cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is the use of laparoscopy to determine presence of contralateral patent processus vaginalis justified in children greater than 2 years of age

Abstract Purpose Contralateral inguinal hernia exploration in cases of unilateral inguinal hernia remains a controversial topic. The authors have been using the in-line laparoscopic technique of contralateral evaluation for unilateral inguinal hernia in children less than 2 years of age. Because of the case of the procedure and lack of morbidity, we decided to expand the use of this procedure up to age 8 years in January 2000. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if the incidence of contralateral hernia in children greater than 2 years justifies the procedure. Methods This is a retrospective study of all children who underwent contralateral exploration for unilateral inguinal exploration over a 20-month period. The procedure was offered routinely to all patients up to age 8 years. During the repair, the contralateral inguinal ring was examined laparoscopically using the in-line technique for the presence of a contralateral hernia. The incidence of contralateral hernia was determined, and the results were stratified by age. Patients who underwent unilateral inguinal hernia repair without laparoscopic contralateral exploration or bilateral inguinal hernia repair without laparoscopic contralateral explorations were excluded from the study. Results A total of 284 laparoscopic explorations were performed. Positive explorations were seen in 65 of 171 (38%) of children less than 2 years of age, 19 of 101 (20%) of children 2 to 8 years of age, and 1 of 12 children greater than 8 years of age (8%). There were no operative complications. Conclusions Laparoscopic contralateral exploration is safe and effective. Because of the low morbidity, the risk to benefit ratio warrants its use in children up to 8 years of age. This sample size is too small to make any meaningful statement in children older than 8 years.
Contribution of presynaptic calcium-activated potassium currents to transmitter release regulation in cultured Xenopus nerve–muscle synapses

Using Xenopus nerve-muscle co-cultures, we have examined the contribution of calcium-activated potassium (KCa) channels to the regulation of transmitter release evoked by single action potentials. The presynaptic varicosities that form on muscle cells in these cultures were studied directly using patch-clamp recording techniques. In these developing synapses, blockade of KCa channels with iberiotoxin or charybdotoxin decreased transmitter release by an average of 35%. This effect would be expected to be caused by changes in the late phases of action potential repolarization. We hypothesize that these changes are due to a reduction in the driving force for calcium that is normally enhanced by the local hyperpolar- ization at the active zone caused by potassium current through the KCa channels that co-localize with calcium channels. In support of this hypothesis, we have shown that when action potential waveforms were used as voltage-clamp commands to elicit calcium current in varicosities, peak calcium current was reduced only when these waveforms were broadened beginning when action potential repolarization was 20% complete. In contrast to peak calcium current, total calcium influx was consistently increased following action potential broadening. A model, based on previously reported properties of ion channels, faithfully reproduced predicted effects on action potential repolarization and calcium currents. From these data, we suggest that the large-conductance KCa channels expressed at presynaptic varicosities regulate transmitter release magnitude during single action potentials by altering the rate of action potential repolarization, and thus the magnitude of peak calcium current. q 2001 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Silver nitrate promotes shoot development and plant regeneration of chile pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) via organogenesis

Chile pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants were regenerated from cotyledon explantsin vitro in four major stages: bud induction, bud enlargement, shoot elongation, and root development. Bud induction medium contained 0.5 mg/L (2.9μM) indole-3-acetic acid and 2 mg/L (8.9 μM) N6-benzyladenine. Bud enlargement occurred, and an occasional shoot appeared when medium with 2 mg/L (6μM) gibberellic acid, 2 mg/L (8.9 μM) N6-benzyladenine, and 5 mg/L (29.4 μM) silver nitrate was used. Most shoots elongated after placement on a third medium without plant growth regulators or on fresh plates of bud enlargement medium. Incubations were for 2, 2, and 4 weeks, respectively, at 28.5°C and continuous light. Treatment with silver nitrate was necessary for multiple shoot production and elongation to occur in the third culture stage and was most effective when present in the second-stage medium but not in the bud induction medium. Sixteen to 26% of the shoots rooted in medium with 1 mg/L (5.4 μM) 1-naphthaleneacetic acid after 1 month. Additional shoots transferred to a second rooting medium with 0.1 or 1.0 mg/L (0.54 or 5.4 μM) 1-naphthaleneacetic acid developed roots, increasing the overall rooting efficiency to 70–72%. Most rooted shoots grew well and produced viable seeds when grown in the greenhouse. Other cytokinins tested for plant regeneration were zeatin and thidiazuron. Zeatin induced few shoots and fewer well-developed plants. Thidiazuron induced multiple shoots 4 months after culture began, but many were small and did not elongate further. Phytagar tissue culture grade proved superior to other agars tested, increasing bud induction frequency from 0-33% to 80–93% and eliminating explant hyperhydricity.
EFFECT OF RAT’S LIVER ON ACTIVITY OF TESTOSTERONE AND METHYL TESTOSTERONE1

IT IS KNOWN that many steroid hormones are less potent orally than parenterally. I Methyl testosterone is the most efficient androgen by the oral route because it -iL loses less of its parenteral effectiveness than does either testosterone or testosterone propionate. There is evidence that the endogenous testicular androgen of the rat is inactivated by the liver (1,2). If orally administered androgens are absorbed from the digestive tract into the portal blood stream, they would necessarily pass directly to the liver and, if the liver also inactivates these androgens before they pass into the general circulation, their relative ineffectiveness under these circumstances would be understandable. Testosterone propionate, when absorbed directly into the portal blood stream from pellets located in the spleen, is ineffective in the castrated rat (3,4). This finding is consistent with the idea that liver inactivation is responsible for the diminished oral effectiveness of testosterone propionate.
Measurement and invariance characteristics of psychosocial correlates of youth physical activity

Abstract Objectives Physical inactivity needs to be strategically addressed from and throughout childhood and adolescence. The youth physical activity promotion model provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and promoting physical activity in youth. This study examined psychometric characteristics of the children's attraction to physical activity scale and the perceived physical competence scale, two frequently utilized instruments to measure the underlying predisposing factors emphasized in the youth physical activity promotion model. Design A cross-sectional correlational research design was utilized to address the research purposes. Methods Participants ( N = 1563) were involved with a large school-based initiative involving 19 schools in two U.S. states. The children's attraction to physical activity and perceived physical competence scales were administered in the schools by the physical education teachers using a customized online platform. Confirmatory factory analysis and invariance model testing (i.e., configural, metric, and scalar invariances) were conducted with the Linear Structural Relations 8.8 software. Results The results supported the multidimensionality of the children's attraction to physical activity scale and demonstrated that the 6-factor measurement model was invariant by gender and mostly invariant by school level (elementary, middle, high). The scalar non-invariance across school levels was attributed to weak psychometric properties in two of the children's attraction to physical activity subscales (i.e., peer acceptance and fun of physical exertion). Conclusions The findings support the utility of the children's attraction to physical activity and perceived physical competence for capturing predisposing factors within the youth physical activity promotion model but document the need for refinements in several key subscales.
Intrinsically Dynamic Multistate Models

Multistate life table models, which follow persons through more than one living state, have found increasing use in demographic analyses. Multistate stable populations, however, are infrequently used because the constant rate assumption is quite strong and such populations can take centuries to approach stability. Dynamic models, that is models where the rates can change over time, are examined to derive a new solution for the size and composition of a multistate population in terms of the sequence of underlying population projection matrices (PPMs). Constraints on the subordinate eigenvalues and the subordinate eigenvectors of the time-varying PPMs produce a model population that grows according to the dominant eigenvalues of each time-specific PPM and has a state composition that depends only on the most recent PPM. The two living state model is examined in detail, relationships between the PPM elements and the size and composition of the model are explored, and two illustrative applications of the mode...
Nitrogen and water resources commonly limit crop yield increases, not necessarily plant genetics

Abstract Frequently, improved plant genetics is viewed as the path to increased crop yields. However, in this manuscript, we argue that yield increases most often result from a combination of improved genetics and increased availability of nitrogen and water resources. At this time, it is likely that resource availability is the main impediment to yield increase in many cropping systems. In developing regions, it appears that nitrogen availability limits crop yield. In developed regions, rainfall and water availability commonly impose a substantial constraint on further crop yield increase. Strategies are examined to enhance resource accumulation and use in cropping systems of the future.
Acute spinal cord injury: Clinical aspects and magnetic resonance imaging

With increasing use of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the setting of acute spinal cord injury, correlation of MR findings with pathophysiologic processes and clinical neurologic findings has become possible. In this article, we review the pathologic, clinical, and MR findings seen in spinal cord injury and summarize recent attempts to provide prognostic information and therapeutic guidelines.
How do we diagnose migraine and childhood periodic syndromes

Migraine remains substantially underdiagnosed and undertreated in the pediatric population. The incidence and prevalence of migraine in the pediatric population is not fully appreciated. The recently revised International Headache Society (IHS) criteria, The International Classification of Headache Disorders, is a step in the right direction to improving our diagnostic accuracy. These criteria are the basis for scientific studies and serve as the foundation for future research and clinical care. In this article, the diagnostic issues related to migraine and childhood periodic syndromes in the IHS 2004 revisions are reviewed.
Discovery of small molecule CXCR4 antagonists.

In light of a proposed molecular mechanism for the C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) antagonist 1 (AMD3100), a template with the general structure 2 was designed, and 15 was identified as a lead by means of an affinity binding assay against the ligand-mimicking CXCR4 antagonist 3 (TN14003). Following a structure−activity profile around 15, the design and synthesis of a series of novel small molecular CXCR4 antagonists led to the discovery of 32 (WZ811). The compound shows subnanomolar potency (EC50 = 0.3 nM) in an affinity binding assay. In addition, when subjected to in vitro functional evaluation, 32 efficiently inhibits CXCR4/stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1)-mediated modulation of cyclic adenosine monophophate (cAMP) levels (EC50 = 1.2 nM) and SDF-1 induced Matrigel invasion (EC50 = 5.2 nM). Molecular field topology analysis (MFTA), a 2D quantitative structure−activity relationship (QSAR) approach based on local molecular properties (Van der Waals radii (VdW), atomic charges, and local lipop...
Experiments for dynamic resource allocation, scheduling, and control: new challenges from information technology-enabled feedback control

To help educators design laboratories that support the study of information technology-enabled distributed feedback control, several inexpensive experiments for studying the design and implementation of distributed and networked dynamic resource allocation, scheduling, and control strategies are described. In each case, an overview of the experimental apparatus and the challenges involved were presented. For three of the testbeds, the experimental results for distributed decision-making strategies were shown. The ideas for experiment redesign highlight the existence of tradeoffs among experimental apparatus design, the choice of hardware and software, and research and educational objectives.
Management of locally recurrent soft-tissue sarcoma after prior surgery and radiation therapy

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate outcome and treatment toxicity after wide local re-excision (WLE), with or without additional radiation therapy, for patients with isolated first local recurrence of soft-tissue sarcoma arising within a previously irradiated field. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of 62 consecutive patients. All patients underwent prior resection and external beam radiation. For recurrent disease, 25 patients were treated with WLE alone, and 37 patients were treated with WLE and additional radiation (45– 64 Gy). In 33 patients, the radiation was delivered via an afterloaded brachytherapy, single-plane implant. Results: The 5-year disease specific and distant metastasis-free survival rates were 65% and 73%, respectively. Local control (LC) at 5 years was 51%, and on multivariate analysis, a positive surgical resection margin ( p p p = 0.05), although only one amputation was performed to resolve a treatment complication. Conclusion: Conservative surgery alone results in LC in a minority of patients who have failed locally after previous excision and external beam radiation. Although selection biases and small patient numbers confound the analysis, local treatment intensification with additional radiation does not clearly improve outcome after surgical excision alone, and is associated with an increase in complications.
Servo motor characteristics by impulse testing

IT IS THE PURPOSE of this paper to suggest the possibility and to consider some of the initial analyses and results of determining certain servo motor steady-state and transient characteristics by impulse testing. If the method can be successfully applied to servo motors, it appears to be reasonable that many other servo and control components could be adequately tested by this technique.
Author's reply to the Comment on “Influences of fluid property variation on the boundary layers of a stretching surface”

The comment [1] is essentially based on Figs. 7a and b in [2]. The statements in the comment do not hold due to obvious misunderstanding of the results in the Figures, which will be illustrated as follows. It should be noted that Fig. 7a in [2] is zoomed in the region g 2 1⁄20; 1:5 and f 0ðgÞ 2 1⁄20:4; 1:0 as recommended by the reviewer in order to show the velocity profiles near the wall more clearly, which might lead to confusion if enough attention is not paid to it. To clarify the concerns in the comment [1] and avoid further confusion in the future, Figs. 1 and 2 in this reply show the same velocity profiles and temperature profiles as Figs. 7a and b, respectively, in [2] with a larger plot domain, namely g 2 1⁄20; 8 , f 0ðgÞ 2 1⁄20; 1:0 and hðgÞ 2 1⁄20; 1:0 . It is apparently found in Figs. 1 and 2 that:
Update on Hormonal Contraception and Obesity

As the prevalence of obesity increases among women of reproductive age, providers must be aware of the safe and effective contraceptive methods available to reduce the adverse consequences of unintended pregnancy in this population. Hormonal contraception, in particular, has potential for increased risk in obese women. In addition, some pharmacokinetic studies suggest that contraceptive efficacy may be compromised in obese women. This review summarizes the known potential risks and variations in efficacy for hormonal contraception in obese and overweight women and in women following bariatric surgery.
Two-dimensional mode-locking in planar waveguide arrays

A theoretical proposal is presented for the generation of mode-locked light-bullets in planar waveguide arrays, extending the concept of time-domain mode-locking in waveguide arrays to spatial (transverse) mode-locking in slab waveguides. The model presented yields three-dimensional localized states that act as global attractors to the waveguide array system. Single pulse stationary and time-periodic solutions as well as the transition to multi-pulse solutions as a function of gain are observed to be stabilized in such a system.
Online evaluation in WWW-based courseware

The QUIZIT system has been developed to support adaptive as well as standard testing, along with automatic grading and record keeping, using the WWW as a delivery vehicle. In connection with our Interactive Learning with a Digital Library in Computer Science project, we have applied QUIZIT to help with a master's level course as well as a large freshman level service course. Preliminary testing has led to various improvements, and it appears that QUIZIT will be well received by both instructors and students. It should port easily to a variety of environments and so could be widely used at other institutions as well.
Politics and urban growth in Buenos Aires, 1910-1942

Preface 1. Buenos Aires before World War I 2. Prelude to reform 3. Reform and Its consequences 4. A new council 5. Buenos Aires in the 1920s 6. Noel and the council: round one 7. Noel and the council: round two 8. Cantilo, colectivos, and subways 9. Conservative resurgence: Guerrico and Naon 10. Vedia y Mitre and the council: round one 11. 1936 12. Vedia y Mitre and the council: round two 13. Old business 14. Democracy under siege 15. Buenos Aires in the early 1940s Appendix Bibliography.
Dosimetry of Sr-90 ophthalmic applicators

Sr-90 ophthalmic applicators are commonly used for the treatment of superficial eye disorders. Although a variety of dosimetric devices such as film, thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD's), ion chambers, and radiochromic foils have been used to measure the peak dose at the applicator surface, there is no internationally agreed upon calibration procedure. Recently, large discrepancies among calibrations of the same applicator at three institutions have been reported. Here we describe a technique to obtain the peak dose rate at the applicator surface using LiF TLD's. The technique can be used for the calibration of flat as well as curved surface applicators. Results for two flat and three concave applicators are presented. Our measurement of the surface dose rate for one of the flat applicators is compared with those obtained by four other institutions, each using different dosimetric devices.
Temporary effects of AMSA (4′‐(9‐acridinylamino) methanesulfon‐m‐anisidide) chemotherapy on spermatogenesis

Spermatogenesis in a melanoma patient treated with 12 courses of acridinyl anisidide (AMSA) (20 mg/m2/course) was studied by monitoring sperm concentration, motility, and morphology at various phases of treatment. Chemotherapy was interrupted for 20 weeks between the ninth and tenth course. Sperm concentration and motility began to decline after the second course. At the third course, the percentage of morphologic abnormalities had increased to 86.5% from a pretreatment value of 57.8% (P less than 0.001). Azoospermia was observed at the sixth course and persisted until 12 weeks after the ninth course, when semen levels returned to pretreatment levels: 20 million/ml; 70% motility; 60.1% abnormal forms. Three weeks after the 12th course, the sperm count was reduced to 250,000/ml, motility to 5%, and abnormalities increased to 84.0%. The rapid recovery of normal spermatogenesis observed during the chemotherapy interruption indicates that AMSA has only a temporary, reversible effect on differentiating germinal cells with no toxicity to stem cells.
SAIL - A High Level Programming Language Translator for Visual Inspection of Industrial Assemblies

SAIL ( Simple Assembly Inspection Language) is a C-language based high level command translator that allows programming of automatic visual inspection tasks for industrial assemblies. It allows the writing of short and simple programs that perform visual inspection of assemblies. Their input is an image file of any dimension and grey level scale, and the output a (possibly multiclass) classification of the assembly. The advantages of SAIL are the ease of programming, since virtually no previous knowledge of a programming language is needed, the power of the inspection algorithms available and, most importantly, its expandability.
Towards hinted collection: annotations for decreasing garbage collector pause times

Garbage collection is widely used and has largely been a boon for programmer productivity. However, traditional garbage collection is approaching both practical and theoretical performance limits. In practice, the maximum heap size and heap structure of large applications are influenced as much by garbage collector behavior as by resource availability.We present an alternate approach to garbage collection wherein the programmer provides untrusted deallocation hints. Usage of deallocation hints is similar to trusted manual deallocation, but the consequence of an inaccurate hint is lost performance not correctness. Our hinted collector algorithm uses these hints to identify a subset of unreachable objects with both better parallel asymptotic complexity and practical performance. On some benchmarks, our prototype collector implementation achieves 10-20% pause time reductions. We close with a discussion of the design trade-offs inherent in our approach and lessons to be learned from our collector.
E-ROSETTE POSITIVE EOSINOPHILS AND BASOPHILS IN A LYMPHOMYELOPROLIFERATIVE DISORDER

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a clonal disease of a pluripotent stem cell compartment, and lymphoblastic transformation in CML has been noted. Conversely, malignant diseases that were primarily lymphoid at onset have been documented to evolve into myeloproliferative disorders with and without the presence of a Philadelphia chromosome. We have observed a 3 3/2; year old girl who presented with a diffuse lymphoblastic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma involving liver, spleen, bone marrow, and an inguinal lymph node. Therapy with vincristine, prednisone, and cyclophosphamide resulted in complete remission for over 18 months. Subsequently she developed features of a myeloproliferative disorder characterized by basophilic meningitis, splenomegaly, and hypereosinophilia (WBC-142,000 with 63% eosinophils) plus hyperbasophilia, markedly elevated serum B12, and absent neutrophil alkaline phosphatase. Peripheral blood eosinophils and basophils were noted to form spontaneous rosettes with sheep RBC (E rosettes), a feature not present in normal eosinophils. The initial presentation of this patient as a lymphoma along with the presence of T-lymphocyte surface markers on eosinophils as the myeloproliferative phase of this disease evolved is further evidence for a lymphoid differentiation in certain myeloproliferative diseases such as CML.
Zinc Competition among the Intestinal Microbiota

ABSTRACT Bioavailable levels of trace metals, such as iron and zinc, for bacterial growth in nature are sufficiently low that most microbes have evolved high-affinity binding and transport systems. The microbe Campylobacter jejuni lives in the gastrointestinal tract of chickens, the principal source of human infection. A high-affinity ABC transporter for zinc uptake is required for Campylobacter survival in chicken intestines in the presence of a normal microbiota but not when chickens are raised with a limited microbiota. Mass spectrometric analysis of cecal contents revealed the presence of numerous zinc-binding proteins in conventional chicks compared to the number in limited-microbiota chicks. The presence of a microbiota results in the production of host zinc-binding enzymes, causing a growth restriction for bacteria that lack the high-affinity zinc transporter. Such transporters in a wide range of pathogenic bacteria make them good targets for the development of broad-spectrum antimicrobials. IMPORTANCE Zinc is an essential trace element for the growth of most organisms. Quantities of zinc inside cells are highly regulated, as too little zinc does not support growth, while too much zinc is toxic. Numerous bacterial cells require zinc uptake systems for growth and virulence. The work presented here demonstrates that the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract reduces the quantity of zinc. Without a high-affinity zinc transporter, Campylobacter jejuni, a commensal organism of chickens, is unable to replicate or colonize the gastrointestinal tract. This is the first demonstration of zinc competition between microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract of a host. These results could have profound implications in the field of microbial pathogenesis and in our understanding of host metabolism and the microbiota.
Estimating Contemporary and Future Wind-Damage Losses from Hurricanes Affecting Eglin Air Force Base, Florida

The strongest hurricanes over the North Atlantic Ocean are getting stronger, with the increase related to rising ocean temperature. Here, the authors develop a procedure for estimating future wind losses from hurricanes and apply it to Eglin Air Force Base along the northern coast of Florida. The method combines models of the statistical distributions for extreme wind speed and average sea surface temperature over the Gulf of Mexico with dynamical models for tropical cyclone wind fields and damage losses. Results show that the 1-in-100-yr hurricane from the twentieth century picked at random to occur in the year 2100 would result in wind damage that is 36% [(13%, 76%) 5 90% confidence interval] greater solely as a consequence of the projected warmer waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The method can be applied elsewhere along the coast with modeling assumptions modified for regional conditions.
Sparsening filter design for iterative soft-input soft-output detectors

A large body of research exists around the idea of channel shortening, where a prefilter is designed to reduce the effective channel impulse response to some smaller number of contiguous taps. This idea was originally conceived to reduce the complexity of Viterbi-based maximum-likelihood equalizers. Here, we consider a generalization of channel shortening which we term "channel sparsening". In this case, a prefilter is designed to reduce the effective channel to a small number of nonzero taps which do not need to be contiguous. When used in combination with belief-propagation-based maximum a posteriori (MAP) detectors, an analogous complexity reduction can be realized. We address the design aspects of sparsening filters, including several approaches to minimize the bit error rate of MAP detectors. We devote attention to the interaction of the sparsening filter and detector, and demonstrate the performance gains through simulation.
Maribavir: A Novel Antiviral Agent with Activity Against Cytomegalovirus

Objective:To review the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of maribavir, a novel antiviral agent in the benzimidazole drug class. Data sources: Articles were identified through searches of MEDLINE (January 1998-July 2008). Abstracts from recent scientific meetings and the manufacturer were also included.Study Selection and Data Extraction:All English-language in vitro and in vivo studies and abstracts evaluating maribavir were reviewed and considered for inclusion. All human studies were included.Data Synthesis:Maribavir has significant activity against both human cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus, but not other herpesviruses Unlike ganaclovir. which needs to be phosphorated by UL 97 kinase to become an active inhibitor of DNA polymerase, maribavir directly inhibits UL 97 kinase. UL 97 kinase is an early viral gene product involved in viral DNA elongation, DNA packaging and egress or shedding of capsids from viral nuclei. Maribavir has also been found to be effective against g...
Chemical Validation of Phosphodiesterase C as a Chemotherapeutic Target in Trypanosoma cruzi, the Etiological Agent of Chagas' Disease

Trypanosoma cruzi phosphodiesterase (PDE) C (TcrPDEC), a novel and rather unusual PDE in which, unlike all other class I PDEs, the catalytic domain is localized in the middle of the polypeptide chain, is able to hydrolyze cyclic GMP (cGMP), although it prefers cyclic AMP (cAMP), and has a FYVE-type domain in its N-terminal region (S. Kunz et al., FEBS J. 272:6412-6422, 2005). TcrPDEC shows homology to the mammalian PDE4 family members. PDE4 inhibitors are currently under development for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, such as asthma, chronic pulmonary diseases, and psoriasis, and for treating depression and serving as cognitive enhancers. We therefore tested a number of compounds originally synthesized as potential PDE4 inhibitors on T. cruzi amastigote growth, and we obtained several useful hits. We then conducted homology modeling of T. cruzi PDEC and identified other compounds as potential inhibitors through virtual screening. Testing of these compounds against amastigote growth and recombinant TcrPDEC activity resulted in several potent inhibitors. The most-potent inhibitors were found to increase the cellular concentration of cAMP. Preincubation of cells in the presence of one of these compounds stimulated volume recovery after hyposmotic stress, in agreement with their TcrPDEC inhibitory activity in vitro, providing chemical validation of this target. The compounds found could be useful tools in the study of osmoregulation in T. cruzi. In addition, their further optimization could result in the development of new drugs against Chagas' disease and other trypanosomiases.
On God's Ontic and Noetic Absoluteness: A Critique of Barth

Karl Barth's formidable attack on all forms of natural theology is one of the major events in twentieth-century religious thought. He anathematized every effort by unaided reason to conceive adequately of the nature of God or to demonstrate God's existence. To him all are disguised attempts to ‘domesticate’ God in the circumscribed and self-serving world of human interests. Those theologians who are dissatisfied with this dimension of Barth's thought sometimes criticize it, but more often find it easier just to ignore him and go their own ways. Those philosophers who are interested in provoking a confrontation with Barth find it difficult to penetrate the confessional circle and establish a point of contact which the defenders of Barth's prohibition of natural theology would themselves be constrained to acknowledge.My contention is that there is such a point of contact open to theological and philosophical critique, one which previous critics have overlooked. The argument is organized around five theses. They are:1. The foundation of Barth's position on God's knowability lies in Church Dogmatics II, 1. Here he declares that God's noetic absoluteness derives from his ontic absoluteness (pp. 310f). To the critical eye this spurious derivation appears to be a non sequitur rather than an acceptable statement of logical entailment or of metaphysical or theological necessity.2. Barth fails to support the derivation with convincing exegetical arguments of the sort required to override its conceptual weakness. This is a rather surprising circumstance for one who strives to rest his entire theology on revelation.
Translational science in action: Hostile attributional style and the development of aggressive behavior problems

A model of the development of hostile attributional style and its role in children's aggressive behavior is proposed, based on the translation of basic science in ethology, neuroscience, social psychology, personality psychology, and developmental psychology. Theory and findings from these domains are reviewed and synthesized in the proposed model, which posits that (a) aggressive behavior and hostile attributions are universal human characteristics, (b) socialization leads to the development of benign attributions, (c) individual differences in attributional style account for differences in aggressive behavior, and (d) interventions to change attributions have the potential to alter antisocial development. Challenges for future research are described.
Intervention Assistance Programs and Prereferral Teams: Directions for the Twenty-First Century

There has been an unprecedented growth of school prereferral programs and intervention assistance teams since the late 1970s. In this article we discuss their history, rationale, and philosophical perspectives, report on their legal and public policy basis, and evaluate the research base. Several university-initiated model programs and professional development activities have reduced the number of referrals for special education and increased the use of consultation services. However, only research in Mainstream Assistance Teams has directly demonstrated student improvement in learning and behavior. Implications for future research and strategies for serving students who are difficult to teach are discussed.
Finite Element Shock Analysis of a Cryogenic Refrigerator.

The U.S. Navy is investigating Gifford-McMahon refrigerators for cooling superconducting magnets for shipboard use in minesweeping. The refrigerators will be subjected to severe shock in these applications. If a refrigerator is to continue operating efficiently after experiencing shock loads, the cylinder walls must not be permanently deformed when subjected to these loads, and therefore must not approach their elastic limit. The stress in the cylinder walls due to specified shocks was determined by axisymmetric finite element shock analyses of the two-stage cylinder and displacer assembly. Constant horizontal and vertical accelerations and a time-dependent acceleration were applied to the model. The analysis for the vertical shock loading produced a maximum stress of 4 percent of yield of the 304-type stainless steel used for the cylinder walls. The horizontal shock loading produced a maximum stress of 14 percent of yield. The maximum magnitude of the time-dependent shock load equaled that of the constant load and it produced a maximum stress of 1.8 percent of yield. These stress values are consistent with the expectation that if resonate responses are not excited, a constant acceleration will produce larger stresses than a time-varying acceleration of equal maximum amplitude. Given the anticipated values of horizontal and vertical shock to be applied during testing, it is expected that the refrigerator will not experience damaging strains.
Plant regeneration of wildGlycine species from suspension culture-derived protoplasts.

Protoplasts isolated from four-week old cell suspension cultures ofGlycine canescens F. J. Herm andG. clandestina Wendl. were cultured in 8P or modified 8P to a multicellular stage. Colonies of 0.5 to 1.0 mm diameter were transferred to solid media for callus growth and regeneration. Callus consisted of friable masses with compact green nodular areas. Organogenesis of both species occurred primarily from the green nodular areas. Shoot buds ofG. clandestina did not mature, but shoots ofG. canescens proliferated on MS medium, with B5 vitamins, 0.33 mgL−1 each BA, KN, ZN, and 0.15 mgL−1 NAA. Shoots failed to root after multiple subcultures on four different rooting media.In vitro grafting ofG. canescens scions ontoG. max root stocks allowed plants to be transferred to soil. An overall protoplast division efficiency of 48% was achieved with moderately efficient shoot regeneration inG. canescens. Division efficiencies forG. clandestina were lower (11%). Refinements of this protocol should result in high efficiencies of regeneration which would allowin vitro manipulations of these wild soybean relatives at the single cell level and would make the derivation of somatic hybrid plants possible within the genusGlycine.
An epitaxial metal/semiconductor system for active plasmonic devices

We present an epitaxial metal/semiconductor system for integrating plasmonic functionality into the heart of active III-V nanophotonic devices. We describe their optical properties, growth, and prototype application to plasmonic light emitting diodes.
First Results of the Gasdynamic Mirror Fusion Propulsion Experiment

An experimental Gasdynamic Mirror or GDM device has been constructed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to provide an initial assessment of the applicability of this technology for propulsion systems. This paper presents the first experimental results obtained from the machine and an analysis of the types of plasma instabilities likely to be encountered. It is intended that this device operate at higher plasma densities and with much larger L/D ratios than previous mirror machines. The high L/D ratio minimizes to a large extent certain magnetic curvature effects which lead to plasma instabilities causing a loss of plasma confinement. The high plasma density results in the plasma behaving much more like a conventional fluid with a mean free path shorter than the length of the device. This characteristic helps reduce problems associated with "loss cone" microinstabilities. The device has been constructed to allow a considerable degree of flexibility in its configuration thus permitting the experiment to grow over time without necessitating a great deal of additional fabrication.
Stem cells in the mammalian eye: a tool for retinal repair

Degenerative diseases and traumatic injuries of the central nervous system (CNS) are major causes of long-term disability, whether such insults impact the brain, retina, or spinal cord. Substantial tissue destruction can be sustained by these complex structures without loss of life, while the lack of effective CNS regeneration frequently results in a marked degradation in quality of life. Only recently has it become clear that an enormous potential for regeneration is present within the mammalian CNS. The challenge now presented to researchers is to harness this potential to treat disease. Recent studies showing that stem and progenitor cells can be isolated from the mammalian retina have prompted many researchers to develop strategies aimed at restoring function to the diseased retina. This review summarizes a number of issues related to this goal, including retinal development, transplantation immunology, tissue engineering, and large animal studies. The application of these divergent disciplines to stem cell technology is vital to the development of the novel strategies needed to make retinal transplantation a clinical success.
Trading in Souls: Terrorism and Tourism in the Middle East

In the years since 9/11, a group of prominent Evangelical Christian ministers has sought to capture the Islamic faithful and convert them to Christianity. Incendiary comments about Islam from religious leaders like Franklyn Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Vines have drawn rebukes from Muslims and Christian groups alike, but many in the grass roots of Evangelical Christianity have absorbed their leaders’ antipathy for Islam. In Evangelical churches and seminaries across country, lectures, and books criticizing Islam and promoting strategies for Muslim conversions are gaining currency. Many of these groups view the US military and its wars in the Muslim world as the perfect vehicles for missionary work in the difficult ‘10/40 Window’, Evangelical speak for the portion of the Middle East that is oil-rich and waiting for conversion to Christianity. The same Evangelical political groups have dedicated themselves to financial support of ultra-orthodox Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories while advocating US government support of imperialist Israel. Chosen–ness is being crafted as a political term, smacking of imperialism, while the chosen people are the ones on our side.
Respiratory function tests prior to cardiac surgery: Prediction of post-operative outcomes

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and low DLCO are associated with increased mortality after cardiac surgery in men (Adabag et al. Am Heart J 2010;159:691-7). COPD can be defined by FEV1/FVC% less than 70% (GOLD) or by FEV1/FVC% below the lower 5th percentile of normal (LLN). We aimed to determine whether pre-op respiratory function tests (RFTs) in men and women correlate with post-op outcomes and to determine which definition of COPD correlates more closely with post-op outcomes. We studied 283 patients at one hospital in Brisbane between January 2010 and December 2013. The patients performed spirometry and gas transfer tests according to ERS/ATS guidelines. There were 283 patients (184 men and 99 women); mean(sd) age 70(12) years; FEV1%pred 86(21)%; FEV1/FVC% 70.8(9.6)%; DLCO%pred 76.3(21)%. Eight patients (6 women, 2 men) (2.8%) died within 30 days of surgery; mean(sd) age was 73.1(7.5) years; FEV1%pred 65.5(24); FEV1/FVC% 61.5(14)% and DLCO%pred 51(21)%. Of 133 patients with FEV1 greater than 80%pred and FEV1/FVC% greater than 70% and DLCO greater than 50% pred, one (0.8%) died post-op (OR=1). Six of 30 patients (20%) with DLCO less than 50% pred died post-op (OR=25). Five of 24 patients (21%) with FEV1 less than 80%predicted and DLCO less than 50% pred died post-op (OR=26). 115 (41%) of the 283 patients were defined as having COPD by GOLD criteria compared to 58 (21%) patients defined as having COPD by LLN criteria. The preliminary data support the hypothesis that pre-operative RFTs and particularly DLCO are useful in predicting post-operative outcomes. Further analysis will determine which definition of COPD is more closely associated with post-operative outcomes.
Influence of Dictionary Size on the Lossless Compression of Microarray Images

A key challenge in the management of microarray data is the large size of images that constitute the output of microarray experiments. Therefore, only the expression values extracted from these experiments are generally made available. However, the extraction of expression data is effected by a variety of factors, such as the thresholds used for background intensity correction, method used for grid determination, and parameters used in foreground (spot)-background delineation. This information is not always available or consistent across experiments and impacts downstream data analysis. Furthermore, the lack of access to the image-based primary data often leads to costly replication of experiments. Currently, both lossy and lossless compression techniques have been developed for microarray images. While lossy algorithms deliver better compression, a significant advantage of the lossless techniques is that they guarantee against loss of information that is putatively of biological importance. A key challenge therefore is the development of more efficacious lossless compression techniques. Dictionary-based compression is one of the critical methods used in lossless microarray compression. However, the image-based microarray data has potentially infinite variability. So the selection and effect of the dictionary size on the compression rate is crucial. Our paper examines this problem and shows that increasing the dictionary size beyond a certain size, does not lead to better compression. Our investigations also point to strategies for determining the optimal dictionary size.
Closed Monochromatic Bishops'Tours

In chess, the bishop is unique as it is locked to a single color on the black and white board. This makes a closed tour in which the bishop visits every square on the board exactly once and returns to its starting position impossible. When can two bishops, one black and one white, legally visit every square (of their respective colors) exactly once and return to their starting positions? Such a tour will be called a closed monochromatic bishop’s tour. In this paper necessary and su¢ cient conditions for the e
Supercapacitors performance evaluation

The performance of a supercapacitor can be characterized by a series of key parameters, including the cell capacitance, operating voltage, equivalent series resistance, power density, energy density, and time constant. To accurately measure these parameters, a variety of methods have been proposed and are used in academia and industry. As a result, some confusion has been caused due to the inconsistencies between different evaluation methods and practices. Such confusion hinders effective communication of new research findings, and creates a hurdle in transferring novel supercapacitor technologies from research labs to commercial applications. Based on public sources, this article is an attempt to inventory, critique and hopefully streamline the commonly used instruments, key performance metrics, calculation methods, and major affecting factors for supercapacitor performance evaluation. Thereafter the primary sources of inconsistencies are identified and possible solutions are suggested, with emphasis on device performance vs. material properties and the rate dependency of supercapacitors. We hope, by using reliable, intrinsic, and comparable parameters produced, the existing inconsistencies and confusion can be largely eliminated so as to facilitate further progress in the field.
Awareness in human-robot interactions

This paper provides a set of definitions that form a framework for describing the types of awareness that humans have of robot activities and the knowledge that robots have of the commands given them by humans. As a case study, we applied this human-robot interaction (HRI) awareness framework to our analysis of the HRI approaches used at an urban search and rescue competition. We determined that most of the critical incidents (e.g., damage done by robots to the test arena) were directly attributable to lack of one or more kinds of HRI awareness.
Alarm Calls of California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi)

California ground squirrel alarm vocalizations were recorded in field and laboratory, and sonagraphically analysed. The contexts of both naturally occurring and experimentally elicited calls were noted in the field. The components of this graded system are chatters, chats and whistles. Chatters and chats are often elicited by terrestrial predators, whistles commonly by low flying raptors. Whistles are more commonly associated with cryptic behavior and flight than chatter-chats, but both call types usually elicit bipedal alert postures. These calls grade along a number of dimensions which may signal redundantly the level of excitation of the caller. We propose that the chatter-chat calls of highly aroused squirrels are composed of more and longer notes, occur at a higher rate, are less noisy and contain more frequency modulation. Whistles, however, are single-note calls that contain no frequency modulation, even though they are emitted by highly aroused squirrels and are long and noise free. Preliminary data suggest that: 1) chats are easier for a human ♀ to localize than whistles; 2) elevation of the head, by adopting bipedal postures and mounting promontories, enhances the audibility of alarms.