cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The influence of water removal on the strength and toughness of cortical bone.

Abstract Although the effects of dehydration on the mechanical behavior of cortical bone are known, the underlying mechanisms for such effects are not clear. We hypothesize that the interactions of water with the collagen and mineral phases each have a unique influence on mechanical behavior. To study this, strength, toughness, and stiffness were measured with three-point bend specimens made from the mid-diaphysis of human cadaveric femurs and divided into six test groups: control (hydrated), drying in a vacuum oven at room temperature (21 °C) for 30 min and at 21, 50, 70, or 110 °C for 4 h. The experimental data indicated that water loss significantly increased with each increase in drying condition. Bone strength increased with a 5% loss of water by weight, which was caused by drying at 21 °C for 4 h. With water loss exceeding 9%, caused by higher drying temperatures (⩾70 °C), strength actually decreased. Drying at 21 °C (irrespective of time in vacuum) significantly decreased bone toughness through a loss of plasticity. However, drying at 70 °C and above caused toughness to decrease through decreases in strength and fracture strain. Stiffness linearly increased with an increase in water loss. From an energy perspective, the water–mineral interaction is removed at higher temperatures than the water–collagen interaction. Therefore, we speculate that loss of water in the collagen phase decreases the toughness of bone, whereas loss of water associated with the mineral phase decreases both bone strength and toughness.
Wafer Bonding Using Dielectric Polymer Thin Films in 3D Integration

A key process in our approach to monolithic three-dimensional (3D) integration is the bonding of 200-mm wafers using dielectric polymer thin films as bonding glues. After discussing the desired properties of polymer thin films, we describe how bonding protocols are evaluated using silicon and glass wafers. After bonding, the fraction of bonded area was inspected optically and a razor blade method was used to indicate bonding strength. Thermal stability and bonding integrity were evaluated using thermal cycling and backside grinding and polishing. To date, we have studied benzocyclobutene (BCB), Flare™, and methylsilsesquioxane (MSSQ) and Parylene-N as bonding glues. Wafer pairs bonded using BCB showed a larger fraction of bonded area, and those using Flare indicated higher thermal stability. Both BCB and Flare glues provided good bonding integrity after backside grinding tests. Changes in the chemical structures of BCB and Flare glue during bonding were analyzed using FTIR in order to understand the bonding mechanism and to improve the bonding process.
ITA Sensor Fabric

The diverse sensor types and networking technologies commonly used in fielded sensro networks provide a unique set of challenges [1] in the areas of sensor identification, interoperability, and sensor data consumability. The ITA Senor Fabric is a middleware infrastructure - developed as part of the International Technology Alliance (ITA)[2] in Network and Information Science - that addresses these challenges by providing unified access to, and management of, sensor networks. The Fabric spans the network from command and control, through forward operating bases, and out to mobile forces and fielded sensors, maximizing the availability and utility of intelligence information to users.
A note on the various strain measures at large compressive deformations

Comparaison de 5 methodes de calcul des deformations. On met en evidence l'importance de l'identification du ou des mecanismes exacts de la deformation ainsi que de son intensite
Electron microscopy and microanalysis of ceramics

Abstract We live and work in a world that depends on materials and their performance. The science of materials has developed to a position of great understanding, such that materials can be microscopically tailored to provide specific sets of properties. The practical applications of newly designed materials depend on market interest and costs. In the final analysis it is the processing of materials that remains the key factor. In order to facilitate technical advances, the relationships between processing, microstructure, and performance must be established. This task is generic to all materials whether for mechanical or physical property goals. Central to such understanding is the role played by electron optical, diffraction and analytical methods of characterization in their specificity to synthesis almost to the atomic level.1–3 This paper provides some examples of such applications to several ceramic systems, and attempts to indicate the generic nature of many problems to be solved.
Generation and reactivity of bis(2,6-diethylphenyl)germanium(II)

Abstract The title intermediate ( 3a ) is produced on photolysis of hexakis(2,6-diethyl-phenyl)cyclotrigermane ( 1 ) or bis(2,6-diethylphenyl)bis(trimethylsilyl)germane ( 4 ) as evidenced by trapping experiments, and thermally dimerizes to tetrakis(2,6-diethyl-phenyl)digermene ( 2a ). Diarylgermylenes such as 3a do not form stable triethylamine adducts (e.g. 5a ) as has been previously reported.
Female circumcision: A report of four adolescents

PIP: Although female circumcision is not traditionally performed in the US, health professionals must consider the possibility when seeing a female patient from central Africa that she may have been circumcised. A genital examination should therefore be part of such women's routine health maintenance. Pertinent genitourinary symptoms which may be secondary to the circumcision should be elicited. When pelvic exam is difficult or impossible in a patient, pelvic sonography can supplement rectal exam when pelvic pathology is suspected. Some adolescents may desire reconstructive surgery, while others will want only symptomatic treatment if complications arise. It is also important to create a comfortable environment in which relevant psychosocial issues may be discussed as the young women become acculturated into Western society. Four cases of recently immigrated, circumcised adolescent females from Somalia are reported. It is not illegal to perform female circumcision in the US, but efforts are being made to create and implement such legislation. When parents present requesting a circumcision for their daughter, they must be given information about the risks and complications of the procedure and its outcome. Culturally sensitive counseling should be offered to help the family make its decision.
Regulation of Gene Expression by Internal Ribosome Entry Sites or Cryptic Promoters: the eIF4G Story

As an alternative to the scanning mechanism of initiation, the direct-internal-initiation mechanism postulates that the translational machinery assembles at the AUG start codon without traversing the entire 5' untranslated region (5'-UTR) of the mRNA. Although the existence of internal ribosome entry sites (IRESs) in viral mRNAs is considered to be well established, the existence of IRESs in cellular mRNAs has recently been challenged, in part because when testing is carried out using a conventional dicistronic vector, Northern blot analyses might not be sensitive enough to detect low levels of monocistronic transcripts derived via a cryptic promoter or splice site. To address this concern, we created a new promoterless dicistronic vector to test the putative IRES derived from the 5'-UTR of an mRNA that encodes the translation initiation factor eIF4G. Our analysis of this 5'-UTR sequence unexpectedly revealed a strong promoter. The activity of the internal promoter relies on the integrity of a polypyrimidine tract (PPT) sequence that had been identified as an essential component of the IRES. The PPT sequence overlaps with a binding site for transcription factor C/EBPbeta. Two other transcription factors, Sp1 and Ets, were also found to bind to and mediate expression from the promoter in the 5'-UTR of eIF4G mRNA. The biological significance of the internal promoter in the eIF4G mRNA might lie in the production of an N-terminally truncated form of the protein. Consistent with the idea that the cryptic promoter we identified underlies the previously reported IRES activity, we found no evidence of IRES function when a dicistronic mRNA containing the eIF4G sequence was translated in vitro or in vivo. Using the promoterless dicistronic vector, we also found promoter activities in the long 5'-UTRs of human Sno and mouse Bad mRNAs although monocistronic transcripts were not detectable on Northern blot analyses. The promoterless dicistronic vector might therefore prove useful in future studies to examine more rigorously the claim that there is IRES activity in cellular mRNAs.
Transonic separated solutions for an augmentor-wing

The viscous transonic flow about a multielement airfoil (augmentor-wing) is simulated by coupling full-potential and direct/inverse differential boundary-layer algorithms. Solutions have been obtained for a variety of conditions and are in fair agreement with available experimental data. Typical results from this transonic augmentor-wing code (TAUG-V) require approximately three minutes of CRAY-XMP CPU time. Since this viscous transonic code accounts for most of the important flow physics, yet is still economical, it is a practical tool for the design aerodynamicist.
Do stalled replication forks synthesize a specific alarmone

Abstract Potential causes of premature arrest of a replication fork in vivo include an encounter with a chemical lesion in the DNA, inhibition of one of the essential enzymes of the fork, and spontaneous failure of the fork due to its finite degree of processivity. I suggest that a premature arrest of either a eukaryotic or prokaryotic replication fork induces it to enter a different state in which the fork synthesizes a specific signal nucleotide (“alarmone”). One function of the postulated new alarmone would be to increase the probability of re-initiation of DNA replication, either in cis (at an origin proximal to a site of the fork arrest) or in trans (at many different origins). An additional, mechanistically related function of the postulated alarmone could be to increase the probability of re-assembly of an arrested fork beyond an otherwise impassable DNA lesion. In case of multiple fork arrests, an alarmone-mediated increase in the probability of replicon reinitiation (disproportionate DNA replication) would result in gene amplification at many different loci, thereby increasing the probability of cell's survival in a cytotoxic medium. Other likely functions of a fork-produced alarmone may include stimulation of DNA repair pathways including excision repair. I review the experimental evidence which although indirect, is consistent with the idea of a fork-produced alarmone and specifically with the possibility that the postulated alarmone is diadenosine 5', 5′′′P1, P4-tetraphosphate (Ap4A) or a closely related adenylated nucleotide. The proposed hypothesis leads to specific, testable predictions; it also provides a unifying explanation for several hitherto unconnected observations on DNA replication, repair and amplification.
Balloon Dilation of the Pediatric Airway: Clinical and Research Updates

Endoscopic airway balloon dilation (ABD) has emerged in recent years as an important technique in the management of pediatric airway stenosis. It can be utilized either as primary treatment or as a therapeutic adjunct to open airway surgery. Multiple studies have demonstrated a role for ABD in the management of early acquired subglottic stenosis, where it obviates the need for tracheotomy or open airway surgery in approximately two-thirds of patients. Its mechanism involves the disruption of immature scar tissue, although in certain scenarios it may actually decompress the airway by fracturing the cartilaginous framework of the subglottis. Complications are rare but include soft tissue injury, airway rupture, and device malfunction. Future studies are needed to determine the histopathological effects of ABD, identify optimal balloon inflation parameters, and identify variables that predict successful clinical outcomes.
Propagation and structure of solidification waves in concentrated suspensions

Abstract This paper addresses the problem of one-dimensional solidification of concentrated mixtures of solid particles in a Newtonian host fluid. This problem has ramifications in the fields of sedimentation and filtration, and is presently studied in the context of restabilization of liquefied cohesionless soils. Solidification is described in terms of a wave phenomenon, and its propagation and structure are modeled in terms of conservation of mass and momentum principles and the necessary constitutive relations for closure. Relative motion between the two species as well as variations in volume concentration of the granular material are taken into account. The solution yields the distributions of the solids stress, solids concentration, pore pressure and component velocities below the solidified interface. The thickness of the shock over which these adjust from their liquefied to their solidified values is found to be sensitive to the particulate material properties. On the basis of this study it is suggested that measuring the local pore pressure gradient in a cohesionless soil yields more useful information on the state of the soil than commonly used single pore pressure transducers. It is further shown that controlled laboratory experiments on solidification wave propagation can be used as a practical way of determining the properties of the particulate material.
Another Citation of Philo in Clement of Alexandria’s Protrepticus (10,93,1-2)

Prot. 10,93,1-2 should be added to the long list of passages in which Clement has made use of the writings of Philo. Clement is attracted by, and in large measure appropriates, Philo’s description of repentance in Virt. 181, yet he alters the Philonic text in several ways, notably by making explicit a citation that also appears partially in Plato, Phd 114D and more fully in Horace, C. 3,25.
Gamma-valerolactone, a sustainable platform molecule derived from lignocellulosic biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass typically contains more than 50 wt% sugars that can be upgraded to valuable platform molecules, such as levulinic acid (LA) and gamma-valerolactone (GVL). This article focuses on upgrading GVL produced from lignocellulosic biomass to various chemicals and fuels, such as polymers, fuel additives, and jet fuel. We also review the use of GVL as a solvent for biomass processing, which led to significant improvements in product yields and a more simplified process for producing biomass-derived chemicals such as LA, furfural, and hydroxymethylfurfural.
A Retrospective Evaluation of Factors Influencing Successful Outcomes on an Inpatient Psychiatric Crisis Unit

This retrospective chart review conducted by a Veterans Administration Medical Center social worker examined 69 records from inpatients receiving services at a short-term crisis intervention unit (CIU) between July 1985 and March 1986. The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of CIU patients successfully discharged to the community (n = 41) versus those requiring a transfer to a long-term care unit (n = 28). Treatment compliance and family support were found to be significant factors associated with successful program completion.
The effect of head position on glottic closure in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis

The present study was designed to assess the effect of head position on glottic closure as reflected in airflow rates (open quotient and maximum flow declination rate), in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Ten patients, 2 males and 8 females ranging in age from 40 to 75, with a mean age of 57.3, served as subjects. Airflow measures were taken during sustained phonation of two vowels (/i/ and /a/) in 3 head positions (center, right, left). Vowels /i/ and /a/ were produced at subject's comfortable pitch and loudness, with random ordering of both vowel order and head orientation. Subjects were trained to focus eye gaze on right and left markers (70-degree angle) and a central marker at eye level directly in front of the subject. Theoretically, if turning the head during phonation alters the laryngeal anatomic relationship by bringing the vocal folds in closer proximity to one another, then airflow rate should lessen. Our results indicate that head position does not improve glottic closure in these patients, which is in contrast to previously published research.(1) Our results question the utility and underlying theoretical construct for the use of head turning as a therapeutic technique for improvement of voice in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis.
Effect of Structure, Stress, Strain, and Alloying on the Hardness of Fe(001)/Pt(001) Epitaxial Multilayers

The hardness of epitaxial sputter-deposited Fe(001)/Pt(001) multilayers grown on single crystal MgO(001) has been previously evaluated as a function of composition wavelength, Λ. Nanoindentation results reveal that the hardness is enhanced over that expected from a simple rule of mixtures by a factor of approximately 2.5 for bilayer spacings from 20 to 125 A. In this paper we investigate possible causes of this hardness enhancement by determining the stress, strain, and alloying in each layer of the multilayer as a function of Λ. Accurate in-plane and out-of-plane lattice parameter measurements were obtained via x-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. The stress state and the extent of alloying in each layer as a function of Λ was determined by using the appropriate elastic constants for each component. The stress, strain, and amount of alloying in the Pt layer were near zero for 25 ≤ Λ ≤ 121 A. The Fe layer exhibited large stresses and strains which relaxed with increasing Λ for 44 ≤ Λ ≤ 121 A. For Λ=25 A, the metastable FCC structure was adopted by the Fe film. The amount of alloying also varied from approximately 11 at.% Pt for Λ=44 A to 5 at.% Pt for Λ=121 A. Since the structure, film stress, amount of strain relaxation, and extent of alloying vary over this range of Λ while the hardness does not, we conclude that the hardness enhancement in these films must be controlled by other factors. Nevertheless the investigation of these basic film properties has enhanced our understanding of the structure-property relationships that give rise to strengthening in multilayer thin films.
DESYL ESTERS OF AMINO ACID NEUROTRANSMITTERS. PHOTOTRIGGERS FOR BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE NEUROTRANSMITTERS

The application of the desyl or 2-oxo-1,2-diphenylethyl moiety as a photolabile ligand for the release of phosphates such as cAMP and inorganic phosphate (Pi)1,2 is extended to include selected excitatory amino acids. The synthesis and photochemical studies of N- and O-desyl-caged versions of the endogenous amino acid neurotransmitters glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are reported. Photolysis at 350 nm of solutions of γ-O-desyl glutamate (11) and O-desyl GABA (14) in 1:1 H2O−acetonitrile cleanly produced free glutamate and GABA, respectively, with rate constants of ca. 107 s-1; 2-phenylbenzo[b]furan (2) was the only photobyproduct detected by HPLC. Photolysis quantum efficiencies for the disappearance of O-desyl amino acid esters were in the range of 0.29−0.31, and the appearance efficiencies of furan 2 (and the corresponding amino acid) were 0.14. The photolysis of 14 was efficiently quenched with sodium 2-naphthalenesulfonate, yielding a triplet lifetime of ca. 10 ns. Photolysis of 11 in mammali...
Duplicate Gene Evolution Toward Multiple Fates at the Drosophila melanogaster HIP/HIP-Replacement Locus

Hsc/Hsp70-interacting protein (HIP) is a rapidly evolving Hsp70 cofactor. Analyses of multiple Drosophila species indicate that the HIP gene is duplicated only in D. melanogaster. The HIP region, in fact, contains seven distinctly evolving duplicated genes. The regional duplication occurred in two steps, fixed rapidly, and illustrates multiple modes of duplicate gene evolution. HIP and its duplicate HIP-R are adaptively evolving in a manner unique to the region: they exhibit elevated divergence from other drosophilids and low polymorphism within D. melanogaster. HIP and HIP-R are virtually identical, share polymorphisms, and are subject to gene conversion. In contrast, two other duplicate genes in the region, CG33221 and GP-CG32779, are pseudogenes, and the chimeric gene Crg1 is subject to balancing selection. HIP and HIP-R are evolving rapidly and adaptively; however, positive selection is not sufficient to explain the molecular evolution of the region as a whole.
Pavlovian conditioned stimulus effects upon instrumental choice behavior are reinforcer specific

Abstract In a transfer-of-control experiment with rats, Pavlovian CSs were tested for the specificity of their effects. The instrumental behavior consisted of a discriminative, conditional two-lever choice task in which qualitatively different appetitive reinforcers were contingent upon the two correct choices. In a Pavlovian phase, subjects experienced conditioning to establish either a CS + or CS − for one reinforcer or a CS + or CS − for the other reinforcer. Finally, in a test, these CSs were presented when there was the opportunity to make choice responses. The CS + s evoked choices of the lever which had eventuated in the reinforcer that had served as the Pavlovian US, while the CS − s showed only a slight tendency to evoke the other choice responses. When the CSs were compounded with the original S D s, the CS + s had little effect upon the vigor of responding while the CS − s reduced the vigor of responding to the S D for the reinforcer that was the same as the US used in establishing the CS − . The results are discussed in terms of associative mediational theory and the reinforcer specificity of Pavlovian conditioned excitation and inhibition.
Indentation Fracture of Lead Magnesium Niobate-Based Multilayer Composite Structures

The effects of internal electrodes on the fracture properties of relaxor ferroelectric 0.9Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.1PbTiO3 multilayer structures were studied. It was observed that the position of the first electrode layer from the surface is critical to the strength and toughness of the multilayer structure. Positioning the electrode close to the surface was found to enhance interaction with cracks which initiate on the multilayer surface. This interaction limits the effective crack length and therefore increases the fracture strength and effective toughness of the composite. Samples indented parallel to the electrodes exhibited higher fracture strengths and toughness than those indented perpendicular to the conducting layers. Both parallel and perpendicular orientations gave higher strength and toughness than the control specimens (without electrodes).
Mammalian Faunal Dynamics During the Last 1.8 Million Years of the Cretaceous in Garfield County, Montana

This study provides an analysis of biotic change in successive mammalian communities during the last 1.8 million years of the Cretaceous (67.3–65.58 Ma) from the Hell Creek Formation in Garfield County, Montana. Results show changes in relative abundances of species, mean individual body size, and to some extent taxonomic composition through the Hell Creek Formation. These results are interpreted as “normal” mammalian responses to fluctuating temperatures during the latest Cretaceous. By contrast, the extinction of 22–27 mammalian species at or near the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary cannot be explained by the coincident cooling interval alone. At the scale of temporal resolution available, these fossil data are inconsistent with an extended gradual pattern of extinction (linear-response) and are most consistent with either a non-linear response pattern for the K-T extinction, resulting from the accumulated stress of multiple long- and short-term environmental perturbations (e.g., climate change, sea-level regression, volcanism, an extraterrestrial impact), or a single, short-term cause (an extraterrestrial impact).
Low phase noise heterojunction bipolar transistor oscillator

A low phase noise, heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) oscillator has been designed and fabricated for operation at X-band. The common emitter oscillator employs a high-Q dielectric resonator as the parallel feedback element between the base and collector terminals. Series capacitive feedback is used in the emitter to enhance the oscillator's negative output impedance. Single-sideband FM noise levels of −76dBc/Hz and −102dBc/Hz have been achieved at 1 kHz and 10kHz frequency offsets, respectively, for an 11.06GHz carrier frequency. This is one of the lowest phase noise levels ever reported for an X-band solid-state transistor oscillator.
Digital libraries: situating use in changing information infrastructure

How users meet infrastructure is a key practical, methodological challenge for digital library design. This article presents research conducted by the Social Science Team of the federally funded Digital Libraries Initiative (DLI) project at the University of Illinois. Data were collected from potential and actual users of the DLI testbed—containing the full text of journal articles—through focus groups, interviews and observations, usability testing, user registration and transaction logging, and user surveys. Basic results on nature and extent of testbed use are presented, followed by a discussion of three analytical foci relating to digital library use as a process of assemblage: document disaggregation and reaggregation; information convergence; and the manner in which users confront new genres and technical barriers in information systems. The article also highlights several important methodological and conceptual issues that frame research on social aspects of digital library use.
WHO GAINS FROM CORPORATE ASSET SALES

This study documents that sell-offs, on average, are firm value enhancing, as both stockholders and bondholders gain from such transactions. Further, it reveals that sell-offs can be wealth redistributing, value destroying, or value enhancing depending on the way the sale proceeds are distributed and the motive underlying the sell-off. The wealth effects on stockholders and bondholders are not always symmetrical. Our results suggest that benefits from the sale of assets that do not strategically fit the firm's core business accrue primarily to stockholders, while benefits from distress-related sell-offs accrue to bondholders. Sell-offs to thwart takeovers destroy firm value. We document that a significant proportion of sell-offs results in wealth transfers between securityholders. Restrictive dividend covenants play an important role in protecting bondholders from wealth expropriation. Our analysis suggests that the relative size of the asset sale, the uses of the sale proceeds, and the degree of protection afforded bondholders via a dividend restriction may be relevant in explaining the direction of wealth transfer.
An approach to simultaneous system design, I. Semialgebraic geometric methods

This paper introduces semialgebraic parameterization as an approach to analyze simultaneous stabilization and pole placement problems. Rational families of plants of a given McMillan degree, that are simultaneously stabilizable by a fixed family of compensators, are parameterized. For a discrete family of plants, the parameterization problem reduces to the simultaneous stabilization or the pole placement problem of a r-tuple of multi input multi output plants by a nonswitching compensator. It is shown that by removing a semialgebraic subset of a proper algebraic set, the 'space of plants' can be decomposed into components that are either simultaneously stabilizable or simultaneously unstabilizable. Under special cases, explicit parameterization of the semialgebraic set is obtained. Finally a necessary condition for the simultaneous stabilization of single input or single output plants is obtained.
How Information Changes Consumer Behavior and How Consumer Behavior Determines Corporate Strategy

Information availability has increased consumers' informedness, the degree to which they know what is available in the marketplace, with precisely which attributes and at precisely what price. This informedness has altered the demand side of market behavior: customers now discount more heavily when comparable products are available from competitors and when products do not meet their wants, needs, cravings, and longings, but they no longer discount as heavily when purchasing unfamiliar products. Changes in the demand side are producing comparable changes in the supply side: firms earn less than their expectations when competing in traditional mass-market fat spots, while earning far more than previously when entering newly created resonance marketing sweet spots. We trace the impact of hyperdifferentiation and resonance marketing on strategy, with a clear progression from a limited number of fat spots, through reliance on line extensions, and ultimately to fully differentiated market sweet spots.
The extreme adaptive optics testbed at UCSC: current results and coronagraphic upgrade

We present a summary of our current results from the Extreme Adaptive Optics (ExAO) Testbed and the design and status of its coronagraphic upgrade. The ExAO Testbed at the Laboratory for Adaptive Optics at UCO/Lick Observatory is optimized for ultra-high contrast applications requiring high-order wavefront control. It is being used to investigate and develop technologies for the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). The testbed is equipped with a phase shifting diffraction interferometer (PSDI), which measures the wavefront with sub-nm precision and accuracy. The testbed also includes a 1024-actuator Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) deformable mirror manufactured by Boston Micromachines. We present a summary of the current results with the testbed encompassing MEMS flattening via PSDI, MEMS flattening via a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (with and without spatial filtering), the introduction of Kolmogorov phase screens, and contrast in the far-field. Upgrades in progress include adding additional focal and pupil planes to better control scattered light and allow alternative coronagraph architectures, the introduction and testing of high-quality reflecting optics, and a variety of input phase aberrations. Ultimately, the system will serve as a full prototype for GPI.
Joint hypermobility syndrome: A common clinical disorder associated with migraine in women.

Preliminary studies suggested that headache disorders are more common in patients with joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS). The objectives of this study were to determine if the prevalence, frequenc...
The role of graded category structure in imaginative thought.

Participants generated lists of exemplars from the categories ofanimals, tools, andfruit, and their lists were used to determine the relative accessibility of individual exemplars. Measures of accessibility included output dominance (the number of participants who listed an exemplar), rank (how early instances were listed), and two scores that reflect their combination-output precedence and dominance/rank. Other participants drew and described novel exemplars of those categories that might exist on an imaginary planet and reported on the factors that influenced their creations. References to Earth animals, tools, or fruit were used to determine imagination frequency (the number of participants who mentioned relying on particular Earth exemplars). Items high in accessibility were also high in imagination frequency, implying that those items that come to mind most readily are the ones most likely to serve as starting points for the development of novel ideas. This result held even when task constraints weighed against the use of such items (Experiment 2) and when participants were encouraged to be as creative as possible (Experiment 4), suggesting that it is difficult to avoid the influence of highly accessible category exemplars. Other measures of category structure, including the rated typicality, familiarity, and frequency of exemplars, did not predict imagination frequency as well. The results are discussed in terms of expanding concept boundaries and the inadvertent application of knowledge that is readily accessible.
Alteration of circulating antibody response of mice exposed to 9‐GHz pulsed microwaves

A significant increase was observed in the circulating antibody titers of mice exposed to 9-GHz pulsed microwaves at an average power density of 10 mW/cm2, two hours per day for five days compared with sham-irradiated animals. The mice were previously immunized with type III pneumococcal polysaccharide. Following irradiation, a portion of the immunized animals were challenged with virulent Streptococcus pneumoniae, type III. Ten days after challenge, mortality was essentially the same in the two groups, but during the ten day period, there was a noticeable increase in the survival time of the irradiated animals compared with the sham-irradiated animals, suggesting that the increased circulating antibody response afforded some degree of temporary protection to the animals.
Controls for Horizontal Curve Design

Several concerns have been documented in the literature regarding AASHTO's Green Book guidelines for horizontal curve design. Specifi cally, some researchers are concerned that the side friction factors are dated and do not reflect today's drivers, vehicles, and pavements. Some also are concerned that the superelevation distribution method recommended in the Green Book, in combination with the use of multiple maximum superelevation rates, does not promote design consistency. Side friction factors and a distribution method that resolve these concerns have been developed.
Quality is Not Strategy, It’s just “Surplus Quality”: A Review of the Successes and Failures of “Choose and Focus” strategies in the Japanese Semi-Conductor Industry

Japan was once the leader of the world semiconductor industry. Not long ago, Japan was forced to exit the largest segment of the industry (Dynamic Random Access Memory – DRAM) due to a sustained lack of profitability. In this paper we briefly examine why Japan lost a key position in the industry, where and why Japan remains strong in other segments and why Japan must apply the new rules of corporate governance to gain a competitive edge in the emerging System-On-Chip (SoC) market.
Housing Crises: A Theoretical Study of the Home Building Industry in Nigeria

The paper examines the housing problems in Nigeria and the home building market on an international viability landscape with special references to the Nigerian housing sector. The paper creates a platform for a global building industry company that is well capitalized through a series of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Furthermore, the emphasis on the establishment of a global building company is imperative because of its role in developing and emerging housing markets where home ownership has just commenced and mortgage financing is rare.
The `Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation': US conservatives take aim at the British news media

This article assesses the US conservative attack on the BBC during the post 9/11 terrorism wars, finding conservative blogs, print media and think tanks notably hostile. The processes of media criticism taking place within this conservative triad are viewed through the analytical concepts of news repair and boundary maintenance. The findings suggest that the BBC's perceived transgression was that it threatened to reveal the fallacy of an argument that conservatives had long worked to establish: that the US mainstream news media are liberal and harshly critical of conservatives. This conservative triad supported its attempt to repair this paradigm breach in three main ways: suggesting that reporting multiple viewpoints of the war was evidence of bias; magnifying any reporting errors; and warning against the perils of public ownership of news media.
Cdc42 antagonizes Rho1 activity at adherens junctions to limit epithelial cell apical tension

In epithelia, cells are arranged in an orderly pattern with a defined orientation and shape. Cadherin containing apical adherens junctions (AJs) and the associated actomyosin cytoskeleton likely contribute to epithelial cell shape by providing apical tension. The Rho guanosine triphosphatases are well known regulators of cell junction formation, maintenance, and function. Specifically, Rho promotes actomyosin activity and cell contractility; however, what controls and localizes this Rho activity as epithelia remodel is unresolved. Using mosaic clonal analysis in the Drosophila melanogaster pupal eye, we find that Cdc42 is critical for limiting apical cell tension by antagonizing Rho activity at AJs. Cdc42 localizes Par6–atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) to AJs, where this complex limits Rho1 activity and thus actomyosin contractility, independent of its effects on Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein and p21-activated kinase. Thus, in addition to its role in the establishment and maintenance of apical–basal polarity in forming epithelia, the Cdc42–Par6–aPKC polarity complex is required to limit Rho activity at AJs and thus modulate apical tension so as to shape the final epithelium.
The Traveling-Wave IMPATT Mode

The small-signal analysis of a distributed IMPATT diode ifdicates the existence of a traveling-wave mode. The severe power-frequency limitation as well as the associated low impedance level of the discrete diode appear avoidable. No external resonant circuitry is needed. It is shown that the TEM parallel-plate waveguide mode of the junction is modified by the injection of electrons at the p+ -n junction (or Schottky contact). The transverse electric field takes on a traveling-wave nature in the transverse direction tracking the injected electrons, and a small longitudinal electric field will also be present. In previous papers on IMPATT traveling-wave structures, the IMPATT effect was lumped into an effective complex permittivity in a composite layer model or into an effective shunt admittance in a transmission line model. The current work attempts to incorporate the IMPATT mechanism into the wave model and considers the actual carrier field interaction. The srnall-signal analysis yields an analytic field solution and a characteristic equation for the complex propagation constant. Solutions are found and documented for various frequencies and bias current densities. For the particular structure considered, at 12 GHz with a bias current density of 1000 A/cm/sup 2/ a gain of 72 dB/cm was found.
Insulin activates the rat sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) promoter through the combinatorial actions of SREBP, LXR, Sp-1 and NF-Y cis-acting elements

The enhanced synthesis of fatty acids in the liver and adipose tissue in response to insulin is critically dependent on the transcription factor SREBP-1c (sterol-regulatory-element-binding protein 1c). Insulin increases the expression of the SREBP-1c gene in intact liver and in hepatocytes cultured in vitro. To learn the mechanism of this stimulation, we analysed the activation of the rat SREBP-1c promoter and its truncated or mutated congeners driving a luciferase reporter gene in transiently transfected rat hepatocytes. The rat SREBP-1c promoter contains binding sites for LXR (liver X receptor), Sp1, NF-Y (nuclear factor-Y) and SREBP itself. We have found that each of these sites is required for the full stimulatory response of the SREBP-1c promoter to insulin. Mutation of either the putative LXREs (LXR response elements) or the SRE (sterol response element) in the proximal SREBP-1c promoter reduced the stimulatory effect of insulin by about 50%. Insulin and the LXR agonist TO901317 increased the association of SREBP-1 with the SREBP-1c promoter. Ectopic expression of LXRalpha or SREBP-1c increased activity of the SREBP-1c promoter, and this effect is further enhanced by insulin. The Sp1 and NF-Y sites adjacent to the SRE are also required for full activation of the SREBP-1c promoter by insulin. We propose that the combined actions of the SRE, LXREs, Sp1 and NF-Y elements constitute an insulin-responsive cis-acting unit of the SREBP-1c gene in the liver.
Effect of Particle Size on the Plastic Zone Formation in Front of Mode I Crack in ABS Polymers

Two different sizes (0.4 and 0.1 fum) of rubber particles (polybutadiene) are usually used to toughen the glassy SAN (styrene acrylonitrile) matrix in ABS copolymers. Experiments on a batch of specimens without the large particles confirmedour previous contention that cavitation of large particles within a zone of cardioid shape is an important part of crack tip plasticity which protects the crack tip from the applied stress field. Large rubber particles require a less strong applied stress field than small rubber particles to initiate crazes so that the large rubber particles help avoid brittlefracture which occurs without crazes.
Critical Role for CXCR3 Chemokine Biology in the Pathogenesis of Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome

Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) is the major limitation to survival post-lung transplantation and is characterized by a persistent peribronchiolar inflammation that eventually gives way to airway fibrosis/obliteration. Acute rejection is the main risk factor for the development of BOS and is characterized by a perivascular/bronchiolar leukocyte infiltration. The specific mechanism(s) by which these leukocytes are recruited have not been elucidated. The CXC chemokines (monokine induced by IFN-γ (MIG)/CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL)9, IP-10/CXCL10, and IFN-inducible T cell α chemoattractant (ITAC)/CXCL11) act through their shared receptor, CXCR3. Because they are potent leukocyte chemoattractants and are involved in other inflammation/fibroproliferative diseases, we hypothesized that the expression of these chemokines during an allogeneic response promotes the persistent recruitment of mononuclear cells, leading to chronic lung rejection. We found that elevated levels of MIG/CXCL9, IFN-inducible protein 10 (IP-10)/CXCL10, and ITAC/CXCL11 in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were associated with the continuum from acute to chronic rejection. Translational studies in a murine model demonstrated increased expression of MIG/CXCL9, IP-10/CXCL10, and ITAC/CXCL11 paralleling the recruitment of CXCR3-expressing mononuclear cells. In vivo neutralization of CXCR3 or its ligands MIG/CXCL9 and IP-10/CXCL10 decreased intragraft recruitment of CXCR3-expressing mononuclear cells and attenuated BOS. This supports the notion that ligand/CXCR3 biology plays an important role in the recruitment of mononuclear cells, a pivotal event in the pathogenesis of BOS.
Association of the Adult Chiari Malformation and Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: more than a coincidence

There are significant similarities between the Adult Chiari Malformation (ACM) and Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH). They include similar demographics, clinical presentation, and response to treatment. There is an eightfold increase in the incidence of significant tonsillar herniation in patients with IIH. Based on these findings and our observation in a subgroup of patients with failed ACM decompression, we suggest that these disorders are interrelated in a group of patients. The physiopathology is that of craniocephalic disproportion, i.e., a disproportion between the skull and the brain, due to a small skull or posterior fossa (like in ACM) and/or an engorged brain (like in IIH). This will occasionally lead to tonsillar ectopia. The craniocephalic disproportion will alter the brain compliance and lead to the symptomatology.
The Clinical Chemist: Masahide Sasaki, MD, PhD (August 27, 1933–September 23, 2005)

In the 1980s, long before clinical laboratories in the United States were faced with the challenges of consolidation, Masahide Sasaki, MD, PhD, and his associates were inventing what was to become the greatest revolution in clinical laboratory technology since the autoanalyzer. Masahide Sasaki is credited with being the father of modern clinical laboratory automation, a technology that has been installed in laboratories throughout the world. Sadly, Masahide Sasaki passed away on September 23, 2005, after a valiant fight against cancer. He is survived by his devoted wife Toyoko and his children Mika, Kyoko, and Masanori. Masahide was born in 1933 in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from Yamaguchi Medical School in 1961. During 1965, he served as an internist for the Hiroshima Atomic …
Effects of huperzine A on amyloid precursor protein processing and β-amyloid generation in human embryonic kidney 293 APP swedish mutant cells

The amyloid precursor protein (APP) is cleaved enzymatically by nonamyloidogenic and amyloidogenic pathways. alpha-Secretase (alpha-secretase), cleaves APP within the beta-amyloid (Abeta) sequence, resulting in the release of a secreted fragment of APP (alphaAPPs) and precluding Abeta generation. In this study, we investigated the effects of an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, huperzine A (Hup A), on APP processing and Abeta generation in human embryonic kidney 293 cells transfected with human APP bearing the Swedish mutation (HEK293 APPsw). Hup A dose dependently (0-10 microM) increased alphaAPPs release and membrane-coupled APP CTF-C83, suggesting increased APP metabolism toward the nonamyloidogenic alpha-secretase pathway. The metalloprotease inhibitor TAPI-2 inhibited the Hup A-induced increase in alphaAPPs release, further suggesting a modulatory effect of Hup A on alpha-secretase activity. The synthesis of full-length APP and cell viability were unchanged after Hup A incubation, whereas the level of Abeta(Total) was significantly decreased, suggesting an inhibitory effect of Hup A on Abeta production. Hup A-induced alphaAPPs release was significantly reduced by the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors GF109203X and Calphostin C. These data, together with the finding that the PKCalpha level was enhanced prior to the increase of alphaAPPs secretion, indicate that PKC may be involved in Hup A-induced alphaAPPs secretion by HEK293 APPsw cells. Our data suggest alternative pharmacological mechanisms of Hup A relevant to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.