cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Insulin Resistance of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Insulin resistance is a common feature of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Affected women are at high risk of impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The insulin resistance in PCOS is due to a postbinding defect in insulin signaling associated with constitutive serine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor and downstram signaling proteins secondary to a yet unidentified serine kinase. The insulin resistance is selective, affecting the metabolic due, but not mitogenic actions of insulin in some tissues. Such a defect might lead to increased susceptibility to factors inducing insulin resistance present in vivo, such as free fatty acids and cytokines.
New Saddle Point Theorems

We show how saddle point theorems can be changed to accomodate a wider range of applications.
Parallel Hardware Architectures

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the taxonomy of parallel hardware in terms of the computation model employed, the topology of the network—logical layout of the processing elements (PE) nodes and the communication paths connecting them— and the PE themselves. Scaling is understood as the hardware scheme's ability to handle different input sizes. Granularity means considering the trade-offs between fine architectures and coarse architectures, that is, uniformity versus power and specialization. The chapter discusses network topology and data communication paths. Vector-processing architecture can be found among both attached scientific processors and supercomputers. The attached processors enhance the floating-point and vector-processing capabilities of the host computer. Multiplicity in the processor organization and concurrency of operations is achieved through software development of specific μ coded packages, usually for matrix operations. Furthermore, the interface between the AP and the host might require data reformatting and programmed direct memory access.
Intrascanner Reproducibility of an SPM-Based Head MR-Based Attenuation Correction Method

Recently, an exhaustive examination of 11 state-of-the-art MR-based attenuation correction (AC) concluded that there are currently a few methods showing similar results compared to the gold-standard, CT-based AC. While the study presented a thorough portfolio of metrics to quantify accuracy (bias) and quality, it lacked one of the most important metrics to quantify robustness that is critical for its clinical applicability: intrascanner reproducibility (repeatability). In this paper, we provide for the first time a study of the repeatability of one of the outperforming brain MR-based AC methods: the statistical parametric mapping (SPM)-based pseudo-CT approach. Twenty two subjects undergoing 3 18F-FDG PET/MRI visits within two months were retrospectively analyzed in this paper. Pseudo-CT mu-maps were obtained from the coregistered MR images for all three visits and the PET data from visit 1 was reconstructed using all three mu-maps. Relative changes (RC), intraclass correlation coefficient, reproducibility coefficient (RDC95%) and Bland-Altman limits of agreement were used to measure repeatability. Voxel-based and regions of interest-based results showed that absolute RC for the reconstructed PET images are within ~2%. The brain cortex and the cerebellum were the regions with the largest variability (~3%). The differences across visits were not statistically significant ( ${p=0.90}$ ). In conclusion, this paper shows for the first time the repeatability of the SPM-based pseudo-CT approach for brain MR-based AC. These results, in addition to the ease of implementation and the quality and robustness previously demonstrated, confer this SPM-based method an ideal candidate for routine brain PET/MRI research and clinical studies.
TPRM: TENSOR PARTITION REGRESSION MODELS WITH APPLICATIONS IN IMAGING BIOMARKER DETECTION.

Medical imaging studies have collected high-dimensional imaging data to identify imaging biomarkers for diagnosis, screening, and prognosis, among many others. These imaging data are often represented in the form of a multi-dimensional array, called a tensor. The aim of this paper is to develop a tensor partition regression modeling (TPRM) framework to establish a relationship between low-dimensional clinical outcomes (e.g., diagnosis) and high-dimensional tensor covariates. Our TPRM is a hierarchical model and efficiently integrates four components: (i) a partition model, (ii) a canonical polyadic decomposition model, (iii) a principal components model, and (iv) a generalized linear model with a sparse inducing normal mixture prior. This framework not only reduces ultra-high dimensionality to a manageable level, resulting in efficient estimation, but also optimizes prediction accuracy in the search for informative sub-tensors. Posterior computation proceeds via an efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. Simulation shows that TPRM outperforms several other competing methods. We apply TPRM to predict disease status (Alzheimer versus control) by using structural magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study.
Discovering dad: paternal roles, responsibilities, and support needs as defined by fathers of children with complex cardiac conditions perioperatively.

BACKGROUND Understanding perceptions of family caregivers' roles and responsibilities regarding their child with complex cardiac needs has potential to help care teams better support parents. Paternal experience has been under-explored in pediatric cardiac cohorts. METHODS Ten fathers of children undergoing cardiac surgery completed quantitative surveys on their knowledge needs and preferred format of communication. In face-to-face recorded interviews, they responded to open-ended questions about the definition of being a good father to a child with a complex cardiac condition, perceived paternal responsibilities, personal growth as a parent to a child with a complex heart condition, support needs, and recommendations to medical staff for paternal inclusion. Semantic content analysis was utilised. The study reports strictly followed COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research guidelines. RESULTS The fathers reported high preference for knowledge about the child's heart condition, communication about the treatment plan, and desire for inclusion in the care of their child. Paternal role was defined thematically as: providing a supportive presence, being there, offering bonded insight, serving as strong provider, and acting as an informed advocate. The fathers revealed that their responsibilities sometimes conflicted as they strove to serve as an emotional and economic stabiliser for their family, while also wanting to be foundationally present for their child perioperatively. CONCLUSION This study provides insight into paternal experience and strategies for paternal inclusion. This summary of the self-defined experience of the fathers of pediatric cardiac patients offers constructive and specific advice for medical teams.
Realist Ethics: Just War Traditions as Power Politics

Valerie Morkevicius of Colgate University has written an excellent book of interest to anyone in international ethics, especially to those interested in the realist and just war traditions in inter...
Experimental Studies on the Effect of Vegetation Density to Change Underground Seepage Rate and Stability of Slopes

Vegetation plays in an important role in the amount of surface runoff or infiltration after a rainfall event, specifically on slopes. High infiltration or seepage reduce shearing resistance of soil through the reduction in matric suction of partially saturated slopes, ultimately causing slope instability. On the other hand, low infiltration increases surface runoff and velocity of surface flow, which ultimately causes soil erosion. In this study, three different slopes were prepared using fine sand, specifically at the same dry density and geometry, but with three different vegetation cover densities. The slopes were instrumented with tensiometers at different depths. The slopes were subjected to a rainfall event with an intensity of 30 mm/h and advancement of the wetting front of the seepage water and soil matric suction were recorded with time duration after the rainfall. The experimental result shows that up to certain threshold vegetation cover density, amount of surface flow increases causing soil erosion. For the vegetation density above that threshold, vegetation covers intercept the rainwater and the intercepted water is gradually passed to ground. Moreover, vegetation cover will ease the flow of surface runoff water. These actions, on the other hand, increase the seepage velocity. As such, less dense vegetation cover triggers more rainfall induced soil erosion and denser vegetation cover increases the instability associated with rotational or translational slides.
Authoring the Law

Copyright law denies protection to legal texts through a rule known as the “government edicts doctrine”. Entirely a creation of nineteenth century courts, the government edicts doctrine treats expression produced by lawmakers in the exercise of their lawmaking function as altogether uncopyrightable. Despite having been in existence for over a century, the doctrine remains shrouded in significant mystery and complexity. Lacking statutory recognition, the doctrine has come to be seen as driven by open-ended considerations of “public policy” that draw on the overarching importance of public access to laws. In its decision in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org., Inc., the Supreme Court reaffirmed the continuing significance of the doctrine but refused to endorse the public policy justification commonly offered for its existence, preferring instead to root it in copyright’s principle of authorship. In so doing however, the Court refrained from explicating the connection between authorship and the government edicts doctrine, contributing to the doctrine’s mystery. This Article develops a theory of the government edicts doctrine that anchors it firmly to the principle of authorship. The authorship rationale for the government edicts doctrine is rooted in a “personalization mismatch”: whereas authorship in copyright law is predicated on the need to personalize a work by identifying the human actor that created it, a commitment to the rule of law necessitates that lawmaking and legal directives be impersonal and derive their authority not from an identified individual. It is this basic mismatch which explains the government edicts doctrine and its principled roots in copyright law rather than broader considerations of public policy. The Article traces the competing (and confusing) normative ideas that have influenced the evolution of the doctrine, develops the analytical basis of its connection to authorship, and shows how this connection enables the doctrine to be extended and applied to new forms and modes of law and lawmaking.
Study of ReRAM Neuromorphic Circuit Inference Accuracy Robustness using DTCO Simulation Framework

A Design-Technology Co-Optimization (DTCO) framework is constructed to study the algorithm-circuit-device interaction for optimizing emerging memory-based neuromorphic computing circuits. The framework consists of 3 parts, namely, software level machine learning to perform machine learning calculation as a benchmark or for off-line training purpose, generation of emerging memory Verilog-A model based on experimental or physical simulation data, and automatic SPICE neuromorphic circuit simulations and simulation result analysis. A python-based wrapper is constructed to link the 3 parts to automate the task and improve usability and flexibility. In this paper, the effect of current comparator input impedance, operation temperature, and input voltage range on the accuracy of ReRAM based neuromorphic inference circuit (a neural network) for digit image recognition is studied. The training is done off-line using software machine learning. The neural network with an input layer of 64 neurons, the hidden layer (1, 3 or 5 layers) with 8 neurons and an output layer of 10 neurons was trained using ~1800 hand-written digit images. ReRAM neuromorphic circuit for inference is constructed automatically with the training weights being transformed into gap sizes in ReRAM for circuit simulations. 180 unseen digit images are used to test the robustness of its inference accuracy. It is found that a deeper neural network has worse robustness in inference accuracy while non-zero current comparator input impedance makes the neuromorphic circuit more robust.
On the instrument functional form with a binary endogenous explanatory variable

Abstract I demonstrate that, in a linear regression model with a binary endogenous explanatory variable, a two-step IV estimation procedure could avoid the weak identification issue caused by a first-stage linear projection onto the linear instruments.
Estimating nonlinear phase shift in a multi-span fiber-optic link using a coherent transceiver

We demonstrate a novel technique to measure the nonlinear phase shifts of multi-span fiber optic links with a polarization-multiplexed coherent transceiver based on cross-phase modulation between two orthogonally polarized subcarrier tones.
Prostaglandin E2 promotes colorectal adenoma growth

755 A large body of clinical, genetic, and biochemical evidence indicates that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a key enzyme for prostanoid biosynthesis, contributes to the promotion of colorectal cancer. COX-2-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is the predominant prostanoid found in most colorectal cancers (CRC). However, the molecular mechanism(s) by which PGE2 accelerates tumor growth is not understood. Here we investigated the role of PGE2 in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and tumor-associated angiogenesis and elucidated the key downstream signaling pathways necessary for PGE2-induced intestinal carcinogenesis using both in vivo and in vitro models. We demonstrated that PGE2 stimulates epithelial cell proliferation through a Ras-MAPK signaling cascade. We also found that PGE2 promotes tumor cell survival via PI3K/Akt-PPARδ signaling. An understanding of PGE2 downstream signaling transduction pathways critical for tumor growth may lead to the development of novel therapeutic and chemoprotective options for colorectal cancer patients.
VOLUME REVERBERATION IN THE MARGINAL ICE ZONE OF FRAM STRAIT

Many measurements of volume reverberation have been conducted in the open oceans of the world. In May 1988, the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center (NRL-SSC) had the opportunity to investigate volume reverberation in a unique region: the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the Fram Strait between Spitsbergen and Greenland. Measurements were made from a drifting ice camp at three locations over a four day period. Volume scattering strength versus depth profiles were obtained at frequencies from 3.5 to 50 kHz using short CW pulses from a suite of downward and upward looking transducers. Results show that scattering layers occurred from about 100 to 200 m and 400 to 500 m at each location, with some variability in strength at the different locations. A comparison with volume scattering strengths reported from other cold water regions shows that values observed in the Fram Strait MIZ were lower than those reported at similar frequencies from open waters of the Norwegian Sea, Labrador Sea, and northern Baffin Bay, and comparable to those in the Denmark Strait, Davis Strait, Chukchi Sea MIZ, and northeast of Iceland.
Appendix C: Fractional Cancellation

This appendix contains sections titled: Modulator Details First Accumulator Second Accumulator Additional Accumulators Accumulator without Input Register
Charged-meson pair production in gamma gamma interactions.

The cross section for the production of ..pi../sup +/..pi../sup -/ or K/sup +/K/sup -/ pairs in ..gamma gamma.. interactions is measured for m/sub pipi/ between 1.7 and 3.5 GeV/c/sup 2/ and for two intervals of ..gamma gamma.. center-of-mass scattering angle. Results are compared with predictions of a QCD model.
The Concentration Profile of Hydrogen Near the Surface of Niobium

Hydrogen in niobium has been studied for many years for reasons motivated both from a basic as well as an applied point of view. On the one hand it has generated interest within the theoretical physics community because it is a very close physical realization of the theoretical lattice-gas model. On the other hand, it is also studied as a model substance by those interested in the practical aspects of hydrogen storage and other applications of metal-hydrogen systems.
Development of a hydrogen external burning flight test experiment on the NASA Dryden SR-71A aircraft

A captive-carry flight test experiment of the transonic external burning concept using gaseous hydrogen fuel has ben proposed for the SR-71A flight research test bed aircraft at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. This program will be the first large-scale, near-field flight test investigation of this base drag reduction technique at Mach numbers up to 3. Low-speed base drag reduction for supersonic and hypersonic flight vehicles is important in reducing vehicle drag and improving nozzle efficiency. Flight data will be correlated with a concurrent wind tunnel ground test of a similar test apparatus to confirm geometry and component performance scalability predictions and to investigate design parametrics under actual flight conditions. This paper describes the problem of transonic base drag for supersonic and hypersonic aircraft, a planned flight research program to address this problem, the test bed aircraft, and the flight experiment apparatus.
Parameterization of Turbulent Transport in Swirling Flows — I: Theoretical Considerations

A second order closure scheme is proposed for turbulent transport in swirling flows. Specifically, a scheme is constructed according to the same principles that led to the successful description of buoyancy-driven turbulent flows (Zeman, 1975; Zeman and Lumley, 1976 a, b, c; Lumley et al. 1978). In the narrow gap approximation the scheme takes on a particularly simple form, which can be rationalized by a simple physical model.
Auxiliary vector selection algorithms for adaptive beamforming

The auxiliary vector (AV) algorithm iteratively generates a sequence of filters that converge to the minimum variance distortionless response filter. The early, nonasymptotic elements generated by this algorithm offer favorable bias/variance characteristics and outperform in mean-square filter estimation error, filters generated by other iterative methods. This paper develops two new algorithms for selecting the best AV filter: a MMSE method that can either utilize a training sequence or can operate in a blind decision-directed mode, and a cyclostationary method that exploits the property that cyclostationary signals generate spectral lines when certain nonlinear transformations are applied to them. These new methods are simulated along with previously derived methods in an adaptive beamforming application, and compared with other common beamforming algorithms.
An Emission-Line Protogalaxy Candidate at z=2.5

Narrow-band infrared imaging has revealed a faint red galaxy with a strong (equivalent width = 2%) emission line at 2.30 μm. The field was observed because of its proximity to the quasar SBS 0953+549, which has a metal-line absorption system at zabs = 2.50. The emission-line galaxy is only separated from the quasar line of sight by a projected distance of 240 kpc, and we identify the emission line as Hα/[N II] in a galaxy which is in the same group as the z = 2.50 absorber. Since all the galaxy properties are also consistent with a young age and a redshift of 2.5, it is a prime candidate for a protogalaxy.
Pathways to Homeownership: An Analysis of the Residential Location and Homeownership Choices of Black Households in Los Angeles

Recent studies have documented substantially depressed levels of homeownership among African-American households. While prior analyses have focused largely on racial disparities in household financial characteristics, few studies have assessed the potential role of location choice and locational attributes in the homeownership choice decision. This research applies individual-level Census data from the Los Angeles area to explicitly model the residential location and tenure choice decisions of African-American households. Research findings indicate substantial variation across African-American and white households in the determinants of locational choice among South Central L.A., other parts of Los Angeles, and Inland Empire (San Bernardino County) areas. The predicted location choice of white households was overwhelmingly that of suburban areas of Los Angeles County; in contrast, the typical African-American household was nearly as likely to locate in South Central Los Angeles as in other parts of the County. Further, the probability of white household moves to South Central Los Angeles was relatively insensitive to simulated variation in household socio-economic characteristics and remained throughout at approximately 2 percent. While higher levels of household income exerted significant positive effects on the likelihood of black moves to the Inland Empire, the opposite outcome was shown for white households. Among blacks that move to San Bernardino County or to South Central Los Angeles, imputation of white economic endowments served to fully close the sizable black-white homeownership choice gap. However, in other Los Angeles neighborhoods, a sizable endowment-adjusted homeownership gap was shown to persist. Overall, assessment of variations in the intra-metropolitan locational and tenure choices of black households indicated several distinct "pathways" to homeownership among black households in Los Angeles. In so doing, the analysis accounted for in excess of three-fourths of the gap in homeownership rates between Los Angeles white and black households.
Radiation Heat Transfer between Surfaces

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the renewed interest in radiation heat transfer processes that has been stimulated by modern technological developments, especially in connection with space flight and with high-temperature energy sources. This chapter is examines the radiant interchange between surfaces which are separated by nonparticipating media. The chapter presents a coherent picture of calculation methods and results for radiant interchange between surfaces and discusses the analysis for gray, diffuse enclosures which includes a generalization of presently available methods. Angle factors, which are necessary for such calculations, are also discussed. The gray, diffuse model is extended to systems in which there is a continuous variation of the radiant flux along the surfaces. Such a generalization requires that the radiant interchange be governed by integral equations rather than algebraic equations as is the case when the radiant flux is uniform over each surface in the enclosure. Various solution methods for such integral equation systems are discussed. Results are presented for the emission and absorption characteristics of cavities and also for the energy transport through various passages. The chapter also discusses methods of analysis for specularly-reflecting surfaces that are being devised.
Mammalian Cell-Based Sensor System

Use of living cells or cellular components in biosensors is receiving increased attention and opens a whole new area of functional diagnostics. The term “mammalian cell-based biosensor” is designated to biosensors utilizing mammalian cells as the biorecognition element. Cell-based assays, such as high-throughput screening (HTS) or cytotoxicity testing, have already emerged as dependable and promising approaches to measure the functionality or toxicity of a compound (in case of HTS); or to probe the presence of pathogenic or toxigenic entities in clinical, environmental, or food samples. External stimuli or changes in cellular microenvironment sometimes perturb the “normal” physiological activities of mammalian cells, thus allowing CBBs to screen, monitor, and measure the analyte-induced changes. The advantage of CBBs is that they can report the presence or absence of active components, such as live pathogens or active toxins. In some cases, mammalian cells or plasma membranes are used as electrical capacitors and cell–cell and cell–substrate contact is measured via conductivity or electrical impedance. In addition, cytopathogenicity or cytotoxicity induced by pathogens or toxins resulting in apoptosis or necrosis could be measured via optical devices using fluorescence or luminescence. This chapter focuses mainly on the type and applications of different mammalian cell-based sensor systems.
Uterosacral block anesthesia for dilatation and curettage.

0 u R interest in using local anesthesia for dilatation and curettage was first stimulated by the 1960 report of Mengert and Slate1 who described their technique in performing this procedure in their Outpatient Clinic. They injected 10 to 20 ml. of procaine 1 per cent into the base of each broad ligament. Also, in 1960, McCully2 reported the use of uterosacral block for diagnostic and therapeutic dilatation and curettage. In 1945, Rosenfeld3 published the first American report on the use of paracervical anesthesia for delivery and recently there have been a number of papers in the literature on this subject. 4-8 Although some of these authors designate their technique a uterosacral block and others use Rosenfeld’s term, they are essentially the same. The sensory innervation of the uterus has not been completely clarified, but available information was consolidated by Doyle,v in 1955. Sensory impulses from the fundus
As of Yet

After my parents died, we boxed up their clothes, coats, and shoes, scrubbed the walls, Swept up the dust that had grown thick between the gold shag carpet and the hallway baseboards. Shutting the door to their room firmly, I heard the empty hangers rattle and jangle in the open closets Like a gamelan for a shadow-play, a shadow-play in which the won kingdom, long after the siege, Seems hardly worth the hardships, the years of lack, the treacher ies, the endless soliloquies and asides.
Perfect reconstruction analysis/synthesis systems based on the FIFB filter banks

Perfect reconstruction and aliasing-free output infinite impulse response (IIR)/finite impulse response (FIR) analysis-synthesis systems are derived based on frequency interpolation filter banks (FIFBs). The authors try to extend the FIFB techniques to multirate FIFB analysis-synthesis systems. The design procedure of a whole perfect reconstruction system is outlined. The special feature of these perfect reconstruction filter bank systems is that both analysis banks and synthesis banks are computationally efficient to implement and are given by closed forms. >
Prospective evaluation of laparoscopic celiac plexus block in patients with unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The efficacy of laparoscopic celiac plexus block (CPB) in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer has not been reported. Patients with elevated pain scores scheduled for laparoscopy for diagnosis/staging of unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma were eligible. The study was designed to evaluate 20 consecutive patients with validated quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30, QLQ-PAN26) and validated pain assessment tools [Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)]. Questionnaires were obtained preoperatively, and postoperatively at 1, 4, and 8 weeks. Laparoscopic CPB was performed by bilateral injection of 20 cc 50% alcohol utilizing a recently described laparoscopic technique. Functional and symptom scoring was performed by EORTC scoring manual. Median age was 61 years (range 42–80 years), and mean preoperative pain score [worst in 24 h on 0–10 visual analogue scale (VAS)] was 7.8 [standard deviation (SD) 1.6]. Median total operative time (laparoscopy + biopsy + CBP) was 57 min (range 29–92 min), and all patients except one were discharged on day of surgery. No major complications occurred. EORTC functional scales did not change significantly during the postoperative period. EORTC symptomatic pain scores decreased significantly. These findings were also observed in the BPI, with significant decreases in visual analogue score for reported mean (preoperative versus week 4, mean: 5.7 versus 2.7; p < 0.01) and worst (preoperative versus week 4, mean: 7.8 versus 5.1; p < 0.01) pain during a 24-h period. This study documents the efficacy of laparoscopic CPB. The procedure was associated with minimal morbidity, brief operative times, outpatient management, and reduction in pain scores similar to that reported with other approaches to celiac neurolysis.
Of Many Similar Species in the Neotropical Genus Porphyrogenes (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), a New One, Repeatedly Reared in Costa Rica, is Relatively Distinct

Associating sexes in many species of the Neotropical hesperiid genus Porphyrogenes has been difficult, erroneous, or impossible, owing to their sexual dimorphism. Despite the extreme sexual dimorphism of Porphyrogenes peterwegei Burns, new species, full description of this rainforest skipper from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), northwestern Costa Rica, is no problem. The available sample amounts to nearly 100 reared adults, almost evenly divided between the sexes. Of these, 67 have been DNA barcoded and found to vary minimally in their COI haplotypes, with one haplotype predominating. Caterpillars and pupae consistently go through a distinctive set of developmental changes in their color patterns. Foodplant choice is conservative: of 227 immatures found in the wild, 94% were eating woody vines of the genus Machaerium, especially M. seemannii (Fabaceae), whereas 6% were feeding on the quite unrelated species Dichapetalum morenoi (Dichapetalaceae)—a peculiar pattern of larval foodplant selection seen in another skipper and two butterfly species in ACG. Caterpillars of P. peterwegei are occasionally attacked by a host-specific parasitoid (an undescribed tachinid of the genus Siphosturmia), which has not otherwise been encountered in 20,642 tachinid attacks on the caterpillars of >3,000 species of Lepidoptera in ACG. Morphologically, P. peterwegei differs significantly from its many congeners in both facies and genitalia.
An integrated vector system for cellular studies of phage display-derived peptides

Peptide phage display is a method by which large numbers of diverse peptides can be screened for binding to a target of interest. Even when successful, the rate-limiting step is usually validation of peptide bioactivity using living cells. In this paper, we describe an integrated system of vectors that expedites both the screening and the characterization processes. Library construction and screening is performed using an optimized type 3 phage display vector, mJ(1), which is shown to accept peptide libraries of at least 23 amino acids in length. Peptide coding sequences are shuttled from mJ(1) into one of three families of mammalian expression vectors for cell physiological studies. The vector pAL(1) expresses phage display-derived peptides as Gal4 DNA binding domain fusion proteins for transcriptional activation studies. The vectors pG(1), pG(1)N, and pG(1)C express phage display-derived peptides as green fluorescent protein fusions targeted to the entire cell, nucleus, or cytoplasm, respectively. The vector pAP(1) expresses phage display-derived peptides as fusions to secreted placental alkaline phosphatase. Such enzyme fusions can be used as highly sensitive affinity reagents for high-throughput assays and for cloning of peptide-binding cell surface receptors. Taken together, this system of vectors should facilitate the development of phage display-derived peptides into useful biomolecules.
The Balance of Power: Stability in International Systems

Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Basic elements of a model and definitions of stability 3. System stability and the balance of power 4. Resource stability and the balance of power 5. Preventive war 6. Geography, balancers and central powers 7. Great-power alliance formation, 1871-1914 8. European conflict resolution, 1875-1914 9. Summary and conclusions References and selected bibliography on European great-power relations, 1871-1914 Index.
Early-Successional Breeding Bird Communities in Intensively Managed Pine Plantations: Influence of Vegetation Succession but Not Site Preparations

Abstract Birds that require early-successional habitat are declining in North America due to habitat loss. Their increasing reliance on anthropogenic landscapes, such as the extensive Pinus spp. (pine) plantations of the southeastern US, makes it important to assess how management alternatives within these forests influence habitat quality. We examined how 2 site preparation variables, tree row spacing (4.3 m vs. 6.1 m) and arrangement of post-harvest woody debris (piled vs. scattered), influenced species richness, abundance, and breeding activity of disturbance-dependent (early-successional) birds. We studied bird communities and vegetation structure during the first 5 years of growth on replicated plots in 4 intensively managed Pinus taeda (Loblolly Pine) plantations in Louisiana. We used model selection to determine which site-preparation and vegetation characteristics most influenced avian communities. All measures of bird communities responded positively as vegetation structure and cover increased ov...
Metabolic and urinary risk factors associated with Randall's papillary plaques.

ABSTRACT Background and Purpose: Increasing evidence suggests that Randall's plaques contribute to the pathogenesis of urinary stone formation. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the urinary risk factors of stone patients who underwent endoscopic mapping of their calices for Randall's plaques. Patients and Materials: Patients (N = 143) having endoscopic procedures to remove upper tract calculi or for other purposes underwent mapping of their calices for Randall's plaques. Plaque incidence and pattern were correlated with the stone composition and urinary risk factors found on subsequent metabolic evaluation. Results: Papillary plaques were found more commonly in patients having calcium oxalate stones than in patients with other stone types and patients without a history of stones. Papillary plaque incidence and pattern did not correlate with any specific urinary risk factor; however, patients with plaques tended to exhibit a higher incidence of all risk factors. Plaque severity tended to be greater ...
Architecture of the Unconscious

Finally, when Freud unveiled the predominant role of the unconscious in psychic processes, it turned out that our ego does not even rule its own house.— Slavoj Žižek, How to Read LacanGet up off the pavement, brush the dirt up off my psyche …— rapper Earl Sweatshirt, “Chum” In the KitchenPsychoanalysis is known primarily for its preoccupation with the “truth” that “speaks.” Following the critical tradition pioneered by Lacan and now Žižek, I would instead like to shift our attention to the “site[s]” where these pivotal experiments in truth take place—the environments we transform and the objects we fashion as we “learn to live with” the social plight we have inherited. Simply put, the aim of this paper is to explore the architecture of the unconscious. To develop this argument, I draw upon an array of genres and cultural artifacts, including personal memoir, cartoons, and hip hop lyricism. 1 This description of cooking is likewise a pun referring to the symbol for Arm & Hammer baking soda—a crucial ingred...
An approach based on citation analysis to support effective handling of regulatory compliance

For most global software companies with a client base that covers a large number of regulated businesses, regulatory compliance represents a significant challenge. The world of compliance has become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming number of regulations, laws, and standards that are introduced every year. These laws may vary significantly in their scope and applicability depending on the industry sector and the geographical area of the end client. In addition, many of these laws are created by different legislative bodies resulting in overlapping and sometimes conflicting provisions. To further complicate matters, laws are often created based on existing ones, forming a complex set of interdependent rules where changes made in one place can propagate to affect, sometimes in an inconsistent manner, many other laws. There is clearly a need to investigate techniques and tools that can alleviate IT solution providers from the complexity of dealing with regulatory compliance. In this paper, we present an approach and a supporting tool that aim to facilitate the analysis of multiple regulations. Our approach is based on the exploration of the citation relationship that links various laws together. The citation relationship is represented by a citation graph that can be used by an analyst to navigate through the provisions of various interrelated laws to uncover overlaps and possible conflicts or to simply understand the content of specific law documents. We also present a tool called CompDSS (Compliance Decision Support System) that supports our approach. Finally, we show the effectiveness of the presented approach by applying it to three regulations, namely, SOX, HIPAA, and GLBA.
Benchmarking Tools: An Application to Juvenile Justice Facility Performance

This article explores the use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to compare technical efficiency among juvenile justice facilities in the state of Florida. Comparative analysis, sometimes called benchmarking, helps to improve efficiency and effectiveness of government service providers by identifying the present level of productivity, diagnosing deficiencies, identifying opportunities for improvement, and developing strategies for change. Making service comparisons has implications for budgeting, contracting, granting, and other resource allocation decisions in the public sector. Using data taken from a recent Florida Juvenile Justice Accountability Board report, DEA is used to assess the relative efficiency of 35 halfway house facilities operated by the state and under private contract. The article illustrates the use of DEA to determine efficiently operated facilities, estimate targets for improvement of inefficient facilities, and identify those facilities that are potential models for improvement. Fin...
Ultrasensitive superconducting terahertz detectors: novel approaches and emerging materials

Novel approaches to THz sensing based superconductor detectors and emerging superconducting nanomaterials have a strong potential to boost development of advanced optoelectronic devices, such as THz detectors, THz mixers, single photon counters and quantum calorimeters with outstanding sensitivity. Such devices have a number of applications in THZ environmental and industrial monitoring, astrophysics, homeland security, and medicine. Single photon counters have potential as key elements for optical communication and networking, quantum imaging and metrology, quantum optical computing and bio-photonics, and single-molecule spectroscopy.
Recursive Estimation of Breeding Values with Categorical Data

Abstract Recursive estimation is a process of sequential updating of parameter estimates when data become available in stages. Bayes' theorem, which describes the accumulation of knowledge about parameters, is used to develop a recursive procedure for estimating breeding values of threshold characters. The likelihood of the data at stage k is combined with the distribution of the parameters conditional on the data after stage k−1, or prior for stage k. A second-order Taylor series approximation to the prior density is used. The mode and the matrix of second derivatives of the posterior density at stage k−1 are used to approximate the prior mean and dispersion matrix at stage k. Hence, the recursive procedure only approximates the estimates that would be obtained from analyzing all data jointly. Under normality, the results are the same. A reparameterization of the model is suggested to allow updating all parameters except for a constant specific to stage k. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the method. The proposed procedure would be useful in within-herd evaluations for calving ease, survival of the calf, liability to certain diseases, and other categorical traits of economic importance, where only data on live animals need to be stored, provided that the size of the estimation equations permits inverting the coefficient matrix.
Evaluating and enhancing a women’s health curriculum in an internal medicine residency program

OBJECTIVE: Resident education in women’s health is required but is often underemphasized. Our aim was to identify women’s health topics with the most relevance to our graduates’ practices and to determine how well they were prepared to address women’s health issues.
Electrical bursting and intracellular Ca 2+ Oscillations in excitable cell models

In bursting excitable cells such as pancreaticβ-cells and molluscanAplysia neuron cells, intracellular Ca2+ ion plays a central role in various cellular functions. To understand the role of [Ca2+]i (the intracellular Ca2+ concentration) in electrical bursting, we formulate a mathematical model which contains a few functionally important ionic currents in the excitable cells. In this model, inactivation of Ca2+ current takes place by a mixture of voltage and intracellular Ca2+ ions. The model predicts that, although the electrical bursting patterns look the same, the shapes of [Ca2+]i oscillations could be very different depending on how fast [Ca2+]i changes in the cytosolic free space (i.e., how strong the cellular Ca2+ buffering capacity is). If [Ca2+]i changes fast, [Ca2+]i oscillates in bursts in parallel to electrical bursting such that it reaches a maximum at the onset of bursting and a minimum just after the termination of the plateau phase. If the change is slow, then [Ca2+]i oscillates out-of-phase with electrical bursting such that it peaks at a maximum near the termination of the plateau and a minimum just before the onset of the active phase. During the active phase [Ca2+]i gradually increases without spikes. In the intermediate ranges, [Ca2+]i oscillates in such a manner that the peak of [Ca2+]i oscillation lags behind the electrical activity. The model also predicts the existence of multi-peaked oscillations and chaos in certain ranges of the gating variables and the intracellular Ca2+ buffer concentration.
MARITAL QUALITY, DEPRESSION, AND INCONSISTENT PARENTING: Relationship with Observed Mother‐Child Conflict

In a study of 47 intact families with two same-sex children, associations among parental depression, marital satisfaction, family conflict, and inconsistent child rearing practices were examined, both between parents and within individual parents. Results are discussed in terms of gender-related differences in family process. The need for further research on father-child interactions is highlighted.
DNA metastability and biological regulation: Conformational dynamics of metastable Ω-DNA bulge loops

Dynamic interchange between DNA conformations, including metastable states, can be of importance to biological function. In this study, we use a combination of spectroscopic and calorimetric techniques to detect and characterize kinetically trapped, metastable states in strand exchange and strand displacement reactions for bulge loop DNA conformations, here referred to as Ω-DNAs. We show that such metastable, Ω-DNA bulge loop states can stably coexist below 50 °C, while rearranging irreversibly at elevated temperatures to thermodynamically more stable states. Such dynamic interchange between metastable and globally stable DNA conformational states can be of importance in biological regulatory mechanisms.
A systematic approach to the construction of non-empty choice sets

Suppose a strict preference relation fails to possess maximal elements, so that a choice is not clearly defined. I propose to delete particular instances of strict preferences until the resulting relation satisfies one of a number of known regularity properties (transitivity, acyclicity, or negative transitivity), and to unify the choices generated by different orders of deletion. Removal of strict preferences until the subrelation is transitive yields a new solution with close connections to the “uncovered set” from the political science literature and the literature on tournaments. Weakening transitivity to acyclicity yields a new solution nested between the strong and weak top cycle sets. When the original preference relation admits no indifferences, this solution coincides with the familiar top cycle set. The set of alternatives generated by the restriction of negative transitivity is equivalent to the weak top cycle set.
Self-assembly of dendrimer-encapsulated nanoparticle arrays using 2-D microbial S-layer protein biotemplates.

We investigated the formation of self-assembled two-dimensional (2-D) arrays of dendrimer-encapsulated platinum nanoparticles (Pt-DENs) using prokaryotic surface-layer (S-layer) proteins as biomacromolecular templates. The Pt-DENs (mean core diameter 1.8 ± 0.5 nm) were synthesized by chemical reduction of metal ion species complexed within the interior of fourth-generation, hydroxyl-terminated, starburst poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (G4 PAMAM-OH). Detailed structural and elemental composition analyses performed using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the dendrimer−metal nanocomposite particles were crystalline in nature rather than amorphous and that at least some quantity of the platinum found within the particles is present in the expected zerovalent state. By using the S-layer lattices from the acidothermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and the Gram-posit...
Discussion of “Floor System Evaluation of a Riveted Steel Arch Bridge” by David V. Jáuregui, Tuyen Nguyyengoc, Kenneth R. White, and Douglas E. Volkman

The article discusses the load rating of a bridge. Unfortunately the lateral placement of the MS-18 live load indicted in Fig. 9 is not correct. The article indicates that the wheel loads on adjacent lanes are spaced at 1.22 m 4 ft . The AASHTO standard specifications AASHTO 2002, Article 3.6.2, or AASHTO 1996, Article 3.6.2 indicate the live loads are to be placed in 12 ft 3.66 m wide lanes. Thus if one truck is centered on the floorbeam as indicated in Fig. 9, the adjacent truck wheel loads are offset by 1.83 m 6 ft . The lane loads are similarly offset. The writers are encouraged to review Brockenbrough and Merritt 1999 or ANSI/NSBA 1995 Fig. 6 for an example of the application of the AASHTO live loads.
Dynamics of the optical response of Nd:YAG to ionizing radiation: testing for radiation hardness using UV laser radiation

The optical response of single-crystal Nd:YAG and Cr 3+ :YAG to ionizing radiation has been previously studied using intense pulses of gamma-rays at the HERMES III facility at Sandia National Laboratory, where samples' transmission at 1064 nm was observed during exposure to gamma radiation. A further study of similar samples when exposed to 10-ns UV laser pulses reveals nearly identical dynamics, with both tests producing similar transient and permanent response in the medium. This strongly suggests that the material response to UV radiation can be used to gauge its gamma-radiation hardness, therefore yielding a material testing technique that is much simpler and less costly than gamma-radiation tests.