T cells are differentially expressed at different phases of CD8+ T-cell responses. Selective performance of helper functions by memory (in contrast to effector) CD8+ T cells helps to explain the phenomenon of immune memory and facilitates the design of effective therapeutic vaccines against cancer and chronic infections.
High-speed characterization for optical telecommunication signals

Optical telecommunication systems constantly evolve toward higher bit rates, requiring the modulation and detection of higher-bandwidth optical waves. Commercial systems operating at 40 Gb/s are now available and research and development efforts are targeting higher bit rates for which optical pulses with picosecond-range duration are used. Chromatic dispersion, nonlinearities and amplified spontaneous emission from optical amplifiers are sources of transmission impairments that must be characterized and mitigated. Advanced modulation formats rely on the modulation of not only the amplitude of an optical wave (e.g., on/off keying), but also its phase (e.g., phase-shift keying) in order to optimize the transmission capabilities. The importance of the characterization of the properties of optical sources and components and the specificities of the optical telecommunication environment with respect to ultrafast optics are emphasized. Various diagnostics measuring the electric field of optical sources in the telecommunication environment are described. Sampling diagnostics capable of measuring eye diagrams and constellation diagrams of high-bit-rate, data-encoded sources are presented. Various optical pulse characterization techniques that meet the sensitivity requirements imposed by the telecommunication environment are also described.
Local housing plans: Learning from Great Britain

As the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development refines the new Consolidated Plans, which replace the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategies, it should examine Britain’s experience with local housing plans. Case studies of four best-practice cities—Glasgow, Dundee, Birmingham, and York—highlight the value of these plans in assessing the success of cities in their new “enabler” role. Five key lessons for American cities emerge from this article. First, these plans can serve multiple roles beyond bids to central government. Second, local housing plans should address market-rate as well as below-market-rate housing issues. Third, American housing plans should use a wider range of data sources than census information alone and should incorporate housing market analyses dealing with specific areas and population groups. Fourth, the stress on implementation and strategy in British plans should be emulated. Finally, aspects of Britain’s competitive bidding system should be considered for implementation.
Pension Fund Performance and Costs: Small is Beautiful

Using the CEM pension fund data set, we document the cost structure and performance of a large sample of US pension funds. To date, self-reporting biases and a deficiency of comprehensive return and cost data have severely hindered pension fund performance studies. The bias-free CEM dataset resolves these issues and provides detailed information on fund-specific returns, benchmarks and costs for all types of pension plans and equity mandates. We find that pension fund cost levels are substantially lower than mutual fund fees. The domestic equity investments of US pension funds tend to generate abnormal returns (after expenses and trading costs) close to zero or slightly positive, contrasting the average underperformance of mutual funds. However, small cap mandates of defined benefit funds have outperformed their benchmarks by about 3% a year. While larger scale brings costs advantages, liquidity limitations seem to allow only smaller funds, and especially small cap mandates, to outperform their benchmarks.
ArrayQ: Querying Microarray Expressions for Relevant Pathways

One of the principal features of DNA microarrays is the volume of quantitative data that they generate. As a result, the major challenges in the field are how to handle, interpret and make use of these data. Currently, there are a large number of tools available which perform statistical analysis for constructing a significant gene set from the microarray data. There are others who given a set of genes, figure out the pathways, protein-protein interaction and other biological process that are represented by these genes. In this paper, we describe a comprehensive web-based tool for analyzing DNA microarray data. Our goal is to bring the database and statistical aspect of constructing a significant gene set into a single platform. We also propose a novel method for representing the global picture of interaction between pathways.
Adenocarcinoma corpus et colli: analysis of diagnostic variables.

Abstract Between January 1973 and December 1983, 469 patients with carcinoma of the endometrium were seen at this institution. Eighty-one patients were identified with adenocarcinoma involving both the uterine body and the cervix. Patients were divided into three groups for evaluation. Group A (n = 58) had a positive cervical biopsy or endocervical curettage, but a normal-appearing cervix at clinical examination. Group B (n = 18) had gross tumor involving the cervix which was confirmed by biopsy. Group C (n = 5) had unsuspected cervical involvement revealed at hysterectomy. Fourteen Group A patients received preoperative radiation therapy. Thirty of the 44 Group A patients (68.2%) who did not receive preoperative radiation, had no involvement of the cervix by tumor in the hysterectomy specimen. Seventy-six patients were eligible for follow-up of at least 18 months. There were 24 recurrences among these 76 patients. Recurrence was more common with advancing grade and with increasing myometrial invasion. Pelvic failures occurred with comparable frequency in both Groups A and B. Only 4 of 11 patients who were found to have extrauterine disease at surgery are still alive. In this study, we found that (a) endocervical curettage has a significant false-positive rate, (b) both histologic grade and volume of cervical involvement should be considered in treatment planning, (c) primary operation should be considered in the management of selected patients with Stage II endometrial carcinoma, and (d) extrauterine disease is a grave prognostic factor.
Electricity-producing bacterial communities in microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are not yet commercialized but they show great promise as a method of water treatment and as power sources for environmental sensors. The power produced by these systems is currently limited, primarily by high internal (ohmic) resistance. However, improvements in the system architecture will soon result in power generation that is dependent on the capabilities of the microorganisms. The bacterial communities that develop in these systems show great diversity, ranging from primarily delta-Proteobacteria that predominate in sediment MFCs to communities composed of alpha-, beta-, gamma- or delta-Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and uncharacterized clones in other types of MFCs. Much remains to be discovered about the physiology of these bacteria capable of exocellular electron transfer, collectively defined as a community of "exoelectrogens". Here, we review the microbial communities found in MFCs and the prospects for this emerging bioenergy technology.
Scaling up accurate phylogenetic reconstruction from gene-order data

Motivation: Phylogenetic reconstruction from gene-order data has attracted increasing attention from both biologists and computer scientists over the last few years. Methods used in reconstruction include distance-based methods (such as neighbor-joining), parsimony methods using sequence-based encodings, Bayesian approaches, and direct optimization. The latter, pioneered by Sankoff and extended by us with the software suite GRAPPA, is the most accurate approach, but cannot handle more than about 15 genomes of limited size (e.g. organelles). Results: We report here on our successful efforts to scale up direct optimization through a two-step approach: the first step decomposes the dataset into smaller pieces and runs the direct optimization (GRAPPA) on the smaller pieces, while the second step builds a tree from the results obtained on the smaller pieces. We used the sophisticated disk-covering method (DCM) pioneered by Warnow and her group, suitably modified to take into account the computational limitations of GRAPPA. We find that DCMGRAPPA scales gracefully to at least 1000 genomes of af ew hundred genes each and retains surprisingly high accuracy throughout the range: in our experiments, the topological error rate rarely exceeded a few percent. Thus, reconstruction based on gene-order data can now be accomplished with high accuracy on datasets of significant size. Availability: All of our software is available in source form under GPL at http://www.compbio.unm.edu
Determination of natural Sr and 90Sr in environmental samples by ETV-ICP-MS

The determination of Sr in environmental samples by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) is described. Two ETV devices, a commercially available HGA-600MS graphite tube unit and a home-made W-coil, were examined in combination with DRC technology to remove isobaric interferences when measuring 90Sr. Best results were obtained using the HGA-600MS device. Interferences from Y and Zr could be removed when these elements were present at concentrations up to 1 and 100 mg kg−1, respectively, an improvement of 15 and 30-fold over solution nebulization. Temporal separation of analyte and isobaric interferents makes possible the use of simplified sample preparation procedures, substantially increasing sample throughout and reducing the chances of analyte loss or contamination. For the graphite-based HGA system, procedural LODs of 3.5 pg g−1 could be obtained with precision better than 7% at 350 pg g−1. The accuracy of the method was validated by determination of natural Sr in NRC CRM MESS-3 (Marine Sediment), LUTS-1 (Non Defatted Lobster Hepatopancreas), PACS-2 (Marine Sediment) and SLRS-4 (Riverine Water) and by recovery of 90Sr spikes added to these matrices.
Massive duodenal variceal bleed; complication of extra hepatic portal hypertension: Endoscopic management and literature review

Bleeding from duodenal varices is reported to be a catastrophic and often fatal event. Most of the cases in the literature involve patients with underlying cirrhosis. However, approximately one quarter of duodenal variceal bleeds is caused by extrahepatic portal hypertension and they represent a unique population given their lack of liver dysfunction. The authors present a case where a 61-year-old male with history of remote crush injury presented with bright red blood per rectum and was found to have bleeding from massive duodenal varices. Injection sclerotherapy with ethanolamine was performed and the patient experienced a favorable outcome with near resolution of his varices on endoscopic follow-up. The authors conclude that sclerotherapy is a reasonable first line therapy and review the literature surrounding the treatment of duodenal varices secondary to extrahepatic portal hypertension.
American Capitalism: Two Visions

(1978). American Capitalism: Two Visions. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 953-955.
First Sale Doctrine Put to the Test

Copyright law’s First Sale doctrine allows libraries to exist. Found at Title 17, Section 109 of the United States Code, the doctrine allows the owner of a particular copy of a work to sell, lend, give away, or destroy his or her particular copy without the permission of the work’s copyright owner. Without this exception, the copyright owner’s right to control distribution of a copyrighted work would serve to prevent libraries from lending their books, or me from selling my old CDs on eBay.While the First Sale doctrine has been a part of copyright law for nearly 100 years, it is still somewhat controversial. Every time a library lends a book (or DVD, CD, audiobook, etc.) to a patron, it becomes very likely that the patron will not end up purchasing the item. As a result, the copyright owner does not receive any additional income for their creative efforts.
Plasma amino acids in experimental acute hepatic failure and their relationship to brain tryptophan.

1. Sixteen plasma amino acids were measured serially in an experimental model of acute hepatic failure produced in the pig by devascularization of the liver. 2. Significant increases in the concentration of glycine, alanine and methionine were observed. 3. Altered concentrations in plasma of neutral amino acids which compete with tryptophan for transport into the brain had no apparent influence on brain tryptophan concentration.
Discovering New Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease by Repurposing Approved Medications

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The greatest risk factor for AD is age and as many countries are experiencing an aging population, the expected rise in AD threatens to have serious medical and socioeconomic impact in the coming decades. The only approved medications for AD are symptomatic and there are no currently available disease modifying treatments. Hence, a disease modifying treatment is desperately needed for AD not only for proper care and management of affected patients, but also to reduce society's socioeconomic burden. Developing novel compounds for any indication is a time, effort, and money consuming endeavor and most treatments never make it to market. Other research and development strategies are needed, especially for the treatment of AD. We provide a review of the current literature in assessing possibilities of repurposing medications currently used for non-AD indications. Many different compounds from many different pharmacological classes have already been studied in an AD context. We provide a "pragmatic drug repurposing score" for each of these compounds based on type of studies conducted, number of possible mechanisms of action, efficacy in AD and other neurodegenerative disease studies, tolerability profile, and their ability to cross the blood brain barrier. The current data suggest several compounds worthy of further study as treatments for AD. Compounds with the highest scores include lithium, minocycline, exenatide, valproic acid, methylene blue, and nicotine.
Magnetic Susceptibility at Zero Temperature for the One-Dimensional Hubbard Model

The magnetic susceptibility at absolute-zero temperature for the one-dimensional Hubbard model is studied exactly as a function of the concentration of electrons by using Lieb and Wu's theory for this system. Our analysis essentially follows Griffiths's method for the magnetic susceptibility of the one-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet, and is a generalization of Takahashi's calculation to the systems with an arbitrary concentration of electrons. The ground-state energy and the magnitude of local moments at each site are also studied. Combined with the results on the susceptibility, they should suggest how the effect of the Coulomb interaction on the properties of the system at low temperatures changes with the concentration of electrons.
Pathofibrillogenesis and Amyloid Proteins

The amyloidoses are a group of diseases or conditions which by definition share the common property of the amyloid beta fibril. This classification on the basis of a physical property brings together diseases of very diverse etiologies, a fact we have come to appreciate with our increasing knowledge of amyloid protein chemistry and molecular biology. Genetic, neoplastic, metabolic, and perhaps normal physiologic mechanisms can all lead to forms of amyloidosis. The question then is whether an understanding of the pathogenesis of any one of these conditions can be obtained by looking at factors which are common to them all. In addition, are pathogenic factors which are obvious in one form of amyloidosis worthy of consideration in other forms as well? For this unitarian approach to pathofibrillogenesis we must start with the common properties.
Isolated small bowel transplantation outcomes and the impact of immunosuppressants: Experience of a single transplant center.

Isolated small bowel transplantation outcomes and the impact of immunosuppressants: Experience of a single transplant center