cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Three-dimensional transmission electron microscopy and its application to mitosis research.

Transmission electron microscopy produces images that are projections of the original object, with the consequence that features from different depths of the specimen overlap and give a confusing image. This problem is overcome by reconstructing the object in 3D from a series of 2D views using either serial thin section reconstruction or electron tomography. In the serial section approach, the series of 2D views is generated from images of successive serial sections cut thin enough to be effectively 2D slices of the specimen. For electron tomography the series of 2D views is generated by tilting a single, usually thicker, section in the electron beam. Resolution in the depth dimension is limited to twice the section thickness for serial section reconstruction and is determined by the number of tilt views collected (i.e., by the fineness of the angular interval between successive tilt views) for electron tomography. Both methods produce distorted 3D reconstructions because of missing material and alignment difficulties in the case of serial sections and the limited angular tilt range in the case of electron tomography. However, techniques have evolved for minimizing and circumventing these distortions and, as long as the user is aware of the limitations, misinterpretations can be avoided. Since electron tomography provides better resolution (generally 5-20 nm), it is the method of choice for determining detailed structural interactions such as the depth of kinetochore MT penetration into the kinetochore outer plate. On the other hand, serial section reconstruction is more effective for projects that require tracking through a complete object in the specimen, such as counting the number of kinetochore MTs on each kinetochore. If the project requires finding a relatively small object in a large specimen (e.g., finding centrioles in an oocyte), then it is sometimes advantageous to cut thicker plastic sections and analyze them via stereo viewing. The mitotic spindle, however, is generally too complex to be analyzed via stereo viewing. Currently, collapse of plastic sections in the electron beam limits the utility of serial section electron tomography. Once a 3D reconstruction is completed it must be analyzed with the 2D medium of the screen on a computer monitor. The easiest approach is usually to walk through the 3D reconstruction volume slice by slice. However, in order to appreciate 3D interactions, and to communicate the results to others, it is generally necessary to segment key components from the rest of the volume and use modeling and rendering techniques. Rendered surface views can easily be color coded and provided with a number of depth cues to simulate the surface viewing encountered in everyday life. In some instances, it is useful to look through a smaller portion of the reconstruction volume with "X-ray vision." This can accomplished by using volume rendering to create a series of semitransparent views from different tilt angles.
Early Modern Absolutism and Constitutionalism

The idea of sovereignty led to great advances in political and legal thinking. It unleashed the clarifying capacities of general theory abstracted from the complications of established agencies of ruling and administration in particular commonwealths. A focus on the concept of sovereignty facilitated the formulation of absolutist theory, according to which not only must all states be sovereign (or they are not states), but sovereignty therein must be unlimited and undivided (or it is no longer sovereignty). The logic of absolutism has important earlier exponents, but was given its early modern impetus by Jean Bodin (1530-1596). Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) follows Bodin's arguments against limitations on sovereignty and his rejection of mixed or divided sovereignty. Unable to do justice to both thinkers here, I focus on Hobbes, who is more consistently absolutist. Yet historical and conceptual questions remain about Hobbes's own views of limitation, mixture, division, and administration. Considering such questions can illuminate the intellectual history of constitutionalism in a way that an exclusive focus on republicanism and the development of mixed government cannot. While limitations on the highest power in the state were associated most notoriously with Calvinist theories of resistance and justifications of tyrannicide, such limitations were often asserted by those who were conservatives or traditionalists about established systems of administration and control, in which they often had a stake. While mostly regarded now as arch-authoritarians, those who instead swept these systems aside or demoted them to the delegated and discretionary dispensations of the sovereign were perceived as philosophical radicals who cut at the roots of established authority. Some known as absolutists were especially keen to rein in or provide for clear authority over the power of the magistrates, officials, and noblemen who were seen as the primary instruments of subjects' oppression. Although the distinctions are ultimately complicated, the debates also highlight methodological
Understanding adolescent mothers' feelings about breast-feeding: A study of perceived benefits and barriers

This study was designed to assess the benefits and barriers accruing to breast-feeding as perceived by pregnant adolescents, and to establish whether these perceptions distinguished between adolescent mothers who chose to breast versus bottle feed. Surveys were completed by 254 young women attending prenatal clinics. Overall, 19.3% indicated their intent to breast-feed. When categorized by intended method of infant feeding (breast versus bottle), breast-feeding mothers cited more benefits and fewer barriers associated with that method of infant feeding. Overall, perceived benefits were more successful than perceived barriers in distinguishing between the groups of respondents. For those interested in promoting breast-feeding among adolescent mothers, our data support an emphasis on the diverse benefits of this method of infant feeding. Our results also suggest the usefulness of peer role models in correcting misinformation and encouraging breast-feeding among adolescent mothers.
Integrity and Identity: Judgment and the Moral Self

INTEGRITY AND IDENTITY In The Power of Their Ideas, Deborah Meier tells of talking to a student in her office after a hallway altercation. It became clear that “one of the kids was a ‘victim’— over and over he was the subject of teasing and other minor cruelties ... everyone knows about it, including us adults.” In speaking to the student who had done the bullying (my word, not Meier’s), she asked the boy, “Which side are you on ... his [the victim’s] or the tormentors?” She tells us that both she and the student were “startled” by the question. The boy answered that he “wasn’t really on any side.” Meier did not accept that answer; she asked, “If someone is being cruel to someone else, if someone is the victimizer and someone the victim, rapist and raped, abused and abuser — can you really be neutral?” To that, the boy answered, after a pause, “No, I am never with the abusers.” Meier then muses on two different questions raised by the events: “(1) Whose side am I on? and (2) what am I prepared to do about it?” She then points out that knowing what to do, or having the resources to do what she would like, is often difficult: “I see lots of things I don’t like being done to others — and I often pass by. But I still know ‘whose side I’m on.’” What should interest us about this story is that it shows an awareness of the importance of integrity — of knowing where one stands on moral issues — of who one is. And what should concern us is how rarely we talk in these terms in school, that neither Meier nor her student expected that to be the topic of their conversation. Schools are driven by a culture of obedience to rules, orders, and routines, not by questions of virtue and integrity.
Interviewing-Skills Training

After completing a pretraining assessment battery, 23 graduate student subjects were,assigned randomly either to an experimental condition, trained in specific inte~ewingskills, or to a delayed-training control condition. Based on videotaped interviews, pretraining to posttraining change scores showed experimental condition subjects superior to control condition subjects on ratings of forward trunk lean, open-ended questions, content and affect summarization, stimulus-response incongruence, and physical distance from a role-played client. Experimental condition subjects rated their interviewing performance more positively than did control condition subjects.
Is There a Causal Link Between Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Adult Homosexuality

SUMMARY The correlation between childhood gender conformity or nonconformity and adult sexual orientation is well established, but is it causal? The Exotic-Becomes-Erotic (EBE) theory of sexual orientation asserts that it is. A path analysis of data from a large sample of twins demonstrates that childhood gender conformity or nonconformity is an intervening step in the developmental path from the genotype to sexual orientation. The possibility that EBE theory provides viable strategies for influencing a child's future sexual orientation is discussed.
T cells expressing the gamma delta T-cell receptor potentiate coxsackievirus B3-induced myocarditis.

Initial studies determined whether intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of BALB/c mice with 0.1, 1.0, and 10 mg of adriamycin (a cardiotoxic anthracycline antibiotic) for times ranging between 1 and 9 weeks prior to i.p. injection of 10(5) PFU of coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) would alter the severity of virus-induced myocarditis. Prior adriamycin exposure enhanced pathogenicity of a poorly pathogenic CVB3 variant (H310A1) but had no effect on myocarditis produced by the pathogenic variant (H3). Cardiac virus concentrations were equivalent in H3- and H310A1-infected mice irrespective of adriamycin treatment. BALB/c mice treated with either 0.1 ml of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA), 10 mg of adriamycin, or 10(5) PFU of H3 and H310A1 i.p. developed cytolytic Thy 1.2+ lymphocytes (CTL) to H3-infected myocytes 7 days later. CFA-, adriamycin-, and H3-treated mice developed CTL expressing the gamma delta+ T-cell receptors, while H310A1-infected animals did not. Only H3- and H310A1-infected mice developed alpha beta+ CTL. Treatment of BALB/c mice with 0.1 ml of CFA 5 days prior to H310A1 infection dramatically increased myocarditis. Selective depletion of gamma delta+ T cells abrogated this effect. The ability of gamma delta+ T cells to augment the pathogenicity of H310A1 infection was confirmed by adoptive transfer of CFA-stimulated T cells depleted of either gamma delta- or gamma delta+ cells into H310A1-infected recipients.
Fault tolerant coverage model for sensor networks

We study the coverage problem from the fault tolerance point of view for sensor networks. Fault tolerance is a critical issue for sensors deployed in places where are not easily replaceable, repairable and rechargeable. The failure of one node should not incapacitate the entire network. We propose three 1 fault tolerant models, and we compare them among themselves, and with the minimal coverage model [8].
Valve Stroking for Complex Piping Systems

A theory is developed for movement of valves in complex piping systems so that the transient ceases when the valve movement ceases. One pipe in the system is selected and the head-time relations determined so that this flow is adjusted in a controlled manner not exceeding predetermined head limits. In a complex system, the flow changes are apportioned among the branches as a linear relation of initial to final steady-state flow in each pipe. The combination of these two procedures leads to values of head and flow at each control point in the system; hence, the valves or other moving boundaries may be adjusted to cause the desired transient change to occur. Frictional effects are included in the analysis which is based on the method of characteristics solution of the transient flow equations. The theory has been verified experimentally and results are given for two cases using 4,000 ft of 0.95-in. copper tubing.
International market segmentation: Economics, national culture and time

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the influence of economic and cultural factors, separately and combined, on international country segments and to reveal the stability of factors and country segments over time. Design/methodology/approach – Principal component analysis is used to develop three economic factors and two cultural factors borrowed from the World Value Survey. Cluster analysis is used to form country clusters based on the economic and cultural factors, separately, and then combined, to detect whether both economics and culture need to be included as bases for macro-country segmentation. Further, the authors look at these issues across time, the beginning of the decade (1990) and then at the end of the decade (1999). Findings – Results support the hypotheses that economics and culture are both necessary for country-level segmentation but reject the hypothesis of cultural convergence as a consequence of technological development and industrialization. The authors confirm that cultural va...
Two Island Cell Adenomas of the Human Pancreas Cultivated in vitro

The adcnoma of the islands of Laiigerhans is a lesion whose clinical recognition depends upon an understanding of the endocrine function of the pancreas, and whose studv therefore is still young. It has lately received increasing notice. Within the past year six cases have been operated upon by Dr. A. O. Whipple in this hospital, and a review of the clinical and histological history of the disease by Whipple and Frantz (1) has recently appeared. The lessions are in general benign; of the 62 cases oil record, only 4.8 per cent have been malignant. They are accompanied by symptoms of hyperinsulinism: hypoglycemia with vasomotor and nervous disturbances taking such forms as periodic unconsciousness, coma, convulsions. The symptoms quickly abate following administration of carbohydrates, and are permaiieiitly relieved by removal of the tumor. The cultivation of the two tumors with wliicli we are concerned was undertaken at tlie suggestion of Dr. C. R. Mullins with a view to their possible therapeutic use in the treatment of diabetes. Both patients had suff ered for years from hypoglycemia with periodic unconsciousness, and since operation (Dee. 4, 1934, and Peb. 19, 1935) have been symptom-free. Histologic examination of a part of each tumor showed them both to be of endocrine morphology and to contain large numbers of ducts. About half of each tumor was used for explantation. The tumors were too small for insulin determinations to be made in addition.
Von Glaserfeld‘s Radical Constructivism: A Critical Review

We explore Ernst von Glaserfeld‘s radical constructivism, its criticisms, and our own thoughts on what it promises for the reform of science and mathematics teaching. Our investigation reveals that many criticisms of radical constructivism are unwarranted; nevertheless, in its current cognitivist form radical constructivism may be insufficient to empower teachers to overcome objectivist cultural traditions. Teachers need to be empowered with rich understandings of philosophies of science and mathematics that endorse relativist epistemologies; for without such they are unlikely to be prepared to reconstruct their pedagogical practices. More importantly, however, is a need for a powerful social epistemology to serve as a referent for regenerating the culture of science education. We recommend blending radical constructivism with Habermas‘ ’theory of communicative action‘ to provide science teachers with a moral imperative for adopting a constructivist epistemology.
What Drives the Passage of Damage Caps

A number of states have passed caps on non-economic and punitive damage awards in civil cases. The conventional wisdom is that the passage of these caps is driven by "out-of-control" jury awards that need to be reigned in. However, it could be the case that voters harboring anti-litigation, pro-tort reform sentiments are more likely to support the passage of caps even in the absence of an upsurge in awards. To examine the effect of jury awards on the passage of caps, we estimate semi-parametric hazard models of cap passage using data from the Jury Verdict Research Reporter.
Original Articles: Testis Cancer: A Review of Scrotal Violation in Testicular Cancer: Is Adjuvant Local Therapy Necessary?

ABSTRACTHigh inguinal orchiectomy is the standard initial treatment for suspected testicular carcinoma. Nonstandard surgical approaches (scrotal violations), including scrotal orchiectomy, open testicular biopsy and fine needle aspiration, have historically been condemned as significantly compromising patient prognosis. Patients with scrotal violation are often subjected to potentially morbid or disfiguring local therapies. In addition, patients with scrotal violations are usually disqualified from surveillance protocols.A review was conducted of all published series of testicular cancer patients in whom scrotal violation occurred. A meta-analysis was then performed to choose a subset for critical analysis on the effect of scrotal violation on patient prognosis. Of 1,182 cases included in the final analysis scrotal violation occurred in 206. The rates for local recurrence, distant recurrence and survival were analyzed separately for all patients, patients with stage I disease and patients with pure semino...
Present Knowledge of Propagation in the VHF and UHF TV Bands

Since the Ad Hoc report and the Commission's Sixth Report and Order establishing the present TV allocations, the Commission and others have been collecting measurement data on the propagation of signal at TV frequencies. In many cases data is now available where the earlier studies required extrapolation. It is the purpose of this report to review recent measurements and their analysis as they may affect the service and interference of TV broadcast stations. Reference will be made to areas where additional data and studies are desirable.
Observation of soft X-ray emission from a region near Per X-1

Soft X-ray emission from the X-ray source Per X-1 was observed in the 0.4–2 keV energy interval from a rocket borne X-ray detector. Spectral analysis of the data indicates that in the 0.4–2 keV band the X-ray emission from Per X-1 can be fitted either with a power law of slope-(4.8±1.2) or a thermal bremsstrahlung spectrum with akT value of (0.26−0.08+0.12) keV. Such a steep spectrum is inconsistent with the spectrum measured above 2 keV. The measured flux in 0.4–2 keV band corresponds to X-ray luminosity of 3×1045 ergs s−1 for Per X-1.
Breathing life into legacy

The Internet makes it imperative to unlock legacy data. Three technologies may let companies dust off legacy code and make it work with the Web: Extensible Markup Language, or XML, describes data through the use of tags, eliminating the need to conform to a specific programming infrastructure; Web services let companies wrap software and tailor its distribution, allowing innovative code configurations; and wireless technology offers the ability to get legacy content to mobile workers and clients. Each technology is part of the new arsenal for leveraging existing applications and data, perhaps realizing the elusive goal of anywhere, anytime services.
Cooling Flow Simulation in the Enclosure of Mobile Generator

A thermal and airflow simulation model is developed for three-dimensional cooling flow study of ventilation and heat transfer inside a mobile generator’s enclosure. The purpose of this design is to achieve better sound attenuation while keeping proper cooling of the engine and generator. This paper focuses its objectives on the adjustment and improvement of cooling performances of some design factors like vent size, vent positions, fan’s flow rate and airflow route based on the CFD approach. A zero-equation HVAC turbulence model was employed and the simulation results were compared with the standard k-e model. Numerical results show that the proper distribution in the intake vents helps in achieving uniform cooling flow distributions by avoiding the occurrence of hot spots on the engine and generator surfaces. Pressure drop through muffler and radiator are both important factors. Effective flow path arrangement is also found to be one of the most fatal factors in the thermal and noise management.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Novel Medical Therapeutics in Glioblastomas, Including Targeted Molecular Therapies, Current and Future Clinical Trials

The prognosis for glioblastoma is poor despite optimal therapy with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. New therapies that improve survival and quality of life are needed. Research has increased our understanding of the molecular pathways important for gliomagenesis and disease progression. Novel agents have been developed against these targets, including receptor tyrosine kinases, intracellular signaling molecules, epigenetic abnormalities, and tumor vasculature and microenvironment. This article reviews novel therapies for glioblastoma, with an emphasis on targeted agents.
Numerical solute transport simulation using fuzzy sets approach

Abstract This paper applies fuzzy sets and fuzzy arithmetic to incorporate imprecise information into transport modeling of nonreactive solute materials in groundwater flow. The method is applied to both one- and two-dimensional uniform flow fields. Emphasis is on the solution methods of the fuzzy numerical model of solute transport, which is a function of fuzzy variables. The solution techniques, including the vertex method and the fuzzy-numerical simulation method (i.e. the single-value simulation method), are discussed in detail. The solute concentration outputs from the fuzzy finite-difference numerical models based on these two solution methods are compared with those from the fuzzy analytical models. The vertex method can avoid the widening of the fuzzy function value set, in this case, the fuzzy solute concentration function. This widening is due to multi-occurrence of variables in the function expression when using conventional interval analysis. However, in fuzzy finite-difference numerical simulation of solute transport, the vertex method may still overestimate the uncertainty in the concentration outputs since all the fuzzy variables in the fuzzy numerical model are taken to be independent. The fuzzy-numerical simulation method can control the growth of the imprecision in the solute concentration calculations by taking into account the interaction (dependence) of concentration variables in both space and time dimensions in the fuzzy finite-difference model of solute transport. It has the advantage of allowing the use of imprecise data for modeling and also processing the fuzzy information using generated crisp values of fuzzy variables. The adoption of fuzzy sets allows common-sense knowledge to be represented in defining values through the use of a membership function. This enables the subjective information to be incorporated in system modeling in a formal algorithm.
Venous thromboembolism in nursing home residents: role of selected risk factors

Background Nursing home (NH) residency confers increased venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk; however, risk-stratification/prevention guidelines currently rely on non-NH data.
Observations of Cloud-Top Entrainment in Cumuli

Abstract Sulfur hexafluoride tracer gas was released during single aircraft passes just above growing convective turrets to study its entrainment into the clouds as they grew through the release altitude. The tracer was sampled in situ from a second research aircraft that carried a real-time sulfur hexafluoride analyzer. The results from three experiments are presented. They were done with clouds ranging in size from a vigorous convective turret to a small cumulus.The observations suggest that during the early stages of entrainment, the tracer remained mostly out of the cloud and was carried alongside the upper cloud regions by the circulation present there. In each experiment, concentrated tracer was first found on the edges of the turrets. Later, the tracer mixed into the central portions of the turrets where it had diluted considerably and mixed through most of the turret. The observations are consistent with the hypothesis that cloud-top entrainment occurs through a vortex-like circulation that brings...
Cellular Metal Truss Core Sandwich Structures

Closed cell honeycomb core structures are widely used for sandwich panel construction. Periodic open cell tetrahedral truss core structures have recently been shown to possess weight specific properties that compete with those of honeycomb core designs. In contrast to honeycomb, the open cell topologies provide many opportunities for multifunctionality. Past approaches to miniature tetrahedral truss fabrication from metals have utilized investment casting routes. Material choices are then constrained by the need for high fluidity during casting. Strength knockdown due to casting defects has been observed. Here, we utilize a comparatively simple wrought metal based approach. The truss cores are made by deformation shaping hexagonal perforated metal sheets. They are then bonded between thin facesheets using a transient liquid phase approach. When designed to minimize bending of members within the core, a linear dependence of core modulus and strength upon relative density is anticipated. Core relative densities of less than two percent have been obtained. With this approach, low cost truss core structures can be made from a wide variety of heat-treatable wrought alloys. (Abstract Copyright [2002], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)
High-energy flat-top beams for laser launching using a Gaussian mirror

Converting a Gaussian to a flat-top beam is useful for many applications including laser-launched thin-foil flyer plates. A flat-top beam is needed to maintain a constant launch velocity across the flyer; otherwise, the flyer can disintegrate in flight. Here we discuss and demonstrate the use of a variable reflectivity mirror (VRM) with a Gaussian reflectivity profile with an additional hard aperture and compare it to a refractive beam shaper. An ideal VRM would generate a flat-top beam with 37% efficiency. Readily available high-power Gaussian or super-Gaussian mirrors create an approximate flat-top profile, but there is a trade-off between flatness and efficiency. We show that a super-Gaussian mirror can, in principle, convert an input Gaussian beam with 30% efficiency to a flat-top beam with 3% (maximum-to-minimum) variation. With a Gaussian mirror and a high-energy pulsed Nd:YAG laser having relatively poor beam quality, we generate flat-top beams with 25% conversion efficiency having 6% variation (standard deviation sigma=4.2%). The beams are used to launch 400 microm diameter, 25 microm thick Al flyer plates, whose flight was monitored by a high-speed displacement interferometer. The plates flew across a 300 microm gap at 1.3 km/s. The distribution of arrival times at the witness plate was 5 ns, as determined by the rise time of the impact emission. Compared to a total flight time of 260 ns, the velocity spread of different parts of the flyer plate was 2%.
The protective effect of glycine against the inhibitionof urease by a quaternary germicide

Summary 1.The activity of jack-bean ureasein solutions of 2 M glycine has been shown to be considerably greater than the activity of the urease in phosphate buffer. 2.The quaternary, alkyl (C 8 -C 18 )dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride markedly inhibited the activity of urease in phosphate, from 100 to 30 pre cent, depending on the concentrations of the enzyme and quaternary. 3.In glycine the enzyme was partlyprotected from the inhibitive effects of the germicide; with 0.4 to 1.8 mg. enzyme and 4 mg. quaternary, approximately 35 per cent activity was obtained. 4.With increasing concentrations of quaternary (0.1 to 20 mg.) and a constant amount of urease, the enzyme activity in phosphate was reduced to zero, whereas in glycine approximately 35 per cent activity was retained, even when the concentration of quaternary was fifteen times that of the enzyme. 5.The successful use of quaternarygermicides in ointments, talcs, starches, etc., to inhibit the activity of free urease might depend on the enzymeinhibiting or protective substances present.
Edge detection using wavelets

This paper studies the edge-detecting characteristics of the 2-D discrete wavelet transform. Our problem is to automatically detect edges. Since a common claim about the wavelet transform is that it splits images into an approximation and details, which contain edges, we use it in our experiments. First, to determine its efficacy, the 2-D discrete wavelet transform is compared to other common edge-detection methods. Also, a number of combinatorial methods for the octaves are examined in the comparison. Due to this work, a novel boundary-tracing algorithm is developed, to follow edges around an object of interest.
Blood Feeding Affects Age-Related Changes in the Host-Seeking Behavior of Aedes Aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) During Oocyte Maturation

Host-seeking behavior in Aedes aegypti is inhibited during egg maturation. The onset of this inhibition is delayed in chronologically old females, and the degree of inhibition is reduced if the mosquitoes have undergone a prior gonotrophic cycle. Results of reciprocal ovary transplants between young and old mosquitoes suggested that the decreased rate of yolk deposition in old females was not solely responsible for these differences in host-seeking behavior. The importance of distinguishing between gonotrophic aging of the ovary and chronological aging of the whole female, and the relationship of these factors to multiple feeding, are discussed.
Purification and partial characterization of two genetically defined alcohol dehydrogenase isozymes in maize

Abstract Two of the isozymes of maize alcohol dehydrogenase (2F and 2S) specified by alleles at the Adh 2 gene locus have been purified and studied. Isozyme 2S has a lower specific activity and is more heat labile than isozyme 2F, but the two forms have similar K m values, pH optima and molecular weight. Amino acid analysis of the acid hydrolysates of isozymes 2F and 2S show striking similarities in the amino acid composition even though 2S is not purified to homogeneity. This suggests that these molecules differ by only one or a few amino acids.
Status of the Leopard Laser Project in Nevada Terawatt Facility

Nevada Terawatt Facility (NTF) currently operates a high-intensity laser system—Leopard. NTF already operates a powerful z-pinch device, called Zebra, for plasma and High Energy Density physics research. The unique research opportunities arise from the combination of NTF’s terawatt Zebra z-pinch with 50-terawatt-class Leopard laser. This combination also provides opportunities to address fundamental physics of inertial fusion and high energy density physics with intense laser beam. We report on the status, design and architecture of the Leopard laser project. A first experiments carried out with Leopard will be also briefly mentioned.
The Cyber-Espionage X-Files

Deibert provides a coherent expose of what is at stake in how the Internet is designed, governed, and infiltrated.
Determinants of perceived health status of medical outpatients

The aim of this study was to examine the relative contributions made by medical morbidity, psychiatric disorder, functional status, and hypochondriacal attitudes to medical patients' opinions of their overall health status. The study was conducted in the general medical clinic of a large academic teaching hospital. Consecutive clinic visitors on randomly selected days were screened with a hypochondriasis self-report questionnaire, since the overall project was designed as a study of hypochondriasis. A random sample of the patients below a pre-established cutoff (n = 100), along with all those exceeding the cutoff (n = 88), returned to undergo a research battery. For this analysis, a representative sample of the entire clinic was reconstituted by weighting the data from patients above and below the screening cutoff in proportion to their prevalence in the clinic. Measures of psychiatric disorder (the Diagnostic Interview Schedule), personality disorder, functional status and disability, medical morbidity (from physician ratings and medical record audit), and hypochondriacal attitudes were obtained. Patient self-ratings of global health status were significantly correlated with aggregate medical morbidity (r = 0.36; P less than 0.001); psychiatric morbidity (r = 0.48; P less than 0.001); functional disability (for intermediate activities of daily living, r = 0.62; P less than 0.001); hypochondriacal attitudes (r = 0.79; P less than 0.001); and with the tendency to somatize (r = 0.77; P less than 0.001). Using multiple regression analysis, the most powerful correlates of perceived global health were hypochondriasis, somatization and disability (model R2 = 0.762).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Identification and characterization of a 19q12 amplicon in esophageal adenocarcinomas using two-dimensional genomic scanning and amplification mapping of sequence tagged sites

Identification and characterization of a 19q12 amplicon in esophageal adenocarcinomas using two-dimensional genomic scanning and amplification mapping of sequence tagged sites
The silkmoth chorion: Morphological and biochemical characterization of four surface regions☆

Abstract Four spatially differentiated surface regions, called aeropyle crown, flat, stripe, and micropyle, are found on the mature eggshell (chorion). Specializations of the apical surfaces of the secretory follicular epithelial cells are implicated in the formation of regional patterns on the chorion. Some of these specializations are restricted to cells overlying certain regions; others are shared by more than one region. Differences between regions are more apparent on the surface than within the bulk of the chorion. Evidence is presented that distinct cell populations, corresponding to the regions, are present long before the start of choriogenesis. One hundred eighty-six chorion-specific polypeptides have been resolved by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Fifteen of these are found entirely or predominantly in the aeropyle crown and stripe regions, while eight others are restricted to the aeropyle crown region. Certain of the spatially restricted components are quite unusual in their amino acid compositions when compared with previously analyzed chorion components. Others are closely related, although clearly distinct.
Radiocarbon Chronology of Ross Sea Drift, Eastern Taylor Valley, Antarctica: Evidence for a Grounded Ice Sheet in the Ross Sea at the Last Glacial Maximum

More than 250 radiocarbon dates of lacustrine algae and marine shells afford a chronology for Ross Sea drift in eastern Taylor Valley. Dates of algae that lived in ice‐dammed Glacial Lake Washburn ...
Genomic and Bioinformatic Analysis of NADPH-Cytochrome P450 Reductase in Anopheles stephensi (Diptera: Culicidae)

The cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (P450) enzyme system is a major mechanism of xenobiotic biotransformation. The nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is required for transfer of electrons from NADPH to P450. One CPR gene was identified in the genome of the malaria-transmitting mosquito Anopheles stephensi Liston (Diptera: Culicidae). The gene encodes a polypeptide containing highly conserved flavin mononucleotide-, flavin adenine dinucleotide-, and NADPH-binding domains, a unique characteristic of the reductase. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the A. stephensi and other known mosquito CPRs belong to a monophyletic group distinctly separated from other insects in the same order, Diptera. Amino acid residues of CPRs involved in binding of P450 and cytochrome c are conserved between A. stephensi and the Norway rat Rattus norvegicus Berkenhout (Rodentia: Muridae). However, gene structure particularly within the coding region is evidently different between the two organisms. Such difference might arise during the evolution process as also seen in the difference of P450 families and isoforms found in these organisms. CPR in the mosquito A. stephensi is expected to be active and serve as an essential component of the P450 system.
In vivo quantitation of water content in muscle tissues by NMR imaging

The water contents of phantoms and muscle tissues were determined directly from NMR imaging experiments. The method involves the calculation of corrected proton densities using relaxation time determinations and suitable calibration phantoms. Comparison with the values obtained from the oven-dry method yields good agreement in normal rat skeletal tissue and in rats injected with red blood cells from sickle cell patients.
Some observations on heterogeneous nucleation of sodium crystals from atomic beams

Abstract A vapor effusion apparatus was developed to measure critical supersaturation ratios for nucleation of metal crystals on various substrates. Deposition from sodium vapor beams was studied as a function of temperature and lattice misfit between the body-centered cubic sodium crystal and the various crystalline substrates. These substrate surfaces probably were coated with adsorbed gas films. The critical supersaturation ratios for the deposition of sodium are very high, ranging from 1019 at 159°K to 1011 at 213°K. The data are fitted by a rate equation whose kinetic coefficient was derived on the basis of an adsorption and surface diffusion mechanism. This treatment leads to an evaluation of the standard free energy of adsorption of the metal atoms. The critical nucleus size is calculated from the data to be about the size of a unit cell (9 Na atoms). The potencies of the metal substrates (facecentered cubic, Ag, Pt, Cu and Ni) for catalysis of nucleation are about the same. The potency of CsCl (body-centered cubic) is much higher than that of the metal substrates, possibly indicating a smaller gas adsorption on the CsCl surface. However, there is a small decrease in catalytic potency with increase in disregistry at the higher temperatures in qualitative agreement with the Turnbull-Vonnegut theory.
Adaptive semi-private email aliases

Controlling spam remains a significant challenge. One primary cause of the spam problem is the way in which email addresses are typically used. To provide a fixed address at which they can be reached, most users treat their email IDs as permanent and only abandon them in rare circumstances. As a result, once a user's email address leaks to spammers, it is nearly impossible to entirely prevent them from sending messages to the user's inbox. Users usually has no recourse if they wish to retract the release of an email address to a certain party.
Identification of regulatory sequences of juvenile hormone-sensitive and insensitive serum protein-encoding genes

Abstract The promoters of three juvenile hormone (JH)-sensitive, and one JH-insensitive hexamerin-encoding genes (Hex) were isolated from Trichoplusia ni, and sequences necessary for, or affecting, transcriptional activity were identified by biochemical and functional methods. The transcription start points (tsp) for each of the four Hex were determined biochemically, by both primer extension and the sequencing of multiple, independent full-length cDNA clones. The function of each inferred tsp, as an actual tsp, was confirmed by in vitro transcription assay. The transcription initiator sequence, GNACAGT, was identical for three of the Hex, while the fourth used a divergent motif. Using the in vitro transcription system, a minimal core promoter of 60 by (bp -34 to +24) of the BJHSPI (basic JH suppressible protein 1) gene, containing a single TATA box motif approximately 30 by upstream of the tsp, was functionally sufficient to support α-amanitin-sensitive transcription. The same construct was also transcriptionally functional in a homologous cell line transfection assay. The corresponding region of the other Hex also contains a similarly positioned TATA box motif, and promoter constructs for each, that included the tsp, initiator and inferred basal transcription apparatus binding site, were all transcriptionally functional in a cell line transfection assay. The action of sequences 5′ to the minimal promoter region in modulating the rate of transcription was shown by a cell line transfection assay of a nested deletion series of the promoter for the BJHSPI gene, in which the results identified a strongly suppressive element between positions -160 and -109. This system of Hex genes, including those sensitive to JH and one not sensitive, should be useful in a comparative approach toward identifying those regulatory motifs that are functionally necessary to transduce the regulatory action of JH.
Selective inhibition of the alternative complement pathway by sCR1[desLHR-a]protects the rabbit isolated heart from human complement-mediated damage

Abstract Evidence is presented that treatment with a selective inhibitor of the alternative complement pathway, sCR1[desLHR-A], protects the ex vivo perfused rabbit heart from human complement-mediated injury. Hearts from male New Zealand white rabbits were perfused in the Langendorff mode. After equilibration, normal human plasma was added to the perfusate as a source of complement. Concomitant with the addition of human plasma, vehicle ( n = 13), soluble complement receptor type 1 (sCRI) ( n = 10), or sCRI[desLHR-A], a truncated version of sCR1 that lacks the C4b binding region ( n = 10) was included in the perfusate. Hemodynamic variables were obtained for all groups before (baseline) and after the addition of human plasma. Compared to vehicle-treated hearts, variables recorded during perfusion with human plasma including coronary perfusion pressure, left ventricular developed pressure, and left ventricular end diastolic pressure, along with a reduction of creatine kinase efflux, were improved in hearts perfused with either complement inhibitor. In addition, in vitro hemolysis assays were utilized to discriminate between the classical and alternative pathways. The addition of sCRI to human serum prevented both the classical and alternative pathway-mediated hemolysis while sCR1[desLHR-A]prevented only the alternative pathway-mediated lysis. This study indicates that deletion of the C4b-binding site from sCR 1 results in a new pharmacological moiety, sCRI[desLHR-A], that primarily inhibits the alternative pathway of human complement.
PTEN in neural precursor cells: regulation of migration, apoptosis, and proliferation.

Abstract PTEN is a lipid phosphatase, and PTEN mutations are associated with gliomas, macrocephaly, and mental deficiencies. We have used PTEN +/− mice to assess PTEN's role in subventricular zone (SVZ) precursor cells. For cultured SVZ neurosphere cells, haploinsufficiency for PTEN increases phosphorylation of Akt and forkhead transcription factor and slightly enhances proliferation. Based on a filter penetration assay, PTEN +/− cells are substantially more migratory and invasive than +/+ cells. The +/− cells also are more resistant to H2O2-induced apoptosis. Analysis of PTEN +/− and +/+ mice by BrdU labeling reveals no difference in the rate of cell proliferation in the SVZ. Exit of BrdU-labeled cells from the SVZ and radial migration to the outer layers of the olfactory bulb are more rapid for +/− cells. These observations indicate that PTEN regulates SVZ precursor cell function and is particularly important for migration and apoptosis in response to oxidative stress.
Development of Secondary Flow and Vorticity in Curved Ducts, Cascades, and Rotors, Including Effects of Viscosity and Rotation

This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of the secondary vorticity equations in curved ducts, cascades, and rotors. The classical approach of splitting the flow into primary and secondary flow fields is employed and extended to include effects of viscosity, rotation, and density stratification. All elliptical effects are neglected and the Crank-Nicolson method is used to solve the secondary vorticity equation. The secondary flow field is obtained by solving a Poisson equation using a successive over-relaxation method. The results are compared with theoretical and experimental data from stationary ducts, compressor and turbine cascades. The agreement is good for most of the cases.
Complications of Vitreous Surgery for Diabetic Retinopathy: I. Intraoperative Complications

One hundred seventy-nine eyes were analyzed to determine the incidence of postoperative complications after vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy. One hundred twenty-nine (72%) of the 179 eyes achieved improved vision, and 117 (65%) were considered visual successes with final vision in the functional range of 5/200 or better. Corneal epithelial defects occurred in 51 eyes (28%), but severe corneal complications were rare, and no eye developed corneal clouding as the sole cause of later visual loss. The lens was retained in 128 eyes (75%), and visually significant lens opacities occurred later in 17% of the phakic eyes. Postoperative iris neovascularization was reduced by not removing the lens, and rubeosis iridis occurred in 15 (13%) of 114 phakic eyes and in 21 (32%) of 65 aphakic eyes (P = 0.012). Vitreous hemorrhage was present in 75% of eyes immediately after surgery and cleared in an average of 6.2 weeks in phakic eyes and 5.4 weeks in aphakic eyes. Fifty-two eyes (29%) had recurrent vitreous hemorrhage after the initial postoperative period. New retinal detachment occurred after surgery in 16% of eyes and was treated successfully in 38%. Reoperations were done in 45 eyes (25%), and 32 (71%) of these were for repair of retinal detachment or removal of nonclearing vitreous hemorrhage. Six eyes (3%) developed phthisis bulbi, and one other eye was enucleated.
Time to competency, reliability of flexible transnasal laryngoscopy by training level: a pilot study.

ObjectiveTo determine the progression of flexible transnasal laryngoscopy reliability and competency in otolaryngology residency training.Study DesignProspective case control study.SettingAcademic ...
Epidemiology and the Global Burden of Stroke

Objective Stroke remains one of the most devastating of all neurological diseases, often causing death or gross physical impairment or disability. As numerous countries throughout the world undergo the epidemiological transition of diseases, trends in the prevalence of stroke have dramatically changed. Methods All major international epidemiological articles published during the past 20 years addressing the global burden of stroke were reviewed. A focus was placed upon better defining current and future trends in surveillance, incidence, burden of disease, mortality, and costs associated with stroke internationally. Results Despite the fact that various surveillance systems are used to identify stroke and its sequela around the world, it is clear that stroke remains one of the top causes of mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost globally. Concerning trends include the increase of stroke mortality and lost DALYs in low- and middle-income countries. The global economic impact of stroke may be dire if effective preventive measures are not implemented to help decrease the burden of this disease. Conclusion The global burden of stroke is high, inclusive of increasing incidence, mortality, DALYs, and economic impact, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The implementation of better surveillance systems and prevention programs are needed to help track current trends as well as to curb the projected exponential increase in stroke worldwide.